Qiao Yu's words were harsh, but this was how she usually spoke, and Qiao Xi had long grown accustomed to it.
She let out a helpless sigh. "Sis, I'm just going to a friend's place, that's all."
The moment Qiao Zhengguo heard the word "man," his gaze sharpened instantly.
He looked at Qiao Xi with a stern expression and asked, "Male or female?"
Qiao Xi nervously clutched her sleeve and whispered, "A boy, Dad."
Sure enough, Qiao Zhengguo immediately frowned. "How old are you? How can you go out alone at night to meet a man?"
"We're just friends, Dad. He's not that kind of person," Qiao Xi struggled to explain.
A faint smirk curled on Qiao Yu's lips—her goal had been achieved.
Qiao Xi hadn't always been completely friendless. She had been a pretty child, and other kids had always flocked around her.
But Qiao Yu had always found ways to drive every single one of them away. When it came to scheming and manipulation, Qiao Xi was no match for her.
Now, she spoke again with feigned concern:
"Xiao Xi, Dad only wants what's best for you."
"That guy is just after our family's money. His intentions aren't pure. You shouldn't go."
Qiao Xi opened her mouth to protest, but her phone suddenly rang.
It was Zhou Yi—he had sent her several messages without a reply, so he had called.
Qiao Yu stood up from the sofa and strode over, holding out her hand. "Is that him calling? Give me your phone."
Qiao Xi instinctively took a step back, but Qiao Yu snatched the phone from her grip anyway.
She answered the call and put it on speaker.
A gentle male voice came through:
"Xiao Xi, I'm at your neighborhood gate, but I haven’t heard from you. Did something come up?"
Qiao Yu raised an eyebrow and replied coldly, "She’s not coming. And don’t bother my sister again."
Zhou Yi frowned.
Sister?
So this was Qiao Xi's older sister.
"Are you Qiao Xi’s sister? I think there’s a misunderstanding—"
"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? You’re asking my sister out at night—clearly, you’re up to no good."
Qiao Xi couldn’t take it anymore. She desperately tried to grab her phone back.
Having Zhou Yi witness this ugly side of her family made her feel utterly humiliated.
If Qiao Yu kept talking like this, she would lose yet another friend.
But Qiao Xi had always been frail and weak—no match for Qiao Yu’s strength.
With one harsh shove, Qiao Yu sent her stumbling backward into a wine cabinet.
Qiao Xi’s face paled as a sharp pain shot through her back.
She bit her lip hard, tears spilling uncontrollably.
"Why do you always do this?! Why can’t I have even one friend?! Why do you always control my life like this?! Why?!"
She had always known she was unwanted in this family. She had endured it for years, but Qiao Yu’s cruelty had finally snapped the last thread of her patience.
Qiao Zhengguo stormed over, furious.
"How dare you speak to your sister like that! She’s doing this for your own good!"
Tears streamed down Qiao Xi’s face as she cried out, "Chasing away every single friend I have is for my own good?! No, it’s not! It’s not!"
Qiao Yu looked at her with feigned disappointment. "Xiao Xi, I’m so hurt. How could you think of me that way over some outsider? After all I’ve done for you."
Qiao Zhengguo had always been a controlling man, and Qiao Xi’s defiance enraged him.
"The Qiao family has given you everything—food, clothes, a roof over your head! Do you know how privileged you’ve been compared to your classmates?"
"And yet you’re still ungrateful, accusing us of controlling you? Fine! If you have the guts to walk out that door tonight, don’t you dare come back!"
Qiao Xi gave them one last devastated look, snatched her phone from Qiao Yu, and bolted out of the house.
"Ungrateful brat! Ungrateful!"
"Dad, don’t be angry. I’ll go find her later."
"Find her? She’s the one who abandoned this family! Who abandoned me! Let her rot out there!"
......
Qiao Xi could no longer hear their voices.
She looked at her phone—Zhou Yi’s call was still connected.
Which meant he had heard everything.
She closed her eyes in despair.
"Xiao Xi, are you okay?" Zhou Yi asked softly.
He never imagined her family could be so suffocating.
Just listening to it made his heart ache for her.
Qiao Xi didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t want him to see her like this—so broken, so pathetic.
"Yi-ge, you should go home. I... I don’t know how to face you right now."
After what Qiao Yu had said to him, she felt too ashamed.
"I want to see you. I don’t want you to be alone when you’re hurting. No matter what, just come out first, okay?"
"...Okay."
Qiao Xi wiped her tears and mustered the courage to walk toward the neighborhood gate.
Under the glow of a streetlamp, Zhou Yi stood waiting for her. The concern in his eyes made her tears spill all over again.
She rushed into his arms.
He held her gently, stroking her back in slow, soothing motions.
"It’s okay. Cry if you need to. I’m here."
Qiao Xi sobbed against his chest, her slender shoulders trembling. Her muffled cries were as fragile and sorrowful as a kitten’s whimper.
Under the lamplight, the two of them looked almost picturesque—a boy and a girl embracing.
But the reality was anything but romantic.
After a while, her tears finally subsided. She lifted her head slightly, her eyes still glistening, her delicate face ghostly pale.
Her long lashes fluttered as she whispered, "I’m sorry, Yi-ge. I lost control again in front of you."
Her eyes were red from crying, innocent and rabbit-like. Even the tip of her nose was pink, as if dusted with rouge.
The breeze tousled her disheveled hair, and the soft glow of the streetlamp made her look even more fragile—like a porcelain doll on the verge of shattering.
Zhou Yi gently ruffled her hair. "It’s fine. If you don’t mind, you can stay at my place tonight."
Qiao Xi knew she couldn’t go back home. With no other friends to turn to, sleeping on the streets wasn’t an option.
She sniffled and nodded. "Th-thank you, Yi-ge."
"Don’t worry about it. I was going to invite you over anyway. Let’s go buy some toiletries first—the supermarket will close soon."
"Okay."
Zhou Yi didn’t bring up her family or ask any questions.
Now wasn’t the time to reopen those wounds.
As they walked to the supermarket, he did his best to cheer her up with jokes and lighthearted chatter.
Before long, Qiao Xi was laughing, her sorrow momentarily forgotten.
She didn’t want to burden him with her pain, and gradually, her mood began to settle.
Inside the supermarket:
"This brand of toothpaste is better—I’ve used it before."
"How about this towel? It feels softer."
......
Qiao Xi seemed quite experienced in daily life, carefully selecting items as she squatted in front of the shelf, picking out toothpaste, towels, and other daily necessities.
"Brother Yi, besides toiletries, is there anything else your home needs?"
"My home... Well, I’d say it’s practically empty for now."
"Then it’s perfect—I’ll help you pick everything out today."
"That’ll be a lot of work for you, Xi."
Just then, Zhou Yi’s stomach growled loudly.
He smiled sheepishly.
Qiao Xi blinked and asked, "Brother Yi, haven’t you had dinner yet?"
Zhou Yi nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, I was too busy today and didn’t get a chance to eat."
"Then later, we’ll grab some kitchenware too, and I’ll cook for you."
"You know how to cook?"
"Of course! And I’m pretty good at it—you’ll see."
Qiao Xi was quite confident in her culinary skills.
After choosing the toiletries, the girl tossed all the items into the shopping cart.
Zhou Yi pushed the cart while Qiao Xi picked out the goods—the two of them looked almost like a couple.
When they reached a certain section, the girl paused.
"Oh, this is the bedding area. Let’s pick out some sheets first."
Zhou Yi grinned and teased her.
"Xi, I forgot to mention—my place only has one bed. How should we arrange things for tonight?"
reezy rom-com) Good news: Jiang Liu is quite the ladies' man. Bad news: He’s lost his memory. Lying in a hospital bed, Jiang Liu listens to a parade of goddesses spouting "absurd claims," feeling like the world is one giant game of Werewolf. "Jiang Liu, I’m your first love." "Jiang Liu, you’re my boyfriend—she’s your ex." "Jiang Liu, we’re close friends who’ve shared a bed, remember?" "Jiang Liu, I want to have your baby." The now-lucid Jiang Liu is convinced this must be some elaborate scam... until someone drops the bombshell: "The day before you lost your memory, you confessed your feelings—and got into a relationship." Jiang Liu is utterly baffled. So... who the hell is his actual girlfriend?! ... Before recovering his memories, Jiang Liu must navigate this minefield of lies and sincerity, fighting to protect himself from these women’s schemes. But things spiral even further out of control as more people show up at his doorstep—each with increasingly unhinged antics. On the bright side, the memories he lost due to overwhelming trauma seem to be resurfacing. Great news, right? So why are they all panicking now?
Heart] Chen Yi traversed the cultivation world for eight hundred years, charging his way to the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Just as he was outwitting his 81st Heavenly Tribulation to ascend to immortality, he was suddenly pulled into a chat group called the "Multiverse Transmigrators Support Group." To his surprise, the group was filled with nothing but fresh-faced newbies who had just transmigrated. [Help! I transmigrated into a disgraced concubine in the cold palace, and the tyrant emperor is about to execute me!] [I ended up as a cannon-fodder villain, and the protagonist is still chasing me—WTF!] [I woke up as the protagonist’s father, but I’m about to be sacrificed in a ritual! What do I do? Urgent!!!] Chen Yi stared at the chaotic flood of desperate pleas in the group and fell into deep thought. "Seriously? You drag me into a newbie transmigrator chat group… only after I’m one step away from becoming an immortal?"
u Chenyuan transmigrated into a female-oriented novel about a real and fake heiress, becoming the CEO elder brother of both. Unfortunately, the entire Lu family—including himself, the CEO—were mere cannon fodder in the story. Determined to save himself, Lu Chenyuan took action. The spoiled, attention-seeking fake heiress? Thrown into the harsh realities of the working class to learn humility. The love-struck real heiress? Pushed toward academic excellence, so lofty goals would blind her to trivial romances. As for the betrayed, vengeful arranged marriage wife… the plot hadn’t even begun yet. There was still time—if he couldn’t handle her, he could at least avoid her. "CEO Lu, are you avoiding me?" Mo Qingli fixed her gaze on Lu Chenyuan. For the first time, the shrewd and calculating Lu Chenyuan felt a flicker of unease.
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
