Zhao Yicheng’s body stiffened slightly, then he let out a long sigh, gently pressing the girl’s head against his chest.
“Little Yin, I…”
“I feel like a piece of merchandise, bought and sold, traded back and forth. Do you think they trust you? They just see you as a fall guy, a takeover knight!”
Xu Yinsheng covered her face with both hands, tears streaming uncontrollably through her fingers.
“Adopted daughter, adopted sister? They just think I’m a burden! They think I’m interfering with their two-person world, so they’re trying to find a way to pawn me off on you!!”
“These past few days I’ve been thinking—since they don’t care about me, why did they let me live? Why didn’t they just throw me into a hospital bathroom? Why did they give me so much money? Leaving me with nothing but money in my life!”
“I’m just a pile of rotten flesh—born from a mother but never raised by one.”
Her sobs came in broken bursts, carrying endless despair and pain.
“I really don’t want to live anymore… sob sob…”
“Might as well just die… sob sob…”
“sob sob… No one cares about me anyway…”
“Little Yin, let me take care of you.”
“sob sob… What did you say?” Xu Yinsheng lowered her hands from her face.
She looked at Zhao Yicheng, tears glistening in her dried-out eyes.
Zhao Yicheng took a deep breath, looked at her solemnly, and made a heavy promise. “I said, I’ll take care of you! Not just take care of you—I’ll discipline you too. I’ll teach you what’s right and what’s wrong, what you can and can’t do. I’ll leave my mark, my brand on you. I, Zhao Yicheng, will be not only your boyfriend but also your family! Not only will I spend the rest of my life with you, but I’ll also teach you to distinguish right from wrong in that life! I’ll correct your bad habits and mold you into the person I want you to be!”
“What do you mean by that?” A strange feeling stirred in Xu Yinsheng’s heart—not disgust, not fear, but… like a stone that had been hanging in the air finally dropping.
‘No, why is that empty place inside me gradually filling up? What is this strange feeling? Why is a hint of anticipation and satisfaction rising in my heart?’
Zhao Yicheng’s jaw tightened. He forced Xu Yinsheng’s chin up, making her look him in the eyes, like a monarch issuing a decree. “Xu Yinsheng, you are mine! Since three days ago, you’ve been my possession—every strand of hair, every inch of skin, every drop of blood, including your body, your soul, your thoughts, your personality—all belong to me! To Zhao Yicheng!!”
“From now on, I am not only your boyfriend but also your guardian!”
“Understand?” His tone was stern, his voice cold and deep, laced with a hint of brutality.
Xu Yinsheng looked up at him, her lips trembling, her face pale as paper. Under Zhao Yicheng’s domineering declaration, she slowly lowered her head, her sobs seeming to ease a little.
Before Zhao Yicheng could breathe a sigh of relief, the miserable crying sounded in his ears again. The tears that had just begun to subside gushed out once more, as if they cost nothing.
“Even you’ve betrayed me! ‘You are mine’—hah! I thought you were my good brother, but you’re still thinking about… mmph… sob sob…”
A large hand suddenly clamped over the girl’s crying mouth. Zhao Yicheng leaned forward, pressing his forehead against Xu Yinsheng’s. His dark eyes were utterly domineering, with a look that made one’s heart tremble—as if any prey he stared at would eventually be devoured completely.
“Shh!” Zhao Yicheng pressed a finger to his lips, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.
Xu Yinsheng inexplicably stopped crying, only hiccups and sobs echoing in the air. Her almond-shaped eyes stared at the man in panic and bewilderment.
“Sob sob… What exactly do you want? If you want me, just take me… I’m nothing but unwanted rotten flesh anyway…”
“I told you—three days ago you became mine. If I wanted you, I wouldn’t need your consent.”
His low, hoarse voice revealed an overwhelming possessiveness. The mental illness flowing in Zhao Yicheng’s veins—pfft—the dominance and wildness flowing in his veins were now fully exposed!
Xu Yinsheng turned her face away, blushing. She should have been angry, should have resisted, should have fought for her freedom.
But somehow, that hollow soul seemed to be filled with something. The self-destructive suicidal thoughts that had shrouded her heart after eavesdropping were being pushed aside by something inexplicable.
Hah.
The dead, silent soul seemed to be stirred. The empty shell was gradually filled. The emotions that had been suppressed inside her came crashing down like a landslide and tsunami, catching her off guard, leaving her unable to defend herself!
Like a drowning person clutching the only straw that could save them.
She…
“You pervert!” Xu Yinsheng glared at the man in anger and embarrassment.
“Thank you!” Zhao Yicheng smiled back.
“Animal.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“Psycho!”
“I’ve always been a psycho!”
Zhao Yicheng took Xu Yinsheng’s fair little hand, using her small finger to point at himself, then at her head.
“You’re a psycho too.”
He looked at Xu Yinsheng, his eyes seeming to shatter countless stars, filled with tenderness and dominance. “A psycho paired with a psycho—we’re perfect together.”
“You, you, you!!!” Xu Yinsheng was now amused by Zhao Yicheng’s shamelessness. ‘A psycho paired with a psycho’—who else but him had driven her to this state of mental illness?!
But being rudely pointed at by the girl, Zhao Yicheng wasn’t angry. Instead, he smiled slightly. “Little Yin, it’s time to wake up from the dream now. Let’s talk about some things outside.”
The next moment, the surrounding environment cracked like a mirror. In an instant, it shattered into pieces. The mental space broke open. When Xu Yinsheng opened her eyes again, her gaze landed directly on the man beneath her, who was looking at her with a mocking smile.
“What exactly do you want?” Xu Yinsheng snorted in annoyance. After Zhao Yicheng’s relentless lecturing, the grief and self-abandonment in her heart had dissipated quite a bit.
At the same time, something in that soul, now filled by something else, seemed to be stirring.
“To finish what we started, of course.” With that, Zhao Yicheng sat up. Xu Yinsheng slipped and ended up sitting on his lap. She tried to leave, but her small hands were firmly grabbed by the man.
With a yank, Zhao Yicheng hoisted Xu Yinsheng onto his shoulder—body and soul together—and carried her toward the bedroom.
“Let me go! What exactly are you trying to do?”
“Xu Yinsheng, this is the first lesson I’m teaching you: a person must keep their word. Words spoken are like water spilled.”
Zhao Yicheng’s voice carried a hint of pleasurable hoarseness. “I said I would not only take care of you but also discipline you, teach you right from wrong, make you understand good and evil, loyalty and filial piety, and punishment.”
And so, the half-shy, half-struggling girl was carried into the room by a man who had thrown all caution to the wind and fully revealed his psychotic state.
A psycho paired with a psycho—perhaps this was the final outcome.
Years later, when Xu Yinsheng, who had been thoroughly molded into the shape this man liked, accidentally flipped open a memoir, she saw Zhao Yicheng’s psychological description of her.
Xu Yinsheng, Little Yin, my Little Yin.
You want love—I give it to you. You want friendship—I give it to you. You want family affection—I give it to you. But! You must live well! Live well and accompany me to see this world!!
Even if you lose all meaning in life and don’t want to live anymore, I still want you to live well!
You will live for me. Let me occupy every aspect of your life. Let me be the sole owner of everything you have. Let my brand be stamped on every inch of your skin.
Above, from a good brother, a perfect partner, a half-crazed psycho.
And in the end, a single thing, a single matter, will unravel a lifetime of confusion.