Xia Yiyan stared blankly into the mirror, finding it hard to accept her current reality—transmigration into a novel was actually a real thing, and it had happened to her.
(╥﹏╥) Silently shedding tears.
For the past few years, she had lived frugally, saved up a 200,000-yuan down payment, and bought an 80-square-meter bachelor apartment with a brand-new interior renovation, yet she hadn’t even moved in yet.
However, she was now living in a massive bedroom of over one hundred square meters inside a sprawling estate spanning several thousand square meters.
Was it really that bad of a deal?
Yet right now, her stomach was growling, her throat ached, her skin stung all over, and a certain unspeakable place felt intensely painful.
Fantastic. She had skipped straight from being a 22-year-old single virgin to a married woman in a single bound.
Taking a closer look at her skin, she could see scratches everywhere that had broken the surface.
Then she remembered—she had only read the book last night.
She had tried to run away and got caught. Because she had been hugging and cozying up to Fang Jingyang, the domineering CEO had scrubbed her skin raw during a bath.
Her throat hurt because after she was dragged back, Xie Junting had “cooked the sauce” with her all night long, leaving her voice completely hoarse from crying out.
Xia Yiyan: ╮(￣▽￣””)╭
Suddenly, the bedroom door was knocked. Her throat hurt too much to reply, and just as she stepped out of the bathroom to answer it, the door pushed open.
A middle-aged auntie pushed a small dining cart into the room.
This auntie was likely Lin Yunxiu, who had raised Xie Junting from childhood.
Aside from Lin Yunxiu, the butler Wen Qi had also moved over from the old family estate.
With night already falling, Aunt Lin first turned on the bedroom lights, pushed the dining cart over to the coffee table, and set out the dishes one by one.
As she arranged them, she said, “Miss Xia, you haven’t eaten all day. I urge you to eat at least a little—don’t torture your own body.”
Aunt Lin had an ordinary appearance but a gentle disposition. Her tone and expression carried a touch of worried care, and she was neatly and cleanly put together, naturally inspiring a sense of warmth and familiarity.
Upon hearing this, Xia Yiyan nodded quickly.
Auntie was right; there was no sense in punishing her own body.
Going on a hunger strike only harmed oneself, something only a fool would do.
Starving oneself served no purpose other than making the people who loved you grieve.
A small dish of stir-fried bamboo shoots with shrimp, a dish of stir-fried oil rapeseed greens, a plate of braised chicken wings, a plate of steamed pork ribs with rice flour, a bowl of tender yam and beef soup, and a bowl of white rice.
Though there were many dishes, the portions were tiny—not much on any single plate—but it was more than enough for one person.
Most importantly, they were all her favorite foods.
Who would have thought the Xia Yiyan in this novel shared her exact taste in food?
Catching the aroma, Xia Yiyan felt her mouth water.
She had frequently gone hungry as a child, vowing never to let herself experience hunger again once she grew up and could earn her own living.
With the food in her mouth, Xia Yiyan felt like crying from how delicious it was.
She immediately buried her head and dug in.
Seeing her eat with such relish, Aunt Lin finally set aside her lingering worries.
It wasn’t so much that she cared deeply about Xia Yiyan, but rather that she couldn’t bear to see the young master worry himself sick over her.
Devouring more than half the food, Xia Yiyan was practically full.
Delicious as it was, she didn’t overeat. If she felt uncomfortable from eating too much, it wouldn’t be worth it.
Slow and steady wins the race, Xia Yiyan thought to herself. With a wealthy CEO around, I won’t have to worry about missing meals in the future.
Hehe ♪───Ｏ（≧∇≦）Ｏ────♪!
I won’t admit that I’m actually a little happy right now.
Once she finished eating, Aunt Lin wore a relieved smile. She quickly cleared away the tableware, wiped the table clean, and left a pot of throat-soothing tea for Xia Yiyan before heading out.
She needed to hurry and tell the young master that Miss Xia had finally eaten.
The tea had been brewed with monk fruit, fat sea nuts, loquat leaves, chrysanthemum, honeysuckle, and rock sugar.
Xia Yiyan poured herself a cup. It tasted sweet, carrying a faint, refreshing aroma of herbal plants.
Delicious.
In the novel, the CEO would normally walk in right around this time to find a pitiful little creature lying in the bathtub with her wrists slit, covered in blood.
Instead, Xie Junting pushed the door open to find Xia Yiyan curled up on the sofa, happily sipping from a cup of amber-colored tea with both hands.
It wasn’t that Xia Yiyan loved tea all that much; rather, every sip that slid down her throat offered temporary relief from the pain.
Once she started drinking, she simply couldn’t stop.
Seeing Xie Junting enter, Xia Yiyan’s leisurely demeanor vanished entirely. She immediately set down her teacup and sat up straight.
She felt both nervous and constrained.
She really was so useless.
Ahem, it wasn’t that she was a weakling. (^_^) *
It was just that the CEO’s presence was overwhelmingly intense, looking cold and unapproachable enough to make anyone nervous.
Xie Junting walked over and sat down beside Xia Yiyan, causing the stable sofa to sink slightly for a moment.
His chiseled, three-dimensional facial features were exceptionally handsome, though his dark, deep-set eyes were unfathomable. Xia Yiyan stole a sideways glance, not daring to meet his gaze.
The next moment, she was pulled into his embrace with irresistible force.
Having never been in such close contact with a man, Xia Yiyan nervously swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
Her body instinctively wanted to resist, but the man’s frame was tall and sturdy, and his hold was so tight that she couldn’t budge an inch.
A faint trace of his signature dark, woody scent drifted around her.
Xia Yiyan quieted down; the fragrance inexplicably gave her a sense of security.
Then, a heavy sigh sounded from above her head.
“Be a good girl and stay by my side, okay?”
The man stroked her hair with lingering attachment, his deep, magnetic voice soft and melodious, devoid of its previous icy anger.
Hearing a hint of grievance in the man’s tone, Xia Yiyan felt an inexplicable twinge of pity. Straining her sore throat, she managed to squeeze out a raspy “Okay.”
Seeing Xia Yiyan’s current compliant appearance—whether her surrender was genuine or just an act—Xie Junting thoroughly enjoyed this fleeting moment of intimacy.
“And another thing, no more hunger strikes,” the man said, his voice turning purposely cold.
Xia Yiyan nodded hurriedly.
The night was cool as water, the sky studded with twinkling stars, and a hazy moonlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows to illuminate the bedroom.
On the bed, the man loomed like a wild beast, completely enveloping the woman in his arms.
Clasped tightly in the man’s arms, Xia Yiyan was pushed up to heaven, only to be dragged back down to hell by the searing pain.
Her broken voice could only manage weak, raspy sounds.
Crystal-clear teardrops continuously streamed down her delicate, pale cheeks.
Xia Yiyan lacked the strength to push the man away. Even though her fingernails had already clawed bloody gouges across his back and arms, it did nothing to hinder his movements.
Xia Yiyan suddenly had an epiphany: the heroine in this story had every right to run away.
Anyone in her shoes would want to escape. (╥﹏╥)
The man kissed the tears from the corners of her eyes, tenderly and single-mindedly, as though she were a priceless treasure.
Yet his gaze revealed a terrifying, shocking madness.
The good news was that the man knew when to exercise restraint and only went at it once.
The bad news was that this single round lasted for the better part of the night.
Afterward, Xia Yiyan was carried to the bathroom by the man to be washed.
At that point, she was so exhausted she couldn’t even lift her hands. Closing her eyes, she figured what she couldn’t see couldn’t bother her, resigning herself to her fate as the man cleaned her up.
Karma comes fast—Xia Yiyan was now running through endless scenarios in her mind on how to escape.
After much thought, she realized there was simply no way out.
Because the little canary in the novel was destined for this very path.
After eight attempts to escape over five years—including the final time when she spent four meticulous years acting obedient—Xie Junting still hadn’t let down his guard.