A Loving Mother Takes Her Hand and Speaks Her Heart, Secretly Devising a Plan to Delay Her Departure

Just as the silver gleam of the Star Orbit Shadow Wing was about to tear through the night sky, a warm hand suddenly seized Lin Zhixia's wrist. The grip was not strong, yet it carried an unyielding resolve that could not be shaken off. Lin Zhixia's entire body stiffened. Turning her head, she saw Ah Yin's reddened eyes, her hair slightly tousled by the night wind, her gaze filled with affection and reluctance.

"Zhi Xia, don't go." Ah Yin's voice trembled faintly as her other hand gently caressed her cheek. The skin beneath her fingertips was icy cold. "You're already twenty-five now. Your life before you turned five... your Father and I were unable to be part of it. But over the past twenty years, we've watched it all—we've seen how brave you are."

She paused, her voice growing even gentler, though every word pierced the heart. "You witnessed the filthiest sides of human nature and saw the ugliest faces, yet none of it broke you. Instead, it forged your ability to stand on your own and made you Little San's strongest support. Others may think your strength is nothing special, but they don't know how, in those moments, the little you, the nervous you, the defeated you who wanted to give up, kept turning to your own courage for help again and again just to endure until now."

"You've already been so strong." Ah Yin gently wiped away the tears still clinging to the corner of her eye, her tone brimming with pride. "All this way, you never said it was hard. But you should know, dear self, that you've always done so well. Look back—those hurdles you once could not cross have long since become scenery behind you. Your little boat has already passed countless mountains."

Lin Zhixia's