Zhuangzi once said that human life between heaven and earth is like a white horse leaping across a crevice, passing in a fleeting moment.
Zhu Yaya deeply resonated with this.
She felt as though time around her was sprinting desperately, with everything rushing forward.
After all, she wasn't the protagonist of The Domineering Him, The Pure Love. Her life wasn't that dramatic. Under the radiant halo of the main characters, her life seemed so very ordinary.
April's monthly exams ended, and May's exams arrived.
It seemed like only a few days later, summer vacation was approaching.
After the summer break, Yan Heng would be a high school senior.
Yet no matter how time passed, Zhu Yaya still didn't give up keeping an eye on Xu Chun, Murong Beichen, and the other important characters in the book.
The supporting female character, Shen Wandan, schemed against the female lead, Xu Chun, again! But Xu Chun was protected by Murong Beichen, who arrived just in time to slap Shen Wandan in the face.
Yan Heng handed Zhu Yaya the freshly squeezed watermelon juice he had made.
The supporting male character, Ling Yiming, approached Xu Chun and was discovered by Murong Beichen again. Murong Beichen and Xu Chun got into another argument.
Yan Heng opened an umbrella, sheltering the drama-watching Zhu Yaya in his arms so the rain wouldn't get her wet.
...
Next, Zhu Yaya witnessed countless setups, countless face-slappings, countless arguments, and countless reconciliations.
Zhu Yaya felt exhausted just watching Murong Beichen and Xu Chun.
Yet they both kept insisting that this was love.
Zhu Yaya tightly held the hand of the person beside her, retorting in her heart: This is not true love at all.
However, no matter how the novel's plot developed, whenever Zhu Yaya was completing her tasks, Yan Heng was always by her side.
Before she knew it, Zhu Yaya had already completed her twenty-first drama-watching task, accumulating a lifespan of thirty-three years.
She calculated that she only needed to do ten more tasks before she would decide to stop altogether. The rewarded lifespan would be enough for her to live in this world with her parents and her beloved.
But just when Zhu Yaya least expected it, an accident occurred.
It was the day after the mid-term exams of Zhu Yaya's second semester as a high school sophomore. Zhu Yaya was boredly listening to the teacher explain the biology test paper. Her desk held a perfect-score paper, but Zhu Yaya kept feeling a heavy, uncomfortable sensation in her chest.
At that moment, her homeroom teacher, Chang Wen, suddenly rushed in without warning and called Zhu Yaya's name.
Zhu Yaya thought Chang Wen had caught her not paying attention in class, but it wasn't until she followed Chang Wen out to the hallway that she realized why the teacher's expression was so solemn.
Zhu Yaya, your mother was in a car accident.
Mother? Car accident?
Tears burst from Zhu Yaya's eyes.
Her mind was filled with all the kindness Zhao Jing had shown her, interspersed with flashes of car accident news reports she had seen before.
Chang Wen was startled by the intensity of Zhu Yaya's crying and quickly comforted her: Don't worry, your dad said on the phone that it's just minor injuries. Your mom really wants to see you right now. I'll take you to the hospital to see her.
Zhu Yaya sobbed: Okay.
Chang Wen hadn't lied to her; Zhao Jing had only injured her leg and had a cast on it.
When Zhao Jing saw Zhu Yaya, it was as if she had seen a lifeline. She called Zhu Yaya to her side and even sent everyone else out of the hospital room.
Zhu Yaya's eyes were red from crying. She sat quietly by Zhao Jing's bedside: Mom, does it hurt?
Yaya, Zhao Jing held Zhu Yaya's hand and smiled kindly. Mom's Yabao, Mom is fine right now. Don't overthink and worry yourself over nothing.
Yabao, do you know? Mom just had a very strange dream here. Zhao Jing's eyes were so gentle they seemed to drip with water. I dreamed that after your dad and I got married, I got pregnant. Your dad and I were thrilled. Later, I went for an ultrasound. The baby in my tummy was only this tiny, like a little bean sprout. So we decided to name her Yaya. Back then, your dad bought a whole room full of baby girl clothes and all kinds of toys.
Zhu Yaya felt a vague sense of unease in her heart. She had only transmigrated into this book; in this world, there was originally no such person as Zhu Yaya.
Zhao Jing continued, her voice gentle and her gaze distant: But one day in the dream, when Yaya was already over eight months along, I was home alone and ran into a robber. He stabbed me in the stomach with a knife. It hurt so much! Blood, my blood was everywhere. Later, they told me my baby was gone, and that I could never have children again.
Zhu Yaya looked at Zhao Jing in astonishment, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead. Could Zhao Jing's dream be the original plot of the novel?!
It seemed that in the novel world of The Domineering Him, The Pure Love, there really was a Zhu Yaya, but she had died in Zhao Jing's womb before she was even born.
Yaya, don't you think that dream was terrifying?
Looking into Zhao Jing's eyes, Zhu Yaya felt other inexplicable emotions welling up in her heart. She didn't have the courage to face this mother.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Zhu Yaya muttered to herself, her tears falling uncontrollably as her shoulders heaved.
I'm sorry, I'm not your biological daughter.
Zhao Jing reached out and gently stroked Zhu Yaya's face: I noticed it a while ago. Why are our memories of your childhood so blurry? Why don't we have any past photos of you? Why do my brothers and sisters all say they don't remember me having a daughter?
I'm sorry.
Zhao Jing sighed softly: Why are you apologizing? We should be the ones thanking you, thanking you for coming to us. It's so wonderful having you in our family!
But I feel like a thief, stealing the love you had for your daughter. I'm sorry... Zhu Yaya leaned over and buried her face in Zhao Jing's bedside.
Yabao, do you know that a mother and daughter share a heart-to-heart connection? Zhao Jing interrupted Zhu Yaya, her eyes tender yet sorrowful. I've always had this inexplicable feeling. I feel that you are my daughter, my own flesh and blood.
Zhu Yaya's body trembled.
I always felt that my daughter didn't leave me after that attack. She was still alive, she just went somewhere else. She just went to grow up in a place I couldn't see. But when I saw you, my heart told me that you are my daughter. My Yabao has come back!
Zhu Yaya hugged Zhao Jing, weeping uncontrollably.
Zhu Yaya stayed with Zhao Jing for the rest of the day. She told Zhao Jing about the world she used to live in.
She told her that in her world, both of her parents had started their own new families and neither of them wanted her.
She told her that she lived all by herself.
She told her that she dreaded parent-teacher conferences the most.
She told her that she didn't have a home anymore.
...
She had suffered a lot of trauma. Domestic violence when she was little, and cold bullying at school when she grew up. She grew up stubbornly amidst all this pain, disguising herself with a carefree smile.
Zhao Jing's eyes were filled with endless sorrow: How could they treat you like that? You are the precious baby I longed for and dreamed of! How could they treat you like that?
Before Zhu Yaya transmigrated into the book, no one had ever called her baby.
In the end, Zhu Yaya fell asleep in Zhao Jing's arms.
At the moment she drifted off to sleep, she heard Zhao Jing sobbing softly—
"Yabao, welcome home."
