Chapter 41: Late-Night Home Visit

On the day of the parent-teacher meeting, Lin Yun noticed Xia Liang standing alone under the library porch.

This was purely coincidental.

If he hadn't been thinking about his daughter's studies after the meeting, and thus glanced in that direction while passing the library, he would never have realized that Xia Liang was leaning there alone, wearing a dark expression completely different from her usual one.

It was precisely that scene that made him at the time decide he must find a time to properly understand Xia Liang's situation.

After all, having known Xia Liang for only a month in his identity as Senior Cuique, he had vaguely sensed that there were many strange things about this child.

The subtle attitude during their first meeting on the electronics street; a personality completely different from the school reputation described by Lin Xiaolu; the hesitation when claiming to have run away from home; and the lonely expression she showed alone at the parent-teacher meeting... numerous behaviors that made people uneasy all seemed to point to a certain fact: Xia Liang's relationship with her family did not seem optimistic.

That is why today, using the study session as a pretext, Senior Cuique decided to visit Xia Liang's home.

Xia Liang's home was also in the Sunset District, located in an old residential complex on the edge of the Third Ring Road, which was reportedly built more than twenty years ago.

Since she was unwilling to fly, Senior Cuique did not ask, following her silently. The two walked through the complex gate, turned a corner, and could see rows of six-story residential buildings weathered by time.

The distance between buildings was considerable, and the housing structure was quite old; it seemed very suitable for installing external elevators on the building exteriors, which would also be relatively convenient to maintain?

Looking at the rows of buildings, Senior Cuique couldn't help but have stray thoughts, then shook her head, driving these messy ideas out of her mind.

Walking along the corridor into one of the residential buildings, the two soon arrived at Xia Liang's home.

"Please come in."

Xia Liang opened the door, pressed the light switch at the entrance, and gestured to Senior Cuique: "None of these slippers by the door are being worn, so Junior Senior, just pick any one."

Senior Cuique looked down at the ground and found that, just as Xia Liang said, several pairs of slippers of different sizes were neatly arranged by the door.

Is there no one at home?

This scene made her feel suspicious, but she still said nothing, only nodding to Xia Liang.

After changing shoes and walking into the living room, the full picture of the room came into view: the interior space was not large; although it was a common three-bedroom, one-living-room layout, the total area was relatively small. The home's decoration and furniture were somewhat old, but it was cleaned very thoroughly, and objects were arranged neatly, giving it a simple, warm feeling.

The only strange thing was that, perhaps related to living habits, Senior Cuique could hardly see any household appliances in this home.

Not only were there almost no white goods, but there was no television in the living room either; although a TV cabinet stood in front of the wall opposite the sofa, only a vase sat on the cabinet surface.

Plus, this layout made the house feel somewhat lacking in human presence, or rather, one could not feel the breath of life.

Without human voices, the entire home was silent, with only the faint hum of the fluorescent light on the living room ceiling.

"Would you like tea?" Walking to the tea cabinet by the dining area, Xia Liang asked with a smile.

"No need." Senior Cuique, still looking around, replied casually.

"Then you're directly tired and plan to rest?"

Xia Liang blinked and said, "You still need to take a shower before resting, right? It might just take some time to heat the water."

"It's not that urgent..." Senior Cuique seemed distracted.

"If you're sleeping, where do you want to sleep?"

Before she could finish half her sentence, Xia Liang interrupted: "There's an empty room left; the bedding inside has been washed and changed, but if you want to sleep with me, that's fine too!"

"I'm more used to sleeping alone."

"Eh? Since you're already here, isn't it better to sleep together? I actually quite want to sleep with Junior Senior."

"No trouble needed; I'm just borrowing a place to stay for one night simply."

"Then shall I go prepare the bed in the single room first?"

"That's not needed either for now."

"Ah, how about you sit down first?"

"... Xiao Jin."

Interrupting Xia Liang's barrage of questions, Senior Cuique looked at her calmly and asked directly: "Is there no one else in your family?"

One sentence made Xia Liang fall silent.

Rather, the reason she had been asking questions nonstop just now, even going so far as to interrupt Senior Cuique to try to change the subject, was avoidance. She had already guessed the questions Senior Cuique might ask next, but kept avoiding them, unwilling to mention them.

The smile on Xia Liang's face did not change, but it became unnatural. After a long silence, as if resigning herself to fate, this business-like smile finally collapsed into helplessness: "They're not here."

"Not here means..." Senior Cuique couldn't help but frown.

"Not here means they're not here; they are not in this home, and they will never come back." Xia Liang said lightly.

She looked at Senior Cuique with a complex expression, and Senior Cuique silently looked back at her; the humming of the electric light overhead continued, annoying enough to make one feel irritable.

"Huff—"

Shortly after, Xia Liang averted her gaze, sat down leaning against the sofa, and let out a long sigh, as if putting down some burden, and asked:

"Junior Senior, you really came over to confirm this?"

"That's right." Still chewing on the meaning of the word "not here," Senior Cuique answered without hesitation.

"Why did you notice?" Xia Liang turned her face to look at her. "Was it because of that conversation in Xiaolu's living room before?"

"Not entirely."

Senior Cuique also walked to the living room sofa and sat down along the armrest: "More than that conversation, the main reason is that you seem very lonely."

"Lonely?"

Reaching out to touch her own cheek, Xia Liang was first somewhat dazed, then revealed a self-mocking bitter smile: "Why lonely... is it really that obvious?"

"Just consider it an adult's intuition."

Senior Cuique lowered her eyes, brushing past the topic in one sentence: "After all, we are already comrades, so I felt I should get to know you a bit more; I hope you don't feel offended."

Xia Liang was now undoubtedly a member of the Fang Ting City Magical Girl Squad; theoretically, everyone should lower their defenses toward each other and become more united. However, Lin Xiaolu held hostility toward Xia Liang unilaterally, so there had been no progress in their relationship.

Senior Cuique originally thought that, as an elder, it would be best to let the children resolve such emotional relationship issues themselves. But seeing the situation gradually worsen, continuing to let it go was certainly not a wise move, so she could only take action personally.

At this moment, since action had already been chosen, it was even more necessary to go deeper and understand the true answer.

"... Junior Senior's way of speaking is too cunning."

Hearing Senior Cuique's explanation, the smile on Xia Liang's face became a bit more bitter: "If you say it like that, I have absolutely no room to not answer, right?"

Leaning against the sofa, her expression vacant, she then closed her eyes: "However, I also feel that both Junior Senior and Xiaolu are trustworthy people; I shouldn't keep such things hidden in my heart."

"Then, please do not take it too to heart; treat it as a pastime and listen to my story."

Her tone softened, and she spoke with a touch of nostalgia: "This is indeed my home, and it was once the place where the three of us lived, but now, only I remain here."

"My father is dead." Xia Liang slowly raised her head. "My mother is in prison."

Her words caused Senior Cuique's eyes to gradually widen.

The fluorescent light above remained bright, yet in that instant, even the annoying buzzing of the current briefly vanished.

After pausing once more, Xia Liang turned her head to look at Senior Cuique, her voice raspy: "The reason is, she killed my father."