Most of Zhao Youyue's attention remained focused on her Dimension Gate. Her particular gate functioned differently from the ones described in quick-transmigration or infinite-flow novels. As long as the creator of a work was still actively producing content, she could enter the gate every night the moment she fell asleep.
Right now, her Dimension Gate led directly into the world of Pure Love. While her physical body slept soundly in the real world, her soul naturally attached itself to the character Xu Jing. Using Xu Jing's top-student physique, she studied diligently and absorbed knowledge like a sponge. When she woke up in reality, her soul would naturally withdraw from the world of the work, leaving her with a clear mind and a wealth of new information.
Meanwhile, everything she did inside the work subtly influenced the creator, placing them in a state of creative overflow. They would then express plotlines related to her actions through text, comics, or other media.
If those plot developments felt highly reasonable and grounded, the creator would naturally believe that it was their own brilliant inspiration that had produced such amazing scenes and brought the characters so vividly to life. On the other hand, if the plot turned out to be especially absurd or out of character, the creator would only think that they must have lost their mind or gotten carried away at the time to produce such nonsense.
Previously, anything related to Pure Love and Xu Jing was mostly treated as background material.
Xu Jing functioned as a pure passerby, her face often obscured or turned away as she remained buried in her studies, so there was no need for a detailed depiction. Now, however, with Xu Jing gaining the original author Su Li's favor, her screen time steadily increased. Her interactions with the main cast also grew, effectively elevating her to a supporting role. Naturally, it became necessary for the manga to go into detail about Xu Jing's recent experiences within the story.
Xu Jing's original character setup was extremely simple. Other than a deep, singular love for studying, she had little interest in anything else. Occasionally, during breaks from her books, she would lift her head and watch the male lead interacting with various girls, wearing a look that practically said she was concerned for the intellectually challenged.
There had been a specific close-up of this expression in a recent chapter of the comic, but very few readers had paid much attention to her. The one who truly noticed was the comic assistant, Zhang Ziqiang, who had commented that this Xu Jing character was kind of interesting. That small suggestion successfully convinced Su Li to give Xu Jing more positive appearances and a bit more narrative weight.
Since Su Li now treated Xu Jing as a legitimate supporting character, it was only natural to dig deeper into her background to flesh her out. The first question was obvious: why did she love studying so much?
Because Xu Jing came from a poor family and hoped to change her fate through the power of education.
And why was her family so poor?
It turned out her father suffered from a serious, lingering illness and could no longer work, leaving him bedridden and frail. Her mother was a laid-off worker who could only set up a small, rickety stall outside the school gates to sell trinkets, constantly at risk of being chased away by urban management officers.
It was worth noting that illnesses in novels or animation were never meant to be examined for medical plausibility. Take, for example, the legendary terminally ill for three hundred years, yet never defeated Tachibana Ukyo. Some so-called terminal illnesses existed purely to serve the author's immediate needs.
If the author didn't want the character to die, then even with a terminal illness, the character could keep bouncing around indefinitely, sometimes even operating in full cheat mode as if the illness were a powerful buff. Once the author decided the character had outlived their usefulness, they would immediately be handed a death flag.
In Pure Love, the illness Xu Jing's father had was simply a money-draining one. The author didn't even know the specific diagnosis. All that mattered was that he didn't die, but could die at any moment. This ensured that Xu Jing's family remained perpetually poor and deeply in debt. As a result, Xu Jing could only push herself to study harder and harder. Her dream was to become a doctor and personally cure her father's illness.
This time, when Zhao Youyue attached herself to Xu Jing, she discovered that Xu Jing wasn't in her usual spot at school. Instead, she had returned to a home that could only be described as completely bare, the walls cracked and the furniture sparse. The air inside was thick and heavy with the bitter, herbal smell of medicine.
She quickly understood that the author had added even more tragic settings to this character. That left her feeling quite helpless. She had only wanted to be a background academic genius. Now she had turned into the daughter of a destitute household. What was this supposed to be?
To be honest, Zhao Youyue was used to the luxurious life of a pampered young lady in the real world. Suddenly becoming someone like this in the comic world naturally created a huge sense of disparity. She immediately realized that her chances to study peacefully were probably going to be few and far between from now on, and that plenty of trouble would likely follow her home.
Because of this, she couldn't help but feel some resentment toward the creator, while also learning a valuable lesson. The next time she entered another work through the Dimension Gate, she absolutely had to communicate with the original author first. Otherwise, a situation where a passerby turned into a tragic supporting character would be incredibly frustrating.
Fortunately, the creator could only modify her character's background. They couldn't change Xu Jing's core personality, nor couldn't they control Xu Jing's specific actions. Those rights belonged solely to Zhao Youyue.
At this moment, Xu Jing saw her seriously ill father lying in bed, his chest heaving as he coughed painfully.
Xu Jing could have responded with cold indifference, harboring deep resentment toward the man for his condition. After all, it was his illness that had dragged the entire family down into poverty. She could also have stepped forward to take meticulous care of him, guided by her kind nature and a strong sense of filial piety. All of this depended on a single thought from Zhao Youyue.
Zhao Youyue could also feel that whatever she chose to do next wouldn't be meticulously drawn into the next chapter of the comic. She had experienced the same sensation before, back when she had shown that look of concern for the intellectually challenged.
Xu Jing remained expressionless as she walked to her father's side. She moved with practiced ease, taking care of his needs and feeding him his medicine, as if she had done this countless times before. She was already accustomed to the rhythm of his suffering.
After that, she efficiently handled the household chores, scrubbing the floors and cooking a simple meal for her mother, who was still outside selling small trinkets. As she stood over the stove, the steam rising around her, she also recited classical Chinese texts from memory to keep her mind sharp.
Zhao Youyue felt no emotional turbulence at all. Since the author had changed her background, she could just as easily refine her own abilities to match it. As the daughter of a poor family, it made perfect sense to take responsibility early, care for a gravely ill father, and be proficient at housework.
The feeling was oddly fascinating. In reality, she was a pampered young lady who never lifted a finger and never did housework. Now, however, she could efficiently handle chores and cook food that was well above average in quality. At the same time, her studying didn't suffer at all. She was currently memorizing Encouragement of Learning, which she was required to recite during tomorrow's morning reading session. If Lao Qiu wasn't there tomorrow morning, she could play on her phone again. That would be wonderful.
Dinner was eaten by Xu Jing and her mother together at a small, wobbly table. Her mother looked at Xu Jing's hands, which looked nothing like those of a typical teenage girl. They were rough and covered in thin calluses from work. Unable to hold back her emotions, her mother wiped away a stray tear. "Xiao Jing, Mom is sorry. You have suffered so much since you were little."
Xu Jing squeezed her mother's hand in return, the skin feeling dry and hard. The expressionless face she always wore finally softened into a faint, reassuring smile. She didn't say a word, but everything was conveyed without speaking. She wasn't afraid of hardship. As long as her mother was there, she was happy.
This was the first time Xu Jing smiled in the comic, and Su Li, without the slightest hesitation, gave her a large close-up panel.
In fact, while drawing this scene, Su Li felt a deep sense of sympathy for Xu Jing. She believed she had created an extremely moving moment for her readers.
As a creator, while feeling heartache for Xu Jing, Su Li was also considering whether she should kill off Xu Jing's mother and see if Xu Jing could still smile afterward.