Lin Yue's Feelings

As soon as they entered Lien Hua's house, everyone sat cross-legged at the table and looked each other in the eye until Lien Hua started talking, seeing everyone a little uncomfortable.

"Don't worry, we'll eat for now. We'll discuss the serious situations after, OK?"

"Of course, of course. It's okay for you too right Lin Yue?"

Lin Yue saw that they were trying to help her settle in better and looked at them much more kindly and calmly than before.

"Sure, let's eat."

"Perfect! I'll cook your favourite dish, how about that? Cantonese rice coming up!"

Hearing that Lien Hua was going to cook her favourite dish, Lin Yue was overjoyed. All that anxiety and hesitation seemed to have vanished. So without all those emotions weighing on her, Lin Yue burst into a silent cry that shocked both of her friends.

"Lin Yue what's wrong, are you okay? Don't cry, please. Everything can be solved, don't worry."

"It's true what Lien Hua says. Don't worry. In the end we are there to help you."

With her cheeks filled with tears that kept falling, Lin Yue also began to smile.

"Thank you very much. I wouldn't know what to do without you two; you are true friends."

Hearing those words and seeing her best friend's state, Lien Hua's body moved by itself next to her. First she sat down next to her, and turning to Lin Yue who had noticed her and was also looking back at her, Lien Hua engulfed her in a firm hug that made Lin Yue lose her words from her mouth.

"Sorry for the sudden attack, but I think this can help you more than a thousand words, so just accept it and enjoy it. And as Chen Huang said earlier, we will always be here to help you alright?"

Lin Yue inside Lien Hua's warm embrace couldn't help but feel a resemblance to her mother when she had hugged her as a child, making her feel a bit nostalgic. So taking advantage of the situation, Lin Yue, engulfed in memories, leaned closer to Lien Hua and closed her eyes, savouring the calmness and confidence that Lien Hua's body gave off.

Chen Huang saw that the situation had stabilized and that the two girls were in the middle of embracing, so he began to search the house for all the ingredients for the Cantonese rice so as not to disturb them. Gathering them all up and putting them in the kitchen, he noticed how tidy and clean Lien Hua's house was compared to his own.

Turning towards his friends who were separating, he approached them and in a very proud voice tried to assert himself, failing miserably.

"Look! I've prepared all the ingredients for the Cantonese rice! Now all we need to do is cook, and we'll have a great dish."

However, his action in asserting himself was taken as a joke by the two girls who laughed out loud.

"Hey girls, don't laugh! Look, seriously I got all the ingredients!"

He moved his hands to show them the ingredients and made the girls laugh even more as they got up from the table.

"Chen Huang, okay you took the food, but Cantonese rice is made of rice, not noodles!"

Turning around dramatically, Chen Huang finally noticed what he had done wrong: instead of taking the rice he had taken the noodles. Turning around again towards the girls who were still laughing, he turned as red as a pepper and sat down at the table very embarrassed.

"Ahah, Quiet Chen Huang, we all make mistakes! Next time you will be much more careful, ahahahah."

"Come on, schoo schoo, I get it, go away!"

With a very red face Chen Huang tried to chase away the girls with one of his hands while holding the other over his face as the girls approached the table and were teasing him.

"OK, OK, enough. Now that we're all calmer, I'd say let's start preparing some food."

So Lien Hua, accompanied by her two friends, started to prepare a magnificent Cantonese rice, which was devoured in a few seconds after placing a couple of portions on the table, giving her a huge smile.

So with their bellies full and warm, with a sigh of pleasure, Lien Hua and her friends settled down and began to watch Lin Yue, who was finally ready to tell them the news.

"First of all I would like to tell you about my family. It is not a normal family; in fact it is called a clan. A clan is a congregation of family members bound together by a bloodline headed by the strongest person of the main family."

Looking at her a little strangely Chen Huang wasn't understanding where this explanation was going, while Lien Hua already more or less understood. After all she knew what a clan was and from the way Lin Yue was posturing, it was quite obvious.

"Well yes, my clan, its full name is Clan Lin of the Frozen Mountains, a medium-sized clan. But today I didn't come to explain where I'm from or about my clan."

It was right here that with a slightly clipped and anxious breath Lin Yue continued, "B-but as t-to w-why... My clan, specifically my mother wrote to me yesterday."

Taking a deep breath and then exhaling, Lin Yue gave herself one last push to continue her speech.

"She wrote to me that I have to return to the clan soon and it is not possible to negotiate."

Chen Huang was the first to be very shocked. He didn't even remember the words she had said earlier about the clan and such, simply the fact that she had to leave. In fact, this shock soon turned into anger that he began to vent towards Lin Yue.

"No! That's not true! You promised to stay with us; you can't leave!"

"Chen Huang, calm down! Didn't you hear that her mother forced her? You shouldn't be angry with her, and even if that was the case, there was definitely a reason for it, wasn't there?"

Looking towards Lin Yue, Lien Hua who had meanwhile stopped Chen Huang, who was starting to think with his head again, and received a not very descriptive reply.

"Unfortunately, yes... but I can't go into details, it's a very precarious situation... you'll have to excuse me."

"Don't worry, you shouldn't even apologise. We should be the ones to do it because we forced you to tell us and because I'm sure you feel as bad as we do right now..."

Noticing Lien Hua's maturity and understanding, both Lin Yue and Chen Huang were quite surprised, even though they knew that their friend was very mature and all, they didn't expect that she could be so calm in such a situation and be able to think with her head.

However, after listening to Lien Hua's understanding, Lin Yue, with her eyes already red from crying earlier, couldn't help but start crying again. This time it could be seen that she was also angry.

"But I don't want to leave, why should I do that!? Here I have you! Why should I go back to a clan that dumped me here even with all the problems they're having? What does that have to do with me?"

Seeing her so grief-stricken, Lien Hua could understand her. In the end it was true, Lin Yue was brought to this sect when she was only three years old and didn't even have one visit from her family on any of the holidays the empire had organised, not like Chen Huang, where his parents and his little brothers and sisters came to visit him often.

"But I can't do anything about it... she has written that if I oppose them, they will take me away by force."

"How dare they! Let them come, I will protect you Lin Yue!" Chen Huang screamed, overcome by his anger.

Lien Hua was astonished at how a mother could write such things to her daughter. She began to think, 'There's definitely something deeper to it, otherwise she wouldn't have forced her so emphatically to leave.'

Lien Hua, meanwhile, watched Lin Yue and Chen Huang debate how he should avoid saying such things. 'Unfortunately, there's no way she can say it, but on intuition I can understand that it might even have something to do with her life being on the line... Damn it! This is only because I'm not strong enough…'

"Avoid saying such nonsense Chen Huang, even if you stood in front of them so they wouldn't take her away, what could you do with your measly strength!? You want to throw your life away for something like that? Think before you act!"

Shocked, Lin Yue and Chen Huang looked at Lien Hua in silence. They had never heard Lien Hua so angry and were quite frightened by it.

"I'm sorry Lien Hua, I didn't mean to upset you, but it's still not right..."

"I know it's not right, but what can we do? We have to become stronger for that too. And because of the fact that it happened to you Lin Yue, there will definitely be many hidden sides to this situation. So before you rush to conclusions, it's best to know the situation first."

Lin Yue began to reconsider, still surprised by Lien Hua's freshness of mind in this situation, but still angry at this fact, she didn't want to go and leave everyone here.

"Now that we are all calmer... Lin Yue, when do you have to leave?"

"In about 1 month, a month and a half maximum..."

Hearing that there was still so much time in between then and now, Lien Hua let out a sigh of relief. Although she didn't show it, she also didn't want Lin Yue to leave and wanted to spend some more time with her. But as she looked up and looked towards her friends, she smiled.

"Well then, come on, 1 and a half months will be more than enough time to train with me! But be careful, my training will be very hard, so you have to be prepared for the worst!"

Lin Yue and Chen Huang felt the change in the air. They were still not very happy with the situation, but as Lien Hua said, they wanted to use the time in the best way.

"That's fine with me."

"That's fine with me too!"

Hearing the two kids' confirmations, Lien Hua happily continued the evening, trying to lift the spirits of the two, until Lin Yue and Chen Huang, tired from the day's busy events, returned home after a group hug.