The woman lying on the hospital bed was frail and pale. Hearing footsteps, she looked up.
It was Chu Han and Zhou Yi who had arrived.
Chu Han rushed over and carefully embraced her, tears flooding her eyes once again.
"Mom, I'm here."
Chu Yun patted her back gently. "It's alright, don't cry, don't cry."
Though she comforted Chu Han, the woman couldn't help but redden her own eyes.
If she were to die like this, leaving Chu Han alone in this world, how pitiful her daughter would be.
Chu Han knew her mother was just trying to reassure her. She wiped her tears and forced a smile. "Mom, don’t worry. The doctor said as long as you have the surgery and undergo chemotherapy properly, you can recover."
Chu Yun smiled bitterly—where would the money for treatment come from?
The little savings left were meant for Chu Han’s education.
The moment she learned the diagnosis, she had already prepared herself for death.
She didn’t want to burden her family, nor did she want to drag Chu Han down.
"And this is...?" Chu Yun was startled when she noticed Zhou Yi.
Who was this young man of noble bearing, and why was he with her daughter?
Chu Han wiped her tears. "Mom, this is Zhou Yi. You even treated him to a meal before."
Hearing the familiar name, Chu Yun was genuinely surprised.
This young man before her was Zhou Yi!?
How had he changed so much?
"Xiao Yi, you’ve changed so much that Auntie didn’t recognize you. I’m so sorry."
"It’s alright, Auntie."
Chu Yun motioned for them to sit down.
Chu Han held her mother’s hand. "Mom, don’t worry about the money. Someone has already agreed to lend it to us."
"Who?"
"Zhou Yi."
Chu Yun looked at the refined young man—was he from a wealthy family?
Zhou Yi spoke up at the right moment. "Auntie, don’t worry about the money. Chu Han and I are good friends. I can lend it to you."
"Does your family know? Child, this is a huge sum."
"They know. Please don’t worry."
Zhou Yi smiled gently.
Watching Zhou Yi converse warmly with her mother, Chu Han felt a bittersweet ache in her heart.
Zhou Yi was such a good person, yet she had been blinded by money.
Chu Yun was moved beyond words.
After all, Zhou Yi had no ties to their family, and 100,000 yuan was no small amount—yet he offered it so generously.
The woman held Zhou Yi’s hand, thanking him repeatedly.
As dusk fell, Zhou Yi turned to Chu Han. "I’ll transfer the money to your card. I have something to attend to tonight, so I’ll take my leave."
Chu Yun urged her daughter, "Go see him off."
Chu Han escorted Zhou Yi to the hospital entrance to hail a taxi.
"Thank you so much, Zhou Yi. I’ll work hard to repay you, along with everything I owe you from before."
"You’re only a sophomore—there’s no rush. Focus on graduating and earning money first. Don’t waste your time on this."
Chu Han’s eyes reddened again. "After how terribly I treated you, why are you still helping me?"
Even if Zhou Yi had refused, it would have been understandable.
Zhou Yi lowered his gaze, silent for a moment. "Maybe it’s because your mother’s cooking once made me feel warmth."
Chu Han hadn’t expected that answer.
Of course—Zhou Yi had once been an orphan. No matter how much wealth he gained now, that love could never be replaced.
She, at least, had her mother’s love, even in a single-parent household.
But Zhou Yi... seemed to have always been alone, with no one to care for him.
"I know you can’t forgive me now, but I’ll work hard to change—until you’re willing to give me another chance."
"Your change should be for yourself, not for me. Haven’t you learned from this experience? Relying on others is unreliable."
Zhou Yi was a calm and pragmatic person.
He firmly believed in self-reliance—in this world, no one was dependable except oneself.
Chu Han paused, then her gaze grew steady and resolute.
"You’re right. My change should be for myself first. But there’s no denying that it was you who changed me."
Without Zhou Yi’s help, what path would she have taken?
She had even considered dropping out to work.
Her future would have been bleak.
And even then, she might not have been able to save her mother.
For Chu Han, losing her mother would have meant losing all hope to live.
At least Zhou Yi was nothing like Gao Wenhao.
No—just in terms of character, Zhou Yi surpassed him by a thousandfold.
"The taxi’s here. Call me if you need anything."
"Thank you... Yi-ge."
Zhou Yi nodded and got into the car, leaving the hospital behind.
He was on his way to his new home at Zijin Bay.
Just then, the system notified him: "Host, Chu Han’s remorse value has maxed out. You’ve received a rare reward."
"Rare reward?"
This sounded different from the usual "gift packs"—more prestigious, somehow.
Given that this was part of the main quest assigned by the system, the reward shouldn’t be disappointing.
"Correct, Host. For each of the three mission targets completed, you’ll receive a rare reward."
"Let’s see what it is."
"Congratulations, Host. You’ve obtained the skill [Light of Entertainment]."
"What does [Light of Entertainment] mean?"
"It means you can instantly identify which movies, TV shows, scripts, or novels will become hits—anything related to entertainment."
Zhou Yi’s eyes widened slightly. A skill like this?
"So if I start a company to invest in films and TV shows, I’d never have to worry about money again?"
"In theory, yes."
Zhou Yi checked his panel again.
[Name: Zhou Yi]
[Level: Lv15 (Silver)]
[Wealth: 7,659,250 yuan (Affluent)]
[Appearance: 100 (Unmatched)]
[Combat: 100 (Unrivaled)]
[IQ: 200 (Genius)]
[Reputation: 48 (Campus Heartthrob)]
[Attribute Points: 13,008]
.
[Mission Progress:]
[Xia Qiuzhi’s Remorse: 40]
[Chu Han’s Remorse: 100]
[Su Ning’s Remorse: 60]
[Reversal Progress: 40]
[Heartbeat Points: 8,049]
[Admirers: 1 (B-rank: You Man)]
[Achievement: Against All Odds]
[Acquired Items/Skills: Photographic Memory / Basic Medical Skills / Light of Entertainment]
[Current Ranking: 597,644]
[System Store: Unlocked]
It was real!
Zhou Yi slapped his thigh—this was his golden ticket for life!
Maybe he wouldn’t even need to rely on affection points to build his fortune.
The young man had no idea that even greater wealth awaited him in the future.
Zhou Yi made up his mind to act immediately.
Tomorrow, he’d register a company, rent an office, and hire a team to form an investment and operations group.
Next, he would start looking for movies awaiting investment, and perhaps even scout for potential platforms.
The wind roared past the car window, brushing against the young man's youthful face.
A rising star in the world of investment was beginning to shine.

] [Lone Wolf, No Male Gaze] [Protagonist is pursued early on; extreme protagonist-stans, stay away!] The "Carnival Paradise" descends and slowly devours the real world in the form of a game. By chance, Zhu Yan awakens the talent [Roleplay], becoming one of the first beta players. He thought he could develop safely, but after clearing the first instance, he is branded by humanity as the chief culprit behind the game's spread—a traitorous villain. A villain? Who would ever... become one! He'll be the villain! From then on, Zhu Yan is not only a player but also a lackey for the Carnival Paradise. Between the straight path and the crooked path, he chooses the con. With his left hand, he dons the villain's mantle, staging scenes within instances, infuriating players who decry him as a despicable traitor, all while the game happily promotes him. With his right hand, he joins the non-human organization "Fangcun Mountain," which opposes the Carnival Paradise, transforming into a mysterious player who slaughters game bosses, earning cheers of "Long live the expert!" from fellow players. Gradually, Zhu Yan rises to become an S-rank human player in Fangcun Mountain's archives, while also being the Carnival Paradise's certified top game Boss. But when the final war erupts and both major factions place their hopes in him— Players tag his various aliases: "Experts, this offensive depends on you." The Carnival Paradise's supreme Boss throws an arm around his neck: "Bro, you're the iron, I'm the steel; you can't let me down again!"

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."

ap a wealthy young lady? Or else I'll be eliminated by the system? Ye Feng, who awakened the Kidnapper System, originally wanted to live a peaceful life but never imagined he would become a kidnapper of young women. However, after some time, he discovered that all the girls the system ordered him to kidnap were far from ordinary. "Big brother Ye Feng~ You've kidnapped my heart, and now you're not allowed to leave me ever again~" "Ye Feng~ You kidnapped me back then, now it's my turn to capture you♡" "Little Feng, you're mine! You can only be mine!" "Ye Feng, none of them deserve you. Only I love you the most♡" ... This is madness, they've all gone mad! Wait, what? Why are all the girls I kidnapped yanderes?!

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.”