Parents' Disappearance, the Aether Foundation?

Though her body language and eyes brimmed with delight, Marnie's first words upon seeing him were a haughty complaint. "Hmph, why is it you?"

Clearly, this was her outward expression of the resentment she had built up over Xia Chen not coming to see her for so long.

Xia Chen defended himself. "You know how busy I've been this year. Didn't I come to see you as soon as you got back?"

Marnie's response was just one simple word. "Oh."

Seeing this, Xia Chen could not help rubbing the head of the childhood friend he had not seen in nearly a year.

The girl wrinkled her nose and immediately snapped back, "How many times have I told you not to touch my head? It's your fault I'm not as tall as you—you kept touching my head when we were kids!"

To be fair, Marnie was not short at all. On the contrary, at 1.7 meters tall, she was considered tall and slender anywhere, especially with those long legs.

Of course, Xia Chen knew that this was absolutely not the time to reason with a girl. The best solution was to use something to stop her mouth.

"Happy New Year, Marnie. This is your New Year's gift."

Xia Chen handed over an exquisite box he had prepared long ago. Other than the color, its wrapping was identical to the one he had given Serperior.

Marnie took it and frowned slightly. "Don't tell me it's Pokéblocks too?"

Xia Chen rolled his eyes. "How could it be? Why don't you open it and see?"

Having known each other for years, Marnie naturally did not stand on ceremony. She immediately tore open the wrapping, revealing an exquisite bracelet strung with petals and three gemstones.

Marnie recognized the three gems: a Key Stone, a Tera