Li Yeli asked herself that question every single day.
She was different.
At school, the other children made fun of her.
The teachers ignored her.
And at home… her own family treated her like she didn’t belong.
Life was a mess.
What’s the point of living, if life itself hates me?
she often wondered.
“She’s an adoptee!”
A boy’s voice rang out across the classroom.
A piece of food hit her shoulder and slid to the floor.
“You’re probably hungry,” he sneered.
“Want to eat that?”
Laughter.
Their voices echoed in her mind, loud and suffocating, like something alive—like a monster slowly prying into her brain from the inside.
Li Yeli didn’t move.
She just stared at them.
Another girl shoved her hard.
“I don’t like you!” she snapped.
“You don’t even have real parents. You’re fake!”
More laughter.
They were all against her.
All because they believed she was adopted.
But the truth was…
She wasn’t.
She clenched her fists.
“I’m not an adoptee!” Li Yeli shouted, her voice trembling.
“I’m my parents’ real daughter!”
“Liar!” they shouted back instantly.
“If you’re not adopted…” one of them mocked, pointing out the window, “why does Li Yue have a driver picking her up every day… and you don’t?”
Li Yeli’s eyes followed the direction of their fingers.
Outside the school gates, a sleek black car was parked, waiting.
It was always there for Li Yue—her younger sister.
Always.
But never for her.
“See?” someone laughed.
“She is adopted!”
“She’s an adopted daughter!”
The chant spreaded like a disease.
Some laughed.
Some mocked her voice.
Some threw mud at her.
Li Yeli stood there, frozen.
Then, slowly, her gaze shifted.
Her homeroom teacher stood not far away… watching.
For a brief moment, their eyes met.
And then—
The teacher looked away.
She turned… and walked off.
Li Yeli stared after her, her chest tightening.
Why?
Why was this happening to her?
Why did no one care?
Why did it have to be her?
*
By the time she got home, the sky was already dark as It was nearly 7:00 PM.
She had walked for three hours.
Her legs were swollen.
Her head throbbed.
She was only seven years old—but the exhaustion weighed on her like she had lived a lifetime.
She stepped into the house quietly, and…
PAK!
A sharp slap landed across her face.
“Where have you been?” Mo Ruyi’s voice was cold and furious.
“Why are you just getting back now?”
Li Yeli staggered slightly, her cheek burning.
“If you had come home earlier,” Mo Ruyi continued harshly, “Li Yue wouldn’t have gone out alone. She wouldn’t have fallen and gotten hurt!”
This was her.
Her so-called mother.
Li Yeli lowered her head.
She was hurt too.
But no one saw her.
No one cared.
All they saw was—
Li Yue.
Always Li Yue.
“If you can’t even protect your younger sister,” Mo Ruyi snapped, shoving her aside, “then what’s your point of living?”
Li Yeli stumbled back, her heart aching.
It wasn’t fair.
Why couldn’t she be loved too?
Why couldn’t they care about her, even just a little?
Why did everything always have to be about Li Yue?
A quiet thought crept into her mind—
I don’t want to live like this.
But there was no escape.
Even if she ran… they would find her.
They always did.
If only…if only she was where she was three years ago, if only they hadn’t found her back then, would she still be living a happy life?
Three years ago, Mo Ruyi purposedly abandoned her by the bridge when three of them, with Li Yue went out for a picnic.
She left her, all alone, in the cold.
Li Yeli wandered around alone for days, without knowing where she was.
Despite all…she didn’t cry.
Apart from the sour feeling forming up in her heart…she didn’t cry.
Not even a single tear.
Was she surpressing her feelings?
Could she really not cry?
Li Yeli didn’t know.
She wandered around for long, till she couldn’t take it anymore.
She fell ill, and couldn’t even open her eyes.
Li Yeli always thought everyone hated her, but she was wrong.
Not everyone hated her, some loved her, some needed her, some wanted her.
A woman and her husband found her laying on the streets, lonely and helpless in the cold.
They took her to the hospital for immediate care.
And when she was finally heald and fit to talk.
They asked her who she was, where she live and who her parents were.
But Li Yeli didn’t say a word, she only stared at them like a hopeless three-year-old she was.
After persisting and still failed, the woman and her husband decided to take Li Yeli in, they took her to their home, took care of her, gave her a new name, Yin Yin (since she refused to tell them what her name was).
They were an extended family who lived together in a medium sized cozy home, they weren’t as rich as her own family, but they treated her far better than her own so-called family did, they treated her like their own flesh and blood, the children there loved her, they didn’t bully her, they made no fun of her.
They were a group of seven, two boys who were the family’s biological sons, three girls who were their cousins, one girl who was a family friend, and finally her, who was taken in.
They lived happily for a long time, until…
Some people broke in and took her away.
And she was back,
Back in hell…
Back with her family, who despised her.
Why did they find her if they hated her so much?
Why didn’t they just leave her alone with her new family?
Why did they take away her hapiness?
“Dad…” Li Yeli cried to Aecon Li, her father, who instantly pushed her away, “Out of my way,” he walked off.
Li Yeli’s head slumped, and she fell on the floor.
Her heart was sour, her feet hurt and her head was boiling hot.