"Even if she lived in a villa, ate and dressed well, and went to the best school, no one took her seriously. If she wanted to make friends, people would say, 'Look Zhou Yilin is currying favour with so and so again'. When her grades were bad, people would say, 'Does she even need good grades? She could just sit at home and be a rich heiress'. To others, even her smile was seen as a frivolous expression."

"She had to make herself perform better and become an outstanding person so that no one else could find faults with her. She would rather live like a walking corpse than be a joke in other people's eyes."

Zhou Yilin finished the last part in a very calm manner.

Ouyang Yi had never heard her mention this before. Now that he thought about it, he could finally connect the dots to some of his previous doubts.

After hearing this, his heart ached for her.

Before, he thought that he hated everything except for her appearance. To him, she was a calculating and hypocritical woman who thought highly of herself. But when he got to know her better, he noticed that she was actually a softhearted person underneath...