She endured starvation through freezing winters, dropped out of school to earn a living, worked herself to the bone while sick, and suffered beatings and humiliation. She drained half a lifetime of savings and swallowed every grievance, willingly becoming her family's ATM and her younger brother's stepping stone, thinking that giving in and giving everything would earn her even a little warmth. But all she got in return was her family's endless exploitation, endless smears, and one sentence that cut to the bone: “Your life is worthless. You were born to pave the way for your brother.”
She entered the entertainment industry and fought her way forward, working diligently at every step and breaking through on her own merits, yet she still couldn't escape her muddy past. Her relatives caused a scene and spread rumors in public, rival investors targeted her with precision, online commenters took words out of context and cyberbullied her, and everyone in the industry kept their distance.
Overnight, she was branded “unfilial and cold-blooded.” Her resources vanished, she was blacklisted across the internet, and she plummeted into a bottomless pit. Old ailments clung to her, body and mind alike were broken, and the world saw only her cold, stubborn exterior. No one knew that her entire life had been misery, or that she was covered in scars.
She put away every softness, lay low, made her plans, and preserved hard evidence. She tore apart her exploitative relatives and broke the chains of a lifetime of family ties, leaving her wicked family utterly disgraced and to suffer the consequences of their own actions. Using the power of the industry's top investors to her advantage, she crushed her rivals with their own scandals, turned online public opinion upside down, and fought her way to the top of the entertainment industry.
Li Jin, the head of Xingyao, saw through her carefully maintained facade and the brokenness beneath it. He didn't try to save her or lecture her; he simply had her back in silence and gave her his wholehearted devotion, accepting all her flaws and her past. Song Xiao, a top-tier star, witnessed every one of her lowest, most wretched moments. He protected her with gentle restraint and became a constant warmth in her darkest days.
She clawed her way out of a muddy hell and back into the world of the living, gently making peace with her imperfect self. She shed her armor, accepted the love she was given, and rose to the top through her own strength, finding wholeness through healing.
