Under the dim light beneath the eaves, the mirror caught a corner of the room—bare, desolate, wrapped in silence.
The room was cloaked in shadows.Little Gu Liusha clung to the small window with all her strength and called softly,"Auntie…"
No one answered.
After a few moments, she changed her tone, pulled a photograph from her pocket, and slipped it through the narrow opening."Ying Ying, here's the photo you wanted. I found it for you."
At last, a pair of eyes appeared in the darkness—black and white, clear and cold, stripped of warmth, stripped of life.
But Liusha was not afraid.She only felt the faint tug as Ying Ying took the photograph from her hand.Then she quietly drew her arm back through the window.
She hated it when people called Ying Ying a madwoman.Her aunt did not laugh and cry at random, nor mutter nonsense to herself.In truth, she was only quiet—painfully quiet.Her beautiful eyes so often stayed motionless, as though her soul had drifted far away.
Whenever someone discovered Ying Ying's presence and whispered "That crazy woman…",Liusha would stubbornly defend her,"My aunt isn't mad. She's just… just looking for someone."
Suddenly, heavy footsteps echoed up the stairs.The sound made her heart skip.In a rush, she whispered urgently toward the window,"Ying Ying, the letters you wrote to him—I sent them for you.But it's been so long, and he still hasn't written back.Are you sure the address was right?"
Her voice was low, trembling with secrecy,like a child conspiring with the dark.Whether Ying Ying heard her or not, she couldn't tell—for just then, the iron shutter slammed down.
Gu Cheng caught his daughter in his arms and turned away.
"Papa, please!" she pleaded, struggling. "Please let Auntie out!"
But he did not answer. His pace quickened down the stairs.
"To let her out would only hurt her—and us," he said, his tone low but firm.He could not bear to see the neighbors send Ying Ying back to the asylum again.It wasn't cruelty. It was despair.
"Liu Yang!" Liusha suddenly blurted out the name, her eyes lighting up."Papa, please—if you find Liu Yang, Auntie will get better! I know she will!"
Gu Cheng's expression darkened instantly.
That man had destroyed Ying Ying.He was never her salvation—only her ruin.
Now Liu Yang, the towering figure of the financial world,moved through the business elite like a star among stars,surrounded by wealth, women, and admiration.He had likely long forgotten her name.And even if he remembered—what then?Could he face the shattered, fragile woman she had become?
They could never return to what once was.Those letters that vanished into the silencewere nothing more than dreams she told herself in the dark.
A man like Liu Yang—the Gu family could not fight him.All they could do was stay far, far away.
In the attic, Ying Ying clutched the photograph tightly,her palms damp with sweat.
In the picture, she leaned against his chest, smiling faintly and bright,while he smiled with the gentle grace of moonlight.
Liu Yang, lately I've been sleeping too much—sometimes clear, sometimes lost.When I look in the mirror, I think I've found my first white hair.Don't hate me for it...
At dinner, Gu Cheng told his daughter quietly,"For the next few days, stay away from the attic.And don't let your aunt know your grandmother's in the hospital."
Liusha said nothing.At six years old, she had already learned the shape of defiance—silence that meant no.
Gu Cheng frowned, his tone heavy with exhaustion."I'm waiting for your answer."
"Okay."
She drained her milk in one gulp,turned, and walked away—leaving behind only the small outline of her back.
At the long dinner table, Gu Cheng sat alone.The silence was vast, the air heavy.He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes,and for a moment,it seemed as if the whole house was breathing grief.