Xia Luo grew up in a poor rural village. Her parents treated her poorly, constantly scolding, beating, and withholding food from her. In the dead of winter, they would even drive her out of the house, forcing her to stand in the snow-covered ground in thin clothing. A gust of wind would cut through her like a knife.
Sometimes, Xia Luo felt as if she wasn't their daughter at all.
Later, Xia Luo started attending school.
She was diligent and optimistic, hoping that one day she could escape this terrifying prison.
In her third year of junior high, Xia Luo was admitted to a key high school with top honors for the entire town.
In high school, her parents were strongly opposed. They didn't want to spend their money on her, believing she wasn't worth it because she was a girl. They also feared she would leave the mountains and abandon them, so they wanted to keep her tied down, clinging to her.
Upon learning her parents' thoughts, Xia Luo didn't cry. She simply bit her lower lip tightly, holding back the tears that welled up in her eyes.
Later, she defied her parents' objections and resolutely left the mountains.
After entering high school, she never asked her family for a single cent. Instead, she worked several part-time jobs and combined that with scholarships to get by for two years. Even during the Lunar New Year, she endured not returning home, to that house that filled her with fear and lacked any warmth.
This continued until a certain day in her third year of high school.
Xia Luo remembered it was a clear and beautiful day, with a cloudless sky. Her teacher had called her to the office.
As she approached the office door, she saw a man and a woman. The woman was dressed in opulent attire and carried herself with elegance. The man was impeccably dressed in a suit, tall and handsome.
Xia Luo's gaze was fixed on the woman in the office, a strange feeling flashing through her mind.
The woman in the office seemed to sense something and looked up towards the door. In that instant, Xia Luo saw two crystalline tears stream down the woman's beautiful face, falling to the floor with a soft plink.
Before Xia Luo could react, she was pulled into a hug by the woman. She heard the woman's gentle voice say, "Daughter, Mom finally found you..."
From then on, everyone in the upper circles knew that the Gu family's daughter was a fake. The one they had now found was the real daughter.
When Xia Luo first arrived at the Gu family's home, she saw Gu Ziqian standing at the doorway, looking at her with envious eyes. Later, Gu Ziqian constantly targeted her, and Xia Luo understood why.
So, after she was admitted to university, she expressed her desire to study abroad. Father and Mother Gu did not object. They felt they had wronged her too much, perhaps in a way they could never compensate for in this lifetime, so they chose to support whatever she wanted to do.
Xia Luo packed her belongings the very next day, bought a plane ticket, and embarked on her journey abroad.
In her second year abroad, she met a sunny and handsome young man. He pursued her for a long time. Even after she rejected him, he remained persistent. Finally, Xia Luo agreed to be with him. The reason was that one day, he caught her as she was about to fall and told her, "Be more careful when you walk next time."
In that instant, her mind suddenly flashed back to a girl, a girl who had burst into her life in her second year of high school. That girl had also said a similar sentence to her, which she had remembered to this day.
ps: I apologize, my dear readers! I am not good at writing extra chapters. Please forgive me! Just bear with it... I've brought the System out to apologize to everyone...
The System looked utterly bewildered. Why was it being dragged into this?
Shi Qi: ...You shut up!