Chapter 292: Xina's Current Situation
On Christmas Day, most shops were closed. Hina, who had been working two or three part-time jobs every day for a month, finally had a short break and slept in bed with her sister Beretta, a rare lazy sleep.
Although she said she was sleeping in, Xina's biological clock made her open her eyes at six o'clock. She just wanted to stay with her sister in bed for a while longer, but soon, with nothing to do in bed, she was swallowed up by all kinds of emotions.
Those emotions all started from the night she entered the casino. Whenever Xina thought of that night, it seemed a little unreal because no one came to see her after that night. If her father had not disappeared since that night, she would have even regarded that night as just a nightmare.
Oh, father...
Her father disappeared for a month, but she did nothing. She was not anxious, did not look for him, and did not call the police. The impact of that night was too strong for her. Xina no longer knew how to face her father, or rather, she did not want to face him at all. Her father's disappearance just fits her escapist mentality.
After thinking about her father who had disappeared without a trace, Xina thought of her current situation again. She still remembered what people in the casino said, "the last small pile of chips after pawning their daughter." After leaving the casino environment, Xina actually thought this sentence was very funny. It's not like there are no laws. Why would people be pawned?
But it was the noisy and flashy environment of the casino and the various people that night that made her subconsciously know that she might really be pawned because a large network was secretly formed to block the light of the law.
Xina couldn't leave here. Her sister was still so young and she didn't have much money. She could only wait for the answer from fate in panic all day long.
Of course, Hina also had a fluke mentality that the gangsters would not come after her, and this fluke mentality grew after a month of calm, but she had no one to rely on and had to support a younger sister, so her life had come to a standstill.
When her father was still alive, he was deeply in debt and robbed her of the money she earned from her part-time job, but from time to time he would suddenly have a large sum of money. Hina didn't know whether it was gambling money, help from others, or some other ill-gotten gain, but that money temporarily paid for the rent, her tuition, and part of the family's living expenses, making Hina feel that even if the situation was not good, she could still complete her studies.
But now, the source of her miserable life is gone, and the false temporary support has disappeared with it. The money she earned from her part-time job is barely enough to cover their rent, and her younger sister still needs someone to take care of her. Hina, who has become the pillar of the family, had no choice but to apply for leave of absence after settling the bills and started working full-time.
She basically has to stand the whole day. In the morning, she works as a coffee shop waitress, in the afternoon she plays a Christmas elf in a supermarket, and at night she works as a waitress in a restaurant. She doesn't earn much in a day, but such a busy day does make Hina think less. She is quite afraid of random thoughts in her free time.
"Well...sister..." Beretta hugged Xina's arms tightly. Her eyelids fluttered a few times and slowly opened. Her clear blue-green eyes were still misty. After a yawn, the mist condensed into physiological tears in her eyes. Beretta got into her sister's arms and leaned against her. "Beretta wants to stay with her sister for a while longer."
"We can spend the whole Christmas together!" Sina coaxed her sister, her tone not revealing the difficulty of life at all. They hugged each other in the bed for a while, and then slowly got out of bed.
Beretta played with the few toys he had on the carpeted floor beside the bed, while Sina went to the kitchen area to heat up breakfast. It was called an area because the only space in this cheap rental house that was comparable to a kitchen was an old microwave and a small refrigerator; there was no place to start a fire and cook.
The bathroom is right next to the kitchen area. Because the toilet has a strong odor, Xina put a lot of tape on the thin wooden door so that it can be closed. Otherwise, the smell will drift to the small living room next to it, which has a broken wooden table and a rotten sofa. The house they rented has only one bedroom. She and her sister sleep in the bedroom, and her father used to sleep on the rotten sofa.
Dong-dong——
The sudden knock on the door made Hina pause as she was about to pour the can of beans into the bowl. Being knocked on the door in this neighborhood was not a reassuring thing. Hina swallowed, tremblingly picked up the small knife for cutting bread beside her, tiptoed to the door that did not give her a sense of security, and nervously looked into the peephole.
An unexpected figure appeared in front of her. The moment Xina saw her cousin Maxine's appearance clearly, the knife in her hand fell to the ground. With the crisp sound of the knife rebounding, Xina opened the door and hugged Maxine excitedly.
Maxine, who was thrown back slightly, immediately hugged Hina. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she murmured the name of her sister whom she had not seen for a long time, "Hina..."
Behind the embracing sisters, Leah, casually wearing a black windbreaker, stood quietly. For convenience, she cut her hair short and had a thin face. The loose clothes did not show her figure very well. Standing there, she looked like a good-looking man.
Immersed in the joy of seeing her sister again, Xina noticed Leah's presence after a while. For a moment, she felt embarrassed and extremely frightened because she knew that Leah was also a member of the gang.
"Will you invite me in?" Leah asked good-temperedly after meeting Hina's evasive gaze.
"Of course!" Xina said this, feeling somewhat relieved in her heart, because the person who came to see her was Leah, the woman who didn't seem like a bad person in the previous two encounters.
“Sister Leah!” Beretta’s voice and the sound of the door closing rang out at the same time. She had just heard the noise and walked out of the small bedroom to check what was going on, and then she saw her favorite sister Leah. Soon she found her favorite cousin Maxine, so she called out in a baby voice again and ran over to her, “Sister Maxine!”
Maxine squatted down and held Beretta in her arms. She rubbed the girl's furry head with a loving smile on her face, but tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. "Sister hasn't hugged you for a long time, Beretta."
Xina looked at their faces pressed together, her heart filled with emotion and joy. Then she realized belatedly that the skin on her cousin's face had become smooth again, and the long scar had disappeared.
"Mr. Riddle is the gentleman you saw that night," Leah had been paying attention to the reactions of the three sisters. She explained at the right time, "He paid for Maxine to find the best plastic surgeon to do the reconstructive surgery. She has just recovered."
It was a lie, in fact the magic was done in an instant, but in order not to arouse suspicion, false memories that took a long time to repair were implanted in Maxine.
Maggie did all this without avoiding Leah, and even explained to her the effects of some spells. These actions made Leah realize that she had begun to emerge in the magical society.
It's always like this. One way to show trust is to show you some dirty things without any hesitation.
"Um, sir..." Xina suppressed all the joy and excitement of the reunion and rubbed her knuckles nervously.
"Maxine, can you take Beretta into the room to play for a while?" Leah glanced at Maxine and Beretta. When she saw Beretta's big eyes, she smiled and her voice softened. "I have booked a family Christmas event at a hotel for you. Someone will come to pick you up and watch some small shows later."
"Ordered it for us?" Beretta's tone changed in confusion. The next words he asked were not the kind of evasion that adults would always make. Instead, he looked at Leah expectantly, "Sister Leah, are you coming with us?"
Leah was stunned, and the smile on her lips unconsciously widened. "Of course, I'll go back when I'm done. After all, I still have to give Beretta a Christmas present."
"Okay! It's settled!" Beretta smiled sweetly. She buried herself in Maxine's arms and urged, "Quick, quick, Maxine, let me introduce my toys to you first. They are all friends you don't know!"
"Okay, okay." Maxine responded, her blue eyes lingering on Hina worriedly. It was not until Leah gave her a reassuring look that she nervously carried Beretta into the small bedroom.
"He wants to see you. Are you afraid?" Leah turned her head to look at Hina. "Do you want me to explain it to you here first, or can we talk while we walk?"
"... Let's talk while we walk." Xina picked up the knife on the ground and put it back on the table, with a numb expression on her face. "I have to thank him. I helped my sister. That night, without him, I couldn't have walked out of that casino, right?"
Sheena looked up at Leah, her words revealing a sense of resignation. It was obvious that she had linked Maggie's purpose of helping her with her body.
"Well, there aren't many good things about men, but Mr. Riddle promised me that I'm not here to be a pimp today," Leah hissed, her nose wrinkled slightly, "Because I don't really want to do that kind of business, so I asked him, uh, that kind of question, but I can't guarantee whether it can be trusted."
"Thank you, Ms. Abend." Xina did not feel any more hope because of Leah's words. She just sincerely thanked the woman who helped her.
"Okay, let's go," Leah shrugged. "I drove here, but if you drive that kind of car into the slums, your house will be robbed immediately, so I parked the car in a park. Mr. Riddle is also there, so we have to walk a few more steps to get there."
"It's okay." Xina shook her head. Maybe it was because her anxiety had reached its peak, but now she was surprisingly calm.