AiLin had started smiling without realizing it. Seeing XanXi, who was looking at her nervously, she showed the young man a smile and nodded amicably, "It’s alright, you did more than well. No, actually, you help a lot by asking for your father’s help. I should sincerely thank you."
"Thank ? No! That’s not necessary," said XanXi as he rubbed the back of his head a little shyly. "I should be the one thanking you. If it wasn’t for your help, I would have been.. I couldn’t imagine what would have happened without your intervention."
AiLin smiled as she found the young man’s tone very mild and gentle. She turned to Vicky, who was staring at XanXi with a smile herself. Her sister’s eyes seed to be softening around the edges, and although she couldn’t tell if Vicky’s gaze ca from love, it was certainly a sweet gaze soone would give only to people who ant a lot to them.
"By the way," she said to the two, "What’s the relationship between you two?"
"F- Friends!" Vicky answered, and AiLin could see XanXi’s eyes, which seed a tad bit sad at her quick response. This only ans that deep in XanXi’s heart, he sees Vicky as more than a friend.
The two were extrely obvious about their affection for each other, and it made AiLin to smile uncontrollably as if she was looking at the sweetheart couple in high school. She couldn’t help but tease the situation, "I see, friends! I hope you can take care of my sister for a very long ti, XanXi."
Vicky, who heard the words "for a very long ti," seed to press her lips tighter so her smile wouldn’t escape. XanXi himself shyly nodded his head, but he seed firm with his response. After the tea party, AiLin noted a few things about XanXi. It seems that he is close to his father and his stepmother.
His mother had died early when he was young, but his step mother seed to take care of him since then and proved to be a very great step mother who simply wishes the best for her son. He is also the only son of the family because his step mother had only given birth to his younger sister.
Through this conversation, AiLin noted that XanXi was one of the very few children of a wealthy family who really seed to enjoy being alive and was surrounded by great people and families throughout his life.
When the young man excused himself to answer a call, AiLin looked at her sister with a softer grin, "So, you like him?"
Vicky’s eyes widened and she cleared her throat, "No- we’re friends. Close friends, and that’s all it is between us."
"Are you sure about that?" AiLin asked again. "Or is this because you don’t want to destroy your friendship with him? From what I see, he seems like a good guy, or maybe... he breaks one of your dealbreakers? Like he’s a chain smoker, or maybe he likes to drink a little too much? If that’s the case, I can’t really support you in liking him."
"N- NO!" Vicky squeezed her fists and grabbed a fistful of her skirt. She whispered, "He doesn’t smoke because my lungs are weaker than others. He also doesn’t drink because he knows I’m allergic to alcohol."
"So?" AiLin asked as she stared at Vicky’s eyes she seed a little teary as she forced a smile on her lips.
"Sister... don’t you think he’s too good for ?"
AiLin found her heart that dropped slightly. The question that Vicky had asked seed to co from her own mouth as it was the question she had been asking tediously for weeks ever since she realized what kind of a great man Li ZiChen was.
She heard her sister continuing with a shy smile of regret, "A good young man with a handso face. He’s tall and handso, he’s so friendly to everyone but is always brave to set boundaries for himself. As if that wasn’t enough, he is soone who is so considerate of and would try his best to make smile whenever I feel sad. He’s too good to be true while I’m soone who had caused my father’s death."
To feel worthless upon realizing that the person you love would never deserve soone less like you. It was a feeling that AiLin knew well. So well that her heart began to ache upon listening to Vicky’s words.
Though Vicky seed fine, she was also holding her own scars, especially since she had always been told that her birth and presence were the cause of her father’s death.
"You also know about it, don’t you, sister? My father was in a car crash because he was driving back to see . After that, my mother had to be alone in the Hua Family, and we all know what would happen to a single woman in the Hua Household who only prioritizes the n of the family." Vicky looked at her, and when their eyes t, AiLin saw that the girl was trying her best to speak clearly even though she was on the verge of breaking apart and having to keep repeating all these words about herself, which she believed wasn’t true. It wasn’t true, but when everyone around you seed to have the sa opinion as the others, it slowly beca sothing real.
"Was it grandmother who blad you?" AiLin had never seen the old woman, and never would she want to see that old witch, but now hearing from everyone what she had done made her believe that Elder Hua was soone so hateful to the world, including her own family mbers.
"She did bla ," said Vicky as she turned and looked at the warm cup of hot chocolate that XanXi had ordered for her. "She was the one who blad first during my father’s funeral, asking why I would dare to rush her precious son back ho and cause him to et his death. My mother protected from her harsh words until.."
AiLin could see the deep, bottomless sadness that glimred from Vicky’s eyes as she continued, "Until my mother seed to believe their words as well and blad for his death."
"His death was never your fault and would never be," AiLin said instantly. She moved her hands and held a tight hold on Vicky’s fingers. She firmly looked back at Vicky’s black eyes, her words sharpening as she despised having to hear Vicky being blad for sothing she hadn’t done. "Your mother knew this from the beginning, what she said must have been a montary lapse in judgnt."
"I know," Vicky said as her words turned into a soft sigh, "But I can’t shake the idea that everything that had happened was really caused by . From a broken heart, my mother eventually fell ill and succumbed to it then Auntie- I an, our mother adopted and made sure I was sent abroad. She was still suffering from losing you and was in danger, yet she just couldn’t turn a blind eye to , and for that, I will forever be grateful for her kindness."
AiLin gently patted Vicky’s back, "I understand you." She grew solemn as the two of them began to think about their life and how others had always remarked on them for being the sole evil. "It’s always a hard thing to feel confident in your skin after others have been berating you for being true to yourself. To feel that you don’t deserve to be liked by others... it would have been wonderful to never understand those feelings. But for us who had gone through it, it’s impossible to ever feel good about yourself."
Vicky was quiet as what AiLin had said had struck through her heart. Having gone through similar experiences, the two know how the adults of their childhood had affected them terribly.
"But," AiLin then smiled as she held Vicky’s hands. To support and encourage herself was hard, it has always been hard. But to support others wasn’t too difficult for her, especially when she really ans well to other people and really does wish them a better life.
Her sincerity radiated from her eyes as she stared lovingly at Vicky, "You don’t have to listen to them anymore," she whispered. "The people who bla you, they aren’t XanXi, correct? XanXi himself, I’m sure he had chosen you for the you who he saw with his eyes, not the you that others called a misfortune."
As she spoke, an image of Li ZiChen smiling under the tree appeared again in her head. She felt a deep heartache in her chest and couldn’t resist scrunching her shirt on top of her heart. The words she had said to Vicky felt as if they had to be spoken to herself, and it left a deep mark on her.
"In this world, the people who should feel ashad for being loved aren’t you, but those people who had caused you to feel that being alive is such a miserable pain."
"And those who had allowed you to feel alive, they are the ones who you should be happy with."
Like the young man who had helped her to feel better about herself, the one who had surrounded her with new people who truly loved her, the one who was always happy whenever he saw her smiling.
Li ZiChen. That’s him.
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