Mom

"It's my mom!"

"Mmph-!" When she heard that it was Lin Yu's mother calling, Firefly suddenly grew nervous for some reason and covered her mouth with her hand, not making a sound.

Seeing this, Lin Yu reassured her, "It's okay. It's just my mom calling. No need to be nervous."

With that, Lin Yu stood up with his phone and headed to his room. "I'll take it in my room."

Once inside, he answered the call. "Hello? Mom, what's up?"

"You little brat! What took you so long to answer?!"

The moment the call connected, his dear mother launched into such an affectionate greeting that it nearly shattered his eardrums.

"Aw, my phone was on silent, so I didn't hear it. What does my pretty, beautiful mom need me for?"

"Urgh~ All right, all right, stop trying to butter me up. It's weird."

The person on the other end was Lin Yu's mother, An Shuqing, a born-and-bred native of Sichuan and Chongqing. She generally had the final say at home, and neither Lin Yu nor his father, Lin Chengting, dared defy her.

An Shuqing said, "What else would I be calling you for? You started school without even telling us. Do you even consider me your mother?"

Lin Yu said, "I was so busy I forgot. But how did you know school had started for me?"

"Oh, speaking of that, there's something else. A professor from your school-I remember his surname was Zhou-called the house and said he hoped we could persuade you to become his apprentice. He was also the one who told your dad and me that you'd started school."

"Sigh, I knew it. So what did you tell him?" Lin Yu had already guessed as much. He hadn't expected Professor Zhou to have started working on his parents.

"Me? I didn't say much. I just told him this was your business and the choice was yours. As your parents, we wouldn't interfere."

His mother's casual tone surprised Lin Yu a little, but he still breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew~ That's good. But Mom, you just turned him down like that?"

"Hmph~ What else? What was I supposed to say? Agree to it?"

"That's not what I meant. I'm just surprised. I thought you'd agree and want me to go."

"Sigh~" An Shuqing's sigh left Lin Yu baffled.

"What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"

"I just never thought my own son would understand his mother so poorly. Looks like you'll need a lesson in love the next time you come home."

Uh... that's Mom for you, saying something terrifying in such a sad voice.

"You don't have to give me that lesson in love. Save it for Dad."

Lin Chengting, who had been snickering beside An Shuqing, instantly stopped laughing when he heard his dear son's words.

"All right, enough fooling around. Back to business. You're the reason I didn't agree."

"Me?"

"Your dad and I know your heart isn't in it. You wouldn't be happy if you went."

At this point, Lin Yu seemed to understand. It looked like his parents had known all along.

"Thanks... Mom."

"Don't thank me. Ah~ We're the ones who weren't capable enough as parents and made you shoulder everything. Consider this our way of making it up to you. Whatever you want to do from now on, we'll support you as long as you don't go overboard."

Mom-! Just as Lin Yu was feeling touched, his mother interrupted him.

"Oh, right, one more thing. Hurry up and bring me home a girlfriend-!"

Those words were deafening and nearly blew out his ears.

"I... isn't it still a little early for that?"

"What do you mean, early? You've never had a girlfriend all these years, and you mostly only spend time with boys. Sometimes I even wonder if there's something wrong with your sexual orientation. Do you have any idea how worried I am?!"

"So there's no arguing about this. If you can't find one, don't you dare set foot in this house!"

Beep... beep...

With that, An Shuqing hung up without giving Lin Yu any chance to object.

Seeing that she had hung up, Lin Yu could only feel helpless. Wasn't his mother's demand far too difficult? He knew his mother never joked about things like this. If he didn't find one, she would definitely keep her word and refuse to let him through the door. She was nothing if not true to her word.

Still, he would put that aside for now. After all, where was he supposed to find a girlfriend right now?

Putting his phone away, Lin Yu opened the door and was about to step out when he heard a cry of pain.

"Ah-! My butt!"

Firefly sat on the floor with a pained expression, rubbing her backside, which hurt from the fall.

"Firefly? What are you doing?"

A little earlier...

Sitting in the living room, Firefly had been looking distractedly at the pictures Lin Yu had sent her, her gaze drifting toward his room from time to time.

Learning that Lin Yu's mother was calling had made her a little nervous. She didn't know whether Lin Yu would mention her. If he did, would his mother still let her stay here?

She had learned that there was a term for someone like her: a freeloader.

Nobody liked having a freeloader staying in their home. She had also considered getting a job like Lin Yu and using the money she earned to pay for staying here.

But just as Lin Yu had said before, without a legitimate identity in this world, it really was impossible to get anywhere. So her only hope was livestreaming! Once she earned some money, she could stay here with a clear conscience!

So Firefly was curious whether Lin Yu would mention her. After an internal struggle, she tiptoed to his door and leaned her ear closer to eavesdrop, but the soundproofing was so good that she couldn't hear anything.

Just as she was about to move closer, the door suddenly opened, startling her. She lost her footing and landed on her backside. Rubbing her aching bottom, Firefly looked up and saw Lin Yu's puzzled face.

"Firefly, what are you doing?"

"Uh... I was... um..." Firefly's gaze darted around, and she awkwardly poked her fingers together, unable to get a sentence out.

Suddenly, in a rash impulse, she blurted out at top speed, "I was actually going to the bathroom! I definitely wasn't trying to eavesdrop or anything-!"

With that, Firefly immediately scrambled up and charged into the bathroom like a wild horse that had broken its reins, leaving a bewildered Lin Yu looking utterly bewildered.

"What is even going on..."

Afterward, Firefly slipped back to her room while Lin Yu wasn't looking and hid there. No matter what he said, she refused to come out. He could do nothing about it, though fortunately they could still communicate by phone.

Inside her room, Firefly lay facedown on the bed, covering her face with a pillow as her feet kept kicking the mattress.

Aaaah-! Firefly, what have you done?! You were just like some kind of pervert!

Firefly kept berating herself for what she had just done. This was definitely the stupidest thing she had ever done! She didn't even know how to face Lin Yu anymore. She wanted to disappear from this world altogether so she wouldn't have to feel embarrassed.

But that clearly wasn't possible. For now, she could only communicate with Lin Yu by phone.

Lin Yu asked Firefly whether she had recorded her earlier gameplay. After she confirmed that she had, he asked her to send him the videos.

Lin Yu planned to use this footage to make a few videos to get the account off the ground. He had originally intended to use the computer in that room, but with Firefly refusing to come out, there was nothing he could do.

Looking at the dozens of gigabytes of footage, he knew he would have his work cut out for him tonight.

While waiting for the videos to transfer, Lin Yu went to the kitchen to make coffee, preparing to stay up late.

Not only did he have videos to make, but he also had to work on Firefly's virtual avatar. Fortunately, he had experience with all of this and could handle it with ease.

After all, Lin Yu was a video creator himself and had his own virtual avatar. From time to time, he livestreamed himself drawing, playing games, and chatting with his viewers.

Sitting down in front of the monitor, he took a sip of his freshly made coffee, marking the start of a dull night's work.