Liu Mingrui was already dissatisfied with how Gu Chenan had hurriedly arranged work for her right after she had transmigrated.
To make matters worse, Gu Chenan also intended for her to enter the entertainment industry, which made her even more unhappy.
Su Qianmo could stay by Gu Chenan's side constantly, so why did she have to leave him?
Not wanting Gu Chenan to see her crying face, she turned her head away and said softly, "So, please don't make me leave you, okay?"
Seeing Liu Mingrui's tearful appearance, Gu Chenan's eyes widened, and he became flustered.
He quickly waved his hands and said, "No, no, no, Mingrui, you misunderstood my meaning. I never said you had to enter the entertainment industry."
"Then what did you mean?" Liu Mingrui turned her head back, her eyes still red-rimmed.
"What I meant was..." Gu Chenan thought for a moment, then decided to be honest, "I was just afraid you'd be bored, you know? In the novel world, you were the daughter of that invincible Chinese war god, with countless things to do every day. I can't just keep you tied to my side as a dutiful wife, can I?"
"Why can't you?!"
Liu Mingrui wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and turned her head stubbornly, "You say I had countless things to do, but do you know what I've been doing during the times you weren't in Donghai?"
"What have you been doing?" Gu Chenan asked, puzzled.
Liu Mingrui opened her palm to reveal faint calluses, "I've been learning to cook every day, for you!"
"For... for me?"
Gu Chenan was stunned, his eyes showing a shocked expression.
Liu Mingrui had mentioned before that she was learning to cook, but Gu Chenan never thought she was doing it for him. He had assumed Liu Mingrui was just bored and took it up on a whim.
"So, do you understand now?" Liu Mingrui asked softly, her eyes shimmering with hope.
"I..." Gu Chenan gazed at Liu Mingrui's face, completely shocked by what she had just said. After a moment, he nodded, "I understand."
He reached out to hold Liu Mingrui's hand, his fingers gently pressing on the calluses, "I... I won't make you leave me."
"Me neither," Liu Mingrui smiled, a sweet smile.
Finally, she wouldn't have to leave Gu Chenan. Finally, she could stay by his side always.
In the novel, she had lost the battle for the position of main wife to Su Qianmo, becoming the loser.
Although in the real world, there was still the saying that childhood sweethearts couldn't compare to a destined encounter, Liu Mingrui still wanted to try.
But if she entered the entertainment industry, not only would her interactions with Gu Chenan decrease, but it would also give Su Qianmo an advantage.
This was something Liu Mingrui could not accept under any circumstances.
...
Meanwhile.
In the Zhenhua board of directors' office.
"Bang!"
A stack of documents was slammed down in front of Huang Yuan. The several directors sitting opposite Huang Yuan looked furious, a dangerous atmosphere permeating the entire office, as if one more push could set everyone off.
"Chairman Huang, do you know how much Zhenhua has lost in just two short days?"
"Not only that, you ignored so many high-profit products to make these low-profit face masks. Your business acumen is very questionable."
"Chairman Huang, care to explain?"
Huang Yuan was extremely anxious inside, but he still managed to force out a smile and said, "I... I did this to deal a crushing blow to Caiying. If Caiying goes bankrupt, won't Zhenhua have one less competitor?"
"Hmph!"
Someone snorted derisively, "Deal a crushing blow to Caiying? I can't believe you have the nerve to say that. Right now, the entire internet is searching for Caiying, their fame has already spread beyond Shanghai. How do you plan to crush Caiying?"
"Chairman Huang, it's better if you hadn't brought this up, but since you did, I have to address it." A middle-aged man wearing glasses sat with his legs crossed, his face ashen as he spoke, "As far as I know, Caiying only launched their promotional campaign out of desperation for self-preservation."
"Yet you kept pushing them, allowing Caiying to glimpse a chance for survival in their difficult situation. Don't you understand the principle of not pushing a desperate enemy too far?"
"Your saying this makes us doubt your business capabilities even more."
"This..." Huang Yuan was at a loss for words, unable to offer any explanation.
From the center of the seats, an elderly man with graying hair pointed to the stack of documents in front of Huang Yuan and said, "The last few pages are the termination contract. Chairman Huang, you have now been officially dismissed from Zhenhua, and we are reclaiming the shares you hold according to the agreement."
Huang Yuan's face showed alarm. He picked up the contract as if facing a great enemy, flipped it open, and looked at it for a few moments before raising his head.
"Chairman, you... you can't do this to me. No matter what, I've been loyal to Zhenhua. Isn't this like killing the donkey after it's done with the grinding?"
"Hmph." The elderly man laughed coldly, "Huang Yuan, please explain clearly, what exactly have I done to you?"
"The compensation in the contract is calculated according to labor law. What more do you want?"
"This..."
Huang Yuan was speechless, unable to refute.
Indeed, there was nothing wrong with the contract, but the problem was that the company was now reclaiming his shares!
What did a few months' salary matter? Those shares were the most important thing!
"And that vice president you brought in, tell him to pack up too," the elderly man waved his hand impatiently, "Now go."
...
In the general manager's office.
Huang Yuan was packing his things into a cardboard box, looking dejected.
But just then, his phone rang.
Seeing it was a call from Song Xiaoli, his gloomy expression eased a bit.
"Hello, Xiaoli." As soon as the call connected, Huang Yuan sighed, about to explain his current situation, but unexpectedly...
"Huang Yuan, what the hell are you doing? Didn't you say Caiying would go bankrupt within a month? Now Caiying's fame has spread all over the internet!"
Song Xiaoli's accusatory voice made Huang Yuan stumble, but he still forced a smile and said, "Xiaoli, you saw the female model Caiying hired. It's because of her that Caiying managed to turn things around."
"Can't Caiying hire someone, so you can't? Why don't you hire that female model too? I don't believe Zhenhua can't afford her!" Song Xiaoli was fuming.
"We tried, but she refused!" Huang Yuan was already in a bad mood after being fired, and Song Xiaoli's accusations made him even more irritated, so his words lacked their usual tenderness.
"Refused? Why would she refuse? Is she an idiot to turn down money? I think you just didn't try to help me at all!"
Seeing that Caiying had now gained widespread recognition, jealousy and anger completely occupied Song Xiaoli's thoughts. At this point, she was simply venting her emotions on Huang Yuan.
Hearing this, Huang Yuan's blood rushed to his head. I lost my job for you, and you still say I didn't try to help you?
These words were far too ungrateful!
Although this was what Huang Yuan thought, he still used his remaining rationality to suppress his emotions. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Xiaoli, of course I sincerely wanted to help you. But the board has already held me accountable, and I've lost my job because I helped you. So please don't blame me, okay?"
These almost pleading words were Huang Yuan's final warning, but unexpectedly, Song Xiaoli exploded upon hearing them.
Huang Yuan losing his job didn't matter much, but without Huang Yuan's position, how could she, Song Xiaoli, deal with Gu Chenan's Caiying?!
"Lost your job? What are you good for? If you're no longer the general manager of Zhenhua, how are we supposed to deal with Gu Chenan?"
"I think you're just deliberately trying to anger me. I don't care what method you use, teach Gu Chenan a lesson immediately, or we're breaking up!"
Listening to the shouting from the phone, Huang Yuan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.
"Bang!"
He slammed his fist on the desk with almost all his strength, roaring into the phone, "Song Xiaoli, don't push it too far!"
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
shall grant"] ["Inscribing the glory of our race upon tombstones"] ["All that is threatened, I shall protect"] How his younger sister sees her brother: A brother who only makes eye contact once a day, mostly fading into the background as he tinkers with who-knows-what in his room all day. Their life paths should have remained largely separate. Until one day. Su Qi created an equipment card for his never-met "online girlfriend." His sister fell into silent contemplation upon receiving the "white stockings." [Card can be upgraded] [Upgrade by fulfilling any of the following conditions] [Condition ①: Consume one hundred higher-tier cards] [Condition ②: Complete one 'Heart-Pounding Adventure'] What constitutes a Heart-Pounding Adventure? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Beginner Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to admire it.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Easy Level): Equip the card, invite 'Su Qi' to touch it, and analyze the equipment's texture.] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Entry Level): Equip the card and invite 'Su Qi' to...] [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Challenge Level): Freely combine the words 'Brother' 'Out' 'Brother' 'Me' 'Please' into a complete sentence...] "Please help me analyze both teams' mistakes in this match, brother..." His sister exhaled in relief—surely... surely there couldn't be anything more difficult? [Heart-Pounding Adventure (Suicide Mission Level): Sneak a peek at the names of the galgames in 'Su Qi's' hidden E-drive folder]
