Chapter 218 : Firepower, Beware, Beyond Comprehension
“You… you vixen! What do you think you’re doing to my mom?!”
The moment Lin Yue opened the door, she was greeted by the sight of her mother lying on the couch with that “vixen lady” from before on top of her. And, to make matters worse, her hands were in very suspicious places.
“Huh?! Lin Yue, wait! Let me explain! It’s not what it looks like!” Ling Ning stammered, just as stunned by the situation. What had started as a simple accident had somehow escalated into a scene straight out of a melodramatic romance plot.
Ling Ning could practically feel the malice of the universe bearing down on her.
“Explain what? Look at where your hands are, and Mom’s expression! It’s obvious you’re up to no good!” Lin Yue accused.
Ling Ning glanced down and realized her hand had somehow ended up in quite an inappropriate spot. She suddenly felt like the clueless male protagonist of a harem anime. Without thinking, she gave a slight squeeze. Hmm… it was rather… flat. Wait, that’s not the point!
And then there was Chen Ruo, with an odd, expectant expression. Why were her eyes closed and lips pursed? Was she hoping for her daughter to get the wrong idea?
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Ling Ning quickly scrambled to get off Chen Ruo—especially since Lin Yue looked ready to grab a kitchen knife.
“Eh?!”
Now that Ling Ning had gotten off her, Chen Ruo was a bit disappointed. Hadn’t Ling Ning pounced on her to do all sorts of things and turn her into… uh… “heavy artillery”? And if it was with Ling Ning, well… she didn’t mind, really.
Wait a second! Chen Ruo shook her head. Why was she even having these thoughts? It must be all the “research” she’d been doing lately. Normally, she was a pure-hearted woman! Heavy artillery? No, no… she couldn’t even recognize half of those terms!
“Oh! Lin Yue, when did you get back?” Chen Ruo finally noticed her daughter standing there.
Chen Ruo began to worry, realizing Lin Yue might have seen her earlier embarrassing behavior. How was she supposed to maintain her dignity as a mother now?
Lin Yue gave her mother a blank look. “If I hadn’t come back, you’d probably be devoured whole and turned into ‘heavy artillery’ by now.”
At this, Ling Ning let out a nervous laugh, quickly adding, “Lin Yue, really, this was all just a big misunderstanding! I just tripped, and, well, accidentally fell on top of your mom right when you walked in. It’s all just a coincidence!”
Lin Yue snorted in disbelief, standing protectively beside her mom and eyeing Ling Ning with suspicion. There were way too many coincidences here for her to buy that story.
“So why are you in my house, anyway?” Lin Yue demanded, suddenly remembering she’d left her mother alone.
“Oh, that’s because I got lost on my way to the convenience store to buy spicy snacks,” Chen Ruo began explaining, “and then Ling Ning happened to show up, took me to get the snacks, and brought me home. So, I invited her over for lunch as a thank-you.”
“Really? Last I checked, the only thing you know how to ‘cook’ is boiling water. Were you planning to serve her instant noodles?”
“Hehe~” Chen Ruo replied sheepishly, “Actually, Ling Ning made lunch! And it was delicious!”
Lin Yue shot a skeptical look at Ling Ning. Recently, every time her mom got lost, this “vixen lady” just happened to show up to help. It was too suspicious to ignore.
Lin Yue thought of a possibility: maybe this vixen was actually some creepy stalker. She wasn’t about to believe it was all a coincidence.
Her gaze sharpened. She’d have to keep a close watch on her mom from now on and make sure this “vixen lady” didn’t get too close again.
But, knowing her mother, Lin Yue realized she’d need to lecture her later, especially about her bad habit of staring at her phone while walking.
Meanwhile, Ling Ning was at a loss. Why did Lin Yue look even more distrustful now?
“Oh, come on! Why don’t we all play a game instead of giving each other death stares?” Chen Ruo suddenly suggested, pulling a console out from under the TV.
Ling Ning considered it. She didn’t have any plans for the afternoon, so a quick game didn’t sound bad. Though she also had a console at home, she rarely played, since games cost money, her daughter wasn’t interested, and she’d had little free time lately.
“What should we play?” Chen Ruo pondered, her eyes lighting up. “How about Brilliant Studies 3? We can take turns with one life each.”
“Brilliant Studies 3? Sure!” The title sounded familiar to Ling Ning; after a moment, she remembered it was one of the games Xia You had reviewed on her channel. She’d even watched Xia You’s full playthrough.
Recalling Xia You’s smooth gameplay, Ling Ning felt excited to try it herself. In her previous life, she’d been a skilled gamer, and she could already picture herself dominating the game.
However, she had severely underestimated its difficulty. Not long after they started, both she and Chen Ruo had lost count of how many times they’d died. Lin Yue, on the other hand, wasn’t even tempted to join; she knew how hard the game was after spending three hours just trying to beat the first boss before giving up.
When Ling Ning’s character was killed once again by Gundyr, she nearly wanted to throw the controller. The game was brutal. Recalling how easily Xia You had sliced through the boss, she wondered if she’d watched a fake video.
After Chen Ruo’s character was tossed off a cliff by Gundyr, she turned to Ling Ning with a small smile. “Ling Ning, maybe we should switch to True Dynasty Warriors 7.”
Ling Ning smiled back. “Sure, let’s go with your choice.”
With that, Chen Ruo uninstalled Brilliant Studies 3, and they switched to a much more relaxing hack-and-slash game.
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Author’s Note:
Ugh, got writer’s block today. Spent the whole afternoon and barely managed 4,000 words! Also, speaking of frustrations, I spent a fortune rolling for Gilgamesh in Fate/Grand Order and failed miserably. Stupid game! Drains my youth, my money, and my soul!