Li Yun bit her lip, lost in thought for a long moment before standing up and saying, "I... I need to think about it."
"Li Yun, opportunities like this don’t come twice. Our corporation is massive—do you really think I’d save a spot just for you?" Wu Shengqi shook his head lightly. "The only reason I’m here is out of respect for Zheng Yan. If you’re not interested, I’ll leave right now."
"Mr. Wu, wait!"
Zheng Yan immediately stopped Wu Shengqi, then grabbed Li Yun’s arm. "At our age, why overthink things? Nothing else matters—money is what’s real."
Li Yun pushed Zheng Yan’s hand away. "I’m sorry, I can’t cross that line."
Ever since she was young, Li Yun had excelled in her studies. But back then, society held a prevailing belief—that education was useless for women.
In those days of widespread poverty, why would families spend hard-earned money raising a daughter, only for her to marry into another household? Who would be that selfless?
So, when Li Yun was accepted into university, her family made her drop out and marry early.
Her parents poured their resources into her good-for-nothing younger brother instead.
The man she married back then was entirely her parents’ decision—she felt nothing for him.
But in that era, love wasn’t the priority; survival was.
Her husband was honest and hardworking, a reliable partner for life.
The family lived quietly until the day he died in a construction accident.
Her parents immediately arranged for her to remarry.
As a young woman, she hadn’t dared to resist. But this time, she refused.
Her reasoning was simple: she’d remarry, but only to a man who made her heart flutter.
Yet a man like that wasn’t easy to find.
On top of that, she didn’t want her daughter, Zhao Yingying, to endure what she had.
She worked tirelessly to send Yingying to the best middle school in their county town.
Then they moved to Jiang City so Yingying could attend Jiang City No.1 High School.
In the end, Zhao Yingying didn’t disappoint, securing admission to Jiang City University.
As the days passed, Li Yun found contentment in her independence.
Now, as she stood to leave the private room, she thought—how could she, not even forty yet, be interested in a balding man in his fifties?
"I know a lot of people. Believe me, one word from me, and you’ll never find work again."
Wu Shengqi slammed the table, his threat icy.
He’d even brought protection—a whole box of it. Now that she was within reach, he couldn’t let her walk away.
"Then I’ll keep delivering takeout."
A fire burned in Li Yun’s eyes. Thank goodness she hadn’t agreed—a man like this would only bring her a lifetime of misery.
"Li Yun! After all the effort I put into introducing you, this is how you repay me?"
Zheng Yan also stood, shouting at Li Yun’s retreating figure.
"I came here for a job."
Just as Li Yun’s hand touched the door handle, Wu Shengqi lunged forward and grabbed her arm.
"You have a daughter in college, don’t you? One word from me, and she’ll never get her diploma. Believe that?"
Wu Shengqi’s gaze dropped to Li Yun’s chest. "You’re already a divorced woman—what’s the harm in letting me have some fun?"
"Let go of me, or I’ll call the police!"
"Go ahead! I’ll spend a few hundred grand to make your daughter disappear! Try me!"
Wu Shengqi’s glare was venomous. He knew exactly where a strong woman’s weakness lay—her child.
Li Yun’s eyes reddened. This man had wealth and connections.
She didn’t care about herself, but she couldn’t risk her daughter’s safety.
"That’s right. Be a good girl and stay with me. You’ll have a job, and money."
Seeing Li Yun’s resistance waver, Wu Shengqi allowed himself a smirk.
Just then, the door burst open.
Bam!
Xu Mu’s fist connected with Wu Shengqi’s nose, sending blood gushing instantly.
Thud!
His body collapsed onto the table, sending plates crashing to the floor.
Xu Mu seized Li Yun’s hand and pulled her to his side.
Before arriving, he’d already sensed the situation unfolding inside.
Li Yun, abruptly yanked toward Xu Mu, stood frozen, her mind blank.
She looked down at his grip on her hand and hastily pulled away.
"You little bastard! Do you have any idea who I am? You dare hit me?"
Clutching his nose, Wu Shengqi glared at Xu Mu.
"You don’t recognize me?"
Xu Mu was surprised.
He remembered leaving the banquet hall with Meng Wanyue without seeing anyone else around.
That meant this man wasn’t even important enough to be inside.
"What are you, some nobody? Why should I know you?" Wu Shengqi roared.
"If you don’t know me, you’re too low-level to matter."
Xu Mu stepped forward, grabbing Wu Shengqi’s collar. "Touch her again, and I’ll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life."
Then he turned to Li Yun. "Auntie, let’s go."
Li Yun nodded instinctively, following closely behind Xu Mu.
Watching his tall figure from behind, her heart pounded wildly.
[Affection +30]
For a fleeting moment, she’d thought—could this be her destined savior?
But no. They could never be. Xu Mu was far too young.
...
"Damn it!"
Wu Shengqi clutched his nose, seething. "Who the hell was that kid? I won’t let this slide!"
"Mr. Wu, calm down."
Zheng Yan hurried to his side, grabbing tissues to wipe the blood from his face.
Wu Shengqi took a deep breath. "Let’s go. I need to unwind."
"Okay."
Zheng Yan nodded.
Wu Shengqi cursed under his breath. He’d thought a single mother in debt would be easy to manipulate.
With a little grooming, he’d planned to enjoy a two-on-one game.
Now that chance was gone.
...
Outside the hotel, Xu Mu and Li Yun stood in the chilly night air.
The cold wind cleared Li Yun’s mind. "Xu Mu, how did you know I was here?"
"Funny story—I overheard him on the phone outside the company."
Xu Mu summarized what had happened.
"What? So he and Zheng Yan were in on this together?"
Li Yun shuddered. No wonder Zheng Yan, after years of silence, had suddenly reached out.
"I heard you were here on the call. When I walked in, I heard the commotion in the room."
Truthfully, Xu Mu hadn’t heard anything—he’d located Li Yun through his heightened senses.
"You shouldn’t have hit him. He’s wealthy, a high-ranking executive at a big company."
Li Yun sighed deeply.
"I don’t care who he is. He bullied you—he deserved it." Xu Mu’s voice was cold.
Li Yun trembled, black text floating above her head.
[Affection +20]
For some reason, she suddenly found this man unbearably admirable.
"Get in. I’m heading back to Jiang City—I’ll take you home."
Xu Mu opened the car door and smiled at her.
"Alright."
Li Yun nodded. Without Xu Mu, she’d have had to find a cheap hotel tonight and take the bus back tomorrow.
As Meng Wanyue turned the car toward Jiang City, they passed the branch office of Xu Corporation just before reaching the highway.
Li Yun pointed out the window. "That’s the big company he works for."
"What? He’s from here?"
Xu Mu frowned—did that mean his job was gone?
Anyone capable of such actions was clearly no good person. It seemed this branch office had quite a few parasites.
"Auntie, let me introduce you to a job," Xu Mu said calmly.

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?"

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.”

ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!