3 Illusion of Being Free

Li Xiuying locked her bedroom door; she didn't want any more uninvited visitors today. Well, it was unlikely her aunt would deal with her since both Li Yu Yan and Li Wang were appeased.

She then proceeded into the bathroom.

Li Xiuying stood in front of her floor-length mirror and looked at herself. She saw a listless 23-year-old woman in pajamas' staring back at her.

Li Xiuying pulled her fingers through her short bob. A trace of sadness in her eyes. She once had luscious black locks that reached down to her waist. She recalled how her mother would brush her hair for school and before she went to bed. However, due to working around the clock with very little time to care about appearance, she didn't have time to manage it. So Li Xiuying made the painful decision to cut her precious hair which reminded her of her mother's love.

At the time it was a decision based on logic to increase efficiency, she worked tirelessly and would not be able to even shower for more than 10 minutes. She felt like an absolute fool for her sacrifice especially when Li Yu Yan was constantly throwing insults about her fashion sense and looks.

Li Xiuying was fair to the point you could see her veins through her delicate paper-like skin. She was very thin and looked like she hadn't eaten a decent meal in years. In all honesty, food to her was just fuel for the body. She needed to eat and drink enough to survive and get through each day.

She continued to stare at herself in the mirror, her face had the potential to be beautiful but it now looked haggard.

Li Xiuying's eyebrows were delicate. Her large brown eyes framed with long lashes looked weary. She had dark circles and eye bags. Her cheeks looked hollowed out. She had a small button nose and lips the color of a dusky pink sunset, that were cracked and peeling.

Li Xiuying had never really cared about her appearance or health. She was always focusing on work and didn't want to waste time on trivial matters like her appearance but it would be different from now on.

Li Xiuying stared at her reflection in the mirror: "From now on I will love myself enough to make up for the lack of love from others. I only have this one body and I will cherish it not torture it."

Li Xiuying took a quick shower and walked back into her room wrapped in a fluffy white towel.

She looked at the shelf above her desk which held her beauty supplies. It was bare apart from a moisturizing cream and a lip gloss. She took the moisturizing cream and started applying it to her body.

Li Xiuying mumbled: "I need to go shopping."

She then went and opened her wardrobe. A winter coat, five sets of smart wear, one set of casual clothes, a hoody, three sets of pajamas, socks, and underwear. She also had two pairs of smart shoes and a pair of Dr.Martens. Compared to Li Yu Yan's closet which took up a whole room she seemed like a pauper.

Li Xiuying: "I seriously need to go shopping." She was tickled with the idea of finally shopping because she wanted to. To other it was probably something mundane but to her it was a novel experience.

Li Xiuying didn't mind what little she had but sometimes it was nice having a few extra things you wanted instead of simply just what you needed.

She put on a basic white underwear set, followed by a pair of blue jeans and a black long-sleeved t-shirt.

Li Xiuying switched on her laptop to do some online shopping. She first looked up "must-have beauty products." She decided that she would go shopping for clothes in-store, she would try on clothes even just for the hell of it.

Li Xiuying had put several items in her basket and was checking out. When she finally recalled that her uncle had all her bank and credit cards! She has no money!!! How could she fund her new life without any funds?

Li Wang had made her open various bank accounts and credit cards in her name and then kept them for himself. He even kept her online log-ins a secret. His excuse in the beginning was, that she was too young and irresponsible to handle such large sums of money. Then the excuse evolved; he would help her invest her money and keep it safe so she could focus on more important things.

In the past, she would always have to ask permission to use her own debit card and even then her uncle would type in the card details and wouldn't let her be present.

Li Xiuying sighed: "I'm a 23-year-old woman who has the lives of people in the palm of my hand yet I can't even buy face cream on my own. It's time for me to take charge of my own life." She was far too ambivalent about everything in her past life.

Li Xiuying grabbed her rucksack and put in some important documents, ID, and her hoody. She also grabbed a few protein bars and a bottle of water from her desk drawer.

Li Xiuying turned her phone off and put it in a desk drawer. It had been bugged by Sun Yu. In her past life, she only came to know this several years later when she inadvertently overheard a conversation between her uncle and Sun Yu.

Sun Yu had bugged her phone so that all calls and messages were recorded and sent to him and her uncle. There was also a tracking device in her phone. Her uncle had given 10000 Yuan to Sun Yu and promised there would be regular installments and bonuses if he kept working for him.

Li Xiuying felt a sharp pain in her chest: 'Without realizing anything I had been living in a cage, it was large enough that I couldn't see the metal bars enclosing me and thought I was free. '

She shoved her laptop & charger and hard drive into her bag. Her uncle never thought to do anything to her laptop because she would share all her work with her beloved big sister Li Yu Yan anyway.

Li Xiuying put on her Dr Martens and went to open her window. She leaned over and reached for the large black pipe on the side and slowly began descending. Li Xiuying climbed down with much difficulty. Usually climbing down the pipe would be an easy task but due to her weakened state, she was struggling. She had to rely on her grit and determination for a better life. Li Xiuying had been good at climbing ever since she was young due to her father taking her to climbing walls and frequently taking her to the park to climb trees.

Li Xiuying eventually reached the ground. She kept her back to the wall and rubbed her sore hands together. Li Xiuying slowly followed the wall around to the garden at the back of the house. When she finally caught sight of her target in the distance she started sprinting towards the fence on the far side.