13
I never expected that this group of people would gossip so animatedly behind my back, but when they saw me in person, they were so startled that they stammered.
"Ah, aren't you... aren't you Xie Huai Yan's..."
"Ah! Little sister, really, how come you didn't make a sound when you came in?"
"Yeah, haha, we were just talking about you, and here you are, what a coincidence..."
They forced a smile and came up to me, pretending to be affectionate as they linked their arms with mine.
I let them hold me, my tone still gentle:
"Not really, it wasn't that coincidental. Iâve been here for ten minutes before coming out."
"I spent a lot today, bought a bunch of things, and got really tired. So I rested a bit longer in the changing room. I hope you donât mind, sisters."
At that, their faces all changed colors, and the scene was quite amusing.
"Sorry, little sister, we were a bit drunk, just talking nonsense. Please donât take it to heart... Iâll excuse myself now!"
"Then Iâll leave too."
"See you next time!"
They seemed to have wings on their feet as they quickly scampered away in their high heels. In the blink of an eye, the place was empty.
It seemed like they never wanted to "see me" again in this lifetime.
I slowly withdrew my smile.
Then, I knocked on the system: "System, you mentioned before that youâve investigated Xie Huai Yanâs background. Can you tell me more about it?"
"Of course, I can. But..." The system sounded a bit confused. "Why are you suddenly interested in this?"
I wasnât sure either.
When I first transmigrated into this book, all I wanted was to quickly complete the system's missions. I didnât care about the specific targets of the missions, thinking it wouldnât make a difference who they were.
That's why, in the end, I even mixed up the protagonist and the villain.
But now, it felt different.
For some reason, at this moment, I really wanted to learn more about Xie Huai Yan.
I wanted to understand his joys, his anger, his sadness, his happiness. I wanted to know about his past experiences, to understand what kind of person he truly was.
I wanted to understand another side of himâone I had never seen before.
...
Xie Huai Yan's father was the head of the wealthy Lu family.
He was a libertine by nature and had once forced Xie Huai Yan's mother after getting drunk.
The next day, he heartlessly left without a second thought.
Although Xie Huai Yan's mother was devastated and in despair, deep inside, she was a strong woman.
She quickly gathered herself and, raising Xie Huai Yan on her own, set up a small stall to make a living.
In her spare moments, she would hold her child and softly repeat over and over:
"Baby, your name is Xie, Huai, Yan."
"Yan means peace and leisure. We won't look back at the past, and as for the future, all we wish for is to be safe and sound."
She meant every word she said.
In the following years, despite the hardships of being a single mother, she never once sought out Xie Huai Yan's father.
Xie Huai Yan grew up with this kind of love.
But when he was twelve, that love was destroyed in the cruelest way.
His father suddenly brought a group of people to their home and forcibly took Xie Huai Yan away.
Looking at his mother, who had collapsed on the floor, Xie Huai Yanâs father sneered:
"He is still my son, part of the Lu family. You think I will let him take your last name, Xie? Dream on!"
It turned out that the madam of the Lu family was infertile, and after much distress, his father finally remembered the existence of an illegitimate child.
So, he immediately took Xie Huai Yan back, declaring him to be the madam's child.
His father was happy, the madam was happy, and the entire Lu family was happy.
But from that moment on, his mother's life was destroyed a second time.
She cried day and night, and even went to the Lu family mansion numerous times to cause a scene, only to be ruthlessly dragged out each time.
She never saw Xie Huai Yan again after that.
On the other hand, Xie Huai Yan, upon entering the Lu household, was renamed Lu Huai Yan.
He silently endured the cold stares from his biological father and stepmother, and the harsh, almost cruel training imposed by the wealthy family.
He endured it all for one dayâto escape and find his mother.
The day he planned his escape, he prepared thoroughly and finally managed to sneak out of the house.
But young as he was, Xie Huai Yan had no idea how vast this cage really was.
He got lost in the maze of the sprawling mansion, and in the end, a servant found him and dragged him back.
After the incident, the Lu family was furious.
The madam thought Xie Huai Yan was an ungrateful bastard who should be punished and have the dirty blood of an illegitimate child drained from him.
So, Xie Huai Yan was subjected to all sorts of abuse, his body covered in scars every day.
But he never gave up.
Escape, get caught, then more strict supervision and punishment...
After who knows how many cycles, Xie Huai Yan finally managed to escape successfully.
With both excitement and apprehension, he limped back home.
But what awaited him were broken, dust-covered pieces of furniture and the sympathetic sighs of a neighbor.
"This woman was pitiful... only in her early thirties, yet she passed away so young..."
From that moment on, Xie Huai Yan was completely consumed by darkness.
The system reached this part of the story, and I could no longer bear to listen. I made a gesture to pause.
The system thoughtfully stopped.
I closed my eyes, trying to suppress the overwhelming sourness in my chest.
But it was no use.
In the chaos of my thoughts, I suddenly remembered the night Xie Huai Yan had accompanied me to play the escape room.
I had spent half an hour running through the mansion, never finding the exit, until my body gave out from exhaustion.
At that time, I never thought that Xie Huai Yan had also once been like me.
Dragging his young, wounded body, repeatedly stepping on the path of trying to escape his prison.
Again and again, he failed to find the end.
However, there was one stark difference between us.
Even if I couldn't escape, I knew my lover would come to take me home and wrap me in a warm coat.
But for twelve-year-old Xie Huai Yan, there was no escape. All that awaited him was cold abuse and curses.
And then, the next round of hopelessness, over and over again.