MTLNOVEL Chapter 42 Bo Xue Flutters Gently
December 11th, an ordinary workday, and Fangting City was experiencing light snowfall again.
The light snow had started the previous night and continued into the afternoon of the next day. The pristine snowflakes whitened the entire city and brought a hint of dreamlike ambiance to the depths of winter. Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire
Fine snowflakes gently tapped against the window lattice, silently leaving a few droplets that blurred the street view outside. In the warmth of the Abnormal Strategy Bureau, Lin Yun sitting in the Director's Office, was polishing a teacup, then suddenly sighed.
He then looked towards the uninvited guest seated across the desk and rallied his spirits to ask:
"Is there something to be happy about today?"
Seated across the desk from him was his student and junior, also a recent regular visitor to the Director's Office—Bai Jingxuan.
As a conversational tactic, he didn't ask "What's the matter?" or "Why have you come?" but instead narrowed the scope directly to "something to be happy about." The reason was that he couldn't discern the child's intentions and was trying to steer the conversation toward a more positive note.
It was nearing the end of the workday, and just as Lin Yun had finished processing the day's paperwork and was about to summarize the day's work, Bai Jingxuan suddenly showed up.
Of course, despite the abrupt visit, Lin Yun was almost used to it. As previously mentioned, Bai Jingxuan had become a frequent guest. After the Lakeside Spring incident, whether it was because she had accepted the role of "daughter" as Emerald Sparrow, Bai Jingxuan's visits to the Abnormal Strategy Bureau had increased significantly.
Nevertheless, since then, she hadn't made any shocking requests, such as "slaughtering Black Ash Dawn." Often, she would simply greet Lin Yun and then sit quietly in the Director's Office reading.
Rather, it was because she was indeed quiet enough that Lin Yun was willing to let her stay in the Director's Office.
"Something to be happy about?"
Bai Jingxuan seemed livelier than usual today. Even while sitting and reading, the legs slightly raised by the chair were constantly swinging in the air, her sneakers tapping back and forth, occasionally rubbing together, making a faint scraping sound. Upon hearing Lin Yun's question, she stopped her leg movement and lifted her head:
"Uncle doesn't know?"
He did.
Lin Yun thought to himself. In fact, Bai Jingxuan's apparent happiness today was intimately tied to Emerald Sparrow.
Because today, December 11th, was Bai Jingxuan's birthday.
Using the birthday as an excuse, Emerald Sparrow had informed team members early on that there would be a birthday party for Bai Jingxuan at the secret base that evening.
"I could guess a little."
Of course, considering his role, Lin Yun had no reason to know with such clarity, so all he could do was choose his words carefully, "I heard something about it earlier, today is your birthday, right?"
"Yes, yes!"
Bai Jingxuan nodded enthusiastically, "There's going to be a birthday party for me tonight, will you come, Uncle?"
Lin Yun showed no change in expression, but upon hearing the term "Uncle," the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
This appellation was not inappropriate, and was even the most suitable between Bai Jingxuan and Lin Yun. If there was anything problematic about it, it was that Bai Jingxuan hadn't used it before.
And that was the biggest issue.
In fact, Bai Jingxuan had not only given up the original headache-inducing title of "Daddy" for Lin Yun, switching to "Uncle," even with Emerald Sparrow, she had stopped using "Mommy" and reverted to calling her "Teacher."
This change was so natural and so sudden that Emerald Sparrow didn't realize something was off at first. By the time she recognized that things were not too optimistic, Bai Jingxuan had completely reverted to her previous manner of address.
And as for why it turned out this way, Emerald Sparrow knew all too well, you could say it was almost entirely due to herself.
The matter had to be traced back to the day she confronted Lin Xiaolu upon returning home: after Lin Yun revealed his identity as an employee of the Abnormal Strategy Bureau to Lin Xiaolu, the storm that had been stirred up by Hong Siyu's return had somewhat subsided.
The girls had evidently come to a much better understanding of Hong Siyu's return and gradually accepted the existence of this "new" teammate. However, alongside understanding, some new problems arose.
First of all, there was Lin Xiaolu.
After Lin Yun seriously clarified his relationship with Hong Siyu, and even his and Emerald Sparrow's relationship, she had indeed quieted down, no longer using bothersome issues like "stepmother" to agitate Lin Yun.
However, this "quieting down" was one-sided. Emerald Sparrow quickly realized that Lin Xiaolu's attitude toward her was becoming somewhat off. Though not evident in her manners, at certain times, Lin Xiaolu would steal glances at Emerald Sparrow with a perplexingly complex look, and when Emerald Sparrow turned her head to look back, Lin Xiaolu would turn her face away as if busy with something else.
This behavior would have been dismissible if it happened only once or twice, but it occurred nearly every day, making it difficult for Emerald Sparrow not to notice. A few days later, Xia Liang and Bai Jingxuan also became aware of this strange phenomenon.
To make matters more peculiar, Lin Xiaolu began to make an odd effort.
Not that she hadn't been diligent before—in fact, Lin Xiaolu had always thoroughly completed the tasks Emerald Sparrow set for her, and the effort expended was certainly not meager. However, in recent days, her diligence had become somewhat stubborn, even showing a tendency to edge closer to Bai Jingxuan.