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Xiangzi pondered the words "caged bird," and seeing the desolation in her eyes, she felt even more sorry for her. She gently patted Hatsune's shoulder: "I've heard some things about you from Xi. It's clearly not your fault, but because of the previous generation, you've suffered so much injustice."
Hatsune's body stiffened slightly, but she simply shook her head and avoided the topic.
Xiangzi wisely kept quiet and didn't ask any more questions.
After packing her medicine kit, Hatsune thought Shoko was leaving and was about to get up to see her off when she heard Shoko suddenly say, "Can I sleep here tonight?"
Hatsune froze, looking at her in surprise: "But this is the servants' quarters, and..."
Besides, shouldn't she be sleeping with Toyokawa Yu? The single bed here is narrow and hard, nowhere near as comfortable as the soft bed in the main house.
Xiangzi lowered his head angrily, his voice low and reproachful: "Xi went too far this time! I told him that if he doesn't apologize to you, I'll sleep in a separate room from him!"
Hatsune opened her mouth slightly in surprise. Looking at Xiangzi's angry appearance, she admired her even more—she was probably the only one who dared to challenge Toyokawa Yu like this.
However, she still felt a little inferior and asked softly, "Are you comfortable sleeping here...?"
"Haha, what's there to be unaccustomed to!" Xiangzi laughed heartily, patting his arm. "If even a big star like you can sleep here comfortably, I used to work as a civil engineer on construction sites. I'm not picky at all."
“Uh…” Hatsune was speechless for a moment. Although she had heard that Xiangzi came from a commoner background, she was still shocked to hear her say “working as a civil engineer on a construction site”.
A short while later, the two changed into their pajamas. Xiangzi brought a clean set of cotton pajamas, gave one to Hatsune, and wore the other himself. The narrow single bed, crammed with the two of them, surprisingly felt warm. Moonlight streamed through the window onto the bed, casting a silvery glow on their figures.
"Oh my, being able to sleep with my idol, the biggest star, makes my life worthwhile!" Xiangzi turned to the side, looking at Hatsune Miku beside her, her cheerful tone full of excitement.
Hatsune looked into her sparkling eyes and couldn't help but smile. Shoko was like a little sun, radiating a warm glow that made people want to get closer. She suddenly wondered if the gloomy and aloof young master Toyokawa was also attracted to Shoko by these same qualities.
The darker a person's heart is, the more easily they are illuminated by such light. For example, that grumpy boy, or for example, myself, curled up beside her right now.
Just then, Xiangzi suddenly leaned closer to her, revealing a mysterious expression, and said in a very low voice: "Hmph, Xi has gone too far in treating you like this. I've decided to tell you one of his embarrassing secrets."
"Huh?!" Hatsune's eyes widened, her face full of disbelief—could that seemingly aloof boy also have embarrassing secrets?
Xiangzi leaned close to her ear and whispered, "You mustn't tell anyone, okay? Actually, when Xi is asleep, he unconsciously hugs me, crying and calling for his mother."
Hatsune's pupils suddenly contracted as she remembered what Aunt Yoshiko had said during the day—that Toyokawa Yuu had become like this after Mizuho left.
In an instant, Hatsune Miku developed a very subtle feeling towards that terrifying boy.
After revealing the secret, Xiangzi seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden. She yawned and soon fell asleep, her breathing gradually becoming even. Hatsune looked at her peaceful sleeping face, a gentle smile playing on her lips.
She closed her eyes and, enveloped in Xiangzi's warm presence, slowly drifted off to sleep.
Not long after, the door to the room was gently pushed open. A tall, dark figure walked in silently, the moonlight outlining his upright form; it was Toyokawa Yu.
He walked to the bedside, his gaze falling on the two sleeping in each other's arms, a complex light flashing in his eyes. Then, he reached out and carefully picked Xiangzi up.
Startled awake, Xiangzi opened his eyes abruptly and, upon recognizing the figure before him, instinctively cried out, "Xi..."
"Don't be so loud." Feng Chuanxi interrupted her, a wicked smile playing on his lips, his tone laced with a hint of threat. "Xiao Xiang, you don't want this woman next to you to know either, do you?"
Xiangzi couldn't help but glare at him. Just as she was about to retort, she felt the boy's hand quietly reach out and pinch Hatsune Miku hard.
Hatsune woke up with a start, her hair standing on end. She opened her eyes and saw a dark figure beside the bed, her heart pounding in her chest. She gripped the blanket tightly, curled up, and dared not move or even breathe—what did he want to do?
"What do you want to do?" Xiangzi asked in a low voice, his tone full of anger.
Feng Chuanxi sneered, his gaze falling on Hatsune Miku, who was trembling with fear on the bed. His tone was icy: "Hmph, you dare to hold a grudge against me for this woman? Have you forgotten who your closest person is?"
“This has nothing to do with how close we are!” Xiangzi met his gaze without flinching, her tone firm. “Right is right, and wrong is wrong! Hatsune-chan did nothing wrong, and besides, she’s related to you by blood. You can’t treat her like this!”
"What blood relation?" Feng Chuanxi scoffed, her tone contemptuous. "Her? Just a bastard born of an old man and a maid. How dare she compare herself to my mother's noble bloodline? How laughable."
Hatsune's body curled up even tighter.
She knew that these words were said intentionally for her to hear.
Xiangzi glared at him, "How could you say that?"
Toyokawa Yuu stared directly at his fiancée, the coldness in his eyes almost overflowing.
In the end, Xiangzi sighed first, her tone softening: "Since you think she's an insignificant outsider, then please stop making things difficult for her. You don't even glance at the other servants, yet you target Hatsune-chan time and time again."
She paused, looking intently at him, and said, word by word, "Even though you say such harsh things, you actually care about her a lot, don't you? Even if it's only half, she still shares the same blood as Aunt Ruihui, doesn't she?"
Eh?
Hatsune's heart skipped a beat, and she stared wide-eyed in disbelief—Young Master Toyokawa actually cared about her a lot?
These words seemed to strike at the deepest, most hidden thoughts in Toyokawa Yu's heart. His eyes instantly turned sharp as he glared fiercely at Shoko, the air around him becoming frighteningly heavy.
Xiangzi wasn't afraid at all. Instead, he raised his head, met his gaze, and said with a hint of provocation, "You want to hit me? Come on, you're never a match for me when we fight."
"Miss Xiangzi is truly amazing." Hatsune thought to herself, hiding under the covers, her admiration for Xiangzi growing even stronger.
Feng Chuanxi was speechless, her face turning pale and then red. Finally, she snorted coldly, her tone full of disdain: "When will you get rid of your vulgar, commoner habit of resorting to violence at any time?"
After saying that, he suddenly reached his hand into Xiangzi's pajamas.
Xiangzi's eyes widened suddenly, and she instinctively tried to push him away, her voice trembling with panic: "You..."
Feng Chuanxi revealed a wicked smile, leaned close to her ear, and said in a tone full of threat, "You want me to not make things difficult for this woman? Fine. But, Xiao Xiang, you'll have to suffer a bit in her place."
His gaze swept over Hatsune Miku curled up on the bed, and the smile on his lips grew even more wicked. His command was saying: Toyokawa Shoko, you don't want Miku Miku to continue to be tormented by me, do you?
Xiangzi bit her lip, looking at the calculation in his eyes, and then subconsciously glanced at Hatsune next to her.
She knew that her fiancé always kept his word.
Moreover, if she agrees, she will have a reason to refute him if he tries to make things difficult for Hatsune in the future.
After all, Xi's only flaw is that she cares too much about saving face.
After a few seconds of silence, Xiangzi finally relented, his voice barely audible, "Then... be gentle."
Soon after, soft breathing could be heard in the room.
Hatsune curled up even more, feeling like crying.
Chapter Twelve: Woman, you've successfully caught my attention.
The morning sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the second-floor corridor, casting dappled shadows.
Miku Miku, dressed in a brand-new but rough maid outfit, mechanically wiped the wooden railing with a rag, her fingertips trembling involuntarily, her eyes unfocused.
Everything that happened in the room last night replayed in my mind like a movie clip—Miss Xiangzi's suppressed moans, Fengchuan Xi's rough actions, and the blush-inducing pulling and panting.
Only after Fengchuan Xi carried Xiangzi away did she dare to peek out from under the covers. Her tense nerves suddenly relaxed, but a strange and inexplicable sense of loneliness arose within her.
That boy was clearly doing it on purpose, deliberately letting her see all of this, deliberately humiliating her in such an embarrassing way, trying to force her to run away from this house, right?
What made her even more ashamed was that, as an innocent girl who had never experienced love, the scene last night had a tremendous impact on her.
Like a teenager rewarding himself for the first time, those images lingered in her mind. As she drifted off to sleep, she uncontrollably projected herself into the role of Xiangzi, dreaming that she was pinned down by Fengchuan Xi, and that she could hear his deep, hoarse voice calling her name.
"Auntie..."
"Whoa!?" The name exploded in her mind like a thunderclap, startling Hatsune Miku so much that she almost dropped the rag in her hand.
She turned her head sharply and saw Xiangzi standing at the end of the corridor, dressed in a neat school uniform, with a faint blush on his cheeks and a hint of lingering laziness in his eyes.
Hatsune's cheeks instantly burned, almost steaming. She subconsciously lowered her head, not daring to look at Xiangzi. Her mind was filled with Xiangzi's unusually cheerful appearance last night, and her heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of her chest.
Xiangzi clearly sensed the awkwardness as well, his cheeks flushed, and he stepped forward somewhat awkwardly, stammering, "Well... this morning I suddenly remembered that I had something urgent to deal with, and seeing that you were sleeping soundly, I didn't want to wake you, so I left first."
"Ah... um, it's okay." Hatsune's voice was barely audible, her head was lowered even further, her fingers were tightly gripping the rag, and even her ears were bright red.
Xiangzi pursed his lips, hesitated for a few seconds, and then braced himself to ask, "And...and when you got up this morning, were the sheets...okay?"
"How... is it?" Hatsune looked up blankly, not immediately understanding what she meant.
"Is it... a little damp or something?" Xiangzi's voice was so low it was almost a whisper, his cheeks were so red they were almost bleeding, he was clearly enduring great embarrassment to ask the question.
Hatsune paused, then instantly understood what she meant. Her face flushed even more, her neck turning crimson. She hurriedly lowered her head, stammering, "I...I didn't notice..."
"Sorry... I drool when I sleep..." Xiangzi quickly came up with a very clumsy excuse, his eyes darting around, not daring to look at her.
Is your saliva... dripping from your mouth onto the sheets?
Hatsune kept her head down, silently complaining in her mind. But she couldn't bring herself to say such blunt criticism, so she could only give a soft "hmm" in response.
"Well... I'm going to school now. If Xi gives you trouble again, or if you need anything, be sure to tell me." Xiangzi turned around as if fleeing, and hurriedly left the corridor, as if staying for even a second longer would be torture.
Hatsune watched her flustered back and gently pursed her lips. Just last night, the two of them were squeezed into the narrow single bed, talking about everything like inseparable best friends. But after what happened last night, it was as if there was a thin veil between them, creating an unspeakable barrier.
She subconsciously looked up, her gaze sweeping across the corner of the corridor, and bumped into Toyokawa Yu. The boy leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets, a mocking smile playing on his lips, his eyes full of knowing amusement, as if to say that he had done all of this on purpose.
A nameless anger suddenly welled up inside her, and Hatsune gripped the rag tightly, her knuckles turning white. This was the first time she had ever felt anger towards this boy.
***
Around noon, the young maid in charge of cleaning the main house suddenly rushed up to Hatsune, her face full of anxiety: "I'm sorry, Miss Hatsune, my father suddenly feels unwell, and my family is urging me to go back and see him as soon as possible. Could you please help me with the rest of the cleaning?"
"It's alright, you should go home quickly and be careful on the way. I'll explain to Aunt Fangzi." Hatsune nodded quickly, her tone gentle. Helping others with their work was nothing to her, especially since it was an urgent matter.
The young maid bowed gratefully, picked up her bag, and hurriedly left the Toyokawa residence.
Hatsune packed up her tools, but a sense of unease crept into her heart—the area that the maid was in charge of included Toyokawa Yu and Shoko's master bedroom.
I'd better hurry up and clean up and leave before they see me, so I don't have to explain myself if I get caught.
Hatsune took a deep breath, carried her tools to the master bedroom door, and gently pushed it open.
The master bedroom is spacious and luxurious, with sunlight streaming in through huge floor-to-ceiling windows, making the room bright and warm.
Hatsune tried to calm herself down, picked up a rag and began to clean methodically, trying her best not to notice the private atmosphere that belonged to the two of them in the room.
But when she tidied up the trash can by her bedside and saw the crumpled paper balls inside, the scene from last night instantly flashed into her mind, and her cheeks uncontrollably burned.
Although she was in the idol industry and had heard some of the messy rumors, her father always protected SUMIMI and never let them come into contact with these dark sides.
In addition, having grown up with her mother since childhood and rarely having contact with men outside her family, her heart inexplicably became rapid and her breathing became somewhat disordered when faced with these hidden traces.
Hatsune shook her head vigorously, trying to dispel the distracting thoughts in her mind. After taking a few deep breaths, she managed to calm herself down and continue cleaning. But not long after, she found an opened box of condoms in the corner of the drawer by the bed, and several daring and erotic clothes hanging in a hidden corner of the wardrobe.
Hatsune's eyes widened instantly, her face filled with disbelief.
In her heart, Xiangzi had always been a cheerful and clean girl like a little sun. She never imagined that she would wear such clothes.
The beautiful filter she once had for Xiangzi shattered at this moment, leaving her with a mix of complex emotions.
The chaotic and shameful thoughts in her mind gradually dissipated only when her gaze fell on the bedside table and she saw the group photo framed in a silver frame. She instinctively picked up the frame, her fingertips lightly brushing against the glass surface.
In the photo, a young woman wearing a beige dress is gently holding a four- or five-year-old boy.
The woman had gentle features, a soft smile, and an elegant and dignified demeanor, radiating a gentle glow. Hatsune recognized her; her mother had once kept a photo of this young woman and had told her that she was her half-sister, Mizuho.
The little boy being held bore a striking resemblance to Toyokawa Yu in his features, yet he possessed none of the sinister coldness of the present. His face radiated a bright and cheerful smile, and his eyes were clear and bright, much like the sunlight streaming through the window at that moment.
Such a heartwarming scene makes one smile, and it's hard to connect the little boy in the photo with the current tyrannical, cold, and obstinate head of the Toyokawa family.
Hatsune stared intently at the photo, her fingertips gently tracing the edge of the frame, a pang of sadness welling up inside her. If Mizuho were still here, would Toyokawa Yuu have ended up like this?
Just then, a chilling voice suddenly came from behind, like a summons from the abyss, instantly freezing the air in the room: "What are you doing here?!"
Hatsune froze, her heart seemingly stopping for a moment. Startled, her hand trembled, and the photo frame in her hand fell to the ground with a "clatter." The crisp sound of shattering glass was particularly jarring in the quiet room, and the photo slipped out along with the broken frame, gathering dust.
She turned around, trembling, and saw Feng Chuanxi standing in the doorway, his face horribly grim, his eyes bloodshot, like an enraged beast, staring at her with an almost murderous gaze. That intense anger and ferocity seemed to devour her.
Hatsune instinctively took a step back, her foot landing on the broken glass with a soft creak. Sharp shards of glass pierced her thin maid stockings and embedded themselves in her skin, causing a sharp pain. But she paid no attention to that; she only felt cold all over and even breathing became difficult.
Feng Chuanxi didn't give her a chance to explain. He strode forward and grabbed her by the neck. His grip was extremely strong, his fingertips digging deep into her neck skin, almost snapping her trachea.
"Who let you in? Who gave you permission to touch this photo!" Feng Chuanxi's voice was hoarse, filled with extreme anger. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at her, the ferocity in them seeming as if he wanted to devour her alive.
Hatsune panicked and grabbed his arm haphazardly, struggling desperately. But the boy was much stronger than she had imagined. Her resistance, as a weak woman, was like an ant trying to shake a tree, completely futile.
A feeling of suffocation gradually crept over her; her cheeks flushed red, her lips turned purple, and she could barely speak: "I...I'm...sorry..."
"You really think I wouldn't dare kill you?!" Toyokawa Yu's eyes grew even more ferocious, and the force in his hand increased, his tone filled with bloodthirsty madness.
A wave of dizziness from lack of oxygen washed over her, her vision blurred, and sounds around her seemed distant. A thought flashed through her mind: I...I'm going to die...
Perhaps, death wouldn't be so bad. That way, she wouldn't have to endure Toyokawa Yu's harassment and humiliation anymore, she wouldn't have to force herself to stay in this cold home because of her father's wishes, and her mother and sister wouldn't have to worry about her anymore... She even wondered if the child would feel better if he killed her? Perhaps, she was someone who shouldn't have been born, a superfluous existence.
Just as her consciousness was fading, a picture of her mother holding a photo of Ruihui and gently saying to her, "This is your sister," suddenly flashed through her mind.
At that time, she had a small wish: to meet this sister she had never met before, to see the child her sister had left behind, and to tell him, "I am actually your aunt."
Clinging to this faint shred of will, Hatsune struggled to open her heavy eyelids, gazing at the boy before her, who was consumed by rage. With her last ounce of strength, she managed to say, "You...won't...kill me...because...I bleed...the same...blood...as...Mizuho-neechan..."
These words struck Toyokawa Yu like a thunderbolt.
His ferocious gaze froze instantly, his bloodshot pupils contracted slightly, and the strength in his hand unconsciously loosened a little.
The next second, he suddenly released his grip on Hatsune Miku's neck.
Losing her support, Hatsune immediately collapsed to the ground, her thighs pressing heavily against the broken glass. A sharp pain shot through her, but she was oblivious, greedily inhaling the fresh air. Her chest heaved violently, and tears streamed uncontrollably down her face, mingling with the red marks on her neck, making her look particularly disheveled.
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