[Wei Yong] Looking for Lilia

A blush of embarrassment climbed up the red-haired girl's cheeks, and she fiddled with the hem of her clothes, biting her lips repeatedly.

Mila Babicheva looked down at Viktor through thick eyelashes, her head bowed.

"Of course, my dear junior sister." Victor replied, it is meaningless to play the "stranger game" now, Mira heard what he meant, she smiled embarrassedly, and put a A strand of hair hung down behind his right ear. "I've got the whole world until Yuuri comes back." He stretches, thinking of Yuuri makes him feel relaxed and happy.Chris sat aside and let out a dry retch, and Mira couldn't help but glanced at him.

"Sorry," Chris said, smiling charmingly and holding out a hand, "I'm a bum who just happened to pass by. My name is Chris."

"Hey, I know you!" Meera said, without shaking his hand. "You're the musical director who insisted that actors perform naked." Victor laughed gloatingly, and Chris withdrew his hand resentfully.

"In this conservative era, once a person frightens the world, he can no longer get rid of the pursuit of fame." He said with a sad face, "That is just an attempt in my opinion."

“Executives who are being sued for sexual harassment also claiming they were just trying to get access to those files without touching the secretary’s chest, and guess what — they all failed just like you.”

"It's not cool, man, it's not cool," Chris said, wagging his fingers warningly. "You haven't introduced us yet?"

"I don't see the need for that," Victor said dryly. Meera had been eyeing Chris uneasily. It was obvious that his overly coquettish leopard shirt had failed to make a trustworthy first impression. Victor found himself There is an unconscious protective desire towards people who show uneasy and reserved looks, which makes him involuntarily think of his Yuuri, "Want to go outside for some air?" he asked, and Mira nodded gratefully.He stood up, held out his hand to her, let her put it on his arm like a gentleman, and walked out the door.

They stepped out of the dining room, Meera looking much more relaxed once the fresh early summer wind had blown in.She pushed one side of her hair back.

"I think I might owe you an explanation," she said. "Where's Yuuri?"

"He went to get his food," Victor said. "Do you want to wait for him?"

"No, no, no, no——" Mira said, "There's no need... I might lose my courage if I wait a little longer." So Victor stopped talking and looked at her quietly.

Mira took a deep breath. "Okay, here we come—" She secretly cheered herself up, "Dad called me just now, I went home, he's fine." She paused, staring at the toe of her shoe , "So I figured... I owe you and Yuuri a thank you."

"That's nothing," Victor said, thinking that Mila wouldn't be so upset if she knew they had broken into her bedroom just to find Lilia's address, and he wisely decided to keep the matter to himself. Silent, "We just did what everyone would do."

"Okay, but I don't think pretending to be a sociopathic killer is one of those things," Meera said, as she and Victor looked at each other and smiled.Victor shrugged.

"That's a little personal play on my part," he said.Mira was silent again, and Victor waited for the moment when she decided to speak, and finally, she took another deep breath.

"You are exactly as she described," she said, "Lilia, she always says you are very bold and reckless, that you are the most capricious she has ever seen..."

"Okay," Victor said, "I deserved to hear this, she must be still resenting me for washing her goldfish in hot water. But let me defend myself: I just wanted to give Nemo a hot bath."

"It's also the smartest and most gifted kid." Mira continued, "But I don't think it's based on the goldfish story just now."

Victor laughed, he felt a little warm in his heart, Lilia had never praised him in front of him.

"She lived here before," Meera continued, "and you guessed it right—she wanted a new student, not just because she left your uncle, but because she wanted more Something tougher, she thinks you're someone who's born high, and she wants to see a person rise from low—sorry." She watched Victor warily, and Victor lowered nod.

"I sort of guessed it," he said, "She saw my 'perfection' as an 'imperfection,' she thought an untroubled soul was not enough to support the backbone of a true dancer. "However, when Lilia made such an evaluation of him, I am afraid that she overestimated the kindness of fate to Victor—she, and Yakov, everyone who knew Victor, even himself in his youth, may have He never thought about what twists and turns life had prepared for him.

"Like I said," Meera said, gasping for breath every once in a while, "she's been living here for a while, mostly giving me lessons, you know, because she thinks I'm — er — I have a little talent.” She was being modest, Lilia was a woman who never knew what she was going to be, Victor thought.If she hadn't really taken a fancy to her, that ballet legend would never have stayed. "My family—mainly my mother, it doesn't matter my father—is very supportive. My mother yearns for things that dancers can do, but she wants me to have more capital and marry rich people. But ..." She muttered, "But she likes to gamble, slot machines, and most of the time, also bets on horses, and what I remember most is that she was kicked out of the casino with a big belly-because she lost all her money , and the house was left to Dad by grandma, she can't mortgage it without arousing Dad's suspicion."

"That's when the usury got involved with her," she continued. "She looks like a fat sheep, you know? She has no brains, and she listens to what others say... She borrows money, then continues to gamble, and occasionally Win a few too, I think, whenever she wins, we have a great day, she bakes cherry pie, curls my sister and me, buys wine for dad...he used to hardly drink, just her I only drank a little when I bought it, and we laughed and watched movies all night. It was the happiest time in my memory, second only to the day when Lilia told me that I saw what she needed...but then she still I lost it all. Dad was furious. The debt collectors came to the door one after another, pawning everything that could be pawned, except the house."

Victor sighed inwardly.

"Dad didn't want to sell the house because this is where he grew up. Before him, it was grandpa. Before that, it was grandpa's father... He always thought that I would have children in this house, and eventually One day. And the debt collectors were so pushy, you know what they are, and my parents started arguing endlessly, until one day she left, said she was going to buy cherries, and never came back, all the time to today."

"With so much debt, I couldn't continue to dream of becoming a dancer without any worries, so I just went to Lilia and said that I couldn't study anymore because, despite her careful teaching Never asked me for a penny, but there are still a lot of unaffordable expenses to continue studying, and if the same time is spent elsewhere, I can already make money - Lilia is very disappointed, although she Didn't say anything."

"So she left, and she will continue to look for the student who can break through her own limitations, but she still cares about me. Twice a year, she will come to visit me, and we will chat and catch up with each other—" she Sighing, "That's it, that's all I know." She paused, and Victor knew she had something to say, so he didn't make a sound. He watched Mira lower his head, and took out the a note. "She told me not to tell anyone where she was, but...but I guess that's for people who bother her, and you're different, you're...you're her family, and you guys really You did me a huge favor, I mean, you didn't have to get in trouble—so..." She handed the note over, Victor took it and glanced at it quickly, it was an address.

"If you go here, you should be able to find her." Mira said, "I don't know if it's right to do this... I may have just betrayed the only person in the world who cares about me... But..." She raised her head "But you won't do anything to annoy her, will you? Even if you wanted to," she pointed at the dining room, "Yuuri wouldn't agree, yes, I can see clearly that he exists Make you a better person."

After she finished speaking, they stood facing each other for a while, a gust of wind blowing gently over their heads.

"Well, that's it." Mira said, "I'm leaving... Tell Yuuri I've been here, okay? Just say I appreciate it." She said, turned and left with her hands in her pockets, Victor looked Looking at her back, thinking about her words.

better people...

"Mila." He suddenly stopped her, "Wait a minute."

The girl turned around with a confused look on her face.

"I want to ask you something," Victor said, "can you tell me...how much do you owe?"

There was a burst of surprise on Mira's face.

"Well... Let me think about it," she said, "Actually, the principal has been paid off a long time ago. If the interest is calculated at 30.00%, that's... why should I tell you?"

Victor laughed, knowing it couldn't be that easy.

"I don't mean anything else," he said, "I was just thinking... how about it being owed to me instead of a hippie loan shark who doesn't shower? And I don't want to..." He thought for a moment, then changed He stopped, lest Mira refuse, "I only charge very low interest."

"That won't work," Mira said, shaking her head. "I don't... I'm going to be upset. No no no. I'm going to—I'm leaving." Victor grabbed her arm.

"Listen," he said, "don't worry, I didn't mean any harm, I just..." He thought about his words, and finally decided to tell the truth, "It doesn't happen often to me either, I'm not the type People who think about it, just like Lilia said, sometimes I will be... high above."

"Like a prince," Meera said. "That's not a mistake, and caring about others is not an obligation."

"I know," Victor said, "but I...but the person I love, if it was him, he would care. His power is tiny, and neither do I to be honest, we don't have the power to save the world, but he Just the kind of guy who thinks about everyone and wants to help everyone. He's that kind of guy, and I... I think it's good that he's that way."

Mira looked at him for a long while before she whispered, "Because he made you a better person, right?"

She understood everything.Victor realizes that when a girl has a keen sense of observation, it's almost impossible to hide anything.He nodded.

"Let me help you." Victor said, "There are many reasons for me. For example, we can be regarded as the same family, almost family members; besides, Lilia cares about you, and she definitely doesn't want you to waste your youth on this little one." town; in the end, who knows what's going to happen, maybe someday I'll need help from a waiter/bartender apprentice/model/iphone case designer/psychic?"

He grinned, looking gentle and sincere, and Mira was amused by him. "Hey, you remembered!" she said, patting his arm.

"I take this as consent." Victor said, took out the checkbook and quickly signed a check and handed it to Mira. The girl took it and handed it back.

"It's not that much!" she said blushingly, "it's not even half of it! We... I don't owe 'that' much!"

"But it's not all about paying off your debts," Victor said, "it's about finding a new place for you and giving you and your family a fresh start. Maybe a city with a dance school can get you To continue unfulfilled dreams."

Mira watched him quietly for a while, then suddenly gave him a hug.She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thank you," she said. "Really—you're a 'better man' already, and he'll know—he certainly will be."

They parted, and Victor patted her on the shoulder—he had no sister, and his only younger brother, Yuri, would never have this kind of tender moment with him, which made him a little overwhelmed.Mira rubbed her nose.

"Well, I'm leaving," she said, "I'll...I'll pay you back, it might take a while, but I..."

"I'm sure you will," Victor said. "Goodbye, Mira."

"Goodbye, Viktor," Mira said, "give me a kiss for Yuuri." She said, smiled one last time, turned and left.

Victor watched her fiery red figure disappear into the crowd before looking away.

"Oh man," said a voice behind him, "this is so cool." Chris put his arm around his shoulders from behind, "You are so tall in my heart at this moment-what is this?" He Over Victor's shoulder, try to read the note from Mira, "Blue Crow Town..."

Before he could finish reading, Victor tore the note into pieces and threw it in the trash.He looked at Chris calmly and smiled calmly.

"Nothing," he said. "It's not worth mentioning—especially to Yuuri." Chris looked stunned, as if he hadn't reacted at all, when Victor stretched his waist and showed a sunny smile.

"Ah, so hungry!" he said, "Why hasn't Yuuri come back yet?"

*Knowing you guys are going to ask, I answered ahead of time: No, Yuuri didn't see Viktor interacting with Mira, that was just a tender sibling moment.