Sitting in the rear seat of the moving white cab, twenty-two-year-old Baiyu's gaze was fixated on the cellphone screen in her hands. While the city and the roof of the car blurred under a heavy snowfall, Baiyu felt the world around her was freezing beyond the physical; it felt emotionally mute.
Today was meant to be a special day filled with warmth—her birthday.
Her thumb scrolled through her inbox and call logs repeatedly, but she couldn't find a single birthday wish from colleagues, friends, or her family. The lingering quiet and the emptiness of her life made her heart ache, her grip tightening slightly around the device.
Still, she forced herself to stay hopeful, making excuses that everyone was simply too busy with their own lives to remember her day. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, typing into her sister's chat thread.
"Big sis, today is my birthday. I'm on my way home. Will you come over tonight? I want us to have a small party... it'll be my first one." Her thumb hovered over the send icon, hesitation wrapping around her like a cloak at the thought of her elder sister's harsh words.
But when the car jolted to take a left turn into her neighborhood, her finger accidentally pressed the icon. Her breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening.
She quickly tried to delete the message, only to freeze at the immediate reply.
[Baiyu. Do you take pleasure in defiance, or are you simply provoking us? The day you were born marked the start of our suffering.]
[Come home quietly—or stay out.]
[And the money I demanded? Deliver it tonight. No excuses.]
A lump formed in Baiyu's throat. She swallowed hard and pressed the power button. The screen went blank, shielding her bleeding heart from seeing that unpleasant text any longer.
As she tossed the phone into her handbag, lowering her gaze to the medium-sized box resting on her lap. Through the transparent lid, she stared at the chocolate cake—her favorite.
She had bought it on her way home from the renowned seven-star restaurant where she had worked as the youngest chef since graduating from high school last year. And tonight, the only wish she had ever asked for had been crushed. It wasn't a party she wanted; she only wanted to feel loved by the only family she had left since her parents' passing.
"What's the use of this cake?" she muttered, recalling how difficult her life had been.
After a short drive, the taxi pulled up. Baiyu stepped out into the drizzling snow, adjusting the red scarf around her neck for warmth. Opening the low gate, she strode toward the front door.
But as she stepped into the foyer, the sound of a sharp argument between her brother and sister made her freeze.
"All you do is drink, gamble, and throw us deeper into debt while the loan sharks keep coming after us!" her sister's voice shook with rage. She glared at their brother, who sat battered on the torn old couch. "I'm not a money-making machine to keep paying off your mess!"
"Don't bark at me! I'm trying to get a job," he lied, wincing as the split in his lip throbbed.
"You'd better try harder because I'm moving out of the city to stay with a relative," the sister snapped.
She turned sharply, about to storm toward her room, but stopped when her brother spoke again.
"What about the little jinx?" he asked, eyeing her with a flicker of cold malice.
Her brows knit. "How is she my problem? I don't have a sister like her."
"Moving to the countryside won't be easy either," the brother countered. "I have a plan to get rid of Baiyu."
The sister paused, suspicion flashing across her face. "What plan? To hurt her?"
"I'm not hurting her," he replied coolly. "I met an old Don at the gambling den. He's looking for a plaything. Young, beautiful, and fragile. Pitifully, she fits his taste perfectly."
Baiyu's eyes widened, a horrified gasp nearly escaping her. She stared at her sister, silently hoping that, for once, she would object—if only because they were family.
The sister's face tightened, and for a fleeting second, hesitation crossed her eyes. "You want us to… sell her off?" she asked, her voice lower this time.
"Every loss we've suffered is her fault. It's only right she repays us with this fortune."
Her sister went quiet for a moment, as if weighing the thought, then greed slowly crept into her expression.
"You're right," she said at last. "How much can we get?"
"Fifty million yuan."
Her eyes widened. "That's massive," she breathed, the last trace of hesitation dissolving. "When do we do it?"
"Once she returns tonight, serve her this pill." He placed a tablet on the table.
Their words of betrayal struck Baiyu with a dull, thundering ache. Her hands trembled around the cake box, but she forced herself to remain steady—she couldn't let them notice her. She had never imagined her own flesh and blood could harbor such a vicious plan.
Quietly, she turned and slipped out of the house, their murmurs echoing behind her.
Stumbling into the freezing night, Baiyu walked down the alley, clutching the cake to her chest until she reached her sanctuary: the shimmering Jade Haven Lake.
Reaching the shore, Baiyu sat on the cold stones. She set her cake aside and picked up a white, oval stone, staring at the moonlight reflection in emerald light-colored water. Most people avoided the lake because of the mysteries surrounding it, but to Baiyu, it was the only place she could pour out her heartache.
She flicked the stone across the water; it bounced four times before sinking. Dropping her head to her knees, she let out a sob, her body trembling. She wondered how she would survive now that her own blood had fully turned against her.
But then, a strange voice drifted through the air.
"Miss, haven't you heard the horrific things that happen here?"
The voice was soothing, almost ethereal, like an echo in the wind.
"What's there to be scared of when I have no one to protect me but myself?" she mumbled to the empty air.
"Your life seems lonely. Ill-fated," a voice replied.
Baiyu's brows furrowed at the voice echoing relentlessly in her head, piercing through the numbness that usually shielded her. She couldn't ignore it.
Slowly, her red, misty eyes lifted toward a figure in an old wooden boat.
A single lamp flickered at the bow, catching a glow of the man wearing a pristine white Hanfu with a crystal jade pendant hanging down his waist while looking as young as the first time she had seen him, with one hand resting casually on his waist. His dark hair was pulled into a half-updo, and a pleasant, earthy fragrance drifted from him, filling her senses despite the biting cold.
A sharp, disbelieving gasp tore from her throat as she scrambled up from the frozen ground. "It's you again!"
The man offered a knowing nod. "You shouldn't be shocked to see me. This isn't our first, second, or even fourth meeting."
"True. It's the eighth," she blurted out in dread. "Every year since my tenth birthday, I've come here. But who are you? You never age. You only appear when I'm at my loneliest. The coincidence is... strange."
She recalled the birthdays spent in solitude, hoping for a fairy tale or a disappearance, only to encounter this same mysterious man. Usually, they would stare at one another in silence as she spent years pretending she couldn't see him, convincing herself he was just someone fond of cosplay and the eerie quiet of the lake. But tonight, his aura felt different.