“…”
Lin Yuhe fell silent for a long time, glancing at the Golden Toad searching nearby with her peripheral vision.
Shen Mu understood, summoning the spirit pet bag. “Golden Toad, come back for now.”
“Understood.”
The Golden Toad, perceptive of the situation, obediently returned to the spirit pet bag.
“Now can you talk?” Shen Mu asked.
“…”
Lin Yuhe lowered her eyes, her tone calm. “Do you really want to know…?”
“Yes, I do.”
From the recent events, Shen Mu realized she was fundamentally different from the original protagonist of this world.
Aside from what she inherited from the original host, the current her… was just another person with the original’s memories.
Her life trajectory was destined to diverge greatly from what he knew.
A person’s character shapes their fate.
To make more accurate and reasonable decisions in the future, he needed to understand her past.
Otherwise, he’d be caught off guard again, like today, without knowing the exact reason.
If a similar situation arose again, she’d likely outmaneuver him once more.
So, no matter how dramatic or dark her past was, he had to know.
It was for her sake—and his own.
“…”
Lin Yuhe lowered her gaze, silent for a long while, offering no immediate response. She slowly crouched beside him…
Her knees bent, arms hugging her legs, sitting quietly with gentle movements, nothing like the usual mischievous, willful girl.
“All of it?”
“Yes, preferably every detail,” Shen Mu said, unwilling to miss a single one.
“Well…”
“That experience isn’t so much an experience as it is the part of my life before I became a shut-in…”
In a bustling city.
With the cry of a newborn in a hospital, a baby girl came into an unfamiliar world.
But before she could glimpse its brilliance, she was carried under numerous gazes to a black-haired man whose expression remained calm as still water.
The man said little, his eyes devoid of joy, merely glancing at the infant for a moment before nodding slightly.
It seemed…
He felt no joy in becoming a father.
A year later.
The infant grew to the babbling stage, beginning to grow curious about the world and calling the man “Daddy.”
But… the man seemed to avoid her, leaving her care to maids and nannies, rarely seeing her himself.
Her mother had passed away shortly after her birth.
In her earliest memories, she had no recollection of her mother.
The first words she remembered were spoken by the man she called father…
[“As my daughter and hers, you must perform well and not disappoint me.”]
Back then, she understood nothing, unaware that from those words, her life would revolve around “meeting standards.”
No choices, no color, no laughter, no…
Nothing at all…
Until she was twelve, she lived according to others’ arrangements, meeting his standards, becoming his envisioned “perfect masterpiece.”
But after entering middle school, as her exposure to people and things broadened, she began to realize she was an “outsider” among her peers.
She didn’t understand the topics they often discussed.
She couldn’t relate to the things they enjoyed.
She had no friends or companions like they did.
Their world… seemed to exist in a different space from hers.
Confused, she wanted to seek answers.
But, having always dealt with them formulaically by “standards,” she didn’t know how to ask.
So, she asked the father who set those “standards.”
But his response was a stern warning.
Perhaps it was then that a seed of curiosity took root in her heart.
That seed began to sprout after she graduated middle school and inevitably encountered the online world.
In the digital realm, she found an unprecedented sense of relaxation and comfort, experiencing for the first time a joy that made her lips curl upward.
It was like opening Pandora’s box, gradually drawing her in.
She began to understand why her peers talked about those topics.
But soon, her father noticed.
To ensure his “perfect masterpiece” remained flawless, he imposed even stricter standards to rein her in.
He wanted her to follow his plans and return to the “right track.”
But this time, she didn’t comply as usual. Instead, she rebelled.
For the first time, she contradicted his words, questioned him, and defied his authority…
And that was when she faced his first thunderous reprimand.
It was like facing a roaring storm, pressing her down, unable to lift her head.
But…
Her rebellious spirit didn’t wane—it grew stronger.
Because of this, the rift between father and daughter deepened, becoming a barrier that prevented mutual understanding.
Her father became the person she least wanted to see.
In the end…
A chance drowning accident was the final catalyst. Her father seemed to give up on her, presenting her with a special contract.
As long as she followed its terms, he would no longer interfere, letting her live as she wished.
From then on.
After signing the contract, they never contacted each other again, and she never returned to the cold Lin family.
“My shut-in life just started like that, without much rhyme or reason…”
She recounted her winding past slowly, leaving Shen Mu in prolonged silence.
Several times, he wanted to say something, but the words caught in his throat.
In the end, he could only sigh deeply. “Sigh… I never would’ve guessed you were a net-addicted rich girl in that world.”
Such a story, straight out of a novel, was beyond his expectations.
Quite an eye-opener.
“I’ll admit to the net addiction, but I don’t think I’m some rich girl.”
“Beyond that special family halo, I’m just an ordinary person who wants a free, unrestrained life, no different from you.”
Perhaps because she’d unburdened her long-held secrets, Lin Yuhe’s mood lightened, her tone becoming more relaxed.
“You’re way more different from me than you think…” Shen Mu sighed.
“What about you?”
“What?”
“Secrets are meant to be shared for mutual trust. What did you think I meant?” Lin Yuhe tilted her head, a playful smile on her cute, fair face.
“Uh…”
Shen Mu’s eyes darted around nervously. “I don’t have much to say. I was just born into an ordinary family.”
“Hm~?”
Lin Yuhe keenly caught his evasive tell, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. “I don’t buy it. With your learning and comprehension talent, you can’t be that simple.”
“But that’s the truth.”
Lin Yuhe scooted closer, her body brushing against his. “Come on, spill it, or if you make me uneasy, I’ll never let you off in this lifetime.”
“I really don’t have any secrets.”
“Good Senior Brother~ Just tell me~” Lin Yuhe wrapped her arms around his, cooing softly.
“Eek!”
Shen Mu stiffened, goosebumps rising, hurriedly trying to pull his arm free.
But the harder he pulled, the tighter she held.
In the struggle, his arm inadvertently brushed against the soft, well-developed curves of her chest.
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