The day before New Year’s Eve, the ancient town’s market was livelier than ever. After hearing from others that the market was full of delicious food and fun things to do, Wen Huaiyue’s restless, childlike curiosity finally got the better of her. While combing Ji Hua’s hair, she spoke up softly, “Sister, I heard there is a market today.”
“Hmm.” Ji Hua replied flatly, completely missing the anticipation in the child’s voice.
Not willing to give up, Wen Huaiyue bit her lower lip and continued, “Sister, don’t you want to go out and take a look?”
Ji Hua opened her eyes slightly, looked in the mirror at Wen Huaiyue’s expectant little face, and twitched the corners of her mouth unromantically. “There are too many people. I am not going.”
Wen Huaiyue’s expression immediately drooped. “Why? We haven’t been out in so long.” Her tone carried a hint of grievance.
She tugged at Ji Hua’s sleeve. Lately, she wasn’t as timid as she used to be. Perhaps because she was used to being scolded by Ji Hua, she had become immune to it. Since she was no longer afraid of being yelled at, her boldness had grown just a little.
“Sister, let’s go out and take a look. Please?”
Ji Hua yanked her sleeve out of the child’s grasp and coldly interrupted the pampering plea. “I already said I am not going. What is so fun about crowds? It stinks.”
The child was thoroughly unhappy and remained gloomy the whole day. Hearing the cheerful noises outside, her eyes filled with envy.
And it was hardly a surprise. Ever since she started living with Ji Hua, she rarely went out, and the kind of entertainment suited for a child was pitifully scarce. Every day she could only sit in the courtyard and look at flowers, or press her face against the window to watch the boats passing back and forth.
Ji Hua had lived for hundreds of years with such a solitary, uninteresting, and deathly quiet lifestyle, and she didn’t see anything wrong with it. But for a seven-year-old child who was at an age where she loved to play, forcing her to stay trapped here and forbidding her from making a fuss was unbearable—not just for a child, but even for an adult facing endless isolation day and night.
Wen Huaiyue was like a little princess in a fairytale, kept locked away by an evil stepsister, her little brain even praying for a Prince Charming to rescue her. Unfortunately, her brain remembered nothing except Ji Hua; where would a Prince Charming come from?
There was only the evil sister here.
The “evil sister,” Ji Hua, watched Wen Huaiyue acting like a resentful wife all day long—barely touching her food and breaking several bowls while washing them. Before Ji Hua could even scold her, she put on a heartbroken and wronged look, her tiny expression utterly pitiful.
Ji Hua was left speechless, not knowing what to say.
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She had never raised a child and had no idea what went on in a child’s mind. Having a living person in the house meant no more to her than feeding someone a meal; as for the rest, whatever happened, happened.
Now, this living person was wearing a resentful-wife face and staring at her in a mutual glaring contest, looking extremely annoying and punch-able. Ji Hua was so angry she laughed.
“Fine. I will take you out tonight.” Ji Hua compromised impatiently. Wen Huaiyue instantly shed her gloom, threw her arms around Ji Hua’s leg, and looked up with sparkling eyes, unusually clingy. “Thank you, Sister! I don’t hate you anymore.”
Ji Hua let out a cold sneer. “What does it matter to me whether you hate me or not?” She shook her leg. “Get up. You are annoying.”
Wen Huaiyue giggled, her pair of pretty apricot-kernel eyes curving like crescent moons, clear and pure.
At that moment, Ji Hua suddenly had a thought: human children’s eyes really were quite pretty.
After dinner that evening, Wen Huaiyue couldn’t wait to drag Ji Hua outside. Ji Hua’s face was plastered with impatience, genuinely unable to understand what there was to look forward to.
Children really are a strange species.
With the New Year approaching, the entire ancient town was decorated with lanterns of all colors. The streets were bustling, filled with every kind of attraction, and the peddlers’ shouts and children’s laughter rose one after another.
The moment Wen Huaiyue stepped outside, her smile didn’t fade. She pulled Ji Hua to look at this and that, acting as if she had never seen the world before.
Compared to her excitement, Ji Hua’s expression was cold through and through, her lips pressed into a thin line. She was completely out of place with the people on the street, looking less like she was out shopping and more like she was here to serve a sentence.
“Sister, is this a flower crown?” Wen Huaiyue pulled Ji Hua over to a small stall selling flower crowns. Many exquisite, delicate, small, and dainty dried flower crowns were displayed on it.
“Hmm.”
“Let’s buy one.” Wen Huaiyue looked up at her, the lights casting a bright, sparkling reflection in her eyes.
Ji Hua tutted. “What is the use of it?”
Wen Huaiyue was too happy today and grew carried away, completely unfazed by the impatience in Ji Hua’s eyes. “Buy one! No, buy two. Let’s each have one.”
The vendor chimed in, “These flower crowns are all purely handmade and completely safe. Look at how much your younger sister likes it. Just buy one for the little girl; it is not expensive.”
Ji Hua wanted to finish the stroll quickly and go home, not wanting to waste time on such meaningless things, so she bought a headband. Wen Huaiyue was not satisfied. “Buy another one. You don’t have one.”
“I am not wearing it.”
“No.” Wen Huaiyue insisted stubbornly. “You have to buy one too. We will wear them together.”
Ji Hua was speechless, understanding less and less what was going on in the minds of human children—what was there to be so persistent about? But to prevent Wen Huaiyue from nagging her, she bought a second one.
Wen Huaiyue smiled and insisted on putting it on right then and there. Ji Hua felt that bringing her out must mean her brain was flooded with water; how could she be so troublesome?
Children must be annoying little monsters turned into spirits.
She looked at the flower crown in her hand, feeling that she was being utterly foolish. Wen Huaiyue, on the other hand, was very satisfied, skipping along the entire way, her ponytail bouncing up and down behind her.
There were also many acrobatics performances on the street, and Wen Huaiyue stared at them with wide-eyed wonder while Ji Hua stood behind her with zero enthusiasm.
Once Wen Huaiyue was tired from playing, Ji Hua took her to eat sweet rice dumplings. Wen Huaiyue ate them one by one, her eyes squinting in delight, while Ji Hua watched her eat with boredom, her cheeks bulging out like a hamster’s.
Ji Hua let out a wicked smile. “Do not choke yourself to death.”
Wen Huaiyue gave her a harmless glare.
Her phone rang. Ji Hua glanced at it and said to Wen Huaiyue, “I am going to find a quiet place to take a phone call. Be good and stay right here. Do not move.” With that, she went to a corner to answer the call.
“Ji Hua, you really are not dead. You finally answered my phone,” a male voice came from the other end.
“Who are you?” Ji Hua asked unceremoniously.
The person on the other end choked for a moment, then sneered, “Why are you pretending not to know me? We were the partners who teamed up to snatch Wen Yao’s project back then.”
Ji Hua had a flash of realization, remembering who this man was. His name was Lian Shang, a supporting character in the book and a mortal enemy of Yaowang Investment. Back then, his company and Yaowang Investment were competing for a resort hotel project, and the original host had been lurking inside the male and female protagonists’ company in order to get close to the male lead.
Hearing that the original host was at odds with Wen Yao, Lian Shang had actively approached her, luring her in to cooperate with him. The original host already deeply resented Wen Yao to the point of bone-deep hatred. Hearing that she could make Wen Yao suffer a setback and expose her incompetence, she had agreed.
During the bidding process, the original host deliberately delayed Wen Yao. Wen Yao was the core figure of the company, and the bidding could not go on without her; the male lead went to look for her but was delayed by people Lian Shang arranged.
As a result, they missed the bidding, playing right into Lian Shang’s hands, and he snatched the project into his own hands.
“Oh, and then?” Ji Hua asked, completely indifferent.
Lian Shang fell silent again, clearly stunned by her unconventional reaction. After a moment, he said, “You must have heard that Wen Yao and Meng Wang have been busy looking for her younger sister lately. Her company’s guard is down quite a bit right now. Let’s team up again and snatch all the projects from her company. How about it?”
Ji Hua could guess why Lian Shang wanted to collaborate with her: because the original host was stupid enough to make a convenient scapegoat later on.
“Not interested.” With that, she hung up. The person on the other end let out an exclamation before the line went dead.
Ji Hua tucked her phone back into her coat pocket and suddenly noticed that it was starting to rain. A few seconds later, the rain grew heavy without warning, pattering down hard against people, and everyone on the street started running.
Ji Hua frowned and walked briskly back to the sweet rice dumpling stall. Because of the rain, people were scurrying in all directions in total chaos. Cutting through the crowd, she discovered that Wen Huaiyue was no longer where she had left her.
At that moment, Ji Hua felt like strangling her. What a disobedient little thing.
The rain was too heavy, and Ji Hua’s hair was soaked through in no time. Fortunately, she wasn’t afraid of the cold; she walked through the rain searching the entire street for the child, her eyes and brows as cold as snow.
Along the way, she brushed past countless people walking in the opposite direction. Rainwater streamed down her long eyelashes and dampened her lips as she squinted to search for the child’s figure.
With the heavy rain and massive crowds densely packed together, her vision was obstructed. Moreover, Wen Huaiyue was wearing black clothes today, which added another layer of difficulty to spotting her in the dark night.
Soon, her coat was soaked through, and freezing rainwater slid down into the back of her neck, though she remained completely oblivious to it.
Her expression looked calm, but underneath, a fire was raging, burning for an outlet.
She had no idea how long she searched before stopping beside a bridge. Her gaze swept across the area, but she saw only unfamiliar faces.
Glancing under the bridge arch, she spotted a dark shadow huddled underneath. She walked over, and the dark shadow suddenly stood up. Wen Huaiyue looked at her in panic. “Sister.”
“Slap!” Ji Hua delivered a slap to her face with a blank expression. Wen Huaiyue froze.
“Slap!” Ji Hua gave her a backhanded slap as well.
“If you want to die, just say so earlier!” Ji Hua spoke without a hint of emotion. “A good-for-nothing who remembers nothing, yet you still dare to wander around? Do you think your life is too long?”
Wen Huaiyue knew she was in the wrong and finally couldn’t hold back her tears, reaching out to grab her. “I’m sorry, Sister.”
Ji Hua took a step back, and Wen Huaiyue’s hand clutched at empty air. Ji Hua’s tone carried the chilling gloom of the rain. “Disobedient creature, get over here!”
With that, she turned around and started walking forward. Hearing no footsteps behind her after a long moment, Ji Hua turned back. Wen Huaiyue was still standing in the same spot, looking at her with an unreadable expression.
“Are you standing there to jump in the river? Get over here!”
Wen Huaiyue immediately hurried to catch up. Ji Hua’s clothes were soaked completely through. Wen Huaiyue had hidden under the bridge arch for a while to avoid the rain, so she hadn’t gotten very wet, though the back of her head where she had bumped it earlier throbbed with a dull ache.
She didn’t dare speak of it, however, and could only quicken her pace to keep up.
A low-pressure gloom hung over Ji Hua. Wen Huaiyue had never seen this fierce and chilling side of her before and was scared mute, sitting stiff and motionless in the car.
Back home, Ji Hua couldn’t be bothered to ask why she hadn’t stayed put—it was pointless. She just coldly found some of the child’s clothes and tossed them into the living room. “Change yourself. Do not sleep with me from now on.”
Having said that, she went upstairs. Realizing that Ji Hua was genuinely furious, Wen Huaiyue panicked completely. Without even changing her clothes, she pattered upstairs, but Ji Hua had already locked her door.
Wen Huaiyue pounded on the door, crying out, “I’m sorry, Sister. I was wrong. Do not make me sleep alone. I am scared.”
Although Wen Huaiyue feared Ji Hua and resented her, she also depended on her. She was terrified that Ji Hua would ignore her from now on—even though she didn’t quite understand why, she truly was afraid of Ji Hua washing her hands of her.
Ji Hua was usually very fierce to her, but she was also the only one who cared for her. If Ji Hua really stopped bothering with her…
At this thought, Wen Huaiyue became terrified, tears streaming down her face. “Sister, I will listen to you from now on. Please do not abandon me, and do not make me sleep alone, Sister.”
There was not a single sound from inside the room. Wen Huaiyue cried until she was exhausted, and finally, she gave up in despair. Reluctantly stripping off her damp clothes, she changed into clean pajamas.
She curled up in the bedroom where she had first slept. The back of her head hurt badly, forcing her to sleep on her side, her eyes wide open as her mind raced.
She thought about everything.
Would Ji Hua make food for her tomorrow? Would she ignore her? Could she still sleep with her in the future? Would Ji Hua still bite her neck? How long would she stay angry? Would she throw her out?
She also wondered who the short-haired woman she saw tonight was. The moment she caught sight of that person, some memories had suddenly popped into her head—she had called that short-haired woman Yao Sister.
Yao Sister.
Such a familiar name, such a familiar person.
She had chased after her, failed to catch up, tripped and hit her head, and then it started raining, forcing her to hide under the bridge arch.
Through twists and turns, her thoughts circled back to Ji Hua, except this time, in her mind, Ji Hua existed alongside that short-haired woman.
Fragments flashed through her mind. She saw the short-haired woman fiercely slap Ji Hua across the face, saying something like, “Ji Hua, if you dare harbor any more thoughts about Meng Wang, I promise to make you suffer enough.”
And Ji Hua’s expression had been terrifying as she grabbed the short-haired woman’s collar and said viciously, “You can try. At worst, I will make Meng Wang die with me.”
Why would Ji Hua say something like that?
And who was Meng Wang?
Ah, it seemed he was her brother-in-law.
She seemed to have an older sister named Wen Yao.
Then what about Ji Hua? Why did she hit Wen Yao?
“Ah-Yue, remember, stay away from that woman. She is a bad woman who wants to steal your brother-in-law. Do not get close to her.”
That short-haired woman had held her and said slowly.
A bad woman.
That was Ji Hua.
Wen Huaiyue’s mind raced through a thousand thoughts.
She thought:
It seemed she had been kidnapped. After finishing cram school one day, she was captured by a group of bad men and locked in a pitch-dark room, where someone even beat her—someone the others called some kind of CEO. Then one day, she escaped and accidentally fell into the water.
She also thought: So she had a family after all, an older sister she called Yao Sister, a brother-in-law, a mother who had passed away, a paralyzed father, and a sister who cherished her dearly.
Yao Sister had someone she deeply despised; she had seen that woman curse Yao Sister more than once. That woman had also tried to steal her brother-in-law, and Yao Sister had called this woman a bad woman, a madwoman.
This madwoman was named Ji Hua.
The very Ji Hua who had picked her up off the streets.