Chapter 133 - 133 Hidden Concerns

133 Hidden Concerns

The female gamer’s live stream caused Qiao Yue’s fame in Glory to skyrocket. Players who had yet to hear about ‘Don’t Hit Mage’ soon began to question if ‘Cooking Wine’ and the former had any relation.

Many people waited with bated breaths for Qiao Yue to come online, hoping she would dispel their doubts, but she did not reappear.

At this moment, Qiao Yue was leaning against the headrest, staring at the photo of her mother that she had found the other day.

The past few days had been busy. After finding a photo of her mother in military fatigues, Qiao Yue tirelessly dug for clues in the forum.

!!

Reading a large number of posts every day gave Qiao Yue a headache. In addition to those photos, she perused several posts that coincided with the period in question, fearing she would miss out on any clues.

Fortunately, her hard work paid off. She finally found some information hidden in the photos and text.

She discovered another photo with her mother’s silhouette. After enlarging and cropping the photo, she uncovered the image of a man in military uniform reflected in her mother’s eyes.

If she needed to hazard a guess, that person was most likely her mother’s military training instructor when she was in school.

As one of the country’s elite schools, the instructors hired for military training were not simple people.

Bearing that in mind, Qiao Yue investigated all the instructors of her mother’s cohort but could not find anything about her mother’s class. Information on her mother’s class or instructors was suspiciously absent from the forum archives.

Just then, Qiao Yue’s alarm sounded. She put away her computer and picked up a book, pretending to read. This was because Qiao Jing had returned home.

It had not been five minutes since she picked up her book when she heard a familiar knock at the door.

“Please, come in,” Qiao Yue said.

Qiao Jing’s eyes fell on Qiao Yue as soon as he entered. Relief washed over him when he noted she was studying her computer science text.

Qiao Yue never thought she would experience what most others felt when their parents checked in on their children’s studies. She was already 18!

“Do your ribs still hurt?” Qiao Jing asked, sitting at the edge of Qiao Yue’s bed.

Qiao Yue wanted to say she was perfectly fine but rolled her eyes, asking a rhetorical question, “Do you need to ask what is obvious? If I say I’m in pain, will you let me skip make-up lessons?”

Qiao Jing stared straight at Qiao Yue, but he was the first to avert his gaze. “What do you think?”

Qiao Yue gulped. “I think it’s fine.”

A half-smile spread across Qiao Jing’s face. “You can take make-up lessons when the pain passes.”

Qiao Yue’s face fell. She wanted to tell her brother that she could attain full marks without having to for make-up lessons.

“Brother, I don’t want to go for make-up lessons,” Qiao Yue whined dejectedly.

Qiao Jing never pulled punches when it came to one’s studies.

Qiao Yu had only three days of rest before Qiao Jing packed him off to school. Qiao Jing’s reason had been: ‘Since there’s nothing seriously wrong, you should go to class. You hurt your leg, not your brain’.

Qiao Yue suspected the real reason Qiao Jing insisted Qiao Yu return to school was so that he would not get to play games with her every day.

As for her? Well, Qiao Jing had arranged for a home tutor to fill in the gaps in her knowledge.

Seeing that Qiao Jing remained unmoved, Qiao Yue continued, “Brother, why do you force us to study like this?”

Qiao Yue was honestly curious. Neither she nor Qiao Yu shared the same parents as Qiao Jing. Qiao Yu was one thing, but what about her? What was she to him?

After a moment of silence, Qiao Jing replied, “I hope that you and Qiao Yu will have something to call your own, regardless of where you end up in life.”

Staring into Qiao Jing’s eyes, Qiao Yue suddenly understood what he meant.

No matter what they wanted to do in the future, knowledge was the foundation of their career. Even if Qiao Jing was suspicious of her identity and did not know what she knew, he believed she should get a good education.

Qiao Yue chuckled wryly. “Brother may seem cold, but he really cares for us.”

Hearing Qiao Yue’s words, Qiao Jing’s expression did not change, nor did he answer.

“Since Brother is so concerned for our wellbeing, I shall say it. Otherwise, how will he know? Even if you’re too shy to admit it, I’ll say those words for you!” Qiao Yue knew that Qiao Jing would not let her get in over her head, but she still found joy in teasing him.

Qiao Jing glanced at her coldly. “Stop being so noisy.”