15: The walls have ears

The rooms at Star Rail Headquarters were exceptionally soundproofed, enough to block out most noise.

But for an Innate Martial Body whose sensory acuity grew rapidly alongside their strength—especially when that child listened intently—the walls' dampening effect was significantly diminished.

Chen Xi hadn't intended to eavesdrop.

She had just finished her evening Energy Guidance session and returned to her room to rest.

Her heightened hearing allowed her to catch her parents' low conversation in the living room; those fragments of bittersweet and affectionate memories reached her ears without missing a single word.

At first, she just listened quietly, hearing her mother recount the hardships of the past and her father's guilty sobs.

But when she heard her father's raspy "I'm sorry, I made you suffer back then...", the fragments of vague yet profound memories suppressed in her heart for years surged like a bursting dam, instantly shattering the composure she had worked so hard to maintain.

She bolted upright from her bed and, barefoot, rushed out of her room like a gust of wind.

In the living room, Chen Jun was holding Lin Wei tightly, both of them immersed in those bitter yet warm memories.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Their eldest daughter, Chen Xi, stood there in her nightgown, her small face drenched in tears and her eyes as red as a rabbit's.

"Xi Xi?"

Lin Wei was startled and quickly sat up from Chen Jun's embrace, wiping away her own tears.

"What's wrong, baby? Did you have a nightmare?"

Chen Xi didn't answer. She simply charged forward and buried her head in Chen Jun's chest, her small shoulders trembling violently as she let out uncontrollable, low sobs.

Chen Jun and Lin Wei were stunned and exchanged glances. Chen Jun instinctively hugged his daughter, gently patting her back as he asked softly:

"Xi Xi, tell Daddy, what happened? Who bullied you?"

Chen Xi shook her head vigorously in his arms, too choked with tears to speak, only clinging to him even tighter.

After a long while, her crying gradually subsided into intermittent hiccups.

She looked up, her eyes misty with tears, at Chen Jun's face, which looked far older than those of his peers, her small hand trembling as she touched the deep wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.

"Daddy... I'm sorry..."

Her voice was thick with nasal congestion, filled with immense guilt and heartache.

"I know everything... I... I started remembering things when I was just over a year old..."

This statement left both Chen Jun and Lin Wei dumbfounded!

Remembering things since the age of one?

This child's talent was actually to such a Prodigy level?!

Ignoring her parents' shock, Chen Xi sobbed as she recounted the scenes buried deep in her memory with her youthful yet clear voice:

"I remember... Daddy leaving every day... before dawn, smelling of... of machine oil and dust... When you came home at night, you couldn't even walk straight, yet you still held me... and sang off-key songs to me..."

"I remember... Mommy holding me with a big belly, having to go so far to get... get that tasteless mush... It rained, and Mommy fell; both Mommy and I cried... When Daddy came back and saw us, your eyes were red and your hands were shaking..."

Chen Jun and Lin Wei's hearts felt as if they were being squeezed by an invisible hand, making it difficult to breathe.

They never imagined that the hardships they thought were long forgotten in the dust of time were actually so clearly etched into the memory of their daughter, who was just an infant then!

"After Yao Yao was born..."

Chen Xi's tears welled up again.

"Daddy was even more tired... I remember many times, Daddy would come home in the middle of the night, sit on that little stool, lean against the wall... and just fall asleep like that, without even changing his clothes... still holding half a piece of cold Synthetic Bread in his hand..."

Lin Wei's tears burst forth once more as she recalled the countless times she had put the two children to sleep and seen her husband sleeping like that; her heart would ache so much she'd cry secretly, yet she never dared to wake him.

Chen Xi looked at her mother, her eyes full of gratitude and heartache:

"Mommy worked even harder... When you were pregnant with Lu Lu, your belly was so big, yet you had to take care of two little rascals like me and Yao Yao at the same time..."

She gestured with her small hands: "I remember... Mommy with her big belly, unable to bend over, so you knelt on the floor to wipe up the Nutritional Paste Yao Yao and I spilled... When Yao Yao cried, Mommy would hold her and slowly, with such effort, squat down to pick up the toys on the floor for me..."

"I also remember... at night, after Yao Yao and I were asleep, Mommy would sit by the bed, using what little light there was to mend the clothes we'd outgrown... stitch by stitch... Sometimes you'd yawn, and the needle would prick your finger..."

These details, so specific and vivid, were more heart-wrenching coming from their daughter's mouth than from their own memories.

Lin Wei could no longer hold it back and broke into loud sobs.

She thought those trivial, day-to-day hardships were known only to her, never imagining that her eldest daughter had seen and remembered them all.

"Daddy didn't let Mommy down!"

Chen Xi suddenly raised her voice, her tone carrying an unprecedented excitement and determination. She looked at Chen Jun, large tears rolling down her cheeks.

"It's that Daddy had it too hard! Daddy did it for us! Daddy gave us the best of everything and worked himself to exhaustion like this!"

She reached out her small hand and firmly stroked Chen Jun's graying temples:

"Daddy's hair turned white for me and my sisters! Daddy's wrinkles were etched there for this family! Daddy hasn't let anyone down!"

She turned back to Lin Wei and threw herself into her mother's arms:

"Mommy too! Mommy is the greatest! Daddy was tired working outside, but Mommy was even more tired at home! We all remember! I remember it all!"

In this moment, they could no longer restrain themselves; the family of three clung to each other, weeping together.

After crying for a long time, the emotions of the three slowly calmed down.

Chen Jun cupped his daughter's face, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. His voice was still raspy, but it was filled with unspeakable emotion and pride:

"Silly child, why are you crying? Daddy is a man, the pillar of this family; no matter how tired I get, it's my duty. As long as you all are well, everything Daddy does is worth it."

Lin Wei also hugged her daughter, kissing her hair:

"Xi Xi, don't say that. Mommy and Daddy did it willingly. As long as you sisters are safe and healthy, no matter how hard or tiring it is for us, our hearts are filled with sweetness.