If there’s one thing in the world that can make someone’s mind go completely blank in an instant, then for Bai Xing, it would undoubtedly be her senior’s habit of dropping bombshells out of nowhere.
Every time.
Every time, he would seize the moment when she was at her most vulnerable,
and suddenly say something that would make her legs go weak.
“You’re really too much.”
Even though…
Even though he was just stating a fact, Bai Xing didn’t care.
To the young girl, “the gentle words spoken by her senior” were nothing less than sweet nothings.
At this moment, in the early Monday morning classroom, she leaned against him, oblivious to the gazes of others around her.
She was beyond rational thought.
She vaguely understood that her senior had been writing a book.
He had mentioned before that he was good at writing.
And novels, undoubtedly, were another genre he would tackle besides “project planning.”
From this, she deduced that when he was holed up at home, sneaking around and busy for days on end, barely going out and abandoning his social life, he must have been working on this.
“So, even among creators, there are ‘all-rounders’?”
Not only writing books but also handling project planning, operations, and copywriting.
A triple threat?
Novels, perhaps, were just the lowest barrier to entry among them—something anyone could attempt, though the ceiling was high. To reach the pinnacle, one would have to surpass countless peers, with the gap between the best and the rest becoming immeasurable.
Now Bai Xing understood. Her senior’s intention was likely to make her the protagonist in his next book.
—The “female lead.”
Using her outlook on life, her values, her worldview, her attitude toward various things, her understanding,
and then infusing it with his soul, refining and shaping it,
slowly simmering it into a three-dimensional, even four-dimensional, five-dimensional, ultra-perfect heroine.
“Hehehe…”
“Me…”
“…the female lead…senior’s…hehehe…infused…”
During class, Bai Xing’s infatuated state was on full display, her mouth practically watering under the spell of her own fantasies.
Wen Le, sitting on the other side of Lu Qing, kept sneaking glances over, furrowing his brows as he poked Lu Qing’s arm with his finger, silently mouthing:
“What did you do to her? Why’s she acting like an idiot?”
“…I don’t know.”
Lu Qing also felt a bit of regret, wondering if he had spoken too soon.
Even considering her feelings and the fear of her shutting down, had he underestimated the impact of this news?
Directly causing Bai Xing to lose her mind like this—was that really okay?
“Bai Xing, Bai Xing?”
He shook the giggling girl.
“Hehe, hehe…”
No response.
“Bai Xing, time for a panini.”
“Huh…huh?”
Hearing the keyword, the girl finally snapped out of it and turned her gaze toward him.
“Senior, you’re being naughty again.”
Though she accused him of being naughty, her own hands began to wander, giving his thigh a playful pinch.
“…Who’s really being naughty here?”
Lu Qing winced in pain and sighed, “So, you still haven’t told me about your family.”
Only then did she fully come back to her senses,
realizing that ever since her senior had made his request, she had been in a state of “soul detachment,” completely unable to string words together.
“Oh…I just need to think about where to start, okay?”
Bai Xing gave a guilty smile and stuck out her tongue at him.
This matter required careful consideration.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to tell him everything, but she was too worried about her past.
—Would he look down on her if it wasn’t glamorous or exciting enough?
For example, the fact that she came from the countryside, a small village girl.
She grew up in a rural courtyard until high school, when, thanks to her grandmother’s efforts, she finally left the countryside for a small town.
After taking the college entrance exam in the town, she was fortunate enough to move to the city, becoming a somewhat urbanized young girl.
She learned voice acting skills, took on gigs, worked tirelessly, and became self-sufficient.
But now, to pay for her grandmother’s medical treatment, her finances had completely collapsed, leaving her broke again.
She was barely scraping by on the promise her senior had made, her bank account dry and her pockets nearly empty.
With her grandmother’s chemotherapy fees looming, even if she managed to start streaming and earn a lot from viewer gifts, factoring in the delayed payment schedule from the streaming platform, it still might not be enough to cover the costs in time…
All sorts of problems were piling up, but she didn’t dare tell him, didn’t dare speak up.
So, could she really share this kind of background with him?
Would it be okay to bare it all?
Bai Xing wasn’t sure.
She just felt that compared to someone as radiant and elegant as Su Ling, her own origins were completely unimpressive.
Su Ling’s perfection was innate.
Her own efforts were buried underground.
How could the two even be compared?
“Wait.”
Right.
—Her senior lived with his sister, so why didn’t he just choose Su Ling as the model for his female lead?
Instead, he chose her??
“Huh?!”
At this thought, Bai Xing’s spirits suddenly soared.
A possibility she hadn’t dared to imagine suddenly leapt to mind—
Did this mean that,
compared to Su Ling,
she was more suited to be the heroine of his book?
!!!
Or, to put it another way,
in her senior’s eyes,
was she more valuable as a creative subject than Su Ling?
In other words,
did she possess qualities that Su Ling lacked?
He recognized her.
That’s why he chose her.
Not Su Ling.
Not Su Ling!!
“~!!!”
Things were looking up.
Everything was looking up.
Bai Xing felt that,
at this moment, she was terrifyingly strong!
A long-lost sense of confidence had finally returned.
Haha,
Su Ling!
You’re done for!
【I’m the chosen one.】
You, you’ve lost!
Big time!
As long as I play my cards right and get “immortalized” in senior’s work,
doesn’t that mean I’ll forever have a prominent place in his life and his creations?
Huh?
As for you…
You’re just his adopted sister, you don’t get that kind of treatment, so by extension, I’ve overtaken you! Mwahahaha…!
See?
I can turn things around too!
Great.
【Now, it’s time for my second act.】
Su Ling, I won’t lose to you.
Absolutely not.
…
…
Having successfully brainwashed herself, Bai Xing’s expression turned serious as she neatly tucked away her little mental calculations.
She cleared her throat, preparing to embellish her past a bit for her senior.
Unbeknownst to her, Lu Qing already had a pretty good grasp of her situation.
“I’ll start now, senior.”
“Okay, let me grab a notebook to jot things down.”
“What about class? Are we skipping it?”
“What’s more important than hearing your story?”
Lu Qing’s matter-of-fact response instantly turned the girl into a blushing mess.
“Alright…alright, I’ll tell you everything! I’ll hold nothing back!”
Bai Xing could hardly sit still, her fidgeting making it obvious she wanted to drag her senior out of the classroom and into some private corner.
This was glaringly obvious to anyone watching.
Take Wen Le, for example, who had already scooted as far away from the two as possible, slamming a thick book down to block his view to the left,
determined not to listen, not to hear, not to see.
“There’s nothing worth paying attention to here. I’d rather chat with my Jing Jing and strengthen our bond than listen to your private little stories. Pfft, how mundane.”
Still nursing the wounds from his last heartbreak, Wen Le wasn’t the least bit envious after learning that Lu Qing was involved with the voice behind that succubus avatar.
He had Jing Jing, his sweet and caring Jing Jing, who could easily outshine any external temptations.
“Tch!”
Wen Le clicked his tongue, opened WeChat, and scrolled through his recent messages to find the newly added 「Jing Jing」. He scrolled to the bottom of their chat—【You have successfully transferred 3000 yuan】—and sent a new message:
“Jing Jing, my buddy told me that maid costumes can’t be cheap knockoffs. The hundred-yuan ones are trash; you need to go for something high-end. So, I think you should look into some custom-made options, try on some premium stuff. If you’re short on cash, I’ll send you more!”
After typing this, he entered another amount in the transfer box, his eyes gleaming with wisdom as he added:
“With this extra 5000, spruce yourself up a bit. Next time I get a chance, I’ll bring my buddy to visit you at Kulo Kulo. He’s a maid connoisseur, so don’t embarrass me, okay?”
…
…