“Uh… this isn’t quite what I expected…”
After finishing reading all the Missing Pages in the Diary, Xia Mengxi furrowed her brows deeply.
Whether it was about Lin Xue’er’s family relationships or matters concerning Xiao Xi, almost everything matched her suspicions, except for one detail that didn’t align with her deductions.
She had always believed that Lin Xue’er showed signs of darkening because of an unforgettable incident. After discovering the Photo of Lin Xue’er and Xiao Xi together, she even considered Xiao Xi to be the culprit behind this incident.
However, the words recorded on the Missing Pages in the Diary had long revealed that Lin Xue’er’s soul was being eroded. In other words, Xiao Xi was merely the final straw that broke Lin Xue’er, not the origin of the problem.
“Luckily, I found these Diary Missing Pages. Otherwise, I would have been heading in the wrong direction trying to unravel Lin Xue’er’s mental block.”
When one problem gets resolved, a new one inevitably arises. That was exactly Xia Mengxi’s current situation.
Although she now knew that Lin Xue’er’s real mental barrier stemmed from her parents’ neglect, how was she supposed to turn a cold, loveless family into a warm one? It just didn’t seem realistic…
Lin Xue’er’s parents were never in love. Even after being together for over ten years, their relationship remained the same. This was enough to prove they could never be a true couple or reconcile.
As for the claim that they stayed together for the child’s sake, the information Xia Mengxi had showed no reason for Lin Xue’er’s parents to behave this way out of self-interest. If they truly cared, they would have acted long ago — why wait until now?
“Tch, now I’m stuck in a dead end again…”
Just when she thought she could finally solve Lin Xue’er’s darkening issue, the flood of information only pushed her into an even more unsolvable predicament.
Wait, maybe I can think about this from another angle… ugh! Pain!
Just as Xia Mengxi had a sudden flash of inspiration, the negative effects of her Body Weakness triggered a headache, causing her to forget the train of thought in that instant.
“Damn! A headache right at the crucial moment!”
The pain didn’t last long, so Xia Mengxi even suspected the headache appeared to deliberately disrupt her thinking — otherwise, the timing was just too coincidental.
“What was I just thinking about… ugh! Here it comes again!”
What the hell? She hadn’t overloaded herself or thought too hard today, so why was her mental limit reached so quickly? Damn it… maybe I should rest for half a day before focusing properly on this problem.
“But come to think of it, besides this problem, I seem to have missed some detail… Tch, this is annoying. I should’ve waited for my Body Weakness to pass before coming to Lin Xue’er’s house. Sigh…”
Helpless, Xia Mengxi began tidying up the investigation site. Once everything was organized, she went to the first-floor living room of Lin Xue’er’s house, flopped onto the sofa in a lazy sprawled position, and watched TV while waiting for Lin Xue’er to come home.
Perhaps the sofa was just too comfortable because, without realizing it, Xia Mengxi closed her eyes and dozed off lightly. When she opened them again, she heard noisy sounds coming from the kitchen.
“Hmm…”
She shook her somewhat heavy head and got up from the sofa. When she walked into the kitchen to check what was causing the noise, she was momentarily stunned.
When did Lin Xue’er come back? And it looked like… she was cooking lunch?
Instinctively, Xia Mengxi picked up her phone. Not checking it earlier was one thing, but now she was shocked to see she had slept until past noon!
“Wow…”
No wonder her head felt uncomfortable after waking up. She had slept for over three hours — no surprise she felt off.
But how could she sleep so deeply? Not only did she fail to notice Lin Xue’er’s return, but she didn’t even wake up from the loud noises of cooking. Could it be because of her morning headache?
“Oh? You’re awake, Xiao Xi. Lunch is almost ready. Go wash your face first.”
“Mm…”
After using the bathroom and washing her face, Xia Mengxi returned to the living room, where the table was already laid out with steaming hot dishes.
The feeling of eating, then sleeping, then waking up to eat again made Xia Mengxi recall those days of captivity — back then, she was very much like now. The only difference was that Lin Xue’er wouldn’t force her to do things anymore, and she now had the freedom to choose.
“By the way, Xiao Xi, when I was buying groceries, I ran into Auntie.”
“Hm? Mom?”
Lin Xue’er nodded and continued, “Auntie wants us to come to your place this afternoon. They have something to discuss with us.”
“Oh… okay…”
Something important? What could it be?
Curious, the two left Lin Xue’er’s house together after eating. But just as they were leaving, a small incident occurred.
While waiting for Lin Xue’er in the yard, Xia Mengxi noticed a butterfly fluttering around a tree.
If it had been an ordinary butterfly, she wouldn’t have paid much attention, but this one was glowing golden all over, dazzlingly bright. Xia Mengxi couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Xue’er! Come quick! There’s a golden butterfly!”
Hearing this, Lin Xue’er came out of the house, but by the time Xia Mengxi turned to point at the tree, the golden butterfly had already disappeared.
“Ah, it flew away…”
Seeing her disappointment, Lin Xue’er comforted her, “Xiao Xi, do you really like butterflies? I can find a place with lots of them and take you there to play.”
“It’s not that I really like them… It’s just that this one was very special. It was completely golden — like a piece of art. I’ve never seen a butterfly like that before.”
“Completely golden, huh… I haven’t heard of such a species either. Looks like you’re pretty lucky, Xiao Xi, to encounter such an unknown rare species.”
Unknown rare species… wait, that golden butterfly probably isn’t from this world!
The moment Xia Mengxi saw the golden butterfly, she thought it was some kind of insect from a Parallel World. But after hearing from Lin Xue’er that this butterfly had never been recorded by anyone, she immediately sensed something was off.
That’s right! The God’s text yesterday! She remembered option A gave her a ‘Silver Butterfly Hair Clip’ item. Butterfly, gold and silver… could there be a connection between the two?
Realizing this, Xia Mengxi couldn’t help but feel annoyed. The God’s schemes yesterday forced her to give up a helpful item to assist her progress, and just now, she might have missed another opportunity. Twice in a row! Who can take this?
“Xiao Xi, I’m ready to leave now.”
“Oh, okay.”
Though still feeling a bit uneasy, Xia Mengxi glanced at Lin Xue’er beside her and resigned herself to missing the item chances.
Well… at this stage, she didn’t really need any items anyway. Since she missed them, she’d just wait for the next time and make sure to seize the opportunity then.