Chapter 1
I woke in a daze. Everything was pitch-black, and warm water surrounded me. I opened my mouth to call for help. Water rushed in and bubbled out of my nose, yet I felt no discomfort.
So I had died after all?
I reached out, feeling around. A muffled but familiar voice came from somewhere. “Oh! It really moved.”
I didn’t dare move again. After a while, I put out my hand and tested my surroundings very, very gently.
The moment I moved, something hard pressed against the top of my head, then my chest, slowly working its way down.
I began struggling violently.
Soon, though, a warm hand settled against me through a layer of flesh. This time I heard the man’s words clearly. “There, there. Don’t be afraid, baby.”
Baby?
At almost the same moment, I became aware of my own body. I had turned into a fetus. A living, unborn baby.
The voice outside kept soothing me. This man seemed to be my future “father.”
But once I recognized his voice, my heart sank, and I thrashed even harder.
I remembered that voice.
Fu Liu.
My first love. The man I’d been with for five years. My former fiancé.
And the man who had killed me with his own hands.
Fu Liu and I met at his university’s photography club. I started out modeling for them part-time. Eventually, I modeled only for him.
He loved my youth and beauty. I admired his talent and education.
After we got together, I moved into a rented room near his university and found a part-time job in the campus cafeteria.
Two jobs, all on my own.
Whatever time I had left, I spent with Fu Liu. Every penny I earned went on him.
He was a mountain-village kid too, just as poor as I was.
He didn’t look down on me. He even introduced me to his classmates and roommates.
Later, I was reprimanded for giving them too much food. Then my boss used the situation as an excuse to grope me, so I quit.
I found another part-time job working for a rich family.
There wasn’t much to do. Once a week, I cleaned the hallways and the outdoor tiles.
It paid considerably better, which made up for Fu Liu’s complaints about my leaving the cafeteria.
After several years together, kissing and hugging Fu Liu felt perfectly ordinary. But I had always refused to go all the way with him.
I had my own little fear back then. If I gave him everything, perhaps he would stop treasuring me.
As graduation approached, Fu Liu became increasingly persistent. Several times, he tried to force the issue while pretending it was all a game.
He said he was like a cat with its mouth tied shut, able to see the food but unable to eat it. It was torture. He couldn’t even concentrate on his graduation project.
To win me over, he became more attentive. He even swallowed his pride and rode over to collect me from work.
The first time Fu Liu entered the Gaos’ villa compound, he blushed just talking to the security guard.
I met him at the gate. He let out a curse. “This place must be as big as a whole damn mountain.”
I pressed my lips together and smiled. When he talked like that, I felt so close to him. We really had come from the same sort of place.
Seeing my smile, Fu Liu smiled too. “When did you buy that outfit? It looks good.”
“It’s my work uniform,” I corrected him.
His voice was honey-sweet. “You look that good in a uniform? My Ruirui really is a beauty.”
With Fu Liu waiting, I hurried through the rest of my work and changed. We were about to leave when my employer’s daughter, Gao Min, came out.
Her features weren’t pretty, but with her makeup, clothes, and bearing, she somehow looked beautiful.
Fu Liu visibly froze. He tugged awkwardly at his clothes.
Gao Min was very pleasant. She greeted me, then gave Fu Liu a casual nod.
Back home that night, Fu Liu couldn’t sleep for a long time.
I thought he was upset because I’d turned him down again, and was about to coax him out of it.
But he said, “Ruirui, did you see? One of their flowerpots is bigger than our dining table. We’re all people. How can our lives be so different?”
I thought it was only a passing complaint. I never imagined that was when the idea took root.