Since Tian Xiaobei left, Xia Dabao hadn’t actually shown much despair, continuing to eat as usual and play as she pleased. Nan Feng therefore wondered whether her daughter’s calm demeanor was just a facade, and inside, she had never really let go. Perhaps now, it was all finally bursting forth.
Keeping it all bottled up for too long wasn’t healthy, and Nan Feng thought she could slowly guide her daughter through it.
Xia Dabao gave a bitter smile, “Mom, I knew you wouldn’t agree. Sigh!”
She lay on her bed, staring up at the beams overhead, and said with resignation, “I don’t actually want to find Xiaobei. I just want to get out and about. Xiao’ai is planning to leave, too. Then, I’ll be all alone again.”
“Don’t you have your dad and mom with you?” Nan Feng stroked her head, knowing that she was just feeling cooped up.
Xia Dabao didn’t respond.
If it weren’t for her parents, she probably would not have emerged from her gloom yet. But now that she had, she found herself lost in another kind of confusion.
“Abao, mom has been through it all. Back in the day, there wasn’t a shortage of men pursuing me–if not a dozen, at least half a dozen, including many talents like Xiaobei. But I saw through them. Such talents may truly like you, but deep down, you’re not their top priority. When faced with a choice in the future, the first person they’ll give up will be you,” Nan Feng told Xia Dabao.
Xia Dabao turned over and adopted a prone position, burying her face in the pillow.
Of course, she wasn’t crying, just feeling incredibly downhearted.
After a while, she lifted her head and looked at Nan Feng, “Mom, Xiao’ai said he’s also preparing to go back. He’s been here a month already, and he has no reason to stay.”
“You’re really just feeling lonely,” Nan Feng said.
First, Xiaobei left, and now Long Aixi was about to leave, too. And with Abao being someone who valued relationships so deeply, how could she not feel disheartened?
Nan Feng suddenly had a thought, “Abao, if you really want to get out and about, why don’t you go with Xiao’ai to Dragon Tooth Gang for a visit?”
Upon hearing this, Xia Dabao immediately sat up, no longer feeling downcast but instead asked excitedly, “Mom, can I really go? If you agree, then I’ll go. Abao also wants to see what the number-one Jianghu sect is like.”
Nan Feng regretted her suggestion the moment she saw how Xia Dabao reacted.
If Xia Dabao went to the Dragon Tooth Gang, who knows what kind of trouble she might cause for Long San and the rest.
But her words were already out, and it seemed wrong to retract them now.
This was probably one of Xia Dabao’s strategies. First, she proposed going to find Tian Xiaobei, which Nan Feng would definitely disagree with. Now, by asking to go to the Dragon Tooth Gang as a lesser request, she seemed more agreeable.
“However… I still need to ask your father’s opinion,” Nan Feng found an excuse, “after all, this isn’t something I can decide alone. We’ll have to see what your father says. If he agrees, then you can go play for a while.”
“Then I’ll go talk to Dad,” Xia Dabao was even more eager than Nan Feng and hopped out of bed in no time, dashing towards Wild Brother.
…
“Dad, isn’t Xiao’ai going back to the Dragon Tooth Gang in a few days? Mom said I could go visit their place with Xiao’ai. She said so,” that’s what Xia Dabao told Wild Brother.
Naturally, Wild Brother was somewhat surprised, and just as he exited Xia Dabao’s room, she turned to ask Nan Feng, “Mom, you’ve already agreed, haven’t you?”
Wild Brother couldn’t understand why Nan Feng would agree to let their daughter travel so far, and he looked to her for answers.
Nan Feng had indeed made the suggestion and had no choice but to nod.
Then she winked at Wild Brother.
He obviously didn’t catch Nan Feng’s hint and simply told Xia Dabao, “Since your mother said it, then do as your mother says.”
Outside, Long Aixi could hear everything clearly from his room and hurriedly came out to say to Wild Brother and Nan Feng, “Uncle Wild, Aunt Nan Feng, don’t worry. I will take good care of Dabao. I’ll make sure she feels at home in the Dragon Tooth Gang.”
…
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