Chapter 34
Stepping into the villa, her eyes were met with an extravagantly luxurious hall.
Elegant marble floors, a crystal-studded chandelier, delicately carved ornaments, and custom-made wooden furniture—luxurious, yet with a touch of gaudiness.
Clearly, the owner of the house fancied themselves a person of taste.
As Xie Mi toured the mansion, she discreetly observed the looks from the butler and servants out of the corner of her eye.
Their gazes carried both fear and pity toward her.
Since the book had never detailed the original owner’s family situation, Xie Mi knew almost nothing. All she had to go on was: her mother had died early, her father remarried, and brought along a stepbrother who shared no blood with her.
“Go take a look at your room. After so long, you must miss it.”
Li Miyan walked to her side, the malice behind her bright red lips barely concealed.
“Alright, let’s have a look. I can be pretty nostalgic.”
Xie Mi calmly asked the butler where her room was and headed upstairs.
This threw Li Miyan completely off.
Why was she so calm? That wasn’t right!
Unconvinced, Li Miyan followed quickly. The moment she reached the second floor, she saw Xie Mi already standing in front of a door.
The door was open, which meant Xie Mi had seen the inside.
Li Miyan couldn’t help but smile smugly. “Well? Looks exactly the same, doesn’t it? I personally told the servants to make sure your room was… restored to how it was.”
The windows were boarded shut. Horrifying graffiti covered the walls. Medicine bottles were scattered everywhere. The mirror had been painted black.
To call it a room was generous—it was more like a haunted house.
Xie Mi rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
So the original had grown up in this environment? Then why hadn’t the novel ever written about abuse—only about…
{From the moment Xie Mi first laid eyes on Xiao Jingxi, she fell in love with him. He was like a beam of sunlight piercing her dark world, becoming her salvation…}
In the book, their first meeting was in the school cafeteria. Both had wanted the last portion of sweet-and-sour ribs, but Xiao Jingxi gave it to her.
From then on, the original fell hopelessly in love with him, living for him, going crazy for him, even bashing her head against walls for him.
Back when Xie Mi read this, she thought the setup was absurd. But now she realized—if the original really had grown up in such an abusive, loveless environment, it would’ve been easy to mistake the smallest kindness for salvation.
“Alright, next.”
Xie Mi didn’t step inside. After a quick glance, she shut the door. “Take me to see the study.”
Li Miyan’s expectant smile vanished. “Do you take me for a tour guide?”
“Aren’t you?” Xie Mi tilted her head, blinking innocently. “I thought you came to help me get familiar with the place.”
Of course she had to tour the whole villa.
The original had left traces of her life here. From these clues, Xie Mi could piece together the girl’s standing in the family.
If she didn’t understand, how could she stay and enjoy being a rich lady?
“The study’s on the third floor, right?”
Xie Mi spun on her heel and strolled upstairs without looking back.
Li Miyan fumed. She had deliberately shown Xie Mi that room to trigger her dark memories and make her back down, but she didn’t even flinch!
It seemed she’d need more extreme measures.
“Xie Mi, stop right there!”
Cursing, Li Miyan stormed after her. She shoved open the study door—only to see Xie Mi already sitting in the leather chair at the head of the room.
In her hand was a photo frame, her lips curved faintly.
“I get it now.”
“You… get what?” For some reason, Li Miyan suddenly felt that Xie Mi seemed different.
Xie Mi pushed off the floor, spinning the leather chair in circles.
“My situation isn’t as hopeless as I thought.”
Inside the frame was a photo of a middle-aged man and a little girl.
The man’s face was stern and unsmiling, but the girl perched on his shoulders was grinning brightly, arms raised high.
Unsurprisingly, this must’ve been the original and her father.
The fact that the photo was kept and displayed on his desk proved that her father loved her.
But he was a serious man who didn’t know how to express it.
Judging from the room and the medicine bottles, the original had suffered from mental illness.
The stepmother hadn’t dared to lay hands on her, so she had resorted to verbal torment—driving a wedge between father and daughter, making the girl believe this home was hell until she finally ran away.
Of course, this was only Xie Mi’s deduction.
The specifics didn’t matter anymore.
What mattered was—she now had confidence.
Xie Mi gently set the father-daughter photo back on the desk and gave Li Miyan a radiant smile.
“Big fool, go clean up my room.”
“What did you just say?!” Li Miyan’s temper flared instantly.
Unbothered, Xie Mi walked up to her, trailing a fingertip across her cheek and whispering in her ear.
“A room filled with my childhood nightmares—do you think my dad would ever allow that to exist?”
“If he finds out you restored it just to torment me, guess who’ll be kicked out?”
Li Miyan’s whole body jolted. Her gaze toward Xie Mi was suddenly filled with fear.
When had she evolved?
Xie Mi smirked playfully. “Kids are easy to fool, sure. But don’t forget—I’m all grown up now. A friendly reminder: your time is running out.”
“I—I’ll go, I’ll go clean it right now!” Li Miyan panicked, scurrying away as if terrified to linger another second.
Xie Mi rubbed her forehead with a wry smile. “Step-moms, honestly.”
Another day, another victory.
“You seem to have gotten smarter.”
A cold male voice came suddenly from outside the door.
Xie Lian was standing there, half-hidden in the shadows, radiating a gloomy, oppressive aura.
“Mom asked me to show you the rest of the place.”
Xie Mi raised an eyebrow.
She had just sent off the big turkey, and now here came the little turkey.
She hadn’t forgotten the harsh words he had thrown at her by the gate earlier.
Which meant it was time for that classic line from Na Ying:
Damn it, I really hate pretentious people.
“Alright, let’s go. I’m bored anyway.”
“Follow me.” With that, Xie Lian turned and walked off.
Xie Mi followed him out of the villa. They passed through the back garden and entered a sunlit greenhouse. The flowers here were clearly tended with care, blooming brilliantly.
Seeing her staring at them, Xie Lian suddenly curved his eyes into a smile, a low, eerie laugh rumbling from his throat.
“Do you miss these flowers too? They’re still blooming beautifully, aren’t they?”
“Blooming my ass. By the way—shouldn’t you be taking your meds?”
Xie Mi looked at him seriously. “You seem to be having a fit.”
Xie Lian: “?”
