“Ding ding ding!” Accompanied by the morning alarm from his phone, Ling Cheng, still too sleepy to even open his eyes, instinctively fumbled for the phone on his pillow.
His hand suddenly grabbed a ball of soft, springy flesh, not like the stiffness of a pillow, but the unique smoothness of a young girl’s skin.
A lazy murmur from the girl beside him instantly scared away all of Ling Cheng’s drowsiness, snapping his mind awake.
Ling Cheng yanked his hand back as if shocked by electricity.
‘How cowardly,’ An Xin, who had been pretending to sleep under the covers, couldn’t help but complain. ‘Even if he did something more extreme, I wouldn’t refuse.’
Waking up fully, Ling Cheng got up as usual, moving quietly to cook breakfast.
Ling Cheng suddenly had an illusion—it was as if he had already grown accustomed to this kind of life.
Just then, his phone vibrated with a WeChat message from Lin Wanfeng.
Lin Wanfeng: Boyfriend, did you offend someone?
Lin Wanfeng: I only paid a little attention to your game, and I didn’t expect you to run into this kind of trouble.
Ling Cheng had an agreement with Lin Wanfeng’s parents, so Lin Wanfeng knew about his game project.
Ling Cheng: I don’t have any leads yet on who I’ve offended. But I plan to use this wave of traffic for reverse publicity.
Lin Wanfeng: I think you could prepare a video for promotion first. At the same time, counter those people’s criticism of the art style.
Ling Cheng: Thanks for the advice. That’s what I’m thinking too. After all, their points are groundless.
Lin Wanfeng’s idea aligned perfectly with Ling Cheng’s. If he just streamed the game content directly, he might not attract much attention.
If there was a popular video first to serve as promotion or a preview of the counterattack, it would definitely be twice the result with half the effort.
Lin Wanfeng: Go for it, Boyfriend. As your “girlfriend,” I’ll help you out properly.
Seeing Lin Wanfeng’s supportive words, Ling Cheng felt a warmth in his heart. Just as he was about to reply, An Xin appeared silently behind him, no one knew when.
“Who are you chatting with so happily, A Chen?” An Xin’s voice carried a faint trace of jealousy that was hard to detect.
In her eyes, just moments ago A Chen had been cuddling with her, and now he was chatting happily with someone else in the kitchen—unforgivable. Maybe she should find a chance to lock A Chen up.
“I was just discussing countermeasures for those negative videos with someone. I already have an idea. An Xin, can you help me one more time?” Ling Cheng was so focused on planning the video that he didn’t notice An Xin’s jealousy.
An Xin looked at Ling Cheng’s profile, let out a soft sigh, and said with a tone tinged with indulgence, “Since it’s A Chen’s request, of course I’m happy to help.”
After a simple breakfast, Ling Cheng began filming a hands-only video.
On video sites, an excellent anime-style painting often resonates with many users.
So Ling Cheng planned to first showcase An Xin’s painting skills, then show the game’s standing illustrations in the second half of the video, followed by his own explanation and counterattack, and finally announce a live stream to prove the game’s quality.
Ling Cheng set up his phone at an angle above the drawing board, adjusted the shooting angle and lighting. He would record the entire process while she painted, then fast-forward and edit it appropriately.
After An Xin completed the character illustration, Ling Cheng started editing, cutting together the steps of sketching lines, outlining, and coloring in a fitting manner.
After all, those video bloggers usually grabbed a single standing illustration or a nonexistent point to start attacking.
Ling Cheng not only wanted to turn the game’s reputation around, but also wanted to vindicate An Xin’s reputation.
“A Chen is so amazing—you even know how to edit videos.” While Ling Cheng was doing basic editing on his computer, An Xin sat beside him, propping her chin up and watching him work.
After finishing the editing and voice-over, Ling Cheng added tags, created a cover, and clicked the submit button.
Ling Cheng saw that his bank account balance was severely insufficient, but he thought that if he didn’t buy some views, the video would be hard for anyone to notice.
After all, his account had almost no followers—just acquaintances.
So Ling Cheng took a deep breath, determined to go all in, and poured everything into buying promotion traffic.
Just as Ling Cheng was about to complete the payment, he suddenly received a notification: [User—Ru Feng has sponsored promotion for your submission.]
“Ru Feng…” It took Ling Cheng a moment to realize—wasn’t that Lin Wanfeng’s video site account ID?
So this was what that young lady meant by support? How was he supposed to repay such kindness? Meeting Lin Wanfeng was truly wonderful.
Meanwhile, Lin Wanfeng, who had just bought the promotion, was still wondering if spending fifty thousand on promotion was too little. But if the amount was too large, it might be discovered.
Her mother had strictly forbidden her from helping Ling Cheng’s business, but… watching Ling Cheng face difficulties, she couldn’t just stand by.
Lin Wanfeng comforted herself, saying, “I’m only doing this to make sure Ling Cheng doesn’t fail our agreement.”
But last night, this young girl had been worried all night about whether he would be sad or hurt after being attacked by paid trolls.
…
Soon, under the combined effect of money and the existing negative traffic, Ling Cheng’s counterattack video rapidly climbed to the trending list, with viewership still rising quickly.
In less than three hours, views broke one million. When many ordinary viewers saw the actual game standing illustrations—far from the terrible mess those bloggers claimed—the comment section turned overwhelmingly supportive.
“The artist is amazing! Is there any way to commission her?”
“This artist is the author of the comic ‘Perverted Princess and Funny Dog.’ Of course she’s good.”
“Weren’t those bloggers just spreading pure hate? Did they take dirty money?”
Seeing comments like these, Ling Cheng’s previously tense nerves finally relaxed. At least An Xin wouldn’t suffer any further consequences.
“An Xin, look—our video succeeded.” After confirming the comment section was overwhelmingly supportive, Ling Cheng forwarded the video to An Xin.
“A Chen worked so hard for me. I’m really happy.” Even though An Xin didn’t care about those attacks, seeing Ling Cheng striving for her still moved her deeply.
Although the video’s effect far exceeded Ling Cheng’s expectations, he still planned to proceed with the live stream, as it could serve as game promotion.
Of course, Ling Cheng would prepare in advance—for example, controlling the gameplay to only cover the first half of Volume One, releasing no inappropriate content, and not affecting the experience for paying users.
Those bloggers who had been leading the rhythm with baseless attacks began to face backlash. Not only were they losing a massive number of followers, but many were forced to delete videos or close their comment sections.
The blogger who had started the rhythm, Sanfen Xianyu, even complained that this job wasn’t worth it and contacted the client to ask for a higher price.
Sanfen Xianyu: Boss, why didn’t you inform us beforehand that this artist is a famous manga creator?
Sanfen Xianyu: Now their counter video is trending, and we’ve become public enemies. Can you add more budget as compensation?
Chu Xiaoxiao: Got it. I’ll give you double the payment later.
After sending the message, Chu Xiaoxiao remained silent for a long time, because she felt the determination with which Ling Cheng protected An Xin. Why, when An Xin caused trouble, did Ling Cheng still stand by her side?
Chu Xiaoxiao, who had lacked friends since childhood, felt a sour ache in her chest—a jealousy she couldn’t dispel.
She was jealous that An Xin could openly invite Ling Cheng after class. She was jealous that An Xin could pout and act spoiled so naturally with him. And even more jealous that, when facing difficulties, Ling Cheng would never abandon An Xin.
What should she do? What could she do to return to Ling Cheng’s side?