Reincarnated as a Poor Little Green Tea, Am I Destined to Be Bullied? - Volume 1 Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Self-Deception

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Later on, Xia Muqing’s whereabouts became unknown.

Those criminals took him to another city, very far away from Qihai, separated by countless mountains and lakes.

The Xia family never gave up searching.

But the Xia family’s greatest achievement was only catching those two kidnappers in a remote city thousands of kilometers away from Qihai.

However, Xia Muqing was no longer with them.

The kidnappers confessed that their boss, who had instructed them to carry out the kidnapping far away in Qihai, had already been caught, and the fraudulently obtained money had all been returned to the Xia Group. They, having fled Qihai, had also become wanted criminals.

Without backing, they no longer had the courage to continue extorting the Xia family. At this point, having Xia Muqing in their hands became a ticking time bomb, so they decided to sell him to another family for money a few years ago.

The next piece of information they revealed was what truly shocked the entire Xia family like a bolt of lightning.

— That boy seemed to have lost his memory, remembering nothing, becoming like an idiot, unable to even say his own name.

When asked where they sold the child, they looked at each other blankly, completely unaware.

It turned out that it was a covert transaction, and the buyer hadn’t disclosed any information.

The result that was even harder for the Xia family to accept… was far more than this.

In reality, not even such vague clues were left for the Xia family.

The kidnappers said that during the transaction process, Xia Muqing, who already remembered nothing, took advantage of the chaos and ran away. Even the kidnappers didn’t know where he had gone. It happened at a long-distance bus station, and they were afraid of the police, so they didn’t dare to chase him. By the time they thought about pursuing, he was lost in the sea of people.

In that era over a decade ago, there were few surveillance cameras, and the chain of clues was fragmented, shattered into pieces.

From then on.

The news about Xia Muqing became completely blurred.

Later, those two kidnappers received their due punishment.

All of the Xia family’s fury would be poured onto these inhumane scum.

But for Xia Muqing, for “Ling Qingyue,” how much consolation could this anger provide?

Who would have thought that Xia Muqing would end up back in Qihai after all his wanderings?

And who would have imagined that he would come to the same school as his sister, studying just a building away?

When Xia Mujin learns of this fact, what will she think?

All of this.

Lin Yueye could no longer think deeply about it.

She sat in the corner, curled up into a ball, shoulder to shoulder with Yuebing.

Her helpless yet comforted eyes slowly lifted, looking towards Luo Yahan, who had told her all of this.

“So… in the end, Mujin got home safely, right?”

The reply she received was, of course.

“Yes, as you can see, she’s safe, but Lin Yueye, this is the 5th time you’ve asked this question.”

“Ah… is… is that so, sorry, I forgot again… forgot again…”

“Sigh.”

Luo Yahan felt that there was nothing to be done.

Lin Yueye had already experienced terrible things today, and then suddenly heard about this long-buried Xia family history. It was only natural for her mind to be in chaos. In fact, if she could speak normally, Luo Yahan would think her mental state was abnormal.

But as a person with a science background who values precision, Luo Yahan had to correct this topic.

“To say she’s safe and sound, that’s not wrong. With Xia Muqing’s protection to the death, she didn’t suffer any physical harm. But if we’re talking about the mental aspect… Lin Yueye, do you know how we initially learned about these things I’ve told you?”

“Wasn’t it… from the person involved… from Xia Mujin?”

Lin Yueye had, at some point, temporarily taken back that framed photo from Luo Yahan’s hands. She didn’t dare to look at it anymore, just holding it in her arms.

To Luo Yahan’s question, Lin Yueye just responded following logic.

But as she said her answer, she vaguely felt that this answer might be wrong.

Sure enough.

What she saw was this genius girl sighing and gently shaking her head.

“That’s incorrect. Of course, the maid team at the time tried to learn the whole truth from Xia Mujin’s mouth, but after she was brought back home, she completely changed… She was utterly unable to communicate normally with people. In the end, we learned the whole truth from the confessions of those kidnappers.”

“……”

Before, Xia Mujin was a lively and mischievous little princess.

She liked to tell jokes, was bright and sunny, the joy of the family. She was playful but not excessively so, always able to make the maids in the house laugh heartily.

But after that incident.

She shut herself in her room, not seeing the sunlight, lost and dejected.

She would tremble from time to time, and might cry and sob because of remembering something, would pull her own hair, would be terrified by the sound of a small bird’s wings flapping outside the window — followed by angrily shouting, screaming, and cursing at the air.

The family found a psychologist for her.

But the doctor said she had never seen such a young child become so unpredictable in mood while being mentally normal. The doctor judged that she must have severe psychological trauma, and when asked about the reason, the Xia family couldn’t tell the doctor, and even if they did, it would have been useless.

After all, the doctor only gave one treatment plan.

That was to divert her attention, not to let her think of painful and sensitive things. The expert team said that given enough time, she would come out of it on her own.

But how long is this “enough time”?

The Xia family knew that Luo Yahan from the Luo family used to play well with the siblings, so they often called her to come and talk to Xia Mujin.

“At first, she wouldn’t talk to me either, but as I came more often, she couldn’t ignore me. She slowly started to talk to me, but what she said to me, from beginning to end, was just one sentence.”

“What was it…”

“She said, ‘Has brother not come home yet?'”

“……”

That hollow yet expectant look, hoping for a different answer day after day, made even Luo Yahan feel uneasy.

She also wanted to save her friend.

But when words of comfort came to her lips, she couldn’t utter half a word.

After all, without experiencing another’s pain, what right does one have to discuss others’ suffering or to comfort their hearts?

This situation continued for about half a year.

The young lady, shutting herself in, became neither human nor ghost, not seeing the light of day.

At this point, a different dark light flashed in Luo Yahan’s ice-colored pupils.

“But half a year later, she came out of her room, smiling as she went to eat, saying she wanted to go to school, and even asked why not go fly a kite on such a beautiful day.”

The maids didn’t dare to respond.

Coincidentally, Luo Yahan was in the mansion. She came over to check on the situation, initially hopeful, wondering if Xia Mujin had come to terms with everything? At least able to face life again?

However.

When Luo Yahan asked that question “Are you alright now?”…

Xia Mujin’s response made even this genius girl feel chilled to the bone.

【Brother? What brother? Pff… Yahan, you really know how to joke. Ah, you’re right, I do have a brother! But we’ve never met, have we? Hasn’t he always been with dad at the company? Hm? Yahan, what’s with that expression? Did something scary happen? Don’t be afraid~ You’re still the same as before, so timid, always hiding behind others~】

“But I’ve never been timid, I don’t believe in ghosts and spirits, I’m not afraid of insects, snakes, or rats, and naturally, I’ve never hidden behind others.”

Luo Yahan’s tone was full of desolation.

Even now.

She still remembered Xia Mujin’s bitter smile as she spoke, with tears in her eyes.

“She was talking about herself.”

The girl seemed to be smiling, coming out of her room.

But her tears were too heavy, weighing her down so she couldn’t breathe, never having the strength to push open that door that wouldn’t let in the sunlight.