Chapter 4

The final week of summer vacation at home.

While struggling to make up her homework, Jing Qingxia also began the daily routine of nutritional fluid injections and physical training, leaving her body somewhat exhausted.

But mentally, she was completely relaxed.

It was as though a psychological problem that had occupied her body for more than ten years had suddenly been cured.

Compared to the body she had before dying in battle in her previous life, her current body was a few years younger, yet many of its functions seemed to have been brought over from her original world.

Her motor nerves and athletic ability were not much different.

The only thing with the greatest gap left was physical stamina—and that could be trained!

Even the muscle soreness she had not felt in a very long time filled her with incomparable nostalgia.

Jing Qingxia secretly used her old military training regimen to add extra training for herself. It was even more efficient than the training camp’s plan.

The Alpha genes inside her also seemed to awaken from dormancy, and the inexplicable competitive spirit that flared up made Jing Qingxia full of energy.

Watching Jing Qingxia’s rate of improvement, the training camp instructor asked in shock every day: Where did this precious little treasure come from? I dare guarantee that she can absolutely become the living signboard of our training camp!

“The training camp instructor praised you again today. He said your performance was excellent. You exceeded every training target.” Lin Chanjuan smiled as she picked up a cola chicken wing for Jing Qingxia. At the same time, she did not forget to ladle soup for Zhong Mingxue beside her.

“Thank you.” Zhong Mingxue lowered her eyes and thanked her. Living under someone else’s roof inevitably made her feel somewhat uncomfortable, but after a week of getting along, things had become much more natural.

During this week, Jing Guangyao and Lin Chanjuan spent most of their time at the company, while Jing Qingxia was at the training camp.

The two or three maids who worked shifts at home were not talkative people either.

The person who spoke to Zhong Mingxue the most was Auntie Zhang, who lived in the house.

Jing Qingxia picked up the topic Lin Chanjuan had just mentioned.

“Wow, that instructor is way too good at praising people. He praises me every day. Doesn’t he run out of words? People who don’t know better might think I’m about to differentiate into an S-rank any minute now.”

“In your dreams. If you can upgrade from C-rank to B-rank after completing the whole training cycle, that would already be pretty good. Other people start preparing one or two years early. Who’s like you? So lazy.” Jing Guangyao smiled and shook his head.

His words were full of disdain, but his eyes were full of indulgence.

After all, this laziness had been spoiled into existence by him.

Thinking of that, Jing Guangyao even felt a little proud.

Feeling familial affection she had never experienced before, Jing Qingxia cherished it greatly and revealed a smile.

Jing Guangyao and Lin Chanjuan exchanged a glance, and their expressions warmed as well.

Feelings were mutual to begin with.

The setting sun shone in through the floor-to-ceiling window beside them, spilling gold across the floor. It wrapped this warm family moment in light, making it seem even softer.

But the shadow to the side was clearly divided from it, splitting the dining table and the entire room into two halves. It was as though none of that warmth could seep through.

Zhong Mingxue sat within that shadow, sunk deep in her own loneliness.

The Jing family had treated her very well this past week, but they were not her biological parents after all. She had no way to accept their kindness with complete peace of mind.

Even Jing Guangyao’s simple teasing of Jing Qingxia sounded somewhat different when it fell into Zhong Mingxue’s ears.

She pressed her lips together and could not help thinking in another direction.

Logically speaking, preparations could have begun one or two years ago, yet they had not. Why was Jing Qingxia suddenly working hard only now?

Was she working hard for someone to see?

Zhong Mingxue truly did not want to speculate about the Jing family with such suspicion, but the changes she had encountered over the past few months and everything she had seen were constantly reminding her.

This was exactly how the Zhong family’s relatives had disguised themselves while secretly taking away the Zhong family enterprise.

Even blood-related relatives could do something like that.

Then the Jing family…

Before Zhong Mingxue could reach any conclusion, Jing Qingxia’s laughter from the side interrupted her wild thoughts.

“Hahaha! Dad, and here I thought you were a company president. What you just said really lacks foresight. Let me ask you a question. Studying is a very good thing, right? We should all live and learn until old age. Then do you know when the best time to start studying is?”

The topic changed so abruptly that even Jing Guangyao was stunned. “When to start? From childhood, of course.”

“Exactly. Starting from childhood is best. But if we miss the best period in childhood, does that mean we just stop studying?”

“Ah…” Jing Guangyao let out a long sigh and understood. His daughter was actually not joking. She was really talking to him about such a serious and inspirational topic.

It made his eyes heat up a little.

Before this big man could shed tiger tears, Jing Qingxia hurriedly said, “The best time to study is, first, in the past, and second, right now! Training is the same.

“Don’t worry. Although I missed it in the past, I’ll cherish the present and work twice as hard. I even told the instructor that I wanted to increase my training load.”

Rather than regretting not working hard before, it was better to start working twice as hard now. As long as one made up one’s mind to begin, it was never too late.

Lin Chanjuan smiled, very happy to see this change in Jing Qingxia. Before this, she had secretly said to Jing Guangyao, “Maybe Xiaxia’s change is because of Xiao Xue. Look at how outstanding Xiao Xue is. Xiaxia wants to learn to be better too.”

Jing Guangyao, however, understood the little cannon fodder’s temperament. “As long as she isn’t setting her sights on Xiao Xue, it’s fine. Xiao Xue is an S-rank Omega. We can’t just take advantage of her because she’s relying on our family. We have to be on guard against our own girl. She has plenty of crooked ideas.”

Lin Chanjuan rolled her eyes. “What kind of father talks about his daughter like that?”

And yet Jing Guangyao’s guess truly matched the little cannon fodder’s thoughts.

This was also why, in the original text, after the little cannon fodder was retaliated against by the female lead, Jing Guangyao, having investigated and learned the truth, had worn a heavy expression and taken Lin Chanjuan abroad in grief, but ultimately did not go fight the female lead to the death.

……

After dinner, Jing Qingxia returned to her room and packed the things she needed to bring to school tomorrow.

Seeing Zhong Mingxue happen to pass by outside the door, Jing Qingxia called out to stop her. “Zhong Mingxue, let’s ride to school together tomorrow. You don’t have a school uniform right now, so you might get stopped. Just follow me. I’ll take you to find the homeroom teacher, and that’ll save you a lot of trouble. My dad said he arranged for you to be in our class. I can protect you!”

Protect me?

Zhong Mingxue glanced at Jing Qingxia and slowly nodded. She showed a grateful smile.

Although Jing Qingxia did not know how much sincerity was in that smile, it was truly beautiful.

She should smile more often.

Jing Qingxia also revealed a bright smile in return.

As though infected by it, Zhong Mingxue’s smile could not help deepening as well. By the time she reacted, Read on BaiLianTales she quickly turned around and returned to her room.

This was the first time the two of them had spoken alone this week.

If nodding counted as a sentence, that was.

Jing Qingxia had a feeling that because she had been attending training and had not had many chances to interact with Zhong Mingxue, Zhong Mingxue had lived much more comfortably in this house. She was far more relaxed than she had been on the first day.

……

Early the next morning.

With the excitement of returning to campus, Jing Qingxia got out of bed. In her excitement, she folded her blanket into a perfect tofu block.

Only after finally coming back to her senses did she shake it open again and spread it out in its usual state.

After breakfast, she was fully prepared to set off.

Because something urgent had come up at the company, Jing Guangyao and Lin Chanjuan had taken a flight for a business trip in the middle of the night yesterday.

Auntie Zhang took on the role of guardian and [bailiantales.com]had prepared bicycles in advance for the two girls who were just starting school.

One red and one blue, the same model in different colors.

They were actually quite nice-looking. Unfortunately, Jing Qingxia’s relationship with Zhong Mingxue was not good enough yet. Otherwise, she really would have wanted to tease her with the line: since ancient times, red and blue make a CP.

“Which one do you want?” Jing Qingxia walked around the two bicycles once.

Zhong Mingxue seemed not to have expected Jing Qingxia to ask for her opinion, because in their previous interactions, there had never been such a process.

She paused for a second before giving an answer with no real reference value. “Either is fine.”

Zhong Mingxue’s expression did not change much, but Jing Qingxia keenly noticed that her attitude had truly softened quite a bit.

Sure enough, the strategy of avoiding disturbing her for a week had been very effective!

For a wary little kitten that was ready to scratch people at any moment, one should give her enough freedom and space from the beginning. Only then was it possible for her to show signs of getting close when necessary.

“Then I’ll take the red one. It’s more passionate, so it suits me!” Jing Qingxia said, immediately getting onto it.

Both Jing Qingxia and Zhong Mingxue were 168 centimeters tall, [stolen content]and their equally long legs stepped over the bicycle frames.

The bicycles had been adjusted to a suitable height for them from the start.

Zhong Mingxue also got onto the blue bicycle, but after a long while, Jing Qingxia still did not set off.

Meeting Zhong Mingxue’s gaze, Jing Qingxia smiled. “Zhong Mingxue, can you open the map navigation and lead the way?”

Zhong Mingxue revealed a puzzled expression.

“Don’t look at me like I’m mentally challenged. That’s a personal attack!”

“……”

The joke stopped at the right point. “This is also my first time riding a bicycle to school, so I don’t know the way. Besides, I don’t know what your stamina is like. I’m the only person in that devil training camp who voluntarily increased her training load, so don’t compare yourself to me. Omegas may have good endurance, but their explosive power isn’t great, right? You decide how fast we ride, and I’ll follow you. We left early, so there’s enough time.”

Jing Qingxia’s first reason was to show weakness, and the second was consideration.

She also hid a third reason.

Judging by Zhong Mingxue’s current wariness, even if Jing Qingxia led the way, stolen content Zhong Mingxue would definitely worry that there was some trick involved. In that case, it was better to simply let Zhong Mingxue follow the navigation and lead the way herself.

“Okay.” Zhong Mingxue nodded and placed her phone on the bicycle’s built-in phone holder.

“Let’s go!” Jing Qingxia shouted excitedly.

Hearing that, Zhong Mingxue unconsciously curved her lips.

She quickly restrained it, but she could not hide her good mood.

Facing the gentle breeze, she slowly lifted her head.

The weather today was quite nice.

The sunlight was warm, but not overly passionate. It was the perfect kind of warmth for summer.

Author’s Note:

Zhong Mingxue: Not a bad metaphor. So, are you ready to study?

Jing Qingxia: Can I not study? History and Chinese are seriously too hard T-T