You Bastard, You've Changed

Ning Xiang decided to strike first. "Master, you actually enjoy reading books like this? I never imagined you were that sort of master!"

Lu Qingchen's eyes were cold, his expression was cold, and his voice was cold. "Stop trying to fool me. Didn't you write this book?"

"Master, please hear out my excuses-no, I mean, my explanation."

"Go on." Lu Qingchen watched Ning Xiang with unruffled composure.

Ning Xiang: ... Boohoo, I can't come up with anything!

Xie Feihong, standing beside them: Who am I? Am I completely superfluous here? Wait, Ning Xiang actually wrote this book?

Ning Xiang had only written a novel. Why was their master so angry?

Boohoo, how did Iceberg Lu figure out he was the master in the book? Didn't President Gao tell me he'd changed every instance of his name?

Ning Xiang looked utterly aggrieved.

Xie Feihong sucked in a breath of cold air.

Hiss...

The man in the book whose engagement had been broken off, who had endured everyone's scorn, and who had almost ended up eating chicken feed and sleeping in a chicken coop was actually their master?

What kind of towering grudge could you possibly hold against him to treat him like that?

How had he failed to notice while reading that the fierce, formidable god of war, "Xiang Ning," became "Ning Xiang" when read backward?

His third junior sister was truly terrifying. He would never dare provoke her again!

As for how Lu Qingchen had discovered that he was the book's designated punching bag?

Hah.

The publisher had been clever.

He had changed every instance of his name to Ye Fan, a perfectly unremarkable name.

Unfortunately, a few instances had inevitably slipped through unchanged.

"The Tyrannical God of War's Runaway Little Husband, hmm?" His face dark, Lu Qingchen practically squeezed the last few words through his teeth.

Ning Xiang's smile looked worse than tears.

"Master, that title was all the unscrupulous publisher's doing! I absolutely never intended to smear your name! Boohoo, my wholehearted devotion to you is plain for all to see!" Ning Xiang pointed to the heavens and swore with absolute conviction.

"You merely wanted me to eat chicken feed."

"...As Mencius said, when Heaven is about to bestow a great responsibility upon a person, it first torments their resolve, toils their sinews and bones, starves their flesh, and leaves them destitute. All the humiliation and setbacks you suffered early on were meant to temper your character, strengthen your will, and ultimately allow you to achieve greatness."

"So I needed to fall into danger over and over again?"

"Yes. The law of the transformation between quantity and quality tells us that quantitative change is the necessary preparation for qualitative change, and qualitative change is the inevitable result of quantitative change. A little temporary hardship means nothing. Suffering is life's finest touchstone!"

Lu Qingchen: That tongue of yours really can talk its way through anything!

"Then how do you explain why I need you to rescue me every single time? And why is every entrance you make so... overblown?" Lu Qingchen finally managed to find an adjective.

Ning Xiang said, "Boohoo, isn't that because I couldn't bear to see you suffer, Master, and wanted to save you from fire and flood?"

Lu Qingchen: Wonderful. You've said everything there is to say!

Xie Feihong: Junior Sister really has a silver tongue.

No matter how Ning Xiang talked until flowers rained from the heavens, Lu Qingchen would not let her fool him so easily this time!

He picked Ning Xiang up and flew toward Chengfeng Courtyard on his sword.

Xie Feihong started to follow, then stopped.

He felt rather superfluous, wedged between the two of them.

What a shame he would miss the show!

Lu Qingchen carried Ning Xiang over and set her down behind the writing desk. "Rewrite the plot, then have the publisher issue a new edition!"

Ning Xiang sniffled. "But President Gao told me the first volume has already sold a hundred thousand copies. Even a major overhaul of the plot won't do any good."

"Boohoo, it's not my fault I'm overflowing with talent and my very first book became such a hit!"

I worked so hard to write this monumental masterpiece! How could I change it just because he says so? I don't care. Not only am I not changing it, I'm going to keep writing according to my original outline! I, a literary giant of my generation, would never abandon my literary dreams over such a trifling obstacle!

Lu Qingchen pressed his fingers to his temple.

Clearly, Ning Xiang's shamelessness had left him at his wits' end.

He felt utterly defeated.

Ning Xiang ventured timidly, "Master, how about I give you ten percent of my royalties?"

Did she think he was that mercenary?

"Twenty percent? Thirty? I can't give you any more. There won't be anything left."

When Lu Qingchen's expression showed no sign of softening, Ning Xiang could no longer hold it together.

Boohoo, I suggest you quit while you're ahead! Keep this up and you won't get a single penny!

"Seventy percent."

Ning Xiang: "???"

Ning Xiang was furious.

You bastard, you've changed! You've become profit-obsessed, insatiably greedy, and reeking of money!

Hah, how are you any different from all those other men out there?

You want my money? In your dreams!

"If you're unwilling, I won't force you. I'll personally seek out this President Gao you mentioned. I imagine he'll show me some courtesy."

"Fine," Ning Xiang said, swallowing the pain.

"You agreed to this yourself. I didn't force you."

Ning Xiang wanted to chop up this bastard who had pocketed his gains and still played innocent, but she clearly lacked the courage. All she could do was grit her teeth. "I'm offering it willingly out of respect for you, Master."

Boohoo, my spirit stones hadn't even warmed up in my hands yet... Lu Qingchen, you fucking bastard!!!

Ning Xiang took out her pouch of spirit stones and tearfully counted out seventy percent. Farewell, her precious money.

When she emerged from Chengfeng Courtyard, Ning Xiang's eyes were red and swollen, her hair was disheveled, and her steps were unsteady...

She was stewing in resentment, and everything she saw rubbed her the wrong way.

Two immortal cranes were fighting in the courtyard. Wonderful. They showed no unity or friendship whatsoever. She would just have to teach them a lesson!

Ning Xiang grabbed the two immortal cranes and plucked out their newly grown down.

The immortal cranes: Why are we always the ones getting hurt? We're in tears...

Even after bullying the immortal cranes, Ning Xiang still hadn't vented all her anger. Looking up, she spotted two dim-witted ugly birds nearby. They were watching the cranes' misfortune and cawing with particular delight.

Kicking others when they're down! How utterly hateful!

Next, the ugly birds learned that when the lips were gone, the teeth grew cold.

Ning Xiang immobilized them and let the immortal cranes pluck their wing feathers. Those who made trouble would have to pay sooner or later. After all, Ugly Bird 1.0 had once stripped the cranes of every feather!

The two ugly birds' eyes brimmed with tears, but Ning Xiang, the culprit, had long since left.

Lu Qingchen stood beneath the corridor with his hands behind his back. The courtyard remained cloaked in silver and white. The accumulated snow on Solitary Light Peak never melted, and its scenery remained the same day after day. Yet today, somehow, that scenery seemed different.

When Ning Xiang returned to Lingling Cottage, she found an unexpected visitor.

Xie Feihong was leaning against a crabapple tree by her entrance, his arms folded. His eyes lit up at the sound of her arrival.

Ning Xiang grumbled inwardly, Well, this is strange. Why would Second Senior Brother come over? Doesn't he never visit my place?

Then she heard Xie Feihong's excited voice. "Third Junior Sister, what happens next? Does Xiang Ning utterly humiliate that fellow called Yu Tingchao?"

"Of course..." Ning Xiang was just about to answer when Yu Tingchao came into view, riding the Calm Tide Sword, and hopped down.

Ning Xiang swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue. "I can't tell you that right now. Second Senior Brother, you can look forward to what happens next."

Yu Tingchao walked over and asked, "Second Senior Brother, Senior Sister, what are you talking about?"

Xie Feihong eagerly recommended his hidden gem of a novel to Yu Tingchao, adding at the end, "Yu Tingchao is the newest villain."

Ning Xiang closed her eyes. She decided to name this day "The God of War's Day of Suffering."