A spiderweb clung to the upper-left corner of the skylight. Fine drizzle drifted onto it, leaving tiny beads of water strung along the intersecting threads.
The droplets slid down the slanted web and gathered together. When they finally reached their limit, they fell with a soft *pat*, striking the window frame and scattering into tiny specks.
Bian Bian knelt on the chair before her desk and stretched out her slender arm to close the window, preventing the rain from drifting inside and dampening her handwriting practice book.
Stroke by stroke, she carefully wrote the character “正.”
Her handwriting was not very good. The characters looked thin and unsteady, much like her own frail body, as though a single gust of wind might carry her away.
She had heard that teachers in the city were very strict with their students. Since her handwriting was poor, she needed to practise as much as possible before the new school term began.
The sound of her aunt and uncle arguing came from outside the room.
“Bian Bian is so young. How can you bear to push her into a pit of fire?”
“What do you mean, a pit of fire? The Gu family is a prestigious household. More than half the buildings in Jiangcheng were constructed by Gu Real Estate. Sending Bian Bian there means sending her to enjoy a good life.”
“Enjoy a good life? Who doesn’t know that the Gu family’s second young master is…”
Although he knew no one else should be able to hear them through the walls, the fear that had lingered in the hearts of Jiangcheng’s residents for years still made him deliberately lower his voice.
“Who doesn’t know that he’s a monster?”
Her aunt followed his line of reasoning. “So you also know that the Gu family’s second young master is a monster. The girl they originally asked for was your biological daughter. Would you be willing to send Rongrong there?”
“Then… then you still can’t send Bian Bian!”
“One is my niece and the other is my own daughter. Tell me, which one am I supposed to choose?”
The conversation finally ended with her uncle’s heavy sigh.
Bian Bian knew that her fate had been completely rewritten by that single sigh.
…
The Gu family’s second young master was a monster.
This was no secret in Jiangcheng.
When people called him a monster, they were not speaking metaphorically, nor were they using the word as an exaggerated description.
Many people had died during the nuclear leak disaster in Jiangcheng years ago. There had been only one survivor.
His name was Gu Huaibi.
More than ten days after the disaster, the final group of rescue workers entered the contaminated zone in radiation suits to carry out one last inspection.
To their astonishment, they saw a six-year-old boy crouching on a rock, staring at them coldly.
The rescue workers were dumbfounded.
There was no longer a single living creature anywhere in the contaminated zone. Not even an insect or a wild animal remained. How had this boy survived there alone for more than ten days without any protection whatsoever?
The incident soon became the subject of increasingly fantastical rumours.
Some said Young Master Gu’s genes had mutated, allowing him to survive the nuclear radiation.
Others claimed that he had been possessed by a malicious ghost and was no longer human.
There were even people who said that when he crawled out of the disaster zone, his entire body had been covered in coarse brown fur, making him resemble a vicious beast.
There was no way to verify whether any of the rumours were true.
However, one thing was certain.
The Gu family’s second young master was indeed not a normal person.
He was cold and withdrawn, vicious and cruel. He also suffered from periodic attacks, and when they occurred, his appearance was said to be terrifying, like that of an evil spirit.
Almost no one dared approach him.
Prestigious and wealthy families were often somewhat superstitious. They consulted feng-shui masters before purchasing houses and spent vast sums of money asking scholars to select names for their children.
After the Gu family had exhausted every medical option, they could only invite a spiritual master to see whether there was any way to help Gu Huaibi recover.
The master raised a finger and pointed towards a residential building visible directly north of the Gu family estate.
He said that the blessed girl destined for Young Master Gu lived there. As long as she remained safely by the young master’s side, she would protect him from misfortune throughout his life.
Gu Huaibi’s parents immediately asked, “What is this blessed girl’s name? How old is she? What is her zodiac sign?”
The master replied, “The blessed girl is just entering her maiden years. I cannot reveal anything else. However, I will give you a sixteen-character prophecy. You must remember it well.”
“Please enlighten us, Master.”
The master raised his fly-whisk with an air of mystery.
“Childhood sweethearts, together day and night. Never leave nor forsake, and he shall remain safe for life.”
Having deliberately left them with this mystery, the master accepted a generous cheque and swept away with his fly-whisk.
The Gu family’s parents therefore focused their investigation on that particular residential building. After examining and eliminating the possible candidates one by one, they eventually found thirteen-year-old Zheng Xiangrong and twelve-year-old Bian Bian.
Zheng Xiangrong was the only daughter of Bian Bian’s aunt and uncle, while Bian Bian was their niece.
Bian Bian’s mother had developed a tumour when Bian Bian was still very young and had passed away from the illness.
After her mother’s death, her father spent most of the year working far from home. Bian Bian had therefore grown up with her maternal grandparents in a small canal town.
The town did not have a middle school, so after completing the fifth grade, Bian Bian left her hometown and came to Jiangcheng to continue her education. She temporarily moved into her aunt’s home and began living under someone else’s roof.
As the woman responsible for managing the household and its endless chores, her aunt had plenty of complaints about having to take in her niece.
However, Bian Bian had not come to live with them empty-handed. Her father sent a substantial sum of money every month to cover her living expenses.
The money was transferred directly into her aunt’s account and was practically enough to support half of the Zheng household. That was the only reason they had agreed to take in the young Bian Bian.
Her aunt’s family owned an eighty-square-metre apartment in the city centre. As the years passed, it had begun to feel cramped with four people living inside.
Just as her aunt’s resentment was reaching its peak, the Gu family knocked on the Zheng family’s door and explained their intentions.
They hoped that the Zheng family’s daughter could stay at the Gu residence for a while and become acquainted with the second young master. She could return to the Zheng family afterwards.
As long as the children became familiar with each other, studied together, developed a relationship and grew up side by side, they would form an auspicious bond. At the same time, the girl would be able to safeguard Young Master Gu’s well-being.
Bian Bian’s aunt immediately began making her own calculations.
Although the Gu family had not said so directly, their meaning was obvious from their words. If the girl could save the second young master’s life, they would reward the Zheng family with a substantial sum of money.
Everyone in Jiangcheng said that Young Master Gu was a genetically mutated monster who ate raw flesh and drank blood.
Would a girl sent to stay beside him even be able to keep her life?
After all, so many people had died during that disaster. How could a child crawl unharmed out of a pile of corpses and still be considered normal?
Her aunt could not bear to send her precious daughter there to suffer.
And so, she began planning to send Bian Bian instead.
For one thing, it would solve the problem of their cramped apartment.
For another…
Her daughter, Zheng Xiangrong, would be starting middle school that year. The tuition fees and living expenses required to send her to an elite private school would also be taken care of.
—
During that rainy early spring, Bian Bian dragged a suitcase almost as tall as she was and left the Zheng family’s home.
Her uncle’s black Santana was already waiting at the entrance to the lane.
Before getting into the car, Bian Bian turned around and saw her older cousin, Zheng Xiangrong, leaning out of the second-floor window and smiling smugly at her.
Zheng Xiangrong was so happy because her mother had told her that Bian Bian was going to the Gu family to work as a servant.
The Gu family had also given them a considerable sum of money in gratitude, enough to cover Zheng Xiangrong’s tuition at an elite private middle school.
Zheng Xiangrong had never liked Bian Bian.
When she had first learned that her country cousin was coming to the city to attend school, Zheng Xiangrong had thrown a tantrum. She said that she did not want to attend school with a country bumpkin, or else her classmates would laugh at her.
However, after her cousin arrived in the city, Zheng Xiangrong was shocked to discover that the so-called country bumpkin was not rustic at all.
Quite the opposite.
Bian Bian had a delicate and beautiful face. Her skin was as pure and white as freshly fallen snow, and her hair was as black and smooth as silk. Her almond-shaped eyes shimmered with light, making her as beautiful as a woodland spirit.
The sense of superiority Zheng Xiangrong possessed as a city girl was shattered the moment she first saw Bian Bian.
From then on, the poisonous snake of jealousy had coiled itself around Zheng Xiangrong’s heart, flicking its tongue year after year.
Now that Bian Bian was finally being sent away to work as a servant, Zheng Xiangrong felt the satisfaction of having avenged herself.
*Hmph. So what if you’re prettier than me? A country bumpkin like you is only fit to be a servant!*
Feeling like a triumphant victor, Zheng Xiangrong finally behaved somewhat like an older sister. Before Bian Bian got into the car, she earnestly advised her:
“Studying can change your future. Even if you become a servant, you shouldn’t give up on your education. At the very least, you should earn a middle-school diploma. That way, when you go out to work in the future, you won’t be illiterate.”
Bian Bian thanked Zheng Xiangrong and wished her success at her elite school and continued improvement in her studies.
Throughout the journey, her aunt repeatedly warned her with concern.
Once she arrived at the Gu family’s home, she must not behave like a rustic country girl. She must not let people see at a glance that she was a wild child from some insignificant backwater, or they would dislike her for no reason.
When Bian Bian did not appear to take her words seriously, her aunt threatened her.
“If the Gu family sends you back, I won’t take you in again.”
Bian Bian obediently nodded.
The Gu family estate stood deep within a maze of narrow lanes in the city. It had the enclosed courtyard layout of a traditional princely garden residence. Although it was not isolated, it was far enough from the bustle to remain quiet and peaceful.
The princely garden estate had been built quite some time ago, probably sometime during the 1990s.
At the time, most families were still living in old corridor-style apartment blocks. Anyone capable of owning a princely garden estate with its own lake in the centre of Jiangcheng was clearly extraordinarily wealthy.
Over the years, the old apartment blocks surrounding the Gu estate had gradually been demolished and replaced with high-rise residences and office buildings. After all, this was a valuable commercial district in the heart of the city, where every inch of land was worth a fortune.
Only the princely garden estate had been preserved, making it exceptionally conspicuous.
Beneath the gloomy sky, Bian Bian gazed at the slightly aged and sinister-looking mansion before her.
She knew that the boy bound to her by fate was standing in the attic at the very heart of this estate, waiting for her.
—
The chairman of the Gu Group and his wife personally waited at the entrance to welcome her, showing just how seriously they regarded Bian Bian’s arrival.
Bian Bian also knew that she had not come to the Gu family to work as a servant, as her cousin Zheng Xiangrong had claimed.
Quite the opposite.
Her life with the Gu family might be far more comfortable than it had ever been with the Zheng family.
The Gu family’s matriarch, Du Wanrou, was every bit as gentle as her name suggested.
She took Bian Bian by the hand, led her inside and personally showed her around the garden.
Bian Bian’s aunt and uncle, along with Zheng Xiangrong, who had insisted on coming, were also fortunate enough to tour the Gu residence.
After all, who in Jiangcheng would not want to enter the princely garden estate and satisfy their curiosity? Who would not want to see how a genuinely old and prestigious family lived in comfort and luxury?
Without Bian Bian, they would never have had the opportunity to step inside the estate in their entire lives.
The garden was enormous and filled with lush greenery. The plants and flowers lining the paths had been trimmed neatly and were not permitted to grow wildly in the slightest.
From the carefully maintained vegetation alone, Bian Bian could tell that this was a household governed by strict rules.
Following the tree-lined path deeper into the grounds, they reached a broad lake. Several residences were scattered around its shores.
The first and largest belonged to Gu Huaibi’s parents, while the remaining detached houses belonged to their children.
Du Wanrou brought Bian Bian to a residence at the deepest part of the garden and told her that this would be her room.
Bian Bian stared at the beautiful two-storey European-style house in disbelief.
This entire villa was her “room”?
It was not only Bian Bian who was stunned. Even her aunt and uncle were dumbfounded.
Zheng Xiangrong, in particular, stared at the beautiful villa and the lovely flowers filling its garden. Her hands clenched tightly around the hem of her clothes until her knuckles turned pale.
All of this should originally have belonged to her.
Du Wanrou said to Bian Bian, “From now on, you and Huaibi will live in this house. If you need anything, you may tell me at any time. There is no need to feel restrained. Treat this place as your own home. And if you are willing, you may regard me as your mother.”
Huaibi was the name of the Gu family’s second young master.
Bian Bian nodded earnestly.
When her aunt and uncle heard those words, their expressions became complicated.
They had genuinely believed that sending Bian Bian to the Gu family meant that she would be ordered around as a servant.
Yet during their walk through the estate, they had seen more servants than they could count. Why would the Gu family need Bian Bian to perform any menial labour?
Bian Bian had clearly come here to enjoy a life of luxury!
They were overcome with regret.
Had they known, they would have sent their own daughter, Zheng Xiangrong, so that she could experience the life of a wealthy young lady.
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