Chapter 2: Shackled

Startled and drenched in cold sweat, I quickly set down what I was doing and turned my head hesitantly toward the voice.

I stared blankly at Yan Dong, who had just questioned me.

Seeing me frozen and silent, the guy leaning against the kitchen doorway repeated his question, clearly growing impatient.

“Who are you? Where’s that Lin person?”

What was that supposed to mean?

This shouldn’t be happening.

No matter what, the information on my ID can’t be wrong.

Even if I know deep down that I wasn’t born female, logically speaking, everyone else should believe I’ve always been a girl.

Even the tabby cat recognized me.

Besides, I’d already double-checked my identity during the subway ride this morning.

But judging by his reaction, he definitely wasn’t joking.

Could it be that Yan Dong actually remembers who I used to be?

“Are you Lin’s… girlfriend?”

His voice, still laced with the faint trail of cedar perfume, crystallized in the morning light like ice.

He took a step forward, and the expression on his face darkened visibly.

I instinctively stepped back—only to bump into the seasoning jar I’d left on the kitchen counter.

It toppled and fell with a sharp clatter.

The sound snapped me out of my panic just a little, though the awkward mess in front of Yan Dong only seemed to deepen the amused sneer curling at the corner of his lips.

“What, does this 30-yuan-an-hour housekeeper gig come with bonus roleplay now?”

This guy—who’s about to retake the college entrance exam—was now tapping the teak floor with the tip of his slipper, his smug expression absolutely begging for a slap.

Our relationship wasn’t complicated. I worked in his home as a housekeeper to pay off debt. That’s it.

“Ugh, what a joke,” he scoffed suddenly, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he laughed.

“Didn’t think that uptight bore Lin Yunxia would actually manage to get a girlfriend.”

His neatly groomed eyebrows arched high as his gaze swept across me and then he sighed, “Beauty wasted on trash.”

It seemed like he had reached a conclusion that made sense to him. With a satisfied nod to himself, he turned to leave.

The fact that someone in this world remembered who I used to be—anyone else and I might’ve been touched.

But if it was this guy, I didn’t even have the patience to waste words explaining.

He could think whatever the hell he wanted.

It had nothing to do with me.

But just as I bent down to pick up the seasoning jar, Yan Dong—who had already walked away—suddenly stepped back into view.

“Tell Lin Yunxia this counts as a one-time exception. If he dares to skip work again and send you in to cover, I’ll mark it as an absence.”

An absence?

That meant even if I kept doing this housekeeper job in my current identity, even if I kept at it until I died, I still wouldn’t be able to pay off the mountain of debt I owed?

The moment I heard that crushing statement, a cold chill surged up from the soles of my feet.

As Yan Dong turned to leave, the air stirred by the cotton fabric of his robe brushed past the tip of my nose.

The cedar scent clinging to him seemed even stronger now.

Just as he was about to step out of the kitchen, I suddenly strode forward and grabbed his right arm firmly.

“What the hell are you doing?”

He turned his head slightly, his lashes catching the soft glow of morning light like golden threads.

Despite the confusion in his eyes, his face still wore that arrogant, domineering expression I couldn’t stand.

I really hated this guy who thought he was above everyone else.

But maybe it was precisely because I hated him that I didn’t feel the need to hold back.

That included the truth of my current situation.

“I am Lin Yunxia.”

“Are you out of your damn mind?”

“This is my ID.”

“…”

“This is the facial recognition result from the government app. And this—this is my driver’s license.”

“…”

Yan Dong stared at the ID and driver’s license in my hand for a long while, his gaze shifting to the phone I clutched tightly in my other hand.

At last, his brow furrowed deeply, and his increasingly incredulous eyes locked onto the teardrop mole just beneath the corner of my right eye.

An eerie silence began to spread through the spacious room.

I could hear his heavy breathing clearly, and I could see his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed in hesitation.

“Interesting. Is this some kind of new scam technique now?”

“When you were in eighth grade…”

I fixed my eyes on that face trying so hard to stay composed.

“You got your brother killed. I’m pretty sure no one else could possibly know that but me.”

As I spoke the secret buried deep in his heart, the air seemed to freeze solid.

The veins on Yan Dong’s neck tightened, and his knuckles turned white as he gripped his phone.

The way he looked at me was sharp enough to cut.

After another stretch of suffocating silence, Yan Dong finally lit up his screen and pulled up the photo album to verify my image.

Then, right in front of me, he snapped a photo and made a call.

After a few beeps, a timid and familiar male voice answered on the other end.

“D-Dong-ge, what’s up?”

“Xiao Bai, the photo I just sent—do you recognize the person?”

“Yeah… yeah, of course. That’s Lin Yunxia. Why?”

“Is Lin Yunxia a boy or a girl?”

“Uh? What… do you mean?”

The person on the other end—whose full name was Bai Shuyu—sounded confused, clearly unsure if there was some hidden meaning behind the question.

“Stop stalling. Just answer.”

Yan Dong’s irritated bark was loud enough to startle even the tabby cat nearby, which perked up its ears mid-lick.

Bai Shuyu, clearly spooked by Yan Dong’s sudden urgency, scrambled to answer.

“Dong-ge… I think Lin Yunxia is… a girl.” His voice trembled, practically tripping over the word think, which only made Yan Dong sound even more annoyed.

“What do you mean, ‘think’?”

“I-I mean… I’ve only ever seen her… like, dressed as a girl…”

“Alright, alright, I get it. I’m hanging up. Focus on your recovery.”

Yan Dong cut the call abruptly, and that infuriatingly disdainful gaze of his landed on me once again.

If just a moment ago, his eyes had held a hint of anger at me for exposing his secret, now there was nothing left but shock—and that same persistent contempt he’d always shown me.

“Young master, have you confirmed it now?”

I asked with a flat tone, stating something that had already become undeniable.

As expected, Yan Dong let out a cold chuckle.

“Yeah.”

He suddenly raised a hand to tug at his collar, his gaze landing on the teardrop mole at the corner of my eye.

“I believe you’re Lin Yunxia now. Even if I hadn’t asked Xiao Bai, just that rotting jasmine smell soaked in from the slums, and that dead-inside way of talking… there’s no one else it could be but that Lin guy.”

“Sorry to have left that kind of impression, young master. If there’s nothing else, I’ll get back to work.”

I replied coolly, already having let go of his arm.

I took a small step back to put a safe distance between us, but then Yan Dong suddenly spoke out of nowhere: “Go to the parent-teacher meeting tomorrow morning.”

“Young master, I have classes all day tomorrow. According to the contract—”

“What do your classes have to do with me? Don’t forget, you were late today. That’s a half-day wage deduction according to policy, right? So, you’ve got two choices: follow the rules and lose the money, or go to the meeting for me tomorrow morning.”

His one-sided demand instantly sent a surge of anger through me.

My fists clenched so tightly that my knuckles cracked, and I raised my head to glare at that infuriating troublemaker.

The only reason he was bringing this up was out of spite—retaliation for the wound I’d just ripped open with my words.

Yes, I worked as a housekeeper in his home.

But I had my own studies to worry about too.

Things had already been chaotic enough since this morning.

I hadn’t even had time to fully process what had happened, and now this guy thought he could just open his mouth and waste half my day like it was nothing.

I stared into his eyes, jaw clenched so hard I could hear my molars grinding.

Of course Yan Dong noticed my bristling posture, but he didn’t react much.

If anything, the sneer at the corner of his mouth deepened.

“One-point-five million,” he said, leaning down toward me.

The faint scent of cedar mixed with the sharp bite of soap hit me straight in the face.

“Don’t forget, that twenty-year labor contract has your fingerprint on it.”

His breath, warm and slow like a devil’s whisper, drifted across the edge of my ear, and my body tensed instinctively with a shudder.

“Need me to remind you who covered your parents’ surgery costs, Miss Lin?”

Just two simple sentences were enough to shatter what little pride I had left.

It felt like the strength had drained from my body, and when I finally unclenched my jaw, all that escaped from my throat was a defeated murmur.

“…Got it.”

That voice sounded so foreign—like static drifting out of an old radio, distorted and raspy with electric interference.

Memories surged back like a rising tide, completely out of control.

Yan Dong was right.

Back then, in order to pay for my parents’ medical treatment, we borrowed 1.5 million yuan from his family.

Though Uncle Yan never asked for interest, I still had to work as a housekeeper in their home for twenty years to pay it all off.

During university, aside from attending regular classes, I wasn’t allowed any days off.

On days without classes, I worked from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

My official monthly salary was 8,050 yuan. But from that, 6,250 was deducted toward the debt, leaving me with only 1,800.

After deducting transportation costs, my actual take-home pay was just 1,600 yuan a month.

The reason I agreed to Yan Dong’s unreasonable demand wasn’t just to avoid a pay cut.

More importantly, the less debt I had, the sooner I could leave him.

These past two months working in this house had felt like a lifetime, because I truly couldn’t stand that arrogant bastard.

Of course, after all this time navigating Yan Dong’s world, I’d long since learned how to control my emotions.

Not to mention, this wasn’t the first time he’d pushed me to the edge.

And to be fair, I was the one who brought up his past.

Knowing his temper, I’d half expected him to chuck his phone at me.

A few barbed words?

Honestly, I was getting off easy.

Maybe everything that happened this morning just caught me off guard.

I didn’t think I’d still let my emotions take the reins like that.

But it wasn’t long before I calmed down again.

I met Yan Dong’s gaze directly, and my voice finally returned to its usual flat, detached tone.

“Young master, how should I introduce our relationship at tomorrow’s parent-teacher meeting?”

…