Chapter 29: The Black Car

Five minutes after Lin Jiayin pushed open the door, Lin Xia talked until his mouth went dry before his adopted sister, who had just entered puberty, reluctantly believed he hadn’t been doing anything inappropriate like tasting forbidden fruit, and definitely wasn’t into guys.

“Hello, I’m Jiang Ciqiu, Lin Xia’s childhood sweet… childhood friend.”

Thinking “childhood sweethearts” sounded too ambiguous for a good buddy, Jiang Ciqiu corrected herself at once.

Facing this “senior” with shoulder-length short hair and no discernible curves at the chest, Lin Jiayin hesitated, then reached out and shook her hand.

‘So this was the kind of tomboy her adopted brother liked?’

The girl couldn’t stop her eyes from sweeping over Jiang Ciqiu. Her face was indeed delicate and cute up close, but everything beyond her face gave off a boyish impression.

“Ah, I fainted during a Calamity Beast attack. Lin Xia was kind enough to bring me here to rest.”

Jiang Ciqiu reached down and lifted the blanket from her legs, then got out of bed. “I’ve recovered most of my strength, so I won’t disturb you any longer.”

But despite her words, the moment she stood, her vision blurred.

The mana she had spent reconstructing her body in battle had caught up with her for real.

“You can stay the night. It was just me and Jiayin holding down the fort today anyway. If you stay, you can keep us company.”

Lin Xia’s hand reached across the bed and caught the hem of her clothes. The worry in his expression remained.

He knew Jiang Ciqiu’s parents had not been by her side since childhood. He also knew the relatives she lived with now probably did not treat her well, even though she never complained about her family.

In the past, whenever a visit ended and Jiang Ciqiu was about to go home, Lin Xia would notice a shadow of resistance and helplessness flicker in her eyes.

“Forget it. My uncle and aunt will worry, and I have school tomorrow. If someone sees me with you, there’ll be more gossip.”

“I can figure out a way to convince them. Besides, we have tomorrow off.”

“Come on, they won’t…”

After a brief delay, veteran office drone Jiang Ciqiu caught those two words, as important to students and workers as a safe word.

“Wait, tomorrow’s a day off?”

The Lin siblings nodded at the same time.

A second later, perhaps embarrassed to have reacted in sync with her adopted brother, two red spots rose on Lin Jiayin’s still baby-fat cheeks and she turned her head away.

“Before you woke up, the city education bureau sent a notice. Because there have been several Calamity Beast attacks these past few days, and for the safety of students and teachers, the whole city has a one-day holiday.”

Jiang Ciqiu counted on her fingers. “Today’s Wednesday, tomorrow Thursday is a day off. Doesn’t that mean if I go to school Friday, it’ll be the weekend?”

“Exactly.”

“Awesome! Wait, let me tell my uncle, see if I can…”

But before she could be happy for more than a few seconds, the moment her eyes landed on a notification on her phone screen, the corners of her mouth fell again.

“…They already told you to come back?”

Facing Lin Xia’s cautious tone, Jiang Ciqiu sighed through her nose and gave a heavy nod.

“No choice. When you live under someone else’s roof, you can’t help it.” The girl reached for her backpack. “If there’s anything planned, let’s meet tomorrow. They’re urging me to go back. They said… said they have something to discuss, about my parents.”

Lin Xia gave her an apologetic smile. As he spoke, his right hand gently pinched his earlobe.

He knew that gesture. She always did it when she said something she didn’t mean, like when she had said, “The doctor says once you finish one more round of treatment, you can leave the hospital and play with me.”

‘Aqiu… she’d rather lie than stay?’

“Yeah. My invitation was too sudden. Sorry. I’ll tell you earlier next time.”

“Okay. Next time have the controller ready. I’m going to make you cry using my feet.”

Click. The door shut from outside, and the girl’s footsteps faded.

“The way you’re looking at me is scary.”

After ten-odd seconds, Lin Jiayin, who had nearly suffocated in the silence, broke the heavy atmosphere. “Relax. Maybe her family really did call her back, and it’s not some other guy asking for her?”

“Huh!?”

“No, what do you mean, some other guy asking for her?”

Lin Xia nearly choked on his adopted sister’s sudden bombshell, while Lin Jiayin clearly misread her adopted brother’s meaning.

“Ah? You’re worried about girls too? Oh, but her princely handsome type really can attract a lot of lesbians…”

“Go do your homework! Or I won’t order your dinner later.”

Before she could finish analyzing the possible rivals in her brother’s love life, Lin Xia raised his voice and cut her off.

“Tch, stingy. I’m not going to steal anyone from you.”

The scolded girl pouted and ran out of the guest room with her backpack.

Lin Xia watched her vanish behind the door, sighed, and pressed a hand to his forehead.

Are girls this precocious these days? Back in eighth grade, he was still agonizing over whether Enkidu could beat Gilgamesh!

Though even now, he still hadn’t figured out the answer.

Shaking his head to toss those strange thoughts aside, Lin Xia walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the guest room and looked down.

At the entrance of the apartment building sat a pure black sedan. Its body lines were sleek, its wheel hubs finely made, and the windows were covered with privacy film.

Normally, Lin Xia could not have made out those details from the twenty-first floor, but his body had undergone a complete transformation. Even without deliberately activating that power, his senses were enhanced.

As he watched, the boy’s pupils suddenly shrank to pinpricks.

He wasn’t surprised to realize the car was worth seven figures. The residents in this building had net worths in the eight or nine figures; luxury cars filled the underground garage row after row.

What surprised him was the black-haired girl opening the car door and getting into the passenger seat.

Jiang Ciqiu only stayed in Lin Xia’s view for a few seconds, but it was enough for him to see the exhaustion and coldness on her face.

‘Aqiu… where are you going?’

Her uncle and aunt were only ordinary wage earners. They couldn’t possibly own a car of this level. He had looked into those two privately.

Bone spurs and flesh stirred restlessly beneath his skin, pushing grotesque ridges across the boy’s pale skin.

He snatched up his phone and swiped to his chat with Jiang Ciqiu.

“I saw you get into a black car. Where are you going? You’re not going back to your uncle and aunt’s, are you?”

Lin Xia’s finger almost touched the send button, but the last centimeter between his fingertip and the screen was like a wall of sighs, impossible to cross.

When it came down to it, he was only Aqiu’s childhood friend.

If she was willing to lie and leave to rush over, it had to be important. At least more important than killing time with a good friend.

If that matter was more important, did he really have the right to interrogate Aqiu?

The boy fell silent for half a minute. In the end, he pressed delete, and the chat box became empty.

“…Getting ahead of yourself is an ugly look, Lin Xia.”

He sighed at his sorry reflection in the glass and looked up at the clouds drifting across the sky.

But before Lin Xia could wallow for even a few seconds, a special notification chime from his phone made him lose his cool.

[@Qiuci: After lunch tomorrow, let’s go to the beach.]

“Brother, did you order dinner yet? I want braised chicken…”

One minute later, Lin Jiayin pushed open the guest room door for the second time that day, and for the second time saw her usually cool and handsome brother in an embarrassing state.

“What are you grinning at your phone like an idiot for?”

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