The sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes lingered in the chilly air.
She broke off a small piece and placed it in her mouth.
It was sweet—so sweet it seeped straight into her heart.
That tiny bit of sweetness carved out a small, warm corner in her heart, long battered and encased in frost.
But she dared not linger.
She finished it quickly, then opened her textbook.
Outside the window stretched an endless, oppressive darkness.
Inside, the dim but persistent glow of a 15-watt bulb illuminated the equations on the page.
It also lit up the unwavering goal in the girl’s eyes.
Jingzhou University—the place her father had told her, since she was little, she would one day go.
The kindness of that boy was like a small, warm bonfire in the depths of winter.
She would remember it.
But she would not stop for it.
Her destination lay far beyond.
A place without Zhang Cuilan, without Anhe County.
Her father had said that there, she could sit in bright, spacious rooms and live a good life.
...
Time flowed quietly by—through Ye Ruoxi’s exhausting labor and relentless studies,
through Zhang Cuilan’s frequent nights away from home,
and through the clumsy kindness of the boy next door.
Then, the middle school exam results were announced.
Ye Ruoxi.
Once again, that name was etched at the very top of the list, a place others could only look up to.
First in the entire county.
Fifty points ahead of the second-place student.
A score never before seen in Anhe County’s history.
Rumor had it she could attend Anhe No. 1 High School with full tuition exemption!
The news spread like wildfire through every corner of the urban village.
Some envied her.
Some resented her.
Some said that antisocial girl from the Ye family was blessed by the God of Literature himself.
When Zhang Cuilan heard these words, she was in the market, arguing furiously with a vegetable vendor over a single dime.
Her first reaction wasn’t pride.
It was rage.
A helpless, seething fury at seeing her plans completely derailed.
She threw down the wilted greens in her hand and stormed home.
The house was empty.
Ye Ruoxi was still at school, waiting for her admission letter.
Zhang Cuilan paced back and forth in the cramped, dilapidated room.
Like a beast trapped in a cage.
Her plan had been simple.
Once Ye Ruoxi finished middle school, she’d send her off to work in the factories down south.
A girl of fifteen or sixteen was at the perfect age—
either earn a monthly wage to send home,
or marry well while still young and pretty.
The bride price alone could fetch fifty or sixty thousand.
With that money, she could finally renovate this crumbling house.
But now, everything was ruined.
Anhe No. 1 High School.
Full tuition exemption.
It meant she wouldn’t see a single cent of return from this "useless girl" for the next three years.
Instead, she’d have to keep feeding and housing her for free.
The thought made Zhang Cuilan’s heart itch and burn, as if ants were gnawing at it.
She barged into Ye Ruoxi’s room.
Her eyes landed on the spotless desk,
where a stack of books—more precious to Ye Ruoxi than life itself—stood neatly arranged.
Blind with fury, she reached out and swept them all onto the floor.
“Study! Study! Study!”
“Do these books put food on the table?!”
“I’ll teach you to study!!!”
Still unsatisfied, she lifted her foot and stomped on the books, again and again.
As if she weren’t crushing paper, but Ye Ruoxi’s infuriatingly calm face.
When Ye Ruoxi returned, this was the scene that greeted her.
Chaos everywhere.
Her most treasured books—some with covers torn, others crumpled and dusty.
Zhang Cuilan sat on the bed, panting heavily.
Her gaze, sharp as a knife, sliced into Ye Ruoxi the moment she appeared.
Ye Ruoxi said nothing.
She walked over silently, knelt down,
and began gathering the trampled books one by one.
With her sleeve, she gently wiped away the footprints and dust.
Her movements were tender, as if soothing a wounded child.
Her silence poured oil onto Zhang Cuilan’s smoldering rage.
“How dare you come back!”
Zhang Cuilan shot to her feet, jabbing a finger at her.
“You curse! First your father, and now you’re here to ruin me!”
“Listen well, Ye Ruoxi—you’re not going to high school!”
“Pack your things tomorrow! I’ve already arranged a job for you at an electronics factory in the south!”
Finally, Ye Ruoxi looked up.
Clutching the last book to her chest,
she met Zhang Cuilan’s glare.
“Anhe No. 1 High School. Full tuition exemption.”
Her voice was eerily calm.
“I won’t cost you a single penny.”
“You—”
Zhang Cuilan choked on her words.
“As for living expenses,”
Ye Ruoxi’s eyes were icy,
“I’ll work night markets. A few steamed buns from you won’t be too much to ask.”
With that, she turned away,
carrying her books out of the room.
Zhang Cuilan trembled with rage as she watched her go.
She knew she couldn’t stop her anymore.
This girl’s wings had hardened.
She was beyond control now.
Days later, the admission letter arrived.
The postman called Ye Ruoxi’s name.
Zhang Cuilan snatched it from him before he could finish.
She stared at the red paper with its gilded characters, face darkening.
Her nails dug into it, nearly piercing through.
She wanted to tear it apart, just like she had with that certificate long ago.
But in the end, she didn’t.
She knew it would change nothing—Ye Ruoxi’s name was already on the school’s roster.
She flung the letter to the ground.
“Go if you want! I won’t give you a cent! Not one!”
Ye Ruoxi picked up the paper—more precious to her than life itself—
smoothed it out, and tucked it between the pages of a book.
On registration day, the autumn sky over Anhe County was the clearest it had been in months.
The entrance of Anhe No. 1 High School swarmed with crowds.
Students in new clothes buzzed with excitement,
their proud parents hovering beside them.
Ye Ruoxi came alone.
She wore her faded middle school uniform
and carried a patched-up old backpack.
Like a solitary shadow in the wrong world.
Weaving through the noise, she found the registration desk for Class 1-1.
Su Yang had also tested into the school and was placed in the same class.
He and his mother, Lin Dongmei, had arrived early.
Su Yang spotted Ye Ruoxi instantly in the crowd.
She stood out—
not because she was pretty,
but because of the quiet solitude that set her apart from everything around her.
“Ruoxi!”
Lin Dongmei waved warmly when she saw her.
Ye Ruoxi hesitated, then approached.
“Auntie Dongmei. Su Yang.”
Her greeting was soft.
“Oh, you came all by yourself? Your mother really…”
Lin Dongmei took her hand, eyes full of pity as she looked her over.
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
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.”
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.
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
