Chapter 4: Kezhen, signifies unwavering loyalty.

Ten years ago.

Shi Yanzhou, who had just turned ten, accidentally fell into the deep sea during a cruise banquet.

After being rescued, he remained in a persistent coma and became a vegetable.

Shi Yanzhou was the only male heir of the Shi family for four generations!

At that time, others in the Shi family had already resigned themselves to his fate.

However, Shi Yanzhou’s great-grandfather—a man in his nineties who firmly believed in superstitions—suddenly proposed a ritual wedding to “wash away” the bad luck.

The members of the Shi family dared not disobey the old patriarch.

Besides, they were acting with the mindset of “treating a dead horse as if it were alive.”

So, they found a famous fortune-teller who calculated a birth chart that was deemed most compatible for a ritual bride to save Shi Yanzhou.

Using this birth chart and their vast connections, the Shi family searched orphanages across the nation for girls who met the criteria.

Finally, from several candidates, they chose an orphan of the same age as Shi Yanzhou: Chen Xingyao.

That was her.

When the Shi parents brought her before the great-grandfather, the man in his nineties sat upright in a rosewood armchair.

He only looked at her once, without asking her name or if she was willing.

He gave her a new name directly.

“From today on, you will be called Kezhen.”

Kezhen—meaning steadfastly loyal.

The purpose was to ensure she always remembered her identity and her place.

She had just turned ten that year.

On her second day at the Shi household, Shi Kezhen “married” Shi Yanzhou.

Except, the partner standing in for him during the ceremony was a rooster held in a servant’s arms.

After the wedding, she moved directly into Shi Yanzhou’s hospital room and took over Mother Shi’s work.

She learned how to personally care for him.

Every day, she wiped him down and performed the duties of a young wife.

Whether the ritual actually worked or not, after little more than half a month, Shi Yanzhou miraculously woke up.

He had been comatose for nearly half a year.

After waking, he fully recovered within a few short months and returned to the Shi household, lively and energetic once more.

The superstitious great-grandfather was convinced that Shi Kezhen was his great-grandson’s lucky star.

He genuinely cared for her and treated her as his rightful great-granddaughter-in-law.

But Shi Yanzhou could not accept it.

When he woke up in his hospital bed and opened his eyes, the first person he saw was not his family, but a strange little girl standing timidly by his side.

Later, his family told him she was his wife.

He exploded on the spot.

“What wife? I’m only ten! Who found her for me? I don’t want her! Who even are you? Get out!”

After that, he refused to share a room with her and would not acknowledge their relationship as husband and wife.

Thus, after returning to the Shi household, she moved into the room next to his.

To the outside world, the family merely claimed she was an adopted daughter.

Naturally, Mother Shi was not satisfied with her.

Her son was precious and noble; even daughters from prestigious families might not be worthy of him, let alone a parentless orphan like her.

Over the years, as Shi Yanzhou grew older and more exceptional, Mother Shi’s nitpicking became increasingly obvious.

No matter how perfectly she behaved, Mother Shi could always find some fault.

***

“Student Shi?”

Seeing that she had not spoken for a long time, Xie Dongdong called out to her again, looking at her expectantly.

Shi Kezhen snapped out of it and pushed the envelope back to Xie Dongdong with a polite but distant air.

“I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”

“He doesn’t like me meddling in his affairs. You should give it to him in person.”

The smile on Xie Dongdong’s face froze, followed by a surge of humiliation.

She had already tried to give him love letters in person, but he wouldn’t even touch them, giving her no chance at all.

If there had been any other way, why would she have gone through the trouble of deliberately approaching Shi Kezhen today?

Her goal was nothing more than to use the “younger sister” as a roundabout way to reach him.

“Is it really out of the question?”

Xie Dongdong looked at her imploringly.

“Just help me this once. Just once…”

Shi Kezhen smiled apologetically and did not say another word.

She turned her head away and stopped looking at her.

This Xie Dongdong’s intel was truly poor.

She actually thought she and Shi Yanzhou were fraternal twins.

In this regard, she was nowhere near as sharp as Li Yunshu.

Within a week of pursuing Shi Yanzhou, Li Yunshu had already found out her status as the “adopted daughter.”

Because of that, Li Yunshu was extremely wary of Shi Yanzhou having a non-blood-related “sister” and kept a close watch on her.

She wondered if one day, when Li Yunshu learned she was actually his wife who had held a ritual wedding with him, would the girl want to tear her apart with her bare hands?

At that thought, Shi Kezhen curled her lips slightly.

***

On Monday morning, there were two long, back-to-back mandatory major courses.

Shi Kezhen, who was lacking sleep, felt like she had been listening to a monk chanting for the entire morning.

It was quite a feat that she managed to maintain the facade of being an attentive listener.

With great difficulty, she endured until eleven-forty.

Once class was over, she immediately packed up her desk.

As soon as the professor stepped out, she followed right after.

She had been in such a rush this morning that she hadn’t had time to drop off her bag at the dorm before class.

Shi Kezhen planned to leave her bag at the dorm first and then head to the canteen for lunch.

The dorm room housed four people.

The other three girls were inside.

When they saw her enter, they all greeted her politely, though not with much enthusiasm.

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