Zhao Anqi stared at her daughter, who was lying on the bed, staring back at her with a blank look on her face.
Did she really think she was someone else?
Things would get complicated if Jia Lingyi doesn't remember who she really is.
"You... you really don't know? Lingyi, it's me, Mom. Do you really not remember me? Think carefully, Lingyi. This...." Zhao Anqi turned to the doctor, worry evident on her face.
However, it was difficult to tell what she was worried about.
"Doctor...is there something we can do? counselling or something?"
"Madam Zhao, Miss Jia is very unstable right now, and so it's not advisable to start any form of treatment until she gets better. Perhaps, we could arrange some form of therapy for her, but she would need to focus on her recovery first."
Xia Mengqi... no, Jia Lingyi sat back on the bed as she watched the doctor try to reason with the woman...who was her mother?
She looked at her soft hands and then stared at her reflection again.
She had not been dreaming. The face that was looking back at her...was that of a young girl.
As she watched her mother go back and forth with the doctor, Jia Lingyi started to rearrange her thoughts on what was now her new life.
She had actually died by Xu Shengyu's hands, and by some stroke of luck, she was reborn into the body of another person.
She had read books like these in the past, and she even played the role of a reborn girl a few years ago.
She just never thought that something like this happened in real life.
It rattled her, but she was also excited.
The heavens must have seen how pitiful she was, and they gave her a second chance to do whatever she wanted and love her life on her own terms.
This time, though she wouldn't have Xu Shengyu arranging things for her, she still had her skills and knowledge from her past life.
Jia Lingyi believed she would not fail! She had been given a second chance, and she make the best use of it!
However, as for the original owner of this body....
Slowly, she got the memories of the life that the previous owner had lived, and it was truly nothing to write home about.
She was pitiful, and her existence was downright tragic.
She was a talented young girl who worked hard for a place in the entertainment industry.
However, having talent was not enough.
In a cutthroat world like the entertainment industry, she was trampled on, and she was the frequent target of mindless hate trains.
Her name was sullied and tied to multiple scandals. Before long, she gained so many anti-fans who were now calling for her to be kicked out of the girl group she had debuted in.
Jia Lingyi had a dream, and although she was unwilling to give up, she gave in to the pressure in the end.
After another long day of unending cyberbullying and death threats, she took sleeping pills to end her own life.
They had both gotten a second chance, and while the girl's body remained, she had a chance to be reborn as her.
"Lingyi!" Her concentration was disrupted when she heard the still unfamiliar name, and Jia Lingyi looked up to see some very familiar faces looking at her.
She blinked as the memories came back to her.
The four girls were the other members of Shimmer, the girl group that the original owner of the body was a part of.
Jia Lingyi was quiet as she studied them. Based on her memories, it didn't seem like they had a great relationship with the original girl.
But the warm smiles on their faces... was she misunderstanding something?
"Lingyi, are you... Are you okay? We are sorry we couldn't come to see you earlier. You know the company arranges so many activities for us, we barely get any time off... are you mad at us?"
The girl who spoke was called Yin Roulan, and her eyes were watery and filled with youthful innocence.
"I..."
Jia Lingyi did not get a chance to say anything.
"Lingyi, Roulan, and the girls came out to see you despite their busy schedule. They've been working so hard to clear up the scandals you caused....you really should have been more sensible," Zhao Anqi shook her head, giving her daughter a disappointed look.
"Aunty Zhao, don't be too hard on Lingyi. After everything that happened...." Yin Roulan lowered her eyes, and her shoulders dropped.
"Blame me instead. I didn't not protect Lingyi from those horrible rumours, that was why she made such a huge mistake." When she raised her head again, Yin Roulan's eyes were heavy with unshed tears.
Jia Lingyi stared at the girl in front of her with her guard up.
Anyone else would have fallen for this act. However, as someone who had been in the industry since she was a child, she could sense that fakeness in Yin Roulan's words.
"Aiya, aiya, it's not your fault Roulan. Your brother and the company have already given her a lot of chances. I just don't know what else to do," Zhao Anqi shook her head, feeling really frustrated.
Didn't Lingyi know how to be grateful for the chances she had?
How many people wanted to be like her?
Yet, she threw it all away so easily!
What's wrong with a little online bullying?
There was no celebrity that hadn't gone through their own share? Making money was not enough after all!
"That's right, Lingyi. Roulan went through so much to beg Manager Li just so we could come see you. We also wanted to come give you the letters the fans sent us. Although... Although there are many hate trains online about you, a lot of fans still care for you. Don't let those people get to you, okay?" Although Chen Ai was smiling, Jia Lingyi was already sure that she was not a person she could trust.
She raised a brow at Chen Ai's words. What game were these girls trying to play?
Jia Xin's eyes lit up at Chen Ai's words.
"Manager Li is here? Aiya, you should have told me about it. I'll go greet him. You girls have a good talk, okay?" Jia Xin hurried outside, pulling the doctor along.
"Lingyi, here are the letters that the fans sent you. Everyone is rooting for you, so please get better, and don't make drastic decisions, okay?"
Li Mian, who had a bright smile on her face, handed the letters over to Jia Lingyi.
Yin Roulan snatched the letters before they could get to Jia Lingyi's hands.
"Don't move, I'll read it for you, okay?"
She sat by the bed and opened an envelope
Jia Lingyi frowned when she heard the first message.
"Die bitch!"
She sneered. It didn't seem like these people were cheering her on.
All of the other letters went the same way, with the fans either telling her to die or to get out of the group.
Li Mian, realising that something was wrong, snatched the letters away from Yin Roulan.
Her face went pale, and she showed it to the other girls.
"Lingyi...this... we didn't know it's like this....we would never have brought them here if we knew they were all hate mail!" Li Mian rushed to explain herself.
Lingyi smirked. They really thought she was a fool, didn't they?
Yin Roulan looked at the calm look on Jia Lingyi's face, and she felt uneasy.
That person had told her that Lingyi would be stimulated by getting hate mail after just surviving death.
But why did Jia Lingyi look... relaxed?
What was going on?
Yin Roulan leaned in closer to Jia Lingyi and whispered to her in a voice only they could hear, "See? So many people want you to die. So, you should have done it properly and just left the group!"
Jia Lingyi smirked knowingly. It was just as she had suspected.
Yin Roulan wasn't a good person!
"Is that so? On what basis should I leave the group?"