Chapter 6: Kiss
Qin's heart squeezed and she nearly cried.
Nonetheless, she quickly dipped her head and covered her swollen cheek. Trying to suppress her tears, she said, "Nothing much, Mian. I put on too much blush today. Y-You go back to your room."
Qing Mian looked at her in silence and, after a while, calmly replied, "Oh."
Just as Qin was about to feel relieved, the girl walked past her and headed downstairs.
Her pupils constricted and she hurriedly ran up to the girl. "Mianmian..."
Upon hearing the commotion, the people in the living room turned to look at them.
Qing Mian walked right up to Ding Xian and remained expressionless. Her huge eyes appeared slightly slow-witted, but her voice was really icy. "Why did you hit her?"
Ding Xian was taken aback. For a split second, she found this girl's aura to be startling, but she quickly returned to her senses.
She was merely a girl who was of the same age as Qinqin. That must have been her illusion.
She sat comfortably on the sofa and lifted her head slightly before smirking. "She gave birth to a dimwit for our family and has embarrassed the Qing family thoroughly. I merely gave her a slap and that's lenient enough!"
By then, Qin had caught up to Mian and blocked her from the front. "Hey, Mianmian isn't a dimwit!"
"Not a dimwit?" Ding Xian sneered. "If she's not a dimwit, why is she like this? Qin, don't feel aggrieved. I don't expect Mian to be as outstanding as Qinqin. As long as her grades are about the same as Qinqin's, I'll definitely be courteous to you and treat you like my ancestors!"
Qin's lips trembled and she could not say a single word.
At this moment...
"No need."
Qing Mian had spoken all of a sudden. She looked determinedly at Ding Xian as she shot a quick glance at the two men before saying icily, "If my results are better than Qing Qin, you just have to apologize to my mother."
After saying that, she brought Qin upstairs.
It was only when they had disappeared at the staircase that Ding Xian returned to her senses. When her eyes met Lu's observing eyes, she sneered. "How can her grades be better than Qinqin's? Wait until her next life!"
...
Qing Mian brought Qin back to her own room.
Closing the door, she turned around and saw Qin's watery eyes. Feeling touched, the latter held her hand and said, "Mianmian, are you finally calling me 'Mom'?"
Qing Mian froze and replied without much expression, "Mhm." Her voice had a hint of distance and awkwardness.
She knew that her parents did not abandon her on purpose and she had no complaints about them, but she hasn't seen them for 15 years, after all. She felt uneasy when Qin adopted her all of a sudden.
Seeing her like this, Qin did not push her further. She merely dipped her head and began repeating over and over again, "Mianmian, I'm sorry for not being able to protect myself and dragging you into this but don't worry, mum will be stronger for you."
She choked. "Your father and I looked for a daughter for so many years and I finally met someone as excellent as you. I take you as my biological daughter and I love you and want to protect you"
Qing Mian was uncomfortable seeing her cry. She anxiously took out her tissue paper and passed it to Qin before standing there in a daze.
After some time, Qin had finally had enough of crying and felt a little abashed when she calmed down.
Placing the tissue paper down, she tried to force a smile with those red eyes.
Her daughter's defense warmed her heart, but thinking of what had happened, she was fearful that the pressure on her would be too much. She then comforted Qing Mian. "Mianmian, don't feel pressured and don't listen to your Ding Xian's words. A person's grades don't represent if he or she is outstanding, do you understand?"
Qing Mian nodded while feeling lost.
Qin continued to console her. "In Mom's eyes, you're the best no matter what you do. I just hope that you can be safe and spend the rest of your life happily. Mianmian, for your sake, I'll slowly grow stronger, so don't worry!"
Qing Mian replied, "...Oh."
Ding Xian's slap was not too hard and the swelling on Qin's cheek had subsided. Qing Cheng neither noticed it nor did she mention it.
After having dinner and lying down to rest,
Zhang Qin suddenly said, "I'm going to start acting again."
She used to be an actress, but after losing her first child, she became wasted and did not touch the scripts for years. Now that she had another daughter, she had become a strong mother and needed to get back up again.
The only reason that the Ding Xian bullied her was simply that her parents were not very rich now and she had no income.
...
The next morning...
Qing Mian, who did not get a wink of sleep turned on her phone and saw her friends and Li Min's message. However, she had to prepare for school. After washing up and having breakfast, she got in the car and headed to school.
-I'll wait for you where we met yesterday-
She remembered what Li Min told her on the phone.
'Phewww', she almost forgot
She instinctively shouted, "Uncle Zhou, stop!"
Chh! The car came to a halt suddenly. Qing Qin wobbled, and, after sitting down securely again, she could not help but say, "Sister, today is the day of overall results release, don't tell me you're trying to skip school to avoid it?"
Qing Mian could not be bothered with her at all as she quickly headed down.
Stumbling, she walked toward the shade.
She quickened her steps and opened the door opened.
"Ah", Qing Mian screamed, she was pulled into Li Min's embrace.
Just as she was in a daze, Li Min gradually looked up.
The car's air conditioner was strong, and the man was, once again, donning an all-black ensemble. He held a book in his hand as he sat there relaxedly. There was no expression on his face, and his eyes slowly landed on Qing Mian as he asked, "You ignored my mesages last night?"
Qing Mian kept silent for a moment. "....I was asleep"
Li Min: "..."
Their eyes met and there was complete silence.
The car was oddly silent for half a minute.
"Pua!" Li Min laughed in a deep voice. That laughter was so low that it seemed to be lingering in Qing Mian's ears magically. This made her cheeks flushed.
Having nothing to say, she tried to start a conversation. "Won't you go to work?"
After saying that, she looked at him.
The man lowered his eyes and replied, "I will but you are more important ."
Last night, he worked overtime just to accompany her today.
But—
She doesn't even care if they meet or not. So heartless!
"Huh?", she said
"I'll make you understand", Li Min said with a devilish smile.
"Hooligan", Qing Mian shouted.
"What's wrong with kissing my future wife. You are also my girlfriend and we are still at the honeymoon stage", he said with a low chuckle.
"Get lost!', she said and left the car with a smile.
"Bye baby", Li Min said.
"Make sure you reply to my messages immediately", he added.
"I don't know you", Qing Mian covered her face
"Baby? Denying your boyfriend now?!", Li Min said.
"Who agreed to date you?", she said with a smile and ran away.
"Don't fall!", Li Min said with a smile.
"Bye. Go to work"
"Bye"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone