Fifteen years ago, in Xiaojia Village, Liuyunba County, Lanshan City.
Xiao Shujing had just turned five, and her younger brother Xiao Shuyuan was three.
As she was holding her younger brother's little hand and passing by her aunt's house, several pots and pans were suddenly thrown out from the open door.
They rolled on the dirt road for a while and ended up horribly dented.
"No! Don't! Aaaaah!"
Her aunt was pinned down on the table by a big and stocky man. Her clothes were torn, and she was struggling and resisting desperately, shouting at the top of her lungs.
At that time, Xiao Shujing was still very young and had no idea what was going on inside. All she could do was to hold her brother's hand and flee like a refugee.
The next day, before she woke up from her sleep, she was jolted awake by a sharp pain that made her tremble all over. There wasn't a single unblemished spot on her buttocks.
"Look at how your aunt has been bullied. Why didn't you come and tell us? You're so heartless!"
"Now it's all good. Your uncle has divorced her, and she's gone crazy. A perfectly good young woman has been ruined by you, you little brat!"
Xiao Shujing cried and wailed, "It's not my fault, it's not my fault!"
The harsh words from her mom and dad completely crushed her.
After that severe beating, she was in so much pain that she didn't go to school for a week. And even with her injuries, she still had to take care of her naughty younger brother.
The neighbors were whispering that her aunt never left her house. They guessed that she might have died inside.
Strangely enough, even though her mom and dad were so angry, they never went to check on her aunt, and none of the other relatives were willing to either.
Xiao Shujing was angry, but as a five - year - old child, there was nothing she could do.
So she studied desperately, hoping to get away from that backward and feudal rural area and take her younger brother out of this misery as well.
She had long since put this incident behind her. But unexpectedly, after so many years, her aunt showed up in the mental hospital in Yancheng.
She could never forget that world - weary look in her aunt's eyes.
"What's wrong with you today?"
Su Minghan stood with his hands on his hips, looking at her in confusion. "Ever since we came in, you've either been in a daze or spacing out. If you don't want to take this public - service advertisement, just say so. No one's forcing you."
"I'm sorry." She hung her head, deeply self - reproachful.
One shouldn't mix personal emotions with work. It was her problem.
"The dean said that after the aunts finish doing their exercises later, he hopes you can stand with them for a group photo."
"A... a group photo?" Xiao Shujing was instantly petrified.
Su Minghan squinted his eyes. "Is there a problem?"
"No..."
Seeing how nervous she was, he could more or less guess her concerns.
She was probably just afraid that the patients might have an episode and attack her.
"Don't worry. I've already sent the bodyguard team here in advance when I came. Besides, I'll be by your side. I won't let them hurt you."
These words were like a reassurance pill to Xiao Shujing.
She nodded in agreement.
The dean organized the group with a beaming smile. "Everyone, get a bit closer for a group photo. Don't be nervous or worried. Just act as you normally do when you're getting along."
"Let me introduce you all. The gentleman on the left is President Su from Sushi Entertainment. He donates ten million yuan to our hospital every year. The new clothes and good food you all enjoy are provided by President Su."
"The lady on the right is Teacher Xiao Shujing. She has a very high reputation in our Yancheng. She's here today as our hospital's image ambassador to visit everyone." After the dean's brief introduction.
"Thank you, aunts, for giving me this opportunity. If I..."
Before Xiao Shujing could finish her sentence, a woman with disheveled hair, like a ghost, stretched out her arms and ran straight towards her.
"Watch out!" Su Minghan quickly pushed her to the side, but he himself wasn't so lucky. His face was scratched by the woman's fingernails.
"Aaaaah!"
The commotion caused by this one woman instantly turned the originally harmonious atmosphere into a complete mess. Fortunately, the bodyguard team managed to control the situation in time and took all the patients back to their wards for treatment.
The dean was terribly frightened and quickly took Su Minghan to the medical room.
"Shujing, Shujing!"
Xiao Shujing's face was scrunched up in fear. She looked up blankly.
"Don't just stand there stupidly. Come here."
Although he was clearly also quite scared, he still thought about her everywhere. A deep sense of guilt wrapped around her heart, and it was hard for her to break free.
Xiao Shujing obediently followed behind, still trembling all over.
At Lanshan Villa.
"Stop tugging at my hair, okay? If you really can't help it, I'll just shave my head and buy a bunch of weird wigs. You can do whatever you want with them!" Tian Danni complained tiredly.
"We're really sorry, Teacher Tian. How about we take a day off? You're already four or five days ahead of the expected schedule. Taking a day off won't delay the work!" The makeup artist bowed and handed over a water cup.
She took it and took a sip, then let out a long sigh.
"Forget it. I'll hold on for one more day today. Tomorrow I'll go back to Yancheng and sleep in for a whole week! No one's gonna stop me."
Tian Danni saw the person coming up the stairs and continued, "Check the earliest flight back to Yancheng tomorrow."
"......Okay." Susan replied listlessly.
"Seeing you so down, what's wrong?"
She looked at the makeup artist and didn't say anything immediately.
Tian Danni immediately understood what she meant. "Xiaotang, you can go out first. My assistant and I have something to talk about."
After the makeup artist left, Susan finally spoke.
"Danni, all the flight tickets for tomorrow and the day after are sold out."
"What? I don't want to stay here any longer!"
Tian Danni slumped her shoulders helplessly. "I'm here for work, and I'm still here when I'm supposed to be resting. I don't feel relaxed at all.
"Which bastard is depriving me of my right to sleep in?"
Susan was speechless. "The second young master of the Bo family... He's going to get engaged to Manager Li from Juanyi. All the invited VIPs will be there, so that's why all the flight tickets were sold out overnight."
Thinking of the scene of Bo Jingyu and Su Minghan in the hospital that day, Tian Danni couldn't help but feel sad for them.
Now that the second young master was going to marry someone else, he must have struggled for a while before he could accept it.
"There's another thing I need to tell you." Susan sighed heavily.
"I heard that President Su is injured."
Tian Danni's pupils dilated, and she suddenly stood up.
But she forgot about the styling equipment. Standing up so abruptly, she inevitably burned the skin on her forehead.
"Hiss!"
Susan quickly unplugged the power and carefully checked the injury.
Sure enough, there was a small red burn on her forehead.
But Tian Danni didn't even care about the wound. "How did President Su get injured?"
"People in the company are all gossiping. They said that when he went to the mental hospital with Xiao Shujing, he was accidentally scratched by one of the patients there."
She rolled her eyes in anger. "Why on earth did they go to a mental hospital?"
Susan sneered. "It was all because Xiao Shujing insisted on taking this public - service advertisement, so she pestered President Su to go with her."