NOVPUBWatching his mother’s figure as she left, Xia Xiaoxiao was momentarily at a loss for words.
The loneliness displayed in Lin Jing’s eyes just now was so palpable that even the most obtuse person could feel it, let alone her daughter who spent day and night with her.
Xia Xiaoxiao sat on the sofa, hugging her knees, evidently lost in thought; her eyes distantly zoned out.
Xu Qingfan, on the other hand, wasn’t as lost in thoughts as the young girl. After all, in his last life, Auntie Lin wasn’t as spirited as now and would even jest with him.
In the original timeline, Lin Jing, who hadn’t divorced, perhaps was always consumed with thoughts of her husband’s affair, which made her seem listless and devoid of vitality on most days.
Although she might occasionally reminisce about people post-divorce, at least she didn’t have to worry so much about those vexing issues and could be cheerful every day.
Now, nearly seven years had passed, and the nearly 35-year-old Lin Jing still looked as she did at 28, not allowing time to leave a single trace on her face.
But these were things he couldn’t explain to Xia Xiaoxiao, as he certainly couldn’t tell her he had been reborn!
Xu Qingfan patted the girl’s shoulder, picked up his little brother, and headed back to his bedroom.
The room was spotless, even the bedding had been replaced with new ones, and he felt the long-missed sense of maternal love.
"Love you, Mom!" he exclaimed after dropping his little brother to the floor.
Recently, he had promised Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning to continue producing comics, but he had no idea how to write a comic script and couldn’t bear to say no to such cute kids, so Xu Qingfan braced himself and concocted a novel on his own.
He had read a fair number of web novels—xianxia, fantasy, urban supernatural; his ideas were arguably a dimension ahead of the current web literature world.
"Douluo Continent" hadn’t started yet, but Xu Qingfan didn’t plan to plagiarize others; he had forgotten the specific content anyway and would rather create his own story.
His plan was to write a novel about the revival of spiritual energy, as it would be more relatable as a comic in the modern world.
Writing an exciting story boils down to a few key elements, the first being a strong "Golden Finger" system. For example, being able to copy other people’s talents would provide a window for the underdog to rise and continually copying more robust talents would keep the readers engaged.
With the "Golden Finger" in place, next would be to triumph in the college entrance exam, followed by various college "dungeons", conquering the aloof college beauty, the stern class president, the sweet junior—all secured in his bag.
Then, a national competition to captivate beauties of all complexions, followed by an alien invasion—fighting monsters while wooing girls, ultimately reaching the supreme realm, sweeping through all the heavens, and with all the gathered beauties, establishing a new order of only love and peace.
Alright, the outline was all set, Xu Qingfan immediately began typing on his keyboard.
The plot might seem cliché in future generations, but in the current age of wilderness, it was clearly marketable—after all, light novels from Japan focused solely on underdogs and perennial virgins were hugely successful; there was no reason Xu Qingfan’s "The Age of Martial Arts" wouldn’t be a hit too!
Xia Xiaoxiao had entered the room from the living room at some point and was now sitting quietly beside him, watching him type. Uninitiated in the world of web novels, she was captivated after just a few hundred words, staring unwaveringly at the text, forgetting she had originally come in to chat with Stinky Dog about personal matters.
After spending less than half an hour writing down the first chapter of two thousand words and saving it, the girl looked at the stopped text and asked, "What about the next part?"
"That’s it, just two thousand words a day, can’t do more." Xu Qingfan shrugged, corrected the typos, and then posted the content in their QQ group.
"Are you planning to publish another book?" Xia Xiaoxiao continued to watch him intently.
Being able to write over two thousand words in half an hour was, in the girl’s view, quite impressive.
"It’s just a start; I’m planning to post it on the Good Taste Takeout community forum. If it gets a good response, I might make it into a physical book later," Xu Qingfan said while opening his browser, and soon he uploaded the two thousand words he had just written.
"I think it’s pretty good, urban genre—it’s more interesting than ’Douluo Continent’." Xia Xiaoxiao uncommonly didn’t put him down.
"You might not think that later on." Xu Qingfan smiled and thought to himself, once you realize this is a harem novel, you might want to ’knife’ the protagonist.
Xia Xiaoxiao finally remembered the reason she had come in and said dejectedly, "Xu Qingfan."
"Hmm? What’s up?" He glanced at the girl, puzzled.
"Do you think I’m very selfish?"
"Why would you say that?" Xu Qingfan put down his mouse and sat up straight to listen attentively.
"My mom got divorced for my sake and has never remarried. I just watched her walking away, and suddenly I felt she was so lonely," Xia Xiaoxiao said.
"Do you think it’s because of you that your mom got divorced and never remarried?" Xu Qingfan asked back.
"Isn’t it?" Xia Xiaoxiao blinked blankly.
"I think you’re thinking too much. Being married has its downsides, and being unmarried has its advantages. You can’t have it both ways," Xu Qingfan gave her a light knock on the head.
Annoyed, Xia Xiaoxiao, holding the spot where she had just been hit, retorted, "What’s so bad about being married? Uncle and auntie are so loving. They even went on a road trip over the New Year to the place where they first met!"
"That’s an exception with my parents. They can be so loving because of my silent contributions to this family."
"You?" Xia Xiaoxiao made a disgusted face.
"Hey~ What’s with that look? Of course, it’s because of me. If it weren’t for the money I made from betting on football and drawing comics, they would still be working from dawn till dusk, struggling even with essentials. They wouldn’t have the luxury to enjoy the finer things in life!"
Xia Xiaoxiao felt Xu Qingfan made some sense, but not much. She said, "Not everything has to be tied to money. I believe that even without money, uncle and auntie would still be loving!"
Xu Qingfan shook his head helplessly. In his previous life, his parents’ relationship wasn’t as harmonious. After all, Xu Aiguo had always been content with a modest lifestyle, and over time Yao Jiping inevitably ended up criticizing his lack of ambition, which led to fractures in their relationship.
"I think, auntie might be unhappy occasionally, but she is happy most of the time. Dude, you’re looking at things too one-sidedly," he patted the girl’s head.
"Is that so?"
"Of course. Look around at auntie’s peers, aside from my mom, who looks as youthful as she does? If it weren’t for her being in a good mood, how could she maintain herself so well!"
"It seems so..." Xia Xiaoxiao felt it made quite a lot of sense and nodded.
"Any more questions?"
"There’s one more."
"Shoot!"
"So according to what you’re saying, there’s no benefit to marriage at all. Why do people still get married then? Isn’t it fine just to have children without getting married?" Xia Xiaoxiao asked seriously.
"Ah?" Xu Qingfan looked at her in disbelief.
"Is that wrong?"
"Um... you’re very right."
"You think so too, right!"
"Mm..."
Bonus chapter for monthly ticket (4/5)
