Chapter 1: Her Name Is Chi Mo, Guan Yizhou's Girlfriend

"Mm..." A man's stifled groan drifted into her ear.

It sounded like he was enduring immense pain, a voice slipping from his thin lips that made one's heart tremble.

Xia Wu's senses returned before her consciousness did.

She stared fixedly at the man in front of her.

His forehead was slick with sweat, and the loose white short-sleeved shirt on his body was covered in wrinkles.

The buttons were all undone, the fabric splayed to the sides of his waist, faintly revealing some lean muscle.

His hands, veins bulging over the bones, were cuffed to the bed rail. Seeing the person straddling him suddenly stop moving—

his heart instantly tightened.

"Done tossing around for today?" The person on the bed spoke up in a hoarse voice, the tone pleasant and seductive.

He lifted his brows, his gaze landing on the person who was still spacing out.

In the dim yellow light, Xia Wu made out the man's face.

Clean, handsome brows and eyes, a high nose bridge, reddened thin lips, sharp and defined facial contours.

Further down were straight collarbones, a solid chest, a taut waist, and pants pulled dangerously low...

It was Xu Ying as a youth!

Xia Wu scrambled off him in terror, frantically pulling up a shoulder strap that had slipped down.

"You... why are you here?!"

As she spoke, the small leather whip pinched in her hand clattered to the floor.

Xu Ying slowly closed his eyes.

His tone seemed to carry a hint of mockery: "Why am I here? Shouldn't you know that better than anyone?"

He slowly raised his head to look at Xia Wu, his expression gradually cooling: "Speak. What are you trying to pull now?"

Xia Wu dug her nails hard into her palms, squeezing until it hurt. Hadn't she died?

Saying goodbye to this filthy world in the most tragic, most careless way possible.

Xia Wu quickly recalled—this should be a summer day during her junior year of college.

She had bought a pile of kinky little toys and pestered Xu Ying to let her try every single one on him.

Xu Ying refused, so she threw a tantrum, rolling on the floor, practically ready to hang herself from the rafters.

In the end, Xu Ying really couldn't handle her, so he reluctantly nodded.

The young man before her lowered his eyes, messy bangs falling over his forehead, hiding the emotions in them.

Resigned to his fate, he asked again: "Are you done messing around?"

"D-done... hurry up and put your clothes on."

Xia Wu hurriedly picked up his pants from the floor, tossed them onto the bed, and swiftly turned her back.

Xu Ying seemed to sigh, carrying a bit of helplessness:

"Is this today's new trick? How do you want me to play along? I'm a bit tired today, can we not make it too long?"

Xia Wu pressed a hand to her pounding chest, unable to suppress the bitterness on her tongue no matter what.

She loved Xu Ying to death. From the very first moment this boy appeared at the town's high school, she had fallen for him.

One glance felt like an eternity, as if she'd known him in a past life.

He was clean, good-looking. Just standing there, he radiated a deadly aura that drew her in.

She was like a moth diving into a bonfire—even if she sizzled and burned until nothing but ash remained, she still had to get close to him.

She couldn't explain why. She was clearly a top-tier beauty on the high school campus, leagues ahead of all the extras below her.

But she just knew at first sight that Xu Ying was the man she wanted.

It was just that Xu Ying rarely responded to such blazing affection, even faintly showing disgust—or so she thought.

But Xia Wu didn't care. As long as she loved him, that was enough.

Seeing Xia Wu stay silent, Xu Ying uncuffed his own hands, slowly got up, and stepped off the bed.

He took off the white shirt, exposing his entire upper body.

From his chest down to below his waist and abdomen, it was covered in blush-inducing little marks.

All left behind by Xia Wu in her excitement just moments ago.

"If we're not continuing, I'm going to shower first. I have my part-time job tomorrow."

The boy stood under the dim yellow light, looking at the girl in front of him, waiting for her answer.

That sentence nearly made Xia Wu's knees buckle. "N-no, we're not continuing. Go shower, go ahead."

Xu Ying's expression was unreadable, his tone probing: "Really?"

"R-really. Hurry up and go shower."

Xia Wu couldn't process anything right now; she just wanted to escape this infinitely humiliating atmosphere.

Xu Ying paused, glanced at Xia Wu, then walked toward the bathroom.

Soon after, the sound of the shower came from inside.

Xia Wu looked around. This was the home her parents left her in Shiqiao Town.

Iron-framed wooden lattice windows, dark green velvet curtains filtering the light, fluttering in the summer evening breeze.

The clamor of cicadas drifted in from afar, making the town courtyard feel somewhat desolate.

There used to be a pedestal fan, but its base had been snapped off. Right now it was lying sideways on a wooden chair with a backrest, its blades scraping with a "creak, creak" sound.

She rushed out of the room, gasping for air in huge breaths, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

In the courtyard, a persimmon tree and an osmanthus tree stood facing each other.

Though neither was in season to bloom or bear fruit, their greenery was still delightful.

Everything felt like a long-lost memory. She was back in the summer of this year.

Back beside the man who cost her her life.

After graduating from college, Xu Ying would return to the Xu family.

And she clung to him like crazy, throwing tantrums and threats until Xu Ying married her.

But she wasn't happy after marriage. You could even call her pitiful.

Xu Ying was always out running around, leaving her alone in the empty house, waiting day and night like a wandering ghost.

Later, she heard it was because Lu Yan got into a car accident and stayed in a sanatorium. Xu Ying spent all his free time accompanying that woman.

She charged into that sanatorium like a madwoman, causing a scene at the gate like a shrew.

But before she could even make a sound, the security guards held her back tightly.

Through the sanatorium gates, she saw Xu Ying's profile. He was listening intently as the woman beside him spoke.

That patience and gentleness he never once showed her, now given to someone else.

In the end, she understood Xu Ying far too little. How could her few years compare to someone else's decade-plus?

First come, first served, right?

And not long after that, she was kidnapped by Lu Yan's brother, Lu Heng, to an abandoned warehouse, where he threatened her to leave Xu Ying.