Dark Light Chaser.

Chapter 72 Exposed
Seeing that she couldn't hide it any longer, Ai Liang simply admitted it directly.

He originally intended to keep it a secret from everyone and explain after arriving in Qianhua City, so that at least he wouldn't have to face their questions or feel the sadness of parting.

Because the notices from Nevada's middle schools are all dark-colored, among a bunch of dark green and brown covers, the bright red notice from Qianhua Experimental Middle School stands out, making it hard not to notice.

So Ai Liang deliberately waited at the school gate early in the morning to make sure it opened, just so that no one would see his admission notice.

With less than an hour until his 6 o'clock train ticket, he never expected that his volunteering would be exposed on the eve of his departure.

Ai Liang ignored Yang Xingyue's stiff expression and focused her gaze on her phone, then took out her own phone and opened the class group chat.

It took me a lot of effort to find out; the notice wasn't from this city, it was from the Experimental Middle School in Qianhua City next door.

[Gong Yi, you're so incompetent! It took you so much effort to check a notification letter?]

[Qianhua City Experimental Middle School? If you can get into Experimental Middle School, there's no need to go all the way to the next city. Aren't the schools in this city good enough?]

[By the way, whose notification letter is it?]

[Who else could it be? It must be one of Sister Hua's or her group.]

[I specifically asked the homeroom teacher about Ai Liang's situation.]

[Ai Liang's? Didn't I hear he received a direct admission offer from Neihua Experimental High School? How come there's suddenly an acceptance letter from Qianhua Experimental High School?]

【I don't know. Why don't you ask Sister Hua or the others? If they don't know either, then ask the person in question.】

Ai Liang is always one of those who stays hidden, only appearing when he replies with "Received +1".

Why don't you guys send private messages?

[They've set their account to block strangers, and they reject friend requests. How are you supposed to chat with them privately?]

Ai Liang continued scrolling up and quickly learned the reason why he had been exposed.

At first, the students in the class were discussing how ugly the covers of the notices from schools in Nevada were. As they talked, someone said that there were some nice ones, and then posted a picture of the notice with the red cover.

Gong Yi refused to believe it and went online to find the source of Ai Liang's admission notice, refuting that it was not from a school in Nevada.

As a result, Ai Liang was exposed.

The hot pot was still boiling, but no one was taking any more food out of it.

The cooked tofu falls to the bottom of the pot and is then stirred up again, gradually turning into small pieces of crumbs as it rolls around.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was extremely tense. Fang Xiaoxiao said weakly, "...Ai Liang, why don't you explain it to me?"

Sensing the oppressive atmosphere emanating from Yue Qihua and Yang Xingyue, Fang Xiaoxiao quietly moved closer to Ma Yu, as if seeking protection.

Ai Liang did not speak.

“You even kept it from your sister Hua… Ai Liang… You’re not being fair to me, especially since I… have always looked out for you.”

Yue Qihua also saw the message in the group. She tried her best to remain calm, but found that no matter how she tried to control her emotions, her voice would still choke up.

Was I completely insignificant to him? Was I just one of those strangers who graduated and whose whereabouts he didn't even need to tell him? Was my feeling of a close relationship just wishful thinking on my part...?

Yue Qihua turned her head to look at the glass, and she noticed that something seemed to be shimmering in her eyes under the light reflection.

How strange, is the hot pot at this restaurant really this spicy? My eyes are all red from the spiciness.

Yue Qihua gently wiped her red eyes.

An honest person who never gets angry even when bullied, but when he does get angry, even the bullies are afraid.

Similarly, when the usually assertive Yue Qihua revealed this fragile appearance that seemed like she would break at the slightest touch, even Fang Xiaoxiao felt the oppressive atmosphere and dared not utter any more nonsense.

After a long silence, Ma Yu finally broke the silence, unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere any longer: "Xiao Ai... why don't you explain yourself..."

"I want to leave Nevada and live independently."

Ai Liang stared at the bubbling red oil in the pot, watching the food rise and fall inside, her mind filled with a myriad of thoughts.

No matter what, I want to escape from this city, from that home.

Even if it means facing a lonely life again.

"What do you mean by living independently... You don't seem like someone going through a rebellious phase." Ma Yu found it unbelievable; based on his understanding of Ai Liang, this kind of thinking shouldn't exist in him at all.

"You're not really going through a rebellious phase, are you? Hahaha...haha...ha..."

Ma Yu wanted to crack a joke to lighten the mood, but faced with the seemingly frozen atmosphere, he stopped laughing and huddled up in a ball like Fang Xiaoxiao.

"Literally, I plan to live alone."

Ai Liang did not explain why he left.

The dining table fell silent once again.

After a while, Yang Xingyue finally prepared herself mentally. She looked at Ai Liang and asked, "We're only fifteen years old. Isn't this age a bit too early?"

This wasn't the first time Yang Xingyue had been deliberately distanced by Ai Liang, so her resilience far surpassed that of Yue Qihua, who was on friendly terms with Ai Liang.

This time, the sisters' relationship has reversed, and the younger sister is now in charge.

"If you want to try living independently, you can wait until you're sixteen and officially an adult. By then, you can make your own decisions about many things. Besides, your parents wouldn't feel comfortable with you living alone in a completely unfamiliar big city, would they?"

When Ai Liang heard Yang Xingyue mention her parents, a hint of impatience flashed in her eyes: "I will be an adult this October."

"But if it's too far away, it'll be difficult to get back home..."

"Xingyue, I'm not like you!"

Before Yang Xingyue could finish speaking, Ai Liang interrupted her in a somewhat rude tone.

Yang Xingyue was startled and looked at Ai Liang with some panic.

She couldn't understand why Ai Liang, who was usually calm and emotionless, had become irritable.

This was the first time Ai Liang had spoken to her with such obvious emotion.

Seeing that Yang Xingyue kept focusing on her family, Ai Liang decided to tell everyone about her background.

“My family is different from yours.”

Ai Liang repeated what she had just said before continuing, "My parents never care about my life. In their eyes, I am just a burden, a hindrance that binds them to marriage."

“My birth was an accident. My birth mother only gave birth to me because she was worried that abortion would affect her health. My parents got married only because of business interests.”

Ai Liang put down her chopsticks and stared intently at Yang Xingyue: "In the ten years from when I was five to now, I have met them less than twenty times in total. I have been living alone since I was six years old, and I am leaving Nevada City because of them. Do you understand now?"

This was the first time the four of them had heard Ai Liang recount his past, but they never expected his background to be so complicated.

At this moment, they finally understood why Ai Liang always had an aura that kept strangers at bay, why she treated everything with a cold attitude, and why she rarely smiled.

The group recalled how they had complained about their parents in front of Ai Liang, and were immediately filled with shame.

Yang Xingyue, in particular, couldn't look Ai Liang in the eye at all.

Regret, guilt, sympathy, heartache, and a variety of other emotions filled my heart.

Yang Xingyue understood why Ai Liang often distanced herself from her; it was because she was the one who most frequently reopened Ai Liang's wounds.

(End of this chapter)