The next day.
Fog had rolled in. Thick mist surrounded the valley, creating an atmosphere that felt like a fairyland on earth.
Su Bai woke up early as usual. After taking a glance at the scenery outside the window, he decisively made up his mind to go out for a stroll.
His hometown was in the plains, so he hadn't seen much scenery like this. It was quite a novelty for him.
Then again, the so-called concept of traveling was just moving from a place you were tired of to a place someone else was tired of.
The gorge for rafting didn't seem to fall into this category. Very few people lived here, and the surrounding area was generally quite desolate. In fact, the threshold for camping here was quite high; it required thorough preparation.
Su Bai didn't feel any inconvenience at all. All the necessary supplies were fully stocked in the super RV.
This had to be credited to Driver Huang's professionalism and thoughtfulness.
In a sense, professional personnel were more precious than the vehicle itself.
A car could always be bought with money, but service personnel available for long-term cooperation were actually much more precious in wealthy circles. For example, live-in nannies—the highest quality aunties in that exclusive small circle basically only circulated among a specific group of people in a city.
The same logic applied to maternity nurses.
"By the way, Driver Huang, do you know any maternity nurses?"
Thus, after taking a walk outside and returning to see Driver Huang already up and getting the RV ready, Su Bai asked.
The question was a bit abrupt, but fortunately, Driver Huang had recently gotten somewhat used to Su Bai's erratic train of thought.
Su Bai had a very lively personality but wasn't outrageous. This was a rare balance. Driver Huang even felt that Su Bai had the aura of the perfect neighbor's kid about him.
Plus, his academic grades were quite good.
Young people who excelled at studying usually had children relatively late. After all, they had to pursue higher education and focus on their careers. By the time they had the free time to date, they were already in their late twenties.
Su Bai wouldn't be restricted by such objective conditions, so it was normal for him to want a child earlier. But eighteen was still far too early.
"Are you already planning for a baby, Boss?" Driver Huang asked with a smile.
"You know what, it's actually entirely possible."
"Sigh, there really aren't many young people interested in kids nowadays," Driver Huang sighed. "When I was driving abroad before, I knew a few children of wealthy Chinese businessmen. Good lord, just to avoid getting married and having kids, they argued with their parents every day. It was fierce."
"True... mainly because the pressure of raising a child is too great."
Su Bai deeply agreed.
Ordinary people had to consider the financial pressure of having children. After all, nowadays, anything related to the maternal and infant sector skyrocketed in price. It was ridiculously expensive.
Even with a well-off family background, raising a child required a great deal of effort and dedication.
"I do know some maternity nurses, but their main area of activity is around Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai... If you offer a slightly higher price, Boss, I can definitely find you a top-tier one."
"That works. Budget isn't an issue."
As long as there was a channel, it was fine. It wasn't an urgent matter anyway.
Su Bai chatted with Driver Huang for a while. He waited until the sun rose before he started preparing breakfast.
Today, they were having scrambled egg and cheese toast.
This was quite simple. Using the kitchenware in the RV was basically idiot-proof.
Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Wan Xinyan took a bite of her bread and habitually scrolled through her social media feed.
Her expression suddenly changed.
Su Bai leaned over and glanced at her phone.
"So many comments. They all look like your old classmates... Is this an old friend of yours?"
"Friend? Haha, of course not. That's my nemesis from high school."
"What, did she used to bully you?"
"Not quite. My sister and I aren't that easy to push around!" Wan Xinyan waved her small fist and pouted. "She just liked to ostracize us in class. Her family is somewhat powerful in the county, and she has a rather high-profile personality."
"Understood."
Hearing Wan Xinyan say this, Su Bai instantly understood.
This was probably the legendary local county royalty.
There actually was such a demographic: people with prominent influence and good financial conditions in their hometowns. Although they couldn't compare with the young masters and ladies of big cities, when these people were young, they tended to be even more arrogant than the rich kids from the metropolis.
Small places had lax rules and relatively closed environments.
As the saying goes, small temples harbor big demons, and shallow ponds are full of snapping turtles.
Fortunately, the Wan sisters were no pushovers either; both had very resilient personalities.
When these local county elites bullied others, they only picked on the easy targets.
Wan Xinyan had just checked that high school classmate's profile and posts on a whim.
Meanwhile, the classmate in question was currently in a large villa in Banshan County, doing a face mask while looking at the updates on her social media feed, deep in thought.
"Hey, who do you think Wan Xinyan is clinging to? How did she get so impressive? I almost thought these pictures were photoshopped, or that she was starting a pyramid scheme and trying to recruit people..."
Shi Yajing complained wildly.
In terms of family wealth, Shi Yajing was definitely top-tier among her high school classmates.
The situation at the county high school was just average, and Banshan County wasn't a particularly wealthy place. Being able to ride in her family's Audi A8 to the provincial capital for a concert on the weekend already made her a supreme existence in the eyes of the female students.
However, Shi Yajing's academic performance was far from ideal.
Her college entrance exam score was only enough to get her into a rather unrespectable junior college.
Her parents felt it was too embarrassing. After all, they had pulled strings to get her into the county's First High School, only for her to bomb the exam.
So, her father spent money to send her to a university in Southeast Asia.
At least in terms of the school's international ranking, they had it covered.
As for what she could actually learn?
Hilarious. It would be good enough if she could smoothly coast to a diploma. Her old man knew exactly what kind of person Shi Yajing was and didn't expect her to make any academic breakthroughs. As long as she didn't embarrass the family, it was a victory.
Even so, Shi Yajing quickly entered her trouble-making mode after school started.
She discovered a local proxy-class service run by Chinese people. This meant that all her university courses could be handled by someone else for a fee. Her transcript would look beautiful, and all she needed to do was travel and play all over the world.
Take right now, for example. November was a time when coursework was relatively intense for the vast majority of proper universities.
Even someone as capable as Su Bai only dared to take a week off to play around by relying on the system's indulgence rewards, and even then, he used the excuse of White Night Holdings business.
Pretending to be an entrepreneur, so to speak.
In a good university, if you want to gain more freedom than ordinary students, the best way is to pretend to be an entrepreneur, dress it up with some high-end tech company packaging, and then sponsor the department a bit.
As for Shi Yajing, she didn't need to go through all that trouble. Universities in Southeast Asia that focused on the international study business—those who know, know.
These past few days, she happened to be staying at home. Perhaps it was a coincidence of fate, but last night she scrolled past a post from Wan Xinyan.
Actually, she had seen one the night before as well. Once could be ignored, but the second time made her seriously consider what exactly Wan Xinyan was up to now.
In her memory, they were just a pair of twin country bumpkins. Their faces and figures were somewhat decent... Could it be that they had found a rich guy willing to spend money on them right after starting college?
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
orn and Humiliation】【Forced Love】 In his past life, Lin Ran was betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and family, while the yandere female aristocrat, who had treated him as a mere plaything, avenged him by doing in his enemies. Upon seeing the yandere female aristocrat lying in the same coffin, ready to die with him, Lin Ran realized how profoundly mistaken he had been. Reborn, he abandoned the fickle campus beauty and wholeheartedly embraced the yandere female aristocrat's arms. "Ran! If I dig out your eyes and turn them into a specimen, you'll only be able to look at me!" Lin Ran: "Darling, kiss me!" "Ran! If I break your legs, you won't run away anymore, right?" Lin Ran: "Love, hold me tight!" "Ran! If..." Lin Ran: "Hush now! Love me more!" Luo Yao: ... Seeing his scumbag dad: "Take him out!" Seeing his stepmother: "Get rid of her!" Seeing his brother: "Eliminate him!" Seeing his white moonlight: "Send that to Southeast Asia!"
ions, keeping it grounded and realistic】 After quitting his job, office worker Su Yang accidentally binds with the "Enjoy Life System." As the name suggests, simply by indulging in life's pleasures, he can earn random rewards from the system—no need to spend money on beautiful women or grovel before anyone. Just enjoy, and the money follows, making it all about effortless fun. The system comes with a scanning feature, allowing him to establish a favorability bond with women rated 85 points or above. Every 20-point increase in favorability unlocks additional rewards. After suffering through over twenty years of hardship, Su Yang trembles with excitement, his dull eyes suddenly gleaming with newfound hope. "Enjoy life? How hard could that be?"
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
