Chapter 138: Determination and Promise

Chapter 138

At 6:30 in the morning, just as dawn was breaking, the alarm clock rang punctually.

"I am gazing up, above the moon,
How many dreams are flying freely.
Yesterday is forgotten, the wind has dried the sorrow,
I will reunite with you on that vast and boundless road.
Life has already been guided, with the tides ebbing and flowing,
The distant place where you are is paradise..."

This was a song that had swept across the entire country more than twenty years ago. Once widely sung, it had been the staple soundtrack for square dancing and a darling of every shopping mall. Yet today, the only ones who seemed to remember it were the middle-aged generation who had walked through that era.

It was hard to imagine why Li Xin would like such a song.

Rubbing his hazy, sleep-heavy eyes, he slowly sat up, wrapping himself in the quilt to enjoy the warmth of winter sleep. Yesterday's dream was unforgettable and deeply etched into his soul to him. However, he did not know that the music playing in his mind was the most faithful portrayal of everything that had happened last night.

Just as the lyrics went, life had been guided, with the tides ebbing and flowing. Wang Xiaoqian's heart and emotions had truly been led away by Li Xin.

The only difference was that line: "I will reunite with you on the boundless road." Barring any accidents, Wang Xiaoqian and Li Xin should never meet again in this lifetime.

"Heh, last night's dream felt way too real. Looks like I need to change my boxers," Li Xin smiled bitterly and shook his head, preparing to move and strip off his Iron Man boxers.

Suddenly, he froze, staring blankly at his lower body.

His boxers had been taken off at some point, lying casually on one side of the bed, half-pressed under the quilt.

"I—I clearly remember wearing them last night," Li Xin murmured in a daze, unable to figure out what on earth had happened.

After a long while, he shook his head helplessly and chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Maybe it was just too hot last night."

Even he found this reason absurd. In the dead of winter with the window open, how could it be hot? The southern region had only started adopting central heating in the past couple of years, and the temperature was far from sufficient.

After washing up and getting dressed, Li Xin began to tidy up the room. He folded the quilt and was about to pick up the boxers to wash them when he froze once more. This time, his eyes widened, and he leaned close to the bed, staring in disbelief at the bedsheet.

On the white bedsheet lay a vibrant red rose, still in bud. Below it was a winding stem with thorns on both sides.

"It's—it's blood..."

Li Xin muttered to himself, quickly checking his own body. He even activated the perspective self-diagnostic function of the King of Games, only to find that his body was completely intact and unharmed.

Then where did this blood come from?

He suddenly collapsed onto the edge of the bed, carefully recalling the vivid dream from the previous night once again.

Was it a dream?

Picking up his phone, he prepared to give Wang Xiaoqian a call to ask her about it. The screen lit up, and a new text message caught his eye.

Sender: Elder Zhou.

He hurriedly opened it to find only two short sentences:
"Kid Li, I know what you want to ask. She has her difficulties, and you had better not disturb her anymore."

With Li Xin's intelligence, he naturally understood the meaning behind Elder Zhou's words. Wang Xiaoqian seemed to have truly encountered some insurmountable hardship. The most terrifying part was the final sentence:
Do not contact her again.

"Talk of no more contact—Xiaoqian is my friend. How can I ignore her predicament and stand idly by?" Li Xin's gaze turned fierce, and he clenched his teeth.

He hurriedly dialed Wang Xiaoqian's number, only to be greeted by a cold automated voice:
"Sorry, the number you have dialed is a non-existent number. Please check and dial again."

Li Xin could no longer hold back. A fire seemed to ignite within his heart, rapidly growing larger. He now understood that last night's dream had not been a dream, but something that truly existed.

That vibrant, bewitching rose was the final gift Wang Xiaoqian had left him when she departed.

*Crack, crack, crack—*

With his fists clenched tight enough for his knuckles to pop, Li Xin's eyes rapidly turned icy.

"Who on earth is giving you a hard time? Who is it?"
"No matter what, regardless of what our relationship is, and ignoring Elder Zhou's warning, I am going to find you, and I am going to take you away."
"Wait for me. Forgetting each other in memories simply does not exist for me."

Li Xin closed his eyes tightly, making a vow to himself and offering an unheard promise to Wang Xiaoqian.

*Knock, knock, knock!*

A crisp knocking sound rang out, disrupting Li Xin's train of thought and pulling him back from his anger and chill. Opening the door, he saw Jiang Chuxue.

"Director... Director Jiang, good morning," Li Xin smiled slightly.

"Morning. It's time for breakfast, and today is going to be very busy," Jiang Chuxue smiled faintly, yet she keenly captured the flash of anger in Li Xin's eyes.

Of course, she would not proactively ask about it. That anger was not directed at her.

On the way to the dining hall, Jiang Chuxue suddenly asked, "It seemed like a thief came into the garden last night. Security footage showed she entered your room. Didn't suffer any losses, did you?"

"N—no," Li Xin replied absentmindedly.

Jiang Chuxue smiled faintly, "Hey, don't you find it funny? The thief who broke into the villa even drove a five-million super sports car. Truly, a big forest has all kinds of birds."

"Heh, pretty normal," Li Xin gave a faint smile, then continued to lower his head in thought.

"I heard from Ke'er that the thief's figure and appearance looked quite familiar, as if she had seen her somewhere before."

"Seen her?" Li Xin's heart tightened, "She probably mistook her for someone else."

Jiang Chuxue smiled and said nothing more. She had already gathered all the information on that woman. She could even guess what Li Xin was thinking right now with startling accuracy.

After a meal, the entire Pepsi Club plunged into a tense atmosphere. Some teams were participating in the finals today, such as Zhao Xue's Hearthstone squad; some were preparing for tomorrow's match, spending today doing final tactical planning and coordination practice; others had no matches for the moment and transformed into cheerleaders and protectors for the Hearthstone women's team, planning to accompany them to the venue to cheer them on.

Bidding farewell to Zhao Xue and offering a few words of encouragement, Li Xin turned and entered the projection hall. Following his usual routine for the day, he skipped tactical planning to thoroughly study the backgrounds and common strategies of the three teams that had advanced early on. Among them, the primary focus of his research was Ma Tao and his Vivii team.

During the TGA National Tournament two years ago, Li Xin was still with Dongjia at the peak of his strength. In the finals, after a grueling five-hour battle with Vivii, he had narrowly claimed the championship with a score of 3:2.

Back then, Ma Tao had cemented his status as the God of Snipers, holding his own against Li Xin in the days that followed. Meanwhile, Vivii had firmly established its prestige as a veteran powerhouse.

To be honest, Li Xin was not in the mood to study these; his mind was entirely occupied by Wang Xiaoqian. In his view, the two of them shared more friendship than romance. But having experienced the "sweet dream" of last night, that feeling had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation.

Yet, it still wasn't romantic love; rather, the friendship had transformed into a bond akin to family.

"She is my family, and I must help her," Li Xin muttered to himself, putting on his headset.

The next moment, he put away all stray thoughts and threw himself heart and soul into his research.

Whatever he did, he had to do it well. This was his motto.