Chapter 110: Mommy, give me a hug~

Jiang Ling was startled by the sudden appearance of Fang Wannian behind her, still holding a handful of snow she hadn’t thrown yet, so she simply tossed it in her direction.

“Shi Ping~”

The snowflakes scattered softly over Fang Wannian. She puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction, “Answer my question!”

As she spoke, she walked up and stood between the two of them, looking as if, if Jiang Ling didn’t give a reasonable explanation, she’d press her head into the snow and rub it back and forth.

For some reason, Jiang Ling saw this image so clearly on Fang Wannian that her own voice unconsciously grew cautious, “Because weren’t you taking a bath? I thought you’d just finished bathing, and if you came out to play in the snow right after, you’d catch a cold, so I didn’t call you.”

Hearing this, Fang Wannian instantly felt convinced, the look of displeasure on her face faded, and the tip of her nose turned rosy from the cold air, her voice a little shy, “Is that so… I didn’t expect you to care about me so much…”

She poked her fingers together, her face visibly brightening up.

D

That made Jiang Ling’s slightly anxious heart finally settle. She pulled the self-absorbed, daydreaming Fang Wannian over and looked toward Mo Ran, who was still smiling, “Let’s have a snowball fight!”

“Alright, should the two of us go against you?”

Mo Ran casually suggested something that made Jiang Ling’s heart skip a beat.

“No way!” Jiang Ling pouted, “I’m still pretty self-aware, you know.”

“Pfft.”

Mo Ran couldn’t help but laugh out loud, then offered a new suggestion, “Then let’s not split teams, just throw snowballs however we want.”

And so, the three of them started a snowball fight in a muddled way. The scene was chaotic, but everyone’s faces glowed with warm, happy smiles.

They played like that for a while, until Jiang Ling’s toes curled up from the cold, and she started stomping her feet, blowing into her hands with little puffs of white mist drifting everywhere.

“Should we go back?”

Mo Ran saw that Jiang Ling still seemed reluctant to stop playing, so she reached out her hand, signaling for her to come back with her.

“Ah…”

Jiang Ling let out a small, regretful sigh, her eyes pleading at Mo Ran as if saying—

“Just a little longer, just a little longer!”

In fact, that’s exactly what she said, rubbing up to Mo Ran like a pitiful little kitten that had just fallen into water.

“We can play again tomorrow.”

But Mo Ran gently took her hand, grabbed the sulking Fang Wannian with the other, and without another word, led them back to the house.

Jiang Ling dawdled, reluctant to move, and Mo Ran, noticing this, paused and looked at her calmly.

She didn’t say a word, but Jiang Ling still sensed a hint of danger from those gentle eyes, so she hurried her steps and gave a flattering laugh, “Hehe, I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Back inside, Jiang Ling felt no warmer at all—if anything, it was almost as cold as outside—so she rubbed her hands and hurried to her room, her voice anxious.

“I’m going back to the room to turn on the heater!”

To keep the warm air in, Jiang Ling turned and shut the door after entering, dove into the cozy blankets, closed her eyes in comfort, and drifted off to sleep—

“Doo doo.”

Then the message notification sound roused the drowsy Jiang Ling. She squinted at her phone.

【…Still not awake?】

Jiang Ling woke up instantly.

So that’s what she’d forgotten! She’d forgotten to reply to Song Meng’s message!

She pressed her lips together, nervously tapped out a few words.

【I’m awake, I just saw I forgot to reply, sorry about that.】

Jiang Ling didn’t lie, simply told the truth.

After all, it really was because Fang Wannian had “distracted” her and made her forget. Her words were full of apology.

【I just saw the first snow, so I messaged you. Nothing else.】

They chatted idly for a while, and finally talked about the school holiday schedule.

【It’ll be the next day or two anyway, we don’t really have any more classes, so we probably don’t need to go to school. By the way, do you have any plans for New Year’s Eve?】

Faced with Song Meng’s straightforward question, Jiang Ling didn’t beat around the bush, answering earnestly, word by word.

【We have a special performance on New Year’s, after that I’ll hang out with the other members, but I don’t think there’s anything special planned. Why do you ask?】

【Nothing, just wishing you a smooth performance.】

At that, Song Meng didn’t say much more, just wished her luck with the show, and Jiang Ling didn’t think much of it.

In the practice room.

All of NOVA’s members were rehearsing their formation with full concentration, while in the corner, Xu Nuo was stretched out across the sofa. Whenever she couldn’t get any drawing done, she’d come watch the members practice… saying it helped her work more efficiently.

At first, Jiang Ling thought being watched during practice was embarrassing, but seeing how much Xu Nuo’s artwork was improving, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse, so she just tried to ignore her presence as much as possible.

“That run was pretty good.”

Bai Xue watched everyone’s movements and nodded with satisfaction.

As time went by, everyone’s teamwork grew smoother and smoother. Sometimes, without saying a word, they could guess what the others wanted to express just from gestures and eye contact, which made the rehearsals flow even more smoothly.

After rehearsal, everyone sat around, relaxing. Bai Xue glanced at the calendar and sighed, “This year’s almost over, huh?”

“Yeah.”

Mo Ran took a sip of water, then, smiling as always, threw out a question, “Was everyone happy this year?”

“I was pretty happy.”

Lin Xiaoyu thought seriously and gave a definite answer.

Fang Wannian waved her hand, “It was okay, I guess.”

Xu Nuo stretched her arms and swayed them, her face filled with happiness.

“I’m super happy! Because I got to work with my little idol!”

Listening to her heartfelt words, the corners of Jiang Ling’s mouth couldn’t help but lift into a smile as she replied, “I’m happy too.”

Though it had only been four months, Jiang Ling knew she’d really learned a lot from her teammates.

Not just how to deal with people, singing and dancing skills, but also—

Her ears turned red.

Some rather blush-inducing poses and techniques?

Realizing where her thoughts were wandering, Jiang Ling shook her head fiercely.

What was she secretly imagining now!

After everyone finished answering, Bai Xue suddenly remembered and asked, “Oh right, have you two decided what you’ll perform for your collaboration stage?”

Jiang Ling naturally looked at Mo Ran, intending to discuss it with her after the group practice.

“Time is tight, and since it’s a special performance, maybe just singing is better.”

Mo Ran carefully analyzed the situation and gave a safe answer, which Jiang Ling immediately nodded at.

Truthfully, she’d been planning to suggest that she and Mo Ran just sing.

After all, with only six days to learn that many dances, it would be a bit much for her.

“In that case, we’ll leave the practice room to you two, we’re just about done anyway.”

Bai Xue was straightforward, and the others had no objections, quickly leaving the practice room.

In an instant, the spacious room was left with only the two of them.

“They left so fast.”

Jiang Ling remarked, then looked at Mo Ran, who seemed to be picking a song, “Any backup options?”

“Hmm, ‘The Only Mom in the World’?”

Mo Ran spoke with an angelic smile.

“…Please, don’t play the mother-daughter thing on stage.”

Jiang Ling covered her face, looking embarrassed.

“‘Listen to Your Mom’?”

Watching Mo Ran get even more mischievous, Jiang Ling felt her head spinning, “I said, don’t do that kind of—”

Before she could finish, she noticed Mo Ran open her arms toward her, the waves on her chest heaving as she moved, her eyes full of gentle, maternal light, her voice soft and lingering:

“Come on, let mommy hug you~”