In the slums on the outskirts of Hai City in Qinghua Kingdom, a woman wearing a long black down jacket, black trousers, and black sneakers, carrying a basket on her back and holding a frame in front of her, struggled through half a meter of snow, following the footprints she had left behind.
Two hours later, Bi Qiaoan's skinny, black hands were numb from the cold. She shakily put down the basket and the backpack, reached into her pocket to take out the key, but her hands were too shaky to open the door.
Bi Qiaoan covered her mouth with her hands and breathed on them, then rubbed them together for about five or six minutes before her hands slowly regained feeling and she was able to unlock the door.
This is a brick house, about twenty square meters in size. Inside, there is only a cabinet and a bed. There are two thin cotton quilts on the bed, one for the bed and one for the blanket. Under the bed is a coal stove, but it is burning firewood.
Bi Qiaoan took the basket and carrying frame back into the house and placed them in a corner. The basket contained the branches she had just found in the mountains. Bi Qiaoan first took out two branches and threw them into the stove, then moved three bricks from under the bed and piled them up next to the stove.
Bi Qiaoan sat on the bricks, warming herself by the fire, lost in thought.
"Qiao An, open the door!" The knocking startled Bi Qiao An from her daze.
Bi Qiaoan sighed, slowly got up and opened the door, asking in a less-than-friendly tone, "Why are you here again? Couldn't you have come?"
The man ignored Bi Qiaoan, squeezed through the crack in the door, placed the cloth bag he was carrying against the wall, felt the temperature inside and outside was almost the same, and said in an unfriendly tone, "Bi Qiaoan, is this your backbone? It's been two years, how much longer are you going to stay here?"
"This is my home. Where else can I go if I don't stay here?" Bi Qiaoan smiled bitterly, her eyes stinging as she felt tears welling up uncontrollably. She turned away quietly so the man wouldn't see her expression.
"Qiao An, is this really your home? I don't need to remind you of the kind of life you used to live. Do you have to ruin yourself like this? Qiao An, come home with me. I've still saved your room for you. Don't worry, I'll take good care of you!" The man's tone was full of affection as he walked behind Qiao An and reached out to hug her.
"Xiao Fei, please let me go. You're already married, and I'm doing fine here."
Bi Qiaoan forcefully pried open the hands wrapped around her waist, broke free from Xiao Fei's embrace, and stretched out her hands, saying, "Xiao Fei, look at me, these hands are probably worse than chicken claws, and look at my face, people would believe I'm thirty-five now, Xiao Fei, you have no shortage of women around you, what exactly do you want from me?"
What's the point? Does it bring you peace of mind? Heh!
Xiao Fei pursed his lips, looking at Bi Qiaoan's aged and haggard face with a hint of complexity, "What could I possibly want? I just want you to have a better life!"
I'd be better off without you!
Xiao Fei wasn't angry after hearing this. He went to a corner and took out the things he had brought one by one from the bag. "Qiao An, I brought you a lot of food. There's rice, noodles, peanuts, potatoes. Look, I also brought you candy and half a bag of charcoal. Don't go to the mountains anymore. It's too miserable at minus thirty degrees Celsius. You can use these for now."
Seeing that Bi Qiaoan didn't speak, Xiao Fei went over and hugged her again, sighed and said, "Look at you, how much food have I given you in the past two years, how come you've gotten so thin?"
Even if you don't want to come with me, you can't go without eating. Don't worry, I can take care of you. Eat well, and come find me when you're done. I've saved your bedroom for you; I haven't let anyone else stay there.
Before Bi Qiaoan could struggle or refuse, Xiao Fei released her and said, "I'm leaving now. I'll come see you again next time!"
Bi Qiaoan stood there watching Xiao Fei leave, followed by two people who looked like bodyguards. This had been the case for the past two years, and Bi Qiaoan didn't know why Xiao Fei had suddenly become a key figure under protection.
Bi Qiaoan didn't close the door, but sat blankly on the bed, waiting for someone.
Less than half an hour later, a beautiful woman wearing a purple mink coat and high-top leather boots stormed in angrily and reached out to hit Bi Qiaoan in the face.
Bi Qiaoan dodged, but two people immediately came in, restrained her, and tied her hands behind her back.
Slap! A slap landed on Bi Qiaoan's left cheek. Slap! Another slap! The force of the slap sent Bi Qiaoan sprawling to the ground.
"You bitch, why don't you just die? You could have just stayed in the slums and lived peacefully there. Why did you have to get involved in my relationship with Xiao Fei? Bi Qiaoan, how could you be so shameless?" Chen Jin cursed and punched Bi Qiaoan in anger. As she cursed, Chen Jin started to cry.
"Qiao An, we've known each other for so many years, why do you keep standing between me and Xiao Fei? Xiao Fei and I have been married for three years, do you see? I'm six months pregnant, why does he come looking for you? Why can't he let you go?" Chen Jin shouted hysterically, kicking Bi Qiao An repeatedly.
Bi Qiaoan smiled sarcastically and said, "Chen Jin, are you sure it was me? Did I really interfere in your relationship? Hehehe, if possible, I would rather have never met you two."
Xiao Fei and I broke up three or four years ago, and I haven't contacted him since. Your boyfriend seems a bit of a womanizer, I heard you have several mistresses. What, are those mistresses sweeter than your house flowers, so you're causing me trouble?
Chen Jin's anger flared up again after hearing Bi Qiaoan bring up his past wounds. He kicked Bi Qiaoan in the stomach repeatedly while cursing, "I'm just looking for trouble with you, you bitch. If I can't deal with them, can't I at least deal with you?"
Bi Qiaoan, why are you superior to others just because we're both orphans? Why can you, an orphan, live like a princess, while I can only look up at you from the dust?
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