How Could I Possibly Have a Daughter After Reincarnating?

“I have a pen, I have an apple, Ah, Apple Pen~”

Ling Ye walked down the street, humming a popular, annoyingly catchy tune under her breath. She had just finished lunch at a small restaurant near her apartment complex.

As she continued on her way, something caught her eye on the side of the road. She crouched down to get a better look—it was a small USB drive. Who could have dropped it here?

Ling Ye picked up the USB drive and looked around. There was no one else nearby. Examining it closely, she noticed it had a “TOP SECRET” label on it, which made her curious. She decided she’d bring it to Qin Sirou’s house tomorrow and use her computer to see what was inside.

She casually slipped the USB drive into her pocket and began thinking about what she should do for the rest of the afternoon. After a bit of contemplation, she touched the USB drive in her pocket and decided to head to an internet café.

Not long after Ling Ye left, a shady-looking young man with an anxious expression walked by, mumbling to himself, “Where are my study materials? I must’ve dropped them around here somewhere… That USB had my premium collection, including that mother-daughter yuri content. How could it just vanish?”

Ling Ye arrived at a small convenience store. The shopkeeper was a middle-aged woman who, upon seeing Ling Ye enter, casually said, “The king covers the earth.”

“And the captain stands at one and a half meters,” Ling Ye replied solemnly.

Hearing this, the shopkeeper nodded and opened the door to a side room. “Go on in.”

Inside the room, there were a dozen computers, and a group of elementary school kids was playing a variety of games. Yes, this was the legendary “black internet café.” As a minor, Ling Ye couldn’t enter a proper internet café, but these underground establishments were fair game. She knew of at least a dozen others like this.

“Ling Ye, want to play some ‘League of Legends’?” one of the kids asked.

“What’s fun about ‘League’? Let’s play ‘Westworld,’ it’s way more interesting.”

“No, no, ‘Tail Chase’ is the best—such a great game with endless possibilities.”

Seeing Ling Ye come in, the elementary school kids enthusiastically invited her to play. She was definitely a regular here. Even though Ling Ning wanted her to stay home every day, there was no way she could be a complete shut-in. So, Ling Ye often snuck out when Ling Ning was working, and black internet cafés were one of her favorite haunts. As for the money to cover her internet use? Well, she just ate a little less to save up.

“No thanks~” Ling Ye smiled, declining the kids’ enthusiastic offers before selecting a corner computer for herself.

Seeing that Ling Ye wasn’t interested in playing games, the kids went back to focusing on their screens, oblivious to their surroundings. They would understand someday—why they were “dying at the starting line,” but not today.

Once Ling Ye confirmed that no one was paying attention to her, she secretly pulled the USB drive from her pocket and plugged it in. Opening the drive, she found… study materials?

“Who labels study materials as ‘TOP SECRET’? That’s such a dead giveaway—only an idiot would do something like that,” Ling Ye thought, her face expressionless.

“Ah! Damn it, I peed on my hand!” 

Somewhere, that same shady young man was taking a leak when he suddenly sneezed, causing an unfortunate accident. Looking at his hand, he felt the urge to scream at the sky. Why was he so unlucky today? Losing his collection was bad enough, but why did he also have to end up peeing on his hand?

Ling Ye quietly opened the “study materials” and found twelve folders labeled: Prosperity, Democracy, Civility, Harmony, Freedom, Equality, Justice, Rule of Law, Patriotism, Dedication, Integrity, and Friendship.

Suppressing the urge to smash the USB drive underfoot, she silently opened the folder labeled “Prosperity” and found a bunch of torrent files. As she read the titles, she felt her heart skip a beat: “How to Properly Use Your Mother,” “My Mom Isn’t This Cute,” “RE: Starting a Life with Mom from Zero”…

Without hesitation, Ling Ye clicked download. She carefully looked around, making sure no one was paying attention, while confirming her headphones were plugged in. She then turned the volume down. After making all these preparations, Ling Ye clicked on one of the video files, and suddenly, a new world opened up before her.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

Ling Ye quietly shut down the computer and rubbed her eyes, which were slightly sore. Her mind was filled with the content she had just seen. As she left the convenience store, she noticed the sky had begun to darken. She needed to hurry back; Mom would be home soon.

Ling Ye skipped dinner entirely, rushing back home. When she saw that Ling Ning hadn’t returned yet, she let out a sigh of relief. She took the USB drive out of her pocket, her rational mind telling her she should throw it away, but… she just couldn’t do it.

As she stood there staring at the USB drive, the door suddenly opened. Ling Ning, still looking a bit pale, entered. Seeing her daughter staring at her with an anxious expression, she asked, “What’s up?”

“N-nothing.” Ling Ye then noticed a gory scene playing on the TV. “I was just a bit freaked out by the movie on TV, that’s all.”

If Ling Ning had paid closer attention, she might have noticed that Ling Ye’s right hand was holding something tightly. But after a whole day of enduring her period pain, Ling Ning wasn’t in the mood to observe anything closely. She just wanted to take a bath and sleep.

“Oh, did you eat?”

“Y-yeah.” Not really. By the time she left the internet café, there was no time for dinner, and now she was starving. But she didn’t want to admit it.

“By the way, have you finished your summer homework yet? More than half the break is over.”

“I finished it the day I got it. It was so easy—how long could it have possibly taken?” Ling Ye replied, her tone full of disdain.

“Alright, alright. Just making sure. Mom’s going to take a bath.”

“Okay~”

Once Ling Ning entered the bathroom, Ling Ye finally let out a sigh of relief. Thank goodness she hadn’t been found out. Then again, even if she had been caught, she had a lot of excuses ready to explain everything. As for why she felt so nervous, well, it was probably just a guilty conscience.

Still, now that Mom was in the bath… it was kind of tempting to peek.

⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱⊰⋆⋅⭑⋅⋆⊱

Author’s Note:

Should she peek or not? I have no idea either.