"Ha ha ha ha!"
The rich women froze for a moment, then burst into wild laughter.
They were very close, and they were not mocking her.
They were laughing because Xia Shuyi was so wealthy and influential, yet she was still using something so childish.
What a waste of money!
"Ah! Mengmeng, you—!"
Xia Shuyi was so startled that she panicked. Blushing furiously, she rushed over and snatched the toy away, then returned to her bedroom to hide it and kicked all the rich women's children out.
Back at the mahjong table, Xia Shuyi looked at her friends, who were struggling not to laugh, and said with a red face, "What's so funny? Are we playing or not?"
"Shuyi, I know you don't want another man interfering with your life with Mengmeng."
Sister Hong smiled and tried to persuade her. "But life is life. You can't possibly rely on that thing for the rest of your life, can you? You're only in your thirties!"
"That's right, Shuyi. With your looks and status, what kind of man couldn't you find? Why play with such a little thing?"
One of the women beside her also chimed in, "Look at me. That old bastard husband of mine is out partying every night. I can't possibly keep an empty bed all by myself, can I? Shuyi, you need to live in the moment."
"That's right, Shuyi. We women need to learn how to treat ourselves better."
Another rich woman advised, "We've earned so much money over half our lives. We can't bring it with us when we're born or take it with us when we die. Money is money, no matter where we spend it. There's nothing shameful about finding a man to have some fun with."
"Oh, stop talking about this in front of the kids."
Xia Shuyi glanced at Mengmeng, who was playing on her phone with the other children on the sofa. After being lectured by her friends, she felt even more troubled. "Enough, enough. Let's call it a day. I need to take Mengmeng to tutoring."
Seeing that Xia Shuyi did not want to discuss it, the lovely young women exchanged glances, sighed silently, packed their bags, and left with their children.
After her friends left, Xia Shuyi looked at the messy mahjong tiles on the table and the empty house, and a sense of loneliness crept into her heart.
Sitting on the sofa, the little girl watched Xia Shuyi rest her chin on her hand in a daze and blinked curiously. "Mom, I remember there's no tutoring this afternoon?"
Xia Shuyi got up and sat beside her, pinching Mengmeng's cheek as she gave a helpless yet gratified smile. "You little rascal, you always make me embarrass myself!"
"Mom isn't embarrassing at all!"
Xia Mengmeng did not understand what embarrassing herself meant. Hugging Xia Shuyi's arm, she said proudly, "Even my teacher says Mom is much prettier than the other students' moms!"
"What a sweet mouth!"
Her daughter's praise lifted Xia Shuyi's spirits considerably. Luckily, she still had such an obedient and thoughtful daughter.
"Mom, why hasn't Big Brother Shen come over to play lately?"
Holding the rubber duck Shen Lang had given her, Xia Mengmeng asked with childlike curiosity, "I miss Big Brother Shen. What has he been doing lately? Is he going to school too?"
"Mom doesn't know either."
Xia Shuyi sighed gloomily. Ever since they had parted that day, it was as though all contact between them had been severed with a single stroke.
Yet whenever she thought about what had happened in the bedroom that day, Xia Shuyi's heart would race uncontrollably, while an indescribable sense of shame spread through her heart.
She took out her phone and opened her chat with Shen Lang. Looking back through their previous messages, a smile unconsciously curved her lips.
The next day at noon, Shen Lang sat at home, typing furiously as he prepared to finish the novel he had been serializing.
Shen Lang had spent nearly a year writing this million-word wuxia novel.
Although it had not achieved much success, it was long enough for him to receive the monthly attendance bonus, so earning five or six thousand yuan a month was more than enough.
Now that he had the system and nearly a million yuan in savings, Shen Lang felt he would no longer need to make a living from writing novels.
Still, he had written so much of this novel, the plot was nearing its finale, and it had gained several hundred loyal readers.
He could not bear to simply abandon it for no reason.
He planned to give the protagonist a perfect ending, though it might end up feeling a little rushed.
Shen Lang typed incredibly fast. From morning until around four or five in the afternoon, he finally completed the wuxia novel and added a special chapter thanking everyone for their support.
However, the response in the comments was not very positive.
Damn, it's over already? Author, you're inhuman!
Fine, at least it has an ending. Congratulations on finishing!
Please, author, don't write romance in your next book. It makes me cringe so hard. Can't the protagonist in a wuxia novel just level up and fight monsters properly?
Just as Shen Lang was reading through the readers' comments, a WeChat notification popped up.
Who Says He Doesn't Coax Me: Congratulations on finishing! Keep it up with your next book, I believe in you!
This was one of Shen Lang's loyal readers.
A large part of the reason Shen Lang had managed to write this book to a million words was thanks to this reader.
When Shen Lang had first started the book, his terrible writing and plot that read like a running account had drawn endless abuse from readers.
Yet this reader alone not only encouraged him in the comments, but also used highly sophisticated Zaun-style insults to battle those haters.
She told Shen Lang to ignore those haters and keep writing, saying he would definitely become popular someday.
Although the book had never become popular even by the time it ended, Shen Lang was deeply grateful to this reader.
Not only had they added each other on WeChat, but they sometimes played games together as well.
However, this reader never turned on voice chat and only ever typed messages, so Shen Lang had never known whether she was a man or a woman.
Shen Lang guessed she was probably a man. After all, what girl had such a profound grasp of Zaun culture?
"I might not write anymore in the future."
Shen Lang replied, "I'm planning to find another job to make a living."
Who Says He Doesn't Coax Me: Huh? Really? What are you planning to do?
Sleep Till Dawn: No idea. I'll take it one step at a time.
They chatted briefly before the other person said she was going to eat.
Just as Shen Lang was about to go out and find something to eat too, WeChat chimed again.
Shen Lang thought Su Lexuan had come to cling to him again, but when he opened WeChat, he found it was actually that brat Shen Linlin.
Vampire No. 1: Old geezer, I checked out your trashy book. Heard you finished it?
Sleep Till Dawn: Yep. And I don't plan to keep writing after this. Maybe I'll have to rely on you two sisters to support me from now on.
The other side was typing for a long time, but then directly transferred two thousand yuan to him. "I don't have anywhere I need to spend money lately. Consider it a loan to get by for now. Ask me again if you run out."
Shen Lang stared at the two-thousand-yuan transfer for a long time before typing in disbelief, "Who the hell are you? Give her phone back!"
Vampire No. 1: You old bastard, I'm your fucking sister!
Before you continue