The Adopted Heiress's Revenge: Reclaiming Her Fate with Yin-Yang Eyes

Porridge and Papers

Xiu Mian sat on the chair, which creaked under her measly weight. She was sure that if she were any heavier, the chair would break.

Even though she had been the top student since middle school, it had been a long time since she had seen these equations. The numbers on the page swam before her eyes.

She squeezed the pen tightly, willing her mind to recall formulas buried under years of neglect. She focused on re-reading the books to familiarize herself with the material, first math, then science.

A thin girl sat there, silently studying under the glow of the morning light. Her long fingers clutched the nib of the pen that fell on the blank paper, leaving behind a well-crafted solution.

Her long hair brushed against her cheek, but the girl was too engrossed to care.

Although she was thin compared to her peers and rarely smiled, giving a cold aura, that did not diminish the inherent charm of her exquisite face.

Like moonlight, she appeared serene, silently bringing peace to those near her.

The gentle arch of her eyebrows, the long eyelashes casting small shadows on her fair cheeks, her small nose, and those cherry lips parting as she read the words from the book, everything about her was extremely pleasing to the eye.

However, there was no smile in her eyes, making her look almost like an extremely well-crafted life-sized doll.

That was what Sister Zhao thought when she entered the room after a polite knock.

"You child, why don't you rest? You don't know, young miss also fainted last night," Sister Zhao said as she handed Xiu Mian a bowl of porridge.

The old lady touched Xiu Mian's forehead to check her temperature. She smiled, the wrinkles around her eyes stacking together in skinny folds.

"You seem to be doing alright. You know, they asked me to check on you, and when you were found fainted on the ground, they didn't even bother to send for a doctor. How heartless they are."

Xiu Mian ate a spoonful of mild porridge and couldn't help but smile. The warmth lingered on the tip of her tongue for a moment before disappearing.

To someone else, the old lady's words might have sounded like a painful wound. The blatant reminder of the difference in treatment between the two daughters, but Xiu Mian knew that Sister Zhao just wanted her to give up on this disgusting family as soon as possible.

That was exactly why she did not draw on the floor. The Gu family would surely check on her if anything went wrong with Gu Rui.

After being bullied at the orphanage for being a freak, Xiu Mian had always kept her ability a secret. That was until she helped Liu Yan deal with a ghost.

So, even if they had not known about her secret, she didn't want to take any risks by exposing the leftover marks from the incantation.

She ate the porridge with relish, which made Sister Zhao smile from ear to ear.

"Rest now. I'll see if there's anything good to bring you for school."

Xiu Mian nodded, watching as Sister Zhao left the room. The older lady must be thinking about her friends.

Xiu Mian did have one friend. Sun Mi had been with her since middle school. She was the only one who had stayed with her without any ulterior motive, at least until she died in an accident.

She sighed, resting her back against the chair.

Sun Mi will definitely demand a birthday party, she mused with a slight smile.

Tomorrow was going to be the first day of the week, and she would return to school. The same school where she was declared a drug addict and expelled.

No matter how much she cried, no one listened to her.

"Don't worry, sister. Just lay low for the time being, and I'll handle it so you can study again."

She had to hide in her room for two years, following Gu Rui's instructions. During those two years, she had started taking jobs from paranormal sites.

She got caught when she turned eighteen and was then thrown out of the Gu mansion without mercy.

"Who knows what she had been doing all this time. I didn't expect her to be a slut," Mother Gu had said disdainfully. Her brothers, who never had any affection for her, showed only disgust and hatred.

Only Gu Rui spoke in her favor.

"Sister is not like this. There must be some problem. Maybe sister needed money?"

Xiu Mian was so naive that she didn't even understand that Gu Rui was labeling her a prostitute, someone who would sell her body for money.

If it wasn't for the temple that took her in, she might have died that night.

She looked at the window, the sun shining brightly, and the sudden tightness in her chest slowly dissipated. She was somehow reminded of those inky eyes she had seen at the banquet.

Those eyes looked a bit cold and... pretty. They gave her a familiar feeling, yet she couldn't recall where she had seen them before.

Even after thinking for so long, her mind remained blank. She shrugged, dragging her attention back to the pages.

Those eyes weren't important to her. She needed to study. Her first step was to graduate from high school with her head held high and then get rid of the Gu family.

Slowly, the morning sun climbed higher, and Xiu Mian started sweating. The AC in her room was only allowed to be switched on at night, and that too only when she behaved well.

The absurdity of the situation made her laugh slightly. A bell-like laugh rang in the room but vanished soon enough. If using the AC was a privilege she had to 'earn,' then what other basic comforts would be denied to her next?

The thought of losing the only memento of her real parents made her fist tighten. There had been a small ring around her neck when she was little. She would hold that ring when she felt afraid of the spirits around her.

That was her comfort object. But when she was seven and adopted by the Gu family, Mother Gu had taken the ring away under the pretense of taking care of it.

She never saw that ring again. This time, she would only leave the Gu Mansion after getting her things back. But for now, she pushed the thought aside.

She studied until a knock on the door disrupted her focus.