Diva Alpha Meets Her Biological Daughter on a Parenting Variety Show - Chapter 17

The mouthful of water Ming Nuo had just taken almost didn’t stay down.

What on earth was Ning Xueqing reading?!

Alarm bells rang in Ming Nuo’s mind. Was Ning Xueqing really reading a fan’s opinion? Or was she hallucinating? How—how did it get to “heavy breathing,” “pulling her into her arms,” and “kissing ten thousand times”? Ming Nuo wouldn’t even dare do that in her dreams.

Ning Xueqing smiled shallowly, casting a tender glance at Ming Nuo before continuing: “Ming Nuo’s burning lips impatiently sucked and kissed that delicate patch of Ning Xueqing’s skin. Zzap, a surge of pleasurable electricity shot through her brain, and Ning Xueqing let out a trembling, soft—”

“Stop!” Ming Nuo felt a jolt of electricity in her own brain; her toes curled inside her shoes.

She stole a glance at Ning Xueqing, who was leisurely browsing the content on her phone, a slight smile actually hanging on her lips. How could Ning Xueqing stay so calm while reading a smutty short story featuring herself as the protagonist?

Ming Nuo took a deep breath and asked, feigning composure, “What is this?”

Ning Xueqing: “A fanfiction story written by a fan who supports our temporary family. Let’s see… the timeline starts from the beginning of the first episode, when you met me at the house.”

“Ming Nuo, did you know we have CP (coupling) fans?”

Ming Nuo frequently browsed hashtags like #NuoXue, #XueNuo, #NuoXueNuo, and so on; naturally, she was very aware.

Ming Nuo: “I’ve heard of them.”

Ning Xueqing’s smile was serene, her gaze fixed on Ming Nuo’s face. “Do you mind?”

Ming Nuo: “Personally, as long as it doesn’t affect reality, ‘cultivating one’s own plot’ is everyone’s freedom… What about you?”

“Me…” Ning Xueqing scrunched her nose with a smile, looking at a few more CP posts. “I think this netizen writes quite well. The descriptions of actions and expressions are very realistic.”

Real-istic? But the things written in the fanfic never happened. Ming Nuo quietly gripped the hem of her shirt, racking her brain. How was she supposed to respond? A bad answer would either be a buzzkill or rude…

Ning Xueqing slid her thumb across the screen, suddenly stopping on a page. Her expression turned serious, and she silently scrolled through several posts in a row. Ming Nuo noticed the change and wondered what she was seeing; her intuition told her those posts were not ordinary.

“I see Ji Lang.”

So that was it. Ming Nuo and Ning Xueqing had discussed it while in the Miraculous Town, curious about Ji Lang’s background.

“What does she do?”

“Hmm…” Ning Xueqing hesitated for a moment, her brows knitting slightly. “It’s hard to say. Her resume shows she was a paragliding instructor for a while, but now she’s basically a freelancer.”

Ming Nuo nodded. “Oh, a sports star?”

“No.” Ning Xueqing flipped through some Instagram screenshots in the posts. “If you had to categorize her, she’s a travel vlogger. She has a lot of fans on Insta and YouTube, but she doesn’t have an account in China.”

Since she didn’t develop her career domestically and their fields didn’t overlap, they hadn’t encountered information about her. A memory flashed in Ming Nuo’s mind. A famous travel vlogger on Insta? I think I’ve seen someone mention her… She thought for a while but couldn’t recall.

In any case, Ji Lang wasn’t a “civilian.” Paragliding and global travel—those two points alone were enough to support her popularity and credentials.

Ning Xueqing moved on to read comments about the other families. Some complained that Xing Cai and Du Heng lacked “wife chemistry,” some cheered for Chi Shu being pummeled by Ji Lang upon their first meeting, and some questioned Ouyang Yu’s professional competence as a lawyer because she misidentified her daughter based on a wrong clue…

Various blogs, videos, and posts were popping up everywhere. The first episode had just aired, and it had already pushed Miraculous Journey into the top ten trending topics.

After a thorough browsing, Ming Nuo and Ning Xueqing’s temporary family actually had the most positive reviews.

#BeautifulA_BeautifulO_CuteBaby

#MingNuo_XueQing_TemporaryFamily

#NuoXue_TenYears_ComesTrue

[Holy moly! Ning Xueqing’s Alpha partner is actually Ming Nuo!!! (Screaming face)]

[Wow! Little Mengmeng is just too cute! Under that yellow duck hat, those two little pigtails go boing-boing. Auntie wants to eat her up!]

[Mengmeng is so bright and lively; you can tell she grew up in a honey jar. Ning Xueqing raised the child well, and Ming Nuo gets along so harmoniously with the mother and daughter. They won the championship in so many competitions. Mengmeng really likes Ming Nuo. It’s even warmer than the two real families. I love watching Mengmeng’s family the most. I declare this temporary family has become real!]

[Heh, a certain ‘scum O’ actress really dares to show up. Paired with a singer to act all hypocritical. Typical. You’re making all the ‘disgusting’ money now.]

[The person above, did you just come from an ‘eating s***’ party at a public restroom? Reported and blocked!]

[Pure passerby here. Regardless of ‘keeping the daughter and ditching the Alpha’ or ‘fake feelings,’ a combination of god-tier visuals is enough eye candy. I love it. If you don’t, then leave. No one is begging you to watch.]

[When Ning Xueqing walked in, Ming Nuo’s eyes were actually a bit red.]

[You have to realize, Ming Nuo sang the theme song for every one of Ning Xueqing’s movies.]

[Fun fact: In “Listening to the Waves in the Bamboo Sea,” Ming Nuo even had a cameo as Ning Xueqing’s first love character~]

[Ahhh the theme song for “Listening to the Waves” is so good! There’s a variation that’s a Nuo-Xue duet! I kept that on repeat for a month back then!]

Occasionally seeing a particularly foul negative comment made both Ning Xueqing and Ming Nuo frown, but the moment they thought of the many positive reviews, their brows would relax.

Ning Xueqing looked up at Ming Nuo. “When I opened the door to the temporary home, your eyes did seem a bit red.”

Ming Nuo cleared her throat. “Oh, that… I had just finished cleaning before you guys came in. Some dust got in my eyes, and I rubbed them a few times.”

Ning Xueqing smiled. “So that’s how it was.”

Whew— Ming Nuo secretly breathed a sigh of relief. She certainly couldn’t say it was because she missed Ning Xueqing too much and felt both excited and bittersweet upon seeing her. How are netizens’ eyes so sharp? They even picked up on such a tiny detail.

The car drove out of the fields and onto the city’s beltway. Ming Nuo looked at the retreating green farmland outside the window. Her phone vibrated; she looked down to see it was a call from Ming Yan.

Ming Nuo kept an eye on Ning Xueqing out of the corner of her eye. The latter was patting the child’s back with one hand and scrolling through show feedback with the other. Ming Nuo turned slightly, shielding the receiver to answer the call.

“Mommy—”

“Nuo Nuo, you’re done filming, right! Why didn’t you call Mommy? What time will you be home?”

“We just disbanded, I still have some things to hand—”

“How unlucky. How did the production team arrange for you to be in a group with that scandalous ‘Lemon Snow’? Now lots of people online are saying you’re making eyes at each other. Filming is work, there’s no way around it, but Mommy is telling you: once filming is over, you absolutely must not have any contact with that actress who got pregnant out of wedlock. No one even knows who the child’s Mammy is—shameless. If you get associated with someone like that, it’ll tarnish your reputation and ruin your financial luck!”

Ruin financial luck.

“…” Ming Nuo brushed her hair back in frustration. Just as she was about to speak, Ning Xueqing looked up from her phone, leaned against the window, and whispered, “Is it Auntie?” Ming Nuo smiled awkwardly, nodded, and quickly hung up.

The phone didn’t leak sound, but Ming Yan’s voice was very loud; Ming Nuo couldn’t guarantee that Ning Xueqing hadn’t heard a single word.

Since Ming Nuo entered the entertainment industry, Ming Yan had strictly supervised her personal social life. She evaluated every artist Ming Nuo got close to; even Xing Cai had been privately judged by her. Ming Yan had repeatedly ordered that she disliked the “foul atmosphere” of the industry and required Ming Nuo to find a “well-behaved girl from a clean family who was sensible and filial.”

In the beginning, Ming Nuo would try to correct Ming Yan’s views and argue back, but after it happened many times, she realized that some of the older generation’s erroneous concepts were deeply rooted. Attempting to persuade them was just a waste of time and energy. Words don’t change people; events do. After that, Ming Nuo only listened and let it pass, without engaging in pointless arguments.

But this time, Ming Nuo was very angry. She hung up because she was worried Ning Xueqing would hear even a fragment of the insults, not because she was letting Ming Yan’s words go in one ear and out the other.

Ming Nuo opened WeChat and sent a message to Ming Yan, telling her to stop saying such gossip—that Ning Xueqing was an excellent actor with both integrity and talent, and someone she admired.

Ming Yan sent a row of question marks back, saying: Mommy cares about you! You child, taking good intentions for a wolf’s heart and dog’s lungs!

Ming Nuo: Mommy, I’m not a child who lacks self-care abilities. I am an economically independent adult. I have the right to choose my own life and live my own way. I don’t mean to talk back, but I have my principles and thoughts. I hope you can give others a little more trust and give me a little more respect.

Ming Nuo: Back when the surgery to restore the sense of smell for pheromones came out, Mother wanted to borrow money to have the operation. You kept persuading her not to, saying the surgery wasn’t perfect and had side effects, that our family’s conditions weren’t good—in short, just don’t do it. Did you ever consider Mother’s feelings? Did you ever think about it from her perspective? Actually, it was because you are a Beta; you were afraid Mother would leave with some Alpha after she recovered her sense of smell. But Mother would never have done that; she just wanted a healthy body.

Ming Nuo: Mommy, sometimes I feel quite miserable.

After sending the long string of text bubbles, Ming Nuo blinked her aching eyes. After a while, the message was marked as “read” but not replied to. Ming Nuo sighed and turned off the screen.

“The road is still long, sleep for a while.” Ning Xueqing handed over a massaging eye mask. Ming Nuo looked at her; Ning Xueqing’s smile was gentle. She also brought over a soft latex neck pillow, leaned over, and placed it around Ming Nuo’s neck. “You really don’t need to buy a gift for my mother. Your presence is the best gift.”

The sourness in Ming Nuo’s eyes spread to her nose. “I…”

“Alright, we got up so early today. Sleep for a while; I’ll wake you when we arrive.” Before she could finish, Ning Xueqing placed the eye mask over her face. Ming Nuo felt the skin-friendly fabric, and the device lit up, gently massaging the skin around her eyes.

A faint herbal scent from the steam mingled with Ning Xueqing’s sweet pheromone fragrance in the car’s air. Ming Nuo’s frustrated mood gradually settled, her breathing slowed, and she could vaguely hear Ning Xueqing’s melodic voice. Ning Xueqing was softly humming a lullaby—the one Ming Nuo had taught her a few nights ago.

Holding her sleeping daughter, Ning Xueqing sent a message to Ning Zhixuan: Mom, Ming Nuo and I will arrive around one o’clock.

Ning Zhixuan: Good, good. I’m already prepared. You said Ming Nuo loves peaches, which is why you specifically chose the house with the peach grove in the show. I bought a large box of fresh Eagle-beak peaches—they’re different from the ones in the show, but also delicious.

Ning Zhixuan: I also specifically tidied up a room.

Ning Xueqing: Thanks, Mom. But I doubt she’ll be able to stay long.

Ning Xueqing: Auntie Ming called her just now. Well… my reputation hasn’t been great lately, so…

Ning Zhixuan: Sigh, I’ve also seen that there’s a lot of talk about you two online.

Ning Zhixuan: Qingqing, how about you just take Ming Nuo back to her own home then? Don’t hold her back.

Ning Xueqing: No.

Thinking of the lack of concern in Ming Yan’s voice toward Ming Nuo on the phone, Ning Xueqing’s eyes turned deep. Her fingers were much more forceful than usual as she typed:

【I am taking her home.】