Three days later.
September 21st, Monday.
Inside the bathroom, Li Xingya nervously unwound the bandage from her neck.
As the white bandage fell into the sink, she looked at herself in the mirror, at her fair, slender neck, and finally nodded in satisfaction.
“Good.”
“The bruises Jiang Chiyue left on my neck are finally gone.”
Li Xingya murmured.
At this moment, she was wearing the white school uniform of Starseeing Academy, ready to return to campus… or so it seemed?
Not at all.
Compared to before, Li Xingya wanted to go to school even less.
Her complexion was even more haggard than usual.
Why, you ask?
Because she’d been up all night playing games, of course.
In just three days, Li Xingya had completely destroyed her ten o’clock bedtime routine. For these three days, she wouldn’t turn off her PS5 and crawl into bed, into Lin Jin’an’s arms, until five or six in the morning.
Li Xingya had to admit.
She really, really loved playing games.
‘Games’
‘So fun’
If it weren’t for Meng Yiqiao being at the academy, Li Xingya wouldn’t go to school no matter what.
To stay home, she’d even throw away her pride, lie on the floor, and wail and scream.
‘This is what it means to have an adult’s resolve’
But for now…
“…I still have to go to school.”
Li Xingya sighed.
A brat who stays home playing games all day—never mind Lin Jin’an, even Li Xingya herself wouldn’t like that kind of person.
To avoid being disliked by Lin Jin’an, Li Xingya had to go to school no matter what.
‘As for games and stuff… I’ll think about it after school gets out.’
After washing up, Li Xingya went downstairs.
On the dining table on the first floor, Lin Jin’an’s ordered breakfast was already set out.
A bowl of preserved egg and lean pork porridge, a tea egg, and a warm cup of soy milk.
The air conditioner in the living room was running at full blast, so even in September, this “piping hot” breakfast didn’t irritate Li Xingya.
“Sister.”
Li Xingya greeted.
“Come on, Xiaoya.”
Lin Jin’an waved Li Xingya over.
Right now, Lin Jin’an’s expression was surprisingly relaxed.
To be fair, she’d been under a lot of psychological pressure these past three days.
The moment Lin Jin’an realized Li Xingya was addicted to online games, she genuinely worried that the girl would turn into an “internet addiction girl.”
‘I originally just wanted to try and stimulate Xiaoya a bit’
‘I never expected it to open a whole new world for her instead’
But thankfully, Li Xingya never said anything about not wanting to go to school because of games.
Otherwise, Lin Jin’an, as her “sister,” might have really needed to employ some personality correction methods or something.
‘Forget it’
‘As for games… let Xiaoya have her fun for now.’
Lin Jin’an thought to herself.
After all, there was a time in the past when she herself was just as hooked on those things, but once that phase passed, didn’t she still become a fine adult?
With the perspective of someone who’d been through it, Lin Jin’an didn’t think now was the time to take away Xiaoya’s happiness.
On the flip side, Lin Jin’an actually loved seeing Xiaoya truly happy.
It’s just that Lin Jin’an had her bottom line after all—she just wanted Xiaoya to grow up healthy and normal, not raise her into a useless person.
“Xiaoya, open up.”
Lin Jin’an blew on the porridge in the spoon, then brought it to Li Xingya’s lips.
“Ah.”
Li Xingya’s expression didn’t change as she calmly took a bite of breakfast.
After days of conditioning, Li Xingya had unknowingly stopped resisting the “feeding” thing.
In fact… she was even starting to enjoy the process.
‘Mmm’
‘With sister feeding me, I don’t have to lift a finger’
‘Eating has become so easy.’
After finishing breakfast, Lin Jin’an looked at Li Xingya’s white school uniform and black pants and asked, “Xiaoya, still don’t want to wear a skirt?”
“Don’t want to.”
Li Xingya shook her head.
“I think pants are more comfortable.”
“But little skirts would look so cute on you.”
Li Xingya tugged at the stitching on her pants.
“Pants are more convenient. Sister, when you perform on stage, don’t you usually wear tight pants or something too?”
“Th-that’s different, that’s more for the visual effect of the performance… and stuff.”
Lin Jin’an gave up.
Convincing Li Xingya to wear a skirt was simply impossible.
‘This is so strange.’
Xiaoya is cute and pretty—usually, a little girl like this would love to look beautiful, but Li Xingya was the complete opposite. She leaned more toward practicality.
Though, with Li Xingya’s looks, she looked great in anything anyway.
Forget skirts—Lin Jin’an had never even seen Li Xingya wear makeup.
That lipstick, Lin Jin’an had brought it over along with the toothbrush for Li Xingya, but to this day, she’d never once seen her use it.
Of course, Li Xingya was already beautiful even without makeup.
But still…
‘…Still, I’d love to see Xiaoya all dressed up and dolled up someday.’
“Sister, it’s getting late. Let’s hurry to school.”
Li Xingya tugged at Lin Jin’an’s hand.
“Mm, okay.”
Snapping back to reality, Lin Jin’an responded and headed out with Li Xingya.
Outside, Zhou Zhiting was already waiting by the roadside in the car.
As soon as the two got in, the Mercedes drove straight toward Starseeing Academy.
When the car arrived outside the school gate, Li Xingya said goodbye to Lin Jin’an inside the car before getting out.
The moment she stepped out, she spotted Meng Yiqiao at the school gate.
“Sister.”
Li Xingya put on a bright smile, trotted over, and grabbed Meng Yiqiao’s arm, saying affectionately, “Sister, I missed you so much.”
“Xiaoya… I missed you too.”
Perhaps because it had been so long since she’d had this kind of close contact, Meng Yiqiao’s face flushed slightly.
Inside the car, Lin Jin’an silently watched this scene with no expression on her face. She simply had Zhou Zhiting drive to the agency.
At the same time, she took out her phone and logged into the Xingyue App, which she hadn’t opened in a long time.
On the current Starlight Ranking, she quickly spotted the girl who’d just had her arm grabbed by Li Xingya.
Rank 41 on the Starlight Ranking—Meng Yiqiao.
Even just the ID photo taken by the academy showed she was a beauty in the making.
“Already ranked 41st as a freshman, pretty impressive.”
Looking at the girl with blue-highlighted long hair in the photo, Lin Jin’an praised, “If nothing unexpected happens, Outstanding Graduate in your senior year will definitely have your name on it.”
“…However.”
‘Once you mature and can see Xiaoya’s true nature clearly’
‘I hope you won’t be too crushed.’
Lin Jin’an had liked how Li Xingya didn’t hide her disgust toward her from their very first meeting.
But if it were anyone else, suddenly learning that Li Xingya’s smile was all fake—it would probably be quite painful, wouldn’t it?
At the thought, Lin Jin’an couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
‘Xiaoya’
‘She’s just a sixteen-year-old kid’
‘But when it comes to matters of the heart… deliberately picking good students as friends and whatnot’
‘Truly cruel, isn’t she.’
“Well, even a Xiaoya like that is a good kid in this sister’s eyes, you know.”