Free Web NovelChapter 290: Chapter 288: Xu Jiali and Xu Jiang
’If it weren’t for this Zhao Qi, I could be talking right now.’
’I wouldn’t have to keep writing on the ground, my poor, soft, little furry paws.’
’Maybe I should get rid of Zhao Qi?’
The moment this thought occurred to Little White, it saw Wen Ying staring at it.
Little White lowered its head sheepishly. ’Can’t do bad things. The moment I even think about it, my master finds out.’
’Looks like my little paws will have to suffer a bit longer.’
"Villains are just very cute little animals~"
Xu Jiali immediately nodded. Sister Wen Ying was right. How could a villain like Little White not be cute?
"I think so too," Zhao Qi chimed in with a smile.
But Xu Jiali didn’t respond to him.
This confused Zhao Qi. ’What’s gotten into Xu Jiali?’
’Did I say something wrong?’
’Why did her attitude change so drastically all of a sudden?’
’A woman’s mind is a mystery.’
Hearing everyone’s comments, Little White was growing more and more fond of the word "villain."
’I am a villain!’
’A cute villain!’
’An invincible villain!’
’And Kong Jian is the villain’s minion!’
’Just thinking about it is wonderful.’
Throughout the evening, they chatted and looked up at the stars.
The night sky here was truly full of stars. Back in the big city, almost no one ever saw a star-filled sky.
The night sky there was just a pitch-black expanse, unadorned by starlight.
But here, the starry sky was breathtakingly beautiful.
The childhood memories made Xu Jiali recall how she used to follow her older sister everywhere. Wherever her sister went, she went. She was even more familiar with her sister’s classmates than with her own.
She was always tagging along with her sister to play at her sister’s friends’ houses, but she rarely visited the homes of her own classmates.
Back then, their village had a kindergarten, an elementary school, and later, even a junior high for two years. But her familiarity with her own classmates truly paled in comparison to her sister’s friends from the village.
At night, she would pull her sister along to sit in the courtyard and watch the stars.
When they were little, they had seen a planetary alignment of seven stars and had gazed at the only constellation they knew: Orion.
But as she slowly grew up, Xu Jiali lost her sister.
She lost the sister who was close to her in age, the one who would always take her around to shop and to pick things to eat.
As a child, her sister had been her only playmate.
Her father comforted her, saying her sister had become a star in the sky, watching over and protecting her.
From then on, she grew accustomed to watching the stars alone at night.
But ever since growing up, since becoming an adult, since moving to the city, she had almost never seen such bright stars again.
’One of those stars is my sister.’
’The other stars must be the loved ones of other people, watching over them.’ freeweɓnovel.cøm
"Jiali, are you thinking about your sister?"
Wen Ying’s voice sounded by her ear, carrying a certain gentleness.
Without turning her head, Xu Jiali kept her eyes on the stars and nodded, her voice slightly hoarse. "I miss her. I miss her so much."
"Jiali, have you ever considered that your sister might be living a happy life in another world?"
Xu Jiali didn’t know how to answer, or what kind of expression she should have.
She knew Sister Wen Ying was trying to guide her, to comfort her.
But she understood that such comfort was useless to her.
She would never see her sister again, never be able to share the joys and sorrows of her life with her.
They might have argued occasionally, but the longing had long since overshadowed everything else.
"I know you believe everything I say. So I’m telling you now: your sister truly exists in another world, and she is happy."
Hearing the gravity and earnestness in Wen Ying’s tone, Xu Jiali finally couldn’t hold back. She turned to face Wen Ying, her eyes filled with tears.
"Sister Yingying, are you serious?"
Wen Ying nodded.
"Then... what kind of life is my sister living over there? Back with our family, she’d never even seen a cell phone or a computer. She’d never eaten a hamburger, ridden a carousel, seen an amusement park, or even seen an airplane with her own eyes. Now, she..."
"She’s living very well. She’s now the eldest daughter of a wealthy and powerful family, with more money than she could ever spend, able to buy anything she desires. She has a fiancé who is her childhood sweetheart and from a family of equal social standing. Her grades are average, but after coming of age, she inherited the family business. Even if she chose to do nothing but laze around for the rest of her life, she could still live happily. She has money, looks, and a fiancé who loves her. It’s just like a fairy tale, but fairy tales are fake, and her life is real."
Xu Jiali suddenly broke into a smile.
She reached up and wiped the tear tracks from the corners of her eyes. "Hearing all this, I suddenly feel so happy."
No one knew how much guilt and self-blame Xu Jiali carried in her heart.
For all these years, her sister had been a constant source of unresolved grief.
Watching her, Wen Ying took a ballpoint pen from her hair, pulled out a piece of paper, and began to draw something on it.
「Meanwhile, in another part of the universe.」
Xu Jiang, who was sitting in her family’s private amusement park, suddenly closed her eyes as a tear trickled from the corner.
The emotion came out of nowhere, but Xu Jiang felt as if it was meant to be.
The moment she closed her eyes, she felt as if she had forgotten something important.
But since birth, she had been the apple of her family’s eye, given anything and everything she could ever want.
She had always been happy, truly happy.
The feeling just now had been abrupt, yet it made her feel as if it was a part of her life that shouldn’t be missing, but somehow was.
Xu Jiang set down the violin she was holding. Composing in an amusement park—everyone thought it was one of her strange whims, but only she knew it wasn’t a quirk, nor was it a spur-of-the-moment decision.
It was as if some voice in the ether was telling her she should come here to compose.
Xu Jiang’s parents had built an amusement park and a princess castle for their daughter at their villa. Whenever Xu Jiang was home and needed to compose, she would come here alone.
And today was the sixth time she had come here to compose this year.
Whether she was just messing around or not, no one would say a word to her.
But this time, Xu Jiang really wasn’t just messing around.
The sudden wave of emotion made her sit alone on the carousel, and a scene that had often appeared in her childhood dreams seemed to play out in her mind.
They say what you think about by day, you dream of by night.
But Xu Jiang couldn’t remember ever experiencing such things, and the Xu Family only had one daughter.
In her childhood, she had once asked her parents if she’d had a younger sister. But her parents had presented all the evidence to show her that she was the only daughter, the one and only princess of the Xu Family.
Afterward, she had slowly forgotten about it—forgotten the little girl from her dreams, the one who would follow at her heels, calling out "Sister."
But why, today, had she suddenly thought of all this?
Xu Jiang zoned out, lost in thought.
All these years, she had wanted for nothing; there had never been anything missing from her life, materially or emotionally.
Just as she was spacing out, a piece of paper suddenly appeared before her eyes?
Xu Jiang watched the paper as it slowly drifted down and reached out to catch it.
On the stiff piece of paper were two little girls.
