Chapter 178
Chapter 178 Time to Change Our Mindset
As the banquet approached its conclusion, another person came over to find Xia Xinyan and Ling Mo.
Xia Xinyan vaguely recognized this face; it seemed to be her older cousin, Xia Weihan.
Of course, she had just noted it last night. She had never seen this person in her past life, nor had she seen his name on the leaderboard.
What stuck in her mind was that this guy seemed to have not said a single word throughout last night’s meeting.
He exuded a vibe of being completely out of place compared to Xia Jincang and the others.
Just this alone made Xia Xinyan look at him more favorably.
“Xinyan, are you not used to occasions like this?” Xia Weihan sat down beside them, asking kindly.
Xia Xinyan glanced at him, noncommittally responding, “Isn’t this none of our business?”
Xia Weihan paused, then asked, “I heard that Jincang and Ling Mo got into a fight? Nothing serious, right?”
Ling Mo chuckled dismissively, “It’s nothing, Brother Jincang is very measured; it was just a sparring match.”
“That’s good,” Xia Weihan coughed lightly, “That guy Jincang sometimes just likes to cause trouble. I’ll apologize for him—he really cares for his only sister, Xinyan, so when he found out you suddenly had a boyfriend, he might have been a bit worried. I hope you can understand.”
Ling Mo nodded with a smile, “I understand.”
If he had such a lovely sister as Xinyan, he would similarly feel hostile toward the guy she started dating—it’s only natural.
So all he needed to do was prove in front of them that he could take care of Xinyan.
Xia Weihan slightly nodded, seemingly recalling something, and then suddenly asked, “Are you planning to stay here for a few more days, or…?”
“We’re going back tonight.” Xia Xinyan directly took Ling Mo’s hand, expressing her stance, “There are things to handle at school; we can’t stay too long.”
Ling Mo paused for a moment, looked down at the hand she was holding, and silently returned the grip.
Seeing this, Xia Weihan hesitated for a moment but did not try to keep them: “Alright… you can come back to have fun once there’s nothing going on at school.”
“Mm.”
“Do you need me to give you a ride?”
“No need, I drove here.”
“Oh, I see…”
The atmosphere abruptly fell into silence.
After a while, noticing that Xia Weihan had no intention of leaving, Xia Xinyan asked, “Is there something else?”
“Ah, there is one more thing.” Xia Weihan took a couple of seconds to gather his thoughts and said, “I heard you’re both playing that ‘Realm of Divine Presence’?”
Xia Xinyan nodded.
“That’s quite the coincidence, we are all playing that game too.” Xia Weihan chuckled, “How about we add each other as friends now? We can play together whenever we have time. Jincang and the others are quite good at it; who knows, they might be able to help you out.”
Here it comes.
Xia Xinyan’s eyebrows rose slightly.
She hadn’t misjudged; this was indeed one of the reasons they had been called back.
But this cautious attitude in approaching them made her want to laugh—were they afraid of alarming her?
Or were they worried about scaring her, their little sister?
She had thought it would be Xia Jincang himself coming to make contact.
Of course, with the olive branch being extended from the Summer Family, there was no reason for her and Ling Mo to refuse now—after all, she was also a part of the Summer Family, and avoiding her own family’s influence while trying to reach out to others seemed quite foolish. Moreover, Ling Mo needed certain external resources to achieve more comprehensive growth, something she couldn’t provide alone, and the Summer Family was just in time to offer support.
“Sure, let’s add each other as friends,” Xia Xinyan pulled out her phone, “Let’s play together when we get the chance—but we have a lot going on at school right now, so it might take a while before we can play the game.”
“That’s fine; studies come first.” Xia Weihan nodded with a smile.
After they exchanged friend requests, this birthday banquet began to wind down. Xia Xinyan didn’t linger there and said goodbye to her “precious” parents before driving away with Ling Mo.
Back at home, looking at the familiar living room, Ling Mo felt a sense of relaxation wash over him. He flopped onto the sofa, letting out a sigh, “I suddenly feel so much pressure…”
Xia Xinyan sat beside him, turned on the TV, and glanced at him sideways, “Hmm? What pressure?”
“Your family,” Ling Mo shifted a bit, resting his head on her lap, the corners of his mouth curling up, “I want them to recognize me, and it feels like there’s still a long way to go…”
He had a feeling that his previous sparring match with Xia Jincang was probably just the beginning.
Xia Xinyan paused, but didn’t mind his resting head on her lap: “Didn’t I say you don’t have to worry about them?”
“They’re all your family; how can I not care?” Ling Mo chuckled softly, “I know you don’t want me to overthink, but I want to prove myself—I’ve never been one to run away. Since I’ve become your boyfriend, I need to take on the necessary responsibilities.”
He knew she was looking out for him, but love required mutual effort, and he always remembered her saying that.
So, no matter how great the difficulties and challenges, as long as she was by his side, he wouldn’t back down.
Because every little thing she did gave him more encouragement and strength.
—Like permitting him to seek a lap pillow.
Speaking of which, this was one of the items on his “One Hundred Intimate Interactions to Do with My Girlfriend in the Future” list.
It really felt so good…
And the view wasn’t bad at all.
Xia Xinyan looked down and caught his gaze for a moment before suddenly asking, “Do you think Xia Jincang wanted to spar with you just for me?”
Ling Mo paused, “Hmm?”
“Not necessarily, you know, Mo Mo,” Xia Xinyan leaned forward slightly, her voice dropping to a whisper, “He might already be suspicious of our identities in the game.”
Ling Mo’s mind didn’t process this immediately: “What?”
Why was she bringing this up all of a sudden?
What does this have to do with the game?
“The factions in the game might have already set up their networks by now; this game is no longer child’s play.” Xia Xinyan’s tone turned serious, “We need to do our best to delay our exposure; that way we can gain more advantages. It’s time to change our mindset in both reality and the game, do you understand, Mo Mo?”
Once the game reached its mid to late stages, the dangers players faced were not just from the impending Cataclysm but also from other players and factions.
Perhaps the game’s purpose was to give humanity enough power to fight against destruction, but after gaining such power, some individuals might become the very source of that destruction.
This banquet had already made her realize that perhaps the progress of the player community had entered the mid to late game stage now.
So, this reality world probably wouldn’t stay peaceful for long.
She couldn’t change the progression of the world; the only thing she could do was to help Ling Mo gain a decisive edge amid the impending chaos.
