Transmigrating Behind the Mirror to Become Her Guardian Lady - Chapter 29.1

Evil Intentions

“Ah, about that…”

Shu Mengli was briefly at a loss for words. Her eyes darted slightly to look at Jiang Weilu, who was sitting opposite her with a face full of accusation, waiting for an answer.

Scratching her head, she answered vaguely, “Well, some of them are my friends, some are people I dislike, and some are people I don’t know, things like that…”

However, this answer failed to satisfy Jiang Weilu, and she knit her beautiful brows slightly. “I thought Sister fell into a deep sleep every time you disappeared. Turns out that wasn’t the case?”

Shu Mengli’s hand that was helping her wipe away the lipstick marks stopped completely. Placing her hands on her own lap, she let out a sigh. “It’s very complicated to explain, but it’s true that I don’t fall into a deep sleep.”

“Then can Sister tell me about it?”

Actually, there was nothing she couldn’t say; it wasn’t some earth-shattering secret, and nothing bad would happen if she spoke about it. However, because Shu Mengli cared far too much about Jiang Weilu, she became overly cautious and overthought things.

Because of a self-serving lie she told when Lulu was a young child, the girl had always believed she was some kind of mirror elf, and she still believed it firmly to this day. If she were to suddenly tell her now that she wasn’t an elf at all, but just an ordinary person who had stumbled into her life by mistake, would Lulu feel that she had deceived her? Would she stop believing her from then on? Would she even feel that since her closest person had lied to her, there were no good people left in this world?

But hiding it like this forever wasn’t a solution either.

Shu Mengli sighed. In that single instant, a multitude of considerations weighed on her mind, and her thoughts tangled for a long while before she finally came to a decision. She raised her head, looking at Jiang Weilu with absolute tenderness in her eyes, and spoke softly.

“How about this? Wait a little longer. Wait until… you are an adult, and then I will tell you.”

Little children ought to have a happy childhood and beautiful memories. So let me guard your happiness; I will tell you the truth once you reach an age where you no longer believe in fairy tales.

“Huh?” Jiang Weilu’s face instantly fell. “I’m only 13 now. That’s going to take so long.”

As she spoke, she tried to persuade her. Scooting from the bed to the space right in front of Shu Mengli, she gazed up at her sister with glittering puppy-dog eyes. “But Sister, I’ve already grown up now. I’m not a little child anymore, you can tell me.”

Shu Mengli set down the makeup remover pad in her hand, smiling as she patted Jiang Weilu’s small head. “Only children keep emphasizing that they’ve grown up. Adults don’t need to state the facts over and over again, you know.”

“Alright then.” Jiang Weilu admitted defeat, pouting her lips.

However, she very quickly became happy again on her own, because she and her sister now shared a new agreement between the two of them—this was a little secret belonging only to them. It felt as though, with this, the relationship between her and her sister had grown a bit closer, and she understood her sister just a little bit more.

She was already beginning to look forward to becoming an adult.

Sitting there, Shu Mengli watched the alternatingly happy and troubled Jiang Weilu with a quiet smile. Her gaze swept over the girl’s beautiful brows and eyes, down to the high bridge of her nose, and then to her rosy lips. The little girl had originally been exceptionally beautiful, looking like an exquisite little doll. Coming back this time, the doll’s features had gradually begun to open up, becoming even more flawless, and she faintly possessed the silhouette of a young teenage girl.

It seemed she had left for a very long time once again, so long that her little girl had gradually grown up.

Shu Mengli’s gaze softened. Feeling a pang of heartache for Jiang Weilu, she spoke in a warm voice, “Lulu, this time… how long was I gone?”

“Huh?” Jiang Weilu had been deeply immersed in the joy of sharing a tiny agreement with her sister. Hearing her sister’s voice, she raised her head and answered subconsciously, “A year and a half, Sister.”

A year and a half?

Shu Mengli’s vision dazed slightly. How could it be that long!

The girl’s answer struck a heavy, shocking chord in her heart, causing the strength to drain from Shu Mengli’s body, leaving her faintly ready to collapse. How could it be even longer than she had estimated!

What on earth was the mechanism behind this mirror’s transmigrations? Why was it so much longer than the previous time, every single time? Then how long would it be the next time she came over? Three years later?

This time, she had clearly promised Lulu that they would meet after one year. After she broke her promise, how long had the little girl waited for her through that hopeless stretch of time?

A sharp pang of pain pierced her heart, gradually expanding until it occupied her entire chest, causing her body to tremble involuntarily.

Unable to restrain her emotions, Shu Mengli reached out and pulled the child opposite her into a tight embrace, clutching her fiercely. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry Lulu. Did I fail to keep my promise to you again?”

Her sister’s sudden embrace left Jiang Weilu utterly bewildered, and her little face resting on her sister’s shoulder looked completely blank. It was only when the unique scent and softness belonging to her sister awakened her senses that she snapped out of it. Reaching out, she gently hugged Shu Mengli back, snuggling into her sister’s neck with absolute peace of mind.

“It doesn’t matter, Sister. Didn’t I say it before? I will always wait for Sister.”

“Yesterday was actually my birthday. I sat there staring at the mirror, waiting for a very, very long time so long that I thought Sister wouldn’t show up at all.”

“But I never imagined that right at that moment, thud, Sister suddenly popped out. I was truly thrilled out of my mind at that moment!”

Shu Mengli had always been an incredibly attentive person, and she instantly caught the key detail within Jiang Weilu’s long narrative of sorrow mixed with joy. Loosening her embrace, she sat back slightly. After comforting Jiang Weilu, who had waited for her for so long, she voiced her surprise with some astonishment.

“Yesterday was your birthday, Lulu?”

Good heavens. Shu Mengli realized a severe problem. She had known Lulu for so long, yet she had absolutely no idea when the child’s birthday was. She had never once celebrated a birthday with Lulu.

Thinking of this, a wave of apologetic guilt surged up uncontrollably. “I’m so sorry Lulu, for making you wait for me for so long again. Also, even though it’s a bit late, I still want to wish you a happy birthday.”

However, Jiang Weilu didn’t care about any of that at all. In her heart, as long as her sister came, it was enough. As long as her sister ultimately arrived by her side, then all the waiting was completely worth it.

Jiang Weilu reached out and held her sister, who was moving away, a bit tighter, smiling as she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. As long as Sister can come back, I am incredibly happy!”

Your arrival is the absolute best birthday gift I could ever receive.

However, even though Jiang Weilu kept saying it didn’t matter and that she didn’t mind waiting for her time and time again, Shu Mengli still felt terrible about it. She wanted to do something for the child.

Thus, that evening, while Jiang Weilu was sitting at the dining table having dinner with her stepmother and Jiang Ming, Shu Mengli took advantage of the fact that no one could see her. Boldly slipping over to Jiang Weilu’s side, she whispered secretly, “Lulu, I want to go somewhere.”

Jiang Weilu subconsciously turned her head. But because there were other people around, she didn’t dare make her movements too large, so she could only signal with her eyes: Where does Sister want to go? I’ll accompany you in a little while.

Shu Mengli understood her well enough to read Jiang Weilu’s meaning from a single glance, and she shook her head. “No need. I want to go alone. You stay here and eat your dinner properly. Wait for me, okay? I’ll be back very soon.”

Jiang Weilu subconsciously knit her brows. You’re going alone? Sister, you’re a little elf who is completely unfamiliar with this place, where could you possibly want to go? No, I don’t agree!

However, Jiang Weilu didn’t manage to voice her objection, and Shu Mengli had no intention of adopting her opinion anyway. Before she could argue, Shu Mengli patted Jiang Weilu’s shoulder. “It’s a deal then!”

With that, she ran off immediately.

With a sudden movement, Jiang Weilu snapped upright from the dining table, nearly overturning the soup on the table, her eyes staring straight toward the doorway. Her sudden action startled everyone else at the table.

Jiang Ming frowned as he looked at her. “Lulu, what are you doing instead of eating your dinner properly?”

Jiang Weilu stood up, cast her eyes down to glance at the few people at the table, slapped her chopsticks down, and walked toward the door. “I’m not eating anymore.”

Sister has already run off, what’s the point of eating.

However, just ten minutes later, Jiang Weilu easily caught up with Shu Mengli, who had gone out, and just as easily suffered total defeat under her sister’s coquettish behavior and soft persuasion.

At that moment, Shu Mengli had looked at the person who chased after her with a face full of helplessness. She had planned everything out perfectly. Since Jiang Ming had rarely returned home today, Lulu would definitely have to accompany him for dinner. She could take this time to go out and prepare a tiny surprise, and then bring Lulu along right after she finished eating.

To her surprise, Jiang Weilu hadn’t given a single thought to her biological father, chasing her out just like that. Honestly, wasn’t she afraid that Jiang Ming’s impression of her would worsen because of this?

But Jiang Weilu was an incredibly easy child to coax. The moment the older sister acted a bit spoiled and spoke a few soft words in front of her, her face would flush slightly and her resolve would completely soften. In the end, she relented, agreeing to let Shu Mengli leave her sight for two hours.

Being bombarded with countless warnings and instructions by the child, Shu Mengli couldn’t help but want to laugh. She was already so old, yet she never expected that one day she would be worried over by a child.

Using all her effort to coax the child and getting her to wait for her on a long bench within the villa district, Shu Mengli departed once more.

However, just three minutes after her sister left, Jiang Weilu regretted it. Sitting alone on the bench in the winter night, buffeted by the cold wind, her heart grew increasingly anxious. Her helpless gaze scanned the surroundings, but naturally, she could not find that familiar figure.

Gradually, it felt as though a gash had been torn open in her heart, and the cold wind poured inside violently, whistling with a freezing chill. Jiang Weilu began to feel afraid. She feared that the person would suddenly disappear just like before, never to return, while she sat here, completely unable to wait for the departed person’s return.

The hands resting on her knees began to tremble. Jiang Weilu clenched her fists tightly, wanting to stop herself from letting her thoughts run wild. But although the trembling on her body was contained, the panic inside her heart gradually spread, threatening to swallow her whole like a black hole.

Jiang Weilu honestly didn’t know how she managed to endure those two hours. Or rather, was it really only two hours? Why did it feel so agonizingly long, as if it were an entire lifetime?

Fortunately, this time, Shu Mengli kept her promise.

Two hours in fact, before the time was even up she returned. She was panting heavily as she ran in from the entrance of the villa district, looking as though she were terrified of making Jiang Weilu wait too long, not daring to stop for a single step.

When she finally spotted Jiang Weilu, who was still sitting motionless on the villa district’s long bench like a little ice sculpture, her pace quickened, running to her side in a few swift strides. Then, she bent down and pulled the person sitting on the bench into a fierce embrace.

“I told you to wait here, and you really just sat here waiting! You little dummy, isn’t it cold outside? Look at how freezing your body is, don’t tell me you’ve been sitting out here rigidly for a whole two hours?”

Jiang Weilu had originally been on the verge of losing her sense of time. The panic and fear inside her heart had already materialized into a monster, on the verge of devouring her. But right when she was about to snap, the person she yearned for so deeply finally ran over from the distance.

Then, she fiercely wrapped her in an embrace, plunging her into warmth and dropping her straight into happiness. In an instant, she walked out of the freezing winter and into a spring so gentle it made one want to weep.

Following that, she saw her sister release the embrace with a look of heartache, using her warm palms to envelop her own fists, which had been clenched tightly for two hours and had nearly lost all sensation. Thus, hope returned to this world once more.

Jiang Weilu’s expression looked so aggrieved she was on the verge of tears. Throwing herself into her sister’s embrace all at once, her voice carried a sob. “Sister, I don’t want any birthday gifts, I really don’t. As long as Sister doesn’t leave, it’s enough. Sister, I was so scared, terrified that you would leave and never come back.”

Shu Mengli had originally thought that her Lulu had grown a bit older and wouldn’t be as prone to crying as before. She hadn’t expected that she would still be this clingy toward her. But that was fine too; in front of her, she could forever be the little child who loved to act spoiled.

Shu Mengli gently embraced the girl in her arms, stroking her small head, her voice the absolute gentlest in the entire world. “Alright, Sister promises you, I will never do this again in the future. After I come over from now on, I will always stay by Lulu’s side, okay? Not a single step away, I swear!”

“But for this time, my tiny surprise is already fully prepared, you know. Does Lulu really not want to go take a look?” As she spoke, Shu Mengli held the little girl a bit tighter, whispering warmly by her ear, “It was prepared for you and you alone.”

Hearing this, Jiang Weilu slowly pulled away from her sister’s embrace. Her large peach-blossom eyes still held traces of tears, and the expression on her face looked entirely pitiful. But inside her heart, she couldn’t help but be deeply moved by her sister’s words. That was a gift prepared by her sister, belonging only to her.

Jiang Weilu weighed it in her mind for a moment, and in the end, she was still completely enticed. Looking at Shu Mengli, she gave a fierce nod. “I… I want to go!”

An entirely unsurprising answer.

Shu Mengli let out a soft laugh, her eyes filled with shimmering starlight. Then, grasping Jiang Weilu’s hand, she pulled her up from the bench. “Then let’s go!”

Dinner at the small Jiang estate had always been served relatively late; it was already 8:00 PM when the meal began. Since Shu Mengli had been gone for roughly two hours, the current time was approximately 10:00 PM.