Chapter 2

“Mom, Dad, you've always taught us how important a girl's reputation is. I've always believed you. After what happened that night, I didn't want to make a scene or disgrace you. That's why I chose to marry A Zheng.”

Their faces turned white.

She smiled and continued.

“All anyone knows is that I married an unemployed man. Nobody knows what happened before that. Your reputation hasn't suffered. What are you still so angry about?”

Her words weighed on them so heavily that neither could speak for a long time.

I leaned toward her ear.

“Isn't this... going too far? They are our parents.”

She only shook her head.

She'd always known her own mind.

I didn't ask again. I turned back to help her put up the double-happiness decorations.

After a long while, our parents got to their feet.

Whatever she said, they couldn't accept it.

In their fury, they smashed things around the house. Pointing at her forehead, they shouted:

“You're going to marry a criminal? Have you lost your mind? We'll never accept this! Tell him to bring the marriage certificate and get a divorce right now. Otherwise, don't blame us if we disown you!”

I looked at my sister.

She calmly put down the decoration in her hand.

“Mom, Dad, I'm not divorcing A Zheng. Whether you agree or not, we're legally married. Even if you disown me, I won't regret it.”

“Fine... Fine...”

Mom was choking up.

“Then leave. We'll pretend we never had a daughter like you.”

They were genuinely disappointed in her.

But she didn't leave.

The wedding had to take place in this house. Otherwise, everything we'd done would be wasted.

However much they scolded, she calmly reminded them that this was her home too. She wasn't leaving. If she did, it would only be after the wedding.

They were so angry that they fainted again.

She checked them, then turned to me.

“They're all right. They've only fainted.”

To keep them from interfering any further, she decided to put them in their bedroom for now and unlock the door when it was over.

I asked quietly:

“But don't you have to serve them tea during the wedding? Would the ceremony be complete without them?”

She patted my shoulder.

“Don't worry. I'll find a way.”

She helped them into the master bedroom and locked the door.

After two busy days turning the house into a traditional wedding venue, she called A Zheng and told him to bring all his belongings over.

To our surprise, he refused.

Her expression changed.

“Why? Honey, you promised we'd have a traditional wedding here at my home.”

His mocking laugh came down the line.

“Ha. I was lying, you idiot. You're rich and easy to fool. You insisted on marrying me, then handed over your family's money.”

I was beside her. I heard every word.

Anger flared inside me. I wanted to go find him at once.

She realized what I was about to do and caught my arm, then went on coaxing him in a sweet voice.

“Honey, I've given you everything. Can't you indulge me just this once? All you have to do is come here for a wedding. You know this house is worth over three million yuan. If the wedding goes smoothly, I'll find a way to get my parents to put it in your name.”

That got his attention.

After a silence, he asked:

“Are you sure they'll agree to transfer the house to me?”

“Have I ever lied to you? After the way I've treated you all this time, can't you tell how I feel?”

She had kept giving him money and catering to his every wish. He had no reason to doubt her devotion.

“But... it's a house worth millions.”

He was still hesitant.

She finally swore that if she failed, she would take care of him for the rest of his life.

Now he had no reason to refuse.

They'd already registered their marriage. This was only an additional traditional ceremony. It wouldn't cost him anything.

After considering it for a while, he agreed to bring his luggage over that evening.

She hung up with a satisfied smile.

Then she turned to me.

“Is everything ready?”

I looked toward my room and nodded.

“All ready.”

Anticipation shone in her eyes.

“After tonight, we'll all have a new beginning.”

I couldn't help smiling too.

She covered my mouth with her hand and laughed.

“Luoluo, that smile is frightening. Better stop.”

I obediently nodded and let the smile fade.

At eight that evening, A Zheng knocked on the door.

My sister went to answer it in a red qipao.

To our surprise, a young woman stood behind him.

She looked about my sister's age.

The sight of her gave me an odd feeling.

My sister said nothing and quietly brought them both inside.

Once the woman had found herself a seat, my sister handed A Zheng the clothes she'd prepared.

“Honey, here's your outfit. Go and change.”

He frowned at the ceremonial clothes in his hands.

“Why does this look so strange?”

My sister and I exchanged an involuntary glance.

Had he noticed something?

Before she could answer, he looked around the room.

“The decorations too. Something feels off...”

She laughed it away.

“You're imagining things. I ordered the outfit online. The seller said it was traditional wedding attire. I learned the decorations from videos. I worked so hard on all this. You're hurting my feelings.”

She was already beautiful. Looking wounded only made her harder to doubt.

Sure enough, he dismissed his suspicions.

Without another question, he took the outfit into a room to change.

A few minutes later, he came out dressed for the ceremony.

It was time. My sister unlocked the master bedroom and helped our parents out.

They still didn't seem fully conscious. They quietly went along with her arrangements.

After seating them in the places of honor, she and A Zheng began the wedding bows.

They had bowed to Heaven and Earth and were about to bow to our parents when he stopped.

My sister bent toward him.

“What's wrong?”

He looked at our parents.

“They look... different today.”

She smiled reproachfully.

“What are you talking about? They're my parents. They've been upset lately and haven't been eating or sleeping well. That's why they look so worn out.”

It sounded plausible.

He asked nothing more.

But just as the ceremony ended, someone kicked the front door open from outside.

My sister and I turned.

An unfamiliar young man stood there with an old cloth bag over his shoulder and a geomantic compass in his hand.

My sister frowned.

“Who are you? Why are you barging into my home?”

He didn't answer.

He walked around the room, holding the compass, then stopped abruptly in front of me.

His expression turned grave.

“As I thought.”

“Someone is using a living person's yang energy for this ritual.”

A Zheng went pale and hurried behind him.

“Is there... really something wrong in this house?”

The young man nodded.

He took out a yellow talisman and murmured an incantation.

The talisman flew straight toward me.

My previously invisible form slowly appeared before everyone's eyes.

At the sight of me, A Zheng turned ashen.

Pointing a trembling finger, he asked my sister:

“Who is she? Is she... the reason you've done all this?”

I immediately stepped behind my sister.

She spread her arms to shield me.

“You can see her face clearly now. You still don't remember who she is?”

He shook his head in confusion.

He kept saying he'd never seen me before and begging the young man to take me away.

My sister laughed.

After a few bitter laughs, tears ran down her face.

“Of course. Only the people who were hurt remember everything. The ones who hurt them never remember what they did.”

The young man frowned slightly and looked at A Zheng.

“What exactly happened between you and her?”

I stepped out from behind my sister.

That face.

No matter how many years passed, I could never forget it.

He stared at me for a long time and still didn't remember.

Hatred blazed in my sister's eyes.

Holding her emotions in check, she looked straight at him and spoke slowly.

“Lin Luoluo. That's my sister's name.”

He repeated it over and over, still unable to place me.

How could he have forgotten?

Only three years ago, he had destroyed my life.

If he hadn't dragged me into that alley that night, I would have been a third-year university student now, graduating next year.

Tears streamed down my face.

“You destroyed my life! How can you go on living without a care?”

Crying, I lunged from behind my sister.

Just before I reached him, the young man produced another yellow talisman.

A flash of light stopped me.

It hurled me backward onto the floor. All at once, I felt terribly weak.

My sister rushed over, gathered me into her arms, and confronted him.

“What did you do to her?”

His answer was cold.

“She's only a spirit now. Remaining in the world of the living is already against the natural order. I hadn't intended to hurt her, but she was about to attack someone. I couldn't stand by.”

He added that a spirit who harmed the living would face grave consequences.

My sister went pale.

“She has never hurt anyone. Since she died, she's only stayed around the house, sometimes coming along to protect me because she was afraid I'd be hurt. A Zheng is the one who harmed her. Today she only wanted to frighten him, and you attacked her!”

His voice grew colder at her accusation.

“I don't know what she was like before. But she was about to attack him, and I was right to stop her. Besides, you went to all this trouble to marry A Zheng and arrange this ceremony so you could borrow his yang energy, didn't you? That violates the natural order. I've already shown mercy by not taking her spirit away outright.”

At the words “taking her spirit away,” A Zheng's eyes lit up.

He grabbed the young man's hand and begged him to get rid of me so I could never appear again.

But the young man wasn't in a hurry to agree.

“I can help you,” he said, looking at A Zheng. “First, tell me exactly what happened between you and her.”

A Zheng hesitated, glancing from me to my sister.

I knew.

He remembered me now.

He was afraid that once the young man heard the whole story, he would take our side.

So he asked cautiously:

“Suppose... I really did do something to her. Would you still help me?”

The young man nodded.

With that assurance, A Zheng stopped hesitating.

He began telling our story.

And with every word, I remembered that rainy night three years ago.

After evening study, I'd taken the bus home alone.

My sister usually met me at the stop. That night, she had something else to do, so she'd called and asked our parents to pick me up.

They'd agreed, but never came.

After getting off the bus, I called Dad again and again, asking when he would arrive.

He sounded impatient.

“You're old enough. Do you still need someone to take you home? If you're too scared, don't come home.”

I wasn't weak.

It was just that our neighborhood was rough.

There was a long walk from the bus stop to our home. At night, it was almost unlit, with hardly anyone around.

Only a few days earlier, a classmate had told me that a schoolgirl had encountered an attacker along that road.

I knew how much our parents cared about reputation.

I was afraid that if something happened to me, they would blame me for it.

So I cried and begged Dad to come.

He hung up.

Then I called Mom.