Chapter 104 Arcade Contest (6k)
Standing in front of the claw machine at the door of the store, waiting for Delphinium to return from the counter, Xia Liang couldn't help but move closer to the glass cover in front of him, looking at the blurry reflection of his face in it.
For her, the arcade is a very familiar yet quite unfamiliar place.
As a recognized "bad girl" in school, Xia Liang had been to the arcade many times under the influence of her "friends". In other words, one of the places that her "friends" liked to go to most, besides occasionally working part-time, was the arcade.
As the crucial ATM in the small group, Xia Liang was brought here mainly to settle bills.
They would not ask for Xia Liang's opinion, and would only inform him of the next itinerary when necessary. After Xia Liang paid for them, they would no longer care about where they were going, and would often just play and chat by themselves, as if they didn't notice that there was someone following them.
Xia Liang knew that this was a deliberate neglect and exclusion, but she didn't mind it at that time.
After all, she had no other friends at all. She was already satisfied that these girls could accept her and were willing to let her stay with them.
Even when she arrived at the arcade, her focus was not on the games in the store, and she could not understand the fun of the games. Most of the time she just followed others and cheered and applauded politely at the appropriate time.
Of course, claw machines are an exception. Back then, Xia Liang, who was taken to the arcade by his friends, noticed the claw machine at the entrance of the store. It was placed in the most conspicuous position, but among the people coming and going, few people were willing to stop in front of it.
The dolls in the machine are obviously cute, and it only costs two game coins to grab one, but this claw machine just can't attract customers for some reason.
At that time, Xia Liang felt that this claw machine was just like himself.
Now, after several months, Xia Liang came to the arcade again and saw the claw machine that had not changed or been moved. He felt as if he was in another world. A few months was not a long time, but those dark days seemed like a dream.
Just as she was staring at the claw machine in front of her, she suddenly felt someone patting her shoulder.
"Small……"
Subconsciously, she thought the other person was Delphinium, so she put on a smile and looked in the direction of the person coming, but after seeing who it was, her expression froze on her face.
Because although the visitors were her acquaintances, they were not the expected Delphinium, but her "friends".
——"Hello, long time no see, Xiaoliang."
One of the girls, who was dressed up in fancy clothes, asked, "Why are you here alone all of a sudden?"
"Have you been lonely for too long?"
The other blonde girl following behind him laughed: "I heard that you've been acting like a good girl recently? Looking at the way you're dressed, does that seem to be true?"
"No way, are you serious? It's so tacky, hahaha!"
When she mentioned this topic, several of her "friends" laughed in unison, as if what she just said was really a very funny joke, and they completely ignored the fact that Xia Liang was right in front of them.
Surrounded by laughter, Xia Liang looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar faces in front of him, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.
This silence was not because of the other party's malicious ridicule, but because she found that in the face of the provocation of this group of girls, her heart was not disturbed at all.
If I had to say which feeling is the strongest, it would probably be "boredom".
As early as the day she chose to become a magical girl, she had already cut off contact with these friends. At this point, these girls were like a group of strangers to her, and it didn't matter whether they appeared in front of her or not.
She didn't care what the girls in front of her said, nor did she care how they viewed her, nor did she care what they wanted to do, so she could only feel bored.
Instead of chatting with them here, Xia Liang was more concerned about when Cuique would come back. After all, the other party had been at the counter for some time.
The girls had laughed enough, and when they saw Xia Liang's absent-minded look, they suddenly felt bored.
"I haven't even come to you to settle the matter of you running away and standing us up last time!" the bad blonde girl said, "How dare you come here? Ah Qing should have told you, right? Don't come back if you leave."
The "A Qing" she was talking about was the girl who stood among the people and had the highest status. At this moment, she was looking at Xia Liang with some arrogance and said nothing.
Xia Liang looked up at the bad girl named "Aqing", then looked at the others. After a while, he smiled apologetically and said, "Sorry, I'm waiting for someone. Can you give way for a while?"
These words immediately caused the small group in front of her to fall into an eerie silence.
"Huh?" After a while, one of the bad girls finally understood what she meant: "You want us to get out of the way?"
"What's your attitude? Do you think I'm giving you face?"
The bad girls were immediately furious, and there was a hint of annoyance in their words.
"I never thought you could say something like this now."
Reaching out to stop the bad girls behind him, signaling them to shut up, the girl called "Ah Qing" raised her eyebrows, as if she was a little surprised by what Xia Liang said, but soon she grinned and took two steps forward: "If you are not looking for us, then I am a little curious, who are you looking for?"
"I don't need to tell you, do I?" Xia Liang tilted his head in embarrassment, "Li Yaqing, when did you become so clingy?"
This sentence immediately made Li Yaqing, who was sitting opposite her, pause for a moment, and then raised the corners of her mouth even higher: "Interesting, it's like you've become a different person, you're much more interesting than before."
"But it doesn't matter. Since you appear in front of us again, we have to settle the old score with you."
"You delayed us a lot last time when you deserted the battlefield. Shouldn't we talk about compensation? For example, as a former friend, could you help us pay for our expenses here?"
After saying this, she smiled playfully and waited for Xia Liang's reply.
When Xia Liang heard this, he slightly turned his eyes away: "I don't think there is anything to talk about."
"This is——"
——"What are you doing?"
Li Yaqing was about to continue speaking, but was interrupted by a voice from behind. She turned around and saw a little girl with blue hair standing there, dressed simply but with a striking appearance.
"What's going on? Where did this little brat come from?" The blonde bad girl next to him immediately tried to chase him away, "Can't you see we are talking about something serious? Go play somewhere else!"
"Don't worry yet."
Before she could really go up, she was stopped by Li Yaqing who was standing by: "Looking at this posture, this child might be the one Xiaoliang is waiting for?"
The bad girls immediately followed suit and said, "Xia Liang, when did you end up playing with elementary school students?"
"She's your sister? No, you don't have a sister, and you don't look alike at all."
"Could it be that someone is finally willing to adopt you?"
"Don't you think this kid looks a bit like the short guy from Class 3? I remember Xia Liang has been playing very close to that short guy recently."
They discussed it all at once, but this time, Xia Liang didn't respond. She just looked at Kuija helplessly, then squinted her eyes pitifully.
Cuiqiao held the basket in her hand, looked at Xia Liang, then looked at the group of bad girls in front of her, and immediately understood what Xia Liang was planning.
She couldn't help but sigh in her heart.
Then, ignoring the other bad girls who were talking around her, she looked directly at Li Yaqing who was standing in the middle and raised the thing in her hand. "You want this?"
"Do you have any opinions?" Li Yaqing narrowed her eyes and looked at Delphinium.
"I can give it to you."
Delphinium moved her raised hand back: "But this is conditional."
"Pretending! Why should I negotiate with you?"
The blonde bad girl next to her was a little irritable. Seeing that Li Yaqing, the leader, did not stop her, she reached out to grab the basket in Cuiqiao's hand, but when she stretched out her wrist, it was firmly caught by Cuiqiao.
The blonde tried to struggle free, but no matter how hard she tried, Delphinium couldn't let go. She couldn't help but exclaimed, "What a strong force... What's going on? This weird brat!"
"Since this is an arcade, let's compete with arcade games."
Ignoring the other party's words, Kuizi grabbed the blonde girl's wrist and glanced at Li Yaqing and the other bad girls: "If you win, I will give you all the game coins in my hand; but if you lose, you need to apologize to Xia Liang for what you did just now."
As soon as she finished speaking, she saw the faces of several bad girls become a little strange.
"Comparing playing games with Aqing...Haha, are you serious? Hey, Xiaoliang, didn't you tell your little sister?"
"Ah Qing, she actually said she wanted to compete with you!"
The two girls looked at Li Yaqing and laughed.
As the real party involved, Li Yaqing always maintained a somewhat arrogant look. After hearing Cuique's request, she shook her head and said, "Not enough."
This answer made Delphinium frown.
"...I don't know what your relationship with Xiaoliang is, so just assume that you are her sister? It's not that easy to ask me to apologize."
After taking two steps forward, Li Yaqing looked down at Cuiqiao and said, "If you lose, I will ask for a lot more money."
Delphinium looked at her calmly.
If she had some intention of keeping the peace before, she had given up on this plan after hearing what the other party said.
She had heard from Xia Liang about her past with these bad girls, and she also knew that they had tried to get Xia Liang to do some "jobs" that were not suitable for a girl of this age. She didn't have a good impression of them in the first place.
Now, seeing the frivolous attitude displayed by these bad girls, he naturally would not tolerate them any longer.
As for the other party's request for money, it was secondary. Putting aside the issue of whether or not there was money, she didn't think she would lose at all.
"no problem."
So she agreed to the other party's request quite straightforwardly and said calmly: "You choose, what are you going to compete for?"
"Let me choose? That's better than the dance machine."
Li Yaqing raised the corner of her mouth slightly: "Challenge me, I will make you regret it."
The bets and the items were finalized, so the next competition became a natural thing. The two walked onto the same dance machine and put in a coin.
In the arcade, the competition on the dance machine is always eye-catching, not to mention that the contestant this time is a little girl with eye-catching blue hair, which immediately attracted the attention of many players around. Even if no one deliberately arranged it, a group of onlookers quickly gathered around.
Li Yaqing skillfully clicked on the menu, first setting her own needs, and then gestured to Delphinium: "2p." When it was Delphinium's turn to operate, she saw that it was not even familiar with the normal operating interface, and a hint of sarcasm appeared on her face.
So, when it came to song selection, she confidently chose the most difficult song, which was marked as "Level 13".
As soon as this song was chosen, even the ordinary onlookers around exclaimed in surprise.
"As for this song, the number of players who have been able to perform a full link in the store so far can be counted on two hands, including A-Qing."
The blonde bad girl in the crowd looked at Xia Liang with some sarcasm: "Just wait and see, that brat is going to be in trouble next."
"...Really?" Xia Liang looked at the dance machine in the center of the crowd with great interest, a smile on his face, without showing any nervousness at all.
"Didn't you hear? Why are you pretending?"
Xia Liang's nonchalant attitude annoyed the blonde: "Your fake smile is as irritating as always. I hope you can be so straightforward when you give me the money later."
This sentence also received no response. Xia Liang just glanced at her and said nothing more. Or rather, she felt there was no need to say anything.
In fact, Delphinium on the dance machine was thinking the same thing as her at this moment.
——I don’t want to bother with this group of ignorant and rebellious kids.
If the other party had not really gone too far and his words had not completely disregarded Xia Liang's previous good intentions, she would never have done such a public thing.
Whether she was dealing with these bad girls from an adult's perspective or as a magical girl, it was actually a very cheap and boring behavior. In terms of her original inclination, she would rather ignore these people and walk away.
But if you don't show your strong side to such bad groups, they will come and disturb you from time to time like annoying flies. People like Xia Liang who have been deeply involved with them are more likely to become their targets.
If you encounter a problem and have the ability to handle it, then solve it. This is what Delphinium is thinking now.
Thus, the competition began.
From the beginning of the song, the bad girl Li Yaqing showed her high proficiency. She almost didn't even look at the dance score on the screen, and her steps started moving in advance.
This is also the reason why she chose to use this song for the competition. As the most difficult song on the dance machine, it is impossible for a normal person to dance it completely on the first try.
If an ordinary person were to look at the dance music displayed on the dance machine at this time, he would probably be dazzled and would not even be able to see the music on the screen clearly.
In other words, if you want to dance this song well, the first thing you need to do is to memorize almost all the difficult parts of the score, and then use your own memory as the main framework and rely on the prompts on the screen to dance to the end of the song.
In Li Yaqing's opinion, the little girl next to her was a complete novice who didn't know her place. If she rashly tried this kind of music, she would only make mistakes. As long as she could easily beat this little girl, all her expenses for the rest of the day would be waived, so she couldn't help but smile.
However, as the song progressed, Li Yaqing, who had been staring at the screen, finally felt something was wrong.
Because until the song was one-third through, and after going through many parts that were generally considered difficult, she didn't see any hint other than perfect appear on the other person's half of the screen.
With such doubts, Huai cast a part of her gaze to the side, and she was shocked to find that the little girl was staring at the screen without blinking, and her steps were jumping on the dance board as nimbly and swiftly as the most sophisticated instruments.
The girl's short boots hit the table, making crisp and continuous sounds, as rhythmic as the sound of galloping horses. Apart from this, the movements of her hands were also perfect.
If there is anything wrong, it is that her movements have almost no dance beauty - she is just completing the music score in the most mechanical and efficient way.
However, if this was her first time dancing to this piece of music, even this level of performance would be enough to shock people.
Of course, this is perfectly normal for Delphinium.
Using the reaction and coordination of a magical girl to play such a game is undoubtedly like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, or using a cannon to kill a mosquito. It would be strange if there was any dance score that could make her unable to react.
As the piece progressed into the second half, the difficulty increased further, and when it came to the part where Li Yaqing could no longer perform the whole piece, the Delphinium she saw still had a calm expression and its movements were orderly.
She finally realized that she was probably going to lose.
She knew very well that she was still unstable at the end of the climax, and now she had not warmed up and was not in peak condition. If she were to jump to that step, there was a great possibility that she would not be able to complete the full combo.
She might not be able to complete the piece, but the little girl next to her would be able to see the whole company for the first time? When she thought of this, Li Yaqing felt that she could not accept it.
When the piece reached its climax, she wanted to give up on her own completion several times and stretch out her feet to interfere with Delphinium's actions.
This plan was undoubtedly tempting enough. After all, in her opinion, the little girl next to her was in a state of concentration and had no defenses against her at all.
Then, as long as the current self——
--"come on!"
Some familiar cheering sounds suddenly rang in Li Yaqing's ears.
The cheers interrupted her original train of thought and made her feel as if she had returned to the past, when Xia Liang was still her follower.
Is it Xia Liang? This completely unsociable guy is cheering her up in such a hypocritical way again? She thought so subconsciously at first, but then she realized that it was not the case. Xia Liang was cheering for the little girl next to her.
She and I are no longer "friends".
It’s better to say that the two of them have never been friends.
It's no secret that Li Yaqing hates Xia Liang in this small circle of girls.
Where does this disgust come from?
Was it because Xia Liang was prettier than her and stole her attention? Or was it because Xia Liang could always smile at everything, and her irritable personality looked particularly ugly in front of her? Or was it because Xia Liang had provoked her in some way? It seemed that none of them were the case.
She could still recall the afternoon when she met Xia Liang. After school, she met the girl who was lingering alone in the school courtyard. Her quiet and pure smile and lovely and lively appearance were so conspicuous, as if she was a princess who shouldn't be there.
She already knew Xia Liang at that time, and she knew that this was the "murderer's child" that everyone was rumored to know.
What's wrong with being the child of a murderer? Doesn't that sound cool? It's definitely more brutal than the crimes committed by your own father, and not as embarrassing to talk about, right?
However, compared to Xia Liang, she was undoubtedly lucky. With all the elders in her family being criminals, her scandal did not become a laughing stock for the whole grade.
She didn't know if it was out of this mentality, and she couldn't tell whether this feeling was called "empathy" or "sympathy", but by the time she noticed it, she had already walked up and started talking to the girl sitting alone in the atrium.
What was she thinking at that time? Why did she want to talk to Xia Liang? It seemed that she had no other purpose. She just wanted to be friends with Xia Liang. When this thought came to her mind, she felt so disgusted that she wanted to laugh.
She took Xia Liang out of the atrium, introduced Xia Liang to her other friends, taught Xia Liang how to put on makeup, took Xia Liang to her favorite places to play together, told Xia Liang everything she liked, and showed her real self to Xia Liang, including what she was doing and the things she was numb to.
However, she still couldn't forget Xia Liang's expression after she told him all this.
Is that a kind of subconscious disdain?
"Why don't we stop doing this, Yaqing."
At that time, Xia Liang, as if he was trying to suppress his nausea, pushed her hand away with restraint: "I don't want you to be like this, don't continue to do that kind of thing."
At this moment, Li Yaqing stared at her hand that was pushed away, and then she finally understood that Xia Liang was different from all of them.
She is like the white swan among the ugly ducklings, not only because she is more beautiful, but also because her temperament and character are different from those of "defective products" like herself.
She deserves to be loved by someone, she is as pitiful as she is now, it's just that she hasn't met the right person.
But I don’t deserve to be loved. My current situation is entirely my own fault. I am already a trashy failure.
Li Yaqing hates Xia Liang.
Because Xia Liang's existence seemed to be telling her - "I could have been different from this."
However, I have already embarked on the path I am on now. There is no turning back. I can no longer become as pure as Xia Liang.
When she had such a thought in her mind, she felt as if her mind was swallowed by endless mud. The dark and ugly thoughts destroyed all her rationality like a torrent, and all her feelings for Xia Liang turned into the most vicious jealousy.
I have already given up, so why do I have to remind myself of that possibility? I like each other very much and can be good friends, but I can't get closer because the other person's existence is a torture for me.
She really wanted to ask openly, let's put aside the prejudice together, be bad kids together, and sink into this quagmire together, otherwise, what qualifications do I have to walk with him when I have already embarked on the wrong path? With this idea in mind, Li Yaqing kept persuading Xia Liang to become a bad kid in everyone's perception.
However, Xia Liang was unwilling to agree no matter what.
She began to isolate Xia Liang, she began to insult Xia Liang, and she began to bully Xia Liang.
But no matter how he treated Xia Liang, the other party still had a smile on his face, still listened to him, and even contributed his own little money to cover the expenses of the small group activities.
Li Yaqing felt as if her heart was torn apart: she hated Xia Liang, she liked Xia Liang, she wanted to pull Xia Liang closer, and she also wanted to push Xia Liang away.
She really wanted to ask him: How much do you want me to feel ashamed of myself before I am satisfied? She wanted him to leave, but every time she saw his smile, she couldn't open her mouth.
Until one day, Xia Liang seemed to have agreed to his request to go with him, but when the ugly joy in his heart just blossomed, he said to him lightly:
"I have something else to do, so I may have to leave today. Have fun!"
At that moment, although she didn't know why, Li Yaqing had a feeling that her "friendship" with her had come to an end.
Just like a kite with a broken string or a Hummer without reins, although the other party has not left, they are only at odds with each other in spirit.
"Xiaoliang."
With some unknown emotion, Li Yaqing said to Xia Liang: "If you leave today, don't come over again in the future."
Xia Liang’s answer was simple.
She said "OK".
Since then, Li Yaqing has never seen Xia Liang again.
There will no longer be anyone to cheer me on while I dance, no longer anyone to persuade me to stop with earnest words, and no longer anyone to always wait for me and comfort me with a smile.
it's all over.
This should have been the day she had been waiting for, but when it finally came, she just felt so boring.
Everyone is insignificant in the world, but everyone has different weights to each other. After Xia Liang left, Li Yaqing's life did not change, but it seemed that everything had changed.
Xia Liang had completely forgotten about her, but she was still secretly paying attention to Xia Liang.
She heard that Xia Liang seemed to have made a new friend, and became friends with Lin Xiaolu, a dwarf in Class 3 who seemed to be the class's favorite; she heard that Xia Liang seemed to have a proper job and became a lot richer; she heard that Xia Liang started to behave like a good kid, no longer wore makeup, and his grades became very good.
There are few traces of their time together on Xia Liang's body.
That's why she was so excited when she saw Xia Liang again in the arcade, right? She couldn't help but laugh at herself. She actually thought that Xia Liang came here to find her.
The moment she heard Xia Liang's cheering, she completely understood that it was all over.
The noisy crowd and the bustling voices around her seemed like a world away and had nothing to do with her.
Looking at the flashing prompts on the dance machine screen in front of her and the impending difficult storm, she finally breathed a long sigh of relief and then withdrew her feet.
Not for any reason, just because she suddenly felt a little bored.
It has come to this, so at least keep a little dignity and don't tarnish the last few things you love.
"You've already left."
She murmured to herself and turned her head to look at the blue-haired girl beside her: "It seems that there is really no need to come back."
The voices were drowned out by the loud music in the arcade, turning into whispers that no one could hear.
As the singing faded, the footsteps slowed down, and the two people on the dance machine stopped their movements, eventually ending the competition.
Li Yaqing's score was SS, only one mistake away from full marks; Delphinium's score was SSS, all perfect, and well-deserved full marks.
There was cheering and thunderous applause from the audience, and the players watching around shouted "One more game", as if what they had just experienced was not a competition but a pleasant performance.
Xia Liang also stood in the crowd, clapping softly.
She had stood in this position countless times before, applauding and supporting Li Yaqing as a mere cheering audience; and now, Li Yaqing was still standing on the dance board, but the one who received her applause was not this "old friend", but the figure next to her.
In this game, Delphinium won the final victory and broke the highest record in the arcade.
The crowd around was still cheering, but the bad girls were not happy at all. Li Yaqing didn't say a word after she stepped down from the dance machine, so the blonde bad girl proposed the next challenge to Delphinium.
The results are equally obvious.
The result made the bad girls very desperate. No matter what game they chose, they couldn't beat Delphinium in the end. It was not until everyone tried a round that they realized to their amazement that they had not won any game.
Cuiqiao remained silent until all the bad girls admitted defeat, then she slowly walked up to Li Yaqing.
"...What?" Her behavior made Li Yaqing feel a little confused. She raised her head, only to see Cuiqiao pointing to the corner of the arcade.
She was so preoccupied that she didn't think about what this meant. She just followed Delphinium to the corner of the arcade with doubts in her mind.
Pah! As soon as she stood still, she was slapped in the face.
Slap! Before she could react, another slap came from the other side.
The intense pain and dizziness made Li Yaqing feel her head buzzing. She could only cover her face subconsciously and didn't even know what was happening for a while.
"The first strike is for your provocation today, and the second strike is for the harm you did to that child in the past."
Delphinium's voice was calm, and she looked at her seriously: "Xia Liang told me that she may not care about what you did, and she may forgive you, but this is not a reason for you to feel at ease."
"I am not your parent or elder, and I have no right or obligation to teach you a lesson, but I want to help that child, so I have to punish you accordingly."
Covering her face, Li Yaqing looked forward in a daze, only to see Cuiqiao take out a notebook from her arms, open it, and place it in front of her.
After opening the notebook, she saw a conspicuous seal under the portrait on the first page.
That is the seal of the Yi Ce Bureau.
This is the identity certificate that Cuiqiao commissioned the Yi Ce Bureau to give him. Although there is no actual position, the seal below is genuine.
No matter how ignorant Li Yaqing was, she could still recognize this logo, because in a sense, this logo represented the government.
"You are..." She finally realized the seriousness of the matter and spoke hesitantly.
"It doesn't matter who I am, but next, I want to see the sincerity of your apology."
Cuiqiao took back the notebook and stared into Li Yaqing's eyes: "I can pretend that I didn't see you today, but I can also pass some information to the police through the channels of the Strategy Bureau. You don't want to be visited by the Youth Guidance tomorrow, right?"
Li Yaqing covered her face and nodded blankly.
"Then apologize to her."
Delphinium left this sentence and walked away without looking back.
When Li Yaqing came back with a slightly red and swollen face, she gradually regained her ability to think amid the care and concern of the other girls. She looked at the bad girls who were still complaining, lowered her eyes, and said softly, "Stop talking, apologize."
At this point, no matter how much you argue, it is meaningless.
After everything was settled, at the entrance of the arcade, next to the claw machines, where the two sides first met, several bad girls lowered their heads dejectedly.
"sorry."
"I'm sorry!"
"sorry……"
The bad girls' apologies came one after another.
Although they still had an unwilling look on their faces, they had no way to refuse, and Li Yaqing took the initiative to ask them to apologize together. Under pressure from the leader, they finally calmed down.
The last person to apologize was Li Yaqing herself.
"Sorry, Xiaoliang."
Her apology may have been pressured by Delphinium, but it was also sincere: "I actually betrayed my promise in the end."
"I said I would be your friend, but because of my jealousy, I chose to hurt you and pollute you. I know that no matter what the reason is, it is not right."
"Perhaps I shouldn't have talked to you from the beginning. I wanted to be the savior, but in the end I ended up being the one who hurt you the most."
"I'm so sorry."
After she finished speaking, she turned her head to look at Delphinium, and saw that it was just looking at her expressionlessly, without any expression of affirmation, so she had to lower her head again: "I will find a way to return the money you gave you. If you really resent me, it doesn't matter how you curse me. If you need to, then...then hit me. Anyway, you can vent your anger in any way you want. I was wrong!"
"So, even though it may sound a little disgusting, and I have no right to say so, I wish you the best and hope you can find what you want!"
"Young senior, did you say anything to them?" After hearing Li Yaqing's words, Xia Liang turned his head and looked at Cuiqiao with some confusion.
Delphinium shook her head expressionlessly: "Nothing."
"Then I don't think I have anything to say."
After a little thought, Xia Liang paused lightly: "Now that it's over, let's go."
"Don't you want revenge?" asked Delphinium.
"Revenge? There is no such thing."
Xia Liang said indifferently: "Anyway, since I deleted them from my phone's address book, they have become just a group of strangers to me."
She looked at Li Yaqing and smiled calmly: "So you don't need to apologize to me. Who are you? What are you thinking? That's all your business. I don't care at all."
After saying that, she gently pulled Delphinium's sleeve and turned away.
Cuiqiao already knew what Xia Liang meant and didn't say anything else. She just picked up the basket of game coins in her other hand and put the unused game coins in front of Li Yaqing.
"This is..." Li Yaqing lowered her eyes in some surprise.
“Encouragement is also a reward.”
"ha?"
"The apology is barely acceptable. At least you can explain clearly where you went wrong. So, these game coins are your reward for holding back your little tricks at the end of the competition."
Pushing the basket forward, Delphinium retracted her hand, put one hand on her waist and looked at the other person: "At that time, you were almost ready to stop me, but you didn't really do it in the end, right?"
Her words made Li Yaqing pause.
“Is this kind of thing worth rewarding?”
After a while, she smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly: "You... your requirements for me are really low."
"So, this is a reward, a reward for being able to compete with dignity and face failure."
The voice slowed down slightly, and Delphinium said to her seriously: "If possible, no matter how you lived your life before, I hope you can remember your choice this time, and remember the courage to face failure."
“You may have done a lot of mistakes and missed a lot, but for many things, it’s not too late to start now.”
"You are all still children. You still have a long way to go in life, and there are countless opportunities to 'restart the game.' Remember this courage. Perhaps it can be the starting point of your new life."
"If I see you again in the future, I hope to see a girl who has reformed herself, rather than a bad girl who is still wantonly sinking into depravity. Otherwise, I might have to meddle in your affairs."
After saying that, she turned around and followed Xia Liang towards the direction of the crowd.
Only Li Yaqing was left standing there, holding a basket of game coins, staring in a daze at the direction where the two people disappeared.
Only when Cuiqiao and Xialiang disappeared in the crowd did she slowly sit down on the ground and look at the basket in her hand with a complicated expression.
"Is it really too late to tell me this now?"
The first version of this chapter was 6k words. Due to poor expression, it was revised and supplemented to reach 10k words. Please understand that this may cause errors and omissions in the chapter.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
