"Someone has to be," Qin Xinyu replied with a small smile.
As they filed out of the study room, Qing Qing lingered for a moment, looking back at the table where they'd worked. At the scattered papers that represented her first real collaboration with peers her own age. Her first step toward being just another student.
"Vel'shara cin thoral," she whispered to the empty room. Thank you, fates.
Then she hurried to catch up with Minghao, who was already chattering excitedly about what they should have for dinner, blissfully unaware that for Qing Qing, every normal moment was still a small miracle.
The dining room of the Huo mansion was grand yet intimate when the family wasn't at full capacity. With Tang Fei and Huo Ting away on their business trip, and the three siblings still at their military training camp, the long mahogany table felt almost too spacious for just the two girls and Qin Xinyu.
