MTL - Those Sweet Times - Chapter 82 Pinching face, quarreling

“Why didn’t you tell me?”“Tell you what, Richard? What would you have done?”“I don’t know. Apologized sooner? Bought you a burger to make up for it?”Her eyes lit up with fire, “You think what you did to me… you think a burger can make up for it?” her eyes twinkled like she was fighting tears. Did I hurt her that badly? I was just a foolish teenager.“Nita, I am sorry. I was young, I was stupid. I wish I could take it all back and tell you how I feel instead of being a constant jerk to gain your attention.”“How did you feel that would justify what you did to me?”I paused for a minute, finding the words. “I had a huge crush on you at the time. And I didn’t know how to express myself. I was full of myself, I was the school’s ladies' man and the one girl I had eyes for didn’t even care if I existed,” “And that justified what you did to me? Richard, you broke me. I can forgive you for ‘accidentally’ spilling your ice cream on me, or throwing my due assignment in the toilet, or the gum in my hair, or the glue in my chair but tell me how can I forgive you for what you did that night? Tell me!”“What night? Nita, what are you talking about?”“Remember when you asked me if I knew who sexually assaulted me?”I nodded, but what does that have to do with anything? The more we spoke, the more confused I became.“You did and I cannot believe that you would stand there and pretend like it didn’t happen!”Nita has spent years trying to forget the torment she endured at the hands of Richard. When her family’s financial ruin forces her into an arranged marriage, she is horrified to find out the groom himself was her bully.Richard, a charming and successful businessman meets the first woman to be repulsed by him. Intrigued, he proposes a deal of a one year marriage of convenience.Navigating life as a couple, old wounds reopen, buried memories surface. As Richard learns more about his wife, he finds that he has enemies that followed him from his past to continuously cloud his wife’s judgement.Will Nita believe the truth and bury old wounds or will the pain of the past prove too strong to heal?

Chu Xuan transmigrated to a fantasy world and became the young master of a powerful family. He was rebuked for misbehaving just because he sneezed during a banquet. As punishment, he was banished from the ancestral mansion and was relocated to a remote residence.

He did not mind the punishment at all. He just needed a spot that could allow him to be a shut-in. With the system that would allow him to grow stronger by being a shut-in, the longer he stayed indoors, the more powerful he became.

After being a shut-in for a day, he was rewarded with the Indestructible Body Technique.

After being a shut-in for a month, he was rewarded with the Immovable Mountain Technique.

After being a shut-in for a year, he was rewarded with the Yuxu Celestial Scripture and 100 years of cultivation.

After being a shut-in for 10 years, he was rewarded with the Chaotic Indestructible Body and the Bell of Chaos.

…

Chu Xuan declared, “No one can make me leave my home. I like being a shut-in!”

Deep below the earth's surface, a mystifying subterranean seascape lurks, an archipelago bathed in inky blackness where suspense and horror hold court. Here lie strange islands and even stranger monsters, far beyond the realms of human imagination. In this domain, mankind is far from dominant; instead, madness and death rule supreme.

Pleading for mercy from the unknown creatures of the deep only leads to a slow, tortured existence. The trapped survivors gradually distort, losing what made them human, both physically and mentally, to the gloom as they remain trapped in this eternal obscurity. Their only hope? A perilous expedition into uncharted sea territories.

Fueled by determination, Charles embark on this daunting voyage aboard his steamship, aiming to reclaim humanity's past glory. Together with his crew, they sought a way out of this hidden sea world, a path back to the sunlit world above, where humans once stood tall.

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I read a few comments from Chinese readers that compared this novel with Lord of Mysteries because of similar elements: Lovecraftian, western fantasy, first industrial revolution, and steampunk. However, I have yet to finish reading Lord of Mysteries to do any actual comparison, but I do think those who have enjoyed that novel would enjoy this as well. Also, the author of LotM, Cuttlefish That Loves Diving, also did a shout-out for this novel, so I guess he approves of it too?

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It’s said that the prince of virtue had almighty martial arts. It’s said that the prince of virtue had the most handsome appearance in the world. It’s said that the prince of virtue was brilliant. But all was legend! A fire ruined his wonderful appearance and his legs. Even the talented bride under their marriage agreement were replaced furtively. Ye Liu-li was his bad-luck substitutive princess. She went a long way to graduate from Medical University and had her internship with pain and joy. Who knew that in order to save a suicide patient, she fell off the building and crossed time into a “chessman” of prime minister. She had also been married to the disabled prince replacing her elder sister. On the wedding night, when most other couples were having their romantic night, she was thrilled. It didn’t matter. Revenge never came too late. She would never let go of any of them who entrapped her or harmed her.

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