Little Jia deliberately countered him: "There's no such thing as should or shouldn't—it's all about your choice. Not taking a shortcut when one's available? That's just foolish."
Zhou Yi shook his head helplessly. "Unless I’m truly desperate, my choice will always remain the same. As long as I can ensure basic sustenance, I won’t let greed consume me."
"If a person can’t control their greed, they’re nothing more than a parasitic host to money and desire—no longer human, no longer themselves."
"A gentleman knows what to do and what not to do. If I were to be with you for money, that wouldn’t be fair to you."
Zhou Yi spoke these words with a calm detachment.
Little Jia stopped in her tracks.
Zhou Yi turned to look at her. "Why’d you stop? It’s cold outside. Let’s head back soon so you don’t catch a chill."
Little Jia wanted to argue back, but the words wouldn’t come.
That gentle face had just stated a truth she couldn’t refute.
Before this, everything in her world had taught her that money and power could buy anything, could sway anyone.
Except love. That, she couldn’t purchase.
Truth be told, as someone born with a silver spoon in her mouth, everyone she’d ever met had treated her with nothing but flattery and obedience. She knew why, and she reveled in the way they groveled like dogs at her feet.
That was just how the world worked. She had wealth and influence, and she looked down on those beneath her—even toyed with them.
But no one truly loved Little Jia. Except for Ma Yunfang, who treated her like a mother, though she wasn’t really her mother.
Zhou Yi was the first to pierce through her facade so bluntly.
And he’d struck a chord deep in her heart.
She stared into his eyes.
Zhou Yi had said it wasn’t fair to her—the first time in her twenty-something years that word had ever been directed at her.
"What’s unfair about me buying your love? Besides, the world’s unfair to begin with."
Little Jia was furious.
Zhou Yi looked at her like she was a petulant child, his tone gentle yet cutting straight to the core:
"Little Jia, that’s not love. Love is when someone likes you for who you are. Shouldn’t you understand that better than anyone, given your experience?"
"And you say the world’s unfair—in some ways, yes. But love is fair to everyone. Love is love, and lack of it is lack of it. You can’t change that."
"—At least, you can’t change me."
On that late autumn night, Little Jia stood frozen, her gaze filled with confusion as she looked at Zhou Yi.
Maybe rich people all had this flaw—thinking money could buy anything.
"That’s because you’re stupid."
Little Jia was seething, though she knew he’d hit a nerve.
Zhou Yi paid no mind to her words. What was there to get angry about when a little girl threw a tantrum? Besides, it was obvious who was more upset here.
He shrugged. "Maybe. But ignorance is bliss. Maybe being too clear-headed isn’t such a good thing."
Little Jia shot him a frustrated glance and kept walking.
"You don’t act like a college student at all. You’re like some rigid old man—stiffer than my grandfather."
"Yeah, true."
"Your principles are going to screw you over someday. Just wait and see."
"A little hardship never hurt anyone. Life isn’t about getting everything you want."
"Ugh! You—you’re impossible!"
Little Jia had only meant to tease Zhou Yi, to see if he’d act like all those other men.
She’d wanted a different reaction from him—that was what made it fun.
But Zhou Yi’s response had caught her completely off guard.
As they walked and talked, Little Jia’s teasing turned into a one-sided meltdown, hurling insults at Zhou Yi.
But someone like her couldn’t even curse properly—the worst she could muster were words like "idiot" or "stubborn old fossil."
Zhou Yi just laughed.
"I’m seriously mad now! Can’t you at least pretend to respect me?"
"Pfft—Little Jia saying ‘respect me’ is kinda cute."
Her face flushed red with anger, and she quickened her pace, her earlier playful mood completely gone.
Zhou Yi followed silently behind, saying nothing.
After a few minutes, Little Jia couldn’t take it anymore and stopped.
"You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? You saw right through me from the start—that I’m a terrible person—and now you’re trying to piss me off."
"Who said you’re terrible? Not me."
"You clearly hate how high-maintenance I am, so you’re deliberately trying to get under my skin."
"Little Jia, do you know what they say is the root of a woman being high-maintenance?"
"What...?"
"A lack of love. A need for attention, for..."
Before he could finish, Little Jia’s hand flew toward him. Zhou Yi caught her wrist effortlessly and grinned. "Hitting people isn’t a good habit."
Her eyes widened in outrage. "I lack love? Are you blind? Do you have any idea how many men are lining up to chase me? How many adore me? I don’t lack anything—"
Her voice cracked at the end, and she crouched down, refusing to move. Whether it was from anger or something else, she didn’t know.
She couldn’t believe she’d been reduced to this by some kid younger than her. She’d never been so humiliated!
Zhou Yi crouched beside her and gently wiped her tears away, his voice soft.
"Why the tears? Honestly, you’re lucky. Don’t go chasing after love—it’s an illusion."
"Those who pursue love are the ones who drown in it the fastest. If you fall in love, you’ll lose yourself. Love can either resurrect a person or destroy them. It’s dangerous."
Little Jia stared at him, her gaze lost, as if she’d glimpsed something in his eyes—but the feeling vanished before she could grasp it.
Was Zhou Yi a believer in love, or was he heartless?
She bit her lip. "After all that, you still haven’t told me—can I have love or not?"
"Of course. Everyone meets their destined one. But when they’ll come, when they’ll leave, whether you can keep them—you’ll never know. Maybe it’s just a passing breeze, and that person drifts right into your heart."
Little Jia’s eyes lingered on Zhou Yi’s face, unable to look away.
His gentle expression, his deep, soothing voice—it felt like she was being seduced.
By someone she couldn’t figure out.
She remembered a saying: People can’t control those more complex than themselves.
So her initial plan—to tease Zhou Yi with her money and status—had been a colossal mistake.
Zhou Yi stroked her cheek and sighed, almost fondly. "Your face is freezing. Let me carry you back."
Her heart inexplicably raced. Biting her lip, she weakly reached out toward him.
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
iaobai: "Councilor Dad, front me some funds. I want to hire ten thousand professional miners for a project!" [Five-Star Mission Issued: Capture the leader of the Blood Heaven Pirate Gang, who is on the run in the Radiant Star Sector. It is said the gang has over a hundred members. Proceed with caution.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, lend me the family's hundred-thousand-strong Lu Army!" [Seven-Star Mission Issued: Subdue a juvenile Void Dragon Beast.] Lu Xiaobai: "Councilor Dad, I'm taking your tamed Void Dragon Beast King out for a family reunion!" I said, System, don't you have any slightly more challenging missions? You're just not up to par! [Nine-Star Mission Issued: Become the Human Councilor.] Lu Xiaobai: "Dad, there's a small matter I'd like to discuss with you..."
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
