"So don't cry. You still have a long life ahead of you, don't you?"
Liang Xiaoxiao was a little dazed. The warmth of those fingertips touched her skin. The sensation was distinctly cool, yet in the brief moment her heart began to pound, it melted into a fierce heat, and her fair cheeks suddenly flushed crimson.
Chu Yuanqing's voice brushed past her ear like a feather, its ticklish sweetness bewitching her senses. The warmth and concern reflected in those words pierced her heavy heart like a sharp blade, and a searing emotion, as painful as it was intense, burst forth.
The girl felt her heart thumping wildly, far more nervously and rapidly than when she stood onstage.
She stared blankly at the person so close, yet seemingly as unattainable as a god, bestowing love and salvation upon her. An emotion that transcended her past understanding burned the tips of her heart like a wildfire.
Liang Xiaoxiao had never known what it felt like to have a family's love. As a child, her grandparents had disliked her. Her father had treated her like a useless burden, and her mother had blamed her for not being a boy. The reason she was so cheerful and optimistic was that she had no choice but to be.
So the warmth wafting through her chest, the burning heat at the very core of her heart, and the yearning and comfort spreading through her soul were all so unfamiliar that she could hardly recognize them.
But they were so warm, so wonderful, so desperately desired.
Liang Xiaoxiao lowered her head obediently, her eyes growing misty. Instinctively, like a puppy, she rubbed her face against that soft palm, as though she were savoring a love she had never known.
The scar deep in her chest fell away,