Everyone assud this would be a harmonious win-win. No one realized that from the mont she left the orphanage, Zhen Xin was stepping into a lifelong nightmare.
Because the philanthropic wealthy couple were nothing but... liars!
They were pure con artists who survived on reading people and sweet-talking their way through upper society — endlessly manufacturing personas while producing absolutely nothing real.
Adopting Zhen Xin wasn't about building a family or honoring a promise to a small-town orphanage director. They'd recently spotted a target — a fat sheep, a tycoon big enough to let them retire in gold — and that tycoon's daughter also happened to be adopted.
So to create a conversational bridge between the two families, they adopted Zhen Xin, intending to turn her into their social calling card for high society.
Little Zhen Xin was clever. But no clever child could outmaneuver two swindlers who'd kept their house of cards standing for decades.
All her wit and sharpness beca useless in that household. Her "parents" drilled her relentlessly — learn this, learn that. But being too cheap to hire real teachers, they never let Zhen Xin actually master anything. Every skill was tasted, never savored — just enough to script convincing lies around.
So rather than learning social skills, she was learning the art of deception.
But the fraud wasn't the worst of it. How could such a couple possibly love a child?
They didn't know how to love. They only knew how to make a child hurt.
To forge flawless poise and rhetoric, Zhen Xin endured inhuman cruelty in her supposed ho.
By day: the adorable daughter of a noble philanthropy family. By night: the sobbing girl standing at the door, denied dinner.
This half-waking, half-dreaming split existence shattered a little girl raised in warmth.
One evening, she finally "awakened" to the sa art of deception she'd absorbed from her parents.
And her first use of this art ca shortly after — when the director called.
The old woman asked: Are you happy in your new ho?
Zhen Xin laughed and answered:
"Of course! Everything's wonderful. Mom and Dad love
so much. I'm so happy here.
Hee~
Grandma Director, when will you co visit? I'll take you to the park to sit in the sun — there are lots of grandpas and grandmas there. You'd love them."
Hearing those words, the director passed peacefully. Just days after hanging up, she departed — finally reuniting with her family.
And hearing those words, Zhen Xin's "parents" finally showed sothing called "satisfaction" in their eyes.
They never believed they'd raised a child. In their minds, the great duo had sculpted a masterwork born of lies.
Even more absurd: when Zhen Xin "inherited" their craft, they finally began treating the clever girl as a real mber of the "family."
What they never knew was: the obedient, adorable dayti girl was Zhen Xin. The shrewd, deception-capable nightti girl was... Zhen Yi.
Zhen Xin had found a way to fit into this "family." And she'd given her "parents" a new mber.
The mory cut off abruptly. Cheng Shi's expression was a cocktail of emotions.
So similar to his own experience — yet completely reversed.
He'd been pulled from the abyss by Old Jia. Zhen Xin had been pushed into the abyss by the people who loved her most.
Though Deceit had orchestrated everything — couldn't Fate also be blad?
No wonder she was Deceit's first collection. No wonder He gave Zhen Yi the chance to choose Fate. Because the Void-unity He sought found its perfect embodint in Zhen Xin.
More importantly: the narrative of going from evil to good was far less dramatic than going from good to evil.
She was the true darling of Deceit.
Cheng Shi sighed. "So that's why you can fool yourself... Forgive
for asking, but — at that ti, what did you tell yourself?"
Revisiting the past was no pleasant affair. Layered with Cheng Shi's own experiences, Zhen Xin's face darkened. She pressed her lips white, managing a smile that was more grimace than grin.
"I told myself it was all an illusion. Just nightmares that ca with the dark. They were good people. The family was fine. The world was fine. Everything was fine."
"And now?" Cheng Shi studied her eyes — eyes hiding countless lies — with a pang of empathy.
"Also fine." Zhen Xin's answer was unwavering.
But the instant those words landed, Cheng Shi's mouth moved involuntarily.
"This world... lost its hope a long ti ago..."
For a mont, Cheng Shi understood why this world's An Mingyu had gone to help another world's Zhen Xin.
If even the current, relatively "normal" ga rhythm could breed such hopelessness in Zhen Xin's heart, then it wasn't hard to guess what the Zhen Xin in that crumbling world must be feeling.
So the Blind One truly understood her — every version of her. And everything Zhen Xin had done today was entirely because Cheng Shi had saved the Blind One.
No matter how many tis he recalibrated his understanding of their bond, every new story added another layer of emotion.
She was indeed of the Fear Faction — and far more fearful than he was. A fear-holder who refused to accept her own fear.
"Your bond is remarkable. Having a friend like that — you're lucky."
The mont those words left his mouth, his expression froze.
Her past was anything but "lucky."
'Ah, fate... truly interesting.'
Zhen Xin's face finally ward at those words. She laughed self-deprecatingly.
"I know you're wondering how we kept such a deep bond despite being separated for so long.
Since we've already co this far, I'll answer:
We were never truly apart.
If Ming Yu hadn't dragged Aunt Jing across provinces every single month to visit
— if she hadn't brought a sliver of light into my darkest days — I'm not even sure I'd have lasted until Zhen Yi erged. Whether I could have survived that nightmare I never want to revisit.
She's not just my best friend, my sister, my family...
She's my redemption.
She can't live without . And I... even more so."
Hearing this, Cheng Shi's expression softened with deep emotion. Everything clicked.
So that's why their bond ran so deep. So that's why they were inseparable. The Blind One had saved adopted Zhen Xin.
Cheng Shi's own adoption had been "decent enough." But he could imagine what unspeakable cruelties Zhen Xin would have endured without An Mingyu showing up at her door every month.
Of course, young Ming Yu might have simply been driven by a child's friendship — unwilling to lose her playmate. But as an adult, Aunt Jing tirelessly taking her niece on monthly cross-province trips to visit a child with zero blood relation carried an unmistakable undercurrent of "reminder and warning" to the new family that everyone saw but no one spoke aloud.
So Zhen Xin had always been surrounded by good people.
An Jing was one. An Mingyu was one. And Zhen Yi...
At least before the Faith Ga descended — was one too.
...
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