“My name is Rida,” he says. At the sound of his name, the wind suddenly quiets. “I am the god of boundaries.”

“Boundaries?”

“Of boundaries. Of meeting points and overlaps, of crossings, parallels, perpendiculars, and borders. Patron of the transmigrated, the reincarnated, and mathematicians,” he recites smoothly. “And you are Alexandra Ming-Zho Shu, right?”

[Every chapter is illustrated.]

Children stories involving gruffalos. 

These books were created by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

There are also audio books available.

I own nothing. These are just stories I liked and want to share.

Joshua stopped at the door only a few down from where their families were gathered, stabilising his balance on one foot so he could open the door.  Before he had the chance, however, Henry leaned over him, turning the handle and pushing the door open. Joshua nodded slightly before limping into the room, arms finally tired of holding himself up. He might have lured Henry in so he could rest before collapsing, but Joshua did recognise he was on the verge of doing so himself. The man made a mental note to work on his upper body strength once he got the chance to. 
Without a word, he went straight to his bed and fell sat down, discarding of the crutched and taking his shoes off so he could elevate his ankle. As he did so, he watched Henry out of the corner of his eye. The blond man had finally ceased his crying, now acting as if he had never been in the first place. He closed the door behind him and looked around the room, eyes going from the shelf of certificates and trophies to the floor to ceiling window before finally settling on the wall covered in bookshelves. It seemed the latter interested him the most. 
Taking his eyes off the other man, wondering why he was suddenly pretending to be fine, Joshua focused on rebinding the bandage on his ankle. It did not need a cast but when the family doctor came to check on it, he was told to keep it compressed since he was not taking it as easy as he should.
 
It wasn't the sheer number of books that had attracted Henry towards the bookshelf, in fact nothing in particular had. It was just that, out of everything in Joshua's room, this looked like it would distract him the most. 
Just as Marcus had thought, Henry recognised that normally now would be when he planned to meet or video call someone and unload his feelings to sort through it. That someone normally being Caleb, who was obviously no longer a choice. In fact, just the thought of him made Henry's heart ache. 
Personally, he did think his way of sorting through his own feelings was a little childish; normally one would simply digest their emotions, they didn't have to lay everything out to someone else to face it. However, it had never been so much of a problem before, because even if he did not feel like telling any of his other friends, he did always have Caleb there. His friend, ex-friend, could recognise when Henry was ready to talk even before he himself was aware. If Henry didn't initiate it, he would receive prod after prod before he finally did spill. 
But that was no longer an option, even though this time Henry was ready to talk at his own accord. 
 
Henry shook his head, looking back at the bookshelf he had been idly moving his eyes across. 
The first thing he noticed was a certain collection of books with cringey titles. They looked like novels, but something was bringing his attention to them. To quench his curiosity, he took one off the shelf, almost falling back at the illustrated cover. It was not that the cover was particularly shocking or inappropriate, the reaction was all down to the man's recent trauma. 
On the cover there were too men in an embrace, and after reading the summary, it became clear what he had come across: a gay romance novel. 
It slowly registered he had found it in Joshua's room, and from the looks of it, there were not a small number of them. In fact, now that he looked closer, there were a few long serials on the shelves. The entire thing seemed surreal, it did not seem like the kind of thing that the ever stoic and perfect Joshua Lore would read, or even associate with. But it was a fact that the book was the said man's. 
 
"I didn't think you would be one to read boy's love."
Joshua winced at the teasing tone. Truthfully, he had forgotten about how vast his reading material stretched. It was a little embarrassing that Henry had found out. However, he did not want to give into the tease and decided to fight back by not showing even a drop of shame on his usually thin face. 
"Hm, it isn't that I like or dislike BL. I really only care for whether the story and characters are good. The genres are rarely an issue."
"It's a good point. I'm more of a non-fiction reader myself, although I do enjoy comics from time to time. But I just never expected you to be so big on romance novels. It doesn't really fit your image."
He pulled himself up against his headboard, putting a pillow under his rebound ankle, before looking back over to Henry. He had a few different books in his hands now, flicking through them. 
 
"What image is that?" 
Henry turned back to see Joshua had also taken his blazer off as well as loosened his tie. Even he had to admit the man was quite the sight sitting like that in his bespoke waistcoat, shirt relaxed. Was there a need to ask what image? Henry felt the urge to throw a mirror at the man.
It was only when he took a second look at Joshua's face did Henry notice the signs of his usual teasing face. He was the one who had started making fun of the other, how had it flipped back on him?
"You know exactly what I mean, don't try and make fun of me." The words were not meant to come out so bitterly, but it was already done before Henry realised how childish it made him sound. He really did feel like he always made a fool of himself when it came to Joshua; it was frustrating. 
 
Joshua's usual blank expression broke as he found himself chuckling at Henry's behaviour, making the subject of his amusement huff with irritations. 
 
Joshua kept watching Henry, not entirely aware of what he was doing until he realised the other man was sending him a confused look. 
"What? Is there something on my face?"
"More like your knees, they look like they might give away."
He watched as the blond man became aware of his own bad condition, clearly disliking that it had been pointed out shortly being teased. Nonetheless, slowly but surely did Henry put the books down and slowly staggered to the other side of the bed from Joshua. It was amusing to watch as Henry acted as if him sitting down had nothing to do with Joshua or his condition; Joshua bit back a smirk as he silently watched the scene unfold. 
 
After a couple minutes of silence, Henry keeping his back facing the other man, he was reminded of what Joshua had said when inviting him to his room. 
"What did you want to talk about?"
"Nothing. It just seemed like you weren't going to take the offer to relax without some reason or coaxing. You looked ready to collapse yet were being so stubborn."
Joshua's honesty was not appreciated. Henry felt that not only was he acting a bit like a child, but Joshua was also treating him like one. The worst fact of all was that he had been perfectly read; he would have kept refusing the offer to rest if Joshua hadn't lured him into his room. It was only that he was now here that he considered it. 
 
"Tch, you've been reading too many trashy BL novels, what sort of reason is that."
In the corner of his eye, Henry saw Joshua shiver, making him look back and be met with a face of disgust. 
���As big a guilty pleasure reading them is, I like them only like that, for reading. I never want them as a reality." Saying that, the man frowned. "That being said, our lives have almost become one of the biggest tropes of the genre with this whole fake relationship."
"What! Really?" 
Henry was met with a regrettable nod. "Fake relationship, fake marriage, pretending to be gay, they whole thing. It honestly feels like a big joke."
 
At the mention of pretending to be gay, Henry found himself remembering everything from his lunch break. The tired yet playful expression on his face dropped into one filled with pain.
Without warning, kicking the guest slippers off, Henry fell sideways onto the bed and took hold of the pillow above his head, squeezing it tight to his chest, face half buried. He curled up on the bed, finding himself near tears again. He wanted to sort out his feelings but he lost the one who would usually hear him out so he could do so. 
Joshua found himself feeling a similar pain to which he had felt while listening to Henry's performance. The curiosity was back; what had made him cry, why was he so upset? He looked like he was in pain, that made Joshua's chest uncomfortable. Normally, most emotional expressions of Henry made him want to tease the man, but this one just made him sense how much pain the man was in. 
But he had already decided he was not going to ask. It was not his place to do so. Besides, it was not as if he cared. 
 
What he hadn't expected was that his curiosity would be fulfilled even without him enquiring.
Henry, after thinking about it for a bit, realised that it didn't really matter who he talked to, as long as it was not family. That must be the case, at least, because when the idea of talking it through with the infuriatingly perfect man who had laughed at him not even minutes ago, he did not hate it. He didn't feel strange talking to a man he had known only a week and a half, so that must mean that he did not need to be particularly close to whoever it was. What was important was that his family did not see this embarrassing side of him.
Once again, Marcus had perfectly predicted what his son would do. The young man hadn't realised the reason he felt no resistance talking to Joshua was because, after all the events they had been through together, they had built an unshakeable trust. This was something neither of the second sons were aware of; most probably, even if they were made aware of it, they would both vehemently deny it due to the jading of their first encounter.
But whether they were aware of the faith that they had built for one another or not was not what was important. All that really mattered was that Henry had found himself deciding that he would tell Joshua so he could sort out his emotions.
Henry turned to the other side, peeking up at Joshua from behind the pillow, which calmed him with its mellow scent.
 
"You know, I got my first rejection today." 
It was clear that Henry was trying his best to keep his voice nonchalant, so Joshua decided to leave any reaction until he was done.
"Since the day we 'came out', I've been getting all sort of reactions, most of them good or at least tolerable. The few who turned on me had never really mattered to be anyway, so I never really counted it. But today… it was different. 
"I've known Caleb for years. We didn't act like it, but we were super close. Even if we went weeks at a time not talking, he was always there and I was always here, you get me? I… I didn't expect him to cut ties with me over this. I-I…I…
 
"Fuck! He really fucking ditched me because he thinks I'm gay!" 
Joshua flinched back at the sudden angry cry, not expecting it. Even though Henry had already buried his face into the pillow, hiding while muffling the sound, the raw emotions rang clear through the room, through Joshua. It was the same pain and frustration he had felt from the performance. Worse, in fact. Before he knew that Henry was upset and most probably hurt, but now he knew he was hurting; Joshua could practically feel it. Even if he had decided not to react before, now he didn't know how to even if he wanted to. 
"He really cut ties with me!" Henry continued venting, an anger he hadn't allowed himself to feel earlier suddenly bubbling through the pain. "He was meant to be my best friend! He even had an idea of my one night stands! The bitch really just up and left! It doesn't even matter if this whole thing's a lie, how could he! Our whole friendship was about how we knew we were there for each other when needed. And he had the gall to tell me to never contact him! I-, fuck! He knows me! It doesn't matter that I'm not really gay! He knew! He knew how much that would fucking hurt! Dammit! How could he do that? Especially over something like this? I-I-I… I didn't even do anything to him, dammit."
 
As Henry's voice started cracking and losing its power, a quake became prevalent, making the young man bite pillow. Because he had stayed hidden, no one could tell, but his face was once again filled with tears, soaking the pillow, the only difference now was that the pain and frustration was directed at the friend who had rejected him. Henry knew it had hurt, but to of loyalty to his friend, he didn't want to get angry at him for it. But as he had been talking, he found it was truly impossible to do so because he was angry, unbelievably angry; it was that anger that had made the pain of the rejection so much worse than the couple others before. 
Acknowledging all of this seemed to make the pain in his chest worse. He no longer wanted to talk, he had sorted his emotions and vented as much as he could in words. At that moment, no matter how childish it was, all Henry wanted to do was cry the pain, anger and frustration away. 
And that was exactly what he did. Hugging the pillow so tightly that one could almost think it would burst, he kept his face buried away from the outside world and quietly cried. 
 
But no matter how quiet he was, Joshua was sat next to him, and the room was silent. It was impossible for the man not to hear.
For some reason he could understand the pain. It was not as though he had ever been in the same situation, not even close to it. But somehow, Joshua really could translate every single emotion Henry had let out while venting. And while it shouldn't have, it hurt. It hurt seeing someone in that much pain, he had never witnessed something to such an extent before, at least not in adulthood. 
What Joshua did not consciously realise, however, was that if had been someone else, even if he could feel and understand the pain, the great discomfort in his chest would not have been so strong. 
 
However, none of that was of importance to either of them in that moment. 
It didn't matter that neither of them had realised how well the two had come to trust. each other. 
It didn't matter that both were completely naïve to just how strong a connection had slowly formed between them; so strong that sharing the pain of recent events felt almost too natural.
It didn't matter that they were unaware of the fact that they truly did understand each other.
All that mattered was that they did.

“They tried to kill your sister, thrice.”
“As well as your company, and sister-in-law with it.”
They were both more than aware that the merger had become a matter of life and death, that it had been that way from the moment the Q Group suspected anything, that it had reached a terrifyingly dangerous level. 
More terrifying than the prospects of being engaged to a man. 
The two could only grimace and mutter in unison. 
“We have to get married.”

~} {~¦~} {~¦~} {~¦~} {~¦~} {~¦~} {~¦~} {~

Joshua Lore is the 23 year old second son of the second most successful company in Country A.
Henry Reyes is the 22 year old second son of the third most successful company in Country A.

Both very rich. Both very pretty. 
Most importantly, both extremely straight.

Yet due to a misconception on their parents' part and a company merger combined with some questionable photography with their androgynous looks, they find themselves in a marriage meeting, with each other. 
Of course they are going to reject this, or so they thought...

This meal was still very harmonious. After learning that Xu Xiaobin's real purpose was not to seek free financial help, Bao Sanli had a good impression of him.
Bao Sanli was naturally polite to those who sought to cooperate truthfully. From Xu Xiaobin's look and tone, he seemed very sincere and wanted to promote this cooperation.
"I'm going to pay the bill..." Xu Xiaobin stood up and asked the waiter. Although Liu Jifei had asked him to find an opportunity to let Bao Sanli pay, Xu Xiaobin felt that it would be too unreasonable to do so. If he could promote this cooperation, what's the matter with a meal? Besides, the company also provided hospitality expenses. Xu Xiaobin could still afford a meal.
"It's alright." Bao Sanli waved his hand. "President Xu came to my territory for a meal. How can I let you pay for it?"
"Although I represent the Haicheng Jiangyan Group, I have been in Song Jiang for a long time. I'm not really a foreigner." Xu Xiaobin was shocked. He apparently misunderstood what Bao Sanli meant. He thought that Bao Sanli was talking about his role as Song Jiang native, so he quickly explained.
"Hehe, President Xu, you have misunderstood. I mean, this hotel is a business under our company. Since we are eating here, I naturally can't let you spend your money." Bao Sanli explained with a smile.
"Ah? This business belongs to President Bao?" Xu Xiaobin was surprised. He didn't know this because the Ming Yang Security Company was an independent legal company. Song Jiang International Hotel was also a company under another separate legal entity — the Ming Yang Entertainment Culture Development Company. The legal persons of the two companies were different. Bao Sanli was the legal representative of the Ming Yang Security Company, and the legal representative of the Ming Yang Entertainment Culture Development Company was Hou Zhenhan. Hence, those who didn't understand the shareholding configuration of the two companies wouldn't know what this Song Jiang International Hotel had to do with Bao Sanli.
It was because the legal person of Song Jiang International Hotel was Guo Jianchao! These three people were all Yang Ming's subordinates, but people who didn't know about it would not be able to understand this. It was no wonder that Xu Xiaobin was so surprised.
"Hehe, it is not my business, but it is a brother company, belonging to our Chairman Yang." Bao Sanli naturally would not be arrogant to say that this was his own business.
"I see." Xu Xiaobin thought, It seems that Bao Sanli's background is not weak! This Song Jiang International Hotel can be so grand in Song Jiang, and it has even become a government-appointed hotel. If Yang Ming is incapable, this was definitely impossible.
It seems that this Yang Ming is a very important person. After going back, I should inquire about his background. I don't know how Liu Jifei knows this person, but Liu Jifei didn't elaborate on it. Xu Xiaobin didn't know Yang Ming's identity at the time, so he didn't ask carefully. It seemed that after going back this time, he had to ask in detail.
The three people came out of the hotel together. Jing Xiaolu drove the new BMW X5. Bao Sanli initially planned to drive, but when he saw Jing Xiaolu's enthusiasm, he let her be the driver.
"Xiaolu, do you think this Xu Xiaobin has any sincerity to cooperate with us?" Bao Sanli subconsciously attributed Jing Xiaolu as Yang Ming's spokesperson, so he should discuss these things with her first.
"Xu Xiaobin, I can be sure that he must have come with sincerity." It was undeniable that Jing Xiaolu's eyes on people were still very accurate. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to scam rich guy's money repeatedly. "However, I have no way to affirm if there is much sincerity in the Jiangyan Group represented by him."
"Oh? Isn't Xu Xiaobin talking to us on behalf of the Jiangyan Group?" Bao Sanli heard Jing Xiaolu's words, and he became surprised.
"Xu Xiaobin surely is representing the Jiangyan Group. There is nothing wrong with this." Jing Xiaolu said, "However, it is hard to say whether the Jiangyan Group also holds a positive attitude towards this cooperation like him. I have also heard of this Jiangyan Group. It is the largest private group in the north. Our business is still too small in the eyes of others."
"Oh? You mean, Xu Xiaobin's enthusiasm does not represent the Jiangyan Group's attitude?" Bao Sanli looked at Jing Xiaolu with some surprise.
"I am just telling the truth. It's just speculation. I'm not sure." Jing Xiaolu said, "Xu Xiaobin is the Jiangyan Group's office manager in Song Jiang. Therefore, the business developed in Song Jiang will count as his merit. Naturally, he will be very enthusiastic! But whether the big ones behind him really value this business, then it is hard to say."
"I understand what you mean." Bao Sanli nodded. "The Jiangyan Group's attitude is directly related to the benefits that both sides will gain in the follow-up negotiation. If it is only Xu Xiaobin's enthusiasm, and the Jiangyan Group's attitude is ambiguous, then we definitely won't get much benefit. After all, Xu Xiaobin can't make the final decision in the end. But, if Jiangyan Group also values ​​this cooperation, we can have more benefits during the negotiations. Am I right?"
"Yes! That's what I meant." Jing Xiaolu appreciatively looked at Bao Sanli. She didn't expect this uncouth fellow to think of it too. She didn't think so before, but now that she was promoted to the position of the vice president by Yang Ming, she must put these things into consideration.
"It seems that we have to figure this out; we must probe Xu Xiaobin's intention." Bao Sanli said, "Otherwise, we will suffer losses in the negotiation."
"After going back, we should investigate the background of this Jiangyan Group. We will have a meeting with President Hou and discuss it." Jing Xiaolu had quickly integrated into her role.
She did not expect to encounter traffic jams at noon. There was actually a long queue under the overpass. The traffic stopped moving for a long time. Although Jing Xiaolu liked to drive, she hated the time wasted in traffic jams.
Bao Sanli had keen eyesight too. Seeing that Jing Xiaolu's expression was a little uncomfortable, he took the initiative to say, "Xiaolu, do you want to swap with me for a while so that you can take a break?"
Jing Xiaolu had the intention to ask Bao Sanli drive for a while, but she found it inappropriate to speak up. Now, Bao Sanli had offered, so she naturally did not need to refuse. She got off and switched her seat with Bao Sanli. Then, she lay comfortably on the front seat.
Bao Sanli smiled bitterly in his heart. This madam was Brother Yang's woman. It was hard to say who would have the final call in the company. Bao Sanli was the company's president, but he might have to listen to her in the future. Hence, Bao Sanli did not feel condescending. He treated Jing Xiaolu respectfully, just like how he treated Yang Ming.
At this moment, they could not discuss anything concrete out of the Jiangyan Group's cooperation in the car. They had to wait until they returned to the company and looked into the Jiangyan Group's information before they could make the decision.
Jing Xiaolu was a little bored. She took out her mobile phone, logged into the "Mobile Phone Reading Base" and started reading novels on it. In the past few days, she was reading a gripping urban romance novel called "Very Pure and Ambiguous: The Prequel" whereby she was reluctant to stop after she picked it up.
"What are you doing?" Seeing Jing Xiaolu constantly changing her expression on the side, sometimes smiling and sometimes angry, Bao Sanli was shocked. What is she doing?
"I'm reading a novel." Jing Xiaolu raised the phone in her hand.
"Reading a novel? Can you read the novel on the phone?" Bao Sanli was slightly baffled. He was a rustic man. He would only use his phone for calls, and he knew no other functions.
"Of course, Mobile [2] has a Mobile Phone Reading Base. There are many novels on it." Jing Xiaolu said, "I only learned about it recently. There was a text message sent to me a few days ago. They recommended a book, so I went to read it. It was great."
"What novel?" Bao Sanli came into interest as he heard it. Sometimes, when he had nothing to do, he could use his mobile phone to read novels.
"Very Pure and Ambiguous: The Prequel" is a romance novel. It's very interesting. The protagonist has several wives..." Jing Xiaolu explained to Bao Sanli.
Bao Sanli broke into a sweat after hearing that. This Jing Xiaolu is too powerful. A girl actually reading this male-oriented novel... It is even a harem romance novel... But after thinking about it, it's the same as the current situation with Jing Xiaolu. No wonder she likes to read it.
"Who wrote it? Introduce it to me..." asked Bao Sanli casually.
"A guy named Fishman II. You can find this book by searching it on the mobile reading base," said Jing Xiaolu.
"Fishman second generation? Didn't he write the book "So Pure and So Flirtatious"? I have read that book!" Bao Sanli had a vivid impression once he heard that, and he quickly said, "But his update speed makes me very resentful. I have become a boss from a punk, yet the story did not end yet..."
"Oh, I have read that book." Jing Xiaolu said, "It is still updating. Waiting for the update is a very tough thing. This "Very Pure and Ambiguous: The Prequel" is fully released. You can rest assured on your reading journey."
"Is it? I seem to have a sockpuppet. It is called "Sloppy Fishman Heaven's Feather [3] Do Your Best." Bao Sanli nodded after listening. "I will go back and take a look."
After dawdling back to the company, Jing Xiaolu also read several chapters. She put her phone into her into the bag and got off with Bao Sanli.
"President Bao, Vice President Jing."
The two entered the company, and the employees who passed by greeted the two. Jing Xiaolu was promoted. She no longer the assistant in the past. The crowd was in awe of her.
Back to the company, Bao Sanli went to inform the secretary to investigate information on the Jiangyan Group. Then, he took out his mobile phone to search for the novel "Very Pure and Ambiguous: The Prequel."
The information on the Jiangyan Group was not a secret. Bao Sanli did not expect to learn about secrets either. As long as he could glean some general information, he could get an understanding of this Jiangyan Group.
The two sides were only in a cooperative relationship, not the relationship where one was the acquirer or acquiree. For cooperation, he didn't need to know too much about the privacy of the other group. He just had to look at their reputation among those partners with whom they worked.
The situation would be different with an acquisition. If it were necessary to inject capital into the Jiangyan Group, Bao Sanli had to dig deep to investigate the Jiangyan Group's background across multiple generations. He would probably have to dig into their ancestors' graves so that he could find out whether there were any loans, arrears, and hidden debts, etc. However, he did not need to know these for cooperation.
The two sides would contribute money and effort to set up a new company. There was no need to understand the parent company in detail as long as the new company's structure and the rights of both parties were clearly written.
Soon, two copies of the Jiangyan Group's information were printed, with each placed in front of Bao Sanli and Jing Xiaolu.
The Jiangyan Group was a business empire built by Liu Jiangyan, a legend of a generation. He resigned from a company as a small state-owned store accountant, and then he started his business from a contract department store. In a few years, it became an invincible business empire that was involved in various industries.
However, the business that allowed him truly to stand firm in the north was still the bank escort business. He could only remain unbeaten in commercial battles through building a connection with the bank. The opponents fell one by one, and only the Jiangyan Group sustained until now. Moreover, it became more powerful, and it became a grand business! It was the largest private group in the north.
At that time, there was a saying called South Yan North Liu. It illustrated that the Yan Family in the south and the Liu Family in the north were the two top families that controlled the economic lifeline of the North and the South.
However, nearly thirty years later, Liu Jiangyan, who started his business in his fifties in the prime of his life, had turned the ripe old age of seventy. He had also handed over his business to his children and grandchildren.
There were three sons from Liu Jianyan, the eldest son, Liu Heng, the second son, Liu Yan, and the third son, Liu Hua. However, now the Jiangyan Group's helm fell on the third son, Liu Hua!
The eldest son, Liu Heng, had a car accident in his early years. He was still lying in the hospital in a comatose state; he was no different from dead. However, the Liu Family was not bothered by the medical expenses.
Liu Heng had a daughter named Liu Huamei, who held a high position in the Jiangyan Group. She was now sitting in the position of financial director, controlling the group's financial power. It was equivalent to managing the group's economic lifeline.
The second son, Liu Yan, had polio since his youth. Now, he could only sit in a wheelchair. He had never married. He could only regulate the affairs of the group behind the scenes; he couldn't go to the front stage.
Therefore, the current power of the Liu Family fell on Liu Hua. Liu Hua had two sons. The eldest son, Liu Zhenan, took the company's executive vice president position, and the younger son, Liu Zheqiao, was the company's human resource department head. In other words, they both occupied two critical positions in the company.
Liu Hua was the executive president of the Jiangyan Group, which was also known as the "CEO" on the international stage. Of course, Liu Jiangyan still had several brothers and sisters. Their children and grandchildren were peripheral members of the Liu Family. Liu Jifei and Xu Xiaobin were the same, but the information about them could not be investigated because these were irrelevant people.
Looking at the information of the Liu Family's Jiangyan Group, Jing Xiaolu sighed with emotion. This family that seemed impressive from the outside had such bitterness on the inside.
Judging from some rumors, the two sons of Liu Hua had never given up their rights to fight with the daughter of the main family, Liu Huamei. Although Liu Heng was now in a vegetative state lying in the hospital, he was the eldest son. He was also Liu Jiangyan's son from his first wife. Initially, Liu Jiangyan trained Liu Heng as the successor. Now, he was in the hospital, so the power had fallen to Liu Hua!
Although Liu Heng became a vegetative person without any life danger, his daughter was still there. The most important thing was that this little girl was actually a business talent. She left school at the age of sixteen and entered the company. Her tough strategies in the business field had gotten Liu Jiangyan's approval. He placed her in the position of chief financial officer. She was also responsible for the daily operations of several branches!
Needless to say, Liu Hua felt threatened! When he was in office, there was nothing. In terms of business, he knew he was not inferior to the old man. Otherwise, the Jiangyan Group wouldn't stop growing but wither in his hands. The assets almost doubled during the five years when he was in power. Of course, Liu Huamei also contributed to it. However, Liu Hua shamelessly took this credit for himself.
However, although the qualifications of his two sons were considered to be not bad, they were a lot worse compared to Liu Huamei. This was what Liu Hua really worried about. He didn't want the group to fall eventually into the little girl Liu's hands. After she was married, wouldn't it belong to someone else's family? Wouldn't this group become a marriage dowry?
However, Liu Jiangyan did not think so. From time to time, he called Liu Huawei to come over and accompany him to eat and chat. He also secretly taught her some business principles, which made Liu Hua sullen and jealous.
My two sons are the grandsons of the Liu Family. Is Grandpa Liu Jiangyan old and confused? He doesn't teach the grandsons but teaches the granddaughter?
These Liu Family internal fights were not a secret to the outside world. They were commented everywhere on the Internet. Although they didn't know the truth, no story came unfounded. Jing Xiaolu still believed most of it.
Of course, this was only treated as a joke. These things didn't help the specific details of the cooperation. The children of the Liu Family fighting for power had nothing to do with Jing Xiaolu.
......
Xu Xiaobin returned to the office. Liu Jifei was waiting for him anxiously. When he saw Xu Xiaobin coming in, he quickly greeted him and asked, "How was it? How was the discussion?"
"Brother Fei, please allow me to have a drink. I will tell you slowly." As Bao Sanli got stuck in a traffic jam, Xu Xiaobin naturally also was stuck in traffic jams. His mouth was so thirsty that it also puffed out smoke. He could not find a drink seller all along. The early spring was quite cold too. No hawkers stood on the street, selling drinks.
Liu Jifei nodded and motioned for Li Zhan to pour Xu Xiaobin a glass of water. Li Zhan quickly took a disposable cup, filled it with some mineral water, and handed it to him.
Now, Li Zhan knew his position very well. Although he was inferior to Xu Xiaobin, he knew that Liu Jifei and Xu Xiaobin were doing a big thing together. Once things were done, he was among those who held merits. Hence, Li Zhan must now please these two sirs, so that he could get a share of the success in the future.
Xu Xiaobin took the disposable paper cup. When he poured the water into his throat as he raised his head, he sighed in relief. "Great! I don't know what happened today. There was such heavy traffic. I almost got dehydrated in my journey."


Yang Ming is an underachiever in high school. Unmotivated, he skips class to shoot pool, cheats on his exams and gets into fights. However, by an act of goodwill and fate, he obtains some high-tech contact lenses that give him superpowers. Together with his gangster street-smarts and ruthless fighting skills, it doesn't take long for him dramatically change his life for the better.
As his journey unfolds, he battles against society's big guns and attempts to bring justice into an unjust world. Along the way, he has many interesting and romantic encounters with the ladies who are charmed by his shameless flirting.
How will he use his superpowers?
Will he be able to overcome evil and bring justice to the world?
Who will he choose to be with at the end? 
--------------------
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Three cards were placed in front of Dai Li. They had a golden framework and a wooden texture, but the central area of the cards was blank.
"This item is called duplicate card. What is it used for?" Dai Li asked.
"You still remember the athlete illustrated handbook you obtained last time, right? With this duplicate card, you could spend 10,000 points of experience to duplicate any athlete into the card," the system explained.
Now Dai Li realized that his duplicate card and the athlete illustrated handbook he obtained before were in one kit, which should be used together.
"After duplicating an athlete, what can the card be used for?" Dai Li continued to ask.
"Then you could use the duplicate card to get 70% of the capabilities of the duplicated athlete for 12 hours," the system said.
"Now I only have Anshan Wang in my athlete illustrated handbook. If I duplicate the capability of Anshan Wang with the card and use it for me, in the next 12 hours, I could be a 70% Anshan Wang, right?" Dai Li continued to ask.
"Exactly! The stronger the athlete you duplicate, the stronger effect you will have," the system said.
Dai Li reckoned a bit in his mind. On the ground of Anshan Wang's strength, 70% of his capability would be enough to participate in the matches of the Olympic Games. With the duplicate card, he could be turned into a top-notch table tennis player at any time, though of course, only for 12 hours. Also he would have to spend 10,000 points of experience.
I am a coach, not an athlete. I don't need to participate in the match personally. Dai Li shook his head. Although he didn't figure out the detailed function of the duplicate card, he still felt it was something incredible.
I only have Anshan Wang, who is a top-level athlete, in my athlete illustrated handbook. If I could use the duplicate card after collecting more athletes of other events, couldn't I become an almighty athlete? 70% of the level of the best athletes in the world is still unattainable for many professional athletes in their whole life. After thinking of this, Dai Li was a little bit delighted.
However, when he realized he only had three cards, he was a little bit disappointed.
It's a pity that I only got duplicate cards, and each of them can only be used for 12 hours, Dai Li thought ruefully.
The system immediately started its introduction. "Although you only have three cards, you could benefit from two features of the card. First, it can be used repeatedly. One card can be used for 12 hours. After 12 hours, the card will be turned into a blank card again, and you need to duplicate the athlete in your handbook again."
"Oh, then I don't need to worry about using up the cards," Dai Li said. "In this way, one card is enough, it's not necessary to give me three cards."
"The reason that you get three cards lies in the second feature of the duplicate card. The cards can be used together. You could use two cards or three cards together, and the effects would be superimposed," the system explained.
"That is to say, I could use three duplicate cards to duplicate three athletes, and use all three cards on me, then I could have 70% of the capabilities of the three athletes simultaneously, right?"
"Right, but with one condition. The athletes duplicated by you should be athletes of different sports. For example, if you have duplicated one table tennis player with one card, the athletes you duplicate for the second and the third card should not be table tennis players anymore. You have to duplicate athletes of other sports."
...
The Olympic Games were over. The National Table Tennis Team returned with four gold medals, which was not surprising to anyone.
After their return, a lot of activities were waiting for the athletes of the National Table Tennis Team. The meritorious staff members behind the scenes, like Dai Li, were also awarded accordingly.
As the national sport, table tennis was quite popular among the people in China. Along with the rising of the webcast and We Media, TV broadcasting was not the only way to watch the matches anymore. More and more people started to enjoy table tennis matches in different through various media, which made table tennis more popular.
Moreover, the marketing of the athletes had been drastically improved. Star players were widely publicized, which had cultivated a lot of young fans.
A few years ago, the main audiences of table tennis were middle-aged and elderly people. Now more and more young fans had rejuvenated the table tennis event in China.
The atmosphere of table tennis in China was improving, and more and more people started to pay attention to table tennis. For table tennis itself, everything was developing in the right direction.
...
One day, during lunch, many coaches were caught in a discussion in the canteen of the National Table Tennis Team.
"Have you heard about it? The Table Tennis Association said a reform is coming."
"A reform? We have reforms every year, but our table tennis team is still number one in the world. Don't worry, the table tennis teams of other countries won't be any threat to us."
"I've heard that this time is different. This time the high level management wants to reform the management mode and try to implement the so-called 'flat management.'"
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know. However, according to the hearsay, the position of the General Coach and the Head Coach might be cancelled. The team will only have a coach of the men's team and a coach of the women's team, who are of the same level and under the direct management of higher staff."
"That can't be possible! If the General Coach is cancelled, where should Coach Gu go? He couldn't be the coach of the men's team, could he? That's a demotion! What's more, Coach Gu is the backbone of the National Table Tennis Team. He has borne hardship without complaint for so many years, and has made remarkable contributions to our team. His efforts are crucial to the current achievements of our team."
"I also hope this is not for real. After so many years, the National Table Tennis Team finally established a mature framework. We have our own standards for player selection, training, team-building, scientific research, and match preparation. A sudden reform might change all of that."
Everyone was talking about the issue, but many of them didn't take it seriously or realize the severity of what was about to happen.
...
One week later, the key players went to Rongzhou to participate in the open tournament of the International Table Tennis Federation.
While the matches were ongoing, the Table Tennis Association suddenly declared that Zhizhong Gu was no longer the General Coach of the National Table Tennis Team, and he was transferred to the Table Tennis Association to act as a Vice Chairman.
This could be regarded as changing horse mid-race.
The reform of the National Table Tennis Team was also unveiled at this point.


How could a poor graduate student without any background or connections become successful? With a coaching system? An upgrade? This is not a computer game, but real life we’re talking about!
 
This will be a fantasy based on reality. Dai Li will fight back against all those who would mock and humiliate him with his astonishing and awe-inspiring training skills. From a nobody he’ll try to become the most illustrious coach in the sports world, so join him in proving to everyone who’s the real master here!

It was still June 14th and it was already five o'clock in the evening.
From arriving at the military training base to applying for military supplies and then to filling in the handbook, today's activities didn't seem so packed, which actually made many students think that the military training this time wouldn't be as tough as they'd imagined; as long as they got a good ranking for their schools during this survival drill, that should be fine.
In the dorm, the students of No. 59 High School and No. 60 High School had been housed in the same section. Some were consulting each other on battle tactics while others were chatting idly. The overall atmosphere was very relaxed.
At about half past five, Old Antique came to the rooms to check that all the students in the dorm were accounted for and make sure that none of them had been overlooked outside the dorm. Furthermore, he gave each person something: an electronic illustrated handbook the size of a person's palm.
But he didn't explain what it was for, and went off with a latiao stuck in his mouth.
After studying it for a while, Super Chen still hadn't figured it out.
"Second brother, do you know what this is?" he asked.
Hands folded behind his head, Wang Ming's chair was tilted as he leaned back against the wall, his two long, straight legs crossed on the desk. He raised his eyes to give it an idle look, then promptly replied, "Isn't it an electronic illustrated handbook? General Yi had gotten so many magic treasures produced en masse this time, so there are bound to be some that you wouldn't know how to use. This illustrated handbook will probably prove very convenient once we enter the map."
Saying this, Wang Ming smiled faintly. "Furthermore, this is probably something only our No. 60 High School and No. 59 High School have. The other four schools wouldn't have gotten it. The combined number of students from our two schools is just eight hundred in total, while the other four schools together have over nine thousand students. The numbers are simply not equal. This is most likely a handicap which the headmasters of the six schools devised after discussing it among themselves."
The people in the dorm raised their heads, eyes instantly lighting up. There was even this type of operation?
"But can we really bring this thing in? I heard that after entering the magic array, it will by default block anything that's in storage space on the body, and won't allow magic treasures to be brought into the map," said Little Peanut.
Wang Ming narrowed his eyes and smiled. "It's fine, the array has already been set up, so this electronic illustrated handbook isn't part of its filter scope."
At this moment, even Dopey Guo had no choice but to admire how knowledgeable this second brother Wang Ming was. Even he, the gossip expert, hadn't known this matter, but this second brother had actually known of it.
Wang Ling: "…"
What rubbish, it was Wang Ming who had drawn out the blueprint for this magic array; it would be odd if this guy didn't know about it!
...
Time flew by, and it was close to 5:55 pm when the two Wang family brothers opened their eyes at the same time.
They could both sense that the magic array outside the dormitory building was in the start-up phase.
Wang Ling secretly opened his Heavenly Eye, and noticed that this round array wasn't just any ordinary size, it was massive; it included almost all the dormitory buildings on the military training base. Furthermore, the array's structure was complicated and mutable; even first-class array masters wouldn't have been able to set up this array under six months.
In fact, Wang Ming had started drawing up the plans two years ago. Though he didn't have spirit energy, he had played a key role in deploying the advanced mathematical operations and various complex formulas required to design the magic array.
It was such a large array; using the Heavenly Eye to do a simple sweep of it, Wang Ling could already see a mix of several hundred thousand formula designs. Only the strongest brain could have done this; a regular person really wouldn't have been able to take it.
This magic array was linked to a small world that had been created by an Almighty cultivator. Judging from the array's structure alone, Wang Ling knew that time flowed at a different pace in the small world compared with outside.
Wang Ming got up and stood by the window as he looked at the faint glimmer of light outside. It looked a little like the light of an incandescent lamp, but actually, it was the light emitted during the operation phase of the array. He mentally calculated that the array would be completely activated in three minutes.
Taking a deep breath, Wang Ming checked the people in the dorm and noticed that Hero Guo had disappeared. He pointed to Dopey Guo's bed. "Where is he? "
Super Chen: "Dopey said he had a stomachache, so he went to the toilet."
Wang Ling: "…"
Wang Ming: "…"
...
At the same time, a dark space tunnel opened on the top of the dormitory building. Two hands stretched out of the tunnel to push its edges apart, and a figure struggled its way out.
"Finally, we made it."
Using Jiang Liuyue's body, the Old Devil had arrived.
In the stone ghost mask, Jiang Liuyue sensed the massive magic array around the dormitory building and was a little surprised. "This array is truly a masterpiece; an Almighty had to have been involved, otherwise there is no way this could have been set up. Furthermore, I can faintly sense that there are experts in the vicinity; the headmasters of the six schools and the Secretary of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Schools have gathered here. Senior, are you sure about this?"
"My venerable self heard that one of the six school headmasters is Patriarch Reliance? Given my present state, apart from Patriarch Reliance and the old Secretary… I don't have to worry about the others." The Old Devil let out a hmph. "My last two defeats were because my venerable self had underestimated that junior called Killer Daoist. As long as that junior doesn't show up to upset things, there's nothing to be worried about."
"That man seems to be connected to the cultivation forum." Jiang Liuyue smiled bitterly in the stone ghost mask. "The last few times this person appeared was because our matter involved the cultivation forum's Great Death-Courting Senior. Senior shouldn't need to be so apprehensive today."
"That's right."
The Old Devil nodded, and with a flash of spirit light, a blue flag appeared in his hand.
An array-guiding flag?
Jiang Liuyue was amazed in her heart. The array-guiding flag was a very practical magic treasure which could move a pre-existing magic array's location to a completely different one in an instant.
But she had also heard that in the past, an unlawful person had used this flag and triggered a huge catastrophe. Therefore, as early as one thousand years ago, the array-guiding flags on the market had all disappeared. Worst of all, they weren't sold even in the black market or auction houses!
It had to be said that the Old Devil was in the end the Old Devil. There were few people who could wield so many ancient treasures.
"My venerable self has already set up an array in my small world to connect to the Gate Between Worlds."
Holding the array-guiding flag, the Old Devil sneered. "When my venerable self sneaks in alongside the students into the small world where the drill will be held, I'll use the array-guiding flag to open the Gate Between Worlds in that small world undetected. Then my venerable self will take advantage of this opportunity to absorb the vitality of thousands of students, thereby entering this world once again."
Speaking up to this point, the Old Devil chuckled. "Do you know why my venerable self was labeled the first devil in history?"
Jiang Liuyue: "Why?"
"Because there was no one else as vicious as me."
The Old Devil said, "The reason why my venerable self can cause panic among the masses is because my contemporaries weren't as wicked, so they made me look evil in contrast." 
Jiang Liuyue: "…"


As a cultivation genius who has achieved a new realm every two years since he was a year old, Wang Ling is a near-invincible existence with prowess far beyond his control. But now that he’s sixteen, he faces his greatest battle yet - Senior High School. With one challenge after another popping up, his plans for a low-key high school life seem further and further away...
Wang Ling: I just want to eat my crispy noodle snacks in peace...
Father Wang: If you're careless enough to destroy the country, it’s coming out of your pocket money. 
Wang Ling: It’s not my fault that the backlash from punching me kills you.
Please support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/henyeetranslationsDLIK
If we hit certain milestones, we will release more chapters in a mass release!
Tags: comedy, school, cultivation, tsundere, popular culture, almighty protagonist, action

Although Benjamin grumbled in his heart, he walked into the living room and looked at his father. 

"Father, I have returned."

The middle-aged man who sat in the main seat scowled quietly at Benjamin. However, his eyes did not have even a hint of happiness. Instead, they were eyes of accusation, and Benjamin felt distressed by that look. 

What even happened here? 

Claude Lithur was Benjamin’s biological father. Benjamin had detailed memories of Claude. Claude was the head of the household, the Duke of the Kingdom. He had a very high status within the noble hierarchy in the Kingdom of Helius, and was typically a conservative noble. 

Conservative nobles would pledge loyalty to the king, where they would in turn pledge loyalty towards the church alongside the king. The matters of social class were of absolute importance to them, and they put much emphasis on the segregation of the peasants from the nobles. This also meant that they were very prideful, and they followed what was called the ‘honor of the nobles’. In other words, this individual was very archaic and feudal. 

From a personal perspective, Benjamin’s father was also a strict man, and it was a rare occurrence to catch him smiling. This illustrated his sternness as a father, as he had high expectations of his eldest son Benjamin, but Benjamin embarrassed him. Evidently, Benjamin was not going to get a good look from him. 

He usually would tell Benjamin…. Oh, no, he typically would be too lazy to even talk to Benjamin. He probably got tired of scolding Benjamin when he was still a child, so when his reprimands had no effect on Benjamin, he gave up. 

Even though Duke Claude was extremely disappointed at Benjamin to a point where he would feel anger when he saw Benjamin, he was still a reasonable person. The furious expression he had right now would only surface when Benjamin misbehaved. 

Misbehaviour? What did he do? Benjamin thought in bewilderment. 

Suddenly, the unfamiliar boy with golden hair pointed at Benjamin’s nose and exclaimed in fury, breaking the tension in the air, "It’s him! Last night, he was the person who assaulted me using that…. thing!" 

Benjamin became increasingly confused after he heard this. 

"Who is this?" 

Just to be cautious, Benjamin did not give any reaction in real life. Instead, he consulted the System by telepathy. 

"Hmm, he probably would be Dick Fulner. Remember? He was the person who sleepwalked last night, and the one who you splashed him in the face with bodily excretions," the System answered. 

Upon hearing the System, Benjamin paused and studied the person, and could finally feel some familiarity from his face. 

The nose that pointed towards the sky and looked eerily similar with the nose of a pig was the exact replica of the poor sod last night. It was just that this person had feces all over his face last night, and Benjamin could not recognize him without them now. 

At this point, Benjamin really had the urge to tell him, "My apologies, I couldn’t recognize you without the shit on your face today." However, he knew that it was not the time to be sarcastic, and if he really did say that, he would lose control over the situation. Thus, he swallowed his words with difficulty. 

He finally understood the situation before him. The flow of the process was that this Mister Dick was a guest at his house last night, but he started sleepwalking and met Benjamin, who just woke up. Benjamin then used the chamber pot to hit him square in the face. Mister Duke could not hold his anger, which was why he got his father over to the Lithur manor in order for him to salvage whatever dignity he could. This war was brewed just like that. 

They came to find blame! Dread filled Benjamin. 

He realized the difficult grounds he was on. 

After much contemplation, Benjamin did not rush to explain when Dick pointed at him. Instead, he learned from the original Benjamin and behaved like a teenager being reprimanded after a mistake, with his head drooped low and his face stubborn. 

Explanations would only make matters worse. He should first observe his father, Duke Claude’s stance, before anything else. 

However, Duke Claude’s attitude was not favorable. 

"Benjamin, was this the way we educated you on the manners of hospitality?" he said with disappointment. It seemed like he would be standing on the side of principle instead of his son. 

Benjamin sighed inwardly. 

He already knew from the System that Claude was not the kind of person that would protect the flaws of the family. Still, Benjamin understood how low his image was in the mind of his father when he saw how his father was willing to side the outsiders instead of himself. 

Upon reflection from the information he got from the System, none of the people here had the tendency to cover up the failings of their own. There were no rivalry between families that was often depicted in the novels, nor the custom to avoid criticizing their family members when outsiders were present. Akin to the Western aristocrats, they interacted in harmony under the illumination of the church, without any conflicts. 

The western ideology on families is so feeble. 

Without the support of the family, Benjamin’s circumstances were not only difficult - it was more like a struggle session, where everyone was against him. 

It look liked he would have to go through some hardship. 

When he thought of this, he immediately caved. 

"Oh, my good sir, everything I did was unintentional! I’m so sorry, please forgive me!"

Even he could feel how genuine his act was. 

His nobility was already well trained at this point. 

He considered this carefully. It was better for him to apologize first before Claude could force him to do so. This would improve Claude’s impression on him, but could also avoid the Fuller family from taking advantage of the situation. He believed that if his attitude was portrayed perfectly, the Fulners could not find another reason to pick at him anymore. 

As Benjamin expected, after hearing Benjamin’s ‘sincere’ apology, Claude’s expression was coloured with a hint of surprise. His fury was slightly soothed after that. 

After all, Benjamin’s behavior now was more mature than he ever was. Of course, no one suspected a thing nor imagined anything ridiculous like teleportation. From the perspective of the Lithur family members, Benjamin should have behaved like this, and his change for the better could have come sooner! 

Claude’s toughness could be temporarily mellowed with merely an apology, but as the victim of the ‘toilet incident’, Dick Fulner’s anger was not tamed.  

"Just because you asked for forgiveness does not mean I would forgive you! Dream on! I will not accept your apology!" Dick Fulner’s attitude was still harsh.

Even the System popped up spookily and agreed, "Exactly, what use would the police be if apologies were that effective?"

"...."

Benjamin ignored the anarchic System, and gazed at Claude. Claude looked like he wanted to stay quiet and let the younger generation resolve the dispute. 

Benjamin could only ask, "What then do you want me to do?"

Dick glared and looked down at him contemptuously. He snorted cockily and said through gritted teeth, "I want to return to you the exact shame you gave me!"

While uttering his words, he magically took out a chamber pot from under the table. 

"...." 

Benjamin’s expression went dark right away.

It was one matter to pretend to be a coward and apologize. He would not lose anything, and at the same time he could internally be looking down on the people, secretly shouting at them, "You peasants!" However, he would never accept the notion of having those things poured on his face. Never. 

"....You must be dreaming." His patience finally hit its limits. 

Dick became agitated in a flash and shouted, "I knew it! You were faking your apologies all along, you were never sincere when you apologized to me! Half-wit! You shameless liar!"

Benjamin could not hold back anymore. He spent half of his life on the internet, and all of his experience exploded at that instant, as if he had the power of a thousand keyboard warriors and he was not alone in this war.

"You are the one who is trash! Coming out in the middle of the night and scaring the living lights out of people, shrieking like a pig on slaughter, which dame did you dream of to excite you like this? How dare you criticize me? Did you eat so much shit you start to spew shit everywhere now? Beware that maybe one day you will die from getting hit by the bird’s shit!" 

"F%#$, you dare shout at me?"

"You swam in shit and you’re afraid of people shouting at you?"

"I’ll kill you!"

"Come then! Whoever backs off will have to castrate himself!"

"....."

According to an anonymous Mr Green, he recalled that the situation spiraled out of control at that time. 

"I was very surprised to know that the life of a noble had no difference with us peasants. When they are angry, they could spew out words that were as filthy and rude as ours," the anonymous Mr Green gasped when he remembered the scene. 

As Mr Green accurately described, along with the gaping audience, Dick and Benjamin’s heated argument became more and more dramatic. There were expletives in between the shouting with descriptions that people could not bear to listen, and the situation was out of control like how a wild horse would be without its lead. 

Claude finally stood and shouted.

"Shut up!" 

His roar that was like a lion’s, it finally stopped the heated argument. Both sides held their horses and troops, and only their outraged eyes were still battling in the air, spiking metaphorical sparks in the process. 

Benjamin felt some regret, but also felt ecstatic. 

But before long, the regret piled up.

"Have you had enough? Benjamin, what happened to the education you received? Have all of them gone to a dog’s stomach? Look at yourself, shouting in front of guests. Do you have no dignity? Are you thinking of leaving this household? If so, go!"

A rush of words smacked at Benjamin, causing him to feel slightly dizzy. At that moment, he felt that he was a child once again, as if he was pointed with a feather brush while being scolded by his parents after committing a mistake. 

This was like a flashback of his childhood terrors! 

"I…" he instinctively wanted to argue, but his words were interrupted without any warning. 

"What, are you trying to twist your words again? The honor of the Lithur family was all gone because of you! Say, how do you plan to let us face the other nobles in the kingdom? How do you reckon the way the church will judge us now?" Claude’s rage was not subsiding anytime soon.

Immediately, Benjamin shut his mouth tightly, and could not make up the courage to speak anymore. 

Anything that could be said at this point would only add fuel to the fire, and would only show Claude how childish and immature he was. It was better for him to face the music with his head hung low. 

At least, he did feel some satisfaction after the outburst. An outdated aristocrat stood no chance against him. 

It was another middle-aged man who piped up and advised Claude.

"Contain your anger, Duke Claude, as I could see that he knows his mistakes. Just let my son have his revenge, and from today onwards, we will forget what happened. This way, we could prevent the rumors from spreading, too."

The System appeared at the right moment to introduce him. He was Accius Fulner, the head of the Fulner household, father of Dick Fulner. 

As a Duke of the Kingdom, he was well-known to be a smooth person. He had much relations in the business world, and was favoured by the present King. When he smiled, his eyes would be hidden behind layers of fat. 

Only he could have a say at this time. 

Although he seemed to be standing at Benjamin’s side, Benjamin had no plans to be grateful to him. "Let my son have his revenge," would equate that he intended to let Dick pour the chamber pot in his face.

No good person could come from this family. 

However, Claude’s attention again had Benjamin in shock.

"If that could solve this matter, that is all that can be done," Claude said after taking a short while to regain his composure. 

Dick’s eyes went bright once Claude uttered these words. He held the chamber pot excitedly, as if it was Leonardo holding his Oscars. 

"Oh no, you’re going to be a ‘shitman’ now," the System said, its voice so serene it was hard to tell if that was said with chaotic joy or pity. 

Benjamin’s face went blue. 

He would never ever accept this! No!

He would rather Mister Fulner put down the chamber pot, and have a civil discussion…. 


Kubei was just an ordinary pencil and button pusher working a day job, hating his boss and making horrible speeches when one day he fell asleep after pushing an all-nighter. When he woke up, he was bound to a chair, facing three creepy robed women and in a body way too young and way too weak to be his own. As he slowly came to, he realized that he was no longer in the same universe as he was before. He had teleported to the Kingdom of Helius, where an all-powerful church rules its lands and wages war against the elusive group known only as Mages. Armed with an incredibly cocky neural interface that just won’t shut up and his own sheer wit, our MC will find himself not just fighting to survive, but maybe even something bigger than himself.

When the black girl heard Zhang Lisheng's words that indicated that he was a graduate student in the Biology Faculty, she raised her brows. After verifying the young man's statement through LAN in the school, she looked at her dispirited colleague who was in a daze beside her before turning her head sideways to wink and whisper, "Hey, I like high IQ boys the most. In my opinion, great intelligence is more attractive than big muscles. Soon-to-be Dr. Zhang Lisheng, I can help you get 'The Illustrated Handbook of Bio-anatomy and Chemical Reaction' if you become my boyfriend tonight. However, if you don't, I can only tell you which bookshelf it's in and you'll have to look for it yourself. The choice is up to you. What choice are you picking then?"
"What do you mean?" Zhang Lisheng failed to grasp her point and asked.
"Forget it, baby. Since you're the most innocent boy at Stanford, I'll make an exception to service you for 'free' this time! Wait a moment, I'll get the book for you." The girl was stunned for a moment as she looked at the confused young man. Suddenly, she clasped her mouth with a hand to chuckle before walking quickly to the bookshelf in the hall. Very soon, she returned to the front desk while holding a big book.
It only took her less than 20 seconds in total, but the black girl's expression appeared to be much paler.
After she had settled the loaning procedure of the book 'The Illustrated Handbook of Bio-anatomy and Chemical Reaction' that had a black hard plastic cover vividly and realistically sketched with a half-skinned corpse lying on a rusty autopsy bed, she handed it to Zhang Lisheng. She could not help but comment, "The cover of this book really makes me feel uncomfortable."
"Maybe." After Zhang Lisheng took the book, he looked at the cover that was exactly identical on the one shown on the computer screen before flashing a smile and walking out of the library. Breathing in the fresh air at night, he rode back to his dormitory building on his bike.
As he walked into the dormitory while holding a book, the janitor who had a big square-shaped head and who had great physical strength recognized him at a glance and deliberately called out to him, "Young man, are you Zhang Lisheng from A011?"
"Yes, sir."
"I'm Hammy Walter, the night janitor of this dormitory. I just received a notice from the Student Management Office that according to California law, you must return to the dormitory before 12 am on non-holiday days. If you exceed the time, you'll have to report your whereabouts to me. You can just text me through my phone or Facebook. My number is…" Perhaps the janitor had received some warning when he received the notice from the Student Management Office, so the janitor who was usually rude appeared amiable to the young man.
The first-year Stanford students who came to the front of the student dormitory and who had never heard that they would have to report to the dormitory janitor when they go to the college could not help but slow down their footsteps. Perplexed, they looked at Zhang Lisheng who stood face to face with the janitor.
The young man could only flash a wry smile and nodded—"Alright, I got it, Mr. Hammy!"—before rapidly walking back to his dorm.
In the next few days, Zhang Lisheng laid down on the bed and read 'The Illustrated Handbook of Bio-anatomy and Chemical Reaction' to spend his time. On top of that, an outrageous rumor began to spread out in his dorm—that a fairly remarkable person that the California court directly monitored had resided in this dorm.
A wise man did not believe in rumors but the word 'wise' here did not refer to intelligence, but 'wisdom'. Very soon, the rumor intensified among the immature first-year students. Meanwhile, the center of this new campus legend unknowingly went to his supervisor's lab to report himself after he finished reading 'The Illustrated Handbook of Bio-anatomy and Chemical Reaction'.
He had learned from the Internet that a giant scientific laboratory could accommodate hundreds of scientists that were divided into dozens of research groups which could solve scientific problems together at the same time. Zhang Lisheng had a premonition that Steven's lab would not be big.
However, after he had finished his breakfast in the morning, he shuttled around Stanford's vast campus with a group of college students who rushed to the class on a bicycle like racing under the pleasantly warm sunlight. After a while, he finally found the laboratory building. When he walked up to the third floor and entered the biological laboratory built around the two color-changing soft beetles he contributed, Zhang Lisheng was surprised to see that this laboratory would actually turn out to be so small.
It was a room of no more than three hundred square meters divided into three transparent and one opaque compartment at the four corners using special glasses. In the middle where the public area lied, other than a circle of sofas and coffee tables where the researchers could rest after a tiresome day, there were also several large unknown test instruments. That was it, that's the laboratory.
Early in the morning, Steven had already made a cup of coffee while sitting on the sofa in the public area of ​​the lab. He did so while doing something on his tablet computer. As for the few glass rooms in the corner of the room, there were already people carrying out their experiments there.
Zhang Lisheng, who had changed into soft slippers and a white coat according to standard experimental procedures, walked quietly towards his supervisor's back. "Professor, good morning. This is the lab you built with a quarter of the experimental budget of Stanford's Biology Faculty? It looks different from what I imagined. "
"Oh, you're here, Lisheng!" Steven replied without turning around. "How much do you think the experimental budget of Stanford's Biology Faculty can get? Besides, this lab is not as simple as you think. Just these few machines beside me are already enough to attract three young scientists who have received a doctorate degree in science to sacrifice their temporary interests for postdoctoral research. Can't you see? They're in the glass rooms together with a group of graduate students who are equally ambitious but of little talent, vainly hoping to rely on the advanced experimental environment to produce amazing results and become famous afterwards..."
"Oh, Professor! You're really tart and mean!" Zhang Lisheng went around to sit down with Steven. "How is the progress with the lab construction in the foreign world?"
"Well, they can't hear us in the glass rooms anyway. About that, Maggette said that it's a little difficult. If it's Shrimp World No. 1, it could be directly implemented. Yet due to a lack of military strength, the government cannot guarantee the safety of the lab in Shrimp World No. 2…"
"Let's just take the risk then if safety cannot be ensured! An undeveloped island with dense pristine jungles and a piece of land that has matured into civilization before that has been tossed and turned where one could remember everything like the back of their hands. As long as you're not an idiot, any biologist would know where to go to build a laboratory."
"You know what, Lisheng? Other than the fact that you're lucky and you're a millionaire, what I like most about you is your decisiveness and your daring spirit to sacrifice for science!" Steven put down the tablet from his hand and took a good look at Zhang Lisheng. As arrogance disappeared with a flash from his face, he said, "I also answered Maggette like that! Even though what we're doing is not as sacred and clean as what the outsiders think. However, if we want to stand on the peak, we must dare to fight other than having luck!"
"Professor, you are a biologist, not a bank robber!" The young man said with a smile.
"If you've been in this field for a long time, you'd know that there's almost no difference. One is to snatch the wisdom of others while the other one is to snatch someone else's money." Steven took a sip of coffee and stood up before shouting out loud, "Everyone, stop your experiments and come out. Let me introduce a new working partner to you guys."
Upon hearing his shout, the people in the glass rooms soon came out in confusion.
"This is Zhang Lisheng! My former collaborator and a future genius biologist!" Steven first pointed at Zhang Lisheng as he introduced the young man to the others as his 'collaborator' instead of his graduate student. This, no doubt, greatly elevated the young man's status in the laboratory.
After that, Steven pointed to a burly, ugly, and ferocious-looking fat man in his thirties who looked more like a butcher than a scientist, an ordinary-looking Caucasian young man in his twenties who had a long face, and a solemn-looking young woman wearing square-framed thick glasses. Steven then introduced all three of them to Zhang Lisheng. "Boyle, a doctor who graduated his Ph.D. last year. He's now responsible for the study of the color-changing pigmentation of the beetle's exoskeleton. Pamil, who graduated from his Ph.D. the same year as Boyle last year. He's in charge of the study of the exoskeleton bone structure of the beetle's soft body. Shalin, a doctor who just got her doctorate degree this year. She's in charge of the study of the visceral compression resistance of soft beetles. They're the heads in-charge of three different topics of our laboratory."
As he was introducing the members of the laboratory, Zhang Lisheng nodded his head while greeting them continuously, "It's an honor to meet you, Dr. Boyle… Dr. Pamil... Dr. Shalin…"
Boyle, Pamil, and Shalin also appeared to be very polite towards Zhang Lisheng, particularly Pamil who even took the young man's hand and shook it. "Mr. Zhang Lisheng. I've read about the paper on the soft beetle you and Professor Steven published in the Science journal before. It's the foundation of the research work in our laboratory. I'm very happy to be able to work with you. "
After seeing Zhang Lisheng acquainting himself with the laboratory's topic heads, Steven then introduced the laboratory's 'research assistants', also known as the graduate students who did all the 'crappy jobs', to the young man.
The supervisors of these graduate students put their name on Steven's laboratory, which could be said as one of the ways to apply for research funding, but they rarely come to the lab. Instead, they were busy with their own research.
They would usually send their own students to deal with errands, so for this reason, these research assistants would rotate every few days. Even so, it would always be the same 20 or so people coming here every now and then. 
Zhang Lisheng greeted these graduate students who were a few years older than him. With that, he had officially integrated into the laboratory and became one of them.
"Lisheng, my task in the laboratory is to summarize the research results obtained by Boyle, Pamil, and Shalin from the three research topics. Then, by experimenting on what we know, we could finally form a scientific conclusion. From now on, you'll be my research assistant. Well, you have a strong ability in carrying out things by yourself, so if you want to do some small research of your interest, you can carry out the experiment independently when I'm not using the lab…"
"Professor, if you allow me to carry out my experiment independently, can I get a separate glass room?"
Steven sighed and shrugged. "I'll ask Maggette. I think he'd most likely agree to it. However, you'd have to come up with the research assistant you need yourself when you're carrying the experiment."
"I'm fast and brisk, so I don't usually need any assistant," Seeing that his purpose had been achieved, Zhang Lisheng smiled.


A young man from the Miaowei Tribe brought up by his strict father, suddenly turned into Rank 1 Wizard on the day he was orphaned. He then obtained the ability to control giant worms. 
Soon after, he found his mother who was in a faraway foreign land by accident. From a small mountain village, he managed to jump into the amazing arena that was a global metropolis.
Thus far, we have a young man who inherited the legacy of mastering ancient demons from an ancient country. 
From Western civilization to other worlds, a fascinating saga is born.

Looking at the map at a low angle of about 30 degrees from the direction of the employee's building, the words "Mbmstlib13" appeared when lining up the gaps in the shading of the map.

Dividing up the words, he got M, bmst, lib, and 13. The only text that had some semblance of a clue was "lib", which likely meant that the location is somewhere in the library. As for M, bmst and 13, he had a feeling he would understand when he arrives at the library. 

He went to the dining area, grabbed several pieces of flavored bread and headed to the library.

Everything in the library looked like before; a long wooden table split the library into two sections. In the two sections, there was a table in each corner. There were three floors, and one can look down from the second and third floors to the central area. All the walls were filled with books, parchments, and scrolls of various materials,  shapes and sizes. Some of them even had chains that bound them to the shelves. 

Xylos had some suspicions that the steganography might be pointing to one of those books. From the memory he received, the library had a variety of books many were magical in nature only readable to those that have a matching core; some are even antagonistic causing harm to those of the opposing magic system; some could even pull in a reader (both figuratively and literally) into the book and try to convert or scare them.

Xylos really hoped that the thing he was looking for isn't one of those. He felt that the words "bmst" was an abbreviation for a book. He searched the library for most of the afternoon. Whenever he felt hungry, he would eat half of the bread and keep going.

At the end of the day,  he found three potential books. The first one was a book called "Bryant's mystical spectral tarots", the second was a hardcover book with the words "bmst" written on all surfaces with a keyhole illustrated on the front cover, and the third was a chained book called "Beryl's musical scores and travels."

The only reason he recalled those books was that the authors seem to have tried really hard to come up with meaningful names using B, M, S, and T as the letters for starting a word.

He went through the first book and it was a personal illustration of all the major and minor arcana of what looked like a tarot deck each depicting a personification of worldly constants such as Death, Stars, Sun, Moon, Key, Mana, and Life.

It was a beautiful art book that seemed to encompass all aspects of life. Each card also had a rune near the bottom of the page. When he touched an image, it had a texture relative to what was drawn. For example, the moon would feel cool and solid to the touch, grass can either feel rough as if they are drying up or flexible as if it was fresh and vibrant. For a moment, Xylos even felt that he smelled something from one of the images. He even had a moment, where he could swear that he saw one of the more provocative female personifications winked at him as he was flipping through the pages. 

He was completely engrossed in the artbook; drawn in by the texture and the feeling that the image is alive.  He didn't notice that every time he flipped a page, the rune on the back page would fade out for a moment before appearing again slightly dimmer than before.

When he finished reading the book, he felt a rush of heat flow from his chest. It surprised him at first but on further inspection, nothing seems to have changed about his state. It felt similar to a rush that happened when a person pulled themselves out of a state of concentration and just realized that the room was hotter than before.

He put the artbook aside and opened the book titled "bmst," the moment he touched it he felt mana flow into him and reflect back after reaching his core. As it happened, he almost threw away the book out of fear. This was one of the magic books that checked if the reader had a matching magic system before it would show its contents. Luckily, it wasn't one of those books that attacked the reader if he or she wasn't.

As he expected, when he opened the book every page either had a single word "bmst" on it or was blank. The illustrated keyhole on the page looked suspicious and a thought came to his mind that maybe if he drew a "key" rune depicted in the previous book and pressed it against the lock the contents would appear or something would happen.

Thus, he took a piece of rune paper, folded it four times so it could fit in the palm of his hand and then drew the "key" rune from the artbook on it. Sadly,  he didn't feel anything when the rune was drawn. Regardless, he pressed the piece of paper at the keyhole hoping for something to happen. He waited for a few minutes...

and then some more...

but as he somewhat expected...

nothing happened...without a second thought, he drew the words "Key" vertically on another folded piece of rune paper. The moment he compiled the spell using his system, the piece of paper started glowing; at the same time, the "bmst" book seems to glow with the same color. 

Xylos cautiously pushed the glowing "key" rune into the illustrated keyhole. It went right in and created an audible click before the paper dissipated into the air.

Xylos watched the book for a moment before hesitantly opened the book. He flipped to a random page noticed a blank page, however this time something that looked like an ink figurine appeared on the page. It performed a series of eloquent movements; some looked like a dance; some looked like a stage performance, and some even looked like fighting and grappling moves. Each action caused the page to fill up with various things such as fire, stars, spirits of various colors and shapes, plants, and small to large animals. Once the page was filled with things the page would automatically flip over. 

The ink figurine performed from page to page, creating all sorts of things until it stopped unwillingly at the final page before it looked up and looked at Xylos with an abstract smile...then it abruptly jumped out of the page toward his face. Xylos reeled back in surprise only to see the figurine vanish before reaching him. He immediately inspected himself to make sure that nothing happened to his body or core. To his relief, everything was the same.

It didn't seem like a coincidence that both books were magical in one way or another. He promptly put the "bmst" book away; he had a feeling it was like those mischevious books that liked surprising incompatible readers. 

He made his way to the chained book titled "Beryl's musical scores and travels" on the second floor of the library. Standing some distance away, he inspected the book. Slowly but surely, some sort of music started coming out of the book. It started with a slow flute melody before the sound of a piano, a trumpet, and a violin joined in and built a fast-paced epic; it sounded like a person setting out for a grand adventure for the first time. 

The longer he listened to it,  the louder the music became until it drowned out everything in the library. He tried to pull away but the felt the music resonate comfortably inside his body and he closed his eyes to take in the feeling. He only did so because he felt his body rejuvenating with each beat, tone, and rhythm from the music. Finally, it seemed to evoke the image of rhythmically dancing figures and calm shifting landscapes in his mind-eye. He felt powerful and unrestrained, indulging in a feeling of comfort and boundlessness. 

He didn't know how much time passed but when the music faded he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in the center of a large clearing surrounded by tall trees on all sides.

"Where am I now...?"

Xylos was copied from another universe into another with all his memories intact into the body of an "Artificial Human" at an experimental facility. It was a world of magic with a familiar system, but alas, as a failed product with an incomplete core, he only has a month to live. How will he survive?

The lovely cover for this story was illustrated by skyward-shoujo on DeviantArt. More illustrations from more artists are available on Wattpad.

When CEO Seto Kaiba propositions Joan, she expects a one-night stand, but he and his brother keep coming back for more. Now the Kaiba brothers want an heir from her and will pay any price to get it. How do Joan’s husband and boyfriend feel about her new profession? More importantly, how do they handle public scrutiny?

The award stickers on this cover are from Wattpad contests. If you would like to see the illustrations for this story, you can find them on the Wattpad version!

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