"Big brother, why are you staring at me like that?" Feeling the intensity of Leng Yilei's gaze, as if he wanted to scan every cell in her body, Ling Xi was suddenly at a loss for words.
Staring at her like that, had she suddenly turned into a protected animal or an alien?
"Xixi, tell me honestly, why do you suddenly want to train in martial arts? You've never been interested in this kind of thing before." Suddenly, Leng Yilei's expression became extremely serious.
He had never seen this side of Xixi before, so beautiful and vibrant, yet it was indeed a bit strange.
Could it be... that Xixi still hadn't come out of the shadow cast by Qi Yuanfeng...
And that's why she was putting herself through this ordeal...
This cannot go on!
Leng Yilei was completely making up scenarios in his own head.
Watching Leng Yilei's expressions alternate between worry, frowning, and anger, the lines in Ling Xi's brows deepened.
This big brother of hers, usually so composed it was almost unnatural, would instantly turn into this nervous wreck at the slightest thing concerning her.
However, she really liked this silly side of him.
"Big brother really wants to know the reason." Ling Xi looked at Leng Yilei with a smile that reached her eyes.
"Mhm." He nodded.
"Actually, it's nothing much." She sat down on a nearby swing, letting all her weight rest on it and gently swaying, "I just want to be able to protect myself, to keep Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, Dad, and you, my brother, safe."
Ling Xi knew that by protecting herself, she was also protecting her family; and only if she protected her family well, could she better protect herself!
And now, she needed to work even harder, because only then could she protect everything and everyone she cared about that she now had!
First came shock, then overwhelming surprise and affection; slowly, a joyful smile spread across his face.
So it was! It wasn't because of Qi Yuanfeng that Xixi was grieving! It was! It was just because she wanted to protect them all along!
He really felt! He really felt so unbelievably happy and fortunate!
Their beloved Little Xixi! She really had grown up!
Standing up, Leng Yilei walked behind Ling Xi and began to slowly push the swing for her, one push at a time.
"Big brother, higher!" Ling Xi called out with a laugh.
"Okay!" Leng Yilei's face was full of indulgent smiles.
"Even higher!"
"Even higher..."
In the entire training grounds, only Leng Yilei's incredibly indulgent laughter and Ling Xi's cheerful giggles could be heard.
From the moment of her rebirth, I, Ling Xi, have lived only for the Leng Family! To protect the Leng Family! Whatever it takes!
...
The weather today was brilliantly sunny, with a gentle breeze passing through.
In the classroom, Ling Xi propped her chin in her hands, quietly admiring the scenery outside the window, though her thoughts had wandered far away.
For some reason, she felt strange today, as if something was missing.
"That... Ling Xi."
Just then, a faint female voice reached her ears.
Ling Xi looked back and nodded to her.
The girl's initially timid expression instantly brightened with surprise.
She had just assumed Ling Xi would not pay her any attention.
Since the last incident, Ling Xi had changed a lot; not only had her grades improved, but more importantly, her personality had undergone a drastic shift. The light smile that used to grace her face was completely gone, and she had become incredibly cold, with an intimidating presence. Aside from Miaomiao, there seemed to be no one in the classroom daring to approach her or strike up a conversation anymore.
Ever since the rumors of Ling Xi's suicide and return, she had felt really strange around her, as if Ling Xi didn't care about anything that was happening around her; in other words, even if the sky fell down, Ling Xi could probably remain expressionless without a single furrow in her brow.
As such, she was actually really envious of Miaomiao, because Ling Xi treated her very differently from the others.
She could chatter endlessly in front of Ling Xi, follow her around everywhere, and once she even saw her taking the food Ling Xi wanted to eat, yet all Ling Xi showed besides helplessness was no sign of upset at all; even more, she had actually seen Ling Xi smile at Miaomiao more than once, albeit faintly, but it was a true smile! She saw it clearly.
This time, she had come thinking that Ling Xi would surely ignore her, but unexpectedly, Ling Xi had nodded at her.
How wonderful!
"Is something the matter?"
Seeing the girl gazing at her with a distant look without speaking, Ling Xi's brows furrowed slightly as she spoke up to inquire.
"Ah… Oh, yes." The girl snapped back to reality and hastily responded, "It's like this: Miaomiao was absent from her two mandatory classes this morning, and I'm a bit worried. So I came to ask, to see if you knew where she might be."
"Maybe she asked for leave," Ling Xi said.
No wonder she felt like something was missing today—it was the slightly noisy chatter from next to her that was gone!
"Impossible," the girl said with unwavering certainty. "I even asked the teacher after class, and she said she didn't know either. It didn't seem like Miaomiao had asked for leave from her. So... I wanted to ask you, thinking maybe she would have contacted you."
Even though she and Miaomiao were friends, she knew that for Miaomiao, Ling Xi was the most important friend and the person she admired the most.
This was something Miaomiao had told her, and since then, she sometimes couldn't help but start paying attention to this person whom her friend adored so much, almost to the point of worship.
That past Ling Xi, the one who used to chase after only Qi Yuanfeng, had really changed completely from what the rumors said.
Sometimes she couldn't help but think, that Qi Yuanfeng, having given up such a person as Ling Xi, must be regretting it by now!
"No." Hearing the girl's words, Ling Xi shook her head, her brow furrowing slightly, and then she suddenly asked, "Did Li Li come to school today?"
"It seems she didn't either," the girl replied, shaking her head, her eyes widening suddenly.
From what Ling Xi had just said, could it be that Miaomiao's sudden absence from school had something to do with Li Li? Could it be that Miaomiao was again used by Li Li as a personal servant, so much so that she even missed her most important class?
"Do you know where Li Li usually likes to hang out?" Ignoring the girl's somewhat stupefied expression, Ling Xi continued to inquire.