Rong Xuan looked at the keys in her hand.

Was there one amongst these keys for the locked drawer in her room?

She had a hunch that this should be it. She took the keys back, ready to try them one by one.

The room was quiet except for the crisp sound of Rong Xuan picking keys. The sound of it entering the lock seemed to hit Rong Xuan’s heart hard, causing her both anticipation and unease.

She tried the first key, but unfortunately it didn’t open the drawer. Then she tried the second one and the third……

Sadly, it was none of them.

There’s only one last left that she hadn’t tried.

Whether the drawer could be open depends on this last one.

Rong Xuan had already thought about it. If all the keys didn’t fit, she would have to use force.

In any case, she must see what’s inside.

Her intuition told her that the content of the drawer was important.

The final one. She inserted the key into the lock, turned it, and it opened with a click.

Rong Xuan was surprised for a moment. She paused slightly before slowly pulling the open the drawer.

To her surprise, the thing inside was actually quite simple.

There was only a yellowed diary and nothing else.

Rong Xuan apologized to the other Rong Xuan in her heart, and then opened the diary with great care.

Inside were entries recorded by the other Rong Xuan. The content was very ordinary and the font was also immature, but from between the lines one could see the cheerfulness and liveliness of the author at that time.

March 6, 2002

Today, my mom bought me a tiara with a lot of diamonds. It’s sparkly and super beautiful. She said that little princesses should wear tiaras.

Tee hee, I’m a happy little princess.

April 8, 2002

Today, I took a plane with my mom to see the sea. The sea is really beautiful, and the sky is also beautiful. Of course, my mom is also beautiful, and so am I. Hehe.

June 1, 2002

Today is my holiday. My parents bought me a big cake with Peppa Pig on it. In order to celebrate Children’s Day for me, my family invited many children to come and play with me. When they saw the big cake, they all envied me.

I asked my mom if I could always celebrate Children’s Day. My mom kissed me and said of course. Even if I become an adult one day, or get married and have children, she will still celebrate Children’s Day for me.

I think my mom is the best in the world, and my friends all envy me for having such a good mom. I think so too.

……

The diary style of the other Rong Xuan in 2002 was full of joy and childlike innocence. She should have been about 10 years old that year, still in her carefree childhood. She had a happy life, a mother who loves her and a good living standard. She’s a happy little princess in everyone’s eyes.

But starting in 2004, it began to change.

February 1, 2004

Mom and Dad have been quarreling behind closed doors lately. They thought I didn’t know, but in fact I heard them all. They didn’t know that one time they had an argument, the nanny heard it too and she looked embarrassed.

I’m so sad.

Why do adults quarrel? Isn’t it nice to be happy?

March 1, 2004

Dad hasn’t been home for a month. In the past, even if he’s on a business trip, he wouldn’t stay away for so long.

I see Mom often crying alone. I called Dad to ask him to come back and comfort Mom, but he didn’t answer.

I asked Mom when Dad would come home and she thought for a long time before telling me that he would be back soon.

March 5, 2004

Dad is indeed back! But he didn’t bring me a gift or hug me.

He never forgot to bring me gifts before. Every time he comes home, he’d pick me up and spins me around.

But this time, he forgot. But it didn’t matter as long as Dad is home.

Rong Xuan pursed her lips when she read this.

Then, she continued flipping through the pages.

The paper at the back was very mottled. It looked like it had been soaked in water and many of the writings were blurry.

However, Rong Xuan guessed that it wasn’t soaked in water, but in tears.

This was what happens when the paper’s surface was wetted and then dried.

Although it was blurry, Rong Xuan could still understand what the author wrote if she looked very closely.

June 1, 2005

Today is Children’s Day. But no one will celebrate Children’s Day for me anymore.

Mom passed away…… she left me forever.

She didn’t even have time to say her last words to me…… and I, I didn’t even see her last. By the time I got to the hospital, she had already closed her eyes.

Why is this happening? What exactly happened on this day? I’m hurting. I’ve been crying all day, but this time, no matter how hard I cry, no one comes to comfort me.

June 2, 2005

Dad brought home a strange woman who had a daughter a year older than me.

The woman said her daughter was also Dad’s child.

No, I don’t believe it!

It can’t be true! But when I asked Dad, he didn’t deny it! I feel like the sky is falling.

June 3, 2005

That woman is very bad. I don’t like her.

But Dad said he’s going to marry her.

She wants to live in Mom’s room and use Mom’s cosmetics and jewelry, I hate it!

But what can I do? I cried and made trouble, but it’s no use……

June 4, 2005

Dad’s getting colder and colder towards me. He prefers the daughter that woman brought him.

What did I do wrong?

Mom’s gone. All I’ve got is Dad.

The other Rong Xuan didn’t write an entry for a long time after that. It might have slipped from her mind or she might have forgotten intentionally.

That time must have been difficult for her. It wasn’t until…… four months later that she wrote another diary entry.

October 4, 2005

My hands are still shaking as I wrote this.

I can’t control it……

I came home early today but none of them knew. Then I overheard the conversation between that woman and my father.

It turns out that my mom’s death was no accident!

Mom died because of them!

Father’s involved too!

What do I do?

Should I speak out?

But if I did, I won’t have a home.

I no longer have a mother. If I no longer have a father, then I’ll be a homeless child.

But if I don’t say it, what about Mom? Did she deserve to die because of them?

How can they be so inhuman?! That woman deserves to go to hell!

I feel really sick!

I hate my inability to do anything, and I hate my hesitance.

I really don’t know what to do anymore.

The diary entry on October 4 was the last one, and the other Rong Xuan did not write anything since that.

This diary was then later sealed in the drawer.

Rong Xuan slowly closed the diary.

After reading it, Rong Xuan’s mood was a little heavy.

A little princess who was originally doted on by everyone suddenly lost her mother one day and was later ignored by her father. This kind of blow was undoubtedly huge for a thirteen-year-old girl.

Rong Xuan understood her later choice.

She didn’t expose her father, but she felt sorry for her mother, so she chose to close herself off.

She lost the ability to speak and buried this secret in her heart.

But perhaps she didn’t want to bury this secret forever. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have kept this diary and made a point of leaving it at her grandfather’s house.

Because keeping it there would leave no chance for Ji Ning, her daughter, or Rong Yao to discover it.

She felt that the other Rong Xuan had never forgotten the hatred in her heart, but she was too young and powerless. All she could do was to close herself off and torture herself.

Rong Xuan gripped the diary in her hand.

If Ji Ning and Rong Yao really have something to do with Lu Yue’s death……

Rong Xuan put the diary back to its original place and locked it once more.

No matter how difficult it was, she would make sure they were brought to justice.

———pr

Please support the translator by reading this at S h a n g h a i f a n t a s y . c o m

The next day was the opening ceremony for the new term.

Knowing that Rong Xuan was going to give a speech as a student representative, Tong Yue and Mu Xiao were even more excited than Rong Xuan, the person involved.

Tong Yue’s face flushed with excitement. “Xuanxuan, there are still many people who don’t know that you can speak again. If you take the stage this time, peoples’ jaws will definitely drop.”

Mu Xiao echoed from the side, “True!”

Tong Yue rolled her eyes. “Xuanxuan, say, does your sister know that you can talk now?”

Rong Xuan shook her head.

She had gone home for dinner on the first day of the year, but she had nothing to say to them. Gu Ye probably know that she didn’t have a good relationship with her family, so seeing that she didn’t speak, he didn’t say anything either. If there was anything that needed to be communicated, Gu Ye would deal with Rong Yao. She didn’t need to say a word the whole time.

While not saying a word during a meal sounded a bit unbelievable, it was in fact what happened. She hadn’t spoken for some time since she crossed over to the novel. Although she could speak now, it wasn’t difficult for her to keep quiet. As for other people, they didn’t even know that she could speak before, so naturally, they wouldn’t find it strange if she didn’t talk.

Seeing Rong Xuan shaking her head, Tong Yue cupped her face in her hands, her eyes shining. “Then her expression will definitely be wonderful.”

Mu Xiao nodded wildly at the side. “I’m looking forward to it.”

After saying so, Mu Xiao and Tong Yue looked at each other and smiled.

Previously, after the class found out that Rong Xuan could speak again, they specifically asked the class monitor to inform the others not to share this secret with other classes. In the past, when Rong Xuan couldn’t speak, many students from other classes had been secretly badmouthing her behind her back.

They and the neighboring class could be said to have no secrets. However, after they asked the class monitor to remind everyone, the students in the class felt sorry for Rong Xuan, and no one took the initiative to mention it to others.

So right now, except for their classmates, no one else knew that Rong Xuan could now speak again.

Time passes. The opening ceremony was about to begin.

First, the principal, vice principal, and various leaders spoke. Only after they were done was it Rong Xuan’s turn to speak as a student representative.

After she came on stage, there was a small commotion in the crowd.

“Is this Rong Xuan the second year flower^[1]belle?”

“It’s her. There aren’t many people who look as beautiful. Her face is quite recognizable. But isn’t she unable to speak?”

“Yes, when she participated in that reality show, she could only answer questions using a board. Not a word was spoken the whole time.”

“She was attacked badly online because she can’t speak!”

“I’ve seen the words of those spammers and I really feel for her. It’s not her fault that she can’t speak, can’t they understand? But they can only attack her on this point. Apart from it, she really didn’t have any other dark materials. Of course, being unable to speak cannot be considered as one.”

“So I’m kind of wondering, what is she doing up there? A speech? But she can’t speak, so how can she give a speech?”

At this time, Rong Yi’s classmates also noticed Rong Xuan.

She bumped Rong Yi with her arm. “Look, the one on stage is really your sister!”

At first, when the mc said, “May I invite Student Rong Xuan to speak on stage”, they thought it was someone with the same name.

After all, they all knew that Rong Xuan couldn’t speak.

Although the name Rong Xuan was special, it was impossible to have only one person in the world with that name.

There were many people with the same name and surname.

Besides, maybe there’s a Rong Xuan^[2]容宣 and Rong Xuan ^[3]荣轩 in the school?

Therefore, at the beginning, they really didn’t know that the Rong Xuan mentioned by the mc was this Rong Xuan.

Many people were surprised to see Rong Xuan on stage.

Many of them were thinking the same way.

Rong Xuan couldn’t speak.

What was she doing on stage right now?

This was also what Rong Yi wanted to know.