[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-kicked-out-of-the-party-then-i-picked-up-a-probl":3,"chapter-kicked-out-of-the-party-then-i-picked-up-a-probl-kicked-out-of-the-party-then-i-picked-up-a-probl-chapter-16":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Kicked Out of the Party, Then I Picked Up a Problematic Beauty",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2346140,4585,"Chapter 16: 15. The Unfulfilled Promise","kicked-out-of-the-party-then-i-picked-up-a-probl-chapter-16",16,"\u003Cp>15. The Unfulfilled Promise\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I'm sorry,\" the girl sobbed. \"Today, I just... I didn't understand that I couldn't duel people. Dad told me not to cause trouble for others, so this is what causing trouble is. I didn't know it was like this.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I don't know anything. I can't understand what the villagers say, and I'm short and thin, and I have no friends. When I go into the mountains, they say I'm doing bad things. I'm a child nobody wants.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I really didn't know, I'm sorry, boo-hoo...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young girl's emotions suddenly collapsed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang glanced at the dinner she had meticulously prepared, finished the fruit in his hand, wiped his hands, stood up, picked up a chair with one hand and placed it gently in front of her, then sat down closer to her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He softened his voice: \"I had problems today too. I was impatient. If it were normal times, I would have explained the reasoning properly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know, it's because I don't understand anything. I don't understand what you say either, that's why you... boo-hoo, I did wrong, it was right to be hit.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's not it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang gently patted her trembling shoulder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's because you are very talented that I was anxious.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl's trembling subsided slightly, and she squeezed out a tiny voice to ask: \"Really?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Of course it's true. You haven't been outside. Children outside in various airspace regions couldn't possibly understand this kind of sword art at your age.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, there were still a few children with monstrously abnormal talent, but what Li Ang said was basically the truth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And you haven't fought anyone of equal strength. You don't know that if you use your power carelessly, you might hurt others. I was a bit anxious, worried that you would go down the wrong path.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang sighed in his heart. It had been ten years, and he had pondered the reality and falsity of this world more than once.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everything seen before his eyes was real; otherwise, there would be no way to account for ten years of mental effort and passion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But if this were a false world, why would it be presented before him? Even things that not even the game designers necessarily understood had been filled in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, this question surfaced in his heart once again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zoe, in \"Newbis Fantasy,\" was originally intended as the heroine controlled by the player; she shouldn't have had any personality at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in this real world, she was a complete person. Her being parentless might have been for the convenience of the game's setting, but it had become her past and shaped her present.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had grown into the young girl before Li Ang—full of vitality, kind-hearted, lacking common sense, like a blank sheet of paper, a piece of unpolished jade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn't made the decision to invite her to join his team—let alone that she might not accept even if he asked—but he had to admit that the positive parts of her personality were very infectious to him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang admitted he was worried, worried that this piece of unpolished jade would be stained by filth, so he would rather play the bad guy to tell her what was wrong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I know now, I won't do it again in the future.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The girl's voice came from between her knees: \"And I know the way. I know how to get everywhere on the island.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang chuckled: \"Going down the wrong path means doing wrong things and becoming a bad person.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I got it wrong again.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It's okay, you don't have to keep admitting you're wrong. No one taught you before, it's not your fault. Everyone comes to where they are by making mistakes over and over.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zoe finally raised her head. Tears had smudged her face, and her eye sockets were red from crying. For the first time, Li Ang saw her shed her lively feeling, her temperament appearing entirely delicate and fragile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was only at this moment that one could feel how slender her frame was; one could hold her entirely in one grasp. This was perhaps not a developmental issue, but just how she was born.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then if I do something wrong again, will you still blame me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No, but—\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing \"no,\" the girl was just about to reveal a smile when she was scared back by Li Ang's second half of the sentence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't be afraid, I just wanted to say, ask before doing anything. I also hope you remember, if you don't do wrong on purpose, don't take it to heart, just correct it in time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Okay.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zoe felt much more relaxed all of a sudden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She put her feet back on the ground, clenched her hands into fists and rested them on her smooth, soft thighs, her shoulders slightly hunched, not yet completely relaxed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Also,\" Li Ang told her the truth: \"You are not short and thin. Being a little petite is clearly very cute.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Really?\" Zoe looked at him with hope, eyes wide and expectant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I absolutely wouldn't lie to you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then will you not want me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where did that come from?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can't say it like that,\" Li Ang said quickly. \"We haven't even met for three days, it doesn't count as a relationship of wanting or not wanting, at most we're friends.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Friends are people who play together, right?\" Zoe asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Right.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I want to play with you, are you still willing to play with me?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing her expectant yet fragile expression, Li Ang nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wiping the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, the girl held back a smile again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Hehe, friends.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She clasped her hands together, a silly smile hanging on her exquisite face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As if remembering something, she quickly looked up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Will friends leave and never come back? Can you not leave, please?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After leaving, Li Ang naturally didn't think he would return to Satus Island.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could not give a promise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew the girl meant \"I want to spend more time with you,\" and he also understood that her being his little tail these past few days, including the provocations and bickering, was actually just a longing to communicate with someone amidst her loneliness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing him pause, Zoe became a bit anxious, her eyes wide and staring.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is there something wrong with me? Mom and Dad said they would come back but didn't, and you won't promise me either.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Your parents said they would come back?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, it's already been two years past the agreed time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So there had been an agreed time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to what the villagers said, Zoe's family had also come to the island ten years ago. They lived together for two years, then her parents left. By that account, their original plan was to return after six years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang looked around at this little home that had been built with great care, and said to the girl: \"What do they look like? Perhaps I might know them?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn't just changing the subject. Since these parents could come and go in the clouds, it meant their thinking was different from the settlers on the sky islands. It was very likely they were also adventurers, or registered Sky Knights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang had been active as a member of a top-tier team for a long time; if they were Sky Knights with a certain level of strength, he might really have seen them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Really? I'll take you to see.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zoe trotted to the room on the right side of the main entrance, opened the door and stepped in halfway, then turned back to wave at Li Ang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Come, come here.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He followed, discovering this was the girl's room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there was nothing in here to make one blush or heart race, because she truly didn't own many items. Many were worn, and some were even damaged to the point where their purpose couldn't be discerned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In many places, there were all kinds of small stones and seashells; these were the only things that could be considered her hobbies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the corner, there was a height chart and a scale; the latter looked like it had been bought from a sky island with developed industry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And what surprised Li Ang was that on her bed, besides the faded full set of bedding, there was a large quilt woven from grass leaves. It was a bit tattered, but because it had been dried well, it hadn't rotted, only worn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That's my bedding. So this little girl brought it here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zoe didn't notice his gaze; she took a photo frame down from a handmade shelf and handed it over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang took it, and at first glance, he saw the trademark on the frame, belonging to a boutique in the Holy Capital, Vitask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The photo was a picture of a man and a woman. The man was very tall and big, the woman was petite; it seemed the daughter took after her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to the long passage of time, the photo had turned pale yellow, and the faces of the two were blurry. Li Ang glanced at the beautiful Zoe beside him; the two in the photo certainly wouldn't be ugly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Ang could recognize the location where they took the photo; it was right at the main entrance of the Holy Capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under the towering dome of the Holy Capital's Gate of Glory, a fountain constructed of multiple bronze statues and intricate decorations was built, one of the most famous sights in the Holy Capital. Many tourists were recommended by merchants to take photos there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The attire of these two was also the common garb of Sky Knights.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I might really be able to find them, or at least check where they went,\" Li Ang said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zoe ran out of the room nimbly, instantly reaching the doorway of the room on the other side, her voice coming through the hallway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Li Ang, come take a look at their room.\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1671,"2026-06-21T01:23:38.712Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","b0c3ae4fd5e2922d87a1b5a5ae12a44b66da30006ad3ad3eacfa31ce94c48156","kicked-out-of-the-party-then-i-picked-up-a-probl-chapter-17","kicked-out-of-the-party-then-i-picked-up-a-probl-chapter-15",496,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fkicked-out-of-the-party-then-i-picked-up-a-probl-cover.jpg"]