"Yes," Ruichen said seriously. "There is a curse in the Zheng family. In every generation, there can be only one daughter. And you... are the daughter of this generation."
Li Yan blinked. "A curse? Seriously?"
Ruichen nodded solemnly. "In our father's generation, there was only one daughter - our aunt. In grandfather's time, the same. It's like fate itself selects a single girl each generation, and she becomes the heart of the family. The saint."
Li Yan rolled her eyesđ. "What a lame excuse. Couldn't you come up with something less dramatic?"
Ruichen burst into laughter. "It sounds dramatic, but it's true. That's why the family can't just pretend you don't exist. You're too important. When our enemies found out about you, they didn't dare kill you - they just... took you."
Li Yan didn't reply. Her face went blank, expression unreadable. She stared out the window until they reached school.
As she stepped out, she turned to him. "You can tell the rest of your family - nothing you say will change my mind. I've already decided."
Then she walked away, leaving Ruichen behind, smirking slightly.
"So stubborn..." he said under his breath. "She really is a Zheng."
---
Days passed. Li Yan ignored the Zheng family's calls. Whenever the butler came, she refused to see him.
Then one evening, someone knocked on the Li family door.
It was her - the Zheng mother, Zheng shuang.
Li Yan hesitated at the door, her hands trembling. She tried to close it. But the woman's eyes were red, face soft with emotion.
"Can I come in?" she asked quietly.
Li Yan stepped aside.
Inside, the woman watched how cozy and lively the Li home was. Her gaze softened. "I can see how happy you are here. Maybe... maybe it's better this way. The Zheng family is a jungle. Everyone there only knows how to fight, how to win. They would trample you if you weren't strong enough."
Li Yan stayed quiet.
"I'm not here to drag you away," the woman said. "But... if you'll let me, I'd like to come see you sometimes. Talk to you. Be part of your life. Because no matter what anyone says, you are my one and only daughter."
Li Yan's lips trembled. Then she suddenly hugged her.
"You can come to me anytime," she whispered. "...Mother."
The woman's eyes widened. Her hands came up to hold her daughter. "Yueling..." she breathed.
---
The next afternoon, as Li Yan walked home from school, she saw two familiar figures waiting.
Zheng Ruichen - and the other brother ,Zheng hao.
The moment they saw her, both strode forward with serious faces.
"Call me brother," Zheng hao said.
"No, me first," Ruichen interrupted.
"Why you?! I'm older!"
"But I saw her first!"
They started bickering like children in the middle of the street.
Then, from nowhere, a luxury car screeched to a stop beside them. The door burst open, and out stormed their father, Zheng kai- tall, broad, looking like he'd just come off the battlefield.
He shoved both sons aside like they were nothing, rushed to Li Yan, and grabbed her in a tight hug.
"Zheng Yueling!" he cried, eyes wild with emotion. "Call me father!"
Li Yan stood there, eyes wide, caught between amusement, shock, and secondhand embarrassment.
She sighed.
"...What did I get myself into?"đ¤Śââď¸