Nine Star Burden

Chapter 24: Began Operating

On the following morning.

Xia Yan woke up after a good night’s sleep, drew the curtains open and closed her eyes while enjoying the warmth of the sunlight being cast on her face.

She enjoyed the sun lazily for a while, brushed her wavy chestnut-colored hair and began to wash up.

One hour later, Xia Yan headed to the basement after finishing her breakfast, only to see that Jiang Xiao was seated on the ground, dripping with sweat. He was covered in a faint layer of stardust and was clearly absorbing Star Power.

“Are you ready?” Xia Yan asked without entering the basement. Although the ventilator worked well, the basement still reeked of an unpleasant odor.

Last night, Xia Yan entered to look for Lei Jin and to inform him to take Jiang Xiao out for a walk.

Lei Jin approved of it without hesitation and almost thanked her for it. He even went missing last night—she reckoned that he had gone to get some skewers.

For the past few days, Lei Jin had been mentioning his cravings for barbecued skewers from street food stalls.

Jiang Xiao absorbed some Star Power and looked up at Xia Yan with a smirk. “Yes. By the way, hand me my mobile. I’ll inform Han Jiangxue about this.”

Xia Yan panicked and used her angry voice to hide her guilt. “I’ve already informed your sister. You’ll just have to leave with me!”

“Okay, got it.” Jiang Xiao gave it some thought, stood up and entered the bathroom. “Give me 10 minutes.”

Xia Yan took a deep breath and turned around to leave.

Jiang Xiao smiled and turned around. He thought, Shes still a child, after all. Sometimes, her mindset and behavior are rather interesting. 

When Xia Shanhai was leaving yesterday, he specially instructed the three people at home not to inform Xia Yan of his visit.

Since he was Xia Yan’s father, there were no objections.

Jiang Xiao could easily guess what Xia Yan had done with his mobile phone, for he could deduce from Xia Shanhai’s words that Xia Yan was using his account to confess to herself.

She’s confessing to herself! 

Isn’t that terrifying?

In this world, most actions were executed because of an agenda. What was Xia Yan’s agenda then?

Jiang Xiao pondered over it and thought to himself, A goddess-like girl like her is definitely not short of admirers. She doesn’t need another young kid like Jiang Xiaopi to bring her a superficial sense of superiority and vanity. 

The only benefit she would get would be from Han Jiangxue, whom Jiang Xiao paid a lot of attention to.

How would Han Jiangxue react after finding out that Jiang Xiao had confessed his feelings to Xia Yan time and time again?

She would either teach Jiang Xiao a hard lesson or go apologize to Xia Yan.

Since Han Jiangxue had yet to show up even until now, he reckoned that he knew what was going on, for it was obvious enough.

Jiang Xiao thought about what he ought to do while showering.

Jiang Xiao could put up with silly and mindless things, but it would be a huge headache for Han Jiangxue. He reckoned that she must be trying to placate Xia Yan now. Such an aloof and cold girl like her actually has to lower her pride and coax Xia Yan because of me. How sinful, he thought.

Xia Yan was definitely not mean-spirited or evil by nature. Jiang Xiao reckoned that she probably pulled such a prank because she had gotten sick of Han Jiangxue’s cold and unfeeling attitude towards her the past few years.

No, I mustn’t let Han Jiangxue be mistreated like this. I can’t let that woman Xia Yan continue her nonsense!

Expose her directly? That would be giving that evil woman an advantage. I must think of a way to deal with her. 

Jiang Xiao took a shower, changed into a fresh set of sportswear and headed out of the basement.

To his surprise, he was presented with a mobile phone as soon as he exited.

Jiang Xiao frantically grabbed the mobile phone and realized that it was his.

Is this evil woman actually returning my mobile phone to me? What’s going on?

“Go ahead and call her. It’s better for you to tell her yourself,” said a nonchalant Xia Yan, who had clearly already sorted her feelings out.

“Okay.” Jiang Xiao grabbed the mobile phone and called Han Jiangxue without even looking at Weibo.

The call was connected after ringing thrice, but Han Jiangxue remained silent and did not even greet him at all.

Unable to stand the silence, Jiang Xiao said, “Well, Xia Yan is taking me out for training today and I wanted to inform you that I’ve been doing well for the past week. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Okay,” Han Jiangxue answered coldly.

Jiang Xiao hesitated for a moment when he saw the look in Xia Yan’s eyes as she watched him closely. “How have you been for the past few days? Are you alright?”

Han Jiangxue finally said something. “I’ve already helped you apply for leave from military training. After two weeks, you have to go back to school and resume lessons. Train well with Xia Yan and focus all your attention on training. Remember the promise that you made to me. Don’t let your imagination run wild and do these meaningless things.”

Jiang Xiao opened his mouth and finally expressed assent.

Han Jiangxue had already hung up.

“What did your sister say?” Xia Yan asked frantically.

“What else can she say? She educated me and wanted me to train with you.” Jiang Xiao grabbed his mobile phone and opened Weibo. “No, I must send another Weibo to lure her and save myself from some embarrassment.”

Xia Yan didn’t seem to have any concerns. She said, “Hehe, that’s how you need to be taught, but frankly speaking, you’ve been doing well the past few days. I’m really impressed.”

“I have to make your money’s worth by not letting down the coach that you hired.” Jiang Xiao opened Weibo and realized that his Weibo was empty except for a single Weibo post. However, he did have plenty of fans and had already surpassed the 100-count mark. He reckoned that they were there to make merry of his posts.

Did this chick delete the posts that she published using my account? It’s no wonder that she’s so fearless. 

Jiang Xiao believed his own conjecture. Xia Shanhai had no reason to lie and he reckoned that the evil Xia Yan must have published plenty of confessions using his account.

“We’re going to the snowfield today. Get yourself prepared.” Xia Yan inched closer towards Jiang Xiao and spoke smilingly.

“Snowfield? Just us two? We’re not going to bring Han Jiangxue along?” Jiang Xiao looked up in bewilderment.

“Well, you just have to follow my plan. Why do you have so much to say? Hurry and post it. I want to see how you can tease your sister.” Xia Yan urged.

Jiang Xiao muttered, “Why should I tease her? I shall just say that I fancy her.” He soon posted another Weibo.

–

Jiang Xiaopi-mischievous-or-not

just posted from Huawei Maimang C199

“My love is vaster than the oceans and cannot be rivaled by the mountains.

PS: The 11th day of me having a crush on Little Jiangxue.”

–

“Doesn’t this poem… sound a little too serious? Kid, are you really not afraid of angering her by teasing her that way?” Xia Yan asked with a sullen expression.

Jiang Xiao shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and logged out of his Weibo account.

Xia Yan’s smile stiffened and he logged into his account again in a bid to input his password again…

“After all, I have been here for 8 days. Why is my phone’s battery still full? Is the standby time that long?” he muttered.

Feeling slightly awkward, Xia Yan said, “The chargers in my home are all universal. What if someone was looking for you? If your phone is fully charged, it would be easier for me to inform you immediately.”

“Oh.” Jiang Xiao sneered and thought to himself, I don’t know if you’ll inform me, but I’ve already informed your father. 

I wonder how Xia Shanhai will react after he sees this. 

Jiang Xiao thought about it for a while but still decided not to put a password on his account. He knew that a password was just for show and there was no way he would be able to unlock it.

Jiang Xiao threw his mobile phone onto the coffee table and asked, “Are we setting off now?”

Xia Yan nodded, seemingly failing to realize that Jiang Xiaopi had just played her right in front of her.

At the same time, in an ordinary residential home in the center of Jiangbin City.

Xia Shanhai, who was sitting on the balcony and reading some newspapers, noticed that his wife was walking into the balcony with a peculiar expression. She then handed her mobile phone to him.

Xia Shanhai grabbed it, took a careful look and shivered in shock.

Yesterday, Xia Shanhai deduced that those confessional posts were published by his daughter after confirming that Jiang Xiao’s mobile phone was taken away by her. He decided not to think about her reasons.

At this moment, there was no doubt that the Weibo post was published by his precious daughter, Xia Yan, using Jiang Xiaopi’s account.

But look at what she posted.

“My love is vaster than the oceans and cannot be rivaled by the mountains.”

What did that mean?

Xia Shanhai confirmed that it was a poem, but he could also feel the strong resentment in the stanzas.

The emotions expressed in the original poem were no longer important. The important thing was that Xia Shanhai could already imagine his daughter’s tone.

Did that mean that his daughter had already found out where he went yesterday?

Is my precious daughter angry? Does she already know that I intervened? 

Although she typed “not to be rivaled”, Xia Shanhai felt like she wanted to “rival” him…

Xia Shanhai thought to himself in dismay, This can’t do. It’s time I thrashed things out and had a good talk with her. No matter what she does or what thoughts she harbors, I must have a good talk with her. 

He felt that he couldn’t let his daughter be immersed in her own fantasy!

Even if he went all out and agreed to the relationship, he couldn’t allow his daughter to suffer from a mental illness.

After all, health was the most important, and things like happiness could be created. He thought, I’ll let Jiang Xiaopi marry into our family! I’ll make him listen to the Xia Family’s teachings! If this kid dares to defy my precious daughter, I’ll break his legs…

At the same time, in a residential home of Huayuan Estate, the sounds of a cuckoo could be heard.

Han Jiangxue frowned. She would hear that sound every single day, but every time she opened the app, she would feel even more horrid and wonder what mess her worrisome brother was getting up to.

However, Han Jiangxue got a slight surprise when she opened the notification.

Different people would decipher the poem from different perspectives.

Xia Yan thought that Jiang Xiao was just making a metaphor out of his sibling-relationship with Han Jiangxue.

Xia Shanhai thought that it was Xia Yan’s way of venting her anger and resentment, which seemed to be a sign of her impending obsession.

Han Jiangxue thought that Jiang Xiao had been struck by a huge blow.

Han Jiangxue thought to herself with raised brows, This poem… has this kid been struck with a huge blow? Has he been taught a lesson by Xia Yan? Has he come to terms with reality? 

Not bad, it’s better to get a clear idea of reality sooner. 

How would the heiress of the Xia Family fall for you? 

After taking a look at the content of the PS segment, she held her breath for a while and thought, Great timing, eh? Good that you’ve changed your mind and turned back for the better. 

Han Jiangxue threw her phone aside and looked at the lush greenery outside the window. She muttered gently, “Hah, men.”