Chapter 26 - All she knew was that she truly, genuinely, loved anything Xiao Wanqing gave her (Patreon)

The day before the National Day holiday, Zhou Qin picked Lin Xian up from school and then took a detour to Xiao Wanqing’s place so Lin Xian could pack some clean clothes and books. After that, the three of them went out for a meal together before parting ways.

Once they set foot on the European continent, the Lin family of three quickly divided up their responsibilities: Lin Zhan was in charge of heavy lifting—backpacks, luggage, anything that required muscle. Zhou Qin took charge of posing for photos and admiring the scenery—basically all things enjoyable. Lin Xian, meanwhile, was in charge of asking for directions, communicating with people, and taking photos. Zhou Qin cheerfully declared that this was a great opportunity for Lin Xian to practice her spoken English and photography skills. Lin Xian was full of excitement, so actually, she didn't want to argue with her anymore.

Their first stop was France. After Zhou Qin finally remembered her motherly duties and took a few solo photos of Lin Xian in front of the Eiffel Tower, Lin Xian leaned closer to her, eyes fixed on the camera, and the first person who came to mind was unexpectedly Auntie Xiao.

She pulled out her phone and handed it to her mom, coaxing her, “Mom, can you take a couple with my phone too?”

Zhou Qin took the phone while asking curiously, “Why do you need it on your phone? The camera has way better resolution. The photos will be sharper.”

Grinning, Lin Xian struck a pose and replied, “I want to post them online. It’s easier from my phone.”

Zhou Qin teased her, calling her vain and obsessed with appearances, but still took the task seriously, snapping two adorable photos. As she looked through the lens at her daughter, pride welled up in her heart. That’s my girl—beautiful, just like me!

Once the photos were taken, Lin Xian checked her phone and nodded in satisfaction—her mom’s photo skills weren’t too bad. Eagerly, she turned on her data, tapped on the pinned chat with Xiao Wanqing on WeChat, and sent the pictures.

Come to think of it, this was the first time she had messaged Xiao Wanqing since they added each other. She kept the chat window open for a while, waiting—but no reply came.

From a short distance away, Zhou Qin noticed her standing still and called her over. Lin Xian sighed, locked her screen, and jogged to catch up with her parents.

I wonder where Auntie Xiao and Auntie Wen are now… Are they having fun? She tried to comfort herself—no reply is normal. She had nearly forgotten about the time difference. While she was strolling around in France, Xiao Wanqing, back in the GMT+8 time zone, was probably fast asleep.

That evening, they found a cozy tavern for dinner. Watching her parents sip red wine from elegant glasses, Lin Xian was reminded once again of Xiao Wanqing—of the first dinner they had shared, of the way she had gently swirled her glass, her grace and elegance like something from a painting.

Lin Xian couldn’t help herself—she took out her phone again, connected to the internet, and checked for any messages.

Still nothing.

The WeChat conversation remained the same: two solitary pictures sitting in the chat, untouched.

She pouted slightly. Well then. Must be having too much fun with Auntie Wen to remember her phone. She put her phone away, grabbed her knife and fork, and began hacking at her steak with exaggerated force, as if the meat had offended her.

It was nearly 11 p.m. by the time they returned to the hotel after a satisfying night tour of Paris. Zhou Qin and Lin Zhan strolled arm in arm into their double room, all lovey-dovey, while Lin Xian returned alone to the adjacent room.

She was exhausted after a full day of walking. After a quick shower and a half-hearted attempt at drying her hair, she didn’t even bother turning on her laptop to transfer the camera photos—she just wanted to lie down and sleep.

As soon as her head hit the pillow, she drifted off.

But no matter how tired she was, she couldn’t escape her old habit of being a light sleeper in unfamiliar beds. Around 4 a.m., Lin Xian woke up for no reason—and couldn’t fall back asleep.

She lay there, eyes open, staring through the window into the deep European night. Was the night sky here the same as back home?

Inevitably, her thoughts circled back to that unanswered message. Curiosity and restlessness stirred within her. She reached for her phone on the nightstand, unlocked it, connected to the internet, and opened that familiar icon.

Her heart started to race.

The chat had finally changed!

Beneath the two pictures were several long green voice messages—Xiao Wanqing had replied.

Lin Xian sat bolt upright in bed, her face blooming with a smile even she didn’t notice. She eagerly tapped the first message, and in the quiet of the night, Xiao Wanqing’s warm, melodious voice filled the silence, laughter laced in her tone:
“Xianxian, did you get taller…?”

Lin Xian burst out laughing. Auntie Xiao’s priorities, seriously…

Without hesitation, she threw off the thin blanket and padded barefoot to the desk where her bag sat. From the side pocket, she fished out her earphones and crawled back into bed. After plugging them in, she tapped on the message again, letting that familiar voice echo softly in her ears and sink deep into her heart.

One by one, she listened to the messages. Xiao Wanqing told her they were in Lizhou Ancient Town now. She said it was different than she imagined—more developed, more crowded with tourists than expected, a little too commercialized—but she still liked it.

With every word, Lin Xian’s smile grew wider.

The second-to-last voice message had a noticeably longer pause before it, sent over twenty minutes ago—a full 60 seconds long.

She tapped play.

The background was slightly noisy—a murmur of hushed voices, the softest rustle of fabric—and a faint, gentle melody.

Then, a cool and ethereal female voice, breathtakingly beautiful, slipped through the quiet like a cool breeze, sending a tingling shiver down Lin Xian’s spine, as if tracing a path to her heart:

“Even when the sky looks endlessly deep, still a storm gathers between the brows…”

Lin Xian didn’t often listen to Cantonese songs, so she didn’t immediately recognize it.

“…Afraid that tragedy will repeat, in my fate, in my fate—
The more beautiful the thing, the less I dare to touch…”

Her eyes stared blankly at the screen that had gone dim. She was completely transfixed.

Was that Auntie Xiao?

Yes. It had to be her.

Though her singing voice was a touch cooler, deeper than her usual speaking voice—still, it was her.

Something inside Lin Xian felt like it was exploding in soft bursts of fireworks. Her mind whirled.

She speaks Cantonese? She can sing? She sings so beautifully!
Why wasn’t I there to hear it live? Why, why, why…

“…Even if I try again to treasure you, what’s the point?
Isn’t it true that even holding you tightly might still end in regret…”

Lin Xian had no idea she’d already slipped completely into fangirl mode, eyes sparkling like stars. She was listening, utterly mesmerized—when suddenly, the singing cut off.

Just like that.

As if the person recording had accidentally let go of the button…

It was the 60-second limit.

She immediately tapped on the last voice message, only three seconds long. Sure enough, it wasn’t the song.

Lin Xian nearly went mad. In the middle of the night, alone in a foreign country, wide-awake and thrilled out of her mind—yet now, unable to hear the rest. She was so frustrated and disappointed she could’ve scratched her ears off. Her slender fingers flew over the screen as if dancing, typing back to Xiao Wanqing at lightning speed, showering her with praise:
“That was so good!! Auntie Xiao, your singing is amazing, waaahhh, but I didn’t get to hear the rest ～～～ Why wasn’t I thereeee, I’m crying…”

But even after waiting a whole two minutes, the chat remained unchanged.

She’d missed her again.

Lin Xian tapped that voice message again. Then again. And again… She leaned back and turned her head, gazing out at the night sky outside her window, a soft smile slowly blooming on her lips.

How could she be like this? So brilliant, so gentle, so…enchanting.

Finally, she clicked open that very last voice message again—the one sent just two minutes after the previous one—and listened closely.

Xiao Wanqing’s voice came through, lower and raspier than usual, soft and husky, as if it had crossed an entire ocean to reach her:
“Goodnight, little one…”

When she finally quieted her mind, she realized—was Xiao Wanqing… a little drunk? That voice… so sultry and soft it sent tingles down her spine…

Was this a song recorded by Wen Tong on her phone? Was Wen Tong… right there with her…?

Something felt wrong in her chest, like her heart had suddenly caught a chill. Out of nowhere, an ache spread inside her. After a long pause, she finally pressed the voice message button and replied to Xiao Wanqing in a voice so gentle she didn’t even notice it herself: “Goodnight. Sweet dreams.”

In the days that followed, wherever Lin Xian went, she would send Xiao Wanqing photos and voice messages. The time difference meant Xiao Wanqing’s replies always came much later—but each time, she replied. At first, it was just voice messages. Later, she started sending Lin Xian photos too—never of herself, only of the scenery.

But she was willing to share with her now. Did that mean... Xiao Wanqing was slowly letting her guard down? Gradually, truly starting to see her as a friend?

That thought alone made Lin Xian feel incredibly content. Incredibly happy.

On the evening the holidays ended and she returned to Xiao Wanqing’s house, Lin Xian had dinner at home, then hurriedly packed her luggage and urged Zhou Qin to head out. As Zhou Qin packed the gifts they brought back, she asked worriedly, “You packed all your books, right? Don’t show up to class tomorrow and realize you forgot them. All I saw was you fussing over that scarf and perfume you picked out for your Aunt Xiao.”

Lin Xian opened the door, clearly irritated by the repeat reminders, dragging out her words with a hint of annoyance: “I packed them… Mom, you’ve said that like three times already.”

Zhou Qin grabbed the car keys and the gift bag for Xiao Wanqing, following her out the door. She shot Lin Xian a glare. “And who am I doing this for? Can’t you do something reliable for once? Who was it that almost left her passport on the bed when checking out of the hotel?”

Lin Xian froze at the mention of her past blunder, instantly deflated. She lowered her head and kept quiet. Zhou Qin nagged a bit more but finally let it go when she saw her behaving.

Xiao Wanqing had only just gotten back, still a little travel-worn. Her luggage was sparsely scattered in the living room, but the gifts meant for Zhou Qin had already been neatly separated.

Lin Xian followed behind Zhou Qin into the house, and the moment her eyes landed on Xiao Wanqing, she couldn’t look away. Her mind couldn’t quite match this gentle, elegant woman—so calm, so well-mannered—with the image of someone sitting in a dimly lit bar, drunk and dreamy, eyes lowered as she softly sang...

Xiao Wanqing thought maybe her disheveled appearance had startled Lin Xian. She touched her own cheek and smiled, asking, “Did I get a lot darker from the sun?”

Lin Xian snapped out of it, studied her carefully, then shook her head. “No. Not at all.”

Zhou Qin chimed in with a laugh, “She really didn’t tan.” Then, remembering something, she added, “You’ve never really tanned, have you? Back when you and Wen Tong went on that grad school countryside research trip, Wen Tong came back looking like charcoal, and you looked exactly the same. My dad even suspected you were slacking off.”

Xiao Wanqing recalled Wen Tong’s face—radiant like a peach blossom when they left, darker than coal when they returned—and couldn’t help but laugh, lips curling softly. “You should see her now. She’s... pretty much an honorary African citizen again.”

Zhou Qin burst out laughing, “She always says she tans fast but turns fair just as fast.”

Xiao Wanqing had brought back a mountain of souvenirs: hand-carved wooden bowls from Mamba, tea leaves, coffee, various cheeses, flower cakes, ham—it all filled multiple bags. Zhou Qin was a little embarrassed and chided, “Did you clear out the whole market over there? And you’re not even worried about the weight. Didn’t Wen Tong complain about you?”

Xiao Wanqing’s gentle face turned mock-pitiful as she playfully tattled, “She totally did. Wouldn’t even help me carry anything. But I liked every single one of these things, and I wanted to bring them all back for you guys to try.”

Zhou Qin was genuinely touched. She held Xiao Wanqing’s hand and patted it gently. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”

Lin Xian seized the moment, tilting her head with a grin as she asked, “Aunt Xiao~ What about mine?”

Zhou Qin released Xiao Wanqing’s hand and shot her daughter a sharp look. “Have some shame. Who asks for gifts like that?”

Lin Xian clung to Xiao Wanqing’s arm, swaying it as she pouted, “But Aunt Xiao isn’t just anyone—plus, I knew you wouldn’t forget me!”

She blinked her big, sparkly eyes at her. “Right? Aunt Xiao?”

Xiao Wanqing melted at how cute she was, her heart softening. She gently tapped Lin Xian’s nose with her fingertip, smiling. “You little clever fox…”

She walked over to the suitcase by the coffee table, unzipped it, and pulled out a delicate box. Handing it to Lin Xian, she smiled and said, “Open it.”

Lin Xian took it with both hands and slowly opened the lid. Inside was a beautifully woven black cord with a perfectly round, creamy-white jade pendant shaped like a safety amulet.

Zhou Qin, who’d developed a keen eye for jade under Lin Zhan’s influence, immediately recognized it as top-quality Hetian white jade—clearly expensive. She immediately spoke up. “No, this is too much. Lin Xian can’t accept something so valuable.”

Xiao Wanqing arched her brows and smiled as she gently rebuked Zhou Qin, “Sister, don’t interrupt—I’m not giving it to you. I’m asking Lin Xian.”

She lifted the pendant from the box, loosened the clasp slightly, and stepped closer to Lin Xian. With a soft motion, she brushed aside Lin Xian’s long hair and carefully fastened the pendant around her neck. Leaning in, her eyes—clear and gentle like flowing water—gazed into Lin Xian’s as her voice fell soft and tender, like a breeze whispering through her heart: “Do you like it?”

Lin Xian lowered her eyes, looking at the delicate fingers still resting lightly at her neck. Fair and slender, they were like the white jade now lying against her chest. She looked up, meeting Xiao Wanqing’s gaze. After a moment of silence, the corners of her eyes curved ever so slightly, her dark eyes glimmering like black gemstones, full of life and light: “I do… I really do…”

And in that moment, she saw joy and gentleness ripple softly in Xiao Wanqing’s eyes—

No matter what Zhou Qin said afterward—whether it was protest or blame—Lin Xian no longer heard a word of it.

All she knew was that she truly, genuinely, loved anything Xiao Wanqing gave her. No matter what it was.

As long as Xiao Wanqing was happy, as long as she was willing to give—She would always be willing to receive.