The room fell silent, and Jiang Ling’s words rang out, accurate and clear, in everyone’s ears.
Lin’s mother looked at the trembling young girl before her, her brows knitting almost imperceptibly. “A bet?”
“Though it may be presumptuous, I’d like to ask, have you ever asked Xiaoyu about her own wishes?”
Lin’s mother was momentarily stunned, but quickly nodded with certainty. “Of course. Xiaoyu has loved dance since she was little. How could I possibly force her to do something she doesn’t like?”
A helpless smile, as if this was just as she’d expected, floated across Lin Xiaoyu’s face. She tried to say something, but when she met her mother’s firm and persistent gaze, she quietly closed her mouth.
Would it make any difference no matter what she said?
“It seems you truly are a good mother.”
Jiang Ling clenched her fists, the dull pain at her fingertips helping her focus as she smiled and continued, “Then your wish must be for your daughter to do what she loves, and then achieve something in it, right?”
With her goal to cultivate Lin Xiaoyu into a top ballerina in the industry, Lin’s mother nodded without hesitation.
In her eyes, with her own support, Lin Xiaoyu’s success was just around the corner.
Listening to her earnest, persuasive words, Bai Xue, off to the side, raised her eyebrows with interest.
Sensing the time was right, Jiang Ling changed the direction of her words: “Then, if Xiaoyu could, through her most beloved dance, achieve excellent results in the field of her idol, would you be satisfied?”
At these words, Lin’s mother’s face immediately turned unsightly. She furrowed her brow and shook her head at once. “That’s not the same.”
“How is it not the same?”
Jiang Ling realized that, without even noticing, her voice had become steady, no longer trembling, and was now full of an air of determination.
“You have high hopes for your daughter and guide her with care—isn’t it so she can shine in the field where she excels? Or, perhaps, is there some other reason behind your efforts?”
After a pause, she added, “Xiaoyu once said she would keep dancing forever. But if you force her to go back, I’m afraid it will only have the opposite effect. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see that happen, would you?”
After saying these words, humble but probing, Jiang Ling felt all the strength drain from her in an instant.
She hadn’t intended to say so much, but thinking of those broken, intermittent conversations from last night, Jiang Ling felt a pang of heartache.
Children should never be tools for their parents to fulfill their own wishes.
These words also brought the previously aggressive Lin’s mother to silence. Her gaze unconsciously fell on her daughter, whom she had always been so proud of.
Back straight, perfect posture—that was the result of her education from childhood.
Lin’s mother felt a trace of comfort as she looked upward, but the moment her gaze met Lin Xiaoyu’s face, her heart jolted.
Lin Xiaoyu’s features were still cold and captivating, her posture unbowed, but her gaze toward her mother was so indifferent, as if looking at a stranger.
“Xiaoyu…”
She murmured unconsciously, while Jiang Ling’s words echoed in her mind like a thunderclap, repeating again and again.
— “Or, perhaps, is there some other reason behind your efforts?”
It was as if her innermost thoughts had been laid bare. Lin’s mother’s face flushed, and she awkwardly averted her eyes, her voice all the more resolute: “No matter what, after she goes back, she’ll do much better than she is now.”
“That’s exactly the bet I want to make with you.”
Jiang Ling was unhurried, slowly gathering her previous words together. “We have a performance coming up soon. If possible, I’d like you to come and watch.”
Hearing this, Lin’s mother instinctively wanted to refuse, but Jiang Ling added, “I hope you can see how happy Xiaoyu is when she’s dancing—she’s truly mesmerizing, no less impressive than any dancer I’ve ever seen.”
“Because she’s doing what she loves.”
After saying all this, Jiang Ling let out a barely visible sigh of relief, finally having said everything she wanted to say.
Jiang Ling’s thoughts were simple: she believed Lin’s mother was blinded by her own unfulfilled dreams and had failed to see the real Lin Xiaoyu, mistakenly thinking her passion was “ballet.”
During their brief conversation, Jiang Ling had already determined that Lin’s mother was the very embodiment of a “Chinese-style parent,” hard to define as simply good or bad. All she could do was lay out the facts, trying to dissolve the barrier between them.
“I personally agree with Jiang Ling. Why not take a look for yourself before you decide?” Bai Xue broke the silence, offering her support to Jiang Ling.
She had noticed Jiang Ling had been weighing her words with great care all along, seemingly preparing for something. Sure enough, everything was to help Lin’s mother “let go” of the tightly bound Lin Xiaoyu.
After hearing the two girls speak, Lin’s mother fell silent.
Of course, it was impossible for her to overturn everything she’d done on the strength of a few words, but through this conversation, Lin’s mother suddenly became aware of one thing.
Back then, she had chosen this path because she loved ballet.
But what about Lin Xiaoyu?
As she searched her memories, she was alarmed to discover she had no recollection of that.
For a mother who prided herself on understanding her daughter and doing everything for her sake, this silence was complete.
After a long time, she looked up at Lin Xiaoyu, whose eyes were calm and distant.
“…Alright, I’ll go and watch.”
Lin’s mother’s face suddenly seemed much more haggard, but she still nodded slightly, expressing her willingness to attend.
Jiang Ling cheered inwardly, hurriedly tugging at Lin Xiaoyu’s hand, repeating over and over, “Did you hear? She said she’ll come!”
Swung by her arm, Lin Xiaoyu could only look at her mother in bewilderment.
She actually agreed?
In Lin Xiaoyu’s mind, no matter how convincing Jiang Ling’s words were, her mother could not possibly change her mind because of a few sentences. The only explanation was that, before coming here, her mother had already intended to soften her stance.
This left Lin Xiaoyu with complicated feelings, but in the end, she didn’t say another word to her mother, only watching her retreating figure as she left the dorm.
After Lin’s mother departed, Bai Xue scrolled through the information about the comic convention on her phone, thought for a moment, then spoke up: “Based on the schedule, we’ll have time for about two or three songs.”
She glanced at the pensive Lin Xiaoyu. “I plan to set aside one song for Xiaoyu to perform. Does anyone have any objections?”
Lin Xiaoyu immediately snapped back to reality at these words. “No, that kind of thing…”
“No problem at all.”
Mo Ran replied cheerfully, “After all, we already promised Auntie we’d let her have a good look, didn’t we?”
“Absolutely OK!”
Jiang Ling also cast a wholehearted vote of approval.
As for Fang Wannian, who wasn’t present, Jiang Ling quickly relayed everything that had just happened through her phone, and soon received a reply—
[Go kick her ass!]
Seeing the fighting spirit practically bursting from the screen, Lin Xiaoyu couldn’t help but curl her lips slightly in helpless amusement.
She couldn’t bring herself to say anything discouraging anymore.
“Then it’s settled,” Bai Xue made the decision on the spot, adding the plan to the schedule and looking at Lin Xiaoyu with encouraging eyes. “Give some careful thought to your song choice. We’ll all do our best to support you.”
With that, she got up and returned to her room to sort out the program flow.
Mo Ran slapped her forehead. “Ah, I forgot to get the lunch ingredients ready.”
Watching her stomp off to the kitchen in frustration, Jiang Ling called out, “I want tomato and scrambled eggs!”
What she missed out on yesterday, she was going to make up for today!
Lin Xiaoyu, meanwhile, was searching for a song on her phone, her fingers moving rapidly.
Seeing this, Jiang Ling was about to ask, when she suddenly noticed Lin Xiaoyu’s movements stop, her clear eyes fixed intently on her.
“Jiang Ling, dance with me.”