Chapter 47

"bomb."

"Blast your grandma!" Le Anyi threw the four cards back to He Weichen. "I'm a professional player! No matter how fast you cover it, I can see clearly in the 6 mixed with 9!"

"Hmph." He Weichen took back the cards. Perhaps because he'd been hanging around with Ling Yin for so long, he wasn't embarrassed at all by being caught doing something like this. Instead, he acted like it was his due.

Jiang Lin, drafted in to make up the numbers, didn't really want to play. His hands drooped, a Joker dropped from his hand, and he didn't bother picking it up. He simply flaunted his cards, completely devoid of any sense of play.

It wasn't that they were being awful playing Landlord right now; it was just that everyone had been languishing in the rankings all day, and they needed some entertainment. Normally, they hadn't noticed much, but now they were suddenly struck by how boring it was with two people missing from the team. The atmosphere in the training room felt completely different; even Le Anyi and He Weichen's arguments were unremarkable. They were especially used to seeing Qu Xing sprinting around on his skateboard, and now it was abandoned in the corner, looking so forlorn.

Jiang Lin: "I want to go home——"

He Weichen put down his cards, took out his phone and started playing a game.

Another 2 of Spades slowly slid down the fan. Jiang Lin: "Ah—"

The coaching staff's record book contains the recorded data and BP ideas completed in the past few days. In the past few days without training matches, there has been no update except for the rank data of these three players.

On the other hand, UNG was doing very well, dominating the training matches and almost becoming the second DL, making others lose all their spirit.

The team's mid-laner is full of confidence: "We will defeat DL the day after tomorrow."

Upper: "Come on!"

Quan Ji: “Haha…”

Ever since that last practice match with the sick Qu Xing, he no longer believed he could gain an advantage against him. It wasn't that he lacked confidence; he had never doubted his own abilities. But now he realized that even the most confident of self-esteem had to be within limits. Because there were other monsters like Qu Xing.

He could only hope that his teammates would carry him, or that the great coaching staff could make the decision directly from the BP like FRI did that day.

-

"Stand up straight and try harder."

The DL base over there was languishing, while the vast desert here was blazing with passion. In the evenings, Xia would gather around his big speakers, the drummer, the trumpeter, and a few other guests at the hotel, playing and occasionally howling.

Ling Song placed his big hand on Qu Xing's shoulder and was wholeheartedly teaching his "new son" how to shoot arrows.

In just one afternoon, Qu Xing had successfully captured the hearts of these two people. An Yining even began to call herself mother, and Ling Song had no choice but to accept that he had a "son", but he accepted it quite quickly and did not feel uncomfortable at all.

He bent Qu Xing's arm and said, "Okay."

Qu Xing took aim, let go, and the arrow hit the bull's eye.

Ling Song smiled and said, "Amazing."

Qu Xing touched another arrow, Ling Song took a few steps back, An Yining looked at Qu Xing and couldn't help laughing: "Such a powerful little treasure, it would be a bargain for anyone to have it."

Qu Xing was concentrating on aiming at the bull's eye when he suddenly heard someone calling from behind: "Ziying!"

Qu Xing's hand trembled, and the arrow flew out at an angle. He turned his head sharply.

The first figure that appeared in my mind was my grandmother. By the time I reacted, I had already met the eyes of a woman who was about the same age as An Yining.

The voice on the other end probably didn't hear a response, so he called out his full name again: "Cun Ziying!"

An extremely familiar yet completely unfamiliar name was passed on to one's ears through someone else's mouth.

Ling Yin noticed that Qu Xing looked a little strange and glanced at the woman: "What's wrong, Xingxing?"

Ling Song and the other two also approached, and An Yining asked, "What's the matter?"

Qu Xing looked at the woman with a blank mind.

She was a strikingly distinctive woman, with long, thick black hair falling to her waist. A long, heavy black coat hung heavy on her, framing her rather frail figure. Beneath the coat, she wore a long red skirt, her flamboyance seemingly shrouded by a certain melancholy. Ling Yin noticed that her eyes were exceptionally bright—much like Qu Xing's, except for the lingering sadness.

She opened her mouth: "Xing..."

Qu Xing smiled at her briefly and turned away without looking at her.

That's Cun Ziying, not grandma.

The cold air chilled the arrows. Qu Xing picked up one, but he didn't have the strength to place it on the bow. The woman with the trembling eyes behind him and the gradually emerging starry sky above him seemed to be responding to his inexplicable tears last night. He didn't know what story they were telling, and he didn't dare to listen.

He was surprised. Logically, he had never seen the woman behind him. He only knew the name "Cun Ziying" and the past relationship between him and her. But the moment he saw her face, it didn't seem so unfamiliar. It seemed like he had seen her somewhere, but he couldn't remember where.

Qu Xing knew that she was the "Cun Ziying" because of this familiar feeling and the "Xing..." she blurted out.

What did she ask me to do?

The shape of a certain splattered blood uncontrollably surfaced in Qu Xing's mind no matter how much he wanted to forget it.

Doesn't she hate me?

"Xingxing." Ling Yin stroked Qu Xing's trembling hand and took away the bow and arrow.

Cun Ziying looked at the scene and suddenly realized something. Her face turned pale. She seemed to sway slightly, and the lingering sadness in her eyes turned the entire desert pale. Then she turned and left.

Qu Xing vaguely heard her footsteps as she left. He didn't dare turn around, letting Ling Yin hold his hand. Ling Song's large hand gently patted his shoulder. At that moment, Qu Xing didn't bother to care whether it was Ling Yin's father or Ling Yin's ancestor. He stared intently at the target in the distance.

Ling Yin didn't know what had happened. He had never seen Qu Xing with this expression before. His bright pupils seemed to tremble with ripples, as if he was nervous, a little scared, and more of a frightening blankness. There was obviously no sadness, but it was more painful to look at than sadness.

Ling Yin felt deeply distressed, fearing that his mental problems would affect his heart. He gently hugged him and rubbed him vigorously to try to make him relax, not daring to use too much force. He whispered, "Xingxing... baby, she's gone, it's okay, it's okay..."

It doesn't matter whether I go with her or not.

Qu Xing lowered his eyes. He simply felt lonely. He hadn't felt this way before, because he had friends, family, and now a lover. But for some reason, now these people felt so far away from him. Even with Ling Yin by his side, so gently comforting him.

He knew that this was his own emotion and had nothing to do with Ling Yin, so he said, "It's okay." He patted Ling Yin's hand and said, "Don't worry."

Ling Song glanced at Ling Yin and knew his son was feeling very upset. It was clear that Xingxing's "all right" wasn't really that bad; it was just a subconscious reassurance. And with his expression, he didn't give anyone the chance to ask. He could only watch.

Ling Yin also knew this. So, without mentioning what had just happened, he simply lowered his head and kissed him, saying softly, "Shall we go in?"

Qu Xing didn't move.

Ling Yin observed his expression carefully and held his hand tightly.

The atmosphere was frozen for a while. Qu Xing's eyes met the starry sky, which had become clearer. He suddenly asked curiously, "Why did Brother Xia Hui say that Brother Ling ate scorpions when he was a child?"

?

"Ah?" An Yining loosened her grip on Ling Song's arm, her eyes blank for a moment. "Scorpion? Oh, a scorpion."

Ling Song rubbed the back of Qu Xing and Ling Yin's heads with his hands, then put his arm around Qu Xing and squeezed his shoulders, saying, "Let's talk inside. It's cold now."

"Some places in the northwest have a saying that for some reason, weak children should eat something poisonous."

Qu Xing listened absentmindedly, not even realizing that the hidden meaning behind these words was that Ling Yin had been in poor health as a child.

An Yining explained, "We didn't dare feed him poison, so we gave him two bites of non-venomous food. He not only ate scorpions, but also snakes."

Qu Xing finally reacted, stopped fiddling with the glass, looked up and asked, "Will it be okay after eating it?"

After he asked, he noticed that Ling Song wanted to rub his head, so he gently moved aside. Then he rubbed his forehead against his arm to show his comfort that he didn't get to touch his head.

Ling Song paused, his gangster-like cold and sullen face unable to hold back. He withdrew his hand and said jokingly, "I don't know if it was eaten well or if we prepared it for him."

Qu Xing: “Oh…”

A tall, thin man in a windbreaker came in from behind. Ling Song looked at him and asked, "How's the discussion going?"

Feng Yi said worriedly: "The person in charge just ran away!"

Ling Song frowned.

Feng Yi said, "I don't know what happened. She left in a hurry. She seemed unwell. She didn't say anything when I asked her. When I asked her again, she said she would cancel it first."

Ling Song frowned, about to explode. Suddenly, he realized the person in charge might be the strange woman from earlier. He glanced at Qu Xing, who was distracted. Although he didn't know what was going on, it was clearly inappropriate to bring it up in front of the child. He patted the person and was about to say, "Let's talk outside," when Qu Xing smiled at him, slid off the high stool, and slipped through the small door at the back of the winery.

Ling Song looked at his son and said, "Why don't you go in and keep him company."

Ling Yin looked at the small door for a while, then lowered his eyes and fiddled with the cup that Qu Xing had been playing with for a while: "He probably wants to be alone for a while."

"Hmm." Ling Song then looked at the person and said, "Is she a woman?"

"Yes." Feng Yi said, "You should have seen her just now. I don't know what she was standing there looking at. Alas, our person in charge is quite capable, but..."

Ling Yin glanced at him quietly.

Feng Yi pointed to his head and said, "He doesn't look very well... He cries all the time, or gets angry suddenly. It's very difficult to communicate with him!"

Ling Song frowned: "What are you going to do now? If you can't come to a conclusion tonight, I'll leave."

"Ah." Feng Yi choked: "You first... let me call and ask."

Ling Song: "Yeah."

Xia Hui was still outside tirelessly chatting with the guests. Suddenly, among the tinkling drum sounds, a few men's sobs were heard. After sobbing for a while, they turned into howling, which seemed to have stunned everyone around him. All movements stopped. Just thinking about it, you can tell that the group of people must have been staring at the crying man in a daze.

Xia Hui was so anxious that he shouted to comfort her, "Hey! Stop crying! Why are you crying?! How can a grown man cry like that?! If there is anything, let's talk it out!"

“…” This is how the Northwestern man comforts people.

Instead of stopping, the man made some clanging noises, and all sorts of things were smashed into a mess. It was unknown how much damage he had caused. Xia Hui screamed "Ah, Ah, Ah", and there was a slight commotion, coupled with the crying, it made people's hearts jump with nervousness.

Then, there was the sound of a massive mass tumbling to the ground, its howling becoming even more mournful. Windbreaker took two steps, poked his head out to take a look, then sighed and shook his head, returning, "He's lying on the ground, covered in sand. How could such a big man be crying like that? I think the atmosphere here is a little off today. It's unbearable!"

Ling Yin felt a pang of distress, thinking about Qu Xing staying in there alone and wondering what he was doing, so he turned around and went to look for him.

The room behind the small door is poorly lit, not because of lack of technology, but because Xia Hui did it on purpose to create some primitive sense of mystery.

In the dim light, Qu Xing sat on a flattened round wine barrel, perfectly poised. His back looked as handsome and energetic as ever, his shoulders not slumped at all. With a small brush in hand, he meticulously painted a pile of broken wine barrels. Xia Hui had said yesterday he wanted to paint all of them, but after painting only two, he lost patience and gave up. Qu Xing was here to help him today.

Ling Yin walked closer and found that the mobile phone he had placed beside him was playing a video of the game.

The man's howl outside could penetrate the air within a five-hundred-meter radius, and echoed throughout the small cabin as if it had speakers. Qu Xing seemed not to hear it.

Feeling Ling Yin approaching, Qu Xing pulled him to sit down without even turning his head. Then he threw the small brush into the paint bucket and pulled him over to kiss him.

Under the extremely light and subtle breathing, the heart-wrenching crying sound seemed a little distant.

Ling Yin thought he would taste a salty and bitter taste. He hoped that Xingxing would cry a little to vent her emotions, but Qu Xing was very calm, and even the rhythm of the kiss was gentle and slow.

After a while, Qu Xing separated slightly, tilted his head and pecked the side of his face, whispering, "Don't worry, I just got a little scared. I'll be fine after a while."

"Afraid of that Cun..." Ling Yin saw Qu Xing's eyelashes tremble, and immediately changed his words: "That woman?"

"Yeah." Qu Xing fell into his arms and rubbed his head against his: "She seems to be..."

Ling Yin thought Qu Xing was finally willing to talk. After feeling Qu Xing's body stiffen for a moment, Qu Xing said, "I'm scared."

Ling Yin hugged him.

"I'm sorry, Ling Yin. I don't want to make you feel bad." Qu Xing rubbed again: "But I really don't want to think about this name anymore."

"And there are many things I still don't understand. Maybe I'll tell you when I'm not so scared anymore. I don't treat you as an outsider..."

I don't know what happened outside. Besides the crying, there was a sound of kicking, and then curses trying to drown out the crying: "Why the hell are you crying! It's so noisy! You cry, and I want to cry too!!"

As he spoke, his voice actually trembled a little, but because the curse was too rough, a few broken sounds were mixed in with the curse, which sounded awkward, unpleasant and sad: "I ran all the way here, and the fucking person in charge ran away--"

Ling Yin raised his hands to cover Qu Xing's ears, not wanting him to hear.

But the man's curse still faintly reached my ears: "Millions! How can I pay millions!!!"

Qu Xing's eyes moved slightly, and he looked at Ling Yin without blinking.

Ling Yin looked at him for a long while.

Xingxing was so cute, she should be surrounded and pampered by everyone, but here she was in this bleak and desolate place, meeting someone she didn't want to meet at all, listening to the curses and cries of these heartbroken people. He felt his heart bleed, and whispered, "I should be the one saying sorry. I shouldn't have brought you here."

He used to like this place very much, but for some reason today, it was just as the man in the windbreaker said, the aura was strange, as if it had completely changed.

Qu Xing stared at him with sparkling eyes, raised her hands and held his face: "No, you have to bring me here next time."

Ling Yin blinked.

"I like you, the drinks you make, and the stars last night." Qu Xing took advantage of Ling Yin's guilt and pinched his face twice: "Next time, I'll come and overwrite the memory of today."

Ling Yin looked at him and leaned closer: "Really like it?"

Qu Xing narrowed her eyes and kissed him hard: "I like it! These are not brought to me by you today. I like everything you bring me."

Ling Yin chuckled, moved closer, and rubbed his forehead against his: "Okay."

"Upper is on fire again! It's like a divine weapon descending from the sky, destroying the enemy's backline. There's nothing we can do! FRI can only retreat step by step, and the game is about to end with UNG 2-0!"

Ling Yin glanced at the phone propped up on the side.

This was UNG's game yesterday. We'll play them the day after tomorrow.

He took a quick look at the game yesterday. UNG was strong, but—

Ling Yin looked at Qu Xing and smiled: "Can we win the day after tomorrow?"

Qu Xing raised his lips and smiled, then turned back to continue scrubbing the wooden barrel, not taking it seriously.

"certainly."