Chapter 157 Lin Xiaolu's Determination
"So, this is your explanation? You guys have been whispering to each other these days, so you were discussing this kind of thing?"
The next night, in the living room of the secret base, under the bright lights, Cuiqin folded her arms and said unhappily, "You came to such an arbitrary conclusion, and then turned around and told Bo Xue nonsense? Why didn't you say that I was your biological mother?"
"Huh? Is there such a possibility?" Lin Xiaolu exclaimed in surprise.
"Hmm?" Delphinium said angrily.
“Woo…”
Being warned by Kuizi again, Lin Xiaolu had no choice but to sit on the sofa dejectedly, and said with a frustrated face: "Okay, I was wrong."
Just now, she was scolded mercilessly by Delphinium.
Cuiqiao first asked Lin Xiaolu seriously: Why did she come to such an outrageous conclusion? After listening to Lin Xiaolu's description of her own ideas, she ruthlessly refuted several logical loopholes in it, leaving Lin Xiaolu completely unable to refute and even ashamed.
It sounds like what Delphinium said makes sense. Could it be that I really made a mistake? That would be too embarrassing.
Lin Xiaolu thought with a sad face.
While she was being scolded here, the other two girls were also sitting beside her. Bai Jingxuan was looking at her nose and her heart, with her eyes lowered as if she was feeling guilty; Xia Liang was covering her mouth, her shoulders shaking constantly, as if she was about to burst out laughing in the next second.
"The one over there, don't gloat over his misfortune."
Noticing Xia Liang's actions, Cuiqiao glanced at him and raised her chin slightly: "You are obviously different from them, why are you fooling around with these two kids?"
"I'm older than her." Lin Xiaolu muttered softly.
"I didn't ask you." Delphinium rubbed her forehead.
So Lin Xiaolu shut her mouth with some grievance.
"Nonsense? No."
On the other side, Xia Liang said with a smile, his eyes innocent: "I think Xiaolu's guess makes sense. I am convinced by her."
"Were you convinced by her?" There was a slight fluctuation in Delphinium's cold and clear voice.
"Isn't it? Are you shy, little senior?"
Xia Liang looked innocent, as if he knew nothing about it and stared at Cuique: "I don't think it's necessary. We all support you and uncle in pursuing your own happiness - it hurts!"
Before she could finish her words, she received a slap on the forehead and immediately swallowed back the few syllables she had not finished.
"You are now an accomplice of Bai Mei. Sit over there."
Cuiqiao withdrew her hand and pointed to the empty seat next to Lin Xiaolu: "I want to have a good talk with you today."
"Ah... I was knocked unconscious. I need a hug and comfort before I can stand up and walk." Xia Liang did not stand up and move. Instead, he slumped on the sofa, covering his forehead weakly.
"You want to eat more?" Delphinium put her hands on her hips.
"oh."
So Xia Liang sat obediently next to Lin Xiaolu.
After scolding Xia Liang, Cuiqiao finally shifted her gaze to Bai Jingxuan, looking at the girl who was curled up there like a helpless little animal.
As if noticing Cuiqiao's gaze, Bai Jingxuan buried her head even deeper.
Only she knew that her problem was not just spreading rumors, but also going to the Strategy Bureau and making irresponsible remarks, causing a lot of trouble for the director and others.
Since Cuiqiao now knows what she said to the uncle director that day, there is no reason for her not to know how she cheated in the Strategy Bureau at that time.
Thinking of this, Bai Jingxuan didn't dare to look up and look at Cuiqiao.
Seeing the child's performance, Cuiqiao's already depressed mood became even more complicated. She couldn't help but feel a headache, followed by a silent sigh.
She really couldn't figure out what to do with Bai Jingxuan. Due to her delicate psychological state, she didn't even want to scold her, for fear of irritating the child again.
And Cuiqiao's somewhat long silence attracted the attention of Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang. The two looked at Cuiqiao and Bai Jingxuan with some suspicion, and also felt the subtle atmosphere.
"You...don't follow these two seniors and learn bad things."
After a long silence, Delphinium finally managed to utter these words: "Reflect on this carefully."
——"Huh? That's it! Partiality!"
"It's not fair, it's not fair! Oppose differential treatment!"
Seeing that Cuiqiao's attitude towards Bai Jingxuan had softened significantly, the words he said were more like comfort than scolding. The two girls on the side immediately started to quarrel in dissatisfaction.
Having anticipated their reactions, Delphinium looked back at them and said calmly, "Do you also think of yourselves as 11-year-old children?"
"Hmm..." Lin Xiaolu hated being treated as a child the most, so she fell silent after hearing this.
"If the young senior approves, then I can be it." Xia Liang didn't care about that at all and puffed out his chest confidently.
She had the most obvious curve among the four people, and her chest-lifting movement immediately attracted the attention of Lin Xiaolu beside her, causing Lin Xiaolu to widen her eyes slightly.
When she heard Xia Liang's words and thought about the scene in front of her, she didn't know why her thoughts suddenly turned into words and blurted out: "Why are you 11 years old?"
"Why can't I be 11 years old?" Xia Liang also widened his eyes.
"A precocious girl wants to act young! Don't even mention you're 11 years old. People would believe you if you said you were 15!" Lin Xiaolu accused harshly.
"Oh, are you jealous?"
Lin Xiaolu's words immediately made Xia Liang smile with understanding, and narrowed his eyes slightly: "Indeed, after all, I am not like someone whose height will soon be surpassed by the real 11-year-old."
"Huh? What do you mean by a real 11 years old? Xiaoxuan is obviously taller than a normal 11-year-old girl!" Lin Xiaolu argued.
"So you are also shorter than a normal 14-year-old." Xia Liang was content.
"Things like height... there's no uniform standard for this kind of thing! Isn't Delphinium shorter than me? She's an adult!" Lin Xiaolu pointed at Delphinium.
"Young senior... well, it seems to be true." Xia Liang looked embarrassed.
"Stop, both of you, stop."
Seeing that the topic of the two people's quarrel had somehow been brought to her, Cuique stopped them in time: "Don't forget your current position. Even though I am only your senior now, I still hope that you will have basic respect for the person involved when you make a mistake."
"yes--"
Xia Liang agreed in a long voice, but before he could stay quiet for two seconds, he changed the subject: "Then I have one last question. After I ask it, you can be killed or chopped."
"I'm not some cruel executioner, don't make it sound so scary."
Delphinium frowned slightly: "Ask."
"I want to be clear about this, young senior. How did this get to you?"
Xia Liang held his chin in his hand and looked at Cuique with a slightly inquiring look in his eyes: "Xiaolu should have only told me, Xiaoxuan and Moko. Xiaolu and I would definitely not say anything nonsense, and Xiaoxuan is such a good child and would not say anything either. Could it be that Moko was a traitor?"
"Yeah! Why would Delphinium know that!"
Lin Xiaolu, who was standing by, realized what was happening and flew into a rage: "This guy Mo Ke! He actually betrayed us just to curry favor with us! I'm going to catch him and confront him right now!"
After saying that, he stood up from the sofa and went to the second floor to look for Mo Ke.
"Stop, I said stop."
Cuique quickly reached out and pulled her back, saying rather helplessly, "Don't go up and cause trouble for Nini, it's not Moko."
"Not Moko?"
Lin Xiaolu's originally annoyed expression suddenly calmed down, and she blinked in confusion: "Who could it be?"
She glanced at Xia Liang who was standing beside her, but saw him shaking his head. She then looked at Bai Jingxuan in the distance, but before she could get any response from her, she withdrew her gaze. Finally, she pointed at herself, revealing her white fangs between her lips that were stretched in surprise. "Could it be——"
——“Yes, it’s me.”
Bai Jingxuan raised her hand and interrupted Lin Xiaolu.
She raised her right hand to show her presence and said in a small but clear voice, "I said it."
After thinking about it, she seemed to feel that this statement was not specific enough, so she added: "I let it slip to my dad."
These words drew everyone's attention to her.
"Dad, Dad?"
Lin Xiaolu first repeated the word with some doubt, and was obviously very confused about it. Because she knew that Bai Jingxuan had lived in an orphanage before, and although it was cruel, the word "dad" didn't seem to be in her mouth at this time.
However, when she gradually came to her senses and reversed her guess, she soon understood who the "father" Bai Jingxuan was referring to.
Because of her surprise, her mouth, which had been unable to close to begin with, suddenly opened wider: "The dad you're talking about is... ah? So you guys have already discussed this secretly?"
She seemed to realize that this was not a good image, so she quickly covered her mouth, but the horror in her eyes did not diminish at all. She looked at Delphinium, feeling both happy and worried: "Doesn't this mean..."
Delphinium didn't argue with her.
It’s not that she didn’t want to refute, but she didn’t hear clearly what Lin Xiaolu said.
Bai Jingxuan's words were no less shocking than the ones she had experienced in the director's office before. However, this time, the damage caused by saying these words in front of Lin Xiaolu was much greater than that time, so much so that her breathing stopped briefly.
"...Can you explain again, how come he is your father?"
She turned to Bai Jingxuan and tried to ask the question calmly as usual, but her tone was slightly off.
"B-Because! When I shouted that, Dad didn't deny it!"
After mustering up the courage to speak, Bai Jingxuan's voice became much louder. She raised her voice so that everyone could hear clearly, "Dad accepted it! He even asked me very gently who said it! So I told him!"
This time, both the volume and the content were clearly transmitted to Delphinium's ears.
She stood there like a sculpture, her face still showing a cold and indifferent expression, but her movements and eyes were completely stiff.
After being silent for a long time, she finally turned her head slowly to the side, her eyes moving in the direction of Lin Xiaolu, and finally, her burning gaze met Lin Xiaolu's.
"It's not what you think." Delphinium said dryly.
"I understand! I totally understand!"
Lin Xiaolu said excitedly: "Cui Que, you don't need to worry about my opinion, I support you!"
"Although I don't actually want to have a stepmother, but if you have such an idea, I, I am not completely unacceptable!"
"My mother also appeared in my dream a few days ago. In the dream, she handed me over to you. I think what she meant was that she supports you to be my mother!"
——What kind of nonsense is this girl talking about? The corners of Cuique's mouth twitched slightly, but she knew that getting excited at this time would be useless, so she continued to maintain a steady tone and said, "No, it's really not what you think. I have no intention of getting married at all..."
"Because, when my mother and I liked my father together, you chose to quit, right?"
Lin Xiaolu wiped her eyes for some reason, and said with a slightly choked voice: "I have completely figured it out. I understand everything about the past, about you, my mother, and my father."
"Delphinium, you and your mother were once teammates, and you were both childhood friends with your father, but you eventually had emotional disagreements. Since you were so gentle, you must have chosen to withdraw at that time, right?"
"You sacrificed your own emotions and chose to go to the magical kingdom. And because your mother passed away, you wanted to return to the city where you once lived to protect it."
"That's why I've never been married and have remained single. Even though I'm already this old, I still...really, thank you for your hard work."
"Although I still have some undue resentment in my heart, I think I shouldn't stop you from choosing your own happiness. I should support you!"
At the end, she was moved for some reason and held Delphinium's hand, saying with deep affection:
"So, don't worry about my opinion anymore! Just pursue your own happiness freely!"
Looking at Lin Xiaolu holding her hand, Cuiqiao felt her vision a little dazed.
What is this girl talking about? What is she trying to express? Does the person she is talking about sound familiar?
Her mind was filled with chaotic thoughts, but she knew that it was far from the time to give up. The more critical the situation was, the more she should remain calm and let the rumors end in the hands of the wise.
So, how should I explain it? What kind of reason can I have to bypass Lin Xiaolu's weird logic and make her believe again that "Lin Yun" and "Cui Que" have no emotional entanglement? In an instant, Cui Que started a brainstorming session alone and began to quickly look for a suitable solution and reason.
——"Xiao Lu, you can't do this. The young senior is not resisting exposing this relationship to you."
But before Cuiqiao could come up with a new excuse, Xia Liang on the side suddenly spoke up.
She had an understanding smile on her face, like a pure Cupid: "If you ask me, she is just not ready to accept the identity of 'mother'. She is not ready to accept a daughter like you."
"Accept me...as your daughter?"
As if she had seen a new world, Lin Xiaolu repeated what Xia Liang said: "Is there any problem with this?"
"Of course there is a problem."
Xia Liang put his hands behind his back, smiling: "So, you have to make her feel that being your mother is not a bad thing, and it won't be a burden to her."
Lin Xiaolu was stunned.
She understood what Xia Liang wanted to express.
She looked back at the dull-eyed Delphinium in front of her and opened her mouth subconsciously, but she only felt a little dry in her mouth at that moment.
Her lips closed gently, then opened again, her canine teeth tapping gently as she moved. Then, she uttered a consonant that was neither flat nor curled.
"Mother."
Just like that, she took advantage of the current momentum and shouted out a word that even she herself could not believe.
"Mother!"
Bai Jingxuan on the side seemed to realize something, and trotted over to Cuiqiao and shouted.
"Mother!"
"Mother!"
The two girls, one big and one small, gathered around Delphinium, shouting the same word over and over again.
Sandwiched between them, Delphinium said nothing, letting them repeat the most similar words in the human language like children who had just learned to speak.
She didn't look at Lin Xiaolu, Xia Liang, or Bai Jingxuan. Her eyes were fixed on the void in the distance, as if she was looking at the vast Milky Way universe, or the endless abyss of the ocean.
Only nothingness remains.
(End of this chapter)
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