Echoes of the Past (Prelude)

"Sister, really! You made me worry for nothing. I'm going to have a good talk with her when I find her!" Yangyang said angrily, clearly quite unhappy about Suisui's sudden disappearance.

"I can tell you were really scared just now." Xiao Ling smiled and ruffled Yangyang's hair. "Anyway, we've confirmed that Sister Suisui is alright. Now we just need to see for ourselves what kind of trouble she's up to."

At this moment, Yangyang and Xiao Ling were heading to the corresponding location according to the address on the note. The reason there were only the two of them was because the note stipulated that only two people could come.

Xiao Ling was quick-witted and immediately understood what Suisui was planning to do; she was probably going to use herself to bring him and Yangyang together.

In short, since the other party has made this request, let's play along and see how they plan to bring the two of them together in this unexpected event.

"Speaking of which, Xiao Yu, didn't you promise me you'd tell me your story when you were in the Imperial Capital?" Since they were traveling anyway, Yangyang decided to ask Xiao Ling to tell her about herself.

"I did say that, so what, you want to hear it now?"

"Hmm, I'm curious, but if it's inconvenient for Xiao Yu..."

"There's nothing inconvenient about it. Tell me, what would you like to hear?"

"I'd like to know something about your cousin first," Yangyang said with a smile. "After all, it was clear that you two had a good relationship back in the Imperial Capital, but Xiao Yu, you said you used to be at odds. I'm very curious about the reasons behind that."

"Well, there's really no particular reason. People's perspectives change as they experience more. But since you're interested, I'll tell you," Xiao Ling said with a smile. "Shall I begin?"

The story of how Xiao Ling and Xiao Xue met begins when Xiao Yue brought him back to the Xiao family.

At the time, Xiao Yue's health was not very good. Long-term overwork had caused irreversible damage to her body, so Xiao Ji was examining her in the house, while Xiao Yu and her third uncle Xiao Ye accompanied her.

Xiao Xue, the eldest uncle's daughter, was sitting on the steps outside the house, scrolling through her phone. The phone's built-in speaker was constantly playing the sounds of skill activations and character dialogue.

"Ugh--how come it's always just a few seconds short..."

This was her fifth attempt to achieve a full-star clear of the Tower of Adversity. Back then, Wuthering Waves hadn't yet reached the so-called Middle Tower, but considering that the character's stats hadn't started to inflate, it was still considered somewhat difficult.

Xiao Xue was getting a little tired from playing, so she put down her phone and started looking around, her gaze casually drifting to Xiao Ling.

Back then, he was a short guy, just over 1.6 meters tall, still not fully grown and with some freckles, which made Xiao Xue glance at him and then look away.

"It's really strange. My fourth aunt is so beautiful, how come her son looks so short?"

"I'm really sorry I didn't turn out to be your type," Xiao Ling retorted with an expression that said, "Better to live a wretched life than die a good death."

Xiao Xue ignored him and, after resting for a while, began her sixth challenge.

"Tch... This giant ice mosquito is really cunning. Did the planner come up with this using a third leg?"

Xiao Ling:?

To be fair, he felt that Xiao Xue gave the impression of being a gentle, refined, and well-educated girl. It was hard to imagine that such a girl could speak such pure and authentic Chinese classical literature.

Out of curiosity, Xiao Ling quietly walked behind her to watch her actions.

To be honest, Xiao Xue's performance was quite impressive, but the damage output seems a bit low.

"Damn, almost again!" Xiao Xue said angrily.

"Let me see." Xiao Ling casually took the other person's phone.

"Hey! I didn't give you permission to take my things, give them back!"

Xiao Xue was already feeling resentful because she couldn't beat Tower of Adversity, and Xiao Ling's arrival just added fuel to the fire. She couldn't suppress the urge to give this guy a good beating.

"What the hell is this 'Echo' of yours...?"

Xiao Ling flipped through her Echo. The set was correct, and the main attribute was also correct, but the secondary attributes looked rather... appalling.

"What's wrong with the Echo? Aren't the main attributes all correct?"

"You give me the impression that you understand the game, but not completely," Xiao Ling complained. "Give me some time, I'll adjust it for you."

"Don't ruin my account!"

"I'm not that bored."

After making some major changes to her cousin's Echo, Xiao Ling returned the phone to her.

"Try typing it again."

Xiao Xue started another game with some skepticism, and found that not only had the main DPS's damage increased, but even the energy recharge of the other characters in the team was no longer clunky. The game was incredibly smooth, and there was even a margin of error of more than ten seconds at the end.

"What are you doing?" Xiao Xue asked in surprise.

"Want to learn?" Xiao Ling raised an eyebrow. "Then you can think about it."

"You bastard...!"

"Haha, Xiao Xue usually seems so gentle and kind, I never expected her to have this side to her." Yangyang smiled brightly, her eyes crinkling. "But, Xiao Yu, you said you protected her from a doomed relationship, what happened then?"

"You're asking about this?" Xiao Ling recalled for a moment before briefly saying, "Back then, she had a boyfriend who gave a good first impression. He was handsome, well-mannered, and quite charming during holidays."

"He was seriously dating my sister, and maybe I'd even have a cousin-in-law. But that guy was so clueless. He got snatched away by another vixen in less than a year, and his attitude towards my sister changed drastically."

"Your sister must be very anxious, after all, the person she likes is suddenly being so cold to her..."

"I wouldn't call it anxiety, but it definitely affected her life. During that time, she kept thinking that she wasn't doing well enough and was feeling depressed."

"So you exposed that modern-day Chen Shimei's true colors in front of her?" Yangyang pressed.

"It was a perfect storm of timing, location, and people. I was traveling in Imperial Capital at the time, and I happened to bump into that cheating couple in a coffee shop. I casually jotted down some evidence of their crime," Xiao Ling chuckled. "When I sent it to her, she didn't quite believe me, so I told her to go and see for herself."

"My sister is a woman of action; not long after, she went to that coffee shop herself and caught that person red-handed."

"Then they had a fight?"

"That would be too degrading," Xiao Ling said with a slight smile. "She has her own pride. She'll just assume she misjudged him, and once she gets back, she'll delete and block him completely, cutting him out of her life entirely."

"A happy ending for everyone~" Yangyang nodded with a smile.

"Right?" Xiao Ling nodded. "Alright, let's stop chatting here. The destination is just ahead."

"Let's see what kind of amazing thing your dear sister is planning to do to broaden our horizons."