The old district in the southern suburbs of Jingzhou.
A refurbished blue-brick house was adorned with red silk.
Wang Tongwen had moved his art gallery from Haizhou to Jingzhou.
This was a new beginning.
On opening day, the gallery was bustling with guests.
Nearly all the prominent figures from Jingzhou’s cultural and art circles had arrived.
Lu Chenyuan pushed a stroller, walking through the crowd with Mo Qingli.
Little Lu Shi'an sat inside, wide-eyed, curiously taking in the novel world around him.
Wang Tongwen, dressed in a modernized Tang suit, strode forward to greet them.
He radiated energy, his scholarly demeanor tinged with joy.
“Chenyuan, Qingli, you’re here.” His address for Lu Chenyuan had grown much more familiar.
“Uncle Wang, congratulations.” Lu Chenyuan extended his hand.
“Congratulations, Uncle Wang.” Mo Qingli smiled warmly.
“Please, come inside.” Wang Tongwen’s gaze landed on Lu Shi'an, and he beamed.
The gallery was bathed in soft light, its walls lined with paintings.
The artworks, rendered in warm hues and delicate strokes, depicted ordinary scenes from daily life—
A shaft of sunlight illuminating floating dust, a cat napping on a windowsill, rain-slicked cobblestones after a shower.
The exhibition was titled Rebirth.
The artist was Lou Mengling.
Lu Chenyuan spotted his mother immediately.
She stood at the center of the gallery, dressed in an elegant qipao, her long hair loosely pinned up.
She was conversing with a few art critics, her expression composed and confident.
No longer shackled by the identity of the Lu family’s matriarch, no longer burdened by marital resentment.
She was no longer anyone’s appendage.
She was simply Lou Mengling—a painter who had rediscovered her brush and herself.
“Mom.” Lu Chenyuan approached her.
Lou Mengling turned, her eyes lighting up at the sight of them.
“Chenyuan, Qingli, An’an.” She smiled, scooping Lu Shi'an into her arms.
The little one knew his grandmother well, reaching out to grasp the jade brooch pinned to her chest.
“Oh, my precious.” Lou Mengling laughed heartily.
Mo Qingli watched the scene, a soft smile playing on her lips.
She could tell her mother-in-law had truly been reborn.
That inner peace, nourished by love and self-worth, was unmistakable.
Wang Tongwen naturally took his place beside Lou Mengling.
He didn’t say much—just quietly replaced her tea when it cooled, or stepped in with professional insight when someone posed a tricky question about her work.
Their interactions held no grand declarations.
Only this quiet, steadfast understanding.
Seeing this, Lu Chenyuan felt a weight lift from his heart.
His mother was happy.
And as her son, he could finally rest easy.
He took Mo Qingli’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
She turned to him, smiling.
……
A week later.
A small, private ceremony was held in a closed-off auditorium at Jingzhou University.
Lu Ruoxi and Su Yang were married here.
No media, no extravagant displays.
Just simple flowers and warm lighting.
Only their closest family and friends were present.
Lou Mengling attended as the representative of both families, alongside Su Yang’s mother.
Lu Chenyuan and Mo Qingli sat in the front row with Lu Shi'an.
Lu Chenxiao, Lu Chenyan, and Lu Chenjin also arrived with their partners.
Lu Qianqian, currently in the Middle East, sent her blessings via video call.
On the screen, she looked tanned and thinner, but her eyes sparkled like stars.
Behind her, a group of children of various ethnicities waved cheerfully at the camera.
From the Mo family, Mo Zhenbang and Lin Shuhan attended in person.
Two other elders with unique ties were also present—
Chen Jingzhi, Lu Ruoxi’s mentor, and Lu Chengsi, her biological grandfather.
Key executives from Yuanlong Tech, including Ren Qian and Lin Yuan, were there as well.
The most striking guests, however, were a few unassuming figures seated in an inconspicuous corner.
Dressed plainly yet exuding quiet authority, they needed no introduction.
Their presence alone was the highest form of recognition.
The wedding march began.
Lu Ruoxi walked down the aisle on Lu Chenyuan’s arm.
She wore a simple white gown, free of embellishments, her makeup understated yet breathtaking in its purity.
Su Yang waited at the altar, his gaze so tender it could melt ice.
From that classroom in Anhe County to the labs of Jingzhou University—
From chasing her shadow to walking beside her—
This journey had taken him ten years.
Today, he had finally arrived.
Lu Chenyuan placed his sister’s hand in Su Yang’s.
“Su Yang, I’m entrusting Ruoxi to you now.” His voice was solemn.
“Brother, you have my word.” Su Yang’s grip on Lu Ruoxi’s hand was firm, his resolve unshakable.
……
After the ceremony, the reception was held in the university’s faculty dining hall.
Lu Ruoxi, holding a glass of juice, led Su Yang to Lu Chenyuan and Mo Qingli.
“Brother, sister-in-law.”
“Thank you.” Her eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she looked at Lu Chenyuan.
Those two words carried the weight of a lifetime—
The support in Anhe County, the guidance that pulled her from the quagmire of her past, the freedom to choose her own path.
“Silly girl.” Lu Chenyuan’s voice was gentle.
“You’ve earned every bit of this.”
He turned to Su Yang.
“Take good care of her.”
“Always.” Su Yang’s gaze never left Lu Ruoxi.
……
Night had fallen.
At the penthouse of Cloud Peak Residences No. 1, the space had transformed entirely after months of renovations.
The cold, fortress-like emptiness was gone.
In its place stood a true home.
Warm walnut walls, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves packed with volumes, a plush wool rug strewn with Lu Shi'an’s toys.
The living room’s lighting, personally adjusted by Mo Qingli, cast a soft, inviting glow.
Lu Shi'an was fast asleep in the nursery.
Lu Chenyuan and Mo Qingli sat together on the sofa, her head resting against his shoulder as she scrolled through a company report on her tablet.
“Qin Ya’s Edge has gained another three points in the European market,” she murmured.
“Stella’s Prometheus just launched Version 3.0, targeting enterprise customization. They’re making aggressive moves.”
“Yuanlong’s Genesis still leads domestically, but international competition is tightening.”
Her tone was calm, merely stating facts.
The business world was a battlefield—complacency wasn’t an option.
Lu Chenyuan nodded silently.
He reached for the remote, dimming the lights further.
Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, the night sky over Jingzhou glittered with stars.
“Qingli,” he said suddenly.
“Hmm?”
“Do you think Earth is getting… too crowded?”
lanned to earn money steadily and take life at a slower pace. But he never expected... his father's remarriage, and the stepmother bringing along a dependent, would completely disrupt his life's plans...
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
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.”
