Su Ning clutched Zhou Yi's sleeve, her eyes brimming with stubbornness, clearly unwilling to let him leave—yet she refused to speak.
The girl’s pursed lips and defiant expression carried a hint of childish charm, her eyes reddening even as she stubbornly held back her words.
Zhou Yi lowered his gaze and asked her in a calm tone, "So, is it really that hard for you to lower your head and apologize?"
For Su Ning, of course, it was.
She had been pampered all her life, her path smooth and unchallenged until now.
Apologize? Those words had never existed in her dictionary.
In the past, even if she made mistakes, no one dared to reprimand her, molding her into someone too proud to yield.
But this time, Su Ning knew that if she didn’t speak up, Zhou Yi might truly come to resent her.
After an internal struggle, she bit her lip, the soft pink flush spreading across her delicate mouth.
"I-I’m sorry, Zhou Yi."
The apology finally spilled from Su Ning’s lips—the first time this privileged girl had ever bowed her head.
Zhou Yi didn’t respond, merely watching her in silence.
Su Ning took a deep breath and mustered her courage again. "I went too far before. I shouldn’t have said those things to you... or hit you."
A faint smirk flickered across Zhou Yi’s lips, gone too quickly for Su Ning to catch.
"I hope you’ll accept my apology."
After speaking, Su Ning stole a cautious glance at him.
Her hand still clung tightly to his sleeve, her reddened eyes making her look like a startled rabbit.
"Why are your eyes red?"
Zhou Yi’s offhand remark made Su Ning flinch. She covered her face and took a step back.
"I’m not! It’s just windy today!"
As if she’d cry over him! Zhou Yi must be spouting nonsense!
Too embarrassed to face him, Su Ning kept her hands over her eyes—until the boy stepped closer.
The rustle of wind through leaves filled the air, and Su Ning swore she could hear her own heartbeat.
Zhou Yi leaned down slightly and tapped her forehead. "With such a stubborn temper, what will become of you?"
His voice carried a mix of exasperation and gentleness.
Slowly, Su Ning lowered her hands.
Zhou Yi’s tender gaze filled her vision, sunlight haloing his hair. In that moment, Su Ning realized just how breathtaking a face could be.
She couldn’t look away from him.
[Su Ning’s affection points +10.]
"So, Miss Su, do you really want me to stay far away from you... or is there something else on your mind?"
Zhou Yi was testing her.
Su Ning bit her lip. Her heart whispered that she didn’t want to become strangers with him.
"What do you mean by ‘something else’?"
"That depends on you."
"Then... can we start as friends?"
"I haven’t agreed to accept your apology yet."
"Then... what do I need to do for you to forgive me?"
This was entirely unfamiliar territory for Su Ning, stirring strange and unfamiliar emotions within her.
As she waited for his answer, she studied Zhou Yi closely.
By now, she was certain: the version of Zhou Yi she’d known before had been an act. Lili’s suspicions were right.
This composed, unshakable Zhou Yi was his true self.
"I don’t know either. This is my first time dealing with something like this. Forgiving you so easily... my heart can’t do that."
Zhou Yi feigned helplessness, pushing the dilemma back to her.
Her eyes dimmed. "I understand. Let me think it over. I’ll do my best to make it up to you."
Originally, she’d just wanted to repay the person who’d saved her life. Treating Zhou Yi better was only fair.
If she’d rescued someone only to be treated the way she’d treated him, she’d have been heartbroken—let alone consider friendship.
Stubbornly, Su Ning convinced herself that friendship was all she wanted. When it came to matters of the heart, she was utterly clueless.
Zhou Yi wasn’t in a hurry. He had all the time in the world.
Patience was a virtue he had in abundance.
"Alright, since we’ve cleared things up, let’s head back to class. It’s almost lunchtime."
"Mm. Okay."
Su Ning followed Zhou Yi into the classroom, drawing curious stares from their classmates once again.
With lunch break approaching, most students were already at their desks, buzzing with gossip.
"Damn, the forum posts were right! There’s something going on between Su Ning and Zhou Yi?"
"I heard there was a three-girls-chasing-one-guy drama in the cafeteria. Must’ve been wild—wish I’d seen it!"
"Before break, didn’t Su Ning curse Zhou Yi out? She acted like she couldn’t stand him."
"Zhou Yi’s a whole new person now. Haven’t you seen the girls on the forums calling him ‘god-tier’? That face is unreal."
"Dude’s got connections and skills now. He was faking it before. No girl could resist him like this."
The class had already rationalized Zhou Yi’s transformation: he must’ve been a hidden powerhouse all along.
The rumors were gaining traction.
Whether it was academics or family background, he had to be top-tier.
Hadn’t he already blown their minds that morning?
Unconsciously, Zhou Yi had achieved exactly what he wanted.
Meanwhile, the moment Su Ning returned to her seat, Zhang Lili and her deskmate Tao Shan couldn’t contain their curiosity.
"Spill it, Ningning! What’s really going on with you and Zhou Yi?"
"What was all that ‘saving’ talk about at lunch?"
"Yeah, where’d you go afterward? What did you say?"
The girls’ thirst for gossip was relentless. Even those nearby perked up, eager for Su Ning’s explanation.
But Su Ning had no intention of elaborating.
"It’s nothing. Just a misunderstanding. It’s resolved now."
Her tone cool, Su Ning flipped open her textbook, ready to dive into practice problems.
The icy, untouchable goddess persona was back in full force.
Zhang Lili pouted, wrapping her arms around Su Ning’s in protest. "Ugh, don’t be like that, Ningning! My goddess, you’re the best—just give us a tiny hint!"
Tao Shan joined in, doubling the pleading.
They knew Su Ning too well—hard on the outside, soft on the inside, utterly defenseless against acting cute.
"Ningning, just a little detail! Like... did Zhou Yi save you or something?"
Su Ning couldn’t withstand their pestering. She gave a tiny nod. "Yes, that happened. No more questions."
The rest was too embarrassing—no way she’d admit it.
Zhang Lili lit up. A hero saving the beauty!
The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became: there had to be something between Su Ning and Zhou Yi. Why else would Su Ning react like this?
Back in the cafeteria, the moment Chu Han appeared, Su Ning’s eyes had flashed with hostility. How could anyone claim she felt nothing for Zhou Yi?
't think I'm that capable, I'm just trying my best to stay alive. I've been kind all my life, never did anything bad, yet worldly suffering spared me not one bit. The human world is a nice place, but I won't come back in my next life. A kind young man, who wanted to just get by singing, but through repeated deceits and betrayals, has gone down an irredeemable path.
young master of the Shen family—a figure of immense power and wealth beyond measure—and awakened the "Destined Ultimate Villain System"! His starting scenario? Running into his icy fiancée who shows up with a mountain-descending divine doctor to break off their engagement. The divine doctor arrogantly taunts: "What does your Shen family have besides a bit of stinking money? You're not even worthy of tying Qingxue's shoelaces!" Shen Fei just smiled. He completely defied the usual script: "Fine, I agree to break off the engagement. Also, notify the finance department to withdraw all investments from the Su family." Minutes later, with its capital chain severed, the Su Group teetered on the brink of bankruptcy! The once aloof and proud ice queen CEO was thrown into utter panic. That very night, she went to Shen Fei's villa, casting aside all dignity to beg and plead desperately... From then on, in this world teeming with Sons of Destiny, Shen Fei embarked on a path of extreme dimensional suppression! A mountain-descending divine doctor? Peerless medical skills? Shen Fei: "Reporting you for practicing medicine without a license! I'll gladly take your ancient medicinal cauldron and twin sister assassins." The Crooked-Smiling Dragon King? Commanding a hundred thousand soldiers with a single order? Shen Fei: "Illegal assembly and suspected treason! Let a fleet of attack helicopters sanitize the area and teach you what the state apparatus really means!" A reborn tycoon? Knows all the golden opportunities of the next decade? Shen Fei: "A trillion in capital to reverse and pump the stock market, making you blow your margin and jump on the very first day of your rebirth!" What Chosen Ones? What bearers of Heavenly Fortune? In Shen Fei's eyes, they're all just chives (i.e., suckers/marks) waiting to be harvested! Shen Fei: "Sorry, but as the Destined Ultimate Villain, I don't play by the rules of honor. I only play the game of dimensional suppression."
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.
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
