Chapter 173
Chapter 173 Ling Mo Will Protect Me
There was a moment of silence in the bedroom.
But cheap dad still had no intention of leaving: “Xinyan, still not asleep? Dad wants to talk to you about something.”
As he spoke, Xia Xinyan and Ling Mo saw the doorknob start to turn.
Probably someone outside saw the flickering light of the room through the gap in the door.
Xia Xinyan was momentarily startled and immediately pressed Ling Mo’s head down, shoving him into the covers. Then she hugged him, half-lying on him, pressing him against her body, and slightly tousled the blanket to make their silhouettes less obvious.
Fortunately, she was covered with a thick comforter.
Just after she finished this, the door was opened a crack.
Then she heard her cheap mom’s voice from outside: “What do you want this time?! Did you ask to enter your daughter’s room?! Did your daughter let you in?! Still treating your daughter like a child, huh?! How come a guy with such a sharp business mind is so stupid in this regard?!”
“Dear, don’t—… make it light… hiss… make it quieter! Don’t let our daughter hear!”
With all the commotion outside, the bedroom door was pushed open.
Dad and Mom stood at the doorway in matching pajamas, each with different expressions.
Xia Xinyan only poked her head out to look at them, her expression very calm: “Is something wrong?”
“Still not asleep?” Dad immediately forced a somewhat awkward smile and stepped inside. “I just wanted to chat about something.”
Mom followed closely behind him, almost like a supervisor.
Xia Xinyan once again pressed Ling Mo tighter against herself under the blanket, her tone still unchanged: “Even if I was asleep, I’d probably be woken up.”
Dad immediately awkwardly coughed, while Mom shot him an annoyed glance.
Is there something that couldn’t be said during the day, and had to wait until her daughter was resting to disturb her?
I don’t know how he became a dad.
But since he was already here, the things that needed to be said couldn’t be left for tomorrow. Dad pulled a chair over and sat down without getting too close to the bed, naturally not noticing anything amiss: “Did you have an argument with Jincang?”
Xia Xinyan paused slightly: “Did he tell you?”
“No,” Dad said somewhat helplessly, “Your cousin Jincang likes you the most. After not seeing you for so long, he’d be happy to see you. I noticed his face didn’t look too good when he left just now, so I wondered if you two had a conflict.”
After mixing in the business world for so many years, he could still pick up on such things.
And her previous comment basically admitted it.
“No conflict,” Xia Xinyan simply regurgitated her earlier reasoning, “I don’t like curly hair, so I don’t want to see him.”
“Curly hair? Jincang was born with curly hair… You never said you didn’t like it before…”
“I don’t like it anymore.”
Dad paused for a moment but didn’t ask more: “Jincang spoiled you more than any other cousin before, we can all see he really likes you. In the future, when we’re not around, it will be up to them to protect and take care of you, so you should build a good relationship with them…”
“…Oh.” Xia Xinyan’s gaze was somewhat inexplicable.
Cheap dad suddenly felt something was off with his daughter.
His precious daughter had never been this indifferent.
…It must be because she has a boyfriend, that guy must have led her astray!
Definitely!
That guy… He must find a way…
“Hiss—!” The sudden pain in his thigh made him gasp, turning his head to see his wife retracting her hand.
Cheap mom had been with him for so many years and knew how her husband ticked. With his face looking like he was about to kill someone, she didn’t need to think hard to know what awful things he was pondering.
She couldn’t be bothered with what he was thinking— but was he trying to scare their daughter?
She’s protective of her daughter.
Cheap dad seemed to realize this and awkwardly shelved his thoughts.
Xia Xinyan squinted: “So is that all Dad wanted to talk about?”
Under the covers, Ling Mo’s body was pressed tightly against hers, and since he was considerably taller, he couldn’t hide too deep under the blanket to avoid exposing their situation.
So at that moment, his head was buried in her two soft assets.
And because of Xia Xinyan’s embrace, he was pressed even closer.
It was really warm.
Just a bit hard to breathe.
But if it meant staying like this all night, he could accept a bit of oxygen deprivation.
At that moment, he suddenly felt thankful for his future father-in-law.
The timing couldn’t have been better.
Earlier he had been worried about how to find a reason to get closer to Xia Xinyan.
—However, for Xia Xinyan, hugging Ling Mo didn’t feel quite so pleasant.
Her chest was her sensitive spot, and with her wearing only a thin nightgown, Ling Mo’s breath even penetrated that layer of fabric, warming her skin and causing her to tremble slightly.
Her calm demeanor on the outside was simply to hide that strange sensation.
But to cheap dad, it appeared as though his daughter had grown even more distant—she didn’t even comfort him after Mom hit him.
He felt even more frustrated and resumed speaking on serious matters: “But… there’s one more thing, is Xia Xinyan still playing that ‘Realm of Divine Presence’?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good. I heard Jincang and the others are also playing, and their rankings in there are pretty high.” He paused and continued, “That game could very well be a new trend for the future. As we age, we’ll only be able to do business, and we might miss out on opportunities that require physical activity. But you guys can seize this chance; the future is going to be a youth-driven world. I hope the Summer Family’s legacy can continue in your hands.”
Xia Xinyan stared at him, not speaking for a while.
Cheap dad fell silent for a moment and sighed: “I’ll just say this much. Mom and I can’t protect you forever, and the Summer Family might not be able to protect you for a lifetime either. You will have to stand on your own sooner or later. I don’t want you to be bullied after we’re gone, so… you still need to build good relationships with your cousins; they will always be your family and can accompany you along the way.”
Hearing this, Ling Mo in the blanket suddenly felt a heavy weight in his heart.
He understood the implication behind those words. If the game really affected reality in the future and he didn’t want to be bullied, just having background support wouldn’t be enough, he’d need to be strong enough too.
If he wanted to protect Xia Xinyan for life, he must enhance his own strength, preferably… reach the top of the leaderboard.
Then he heard Xia Xinyan’s voice—
“No need to build good relationships with them, Ling Mo will protect me.”
Ling Mo was taken aback.
Then, as warmth washed over his face, his heart was instantly filled with warmth.
