At exactly 9:00, Qin Shu frantically refreshed for the latest update of <All the World Loves Me>, his eyes fever-bright like someone waiting for lottery results.
At 9 something, he finally saw the new chapter, clicked it open at lightning speed, and went straight to the comments section, furiously typing—
[No time! Fellow older and younger sisters, get me to the top! (Ma Jingtao roar)!! Don’t look down on younger ones—they can kiss and drink milk at the same time! Our wuli Chu-baby is both soft and wolfish, ten thousand times better than that dog Xie! I’d trade my roommate’s lifelong bachelorhood for Chu-baby’s successful rise! Author-sama, please notice us ahhhh QAQ]
Comment sent, Qin Shu calmed his excitement enough to focus on today’s update.
On the surface, Qin Shu was just an ordinary college student—male, second-year Chinese major. But he had a hidden identity: a small-time author on a male-oriented web novel site, with a few thousand fans and just enough manuscript fees to buy ten cups of milk tea a day.
Not long ago, a fan who’d followed him for two books commented: God-tier author, the day you learn to write romance is the day I livestream eating sh*t!
Qin Shu: …That’s really not necessary.
The truth was, Qin Shu knew his romance scenes were cr*p—so awkward they could make your scalp crawl. To improve (and maybe to make that fan eat their words), he clicked into the female-oriented rankings next door and found <All the World Loves Me>. From then on, a door to a whole new world opened before him.
<All the World Loves Me> was a stock-market-style danmei: the bottom, Xu Ning, was dazzlingly beautiful, attracting every kind of male god to compete for him. But the author refused to name the official top, letting readers place their bets.
It took Qin Shu only three chapters to go from “I can’t accept this setup” to “sweet mercy, I’m hooked.” After some cool-headed analysis and close observation, he bet everything on the only younger-top candidate and became that top’s number-one dad fan.
But his boy wasn’t the most popular stock—currently, he was second-to-last among those introduced. The number-one stock had been leading since debut, leaving the others far behind. Qin Shu hugged his underdog boy and sulked for a minute before realizing his mission was grave. From then on, he camped updates daily, charging into battles for his top, waving the flag with all his might.
Unfortunately, the author seemed to also favor the super-popular number one. Several consecutive chapters were all about him—today’s update included. Qin Shu finished reading with boredom, his sympathy for his boy +1, his hatred for the favorite +10086. He commented again:
[I have a friend with a terminal illness, about to die. His dying wish is to see Chu-baby get Ning Ning’s first kiss. Please, Author-sama, arrange it, thank you. (deep bow)]
Seething with resentment, Qin Shu went to bed. In his dreams, his boy stepped over the fan-favorite to rise in glory and carry the beauty away.
When he next opened his eyes, he found himself slumped over a desk, surrounded by studious classmates he didn’t recognize, with endless rows of bookshelves all around. Was this… a library? Qin Shu was dumbfounded—when had his university’s library been renovated this big?
Blinking, he lowered his head. In front of him was an unfamiliar phone, its screen frozen on a WeChat chat with someone named “Dog-B.” The most recent message read:
[Chu Cheng you dog-B, go eat sh*t!!!!]
…Who—who is so bold as to actually dare call his baby gong a dogsh*t bastard?!
Qin Shu flipped open his contacts, one familiar name after another jumped out: Xu Ning, Chu Cheng…
After all these years of writing novels, Qin Shu still had some understanding of the “transmigration-into-a-book” routine. To be honest, the moment he discovered that <All the World Loves Me> had a stock-gong named exactly the same as him, Qin Shu had already anticipated this day.
The Qin Shu in the novel, just like him, was a second-year university student. As one of the “stocks” among the gongs, his biggest advantage was being a little handsome, having a rich family, and being willing to spend lavishly on Xu Ning. As for his flaws—lazy, arrogant personality, falling for anyone he saw, fond of corny pick-up lines, enthusiastic about provoking love rivals, and acting with zero foresight. Compared to the other blue-chip and potential stocks, he was basically cannon fodder—ranked at the very bottom ever since “going public,” with less popularity than the cafeteria auntie serving food. Purely a catalyst for the relationships between the other stocks and the protagonist.
But none of that mattered! Even the sh*ttiest stock still had its value!
Qin Shu rubbed his face, forced himself to calm down, and checked the date—it was September, school had just started, all the candidate gongs had “gone public,” and the “bloody storm” of the stock market was about to begin.
The hand holding his phone trembled slightly.
His face hidden in the shadows, he revealed a strange yet fervent smile, muttering: “I’m here.”
That’s right, he was here. He had come carrying his obsession with his own CP. From this moment on, making his CP real was his one and only creed. Anyone who tried to sabotage them would be met with his cruelest curse.
The young lady sitting across from him was so frightened she grabbed her book and ran off, sending a WeChat message as she fled: “D*mn, I finally ran into a handsome guy, but his brain seems a bit off…”
Qin Shu: smile gradually fading.jpg
To be honest, there was only one explanation for “Qin Shu” appearing in such a normal place as the library—protagonist shou Xu Ning must be nearby.
Xu Ning had every single trait that a swoon-worthy protagonist should: fair skin, beautiful face, slim waist; ordinary family background, art student, personality soft and adorable like a little bunny. Obviously a boy, yet he held the title of the Art Department’s belle. At last year’s student event, “Qin Shu” had fallen in love with Xu Ning at first sight, officially becoming one of the many simps orbiting him.
Xu Ning liked to hang around the library, so “Qin Shu” did too; Xu Ning read books, he stared at Xu Ning, always finding excuses to butter him up, playing the simp role. Only, in the end, he gained absolutely nothing, even ranking dead last in popularity.
Qin Shu swept his gaze around like a radar, and soon among all the ordinary faces spotted Xu Ning with his protagonist’s halo.
A simple white T-shirt and jeans, sitting by the window; head lowered, slightly long bangs veiling his eyes; under the sunlight, his skin was so fair it glowed, lips rosy, face smaller than most girls’, a purity faintly tinged with seduction.
Qin Shu drew in a deep breath—beautiful, such a beauty! No wonder the whole world loves him! I can too!
…No. You cannot.
Get a grip, Qin Shu—that’s your baby’s future spouse, which makes him your daughter-in-law! And yet you dare have such filthy thoughts—you disgrace of a father!
While Qin Shu was berating himself like crazy, Xu Ning closed his book and walked toward the lounge area. Qin Shu quickly packed up and followed.
The lounge had a campus convenience store, where students came when tired of studying or craving snacks. Qin Shu watched as Xu Ning took a bottled milk tea from the fridge and went to the cashier. Qin Shu squeezed the campus card in his pocket. Good—his chance to perform.
When it was Xu Ning’s turn to pay, the cashier girl smiled especially brightly: “Hello, classmate, which payment method would you like to use?”
Xu Ning smiled back. “Campus card, thanks.”
“Alright, that’ll be two-fifty.”
Just as Xu Ning was about to swipe, a hand wearing an expensive watch stretched across the scanner, and a hearty, confident voice sounded behind him: “Put it on mine.”
Xu Ning turned and met Qin Shu’s face, his smile fading a little. “What a coincidence, Qin Shu.”
Ah, even the daughter-in-law’s voice was heavenly. The baby sure was blessed in the future. “Just one milk tea enough for you? Buy a few more, whatever you like, my treat.”
Xu Ning said awkwardly, “No need, I can pay myself—”
“Don’t reject me, Ning Ning,” Qin Shu forced himself to stay in character, putting on a deep tone, “my wallet will always be open for you.”
Xu Ning: “…”
The student in line behind them complained, “Bro, you doing billion-dollar business or what? You’re too slow, I’ve been waiting here a year already.”
First attempt at acting cool in his life, and he got heckled—Qin Shu’s face burned. He said, “Then today I’ll treat you to milk tea, and next time a feast.”
Xu Ning gave a helpless nod. “Then… thanks.”
Qin Shu swiped his campus card with a flourish—hair flowing, posture stylish—
“Insufficient balance. Please recharge before use. Thank you.”
The air froze into sheer awkwardness.
Qin Shu was full of question marks—what about the rich-second-gen persona?! Not even two-fifty in the card, what kind of rich kid is that?!
Don’t panic, stay calm. Think, what would the original Qin Shu say right now?
He steadied himself. “I eat at the cafeteria so rarely, I forgot to top up the card.”
The cashier girl burst out laughing. Xu Ning kindly said, “Then let me pay. Anything you want to eat, I’ll treat you.”
Qin Shu wanted to say no, but then thought—if Xu Ning treated today, he’d have an excuse to return the favor later. So he grabbed a two-yuan lollipop and said, “I’ll take this.”
When they left the convenience store, the library was almost closing. Xu Ning said, “I’m heading back to the dorm. You…”
Without thinking Qin Shu said, “I’ll walk you back.”
“But don’t you rent an apartment off campus? The dorm isn’t on your way.”
Qin Shu had no idea where the original’s rented place even was, so he casually made something up: “I just happen to need to grab something from the dorm.”
Xu Ning didn’t say anything more. The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder on the way back to the dorms. According to the book’s plot, at this point the original had already begun pursuing Xu Ning, but hadn’t confessed yet. Although Xu Ning felt a little uncomfortable with his pestering, because of his soft personality, he still remained gentle and patient when dealing with him.
The original Qin Shu was the earliest of the “stock gongs” to like Xu Ning. At the same time, the super-popular stock—the one with the surname Xie—had only just met Xu Ning and recently added him on WeChat. As for Qin Shu’s baby gong, Chu Cheng, he was still at the stage of having a vague fondness for Xu Ning but not realizing it himself—like a bratty little kid, liking someone meant bullying them, so he often went out of his way to cause Xu Ning trouble.
This dumb&ss behavior was the main reason he ranked solidly second-to-last in popularity. Influenced by his family background, Chu Cheng was hot-tempered and childish, with no clue how to dote on someone. Many readers felt he wasn’t worthy of Xu Ning. But Qin Shu liked him precisely for that—he felt sorry for what Chu Cheng went through as a child, and wanted to watch him slowly realize his feelings, grow bit by bit, and finally hit the “regretful husband chasing his wife” arc. Just imagining it gave him that bittersweet thrill.
Qin Shu sucked on his lollipop, sneaking glances at his future daughter-in-law, while fantasizing about the beautiful scenes of him and Chu Cheng being together. Suddenly, a pain shot through his shoulder, as if something had bumped him.
He yelped, “The h*ll, who?!” He turned his head—
Only to see a handsome guy clutching a basketball standing behind him and Xu Ning, grinning mischievously: “Yo, are you two on a date?”
Qin Shu’s eyes lit up—that provocative tone, could it be…?
The boy had a perfect build—broad shoulders, long legs, well-defined muscles that weren’t over the top, skin bronzed from the sun, clearly the athletic type who trained regularly.
Xu Ning looked at him, seeming a bit intimidated, lips pressing together. “Chu Cheng.”
Qin Shu: !!!
Confirmed—it was him, it really was him, the stock gong he’d staked all his hopes on—Chu Cheng.
Qin Shu couldn’t stop the love hearts from filling his eyes, overflowing with fatherly affection. Who would believe it wasn’t fate, that on his very first day transmigrating he’d already met both his son and daughter-in-law?
Chu Cheng’s gaze moved back and forth between Qin Shu and Xu Ning, finally fixing on Xu Ning. “I told you to come watch me play basketball, but you said you had to study.” He jabbed a finger at Qin Shu. “Turns out you’re studying with this guy? What can you even learn from him—time management, or group activities?”
