It was about nine in the evening and already getting cold. When I slowly drove into the hospital parking lot, I saw a beautiful figure underneath the streetlight. It was Lin Yixin. On this cold day, she was dressed in a casual dress as she trembled and hugged herself.
I hurriedly left the car, and took off my jacket. I walked over. "You want?"
Lin Yixin looked at me with a thread of hope in her eyes but hesitated when she saw Beiming Xue behind me.
I was speechless and quickly put it over her. Then I asked, "Why are you at the hospital?"
Lin Yixin looked up at me and said, "Let me ask you first. Why did you call me? It"s almost night..."
I stilled and said, "Just now, Lin Xiao came to see me..."
"What? He met you?!" Lin Yixin gaped as though she was very surprised. She asked, "Why… why did he meet you?"
I asked instead. "Is he your father?"
"Yes..." Lin Yixin pouted and said, "Why did he meet you?"
"Nothing..." I avoided answering and said, "Just some trivial matters. But he warned me to not get too close to you..."
Immediately, anger flashed across Lin Yixin"s face. She said, "Why? How dare he stop you from interacting with me? Hmph, what"s up with that..."
I said, "What"s going on between you and your father?"
Lin Yixin looked at me. A few seconds later, she sighed. "Never mind. It"s better for you to learn about this. I won"t be able to keep it concealed. Can you come with me?"
"Oh? Alright..."
I pulled Beiming Xue"s sleeve and indicated for her to follow as well. It was nighttime and I would be worried leaving my adorable little sister in the parking lot by herself.
We followed Lin Yixin to the back of the hospital. A high-level residential area appeared. Lin Yixin opened the door to one of the buildings and said, "Come in!"
I walked in with Beiming Xue, full of doubt.
We went through a garden smelling of osmanthus flowers and came to the main bedroom. Lin Yixin pushed the door open and turned on the light. The room lit up. Beiming Xue and I were stunned—
There was a beautiful woman laying on the bed quietly as though she was asleep, her eyes closed. This was a beauty, and looked to have a n.o.ble presence.
I looked at the woman and then at Lin Yixin. I seemed to have realized something.
"Can you tell?"
Lin Yixin smiled. "She"s my mother!"
"Ah?!"
I was stunned. I hadn"t expected Lin Yixin"s mother to be in the hospital!
Beiming Xue was nervous. "Big bro, isn"t it inappropriate of us to be in Auntie"s room?"
Lin Yixin smiled faintly. "Don"t be nervous. My mother can"t hear or see. She"s been unconscious for the last seven years."
"Vegetative state?"
"Yes."
Lin Yixin looked at me with a hint of grievance in her eyes. She said, her eyes red, "She hasn"t even looked at me for seven years..."
I looked silently at her and didn"t know how to comfort her. I could only say, "What happened, Yiyi?"
Lin Yixin looked out the window and said in a trembling voice, "Seven years ago, when I was in the first year of middle school, my aunt lost her life in a car crash and my mom was seriously injured in that accident. She never woke up and stayed here all this time..."
As she spoke, Lin Yixin had anger in her eyes. "Then, Lin Xiao disappeared, and hasn"t appeared until two years ago. While he paid for my mom"s treatment, it doesn"t change that he failed in his responsibilities at the beginning. I"m grown up now, I can earn money. I won"t spend a cent of his money. I"ll take care of my mom myself until she wakes up..."
I took a deep breath and said carefully, "Previously, you cheated gold out of me to pay for Aunt"s fees here?"
"What do you think?" Lin Yixin said with red eyes, "You say I am greedy, but you have to understand my perspective..."
I immediately felt guilty. I looked deeply at Lin Yixin. How strong of a heart did this beautiful girl have under her fragile appearance? How could she withstand such costly treatment fees? Being a model in the clothing company would have been a part of her income and so was earning money in Heavenblessed.
I breathed out and sat by the window. I patted the seat next to me and said, "Have a seat"
Lin Yixin pouted. While unhappy, she still sat down next to me. The wind blew at us together. Beiming Xue sat down quietly next to Aunt.
……
"Yiyi, is it very hard supporting yourself like this?" I asked.
Lin Yixin shook her head. "No..."
Then she frowned. "Sometimes, maybe a bit..."
My spirits were low as I looked out the window and then at the young woman next to me. I couldn"t help but put an arm around her shoulders, hoping that I could bring her some warmth.
Lin Yixin struggled and then looked up at me. I also looked at her. Gradually, she stopped struggling, her face full of grievances and a thread of tiredness.
I said, "How did you manage for so many years?"
"It"s nothing..." Lin Yixin pressed her lips together and whispered, "I signed a modeling contract with the company long ago, and get a few thousand each month. I also made some money in the game and earn more than ten thousand a month. In the two months before Heavenblessed opened, I sold my equipment and got almost 1 million RMB so I somehow managed."
"Equipment in Spirit of Grief?"
I was slightly shocked and said, "You also played Spirit of Grief? What was your name in Spirit of Grief? You had to be very strong to have sold your equipment for 1 million?"
Lin Yixin smiled slyly. "You"re not allowed to laugh at my ID!"
"Okay, what were you called?"
"Beautiful Little Pepper..."
"WTF!"
I stared with wide eyes at her. "You... you are that Beautiful Little Pepper? No way, I remember I met Beautiful Little Pepper in the WSL prelims before..."
Lin Yixin laughed softly, "Haha, you finally remember?"
"d.a.m.n! You..."
I was in chaos...
Beautiful Little Pepper. This was an ID that once shook the China server. From start to end, this girl had never joined a guild and was a famed loner. In the end, she rose to the Holy Domain, and received the inheritance of the Order G.o.d Temple. But her rise to the apex was as quick and sudden as her disappearance. A girl who could go through a divine-tier dungeons suddenly disappeared after getting several sets of S12 Divine Armors. Even the CGL Hall of Famer Star Explorer wasn"t able to find her.
In reality, Beautiful Little Pepper was a legend. With her strength, she could have entered the CGL Hall of Fame a long time ago.
But who would have thought the terrifying Beautiful Little Pepper entered Heavenblessed, and used a new ident.i.ty to become the famous Fruit Knife G.o.ddess!
I looked at Lin Yixin. It was hard to imagine she was the legendary Little Pepper. Life was so amazing!
"That"s not right!" I said depressedly. "Beautiful Little Pepper"s appearance was ordinary, and didn"t look like you..."
Lin Yixin glared at me. "Hmph, I reduced my appearance by 50% then, how could I have looked good?"
I smiled. Looking at the Fruit Knife G.o.ddess in my arms, I said, "Tsk tsk, Little Pepper, never thought it would be you. Haha, Little Pepper is a good name..."
Bang!
Lin Yixin punched me hard and blushed. She said, "I told you to not laugh. If you laugh, I"ll give you a black eye!"
I hurriedly grabbed her hand. "Alright, but what if Aunt can still hear you? You dare to be so vicious in front of your mom, you rebel..."
"Oh..."
Lin Yixin looked at her mother on the bed and grew quiet. She gave me a beautiful smile. "You"re lucky this time. Next time, don"t smile so pervertedly!"
"How was my smile perverted..."
I was bewildered and said, "Yiyi, what are your plans?"
"Hm..." Lin Yixin lazily leaned against my shoulder, and said, "Simple, level up, kill monsters, make money and pay the treatment fees. I still owe a hundred and fifty thousand this month. How about you pay for me?"
Inexplicably, I nodded. "Alright, give me the bill!"
"Ah?"
Lin Yixin was stunned. "You"re really going to pay it?"
I nodded. "Mn. After selling the Purgatory Scepter and Golden Scale Bow, I earned about a million. I don"t have many expenses and though I am planning to buy a car, it won"t be a high-end one. Three hundred thousand or so will suffice. I can use the remainder to help you pay the fees."
Lin Yixin blinked. She fought internally and then nodded, "Little Cheat, you"re not lying, are you?"
I glared at her. "d.a.m.n, I"m letting you borrow money without even an IOU, what can I lie to you about?"
"True..."
Lin Yixin smiled. "Alright, I"ll borrow a hundred and fifty thousand from you and repay in about a month, alright?"
"Okay!"
She took out a bill. I couldn"t imagine owing so much and not getting thrown out by the hospital. Was this the privilege of being beautiful?
At the cas.h.i.+er, I swiped my card to pay. After this, a middle-aged woman came over. This was the caretaker Lin Yixin had hired. Five thousand a month. Pretty good but also pricy.
Under the cover of night, I drove Lin Yixin back to the dorms that were along the way.
When we returned to the workshop, it was nearly 11 but He Yi and Murong Mingyue had not returned. I had a bad feeling.
I called He Yi"s phone. No one picked up. I called Murong Mingyue. No one picked up as well.
What happened?
I sat in the hall, anxious and restless.
……
"Big bro, go to sleep." Beiming Xue said, "Sister He Yi and Mingyue will be fine."
I shook my head. "I can"t sleep, you go first!"
"Okay..."
Beiming Xue rubbed her eyes and went back to her room in her nightdress.
I waited until it was 2 am. Suddenly, the phone rang. It was Murong Mingyue.