The Group Chat was bustling at that moment.
[Child Without Parents: Nicely done, sister! Hahaha, that one line hit her right where it hurt. You made her so mad she stopped talking!]
[Single Academy-Running Housewife: You're not bad yourself. That little mouth of yours is sweet as honey!]
Seeing the message, Qian Renxue's mouth twitched involuntarily.
After all, teaming up with an outsider to insult her own mother was outrageous in any era, in any world.
But Qian Renxue, who had never known a shred of maternal love growing up, felt no guilt at all.
She felt only an almost rebellious thrill, mingled with a deeper ache she couldn't put into words.
Just then, a new message popped up.
(Richest Little Heiress of Heaven Dou has been unmuted.)
It seemed some unlucky soul's sentence had finally ended.
[Richest Little Heiress of Heaven Dou: Can someone chat with me now?]
The moment that message appeared, the once-lively group fell deathly silent.
[Richest Little Heiress of Heaven Dou: Hello? Why did you all stop talking again?]
[Richest Little Heiress of Heaven Dou: Can somebody answer me?]
Clearly, Miss Ning Rongrong's "outstanding" debut in the group had left an all-too-deep first impression on its lurking members.
Everyone chose to keep their distance from this groupmate with a young lady's temper.
If they couldn't afford to provoke her, couldn't they at least avoid her?
And so Miss Ning's messages began scrolling by in lonely succession. One, two... more than a dozen went by without a single reply.
At last, a distinctly impatient response appeared.
[Big Cat in the Night: Can you stop posting? It's noisy.]
No matter which corner Zhu Zhuqing tossed the mysterious Little Brick into, it always refreshed back beside its holder.
And its incessant message alerts were torture for Zhu Zhuqing as she trained diligently.
[Richest Rich Girl of Heaven Dou: You... you dare call me noisy? Do you know who I am? My father is—]
[Big Cat in the Night: I don't care who your dad is. Keep yapping and I'll tag the Group Leader!]
At those words,
Big Cat in the Night landed a critical hit on Richest Rich Girl of Heaven Dou. It was super effective.
On the other side of the Screen, Ning Rongrong, who had been puffed up with anger, looked like a hamster forced to swallow a mouthful of bitter herbs. Full of fury with nowhere to vent it, she could only rage helplessly at the air.
Zhu Zhuqing looked at the finally quiet interface and breathed a sigh of relief.
But what if someone started flooding the chat again later?
At the thought, Zhu Zhuqing's brow furrowed once more.
She had thought this strange Group Chat might help her fight her family's ordained fate. Instead, it had brought her nothing but useless chatter.
It was seriously disrupting her training.
As she fretted, a new message arrived like rain after a long drought.
[Ice-Snow Smart: Big Cat in the Night, are you still there?]
[Big Cat in the Night: Yes. What is it?]
[Ice-Snow Smart: Swipe right on the Group Chat to open the group settings. You can mute the message alerts there.]
Zhu Zhuqing tried it and, sure enough, found the lifesaving "mute group messages" switch.
She turned it on without hesitation.
At last, the world was quiet.
[Big Cat in the Night: Thanks!]
[Ice-Snow Smart: No need to thank me. Didn't the Group Leader say that meeting in this group was fate? We're all family here.]
[Viper-Hearted Big Sister: Oh? It really works! Thanks a bunch! You're so clever. This blasted thing has been dinging at me all morning. My head was about to burst!]
[Ice-Snow Smart: Hehe, it's nothing. I just like figuring things out, so I poked around and found it.]
[Loves Eating Carrots: No wonder your group name is "Ice-Snow Smart." You're a real genius!]
[Ice-Snow Smart: A genius? Hm, why does that sound... a little strange?]
As word of this "magic trick" spread, several other lurkers tormented by the alerts surfaced and silently gave Ice-Snow Smart their approval.
The chilly Group Chat warmed up at once, and several members got to talking.
The sight stung Ning Rongrong, whom everyone had just ignored.
She gritted her teeth as an inexplicable anger rushed to her head.
"Hmph! So none of you will talk to me?"
"In the real world, I can have anything I want. I don't need to waste time on people who spend all day holed up in some virtual chat!"
With that thought, her familiar sense of superiority quietly reared its head, trying to smooth over the hurt inside her.
"That's right! They must be useless in real life, with nothing better to do, so they spend all day in here! Why should I get angry over people like them?"
"I'm not angry... I'm not angry at all!"
Ning Rongrong patted her perfectly flat chest, trying to calm herself, but the more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt.
After all, endure a moment and the winds and waves would calm; take one step back... and the more she thought, the angrier she got!
"Why should I give way to them?"
"Hmph! If none of you will talk to me, I'll make you come looking for me yourselves!"
A woman of action, Miss Ning immediately rolled out of bed and got dressed.
She rushed out of her room with thudding footsteps and headed straight for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's main hall.
Gu Rong and Ning Fengzhi were out that day.
The responsibility of guarding the sect had fallen to Sword Douluo Chen Xin.
Ning Rongrong's eyes darted. She dabbed a little tea at the corners of her eyes to make herself look pitiful, then charged into the hall. "Grandpa Sword! Grandpa Sword! Someone's bullying me!"
Chen Xin's swordlike brows shot up, and the air around him turned sharp. "Who? Who's bold enough to bully our precious Rongrong?"
Even the slightest trace of a Titled Douluo's might was enough to make the air in the hall congeal.
"Tell me who bullied you, Rongrong. I'll settle the score with them right now!"
Ning Rongrong pointed pitifully at the Brick in her arms. "They did!"
Chen Xin followed her finger and saw nothing at all.
He blinked, then peered more closely. There really was nothing there.
There was nothing in the direction Ning Rongrong was pointing.
Chen Xin's voice took on a note of helpless affection. "Rongrong, there's no one there. Are you playing a joke on Grandpa again?"
Ning Rongrong's heart skipped a beat. She hurriedly held the Brick up in front of him. "Grandpa Sword, you can't see it?"
Chen Xin understood now. His little troublemaker had found another way to amuse herself at his expense.
He sighed, his tone softening. "Rongrong, stop fooling around. Grandpa has to guard the sect today."
Sweeping the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect with his spiritual power was taxing work.
Seeing that Chen Xin didn't believe her at all, Ning Rongrong grew genuinely anxious. "Grandpa Sword, I'm not fooling around! There really are people in here!"
Chen Xin turned to look again. Still, there was nothing there.
He could laugh off being teased once, but twice in a row was enough to test even Grandpa Sword's indulgence:
"Rongrong, if you have nothing to do, go back and train properly. You're the future heir of the sect, after all. What kind of behavior is it to play around all day?"
"Now go on, head back."
Chen Xin waved a hand and turned away.
"It's bad enough that they call me Little Demoness, but now even Grandpa Sword doesn't believe me! I'll never speak to any of you again!"
All her pent-up hurt burst its banks. Ning Rongrong's eyes reddened, and large tears rolled down her cheeks.
Wiping her tears, she rushed out of the hall without looking back.
"Rongrong!"
Chen Xin reached out to stop her, but her small figure had already vanished beyond the hall doors.
He lowered his hand and gazed at the empty doorway, shaking his head with a sigh. "Ah... Grandpa Sword really didn't see anyone there."
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