Chapter 8

Shi Yi rolled her eyes in her heart. Are these people sick, asking her to kneel at every turn?!

Have they watched too many cheesy novels?

As the saying goes, there is gold under a man's knees; she was a woman, her knees weren't worth any money, and she was a convict, so dignity was worthless to her.

Shi Yi walked to the girl and silently knelt down.

"Apologize to my classmate!" Shi Xi ordered sternly.

"I'm sorry."

Shi Yi said expressionlessly.

"And her, her, and her!"

Shi Yi walked to each of the girls whose dresses were dirtied, knelt down without hesitation, and lowered her head, saying: "I'm sorry, please forgive me."

Shi Yi's expression remained unmoved, as if she were just doing the most ordinary thing, but Shi Heng's heart felt as if it had been stabbed by a knife, both pained and angry.

Shi Yi was his own sister, after all, and now being treated like a dog, how could he not be angry!

Besides... how proud a person she used to be! She would rather be covered in scars from a whip or be locked in a dark room for three days and three nights than bow her head and admit a mistake even once.

And the ten years in the orphanage, the deliberate coldness and alienation from the whole family, hadn't made her admit her mistake either.

But at this moment, she was kneeling so obediently and humbly in front of others! Like a dog, being trampled underfoot and wantonly abused!

"Enough."

Shi Heng scolded impatiently and forcefully pulled Shi Yi up from the ground, "Get out of here!"

Shi Yi was pulled fiercely by Shi Heng, and her chest felt a sudden pain, so she covered her chest and coughed in a low voice.

Seeing Shi Heng intentionally protecting Shi Yi in front of all the classmates, Shi Xi felt even more unhappy.

Ever since Shi Yi came out of prison this time, Shi Xi had discovered that her brother's attitude toward her was becoming increasingly impatient, while he was unconsciously concerned about Shi Yi.

Even the first thing he did when he got home every day was to go to the basement to see what Shi Yi was doing.

Shi Yi appeared obedient and compliant on the surface, but in reality, she was silently planning to escape from this house! Today, she would let Shi Heng see Shi Yi's true face.

"Not enough."

Shi Xi crossed her arms, curled her lips, her face full of sarcasm:

"At this point, I wouldn't be doing my duty if I didn't properly introduce this servant of ours to everyone. Heh, you don't know, she's not an ordinary servant, but a convict who has been in prison!"

As soon as the words fell, everyone's faces immediately showed expressions of terror.

Some even subconsciously took a few steps back.

"Shi Xi, what kind of madness are you having!"

Shi Heng scolded angrily, his expression already so dark it was about to drip water.

Shi Xi smiled slightly and continued: "I haven't finished speaking yet... and such a convict, our Shi family took pity on her and kindly took her in, giving her a salary of 100,000 a month. And this little bitch, she doesn't know how to be grateful and is always thinking about eating from the bowl while looking at the pot! Look, she's even secretly writing a job resume."

Saying this, Shi Xi took a piece of paper from her bosom and threw it lightly onto the ground.

Shi Yi's heart tightened. How could her resume have fallen into Shi Xi's hands?!

Could it be that all of this was Shi Xi's doing...

Seeing the resume on the ground, Shi Heng's face turned white suddenly. He hadn't expected that Shi Yi, who appeared obedient and compliant on the surface, was planning to escape the Shi family behind his back.

"So that's how it is, the Shi family was good enough to her, I didn't expect..."

"Yes, you can't judge a book by its cover, who would have thought this woman looked honest but had so many schemes behind her back..."

"You can't be too power-hungry, she doesn't know how to be grateful at all!"

The chattering discussions came from all around, endless.

Shi Yi deliberately pretended not to hear, reached out, and silently picked up the resume on the ground.

"Who told you to pick it up!"

Shi Xi stepped on Shi Yi's fingers.

"There's no point in pursuing this matter further. How about this... you tear up this resume in front of everyone, tear it into pieces that can never be put back together, and I'll forgive you."

Shi Yi originally didn't want to pay attention to those voices, but those chattering voices were like countless fine needles, stabbing into Shi Yi's heart from all directions.

At this moment, she just wanted to escape here as soon as possible.

"Fine."

After saying this, Shi Yi stood up, pulled both sides of the resume with her hands, and tore the resume in half with a swish.

Swish, swish, swish—

Following Shi Yi's unhesitating movements, the resume she had written stroke by stroke, word by word, in countless late nights, soon became a pile of paper scraps on the ground.

"Is that enough."

"Hmph. In view of your sincere repentance, I'll forgive you today!" Shi Xi said with a pout.

Shi Yi turned her head expressionlessly and silently disappeared into the crowd.

Watching Shi Yi's limping but incredibly determined retreating figure, Shi Heng panicked for a moment.

He seemed to have a feeling—perhaps one day, Shi Yi would truly leave this house, leave his sight, and never come back again...

The banquet that day lasted until very late at night.

The noise outside gradually returned to silence, and the noisy footsteps disappeared. Only then did Shi Yi walk out of the basement, come to the empty kitchen, and take two pieces of bread.

She hadn't eaten all day, and her stomach was already a bit numb from hunger.

Compared to having her dignity trampled underfoot or becoming the subject of everyone's discussion, what she cared more about was whether she could have three meals a day and be full.

She now only had such a simple and plain wish.

Yes... besides this, what else could she hope for? This place was just another prison trapping her.

Shi Yi took the bread, poured a glass of water, and walked back to her basement.

Just as she finished eating the two pieces of bread and was about to go to bed, her vision suddenly darkened.

The whole room went black in an instant.

Although Shi Yi lived in the basement, the light on the ceiling was on 24 hours a day—because she was afraid of the dark.

Ever since she was locked in a dark room by her father and mother for three days and three nights without food or drink when she was 8 years old, she had developed a psychological shadow, and she had an instinctive fear of darkness and enclosed spaces.

Shi Yi's heart tightened suddenly, and the next second, she heard a "click" sound from the direction of the door lock.

"Who is it?"

Shi Yi ran to the door and pulled, but the basement door was indeed locked from the outside and couldn't be pulled open at all!

"Open the door! Who is it, open the door for me!"

"Open the door!"

"Is anyone there, open the door quickly!"

A sharp sneer came from outside the door.

"Aren't you good at acting? Aren't you the type who doesn't care about anything? Let's see if you can still act now!"