Chapter 37
Late at night in the southern district, inside Yan Huan's rented apartment.
The bedside lamp on the desk glowed softly, casting a warm light that illuminated scattered papers and textbooks.
Yan Huan lay on the bed, his face pale and his mind blank. His mouth was slightly open as various symbols and equations floated before his eyes.
Then, as if he had just solved a difficult math problem, he suddenly clutched his head. His black bangs slipped through his fingers.
His bloodshot eyes sparkled with excitement, a gleam of intelligence shining through.
"I think I solved it—if I just integrate..."
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the phantom text hovering in his vision, where a countdown timer ticked away.
[Learning Conqueror, Layer 10, Remaining Time: 1 minute 28 seconds]
Yan Huan instinctively tried to sit up and return to the desk, eager to continue studying and maintain his Conqueror layers.
But before he could move, a black cat leapt in front of him, lifted her head, and reminded him,
"Yan Huan, you need to rest."
Yan Huan blinked in surprise, looking at Meow-chan in front of him.
Her words seemed to awaken the pain in his body, pulling him slightly out of his trance-like focus.
He became aware of the aching all over his body, and his head was spinning with fatigue.
'Kidney deficiency—it always comes after overexertion.'
*Hiss—*
Yan Huan inhaled sharply, wincing as he rubbed his shoulder. He turned to Meow-chan and asked,
"What time is it now?"
"It's almost 2 a.m., meow~"
Meow-chan padded over to his side and gently swiped her tail across the phone he hadn’t touched all night.
The screen lit up, displaying the time: 1:48 a.m., along with several unread messages from Plane.
"You've been reading since 5 p.m. yesterday—nearly eight hours straight. You still have school tomorrow. If this continues, your body won't be able to handle it."
Hearing this, Yan Huan raised an eyebrow, reached out to rub Meow-chan’s head, and gave a helpless smile.
"I just didn’t expect this buff to be so insane. That feeling of gradually understanding everything is seriously addictive."
Actually, it’s not that studying itself is boring—after all, 'curiosity' is a fundamental human trait.
The real issue is that studying rarely offers instant, positive feedback.
Especially with a subject as difficult as math.
Most people, even after hours or days, still can't grasp its concepts or see its practical use, leaving them with a sense of futility.
That’s why people often equate studying with being "boring."
In quantitative terms, no matter how much effort you put in, the problems you don't understand remain unsolved.
But if every thirty minutes of studying gave you obvious progress, studying would be as addictive as anything else.
That’s exactly what it felt like for Yan Huan when using the Learning Conqueror ability.
The more focused he became, the faster he advanced and the more concepts he grasped.
Once he reached the highest layer, the surge of clarity allowed him to solve previously incomprehensible problems in an instant.
Back and forth—it became practically addictive.
And then there were the "layers."
Maybe due to a mild case of OCD, every time Yan Huan thought about taking a break, he couldn't help but keep going once he saw his Conqueror layers about to drop.
But he had to stop.
Yan Huan yawned, watching the countdown for Learning Conqueror tick down to zero.
The moment it ended, his previously sharp mind grew noticeably duller.
Although Yan Huan wasn’t unintelligent to begin with, after experiencing that heightened state, he finally understood the phrase—
"Even among geniuses, there's a gap!"
Dragging his heavy body to the computer, Yan Huan tidied up his notes and drafts, then closed the digital textbook he had already read halfway through.
He shut the laptop, ready to wash up and rest.
"Oh right, Meow-chan. How about I open a can of food for you?"
"Meow?"
Yan Huan crouched down and opened a can of cat food, only to see Meow-chan eyeing it with visible reluctance.
She glanced at the can on the floor, then at Yan Huan’s hopeful expression.
Then she reached out with her paw, lightly batting at him as if to awaken his sense of reason.
"Come on, eat up. Kitties need this stuff to grow nice and chubby."
"Meow~"
Meow-chan blinked, then reluctantly walked up to the can and gave it a tentative lick.
'Huh?'
'This isn’t as bad as I thought?'
*Nom... nom...*
Soon, Meow-chan was licking away eagerly, making Yan Huan smile as he patted her head.
Then he picked up his phone. He hadn’t checked Plane all night while in focus mode, so he started browsing his messages.
'Hmm.'
In the student council general group chat, You’an Lina mentioned she’d be attending the Linmen Game Expo this weekend.
Then Yinggong chimed in, saying she wanted to check it out too.
'Well, looks like it’s turned into a student council team-building trip now.'
It wasn’t the right time to message the group and disturb others’ rest. As he exited the chat, he noticed a red dot on the "Contacts" tab.
'Someone added me?'
Yan Huan blinked and tapped into "My Friends," spotting a new friend request sent around 10 p.m. last night.
"Xin Yi"
"Requests to add you as a friend."
"Source: Plane ID search"
Yan Huan studied the sender's musical note avatar while walking to the restroom to wash up, his thoughts stirring.
'Could it be Bai Yi?'
Earlier, he and her mom had added each other on Plane—it wouldn’t be hard for her to find his account.
After thinking it over, Yan Huan tapped "Accept," but didn’t message her. Instead, he focused on washing up.
When he returned, Meow-chan had already finished the food and was licking her paws clean.
'Seems like I don’t need to prepare a litter box for her—so this is what being a deity is like.'
'But with only intake and no output... isn’t she more like a Pixiu?'
(*) Pixiu: A mythical Chinese creature said to consume wealth without expelling it, symbolizing accumulation.
"Bedtime, Meow-chan."
"Meow~"
Yan Huan turned off the lamp and lay down, rubbing the center of his brow in exhaustion.
Meow-chan hopped beside him, blinking her clear, jade-like eyes, and asked,
"Didn’t you message your boss from the part-time job earlier? Hasn’t she replied yet?"
Just as Yan Huan was about to fall asleep, her question reminded him to check his phone again.
'Oh, right.'
Tong Tingting still hadn’t replied to his message.
'No messages all night... What’s she been up to?'
He stared at the empty chat box, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn’t send another message.
Instead, he set the phone aside and pulled Meow-chan into his arms.
"Forget it. I’ll just ask her directly tomorrow."
"Meow~"
Yan Huan closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.
Time rewound bit by bit—to Thursday night, in the Jinghe district.
Inside a room on the first floor of a villa, warm light pooled like water, illuminating the room’s elegant furnishings.
An electric guitar was still plugged into the computer, surrounded by other instruments. The screen glowed with a professional music production software.
The tracks were filled with instrumentals, forming a vibrant rainbow of varying lengths across the digital interface.
A new song was about to be born.
Ever since releasing her second song a year ago, she hadn’t published anything new.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t written—despite her busy schedule, she had completed melodies and arrangements throughout the year.
But she never got around to the rest: the lyrics, the title.
Partly because of her overwhelming workload, and partly because of her mother’s constant disapproval, which made her question whether she should continue.
But then—
Just yesterday, she discovered that the Yan Huan her mother always mentioned... was actually her fan?
"Was that a lie?"
"But why would he lie?"
Every time she had seen him before, it was during his "No Concern" phase—they didn't even know each other. He had absolutely no motive to lie.
Besides, he was outstanding—practically one of the top figures at school. He could've won the trial just by relying on his looks.
Someone like him...
...was actually waiting for her to release a new song?!
"Mmm."
Thinking of this, Bai Yi, wearing a dress and lying on the bed, quickly buried her face in the pillow she always hugged.
Her feet, wrapped in white socks, kicked up excitedly, making *pa pa pa* sounds against the bed.
She rolled twice on the bed with the pillow in her arms, her black hair fanning out like petals, framing her blushing face like a blooming flower.
She couldn't stop the corners of her lips from lifting, giggling foolishly to herself.
'Calm down, Bai Yi!'
'You're an idol!'
'You must...'
'You must maintain your image and work even harder!'
So, she quickly forced herself to straighten her expression.
But that smile kept sneaking back, curling up from the corners of her lips.
Bai Yi put down the pillow and walked over to her computer.
A phone lay on the desk. Someone’s profile was already open—she had secretly memorized the account from her mother’s phone.
Just one tap on the screen would send a friend request.
Bai Yi pouted and extended both index fingers, hovering over the button for a long while, but she still couldn’t bring herself to press it.
"Ahh, no. I can't. I can't do it."
She quickly covered her flushed cheeks again, letting her cool fingers soothe the heat on her pretty face.
'Sending it would just be too weird.'
'And what if he asks when the new song is coming out? Or if I’m performing at the Sunday game expo?'
Not only had she not written the lyrics yet, but her mom definitely wouldn't allow her to perform that weekend either.
Her mom despised her singing the most.
Thinking about all this, the warmth in Bai Yi’s face faded little by little.
She pressed her lips together and stared sadly at the music tracks on her screen.
They looked like a dragon without eyes—lifeless, just lying there inside her computer.
"Why are you back?"
Just then, she heard the sound of the front door opening, followed by Zuo Jiangqin’s voice.
"Ah, I heard Yiyi ran away from home, so I left work and rushed back to Linmen."
A middle-aged male voice responded.
It was Jiang Xiong, Zuo Jiangqin’s remarried husband, who had just returned.
"Come on. She was just throwing a little tantrum. She’ll be fine in a few days. She even went to the event today—I’m sure she knows she was wrong."
"Even if it’s a tantrum, running away from home is still a big deal. Is Yiyi asleep?"
"Not sure. Probably asleep." Footsteps approached, and Bai Yi turned her head toward the door, where a knocking sound followed.
*Dong dong.*
"Yiyi, are you asleep?"
Bai Yi pressed her lips together, hesitated a moment, then said,
"The door’s not locked, Uncle Jiang."
*Ka-da.*
The door opened, revealing a refined man with half-white hair and slight wrinkles, still dressed in formal attire.
Wearing glasses, he glanced at Bai Yi and smiled.
"Your mom said you ran away from home the day before yesterday?"
"Yeah, but it's fine now."
Jiang Xiong folded his arms and said noncommittally,
"Is that so."
As the silence grew, Bai Yi glanced at him, then took the initiative to ask,
"Is everything okay with the company? Coming back to Linmen all of a sudden must’ve affected your work, right?"
"On the contrary, things are going great over there. I actually planned to return to Linmen soon. The president of Ye International sent his daughter here. There’ll be a lot of business in Linmen, and I figured I’d try to connect with them."
"Ye International? That’s a huge company. Can you even get in?"
"Maybe not for others, but your Uncle here probably can. You know me, Yiyi—I may not be super capable, but I’ve got plenty of friends."
Jiang Xiong smiled and stepped into Bai Yi’s room.
He didn’t close the door. He just pulled over a stool and sat down.
"That new person in charge, Ye Lan, was once my fellow disciple—she was a year ahead of me."
"I even gave her a wedding gift. But she had poor taste in men—her husband turned out to be trash. Even when their kid was still little, he was already cheating. She caught him and kicked him so hard he lost the ability to have kids."
Casually tossing out the story, Jiang Xiong piqued Bai Yi’s interest. Though she hadn’t planned to talk, she now asked in disbelief,
"Ye International... Didn’t your senior’s family have a lot of money? How did he even dare to cheat?"
"It’s complicated. I only heard bits and pieces, not the full story."
Jiang Xiong spread his hands in a helpless gesture and said,
"Back when Ye International was just starting, money was tight. My senior also had siblings, so her college years were financially rough."
"Things got better later. When she brought the guy home, her family didn’t approve—he was poor, and they rejected the marriage no matter what."
Bai Yi blinked, looking very curious.
"So..."
"So when she married him, her parents didn’t even attend. Probably never approved of it till the end. But maybe it wasn’t just his background—maybe they sensed he was a bad guy."
Hearing that, Bai Yi’s expression grew complicated. She could only sigh.
"The adult world is just too complicated."
"Right? That’s why I hope you spend more time with people your age and less time working."
Bai Yi caught the implication, pouted, and muttered,
"Aren’t all celebrities like this? Always attending events. And what if I’m not popular anymore? That’s why Mom said I should attend more while I still have fans."
"You can’t earn all the money in the world, Yiyi."
Jiang Xiong took off his glasses and smiled.
"Even my senior at Ye International has a mountain of problems. Let alone us. If things have gotten so bad that you’re running away from home, maybe it’s time for a proper break."
Bai Yi glanced at Jiang Xiong and softly said,
"But what about the breach penalty? That’s a lot of money, right? We probably can't afford it, right?"
"Exactly. We can’t."
"Then why are we even talking?!"
Bai Yi angrily threw a plush doll from the desk, but Jiang Xiong easily caught it.
"Don’t be so stubborn. What I mean is—finish what’s on your plate now, then let’s take fewer jobs after."
"There’s still a long road ahead, Yiyi. You should go to school more, spend time with classmates, read more—even if studying isn’t your thing, you need to see more of the world."
"And when you have free time, do the things you love."
The middle-aged man played with the plush doll a moment, then tossed it back.
"Our family isn’t rich, but we’re not poor either. Worst case, even if we do nothing, we won’t starve. So relax a little and be brave."
Bai Yi instinctively caught the doll but just stared at Jiang Xiong, unable to respond for a long while.
A moment later, Zuo Jiangqin’s voice rang out from upstairs.
"What are you doing down there? Go take a shower! Wash up and get to bed!!"
Bai Yi blinked at her mother’s voice, while Jiang Xiong visibly flinched under her fierce tone.
A layer of cold sweat appeared on his face.
Clearly, that was the signal.
Jiang Xiong reached out with trembling hands, moved the chair back into place, and gave Bai Yi a helpless smile.
"I’m going to bed then. You get some rest too, okay?"
"Okay, Uncle Jiang."
Bai Yi nodded, watched him leave, and closed the door behind him.
'Be brave, huh...'
Bai Yi turned to her phone, where the profile of a user named "Huan" was still open.
She pouted, reached out her finger, and tapped the "Add Friend" button.
A gentle tap, and then—
[Friend request sent!]
[Success!]
Bai Yi nervously raised her phone, eyes fixed on the Contacts screen. The friend request was still pending, and her heartbeat began to race.
'Will he accept it?'
'Or...'
'Will he reject it?'
Hugging her phone tightly, she flopped onto the bed and continued to stare at the screen, anxiety creeping in.
One minute passed.
Then five.
'Ahahaha... maybe he's just busy and hasn't seen it yet?'
'Let's just scroll through some videos for a bit. It's fine... it's fine.'
Bai Yi opened the short video app and started casually scrolling.
However, every few clips, she would switch back to the background screen to check if he had accepted her request.
The result was always the same—
No!!
'Why did I even send that friend request, huh?!'
'Isn't there a way to cancel it?!'
Face flushed red, Bai Yi began rolling around on the bed in frustration.
'One act of bravery, and now I'm paying for it with a whole night of social anxiety...'
Little did she know, Yan Huan hadn’t even seen the friend request she’d sent.
In his world, there was only one thing—studying.
Meanwhile, in the southern district of Linmen, at the Nursery Rhyme Pub—
The pub’s main door was firmly shut, with a “Closed Today” sign hanging from the handle. Even the rolling shutter inside was pulled down.
As a result, whatever was going on inside remained a complete mystery to passersby.
"Tingting, you have to help us!"
Inside the closed pub, a group of people had gathered. Several muscular men with wing tattoos smirked at the two injured men in the center.
The two bore obvious knife wounds and burn marks. Though severely injured, they remained unnervingly calm, eyes fixed straight ahead.
On the sofa before them sat a red-haired woman in a black T-shirt and jeans. Her eyes were lifeless as she evaluated the kneeling pair.
Besides the brawny men, the pub was also filled with graceful, glamorous women in fur coats and qipaos (*), each exuding a perfumed elegance with every movement.
(*) Qipao: A traditional Chinese dress known for its high collar and form-fitting silhouette.
They puffed on cigarettes and sipped wine, resting their chins in their hands as they watched the scene unfold with amused smiles.
Tong Tingting said nothing, but a man beside her sneered and muttered,
"Hey, you didn’t even call her Sis Tong, and you're already begging for help? Don’t you know the rules?"
"Sis Tong, Sis Tong,"
One of the kneeling men finally spoke, crawling a bit closer to her.
"Please... help us. We're begging you—just help us get out of here."
Tong Tingting sighed and yawned, clearly unimpressed.
"When you were splitting the profits, you didn’t think of me. But now that it's all gone wrong, you come running?"
The brawny men laughed out loud, and the elegant women joined in, clinking their glasses as one of them chimed in,
"Sis Tong, you were the top student, right? We’ve never done anything clean, and the boss didn’t want to dirty your hands~"
"They really screwed up this time. Everyone knows you used to work with Mama Bai—her network is all yours now. Can’t you do something to help?"
Tong Tingting didn’t respond. Instead, she pulled out a cigarette case and placed a slim lady’s cigarette between her red lips.
As she fumbled for a lighter—
*Click, click, click...*
Tong Tingting lifted her eyes slightly. All around the sofa, qipao-clad beauties with wing tattoos had simultaneously ignited their lighters, leaning in respectfully to offer her a flame.
The dense ring of firelight lit up her lifeless eyes, revealing a terrifying glint within.
"Sis Tong~"
"Please, enjoy~"
A fragrant breeze from delicate wrists made the lighter flames flicker.
No one dared to snatch the cigarette from her mouth—only that one guy would ever dare something so bold.
But after a moment’s pause, Tong Tingting reached up and removed the cigarette herself.
The women around her giggled behind their hands.
"Sis Tong, smoking ours now?"
"Forget it."
Tong Tingting sighed and said with a hint of helplessness,
"I’m trying to quit."
One by one, the lighters were extinguished. No one said a word—they just kept smiling at her.
Leaning back against the sofa cushion, Tong Tingting looked calmly at the two wounded men in front of her.
All eyes were on her now, as if the entire room was waiting for her judgment.
Suddenly, her eyes lit up. She raised one finger and said,
"Ah, I actually have an idea."
Everyone else exchanged glances, their faces pale with dread. But the two kneeling men looked hopeful.
"Huh?"
They thought they were saved and visibly relaxed.
But Tong Tingting gave a small smile and said,
"You do realize how badly you messed up, right? Not only are the Linmen police watching you, but so are your enemies."
"Y-yeah, that's right."
"I, however, know a way to get someone out of Linmen."
"R-really?!"
Tong Tingting rested her chin in her hand, her smile turning sinister.
"Yes, but only one of you gets to leave."
"You two can decide—who's it gonna be?"
[End of Chapter]