Mo Qingli looked at Lu Chenyuan and said slowly,
"You pushed Lin Yuan and Ren Qian to the forefront, giving them full authority and also the space to make mistakes."
"It seems like you've never been afraid that Yuanlong would leave you."
Lu Chenyuan smiled.
"A healthy company is like a healthy child," he said.
"You can't keep it tied to you forever. You have to teach it to walk on its own, to feed itself, to face the storms of this world independently."
"A parent's responsibility isn't to walk the entire journey for them. It's to point them in the right direction when they set out—and then learn to step back gracefully."
"The same goes for the owner of a company."
"Depersonalization isn't just a slogan. It's a higher form of confidence."
Mo Qingli listened quietly.
"Step back gracefully..." she repeated softly, a complex glimmer flashing in her eyes.
She thought of the uncles in the Mo family.
They treated Mo Corporation as their private property, clutching every shred of power tightly, unwilling to let go.
They always believed that only a Mo could manage the Mo family's legacy.
If she hadn't emerged unexpectedly, Mo Corporation would likely have been consumed by internal strife.
She looked at Lu Chenyuan.
This man had built a business empire even larger than Mo Corporation, yet he could speak of "stepping back" so easily.
His vision, his magnanimity, had long transcended notions of family inheritance or corporate ownership.
What he wanted to create was a self-sustaining business ecosystem.
And her? Though she had pushed reforms with an iron will, deep down, she had never broken free from the mindset that "Mo Corporation belongs to the Mo family."
"Chenyuan," she suddenly asked, "what if, one day, the Mo family has no worthy successor? What if no one capable of upholding Mo Corporation emerges?"
This was a question she had never dared to dwell on before.
But now, she wanted to hear his answer.
Lu Chenyuan took her hand.
"Then entrust it to the most capable professionals," he said earnestly, looking into her eyes.
"Establish a family trust to hold the shares and receive dividends."
"That way, whether the Mo descendants are business prodigies or simply want to be painters or musicians, they can live comfortably and with dignity."
"And Mo Corporation can break free from the constraints of family, going further and steadier."
"Just as I once did with Lu Corporation."
But she wasn't like him.
Back then, Lu Corporation was a sinking ship—Lu Chenyuan could afford to burn his bridges.
Mo Corporation, however, was now at its peak.
And Mo Qingli had always seen herself as its guardian.
She had never considered that one day, she might become the very shackle holding it back.
At the same time, she was also a prisoner of Mo Corporation!
Lu Chenyuan's words planted a seed in her heart, subtly shifting her perspective.
After that conversation, Mo Qingli's life seemed to enter a new phase—one of greater ease.
She began restructuring her time.
Mornings were reserved for handling Mo Corporation's most critical affairs with efficiency.
Afternoons belonged entirely to her and Lu Chenyuan.
They would go to the terrace together, watering plants and pruning leaves.
Lu Chenyuan would share the agricultural knowledge he had picked up during his rural poverty alleviation work in a past life.
Which plants preferred shade, which thrived in sunlight, how to gauge soil acidity.
Mo Qingli listened with fascination, like an eager student.
She also developed a passion for calligraphy.
Lu Chenyuan sourced the finest brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones for her.
Seated by the window, she would meticulously copy the works of ancient masters.
From stiff and awkward strokes, she progressed to fluid, effortless ones.
Her heart, steeped in ink and brushwork, grew calmer and more perceptive.
Their twice-weekly outings became their most anticipated "dates."
They didn’t visit luxury malls or Michelin-starred restaurants.
Instead, Lu Chenyuan took her to Godu's art galleries, where they would spend entire afternoons.
Side by side, they would stand before a painting, discussing its light, colors, and the stories behind the artist’s strokes.
They also frequented quiet, unique secondhand bookstores.
Amid yellowed pages and the scent of ink, they whiled away the hours.
Once, they even went to see a movie like an ordinary couple.
When the lights dimmed and Lu Chenyuan quietly took her hand in the darkness, Mo Qingli’s heart skipped a beat.
She suddenly realized—
She was reliving the youthful experiences she had missed out on over the past two decades.
She remained strong, independent, and wise.
But her heart grew softer, fuller.
She understood now that relinquishing absolute control over work hadn’t cost her anything.
Instead, it had given her more.
The time to appreciate a flower in bloom.
The serenity to savor a cup of tea.
The calm to watch the sunset beside the one she loved.
She discovered that without abandoning her career, she still had room to embrace other things.
To experience a more complete, richer life.
For example…
An idea, like a seed, took root silently in her heart.
That night,
after washing up, they lay in bed.
As usual, Lu Chenyuan picked up a book on J Country’s history, planning to read a little before sleep.
But Mo Qingli took it from his hands.
"Chenyuan," she turned to face him.
"Hmm?" He set the book aside, studying her with slight puzzlement.
Tonight, her eyes seemed different—
bright, as if filled with starlight.
"I was reading a parenting magazine today," she said suddenly.
Lu Chenyuan froze.
"The article mentioned that babies can hear outside sounds while still in the womb."
"That fathers should talk to them often, tell them stories through their mother’s belly."
Her voice was soft, gentle.
Yet each word rippled through Lu Chenyuan’s calm heart like a pebble.
He wasn’t a fool.
He understood instantly.
His breath grew uneven.
His Adam’s apple bobbed unconsciously.
He gazed at her, at the mingled shyness, anticipation, and resolve in her eyes.
His heart flooded with an indescribable surge of joy and tenderness.
He turned and pulled her tightly into his arms.
Their warmth seeped through thin sleepwear, hearts beating against each other.
When passion rose, everything fell into place naturally.
Lu Chenyuan’s breathing grew heavier.
Propping himself up, he instinctively reached for the nightstand.
But a soft hand caught his wrist.
"Chenyuan." Mo Qingli’s voice trembled faintly in the quiet dark.
"Don’t."
Lu Chenyuan stilled.
He looked down, meeting her luminous eyes in the dim light.
Within it lay a thousand unspoken words.
Yet in the end, they all condensed into a single invitation—one he understood.
A solemn promise, woven with the weight of the future.
He could no longer restrain himself.
Lowering his head, he answered her with a kiss deeper and more lingering than any before, pouring his soul into the silent reply.
Outside, moonlight spilled like liquid silver.
Inside, the room hummed with an intoxicating warmth.
This stolen respite, this gilded cage, birthed its most radiant hope on this very night.
] [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!"
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!"
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!
