Chapter 65: Night Talk (Part 2)

"Other thoughts..."

Though still hesitant emotionally, Lin Xiaolu subconsciously followed Senior Cuique and took a step.

She began to try self-analysis, pondering whether there were other triggers for her low spirits these past days, and as she walked a distance, an answer naturally arose in her mind:

"Actually, when I first learned of these things, I felt somewhat sorry for my father."

Senior Cuique, standing nearby, suddenly stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

Lin Xiaolu hurriedly reached out to support her: "What's wrong?"

【6】 "There seems to be a hole in the ground." Senior Cuique, having steadied herself again, kept a straight face, feigning calmness to signal she was fine, and casually made up a reason, relying on the poor visibility of the night.

"There seems to be a pit on the ground." Senior Cuique, having stood steady again, kept a stern face and feigned composure to signal that she was fine; relying on the poor visibility of the night, she casually made up an excuse.

"Is that so?" Lin Xiaolu looked back with some confusion, seeing only a flat road under the silver moonlight, with no sign of the "hole" Senior Cuique mentioned.

But she did not think much of it, nor did she try to investigate deeply, assuming only that she couldn't see clearly, and turned back to continue following Senior Cuique.

"You and your father... did something happen before?" Walking on the somewhat quiet sidewalk, Senior Cuique asked, trying to change the subject.

The idea to ask this had existed for a long time; in fact, she really wanted to know, from the daughter's perspective, what exactly the cold war between her and her father was.

Lin Yun had always felt that the conflict between himself and his daughter mainly stemmed from a lack of care and insufficient communication, so after Lin Xiaolu ran away from home, he had always tried to make up for this. However, when he began to interact with his daughter in the guise of Senior Cuique and gradually understood some of his daughter's true thoughts, he found that the truth seemed not to be so.

"Rather than saying something happened, it should be called a one-sided misunderstanding."

Lin Xiaolu followed Senior Cuique closely, "Back then, when my mother passed away, on one hand he concealed the whereabouts of her body, and on the other hand, he was with other young women. This made me think he didn't love my mother anymore and wanted to use this opportunity to abandon her and me to find other women."

"Later, I argued with him and ran away from home, and many things became very stiff, but I always thought it was his fault, so I never thought about forgiving or understanding him."

"Ha, thinking about it now, there might have been my own arbitrary judgments as well."

"Because his attitude towards me when I was young was very strict, so strict it was somewhat hateful, so when I felt he was wrong, even if I asked him for reasons on the surface, I actually didn't want to hear the answer, and had already judged in my heart that he was wrong."

The two walked along, slowly passing the Sunset Bridge spanning the Xiting River; the time was approaching midsummer, and in the hot night, only a slight cool breeze remained on the water's surface.

There was no traffic on the bridge at midnight either; Senior Cuique and Lin Xiaolu walked one after the other along the sidewalk, the crisp sound of footsteps echoing on the bridge.

"... And now?" Regarding Lin Xiaolu's "self-reflection," Senior Cuique did not directly express her own opinion, but simply continued asking.

If she were just "Senior Cuique," she could judge Lin Xiaolu's right and wrong from an observer's perspective; but as a party to this parent-child cold war, she actually knew that under such complex circumstances at that time, neither she nor Lin Xiaolu could be said to be right or wrong.

Her and her daughter's original intention was both to maintain the existence of this family; it was just because they knew different information: the daughter did not know her mother was a Magical Girl; their identities and feelings were different: as a father, she failed to understand her daughter's doubts and helplessness at that time. In the end, it became such a huge divergence.

In the matter of communicating with children, as a parent, one should always be more proactive; it was just that she at that time failed to realize this point.

On the other side, Lin Xiaolu continued, "Because before he showed me your and my mother's photos, I only now know that at that time he didn't want me to know the truth about my mother's death."

"After all, according to him, my mother was actually a very strong Magical Girl, but she died unclearly. Facing enemies capable of killing my mother, even if one knew the truth, or even developed hatred because of it, one probably wouldn't know what one could do."

"The result was, just because I didn't know why my mother died, I always thought it was a simple accident, and directed my hostility and enmity towards him."

"He probably did this out of good intentions, but I responded to him like that..."

— "If you could tell your father your thoughts properly, he would probably be very happy, right?"

Senior Cuique suddenly spoke: "Compared to telling me here, telling him directly would actually be more effective."

"Wouldn't it be too late to say such things now?" Lin Xiaolu looked worried.

"It won't be too late."

Senior Cuique shook her head, turned her face, and looked expressionlessly at the river below the bridge, making it impossible to know what she was thinking: "In matters of family relationships, no one can guarantee they won't make mistakes."

"You are a daughter for the first time, and your father is a father for the first time; you are both just novices in your respective positions, so it is inevitable that various kinds of errors will occur. If this error is still within the scope of being forgivable, why not give each other another chance?"

"Moreover, in this matter, your father might have already stopped blaming you long ago."

Regarding this matter, there was some indescribable emotion in her words, as if she had some personal experience with it. Although it was very vague, even the dull Lin Xiaolu could feel a little of it.

So she looked at Senior Cuique somewhat blankly and subconsciously asked: "Senior Cuique, do you... perhaps have a child?"

Senior Cuique stopped walking and glanced at her sideways.

"Guess."

After dropping those two words, she continued to step forward.

Lin Xiaolu hurriedly jogged to catch up.

For some reason, Senior Cuique did not ask any more questions, and Lin Xiaolu just followed her all the way; the two walked until they reached the middle section of the bridge, arriving at the center of the Xiting River channel.

Lowering her eyes, her gaze glanced to the side, and Lin Xiaolu's expression became somewhat complex.

Because she felt that since she had already decided to speak out her inner doubts, there were some questions that should not be avoided.

It was just that this matter was different from what was said before; as a Magical Girl, her next words might make Senior Cuique feel disappointed in the true sense.

It had nothing to do with her mother's identity, nor with the conflict with her father, but rather that Senior Cuique would be disappointed in Lin Xiaolu herself.

Although she kept asking Senior Cuique on her lips whether she was disappointed in her, in fact, she did not want Senior Cuique to dislike her at all.

If possible, she also hoped she could be like Xia Liang, always able to behave obediently and pleasingly in front of others; always able to appropriately liven up the atmosphere and make others happy; and always so excellent that Senior Cuique could also be satisfied with her.

But now, let alone these things, even the most basic qualities of being a Magical Girl, she seemed to have already lost.

Because these past few days, she gradually felt that she seemed to have lost the courage to fight.

Should she really speak out such things? If she just never mentioned it, if she just pretended nothing was wrong, at least she could still be like this now...

Thinking of this, Lin Xiaolu's thoughts stopped.

Because she suddenly saw Senior Cuique turn her head and look at her with those clear, deep blue eyes.

Under the moonlight, those eyes were like the purest sapphires, carrying a few streaks of silver glow, and seemed as if they could speak, looking at her with encouraging emotion.

Lin Xiaolu pressed her lips together, and then, mustering her courage, opened her mouth.