Chapter 410 : Cluck Cluck Cluck~
The stillness of the night made it the perfect time to write—especially after a refreshing shower, with the cool breeze of the air conditioner filling the room, accompanied by a chilled glass of cola. It couldn’t get much better.
Ling Ning sat quietly at her desk, her fingers flying across the keyboard. Perhaps it was the aftereffect of her shower, but her mind was overflowing with inspiration.
“If only I could write at this speed all the time,” she thought wistfully while typing.
Of course, that was wishful thinking. On normal days, her typing speed was just a bit faster than the average person. And if she hit a creative block, she might not even match the speed of a crawling ant.
Just as she was fully immersed in writing, a notification from her chat software in the bottom-right corner of her screen began to flash insistently.
Although Ling Ning didn’t usually like to chat in groups while writing, she became curious when she saw that the message was from Lin Xi.
“Ling Ning, check this out.”
It was a single sentence accompanied by a link. Clicking it, Ling Ning was directed to a post on the campus forum titled: “This Year’s Beautiful Freshmen.”
The simple title had garnered an astonishing amount of traffic, with thousands of replies.
Ling Ning glanced at the author’s username—it was posted by the S University News Department. The post had gone live at 6 PM, and in just a few hours, it had become the forum’s hottest topic. Clearly, the News Department was not to be underestimated.
Casually skimming the post, Ling Ning noticed it featured photos and basic information about the university’s freshmen. To her surprise, her own photo appeared on the second page.
It was a picture of her walking alongside Xia You that morning. When had they even taken it? She hadn’t noticed at all.
The accompanying information was basic, but what made Ling Ning frown was a comment below that revealed she was a professional model. The tone of the comment was oddly proud, almost as if boasting about her achievements.
Wait a second... The username of the commenter felt eerily familiar. After a moment of thought, Ling Ning realized it was Lin Xi’s frequently used online alias. Even her chat software displayed the same nickname.
Unbelievable. Lin Xi had actually used her to generate hype! It was like throwing her into a fire pit.
Scrolling further, Ling Ning stumbled upon another revelation—her part-time job at the maid café had been exposed, complete with photos. The post even served as an advertisement for the café.
The username responsible for this post was “A One-Person Army.” Though she didn’t know who it was, the content made it obvious—this had to be the work of Chu Mengyao. That girl must be using her for free advertising!
“I need to have a word with her about this... Unless, of course, she’s willing to pay me some kind of endorsement fee,” Ling Ning muttered to herself.
Continuing through the thread, she found mentions of many acquaintances, all of whom seemed to have been used by Chu Mengyao for similar advertising schemes.
At the end of the post, the News Department had even added photos of non-students like Ye Xuan and Bai Jie, complete with basic information.
The sheer thoroughness of the News Department was impressive. In just a few days, they had compiled so much information. Surely, they had some insider connections.
“How does it feel to see your name on the list? Exciting, right?”
Rolling her eyes, Ling Ning typed back, “That ‘Dream in a Dream’ alias is definitely you, right? Don’t even try denying it!”
After a brief pause, Lin Xi replied, “What are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean. Anyway, I’m off to shower. Bye~”
“Oh, really? Then maybe I should go digging through the forum archives. I doubt older posts have disappeared so quickly.”
“Wait! Ling Ning, my dear, I’m sorry!”
“What are you going to do about it, then?”
“Anything you want, as long as you don’t bump that post again. But let’s be clear—I won’t agree to anything unethical!”
“We’ll see. I haven’t decided yet. For now, I’ll let you off. Off to shower. Bye~”
Reading the last message, Lin Xi felt like her soul had left her body. Why had she stirred up this trouble for herself? If Ling Ning demanded something... questionable, what would she do? Her mind wandered to a risqué manga she had read recently, and she couldn’t help but imagine herself as the protagonist, with Ling Ning giving the orders.
“No, no, no! I need to calm down!”
Lin Xi muttered, her face flushed as she rushed to the bathroom—forgetting to grab a change of clothes in her haste.
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“Mom, weren’t you supposed to start writing seriously today?”
Ling Ye’s voice startled Ling Ning, snapping her out of her daydreams. She suddenly remembered her plan to focus on writing that evening. Instead, she’d been caught up chatting and browsing the forum.
Awkwardly, Ling Ning smiled. “Uh... I was just taking a break. Yeah, that’s it!”
“Mom, your readers have been waiting for two whole days! If you don’t update soon, they might revolt!”
“I know, I know. I’ve actually written a lot already. I’ll get back to it now—I’m full of inspiration!” Ling Ning declared with a straight face.
Ling Ye tilted her head, giving her mom a skeptical look. As a dedicated fan of her mom’s novels, she had spent the last two days urging her to update, to no avail.
“Well, good luck, Mom. I’m going back to my room to play games.”
“Don’t worry! I’ll definitely get it done tonight!”
After finishing, Ling Ning confidently closed the chat window and opened her writing software, ready to resume her unfinished work.
One minute passed.
Three minutes passed.
Ten minutes passed.
Ling Ning was still sitting motionless in front of her computer. She suddenly realized that after getting distracted earlier, the rare burst of inspiration she had in her mind was now gone. This was not a good sign at all.
"Maybe I should just postpone it for another day?"
As soon as this thought emerged, Ling Ning immediately suppressed it. After all, she had promised her daughter that she would definitely update today, and promises to her daughter were absolutely meant to be kept.
After some consideration, Ling Ning decided to use her special move—not the Triple Clarity technique... no, that's not it! Rather, she would write while holding her daughter.
For some reason, whenever she wrote while holding her daughter, her inspiration would flow particularly well.
Without another word, Ling Ning carried her laptop to her daughter's room. Looking at her daughter who was playing with toys, she said with a sweet smile: "Ye Ye, let Mom hold you for a bit!"
"Huh?"
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Author’s Note:
If there are no surprises, I’m currently in Hangzhou!