Chapter 19 —

“In that case, I will take my leave first. I hope you will use your power wisely and never become the kind of person you despise most.”

Having said this, Yao Qing placed Lu Miaoyin beside her in front of Yin Li, then with a flick of her sleeve, she vanished in the blink of an eye, leaving not a trace behind.

After Yao Qing left, Yin Li looked at Lu Miaoyin, who stood timidly before her, at eye level, and muttered to herself:

"Okay, okay, I've inexplicably become a little loli's... 'temporary guardian'? Sigh, with my current status, I can't go back to the Extraordinary Ones Association, and it's the middle of the night... Looks like I'll have to find a hotel for this poor little thing to settle down temporarily."

Thinking of this, she raised her voice and greeted Lu Miaoyin with a smile: "Hi, little Miaoyin, how about we go to a hotel for a nap?"

As soon as she finished speaking, she realized her words were ambiguous, sounding like she was trying to trick the naive little girl into going to a hotel. So, she quickly added:

"Uh... cough cough, it's just that it's too early now, we can only rest at a hotel until dawn before we can officially look for a place to stay."

"...Sister?" Lu Miaoyin tilted her head, looking incredibly cute and innocent. However, her focus didn't seem to be on the hotel; instead, she was interested in the form of address: "Shouldn't Miaoyin call you 'Mom'?"

"Huh? Mom, Mom...?" Hearing Lu Miaoyin call her "Mom," Yin Li froze instantly.

Seeing Yin Li's exaggerated reaction, Lu Miaoyin frowned slightly, puzzled, and earnestly explained, "Mom, didn't you just mutter that you're Miaoyin's guardian? Guardian... isn't that family? Family is Dad, Mom, and my brother, right?"

"Okay, I almost forgot you were only in elementary school before you were kidnapped by the crows. You've been locked up for the past few years, and no one has taught you anything."

Yin Li rubbed her forehead, not correcting Lu Miaoyin's address. Because, upon hearing the other's address, a strange feeling of tenderness welled up within her—

In both Lin Jiangxing's and the Silver Dragon Princess's memories, "parents" were distant concepts.

Lin Jiangxing had experienced the love of his parents and also the pain of losing them. Dragons are inherently emotionally detached, and the Silver Dragon Princess, as the daughter of her clan's leader, has known nothing of familial affection since birth…

The current Yin Li possesses the memories of both men (although Lin Jiangxing's memories are incomplete, they are still profoundly meaningful to her). Through comparing their memories, she understands the preciousness of family and the pitiful tragedy of being unloved.

Thinking of this, Yin Li affectionately tiptoed and patted Lu Miaoyin's slightly messy but still fluffy head: "Since that's the case, then I'll be your 'mom' for a while—but you have to be good, okay? Otherwise… when Yao Qing comes back, I won't want you anymore!"

Hearing Yin Li acknowledge her as "mom," a blush rose on Lu Miaoyin's face, and she nodded uncontrollably like a little deer: "Okay, good~ Miaoyin will definitely be a good girl and listen to Mom!"

…………

……

"Ring ring ring ring, ring ring ring ring—"

"Uh, so noisy… Hello, who is it?"

The next day at noon, Yin Li was awakened from her sleep by a familiar telephone ring. She fumbled around on the edge of the bed for her phone and skillfully swiped to answer.

A very familiar voice came from the phone, sounding quite emotional: "Brother Lin... no, I should call you 'Miss Yin Li' now, right? It's me, Liu Hongyu."

"Liu Hongyu?!" Hearing this, Yin Li immediately woke up. She glanced at Lu Miaoyin, who was still fast asleep beside her, and asked in a low voice, "How are you doing now? I've also restored He Yuanyuan remotely using the Heaven-Summoning Brush. What did you two say to the association's higher-ups?"

Before leaving the black market early this morning, she first used the Heaven-Summoning Brush to restore He Yuanyuan, who had also been fused with the earth dragon—although it consumed double the energy, it was negligible for her now.

Then, she left the still **** Liu Hongyu behind—at that time, some of the cleaners had already entered the black market, and he would naturally be discovered by others without her intervention.

"Aside from some unpleasant memories, I'm fine now—oh, and Yuan Yuan is too." Liu Hongyu chuckled on the other end of the phone, then his tone became serious:

"As for the association's higher-ups… Yuan Yuan and I haven't revealed anything about you or the truth about the dragons yet. To be honest, Yuan Yuan and I both hope to talk to you in person about this."

"In person?" Yin Li raised an eyebrow, agreeing without hesitation: "Sure, where?"

Yin Li knew that objectively, she wasn't human anymore, and this in-person meeting might be a trap set by the association's higher-ups using Liu Hongyu and Yin Li… ​​But, just as she had deliberately preserved their memories while recovering them—she trusted her two former companions.

She believed that her two companions would trust her as much as she trusted them.

"You actually agreed right away?!" Liu Hongyu seemed somewhat surprised, even his voice trembled slightly. He quickly recovered, though his voice trembled with a sob: "I understand, Miss Lin... Yinli—no need to say more, I understand everything. Tonight, at the 'Guests Are Always Welcome' restaurant, we...see you there!"

With that, he decisively hung up the phone, as if he were about to burst into tears as he spoke the last sentence. "The 'Guests Are Always Welcome' restaurant... that really is where it all started." Details about the place were long gone from her memory, but Yin Li still sighed. "Now that we've severed ties with the 'Silver Dragon Princess,' I think it's time to say goodbye to the 'Cleaner'—"

The sigh seemed so heavy that it woke Lu Miaoyin, who was sleeping beside her. "Um... Mom, what's wrong? Why do you look so worried?"

She rubbed her eyes sleepily and sat up in bed. Seeing that Yin Li didn't respond, she knew it was inconvenient for the other person to answer her question, so she stiffly changed the subject:

"Mom, Miaoyin is hungry and wants to go out to eat something delicious!"

Yin Li smiled gently at this, thinking to herself that although her "daughter" wasn't very well-educated, she was still quite intelligent. She gently patted Lu Miaoyin's head and said softly, "Okay, Miaoyin, whatever you want to eat, Mommy will buy it for you! This afternoon, we'll go buy a house and live there permanently!"

Lu Miaoyin immediately smiled innocently and jumped out of bed: "Yay! Mommy's the best—"