The Return

Si Huang was startled awake. Her fingers were white from clutching the bed sheet, and the veins on her forehead were faintly discernible.

The hazy sliver of light peeking out through the curtains told Si Huang that it was early morning. Her black pupils were obstructed by her dark, sweaty locks. A deep, coarse wheeze emanated from her throat like a struggling, cornered beast's sound. 

"Hah-hah... He he he he he..." Suddenly, her rough gasps turned into laughter. This laughter could have sounded joyful, but combined with Si Huang's current state—her covered eyes and her tilted head that was facing the ceiling—the sight of her was altogether extremely weird.

Finally, she laughed until her throat was sore. Her laughter resembled sobs—desperate, maddened sobs.

Then, she couldn't laugh anymore. All that was left was the sound of shallow breathing. Her hands, still covering her eyes, wiped the sweat away from her dark hair, revealing a smooth and full forehead and her previously-concealed eyes.

If anyone else were there, they would have been surprised. Not only were her eyes devoid of tears, but they were terrifyingly calm. Her overly placid dark eyes flashed with a devilish glint.

'How much longer do you plan on running away?'

A voice suddenly echoed in her mind, but Si Huang did not flinch. The corners of her lips curved up in a quiet, subtle manner, as she pulled the covers away, and got out of bed.

There was a full-length mirror in the bathroom. Si Huang stood before it and stared at the figure in its reflection.

She saw a young man around 16 to 17 years old. He had long, slender limbs carved with smooth, sleek, beautiful lines. His fair skin gleamed brightly like white porcelain jade against the bathroom lights and ceramic tiles. The highlight? His face. He had long eyebrows that were located below his full forehead and arched toward his temples. His brows were naturally shaped to perfection and didn't need any trimming or tweezing. His eyes were half-squinted, and the upturned tips of his eyes matched flawlessly his long, thick lashes. His dull yet intense pupils stared right back at her. His listless expression made his tender face seem grim yet dazzling at the same time.

This was a face kissed by the gods, so beautiful that it rendered the dynamics of his gender unimportant, blurring the lines of his sexual identity.

However, one would naturally identify her as a boy… if they saw her short, messy hair and did not notice her body. 

In reality, her current status, including the sex on her identification card, was male.

Si Huang stared enigmatically at her reflection in the mirror for a very long time. Suddenly, she closed her eyes. Then, when she opened them again two seconds later, the darkness in her eyes seemed to lift, as though her gaze was a clear blue sky after a storm. Her face lit up and bloomed into an almost (but not quite) bright smile.

Pure and innocent as an angel!

However, this angel could manifest and disappear in the blink of an eye. With a slight curve of his lips, the angel within the mirror had turned into one that was filled with disdain and scorn. 

Si Huang turned around and looked at her back in the mirror, which was riddled with lash marks.

She had been cooped up in her room for the past three days. Her main activities had been eating, lying on the bed to allow someone to tend to her wounds, and reminiscing about every moment of her past life. To sum it up, she had spent 28 years of her past life living for others. Once her usefulness had run short, she'd ended up without a grave even after her death. Her body had been cast aside, defiled by humans, eaten by wild animals, infested by bugs, and turned into environmental nourishment.

She had been having the same dream for three nights. In the dream, she endured the lengthy despair and agony of her death over and over again.

'You have 10 days left to live.' The voice echoed resentfully in her mind once again.

This time, Si Huang replied, "I know." She turned around and turned on the shower, allowing the splashing sound of the water to blur out her voice. "This time, I will treasure life more than anyone else."

Si Huang was only 16 years old the year when she was reborn, but she was 1.72 meters tall, which was considerably taller than boys of her age.

She opened her closet and chose a grey-blue t-shirt out of a pile of dark-colored clothes. Then, she pulled on a black knitted sweater and a pair of casual black jeans. She looked at her reflection in the mirror again. Her longish black hair covered half her face, giving her a rather depressing air. 

Si Huang sorted through her memories. She had been just as introverted and gloomy as this before the age of 18. She had been Si Hua's shadow, simply to act as a foil to Si Hua's brilliance, as god forbid that she should ever steal his thunder. Her value had been finally unearthed after she had turned 18 years old. Only then had she been allowed to show her face in front of people. Unfortunately, she had then been turned into an even more tragic marionette…

Si Huang curled her bright red lips. She reached up, teased the black hair on her forehead upward, and revealed her perfect face. She eyed her reflection in the mirror critically and subtly raised her eyebrows. That depressing youth was gone at that very moment. In his place stood a dazzling supermodel.

Knock, knock.

After knocking twice on the bedroom door, a stony-faced woman walked in with breakfast.

Her initial plan had been to give her greetings, serve breakfast, and then leave as usual… However, she suddenly heard the loud "whoosh" of the curtain being pulled open. She instinctively lifted her head to look and saw the lanky youth's hand leaving the curtain right after pulling it open. It seemed like he took a deep breath before he turned around to look at her.

His figure was bathed in morning light. "Good morning," he said in a mellow voice with a graceful smile.

Crash!

Si Huang stared calmly at the serving plates on the floor. Her leisurely footsteps gave off an indescribable elegance and grace. She stopped next to the stupefied Maid Zhang, lowered her head, and whispered into her ear, "Did you have fun being serviced by your little lover?"

Maid Zhang was stunned. She looked at Si Huang with her usual stiff expression but felt a hand pressing down on her head all of a sudden. Then, she was crushed against the ground by a powerful force, her face landing squarely on the broken pieces of the shattered serving plates.

"Argh… Mmph!" She was pushed further down on the ground by an even greater force before she could formulate a scream. Her lips were warped out of shape by the sheer pressure of it all to boot.

"Shh..." Si Huang bent down and soothed her in a soft voice. "Be quiet." She released her grip and slowly wiped herself on Maid Zhang's clothes. "Don't worry, your lover isn't going to leave you because of your disfigured face. Besides, I have tons of money in my credit card."

Maid Zhang, who had been about to fly into a rage, froze in place as she struggled to figure out if Si Huang had actually found out. "What do you mean, Young Master? This is slander! I may be holding on to your credit card for safekeeping, but every single penny I've spent went to you, Young Master."

Maid Zhang shut her mouth after retorting. The pain caused by the broken shards was too hard to bear.

Then, upon receiving no response from Si Huang after a decent amount of time, Maid Zhang lifted her head and discovered that the former had walked out and was now a few meters away. His back was straight but not stiff, a stark contrast to the Young Master who always walked with his head lowered.

For some reason, Maid Zhang shivered when she remembered Si Huang's gentle, mellow, and sublime voice.

As she walked down the stairs, Si Huang lifted her gaze and looked at a woman and a young man that seemed to be close to her age and were eating a meal. Her mind began swirling with thoughts.