"Work hard, damn it! Work like your life depends on it! With so many people around, if any of you slack off, you might as well hand in your resignations right now..."
The store manager, hands planted firmly on her wide hips, barked orders as she directed a swarm of employees bustling in and out.
After wielding the stick, she didn’t forget the carrot—flaunting her managerial finesse: "If you perform well this month, I’ll make sure last month’s wages are paid out. So snap to it!"
Amid the chorus of grumbling employees, An Yi stood out as the most diligent.
After all, he was being paid. The bare minimum effort was non-negotiable.
Fifty-pound sacks of flour? He hauled two at a time without breaking a sweat.
But after a couple of trips, regret set in.
A sudden epiphany struck him—why waste such strength in a supermarket?
He could be earning way more hauling bricks at a construction site!
The manager, however, was pleasantly surprised by An Yi.
At first glance, he seemed like a lazy slacker with a rogue air about him, but when it came to actual work, he was shockingly reliable—steady, hardworking, a model employee compared to the jaded veterans.
The supermarket’s promotions were a hit, and Lan Ruoxi’s stunning looks drew crowds, making the place busier than during its grand opening.
The manager was practically giddy with joy all day.
"New guy, follow me to the storage room."
After delegating tasks, the manager singled out An Yi, ordering him to join her in the back.
An Yi complied—then froze.
A rush of alarm hit him.
He wasn’t naive. Storage rooms were prime locations for... incidents in certain materials he’d read.
The manager was in her forties—a woman in her prime. Could she be...?
His face paled.
"Quit dawdling! Move it!"
Her sharp voice echoed from inside.
The other employees shot him knowing looks.
Lucky bastard, huh?
An Yi strode in with heroic resolve.
If this woman dared lay a hand on him, he’d resist to the death! He’d rather let Shen Muxuan have him than surrender to her!
Then, with a creak, the manager shut the door, plunging the room into darkness.
An Yi: "..."
---
A luxury car pulled up at the mouth of a shabby alley, drawing hushed stares from onlookers.
A vehicle like that usually parked outside high-end spas—this dingy backstreet was way beneath its pay grade.
Qiu Xu stepped out, scowling. "What dump is this? You’re sure your niece works here for the summer?"
Lan Yihe carefully shut the car door behind him, frowning. "Yeah, weird, right? No clue why she’d pick this place."
"Tch. Poor girl, huh? Can’t imagine she’s much to look at, given your genes."
Adjusting his blazer’s tie in the stifling heat, Qiu Xu radiated impatience, already unimpressed with the girl he hadn’t even met.
Lan Yihe forced a laugh. "Ugly trees bear sweet fruit. I’m no looker, but my brother was handsome, and his wife was a famous beauty back in the day. The girl’s a stunner—guaranteed to knock your socks off."
"Seeing’s believing. I’ve bedded more women than you’ve had cups of tea. If she’s not up to par, not only are you repaying that three million, but with interest—loan shark rates."
Qiu Xu’s lips curled into a cold smirk.
Sweat beaded on Lan Yihe’s forehead.
"Don’t worry, Young Master Qiu. She just graduated high school—no boyfriends, untouched. Her mother’s critically ill, hospitalized. Desperate for cash. Once I dangle the money for treatment, she’ll fold like a house of cards."
Qiu Xu paused mid-tie adjustment, staring at Lan Yihe before slapping his chubby cheek with a grin. "Damn, fatty. You’re ruthless."
Lan Yihe chuckled nervously, praying his niece would meet Qiu Xu’s standards.
"Enough ass-kissing. This the supermarket?"
Qiu Xu eyed the "Shengda Supermarket" sign and smirked, turning to the hulking driver still in the car. "Fu, stay here. You’ll scare the locals."
"Yes, Young Master!"
The driver’s voice boomed like a gong, his massive frame barely contained by the vehicle.
The supermarket, strategically positioned, was easy to spot.
At the entrance, Qiu Xu’s gaze locked onto a figure—and his breath hitched.
A girl with a high ponytail, dressed in a JK uniform—Lan Ruoxi—stood there, her gentle, shy smile cutting through the gloom like a beam of light. His heart lurched.
Whoever took her photo should be shot.
It hadn’t captured even half her beauty.
Noticing Qiu Xu’s heated stare and quickened breath, Lan Yihe relaxed slightly. "Well, Young Master Qiu? My niece up to snuff?"
Qiu Xu exhaled slowly, clapping Lan Yihe’s shoulder with a grin. "Heh. Uncle Lan. Looks like we’re family now."
Uncle Lan?
The title sent a thrill through Lan Yihe.
He’d only intended to lend Lan Ruoxi to Qiu Xu as a plaything, maybe shave some debt off.
But Qiu Xu was smitten.
That three million might just vanish!
"Her name?" Qiu Xu’s eyes never left Lan Ruoxi, drinking in her flawless features.
"Lan Ruoxi. Top student at Donghai University. Classy, too—won’t embarrass you."
Lan Yihe’s grin widened.
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.
and couldn't return to the real world. Finally, I gave up and decided to go with the flow, only to discover that writing a diary could make me stronger. Since no one could read it, Su Luo wrote freely, daring to pen anything and everything. Female Lead #1: "Not bad. This diary helped me steal all the protagonist's opportunities. I just want to get stronger." Female Lead #2: "I don’t care about reaching the peak of the cultivation world. Right now, I just want to enjoy the chaos." Female Lead #3: "What? Everyone around me is a spy? I’m the Joker Demon Lord?" ... It’s so strange. Why is the plot completely off track, yet the ending remains the same? Are you all just messing with me?!
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?!
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!
