Winny Aye:
About Left Ear,
Um maybe it's true XL had managed(already planned) to made XY met Left Ear. But I will still take it as it's XY own decision to take Left Ear work for her. For me there's no absolute.
Yes, it was XY's decision. But I credit XL with prompting her to think about what to do with Left Ear, and framing his questions in a way that would encourage XY to decide to take Left Ear on (and if she did, then the only logical role he could play would be as her bodyguard) instead of leaving Left Ear to go off and fend for himself in the world as she did back in chapter 23. It seemed very intentional. XL definitely seemed pleased after Left Ear agreed to become her bodyguard.
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Chapter 43:
Xiao Yao walked over to Xiang Liu. “It’s another 4 or 5 days until we reach land. We’re the only ship in the ocean here. It’s very safe, so you can heal.”
Xiang Liu looked out at the ocean and remained silent. Xiao Yao thought he was turning her down when she heard, “Fine.”
Xiang Liu pointed at the earnestly steering the ship Left Ear. “What are you going to do with him when you reach land? Let him continue to roam and be a cut rate killer for hire? What happens if he does it long and turns into a real bad guy, or gets killed by someone else?”
Left Ear heard what Xiang Liu said and grumbled. “I can feed myself!”
Xiao Yao smiled at Left Ear. “If you can work for the seagull demon then you can also work for me. I can feed you!”
Left Ear happily said, “Fine, I’ll kill people for you.”
Xiao Yao shuddered and said with a wry laugh, “I’m not hiring you to kill people!”
“I only know how to kill people.” Left Ear was very calm but his eyes betrayed his sadness. From when he had a memory he was a slave and his only ability was to kill people.
Xiao Yao stopped teasing and solemnly said, “I want you to be my bodyguard. Normally you don’t need to kill people but if someone tries to kill me then you kill them to protect me, okay?”
Left Ear stared at Xiao Yao, trying to decide if she really needed protection or was just pitying him.
Xiao Yao said, “I’m not pitying you, I really need protecting. You saw yourself that someone wants to kill me. I don’t have my own bodyguard, and Miao Pu was assigned to me by Zhuan Xu but she can’t even beat you. You’re really powerful, if you agree to protect me then I’m the one who is getting the better end of the bargain.”
Left Ear’s eyes lit up and he happily said, “I will! I will be your bodyguard!”
Xiao Yao said, “Then it’s set, in the future you will protect me and I will ensure you have food to eat and clothes to wear, and I’ll find you a wife.”
Left Ear’s pale face blushed slowly so he focused on steering the ship and avoided looking at Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu.
Xiao Yao smiled and looked at Left Ear, feeling this hard to grasp feeling inside. Many years ago, was Xiang Liu just like this? Appearing dangerous and deadly, but actually simple and straightforward. If back then she could have met Xiang Liu, could he have found the woman he loved? Would he take her to buy perfumes at the flower demon shops? Go eat at hard to find restaurants in little alleys… Xiao Yao glanced at Xiang Liu but he was standing with his profile to her, looking at the ocean with a small warm smile on his lips. Because of the angle, his smile made his face no longer cold but instead splashed with a sliver of warmth.
Xiao Yao stared for a while before looking away so that she could sort out all the jumbled feelings in her heart.
Winny Aye:
Yes it's true. XL lived behind all the happy ending of Jing&Xiao Yao. Yep, its all for her. He's the righteous brave and romantic hero. But for me romantic hero and love interest are different. So overall I actually like him as the role he played. And IF he had acted differently I may have different opinion of him too.
I also like him in the role that he played. His selflessness and sacrifices are his most compelling characteristics, IMO. If he had made more selfish choices, he would be much less compelling.
As far as endings go, I think LYF's ending is a pretty good one.
XY and TSJ finally get to be together and break free from the family bonds that tied them down and stopped them from being happy. They get a mostly happy, but not perfectly and unrealistically happy, ending. Despite the tragedy of his choices, XL got almost everything he wanted. And CX had to face the consequences of his choices. All in all, pretty satisfying.