Chapter One: The Abandoned Child
"Stop! Please, I beg you—don't take her!"
A young woman's desperate cry echoed through the downpour that blanketed Hanliu Village. Her frail body trembled beneath the merciless rain, soaked from head to toe, her breath coming in shallow gasps. In her arms, a tiny baby wailed loudly, as if it, too, could sense the overwhelming fear in its mother's heart.
"There is no other choice."
The cold, deep voice came from behind her. A middle-aged man stood there, draped in a thick, rain-soaked cloak. His expression was unreadable, carved from stone, devoid of warmth.
"If you insist on taking her with you, both of you will die."
The woman bit her lip hard, her eyes filled with despair as she gazed at the infant cradled tightly in her arms. Her heart screamed in agony, but she knew the man was right. If she tried to keep her child, they would be hunted down. They would be found. There would be no escape.
With trembling hands, she turned away and walked toward a small tea house at the far end of the village. A faint glow from an oil lamp flickered through the paper screen of the door, casting a sliver of light amid the cold and darkness of the night.
Kneeling down before the entrance, she carefully laid the baby onto a thick cloth to protect her from the wet ground. Then, with a shaking hand, she slipped a folded piece of paper into the blanket wrapped around the child.
Bending low, her lips quivered as she whispered in the baby's ear.
"I'm sorry… Lian Xue…"
Her fingers gently adjusted the cloth, ensuring the baby was warm before she slowly stood up. She looked down one last time, memorizing her child's face—the face she might never see again.
And then she turned away, vanishing into the rain, swallowed by the shadows of the night.
The wooden door creaked open.
"What's this?" A startled voice called out. An older woman peeked out from the tea house. Her face wrinkled in confusion as she caught sight of the bundle lying at her doorstep.
She hurried forward, stooping down to lift the crying baby into her arms. The infant was drenched and shivering, her face scrunched from the cold.
"Who would abandon a child like this in the middle of a storm?" she murmured, glancing around in search of the one responsible. But there was no one in sight.
Sighing, she gently rocked the baby, her hands soothingly brushing over the child's damp forehead. That's when she noticed the small note tucked into the blanket.
Lian Xue.
Just two words. No explanation. No clue as to who the parents were.
The woman—Bibi Liu—let out a long sigh. She stared at the baby for a moment longer, then carried her inside.
Lian Xue grew up under the modest roof of the tea house. At first, Bibi Liu treated her kindly, raising her like her own child. She played and learned alongside Bibi Liu's biological daughter, Lian Hua, who was only a few years older.
But that gentle warmth did not last.
Everything changed on a dark and dreadful night.
"Lian Hua! Wake up! Please, wake up!"
Hysterical cries shook the small tea house. Lian Hua lay in bed, her skin pale, her breathing shallow and erratic. Sweat dripped from her forehead, her body convulsing from fever.
Bibi Liu panicked. She clutched her daughter's body, shaking her in desperation.
"I need medicine! Someone, help!"
Little Lian Xue stood in the corner of the room, her eyes wide with fear, her small hands clenched at her sides. She didn't understand what was happening. She was too young to know what death looked like.
That night, Lian Hua took her final breath.
And from that moment on, Lian Xue was no longer treated with love.
"Why are you just standing there, you lazy brat?!"
The sharp voice tore through her daze, yanking Lian Xue back to reality. She flinched, quickly grabbing an old rag and scrubbing the tea house floor.
Bibi Liu stood nearby, her eyes hard and bitter.
"Don't think you'll get free meals here without working for it. You think I'm some kind of saint?"
Lian Xue lowered her head. She dared not speak.
She never understood why things had changed so drastically. Why had the woman who once embraced her now glared at her with such venom?
"Because of you, Lian Hua is dead."
Those words echoed constantly in her mind.
Lian Xue bit her lip, swallowing her tears. She couldn't cry. If she cried, Bibi Liu's anger would only grow worse.
From that day onward, she was no longer a child of the household. She was a burden, a servant, someone barely worth feeding. Her clothes were tattered, her food just scraps left behind by customers.
"Did you hear me?! Move faster!"
Lian Xue continued scrubbing, her hands raw from overwork. Her heart ached, but she had nowhere else to go.
That night, she sat alone in the cold kitchen, staring down at a bowl of watery porridge barely enough to fill her stomach. Her small fingers wrapped weakly around the wooden spoon.
"Why are you even still alive?"
The voice made her flinch.
She turned to see Lian Fei, the neighbor's son who often helped out at the tea house.
He glared at her with eyes full of hatred. "If not for you, Lian Hua would still be alive."
Lian Xue looked away, but the words pierced her like knives.
Lian Fei stepped forward, yanked the bowl from her hands, and dumped the porridge onto the floor.
"There. Now you have nothing. You should've died a long time ago."
Lian Xue remained still. She wanted to scream, to shout—but she didn't. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't.
So she stayed quiet.
Years passed.
Lian Xue continued living in the tea house, working tirelessly, enduring the cold stares and harsh words. Her body grew frail, her illnesses more frequent. Sometimes, she collapsed from exhaustion, her tiny frame no longer able to keep up with the endless demands.
And then, one day, Bibi Liu made a final decision.
"Take her."
Lian Xue froze. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
Two burly men stood at the tea house entrance, their expressions smug and cruel.
"Bibi Liu… please…"
Her voice trembled. Her hands shook.
But the woman turned her face away. "I have no use for a sickly slave."
The men grabbed her roughly by the arms.
"No! Please don't!"
She struggled, crying, but no one came to her aid. No one cared.
And in that moment, she understood something deep and terrible.
She was truly alone in this world.
Rain poured as the cart carrying her rolled away from Hanliu Village.
Lian Xue sat huddled in the corner, shivering, her eyes fixed on the road behind her. She didn't know where fate would take her. She didn't know if she would even survive.
"No… I can't die like this…"
But before she could sink further into despair, a soft voice interrupted her thoughts.
"You were sold too?"
Lian Xue turned her head and met the gaze of a boy sitting across from her in the cart.
Who was he?
And where were they being taken?