Looking at the chilly rain outside, Xia Shizhao, sitting by the window, rubbed her cold hands, breathed out a puff of warm air, and her eyes were full of worry. Ye Qiuling, where did you go? It's one thing to disappear without a trace, but what's even stranger is that the system is gone too. Ever since her father knocked her unconscious that day, Xia Shizhao has become increasingly silent, and she hasn't seen her parents since. They haven't even sent her a single greeting.

Thinking about how he spent the whole year in the hospital, and how he was beaten by his own father and suffered a concussion that left him unconscious for two days, Xia Shizhao found it all quite amusing.

And for some unknown reason, Xia's father fired everyone in the family.

The huge Xia family home was empty except for her.

It's quite relaxing and comfortable.

Xia Shizhao sat on the hammock and swayed, her fair legs swinging in the air, a scene of comfort and tranquility.

Fortunately, she had studied abroad, but she was accompanying her sister. After her sister finished university abroad, she came back with her. She was Xia Yun's shield and had to stay with her all the time. She disliked the food abroad, so she had no choice but to learn to cook herself. Thankfully, she wouldn't starve to death at home alone in this world.

Hmm... It seems like I've always been alone.

Thinking about it, Xia Shizhao sighed and smiled bitterly. Oh well, no matter what, she was always alone. She was just in a different place now.

After silently making potions for a while, Xia Shizhao, who was short of money, decided to sell them. So she slowly opened her shop and was surprised to find that many buyers had sent her New Year's greetings.

She lowered her head slightly, concealing the warmth in her eyes, and sent them her blessings.

Occasionally, he would go out with Mu Qinwan and the others, but most of the time he would stay at home alone, either making potions, sleeping, or playing games.

School is about to start.

Xia's father and his wife still hadn't contacted her. Xia Shizhao was a little curious. Given the couple's character, what could possibly make them ignore her, this valuable tool?

Xia Shizhao opened her father's phone page on the communicator and pouted. She didn't want to contact them either, but they had to send someone to drive her to school. Cars couldn't easily get into the villa area, and she couldn't drive by herself. It was ridiculous that they wouldn't buy a self-driving car when they had one, insisting on using a driver. Every time, she had to wait for the driver to go through all the rituals before she could get out of the car.

Don't they know that students are in a rush to get to school?

Xia Shizhao, who was used to arriving at the exact time, also found this strange ritual unbearable. However, since he was the driver appointed by his mother and could not leave, Xia Shizhao dared not say anything and could only endure it, getting up a few minutes earlier every day.

Just as she was about to press the button, Xia's father called her.

Xia Shizhao paused for two seconds before answering the call.

"I bought a self-driving car, I'll sign for it later."

It died very quickly, as if it had a virus.

Xia Shizhao: ? Confused.

With the car problem solved, Xia Shizhao was too lazy to bother with them. He didn't want to have any more business with them anyway, and he was happy to be away from home.

"elder sister."

The Xia Shizhao in her mind was calling her.

Xia Shizhao's gentle reply:

"What's wrong?"

"I think you're amazing."

"Huh? Why do you say that?"

"You don't cry or feel scared when you're home alone, and you don't give up on your career. You're really great, and I like you a lot."

"Yes, thank you for liking me. I like you very much too."

"You're the third person besides Wanwan and Nannan to say they like me, thank you! And... I... I have to go."

Where to go?

"I'm going to disappear."

His tone was full of relief.

Is it because of me?

"No, it's them. I'm completely disappointed and no longer have any expectations."

Xia Shizhao knew who these "them" were—his father and mother—but was somewhat puzzled:

"They're not worth you disappearing, are they?"

"Yes, but... after all these years, I don't want to live anymore. I splashed water on Ye Qiuling to force her to leave. This place is terrible; staying here too long will drive you crazy. If you hadn't come that day, this body would probably be dead by now, because everything I have is ruined—my hobbies, my future, my...personality. Please promise me that when you're forced into an arranged marriage, you'll run as far away as you can. Don't be a caged bird. I've been one for a long time. I know I'm cowardly; I don't have the courage to escape. That feeling of being controlled is too painful. And I'm so sorry to have brought you into such a terrible family. If I could..."

Before he could finish speaking, Shi Zhao's voice gradually faded away until it disappeared completely.

…………

Xia Shizhao touched her chest, feeling a tightness and discomfort. She wondered what she had been through. Turning her head to look at the room, she saw a small cubicle inside. Strangely, in the interstellar era, iris recognition was the norm, but this door was locked with a key, and the cubicle was locked from the inside. She couldn't find the key to the cubicle. Now that she thought about it, she should really look for the reason.

I searched the room thoroughly and finally found a rag doll in the storage room. It was a bit worn, and judging from the stitches and patches, although clumsy, you could tell that its owner had sewn it up stitch by stitch. It must have been quite a favorite of the owner. So why did it end up in this place?

Xia Shizhao unconsciously squeezed the doll and found something hard inside.

She opened her eyes slightly, put her hands together and said sorry. She took the rabbit doll off the table, took out the key, and then carefully sewed the opening back up.

—Click

The cubicle door opened, but because no one had been inside for so long, a cloud of dust flew up the moment it opened.

"Cough cough cough cough."

Xia Shizhao covered his mouth and nose and waved away the dust in front of him.

It must have been seven or eight years since I last went in; there's such a thick layer of dust.

The smell of dust made Xia Shizhao's nose particularly uncomfortable, and his delicate eyebrows couldn't help but furrow.

Pulling back a white cloth revealed a large painting of a starry sky, with a name below: Xia Shizhao.

The painting is very vivid, with the stars highlighted as if they are sparkling. The only flaw is that the artist drew two big X's on the painting, and the same thing happened on the other parts of the painting.

Xia Shizhao touched it with a bit of regret, and a scene suddenly popped into his mind.

"What's the use of you learning to draw? You've practiced for so long and you still can't do it. You'd be better off learning some etiquette so you could make friends with other kids, but you don't! You can't even say a word in front of others! Tell me, what's the use of you?"

"If you don't learn this piece today, you'll be in solitary confinement to reflect on your actions!"

"Mommy, let me out! Zhao Zhao is scared!! It's so dark inside..."

"Zhaozhao~ You did a great job with the piano performance this time, Mommy gives you a kiss."

"Kiss me!"

"Eat, eat, eat! All you do all day is eat! Look how fat you've gotten!"

"Girls should control their appetite and maintain their figure. From now on, you can only take a bite of each dish a maximum of three times. I will have someone supervise you."

"But I'm so hungry..."

"My darling daughter, the performance was a great success. Daddy's in a good mood, so I'm taking you out to play."

"good...."

"You should play more with the children from well-off families and less with those children from lowly backgrounds. Our Xia family is not some insignificant family. You should cultivate good relations with the Zhan and Mu families."

"Why? Besides Wanwan and Nannan, the others are also my good friends."

"No means no. You're not listening to Mom and Dad? Don't you love us anymore?"

"Listen, listen!"

"Our Zhaozhao must be the happiest girl in the world."

"yes?"

Ferocity, panic, illusion, confusion, bewilderment, and a host of other low emotions filled Xia Shizhao's mind.

Those were fragments of Xia's mother, Xia's father, and the original owner's life.

Because Xia Shizhao herself did not have this memory, she quickly broke free from the control of this emotion, her expression somewhat gloomy. These parents are crazy, they really deserve to die.

His hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles cracked.

Xia's mother and father did not use any physical violence against the original owner; all they did was inflict psychological harm and emotional abuse, constantly belittling her and causing her to lose confidence, even becoming withdrawn and world-weary. However, due to long-term enticement and the breaking of habits, she was forced to socialize again. All the things she disliked and the instinctive habits her body had developed caused Xia Shizhao's mental state to completely collapse.

Even as an outsider, she felt sorry for Xia Shizhao after reading about her experiences from childhood to adulthood.

After painstakingly cleaning the room, Xia Shizhao found several undamaged paintings. He took these paintings, which had never seen the light of day, out again, carefully framed them, and placed them on his desk.

Actually, she has a great talent for painting, but unfortunately... it's a tragedy that she comes from such a family.

I wish her a happy and healthy life in the future.

At this moment, the light of dusk streamed through the French windows and fell on the picture frame, emitting a soft glow.

Looking at the setting sun, Xia Shizhao, who had been tidying up all day, was a little tired. He lay straight down on the bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.