“Are you really not coming home to eat with me? Lin Yujie seems to have left before she even finished cooking.”
Xia Yanran was putting on her shoes at the door as she spoke to Lin Yu.
“No, I’ll finish up here and wait for my sister to come back so we can eat together. You should hurry home, or Qin Ayi will start to worry soon.”
“She won’t. My mom knows I’m here. Alright, I’m off then—oh, right…”
Xia Yanran, who had just opened the door, turned her head, “Go to the movies with me tomorrow. There’s a new film out that’s supposed to be pretty good.”
Lin Yu kept his smile, “Sure.”
“That’s a promise! You can’t bail on me!”
As the door closed, the smile on Lin Yu’s face faded.
“Qin Ayi, huh…”
The Qin Ayi he spoke of was Xia Yanran’s adoptive mother, Qin Wuyue.
Of course, Xia Yanran had no idea she was adopted. As for how Lin Yu knew, that was due to an accident in the future.
After that, the two kept their relationship a secret. They had only been caught by his sister once, but Lin Mowei, who doted on her brother, chose to help him keep it from Xia Yanran after scolding him.
“Sigh…” Thinking about those things, he couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh.
No more thinking about it. Anyway, this time, it shouldn’t get complicated with her.
Lin Yu put away the game console and went to the kitchen to finish preparing the ingredients Lin Mowei had left unfinished.
Next door.
“Mom, I’m home!” Xia Yanran opened the door and called out, as she always did.
Soon, a gentle yet alluring voice called from the kitchen, “Wash your hands, dinner’s almost ready.”
The delicious aroma drifting from the kitchen tempted Xia Yanran. Instead of washing her hands, she quietly crept to the kitchen door and peeked in, twitching her little nose.
Watching her mother cooking, Xia Yanran felt a faint sense of envy in her heart.
Her mother had a graceful, curvy figure, clad in a sleek, brown bodycon dress. A single sash hugged her impossibly slender waist, highlighting her full, rounded hips, like a ripe peach.
Her shapely thighs were wrapped in sheer, black pantyhose, making her long legs appear both elegant and alluring.
Her dark hair was casually tied up, a few strands draping over her chest, revealing a graceful, fair neck.
A few rebellious strands hung down, swaying gently by her alluring collarbone as she stirred the food.
Just her back alone exuded charm, so different from Xia Yanran’s youthful, energetic aura—it was the mellow allure that only time could brew.
Ah… how nice. Someday I’ll become like Mom, won’t I? Feels like that guy prefers this type…
Xia Yanran glanced down at her own “scrawny” figure compared to her mother’s, and shook her head.
“Mom, what delicious food are you making? It smells so good!”
The woman in the kitchen seemed to know her daughter well. She didn’t turn around as she kept stirring the food.
“No matter what delicious things I make, you still have to wash your hands. Go on.”
“Okaaay—”
Xia Yanran pouted and replied in a silly tone, then headed to the bathroom.
Qin Wuyue glanced at the door, shaking her head with a pampering smile.
Night fell, the last glimmer of light at the horizon swallowed up by darkness.
At the dinner table.
Qin Wuyue’s every movement was elegant—even the simplest act of eating made her seem like a pleasure to watch.
In contrast, Xia Yanran… Well, just watching her eat made the food seem even tastier.
“By the way, Yanran, didn’t you say you were going to confess to Xiao Yu today? How did it go?”
Xia Yanran, her face buried in her food, froze at the question, cheeks puffed out like a little hamster.
She struggled to swallow her mouthful and her gaze started to wander.
“Uh… about that, he said… not much, really.”
“Not much?” Qin Wuyue arched a delicate brow, put down her chopsticks, and dabbed at her lips with a napkin. “What exactly did he say?”
“A-almost that…” Xia Yanran pouted, mumbling out Lin Yu’s whole ‘friendship lasts forever, dating only ruins everything’ theory, stumbling over her words.
Qin Wuyue listened quietly, a hint of surprise flickering in her eyes.
She knew her daughter well—bright, cheerful, and quick to make friends with anyone. Lots of boys liked her, but she never cared for any of them.
She also knew Lin Yu. In the past, she could see that look of barely-contained excitement and affection in his eyes when he saw her daughter.
Being rejected wasn’t surprising. But to be turned down with such a logical, almost cunning explanation—that was interesting.
“Oh?” Qin Wuyue’s lips curved, and she took a sip from her glass. “So, he thinks it’s better to be ‘bros’ with you than to be a couple?”
“Exactly! That’s what he meant!” Xia Yanran, finding a kindred spirit at last, stabbed at her rice with her chopsticks. “Mom, is he out of his mind? What’s wrong with me!”
Qin Wuyue didn’t answer right away. She gently swirled her glass, her gaze drifting thoughtfully toward the heavy night outside.
“Yanran,” her voice was soft, almost magical, “have you ever thought about this? When an eighteen-year-old boy is faced with a girl like you confessing her feelings, his first reaction isn’t happiness or panic, but… to immediately build a whole set of ‘relationship defenses’ to protect himself?”
Xia Yanran was stunned, obviously not understanding such complicated words.
Qin Wuyue turned to look at her daughter’s confused face and smiled.
“That’s not how boys his age usually react,” she said, pausing as if talking to herself, but also to her daughter.
“When did this Lin Yu… become so ‘interesting’?”
The two families had lived as neighbors for nearly ten years now. Back then, Qin Wuyue had recognized Lin Mowei’s potential and helped the siblings settle down here.
She’d always kept an eye on the sister, and only cared about the brother because he was the boy her daughter liked—never really paid him much attention.
Now it seemed that not only was the sister outstanding, but the brother was also quietly impressive.
Qin Wuyue looked at her still-bewildered daughter. “So that’s it between you two? Are you still going to see him?”
Xia Yanran snapped back to herself. “Of course! I invited him to the movies tomorrow, and he agreed.”
“And what do you plan to do from now on?” Qin Wuyue smiled.
“Um… from now on…” The girl made a show of thinking hard, but finally gave up. “Actually, I think what he said made sense. We’ll just be friends for now. Doesn’t feel any different from before.”
“Haha.” Qin Wuyue laughed. “Alright then, just be friends. As long as you like it.”
“Mhm!”
Seeing her daughter regain her usual spirit, Qin Wuyue glanced in the direction of the neighboring home.
Nest City, Northern District.
Lin Mowei’s long blade flashed, slicing the approaching Rift Beasts into two with a speed beyond human vision.
She wore a special set of Biological Armor, its texture almost like some kind of animal hide. If you looked closely, you’d notice it seemed to breathe, its surface rhythmically rising and falling.
“Hiss—” After stopping, hot steam vented from the suit’s pores, released from the high-speed action.
Just then, Mu Qingqing, clad in a slightly smaller Mecha Armor, approached and glanced around at the dead Rift Beasts. She sincerely exclaimed, “Chief, you’re amazing! Have you gotten even stronger?”
“Am I? I guess it’s alright.” Lin Mowei didn’t care much for the compliment. Becoming stronger was natural, though her own strength hadn’t grown much—she’d simply mastered using her Biological Armor more skillfully.
“What’s our progress?”
Mu Qingqing took out an Operation Terminal, whose light screen displayed real-time progress for each squad.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but she kept feeling that Chief seemed worried about something—anxious, even.
Then again, it made sense. The sooner they finished off the Mother Nest, the better.
“At our current pace, there’s a high probability we’ll purify this area and destroy the Mother Nest within the scheduled time.”
“Hmm…” Lin Mowei fell silent for a moment.
“Tell the troops to rest here for a bit.”
Mu Qingqing blinked. She hadn’t expected the usually decisive and relentless Chief of the Eradication Division, Lin Mowei, to give such an order.
But she quickly replied, “Understood!”