《Hanami》Four steps
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The princess of the Royale Group had just arrived at the annual flower viewing brunch hosted at Florescent Park in the center of R City.
"Oh! Em! Gee! Could you be more discreet?! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Isabelle stomped her foot and screamed at the black-suit who had just reported her status to the other bodyguards. "Keep a distance away from me too, I don't want you guys hovering all over me! Ugh!"
The black-suit obeyed and retreated to a reasonable distance before broadcasting to the other bodyguards, "all units, code red. I repeat, code red."
One responder shamelessly said, "er, what's code red? Over."
"All units on watch from the furthest distance possible. Get it together privates!" another responded.
Isabelle tidied her and her outfit before making her way into the park for the event. At the same time, a young man had also entered the park but from a different entrance.
The brunch officially started with her arrival. Of course, everyone had to wait for her to arrive. This was an event hosted by her family for many years. The attendees were all from the rich and wealthy upper-class families of R City, including many city officials. This event was to welcome the new blooms of spring as a symbol for future successes. This was R City's age-old tradition.
The young man had no clue such a prominent event was happening in this beautiful park. He admired the flowers and trees as he strolled through.
"Lady's and gentlemen, may I present to you: Miss Isabelle Royale of the Royale Group," one event staff announced while pointing at Isabelle as she entered.
The attendees all turned in her direction and applauded.
Isabelle walked graciously and carefully as all eyes were on her.
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'Everyone's staring, everyone's staring... stay composed Bella! Smile~ Smile! Wave a little and keep smiling!' Nervous thoughts ravaged her mind as she made her grand entry. Nevertheless, she pulled it off skillfully.
Many of the attendees complimented her on her cute outfit, especially the sparkling ring she had on her finger.
"My, how you've grown, Isabelle." a gray-haired and overweight old man greeted.
Isabelle turned to the voice and was pleasantly surprised, showing a smile on her face. She bobbed a curtsy to him and said, "Nice seeing you again, Mr. Mayor. I hope you enjoy the brunch."
"My, my. You've become quite the young lady. Beautiful too. If you're looking for any suiters, I'll be glad to help! Ha ha ha!" Mayor Jefferson jollied.
Isabelle didn't reply back, she just simply smiled and bobbed another curtsy.
'Just smile and curtsy, Bella! Just smile and curtsy!' she thought.
Moments later, Isabelle pointed to a random direction and said,"oh, I see my classmates over there. You'll have to excuse me, Mr. Mayor." She bobbed a curtsy once more and immediately set off in the direction she pointed to.
Isabelle kept walking without stopping. She had to get away for some air. Keeping the Royale family name as prestigious as she could, took a boatload of effort. For such a young lady to carry such a burden on her shoulders in front of so many influential people without the slightest hint of error was the hardest thing for anyone to pull off. Isabelle had done it, but now she needed a breather.
She made her way away from the event, saw a cherry blossom tree with a bench underneath and decided to head there for a short rest. The bench was only a couple of steps away. One step, two step, three step, four.... When Isabelle took her fourth step, she bumped into something. Her vision blanked for just a second and she fell backward onto her buttocks.
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"Ouch!" she cried.
Her bodyguards kept watch and were about to act until they heard on their radio, "stand down, stand down, harmless civilian. Do not act unless there is malicious intent! I repeat, stand down!"
"Huh?" the boy said. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!"
Isabelle could vaguely hear the voice, it was as if she was about to faint. She gasped for air and started breathing heavily. Her face was red, and drops of sweat rolled down her face.
The boy that she bumped into noticed that she was hyperventilating. He quickly helped her up and carried her toward the bench. He set her down gently and tried to calm her down. At first, he didn't know what to do, but then he remembered what his grandmother did for him when he used to hyperventilate after having nightmares. He instructed for her to slow down her breathing and to follow his breathing pattern: holding in his breath 10 seconds at a time and then exhaling. After a few times, Isabelle had calmed.
"Phew! I'm glad you're okay now," he said.
Then, he swiftly took out a bottle of water from his bag and offered it to her.
"Here, have some water," he said.
Isabelle's vision was still fuzzy, and she hesitated a little.
He noticed her hesitation and guaranteed her, "don't worry, it's just water. A brand new bottle too."
GRUMBLE
Her stomach growled, and her mouth was dry. Seeing the water bottle in front of her face, she couldn't help herself and grabbed it, quickly gulping the water down. Isabelle hadn't eaten or drank anything all morning long, and it was already past noon. In just a few seconds, she finished the bottle of water. What a foolish girl to be starving herself when she had to use so much energy at such an important event.
GRUMBLE
Her stomach growled again.
"Are you hungry? I have an egg salad sandwich I can share with you, you want some?"
"N-no, I'm fine… " she said.
GRUMBLE
Isabelle's stomach growled again. She lowered her head and tightly gripped the water bottle in her hands in utter embarrassment.
The boy smiled. He took out his sandwich and unwrapped it for her before placing it on her lap.
"Here, eat up."
The scent of the plain egg salad sandwich tingled her nose. She threw the water bottle away, instinctively grabbed the sandwich with both hands, and placed it in her mouth and chomped down like a madman.
Nomnomnom
'Oh my god, this sandwich is so good… ' Isabelle thought.
Nomnomnom
"Mmm~ Mm~ Mmm~" she made weird sounds as she deliciously ate the sandwich.
Coughcoughcough
Isabelle ate too fast and started choking. The boy was quick to react, he quickly patted her back. Then, he pulled out another water bottle from his bag and opened it for her.
"Here, drink this," he said as he placed the second water bottle in front of her.
She hastily grabbed it with both hands, took a big mouthful and swallowed.
GULP
"Ahhhh~."
"Heh, feeling better now?" the boy asked.
Isabelle realized that this person was still here. She lowered her head again in embarrassment, but this time her face was red as a tomato.
"Th-thank yo-you!"
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Su Xue, a woman in her mid 20s, is struggling both in paying rent and finding her path in life. Her latest stint has her trying to become a popular League of Legends streamer, though to poor results. One day, she is interrupted in the middle of a livestream by a surprise visit from her landlady. She is informed that she will be having a new roommate. The landlady’s nephew, Lin Feng, a 18 year old boy who has just transferred over to Shanghai for his last year of high school.Though initially opposed to it, Su Xue reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. She learns that the two share a common interest—League of Legends—and that he’s really amazing at the game. Lin Feng also reveals to her he wishes to become the best professional League of Legends player in the world.The next day. Lin Feng attends his first day of school as a transfer student at High School 13. He meets Ouyang and Yang Fan, and the trio find a common passion in League of Legends. Lin Feng is then introduced to Ren Rou, the president of the esports club with a fiery personality, and Tang Bingyao, a quiet bookworm with a love for money and a surprising talent for the game.A little about Lin Feng’s past is revealed. He was a once pro player, the youngest in history and a contender for the best player in the world. Until the finals of the Season 1 World Championship. There, he lost to his arch-rival, an equally brilliant Korean youth. That was the peak of his career, and also the turning point in his life. He stepped down from his team and disappeared from competitive play altogether. Now, after a four year long hiatus, he aims to make a comebackOver the next couple of weeks, Lin Feng learns about the upcoming Shanghai 16 School Tournament, and that his school’s esports club had performed especially poorly the previous year. He agrees to coach the club’s team and help them win the first place trophy this year. And so, he starts the members of the club out on an intense training bootcamp.Meanwhile, the Season 5 League of Legends World Championship is taking place at around the same time. Tian Tian, one of Lin Feng’s former teammates and best friend, is on one of the Chinese teams playing at Worlds. After a poor showing, he is on the verge of a mental breakdown. Lin Feng witnesses everything in a viewing party with the esports club members and becomes worried.On the day of the Shanghai 16 School tournament, Lin Feng reunites with Tian Tian on the phone. He tells Tian Tian he’s going to return to the professional scene, that he’s making a new team and plans to invite him. But Tian Tian has to vow not to give up at Worlds and keep winning. Tian Tian agrees, and Lin Feng promises he’ll fight alongside him. Lin Feng then heads into his match with renewed resolve, to climb from the bottom all the way back to the top, and overcome the rival that defeated him so many years ago.
8 1137 - In Serial479 Chapters
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Painfully shy and conflict-averse, Yun Ruoyan is a scion to a noble house only in name, a puppet embroiled in political machinations beyond her ken. At the tender age of eighteen, poisoned and at death’s door, she finds herself thrown out into the streets. Her relatives have all been executed, betrayed by her dear husband and her cousin. With her dying breath, she curses her own weakness and swears revenge.When Yun Ruoyan awakens once more, she is thirteen, transported five years into the past by the will of the heavens. Her death-defying experience has changed her: no longer is she the malleable creature she once was. But more questions await at every corner—what is the truth behind the birthmark that disfigures her appearance? What are the circumstances surrounding her mother’s mysterious death?Will the phoenix rise from the ashes, or will she fall once more in thrall to fate?
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Follow Bai Luochu on a journey back to the peak as she reincarnates into the body of an orphaned daughter of the former great general of the Cloud Water Nation.With the Three Great Immortal Sects in front of her, her mortal enemies who caused her death, how would she rise to the top again?With her astounding medical skills and ability to create heaven defying poison, Bai Luochu heals the crippled meridians of her new body and attracts the attention of all three princes of the Cloud Water Nation!
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Cinderella went from rags to riches, but when you are already at the top, fate is more than happy to kick you down. A car accident kicks off Sheng Jiaoyang's reverse Cinderella story by trapping her soul in the body of a poor girl, leaving her to succumb to fate and wait for her Prince Charming to come to her rescue -- obviously not!Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, Sheng Jiaoyang forges her own way back up to the upper echelons of society, clearing obstacles, taking revenges, and bagging her handsome and rich childhood friend on the way.If you are tired of reading about poor damsel in distress waiting for a man to rescue her, and wants a female lead that can carry herself to the top, Rebirth of A Fashionista is the novel for you!
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Jun Xiaomo, notoriously known as “Lady Demoness”, finds herself chained and bound in a dungeon. Her hard-earned cultivation has been completely crippled, and she has no means of escape. Qin Shanshan, a lady she used to called her “close friend”, mocks Jun Xiaomo, revealing that Jun Xiaomo had been used by the people around her. Even her lover, Qin Lingyu was one of the masterminds scheming against her. Jun Xiaomo watches her life flash before her eyes and realizes that she had indeed blindly placed her trust in people. Her naivety had led to her current predicament. Jun Xiaomo wanted to end it all. However, she is determined to deliver a swan song. Over the hundreds of days tormented in that very dungeon, Jun Xiaomo had painstakingly painted a complicated formation array with her own blood. With a determined look, Jun Xiaomo burns her life force to activate the array. Her sole intent? To bring with her as many schemers to the gates of hell as she could. The bright red light from thearray intensified, and the end was nigh.…or was it? Jun Xiaomo opens her eyes and finds herself alive again; time had rewound right back to when she was sixteen years of age, albeit only at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation. Armed with the knowledge and memories of her previous lifetime, Jun Xiaomo is determined to learn from her mistakes and bring retribution to those who so deserve…
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