Chapter 113: Before the Start of the School Term

When Xia Yanran found Qin Wuyue, she had just returned from the hot spring.

“Mom, why did you go soak in the hot spring again?”

“To relieve fatigue.”

Speaking of which, Qin Wuyue was also a bit puzzled. Last time in Nest City One, she recovered quickly after exhausting herself, but this time, though it was less severe, she still felt so tired even after a day had passed.

“Birthday, huh…”

After hearing her daughter’s purpose, Qin Wuyue wasn’t very surprised. She just raised an eyebrow and nodded in agreement.

She really didn’t care much about birthdays.

Her unique experiences had long made her view the anniversary of an individual’s birth as an insignificant mark in the river of time.

Her daughter Xia Yanran, on the other hand, enthusiastically wanted to celebrate for her every year, but she always brushed it off with reasons like “No need to bother” or “It’s nothing special,” and it always ended up being dropped.

In her opinion, the maintenance and expression of emotions exist in every moment of daily life, not in deliberate rituals on specific days.

—

In the small room, the four of them sat around the table.

Lin Yu lit the candles on the cake, and Xia Yanran started, singing the birthday song a cappella.

Lin Mowei looked at the candlelight, the corners of her mouth unable to hide a smile, her gentle gaze sweeping over her younger brother and the girl who was singing with all her might.

Qin Wuyue didn’t sing; she just watched quietly, her fingertips unconsciously tapping a light rhythm on the table, her eyes shifting between the dancing flames and her daughter’s excited face.

Finally, her gaze landed on Lin Mowei’s soft profile. Deep in her eyes, a fleeting, hard-to-read thought passed.

“Sis, make a wish,” Lin Yu said softly.

Lin Mowei closed her eyes.

A wish?

Many thoughts flashed through her mind—about the future, about her brother, about the hidden unease…

In the end, all the thoughts settled into a single, simplest, and most stubborn idea.

She silently repeated it three times in her heart, then opened her eyes and blew out the candles.

“Happy birthday!” Xia Yanran cheered, eagerly starting to cut the cake.

—

The taste was indeed as the robot had guaranteed—moderate sweetness, smooth and soft texture.

Sharing the dessert, chatting about trivial topics, the atmosphere gradually became warm.

Lin Yu looked at the genuine smile on his sister’s face, and his own constantly tense mood slowly relaxed.

No matter what, his sister seemed happy. That was enough.

Happy times were always very brief. Before they knew it, it was deep into the night. Lin Yu and the other two packed up and left.

The room returned to quiet, leaving only the faint sweet scent of cream in the air.

Lin Mowei walked to the window and pushed it open. The cool night breeze brushed her face, dispersing some of the sweetness in the room.

She raised her hand to touch her earlobe, a faint smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

There seemed to be a lingering trace of the sensation of her younger brother’s fingers when he put on this pair of pearl earrings.

This gift—she really liked it.

Outside the window, beneath the night sky, the lights of the resort intertwined with those of nearby Huanxing Town, reflecting a harmonious scene.

—

After the birthday, everything became calm.

The afterglow of victory still lingered. In Huanxing Town, all sorts of summary, commendation, and consolation work was in full swing, but the commotion had little to do with the few people at the resort.

Lin Mowei was still suspended from duty. Only occasionally did Mu Qingqing come to find her for some work matters, or invite her over.

The relationship between Lin Yu and Xia Yanran seemed to have entered a subtle new phase.

The shock of that night’s confession had gradually subsided, but the ripples remained.

The girl no longer tried to cling to Lin Yu as before; instead, whenever they met eyes or got close, a faint blush would rise on her cheeks, and her gaze carried more shyness and avoidance.

But in essence, she was still the lively and cheerful girl, so she quickly found a new balance.

For example, dragging Lin Yu on various exploration activities around the resort.

Testing the water temperature in another unfinished hot spring area—though they only soaked their feet.

Identifying crops in the micro-ecological farm managed by robots—but they almost pulled up experimental seedlings.

Bargaining for an old-fashioned board game with complex rules from Huanxing Town, which ended with Xia Yanran cheating and Lin Yu helplessly conceding.

Lin Yu mostly went along with her. Only when she occasionally tried to cross the line into more intimate contact would he awkwardly avoid her, causing Xia Yanran to pout, but she wouldn’t push further.

Between the two of them, a kind of tacit understanding—similar to a trial period—had quietly formed.

Qin Wuyue came and went unpredictably.

Sometimes she was gone all day, reportedly in Huanxing Town’s medical department or data room, looking up data related to the eerie humanoid creatures and the King Beast from this incident.

Other times, she would lazily lie on the resort’s sunniest terrace, pretending to nap with a book over her face, only occasionally responding to her daughter’s chatter with a grunt.

Her attitude toward Lin Yu seemed to have returned to the initial indifference, but occasionally she would still shoot him a meaningful look that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

However, she never brought up any topics about conditions or deals again.

Lin Yu was happy to go along with that, trying to keep a low profile around her.

Lin Mowei naturally noticed the subtle changes between her brother and Xia Yanran.

That night’s tears and hug seemed to have opened a door. Not only did it release the fear she had accumulated over two lifetimes, but it also gave her new ideas on how to deal with those women.

She no longer used obvious words and actions to separate the two. Instead, she often joined their “adventures” with a gentle smile, or naturally suggested coming along when Xia Yanran tried to invite Lin Yu alone.

Her presence was like a soft yet tough net, always enveloping Lin Yu.

Lin Yu himself didn’t notice, but Xia Yanran had mixed feelings.

On one hand, she was happy to spend more time with Lin Mowei; on the other hand, she vaguely felt that her little schemes for alone time with Lin Yu always seemed to fail.

But Lin Mowei was always friendly to her, which allowed Xia Yanran’s small discomfort to be quickly washed away by the beautiful prospect of a harmonious future sister-in-law.

Xin Yao had no news ever since that day. Sometimes Lin Yu would find a quiet place, stare at the calico cat avatar, and hesitate whether to ask about her condition.

He knew that the “Plunder Energy” symptom was always an unstable bomb buried between them, ready to explode again at any time.

As for Xin Yao’s restraint and distance, Lin Yu guessed that it might be her only way to maintain her sanity and dignity.

Mu Liuli did appear at the resort once, but she had two other people with her, as if discussing something. She only exchanged a distant glance with Lin Yu, and nothing further happened.

Time slipped away quietly with the rising and setting of the sun. The peaceful holiday always had to end.

On the night before the return trip, Lin Yu stood by the window looking at nearby Huanxing Town. The peaceful life of this period gave him an unreal feeling.

Of course, even now, he still couldn’t figure out why he sometimes felt very tired when he woke up in the morning. Was he possessed or something?

In the end, he could only attribute it to the Harmonizer problem. After all, there were very few records on this matter, and this time his relationship with Xia Yanran had been quite pure. After much thought, that seemed the only possibility.

“The Domed Academy…”

Xia Yanran was quite excited, but Lin Yu didn’t share the same feeling. Still, he couldn’t say he had no expectations.

Because Ye Ling would also appear at the academy.