Beach volleyball ended in a tie, no ball left.
The hostility hadn’t ended, then came the dune buggies, then the jet ski races, which they turned into bumper cars. Silver Lin tried to call a stop to it, couldn’t talk them out of it, so she let them be.
The play continued until near dusk, the sun was setting.
Finally tired out, they went back to lying on the beach chairs, resting and soaking in the sunset while chatting.
“Lin, I asked you before—what date is it on your side?”
Jin Luan suddenly pulled the topic back again.
At that moment, Silver Lin recalled Song Wuli’s approach to handling such matters.
“Why?”
Silver Lin turned the tables.
When the leader asks Old Song what day he’s free, don’t answer first—ask what they need first.
Jin Luan answered:
“I’ve thought about it, I don’t want to give up, I think we should understand each other more deeply.”
Silver Lin didn’t answer, because she didn’t know what she was referring to.
“Let me let you understand me first, Lin. I’m studying at Mountain City Private Academy, what about you?”
Jin Luan’s tone was very soft.
“Why? Why so suddenly enthusiastic?”
Silver Lin sipped her ice coke.
“Don’t change the subject, I’m serious.”
Jin Luan did indeed sound serious.
Silver Lin now understood what they meant by “September 1st”… what they meant by “Final Carnival.”
So it was the start of school.
Should be a student. If you package things in lies, you’ll need more lies to cover them later. What should she make up? She wasn’t a student, but Silver Lin’s true form should probably make up a high school student identity to continue as her cover? But regarding the true form matter, she’d already fabricated Yao Ruoning’s identity and obtained an identity card that clearly didn’t match.
Did she need to package it with even more lies?
The youthful-looking Silver Lin let out a sigh—a 34-year-old man’s sigh, filled with all the bittersweet emotions of life, not something a kid could act out.
“Keep some secrets, keep some distance. We’re just comrades-in-arms. It’s better not to invade each other’s lives too intimately.”
It was hard to imagine those words coming from Silver Lin’s mouth.
Huan Hong was shocked to hear it, feeling that Silver Lin at this moment was somewhat unfamiliar. How could she be so mature and cold? Hadn’t Silver Lin always seemed childish? How did these words sound so mature?
Huang Yi knew that Silver Lin’s usual bratty demeanor was an act, and also knew there was a wall inside her heart.
From Huan Hong’s perspective, she clearly didn’t know this information yet.
Looking at Jin Luan again, she was very calm, not appearing surprised at all.
Jin Luan was somewhat hurt by her cold attitude, but still didn’t give up.
“You can tell me anything, no need to bottle it up alone.”
Silver Lin didn’t know why Jin Luan suddenly played the emotional card—hadn’t today been a fun play day? Why the sudden heart-to-heart? Silver Lin chose silence, a bit confused about the situation.
Mainly, Jin Luan suddenly wanted to send Huan Hong away.
“Hong, go grab me a glass of orange juice.”
“Why are you sending her? Don’t you have legs yourself?”
Silver Lin called Huan Hong back, clearly not wanting to be alone.
“Why are you so obedient? Are you a puppy?”
Silver Lin yelled again.
“Tell her to get it herself, why are you listening to her?”
Huan Hong helplessly got up, about to leave.
Silver Lin yelled again:
“Are you going or not?”
Jin Luan’s tone hardened a bit:
“Tell her to get it herself.”
Huan Hong stopped in her tracks again, standing on the beach, looking very embarrassed, caught in a difficult position.
Jin Luan frowned, understanding her meaning—she didn’t want to be alone for a private talk.
The stalemate lasted over ten seconds, and in the end Jin Luan gave up, no longer insisting.
The end of this outing wasn’t very pleasant; the atmosphere had soured.
Back in the house to rinse off, washing away the seawater, the Jin Yin Hong three sisters all stayed silent.
Even dinner was refused by Silver Lin, then they disbanded and went home.
Huan Hong didn’t dare ask more, sighing at Jin Luan, indicating she’d ruined the atmosphere of this outing.
Jin Luan didn’t explain either, watching Silver Lin and Huan Hong’s retreating figures, she pulled out her phone, flying slowly through the air, and contacted Huang Yi.
Jin Luan: [About what you mentioned last time regarding the heart wall matter, I want to ask more about it.]
Huang Yi: [How deep do you want to know?]
Jin Luan: [Tell me everything, I want to know it all.]
Huang Yi: [Alright, then wait for me. My information source is throwing a tantrum, I need to go appease her.]
Sigh, troublesome, but it might also be a breakthrough.
Huang Yi went to grab some after-dinner desserts and cold dishes, carrying them, and went to find psychology expert Old Meng.
He was at home, and from a distance the aroma of food cooking wafted from the house.
He pressed the doorbell, and probably knowing it was Huang Yi at the door, no one came to open it. Huang Yi kept pressing, and after ninety presses, the person inside finally couldn’t take it anymore and came out to open the door. While making gestures with his eyes, he opened the door and invited Huang Yi in. Clearly hoping Huang Yi would do some thinking-work on Professor Meng, hoping they could talk.
Huang Yi nodded, entered the house, saw the freshly laid-out food inside, and indeed had timed it right.
He was invited to stay for dinner, and he didn’t stand on ceremony, sitting down to eat.
At the dining table, Professor Meng had a gloomy face and didn’t speak.
After eating, he hurriedly went upstairs.
Huang Yi also set down his chopsticks, picked up the desserts and cold dishes, and went up.
Seeing Huang Yi following him up, Professor Meng was about to flare up, but noticed he’d also brought white wine and quickly refused:
“Not drinking, thanks.”
Huang Yi casually set everything out on the study table, then took out his phone and placed it on the table—a 62-minute countdown was running.
Professor Meng noticed the countdown numbers and grew uneasy.
After the door was closed, Huang Yi cut straight to the chase:
“I’ll keep it short. My email can only be logged into from my home, with a restricted IP, and before I left, I set up an automatic email send. There are still 62 minutes left. When the time’s up, the recording, text message, and copy of the matter you had me handle last time will automatically be sent to the media.”
Professor Meng’s face grew even darker, apparently angered, and he coughed a few times.
Huang Yi continued:
“Counting the time it takes me to get home, we now have 45 minutes to talk. You need to use this time to convince me to cancel sending that email.”
Professor Meng:
“If you send it, you’ll be ruined too. You’ll bring shame to your witch faction. You’ll be spat on by everyone who supports magical girls.”
The room fell into silence.
Huang Yi:
“Right, that’s also what you’re about to face.”
Seemingly silent, but actually in a mental struggle.
Professor Meng knew he was telling the truth, knew he was capable of doing such a thing.
Huang Yi being suspended twice was no joke—this guy wasn’t someone to mess with, a person who would stop at nothing.
“To give you some psychological preparation, let’s take it slow, start with something else.”
Huang Yi sat down, pointed at the table, then picked up chopsticks and ate a piece of cucumber salad.
Professor Meng had no choice but to sit over as well, still cooperating for now.
Huang Yi began on the matter Jin Luan had commissioned:
“Back then you had me secretly film the white magical girl, and I gave you the video. You said Silver Lin has a tall wall built in her heart—what’s that about?”
Professor Meng was quite annoyed at this moment, but still explained:
“Early on, I noticed a detail. When Silver Lin first debuted, she didn’t care about human casualties when using magic, seemingly unafraid of accidentally harming humans, yet she also had the idea of killing demonic creatures and saving humans from the very start.”
Letting out a sigh, Professor Meng continued:
“I had many hypotheses, so I needed the video you secretly filmed to confirm my hypotheses. Through analysis of body language, analysis of facial expressions, as well as mannerisms, tone, and so on, combined with her actions since her debut…”
He paused again, whetting Huang Yi’s appetite.
Professor Meng:
“I believe that magical girl Silver Lin has very severe psychological trauma. Her acting can’t fool me. No matter what her true form is, I can tell—she has a very thick heart wall.”