Although Ian Song's excuse was a bit flimsy and fantastical, his uncle Stephen and aunt Yvonne at least pretended to believe him. Whether they truly believed it or not, Ian had no way of knowing. For him, as long as they accepted the villa he gave them, he was satisfied.
After Ian left.
After washing up, the couple leaned against each other. Stephen Song sighed softly, "This kid is getting harder and harder to figure out."
Yvonne Yang nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Ian has changed so much. But no matter how he changes, he'll always be our nephew!"
"That's true. He's always treated us as his closest family." At this, Stephen Song felt he should find a chance to tell Ian the real story about his parents.
............
Over the past few days, his Fame Points increased by another hundred million, breaking through a total of 320 million.
"Should I give it another spin?"
After all, each lottery draw only costs 38.88 million points.
"Meow~ I want to draw!"
Anyway, he wasn’t short on Fame Points now, so another draw wouldn’t hurt.
The lottery wheel appeared. Even after so many draws, Ian Song was still a little excited. He tapped his finger on the big ‘Prize’ button.
The pointer spun and finally stopped on a blue square.
"Yes!"
Ian couldn’t help but pump his fist in excitement.
Next, ‘Gravity Domain’ appeared on the blue square, then melted into golden light and entered his brow.
Gravity Domain: Fifth-grade, low-tier divine ability. Once activated, covers a ten-meter radius, multiplies gravity by 20 times, lasts ten seconds each time, can be used five times per day.
"Twenty times gravity—awesome! Even an Innate-Rank Master caught in this field would probably move slower than a snail!"
The next day, Ian Song returned to Saint Night High School.
After three days of cooling off, his classmates' gazes were no longer so intense. This made Ian breathe a small sigh of relief.
Second period was English class.
When Hannah Han walked into the classroom, she instinctively glanced at Ian Song's seat.
Seeing Ian was there, she felt a faint sense of joy for reasons she couldn't quite explain.
For the past two days, every time she saw that empty seat, she felt a strange sense of loss, along with a hint of guilt and worry.
In her mind, it was definitely because she had hurt Ian's feelings, which was why he’d taken leave and missed class.
Sensing Hannah's gaze, Ian Song smiled at her.
For no reason, a faint blush appeared on Hannah Han’s face.
For the rest of the class, Hannah didn’t look at Ian again—whether out of guilt or something else.
After school, Ian Song went to the market.
After picking out ingredients carefully, he carried the groceries toward Hannah Han’s small apartment.
After a few days to settle his feelings, Ian had come to terms with everything. Even if Hannah Han didn’t like him, there was no need to let their relationship grow distant—things had been fine before, hadn’t they?
"Who is it?"
When Hannah Han opened the door and saw Ian Song standing there with groceries in both hands, her eyes grew misty for reasons she couldn’t explain.
"Miss Han, I was out of town these past few days and couldn’t cook for you. Today I’m making it up to you—double!"
As he spoke, Ian stepped inside, kicked off his shoes, swapped them for slippers, and headed naturally toward the kitchen. His eyes casually swept over a still-steaming bowl of instant noodles on the coffee table.
Soon, the rhythmic sound of chopping vegetables came from the kitchen.
But this time, Hannah didn’t busy herself elsewhere. Instead, she stood at the kitchen doorway, staring at his focused figure. A wave of happiness started to grow inside her, swelling until it filled her whole heart.
Ian turned and smiled at her. "What’s wrong? Are you getting impatient? Don’t worry, I’m fast!"
"Ian!" Hannah called out, her voice full of emotion.
Ian instinctively turned around, only to see a figure rush toward him and throw herself into his arms, pressing her cheek tightly to his chest. Her soft arms wrapped firmly around his waist with such force that Ian could feel the depth of her feelings.
But he was still holding a knife in one hand and a head of lettuce in the other, so he could only speak as gently as possible: "Hey now, haven’t I always been here for you?"
Hannah didn't make a sound, but Ian could feel her trembling.
For a moment, confusion flashed in Ian's eyes. But then it all clicked, and joy overwhelmed him—he’d gotten it wrong, completely wrong. Hannah didn’t dislike him; she’d only acted so firm because of her pride, or maybe out of worry for his feelings.
"Wuwu, I’m sorry, I really am!"
After a while, Hannah’s sobs came from his arms. Hearing her cry, Ian almost wanted to smack himself—how could he make his gentle, kind Miss Han cry? But at the same time, he felt a bit proud, because Hannah was crying for him.
On impulse, he stowed the knife and lettuce into his Milky Way Ring, then wrapped his arms around Hannah. "It’s okay. I never blamed you."
"Really?" Hannah looked up at him, her face streaked with tears—so pitiful it tugged at the heart.
"Really." Ian nodded vigorously, then lowered his head and kissed her soft, tear-stained lips.
"Salty," he realized—it was the taste of tears.
In that moment, Ian felt something powerful surge from his heart. All he wanted was to hold and kiss the girl in his arms as fiercely as he could.
Their passionate kiss lasted a full five minutes, leaving both of them breathless.
Looking at Hannah’s flushed, dazed face, Ian took a deep breath and once again kissed her cherry lips fiercely.
This was the longest Ian had ever spent cooking—a full two and a half hours.
With a mischievous troublemaker at his side, the thin paper between them had finally been pierced, and their relationship quickly grew much closer.
"Ah... open wide."
Smiling, Ian picked up a piece of bamboo shoot and brought it to Hannah’s lips.
"Ah...!"
Wearing a blissful smile, Hannah opened her mouth like an obedient little girl, her eyes never leaving Ian’s face.
"Is it good?" Ian asked.
"It’s delicious. I want more," Hannah said coquettishly.
Seeing Hannah acting cute, Ian felt his heart melt. He picked up a piece of beef and brought it to her mouth, but just as she was about to bite, he suddenly pulled back and popped it into his own mouth instead.
"You jerk! How dare you tease me!"
Hannah puffed up in mock anger and stood up from her chair, but Ian reached out and pulled her into his arms. "Little glutton, don’t be mad!"
As he spoke, Ian picked up a piece of vegetable, held it between his lips, and leaned toward Hannah.
"Ew, that’s dirty! I’m not eating it!" Hannah protested, lips tightly shut.
"How is it dirty? You were so enthusiastic in the kitchen just now!" Ian grinned mischievously, moving closer to Hannah’s lips.