Chapter 48: The Weight of Understanding

Indeed, Qin Lan’s smile deepened, a silent declaration of, “See? I’ve caught you red-handed.”

Observing Hua Mu’ai’s face, a captivating canvas shifting from pale white to crimson, then to an indignant green, Qin Lan finally, and mercifully, decided to release her from her torment.

“Oh, is that so?” She feigned surprise, an eyebrow arching playfully. “Perhaps my memory is failing me. One tends to forget things when they get on in years, you know.”

Despite her words of forgetfulness, Hua Mu’ai discerned an undeniable gleam of smug satisfaction in Qin Lan’s eyes.

‘Argh! That detestable Qin Lan!’

Hua Mu’ai’s teeth gnashed with frustration, yet she found herself utterly unable to retaliate.

How could she possibly expose her past, admit to Gu Qianqian and Lin Xiaolu that Tian Lanxing had once been a notorious drunkard, and openly clash with Qin Lan?

She had no choice but to swallow her indignation, forcing the bitter anger back into her gut until her cheeks flushed a furious red.

“Hmph!”

Hua Mu’ai spun around, addressing the bewildered Gu Qianqian and Lin Xiaolu with a loud declaration.

“You all heard that, didn’t you? Your Team Leader Qin Lan is getting on in years and is clearly muddled; don’t believe a single word she utters!”

“Ah? Oh… oh!” Lin Xiaolu quickly nodded, scrambling to agree.

Beside her, Gu Qianqian struggled to suppress a laugh, her shoulders trembling with the effort.

‘Her captain today was truly a delight.’

Amidst the cheerful banter filling the lounge, a sudden vibration from Qin Lan’s pocket-held phone cut through the air.

She glanced down at the message on the screen, and the smile that had graced her features vanished, replaced by a grim expression.

Qin Lan then dialed the number, but the call went unanswered.

Only then did she lift her gaze, addressing the assembled group.

“Everyone, stop what you’re doing. Xia Xingyan isn’t coming. I tried calling her, but her phone is off.”

The mood in the room shifted instantaneously.

“What?”

Gu Qianqian was the first to cry out, her face etched with utter disbelief.

“What’s happening, Team Leader Qin? We had everything planned! If she’s not coming, then all our preparations will have been for naught.”

“Keep your voice down.”

Hua Mu’ai frowned, casting a sharp glare at Gu Qianqian.

She had sensed that something was amiss with Qin Lan’s demeanor.

“What’s happened?” Hua Mu’ai pressed. “Why isn’t she coming?”

Qin Lan’s expression remained peculiar as she turned her phone screen towards Hua Mu’ai, revealing a brief message from Xia Xingyan.

“She said she was caught by her family and is being forced to attend an engagement banquet.”

‘An engagement banquet?’

Both Gu Qianqian and Lin Xiaolu were utterly dumbfounded; they had never once heard a whisper of Xia Xingyan having a fiancé.

“‘Caught and taken back?’ What exactly does that imply?” Hua Mu’ai honed in on the crucial detail.

“She didn’t elaborate,” Qin Lan replied, shaking her head as she retracted her phone. “She simply sent that single sentence, and I’m as much in the dark as you are.”

A sudden, heavy dread settled in Hua Mu’ai’s chest.

A realization struck her then, something she should have inquired about ages ago but had inexplicably overlooked.

“Qin Lan, I need to ask you something. Isn’t Xia Xingyan already eighteen? By all rights, she should be able to decide for herself whether to become a magical girl. How, then, did her parents manage to terminate her GSA contract?”

Qin Lan cast a brief look at Hua Mu’ai, then turned her attention to Gu Qianqian and Lin Xiaolu.

“You two, step outside for a moment.”

“Huh? Why?” Gu Qianqian asked, her face a mask of confusion.

“What follows is not for your ears,” Qin Lan stated, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Despite their myriad questions, the two young women obediently exited the lounge.

The moment the door clicked shut, Hua Mu’ai immediately pressed, “What in the world is going on?”

Qin Lan sighed, her expression fraught with complexity. “Because,” she began, “Xia Xingyan suffers from a psychological disorder.”

“What the hell? How could I not know about this?”

“I only managed to pull up the full details from the archives department yesterday,” Qin Lan explained. “The Xia family invoked a rather obscure piece of legislation: the ‘Special Talent Psychological Health Assessment Act’.”

“In essence, this act empowers direct relatives, when presented with evidence suggesting a person has severe psychological issues that could pose a danger to themselves or society, to independently request a mandatory psychological evaluation by a third-party institution.”

“The Xia family ruthlessly exploited this loophole,” Qin Lan’s voice grew cold. “They weaponized Xia Xingyan’s lifelong ‘alexithymia’ (TL Note: A psychological condition characterized by difficulty in identifying and describing emotions) against her, arguing to the legal department that she possessed a pathological ‘heroism-induced delusion’ and an unstable mental state, rendering her utterly unfit to be a magical girl, a role demanding utmost rationality and teamwork.”

“As for the evaluation results… you can easily surmise them. Given the Xia family’s influence, procuring a report tailored to their desires would be effortlessly simple.”

As Hua Mu’ai listened to Qin Lan’s words, a suffocating tightness seized her chest, leaving her breathless.

‘Alexithymia…’

The word echoed in her mind, conjuring a series of vivid, painful images.

In the haunted house, she had striven to force a smile, yet her expression had been more agonizing to behold than a genuine cry.

On the Ferris wheel, when Hua Mu’ai had cruelly mocked her impassive face, Xia Xingyan’s own had remained blank, even as tears silently traced paths down her cheeks.

And finally, when Xia Xingyan had shielded her from a fatal blow, she had desperately tried to conjure a smile. Yet, the arduous upward curve of her lips had transformed into a sight more heartbreaking than any tears.

It hadn’t been aloofness, nor had it been a facade.

It was simply that she was incapable of expressing her emotions like an ordinary person.

She wasn’t unwilling to smile; she was utterly unable to!

And Hua Mu’ai, with her cruelest words, had repeatedly rubbed salt into Xia Xingyan’s most agonizing wounds.

‘This lady… I’m truly an imbecile…’

Hua Mu’ai cursed under her breath, her voice laced with an uncontrollable tremor.

She had been so utterly oblivious, yet she had dared to perceive Xia Xingyan as manipulative and inexplicably strange.

She had treated a suffering individual as a freak, their pain as a mere jest.

‘No, she was the truly foolish one!’

A wave of boundless guilt washed over Hua Mu’ai, threatening to engulf her entirely.

Abruptly, she spun around and bolted towards the exit without uttering a single word.

“Hey! Where are you going?” Qin Lan exclaimed, momentarily stunned by her abrupt departure.

“Home!”

Hua Mu’ai flung the two words over her shoulder without glancing back, her form already vanishing through the doorway.

Her mind was a chaotic jumble, and all she desired was a place of quiet solitude.

****

Hua Mu’ai had indeed returned home.

She sprinted back to her apartment, slammed the door shut, and gasped for air in ragged gulps.

The apartment was eerily silent, save for the rapid cadence of her own breathing.

She left the lights off, standing in the oppressive gloom for what felt like an eternity.

Then, as if a sudden resolve had seized her, she stormed into her room, yanked open the bedside table drawer, and there, nestled within, lay an identification badge.

It was the GSA-issued identification badge belonging to the captain of the Starry Sky Team.

Hua Mu’ai stared at the badge, Xia Xingyan’s image stubbornly refusing to leave her mind.

She recalled the incident just days prior, on the bustling commercial street.

After she had dealt with the ruffians, Xia Xingyan had simply taken a phone call and then vanished without a word of farewell.

Even then, Hua Mu’ai had sensed something was off about Xia Xingyan after that phone call.

Now, in retrospect, it was undeniably suspicious.

‘That idiot must be in trouble!’

The more Hua Mu’ai dwelled on it, the more her anger surged—anger at herself, and anger at Xia Xingyan, who steadfastly refused to reveal anything.

‘Gu Qing, oh Gu Qing, you truly are an incorrigible imbecile!’

From the very first time she had saved her, to their shared experiences on Golden Island…

‘She should have realized it ages ago!’

Xia Xingyan was precisely that kind of stubborn individual who, even if the sky were to collapse, would stubbornly endure it all by herself!

When wronged, she would never voice her grievances; when confronted with hardship, she would never seek assistance. She would perpetually bottle everything within her, using an impassive, icy demeanor as her impenetrable shield.

‘No!’

‘This lady cannot simply sit idly by!’