Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Li Zexin was full of smiles. âMs. Lin, Mr. Li, I missed you so much!â He half intended to jump into his fatherâs arms to give him a hug.
âBrother Xinxin, a bad person tried to harm Auntie Lin,â said Li Zekai.
Li Zexin looked shocked. In the end, they had to tell him about the whole incident.
Li Zexin slammed his fist down on the table, looking even angrier than Li Yanchen. âWhat the hell?! Iâm glad all of you are fine. If anything had happened to you, I donât know what I wouldâve done! Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan are so small and innocent. They never mean any harm. How can their mother be so horrible?!â
Lin Wan pulled Li Zexin down to his seat. âKid, violence doesnât solve problems. Ji Hanzhi is a living example of that. She has harmed herself in the process. Now, sheâll go to jail. Donât worry. Hurry and eat your food. After that, Iâll check your English. I hope you havenât been slacking off.â
Lin Wan was trying her best to pretend to be okay, but she was still shaken from the incident.
âIâll come with you in the next episode. Letâs see who tries to mess with you that time. Did everyone forget about this devil incarnate?â Li Zexin was trying to cheer her up.
âHm⦠Indeed. I need you there to protect me. Now, can we eat?â said Lin Wan. âMr. Li, look what your romantic escapade has done!â said Li Zexin.
âWhat nonsense are you talking about?â Li Yanchen frowned.
âLater!â said Lin Wan. âWe can talk about it later. We need to eat first!â
At Yun Xi High School, Li Zexuan went to his dorm for a while and then headed straight to Xingzhi Tower. When he left for the show, he had told Xie Wanyu of the time he would be back in school. He hoped she hadnât forgotten about it.
After the class was over, Xie Wanyu and Luan Rongrong packed their bags.
âWanyu, Li Zexuan is returning today. Do you think he will be waiting for you at the Xingzhi Tower?â
âI donât know. Maybe. Weâll find out. I want to give him this weekâs notes I compiled for him. Letâs go,â said Xie Wanyu.
Under the wisteria flower rack, Li Zexuan watched the small path. He saw Xie Wanyu walking that path a few minutes later.
âXie Wanyu⦠and Luan Rongrong, youâre here! â said Li Zexuan as he got up from the bench. âI wasnât sure if youâd remember!â
âWere you waiting for us for a long time?â asked Xie Wanyu.
âNot very long,â said Li Zexuan. âJust a few minutes. Also, here⦠all signed.â He took out the signed autographs from his bag.
Xie Wanyu had just used the autograph as an excuse to call him. She didnât really expect him to get them for her. She was speechless.
Luan Rongrong accepted the autographed cards gratefully. âYou brought some for me too?!â
âYeah. For both of you. Li Chuan also signed it.â
âThank you so much!â said Luan Rongrong. âThis is so great!â
âYes, thank you,â said Xie Wanyu as he took out a notebook from her bag. âI have something for you too. This weekâs notes! If you have something you donât understand, you can ask me. Iâll see you tomorrow afternoon at the multipurpose hall.â
âItâs quite cold. We should head back.â With that, Xie Wanyu pulled Luan Rongrong along, and they headed to their dormitory.
âThank you for this!â said Li Zexuan as they left. âIâll meet you tomorrow in the multipurpose hall. Bye!â
âYou both look so shy and cute together,â said Luan Rongrong. âLike a couple who finally met after many days apart.â
âNo, we donât!â said Xie Wanyu. âStop with your nonsense. Iâm really going to get offended if you keep this up!â
âAlright, alright. I wonât do it again. I have some more melon seeds back in the dorm. Letâs go and have some,â said Luan Rongrong.
âI thought you finished it yesterday.â
âI have a little left.â
The two girls talked and laughed along the way.
At Ning Xiaoxiaoâs house, Zhou Pei had just put Ning Weiwei to bed.
She knocked on Ning Xiaoxiaoâs door. Ning Xiaoxiao was replying to her fans on Twitter.
She looked up at the knock and saw her mother at the door. âHey, Momâ¦â
Zhou Pei set the glass of warm milk on the bedside table. âI knew you werenât sleeping. You need to wake up early tomorrow for school. Better get some sleep after drinking this milk.â âAlright. Just a few minutes more. Iâll reply to this last comment.â
âDo you want me to help you?â
âNo need.â Ning Xiaoxiao hesitated. âMom, why did Ji Hanzhi do that? Some of my fans sent me private messages asking about what actually happened.â
Zhou Pei thought about it. Her daughter was at an age where she would soon feel romantic things. She felt that it was better for her to explain what was okay and what was not when one fell in love.
âShe likes Uncle Li, â said Zhou Pei. âJealousy does strange things to a person.
What she did was wrong. Uncle Li and Auntie Lin are married. I think Ji Hanzhi felt that she would have a chance with Li Yanchen if she could remove Lin Wan from the picture. So, she did what she did to get rid of Auntie Lin Wan. But it doesnât work that way. You canât force someone to be with you, and you certainly shouldnât attack someone for it.â
âI understand,â said Ning Xiaoxiao. âBut⦠Auntie Ji Hanzhi is a celebrity! There might be many people who genuinely want to be with her and would treat her well. So, why is she chasing after Uncle Li when she knows heâs already
married?â
âIâm afraid only she can answer that question. Xiaoxiao, many times in life, we donât get the things we want or the people we like. We need to learn to let go when necessary. We cannot try to own somebody.â
âJust like.. my fans. They like me, but I canât keep all of them happy. I canât cut myself into smaller pieces and give myself to them, no matter how much they might like me.â âThatâsâ¦
âAm I wrong?
âYouâre right. As we grow up, we need to accept hard truths. We need to learn when to hold on and when to let go in life.â âAlright.â Ning Xiaoxiao smiled.
âDrink the milk and sleep. Iâll get the glass later.â
âOkay. Mom, you should rest, too.â Ning Xiaoxiao placed a little kiss on Zhou Peiâs cheeks.
âGood night, baby.â
After Zhou Pei left, Ning Xiaoxiao was still deep in thought. She thought about Li Zexuan. She liked him, but she didnât think she could harm somebody if she couldnât have him. He was a human being and not an object she could own.
If Li Zexuan had someone else he liked, she could only wish him well. She couldnât even think about harming the other girl when none of it was her fault. As her mother said, she would need to learn to let go when the time was right. It wasnât like Li Zexuan would magically begin to like her if she hurt the one he cared about. Ning Xiaoxiao couldnât really understand Ji Hanzhiâs mentality.
Ning Xiaoxiao wouldnât be there for the next episode. She had tried to find an opening to talk to Li Zexuan about working together in a show but couldnât broach the topic. She felt like a fool.
âWell⦠Iâll be back to school tomorrow,â thought Ning Xiaoxiao. âAs for working with Li Zexuan, thatâs up to fate.â
Ji Hanzhi had taught her something important. A celebrity was nothing but her actions. She promised herself that she would be more careful with her words and actions from now on so that she wouldnât spiral down like Ji Hanzhi..