How Could I Possibly Have a Daughter After Reincarnating?

“Um… that should be Xia You, right?”

Ling Ning squinted at the familiar figure in the distance. She was certain it was Xia You. After all, she’d seen that outfit earlier in the morning—there was no mistaking it.

Running into Xia You wasn’t a problem in itself. The issue was the person standing next to Xia You. Though it was a girl, Ling Ning couldn’t help but feel curious. Had Xia You been spending all her time with this girl lately?

Ling Ning decided she needed to follow them to figure out what was going on. Even though she was still in her maid outfit, if she stayed discreet, she shouldn’t be noticed… right?

Then she remembered Xia You’s ridiculously sharp sense for detecting when she was being followed. Ling Ning hesitated. If she followed them, she’d likely be discovered sooner rather than later.

As Ling Ning stood frozen, deep in thought, Jiang Xue glanced at her with concern. “Master, is something wrong? Weren’t we heading back?”

Ling Ning coughed awkwardly. “Ahem, I just remembered I have something to do. You go on ahead—I’ll be back soon.”

Without waiting for Jiang Xue’s reply, Ling Ning hurried after Xia You. If she didn’t move quickly, she’d lose them.

Watching her Master’s retreating figure, Jiang Xue hesitated for a moment before quietly following. She was curious—what had Ling Ning seen that made her so eager to leave?

From a distance, Ling Ning trailed Xia You and the unknown girl. The two seemed to be discussing something, but the girl gave Ling Ning a strange sense of familiarity. Unfortunately, the distance, combined with the girl never turning around, left Ling Ning unable to make out her face.

How frustrating!

To make matters worse, Ling Ning couldn’t hear a word of their conversation. Wait a second—why did she feel like a jealous wife catching her spouse in the act? How did things even get to this point?

In all honesty, Ling Ning didn’t think Xia You would betray her. She had enough basic trust in her for that. Besides, the two of them seemed more like a teacher and student than a pair of lovers. Ling Ning guessed Xia You was probably mentoring the girl on something.

While she was mulling over her thoughts, Xia You and the girl suddenly disappeared around a corner. Ling Ning rushed after them, but it was as if they had vanished into thin air.

Just as she was about to search the area, Ling Ning felt the cold press of a knife against her neck. It was only there for a fleeting moment, disappearing so quickly that she wondered if it had been an illusion.

“Ling… Ling Ning?! What are you doing here!?”

Ling Ning turned instinctively at the familiar voice. Standing behind her was Xia You, her face flushed as she stared at Ling Ning in surprise. It was clear Xia You hadn’t expected her to be here.

Ling Ning narrowed her eyes, studying Xia You. Was that knife earlier just her imagination?

The unknown girl stood a short distance away, staring at them in a daze. Now that Ling Ning could finally see her face, she realized the girl was Zheng Yun.

This made Ling Ning even more curious. Why was Xia You with Zheng Yun?

“I just happened to see you, Xia You. You’ve been acting so secretive lately, so I decided to follow you to see what you were up to~ I didn’t expect to get caught, though. As expected of Xia You,” Ling Ning said with a playful smile.

“Secretive? Me?”

Xia You glanced down in thought. Okay, maybe she had been acting a bit mysteriously lately, but she had a good reason for it! Her apprentice had been pestering her for help wooing Li Si, so she’d been spending her time strategizing on how to assist her.

But still, this wasn’t the time to dwell on that. Right now, she needed to come up with a convincing explanation to throw Ling Ning off.

“Well, she’s been having some issues with a game recently,” Xia You said, gesturing toward Zheng Yun. “So I’ve been helping her sort it out. We were just heading to an internet café to fix things when you showed up.”

Ling Ning nodded thoughtfully. “I see. You should’ve just told me! I was starting to think you’d left me to go find some mysterious third party~”

As she spoke, Ling Ning put on the exaggerated expression of a neglected wife.

Xia You knew she was joking, but she still felt the need to respond seriously. “I’m not as fickle as you, Ling Ning.”

The unexpected retort left Ling Ning momentarily speechless. When had Xia You become so sharp-tongued? Where was her soft and adorable Xia You?

With a resigned sigh, Ling Ning said, “Alright, I’ll head back to the café. If anything comes up, make sure to call me.”

“Got it.”

Only after watching Ling Ning leave did Xia You finally breathe a sigh of relief. Turning to Zheng Yun, she said helplessly, “Let’s go. I’ll come up with more ideas. If those don’t work, we’ll have to resort to the final plan.”

“Yes, Master!” Zheng Yun replied enthusiastically.

Meanwhile, Ling Ning hadn’t gone far before she spotted Jiang Xue wandering around, seemingly looking for someone. It was obvious she was searching for her.

Ling Ning approached quietly and tapped Jiang Xue on the shoulder.

Startled, Jiang Xue spun around. “Master! When did you get behind me?”

“I told you to head back, didn’t I? Why are you here?”

“Well… I was worried about you! Did you finish your business already? That was fast,” Jiang Xue replied curiously. It hadn’t been long since Ling Ning left.

Ling Ning nodded lightly. “I ran into someone I knew, so I just chatted with them briefly before heading back. What else did you think I was doing? Let’s go. If we slack off any longer, Chu Mengyao will throw a fit.”

The mention of Chu Mengyao made Jiang Xue shiver. She quickly followed Ling Ning, not wanting to face their boss’s wrath. Just imagining it sent chills down her spine.

In Jiang Xue’s mind, Chu Mengyao had already been thoroughly demonized. Then again, the nickname “human female T. rex” wasn’t exactly unwarranted.

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Author’s Note:

I’ve been writing 8,000 characters a day lately. I feel like I’m about to collapse~