The adopted daughter was completely unconcerned. She said that if she told the truth, what would happen to her life? Would they still care about her? Would they send her back?
Then how could she continue living as a rich young lady? How could she still marry her current husband and live the enviable life she had now? What had she done wrong? She hadn’t done anything wrong.
Lin Yuxi didn’t keep listening. It was enough for her to know that she wasn’t a child abandoned by her biological parents.
Ever since learning she wasn’t their biological daughter—whether in the final moments of her life or now, as a wandering spirit—she felt both hatred toward her adoptive parents for exploiting her, and resentment toward her biological parents for losing her in the first place, letting her suffer almost every hardship in this world.
She hadn’t grown up by her biological parents’ side, had been squeezed dry by her adoptive family, deceived by a man, betrayed by friends. She had never become a mother, never even truly lived as a woman.
Her forty years of life—how laughable, how tragic.
At least now she knew she hadn’t been abandoned. Her biological parents had been deceived too; they simply didn’t know. That realization brought her a small sense of relief.
She returned to Lu Yi’s side, accompanying him as he watched the sun rise and set, as flowers bloomed and withered.
As a ghost, she wasn’t afraid of sunlight, nor did she possess any ghostly abilities—she was just a silent observer in the human world.
She didn’t need to eat or sleep; every day, she simply followed Lu Yi.
Only then did she learn that Lu Yi owned a company—the renowned Lu Corporation.
But he rarely went to the company, leaving everything to his trusted subordinates.
He seemed indifferent to everything. In his spare time, he would hold her photo and stare at it, sometimes muttering a few words.
Yet whether he spoke in complaint or longing, she could hear the deep affection hidden in his voice.
She wanted to slap herself. Had she been blind?
Such a man who loved her so deeply—and she chose instead a beast worse than an animal.
In this life, he loved without return and lived alone to the end.
He once said that if there were a next life, he hoped they would never meet again.
In this life, she had been blind in both eyes and heart—she owed him far too much.
She wanted to say that if there were a next life, she would find him first, repay his love with her whole life, and fulfill his unfulfilled wish.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, a splitting headache struck her.
A headache? She was a ghost—how could her head hurt?
Then everything went black.
“Dead girl, get up already. Stop playing dead.”
She felt someone pinch her arm hard, the pain jolting her eyes open.
That voice… so familiar. It was her grandmother’s voice.
But hadn’t her grandmother died long ago?
For a moment, Lin Yuxi thought she must have heard wrong—but the scene before her left her stunned.
The familiar old house, the shabby furniture, and her wrinkled, stern-faced grandmother—it was as if she had returned to the past.
She suddenly sat up and looked at her young, tender hands. A surge of indescribable joy filled her heart—
She had been reborn!
Jumping out of bed and ignoring the still ranting old woman, she glanced at the calendar.
April 21, 1975.
She had returned to when she was fifteen.
Taking a deep breath, Lin Yuxi silently swore: in this life, she would never repeat her mistakes.
She would not let those who hurt her hurt her again. She would protect herself.
And Lu Yi… the man who had silently loved her in her previous life—this time, she would find him early and make up for her regrets.
“You damn girl! What time is it? Why aren’t you cooking yet?” Seeing Lin Yuxi ignore her, the old woman grew even angrier and raised her hand to strike.
Quick as lightning, Lin Yuxi grabbed her wrist.
The old woman froze. This girl had always endured everything silently—since when did she dare to resist?
Lin Yuxi looked at her coldly and said, word by word, “From today on, don’t even think about bullying me again.”
Frightened by her gaze, the old woman shuddered and loosened her grip.
Lin Yuxi let go and walked out of the room.
She remembered now—on this day in her previous life, her adoptive mother had been lazy and refused to work, so her grandmother beat her.
When Lin Yuxi came home from school and saw it, she rushed forward to shield her mother.
The stick had struck her head instead, leaving her bleeding and unconscious.
No one took her to the hospital. She had lain in bed all night and was only awakened by her grandmother’s shouting just now.
It was Sunday, so there was no school. Whether she attended school or not, she was always the one who made breakfast.
This was the condition her grandmother had set—school must not interfere with work, or she could forget about studying.
Suddenly, she heard the swish of something cutting through the air. She sidestepped and narrowly avoided the old woman’s stick.
She wanted to fight back—snatch the stick, even shove the old woman hard. After all, this “grandmother” had beaten her countless times in her previous life.
But now wasn’t the time.
She had no money, nothing to her name.
And she couldn’t go anywhere without a letter of introduction.
Still, she couldn’t live as miserably as before.
After a moment’s thought, she bolted toward the front door.
As she ran, she deliberately messed up her hair. Her face was already stained with dried blood from yesterday’s beating.
Gritting her teeth, she pressed hard on the wound on her head.
“Hiss—damn, that hurts!”
Fresh blood streamed down her face again.
“Help! My grandma is trying to beat me to death!” she screamed, her disheveled hair and blood-covered face making her look utterly pitiful.
“Help—!” she continued shouting as she ran toward the production team office.
The old woman was stunned. What kind of act was this?
But she knew she couldn’t let the girl keep shouting and ruin her reputation.
She hurried after her. “You damn girl, get back here!”
To outsiders, it looked like a grandmother chasing her granddaughter with a stick, having already beaten her bloody and still refusing to stop, while the girl ran in terror crying for help.
A crowd followed them all the way to the team office.
Inside, the team leader was sitting at his desk handling matters. Hearing the commotion outside, he frowned.
Lin Yuxi rushed in, dropped to her knees with a thud, and cried, “Team leader, save me! My grandma is going to beat me to death!”
The old woman burst in after her, shouting angrily, “You wretched girl, stop spouting nonsense!”
The onlookers began whispering among themselves.
The team leader stood up and said sternly, “Enough! What exactly is going on? Explain it clearly.”
Lin Yuxi was helped to her feet by a village aunt. She said tearfully, “Team leader… please don’t blame my grandma. Just make her stop beating me. I really can’t take it anymore.”
“It’s also my fault. Yesterday I had cleaning duty and got home late. My grandma wanted my mom to cook… but my mom… my mom probably wasn’t feeling well, so she didn’t…”