Li Weiyi only had one older sister. Before Li Weiyi was born, her family lived in the countryside. But her parents were hardworking and resilient. They left their hometown to come to the city, starting by setting up street stalls doing small business. Later they rented a small shop space and actually managed to accumulate a small nest egg, buying a small two-bedroom apartment in the city.

Li Xiaoyi was born in the countryside, while Li Weiyi was born in the city. When Li Weiyi was just beginning to babble, Li Xiaoyi already knew how to help their mother and take care of her younger sister. Li Xiaoyi’s personality greatly resembled their mother’s—gentle, mild, diligent and honest. She had a delicate and lovely appearance. Since her teenage years, there had been no shortage of suitors. Her current husband Zhou Zhihao was one of them.

Li Weiyi’s personality was completely different from her sister’s. She hadn’t experienced rural life and was the baby of the family, growing up pampered and doted upon. Her father cherished her, her mother cared for her, and her sister put her first in everything. This made Li Weiyi develop an extremely cheerful and positive disposition, laughing and joking with everyone.

Li Weiyi was a girl who grew up wrapped in love.

Therefore, after getting together with Xie Zhilu, Li Weiyi had always exchanged her sincere heart for his, never considering those realistic problems Xie Zhilu mentioned. In her view, being in love was most important, and both should keep their commitments.

So when Xie Zhilu suddenly gave up, she was completely unprepared.

Because she had never been betrayed by anyone like this before.

…

Even though it was already the middle of the night, seeing her sister’s text message, Li Weiyi called without hesitation.

It rang a full ten times or so before someone answered.

Li Weiyi: “Sis, what happened?”

Li Xiaoyi on the other end of the phone was silent, only her breathing carrying a certain stagnant dampness.

“I’m sorry! I worked overtime too late last night, and I was busy again today, so I just saw your message… Are you okay? What happened? Sis, please tell me.”

Li Xiaoyi laughed bitterly: “It’s nothing, what could happen, it’s just the same old thing.”

Anger surged in Li Weiyi’s heart: “Did he hit you again?”

Li Xiaoyi made a low sound of affirmation.

But Li Weiyi both pitied her misfortune and was angry at her lack of resistance. Having graduated from a key university and completely transformed into a big city girl, she couldn’t understand why her sister, who graduated from vocational high school and stayed in their hometown, still didn’t have the courage to fight against her fate.

So when Li Weiyi spoke, her words carried three parts resentment: “How many times have I advised you? Why won’t you divorce him? This kind of domestic abuser scumbag—are you keeping him for the New Year?”

Her sister just choked with sobs.

“Sis, please divorce him!” Li Weiyi’s eyes also moistened. “After the divorce, you and Niuniu come to Xiang City and live with me! If you want to find work, find it; if you don’t, I’ll support you both! I am your backup plan!”

Her sister said through tears: “Thank you, Weiyi. But it’s not that easy. He won’t agree to divorce. If I bring up divorce, he’ll make it even worse for me… Even if we really did divorce, I’ve looked into it—in our situation, his family is so rich, they have storefronts and shops. I’ve been working as a sales clerk in his family’s store these past few years with very low income. The child would very likely be awarded to him. How can I leave Niuniu with him? Niuniu is my life, she’s my life! That beast, he even hits Niuniu now. If he remarries later and they abuse Niuniu together, what then?”

“So are you just going to endure like this? Yesterday you sent a text saying you’d made up your mind—what decision did you make?”

Li Xiaoyi: “Nothing…” Suddenly there was a noise on the other end of the phone. Even through the phone line, Li Weiyi could feel her sister shrinking back. Li Xiaoyi said rapidly: “He’s back, I can’t talk anymore.”

The call disconnected.

Li Weiyi stared blankly at her phone. Her first thought was to call her brother-in-law Zhou Zhihao and give that beast a severe scolding. But she knew she couldn’t. If she scolded him, she’d feel good, but that sinister Zhou Zhihao might even apologize with a smile, then turn around and beat her sister even harder—this kind of thing had happened before.

She called her father.

Father Li was woken up, his voice muffled, but his attitude concerned: “Weiyi? What’s the matter?”

Li Weiyi said through tears: “Dad, you need to go bring sister and Niuniu home right away! Sister got beaten again. Zhou Zhihao is a beast! Let sister divorce him! Divorce him quickly!”

Father Li was also startled: “Your sister told you?”

“Yes!”

“I’ll call your sister right away!”

Li Weiyi’s emotions settled slightly. After a while, she suddenly realized this wouldn’t work—Zhou Zhihao had already returned home.

Her own sister was being wronged, and she had reflexively sought help from her parents, but that was actually stupid.

She immediately called her father again—the line was busy. She called her mother but no one answered.

After about half an hour, Father Li finally called her back, his tone relieved: “Weiyi, it’s nothing. Look at you, a young unmarried girl who doesn’t understand, making such a big fuss. I just spoke on the phone with your sister and brother-in-law. The two of them are fine, laughing and talking. They said they had an argument during the day, so your sister called you to complain. Zhihao promised me again and again that last time he was just drunk and blacked out, and he absolutely won’t do that kind of thing again.”

Li Weiyi’s heart sank heavily as she said: “Dad, don’t listen to him. He’s lying to you. Sister is pretending nothing’s wrong… she must have been threatened.”

But Father Li didn’t like hearing this. He had been an honest, simple person his whole life. His greatest wish was for the whole family to live in harmony. He remembered last month when Zhou Zhihao brought his eldest daughter and granddaughter home, looking so respectful, gentle and considerate. He instinctively didn’t believe it.

He said: “What nonsense are you talking about, threatening? Your sister is a grown woman. If she was really wronged, wouldn’t she say so? Last time he even knelt down to apologize to your sister and to us parents. A man’s knees are worth gold! Last month, Zhihao even bought your sister a gold necklace—we all saw it. If he really treated her badly, would he be willing to spend money? Alright, it’s the middle of the night. Stop meddling in your sister and brother-in-law’s affairs!”

Li Weiyi was furious and shouted: “He’s pretending! What’s one gold chain? It’s a cover-up! Despicable and shameless!”

Father Li actually laughed at this. Mother Li also chimed in from the side: “Alright, alright, Weiyi, how have you been recently? Is Zhilu doing well? Did he pass his civil service exam?”

Father Li: “Right, did he pass?”

Li Weiyi’s momentum suddenly deflated as she answered: “The results aren’t out yet… Fine, if you don’t believe me, I won’t say anymore. Go to sleep early. Hanging up now.”

Li Weiyi buried her head in the blanket, grabbing and hitting wildly, shouting “Ahhhhhh” to vent for quite a while. Then she lifted her head and looked at the cold moon outside the window. It shone on countless steel and concrete high-rises. This city was so silent and vast. Having been in Xiang City for seven years, she had never felt as small and helpless as she did at this moment.

She had clearly always been so well-behaved and hardworking since childhood, her grades always good. She learned everything quickly—computer programming, financial accounting, and even drawing. After just casually drawing for a few years, she could rival students with art as their specialty. She had always been carefree and successful. In university, she had been at least a minor goddess. Even the universally acknowledged male god Xie Zhilu had been her devoted admirer.

So why did it feel like complete defeat now?