After the two bid farewell, Tang Xin and Amy followed the program crew's vehicle to the seaside. The tranquil sea breeze blew in from the blue sky, rustling the broad, palm-colored leaves that partially obscured the golden beach.

The beach was crowded with people, and a beach party was underway. Girls jumped high to hit the party balls towards the crowd, and the youths accidentally struck would, amidst the jeering of onlookers, grab a champagne from the cooler and drink it all in one go, while the girls would cover their mouths and laugh shyly.

People in the sea donned swim rings and were pushed back and forth by the rising and falling waves. It was unclear who started it, but they began singing together, their free and light-hearted songs echoing under the blue sky, reaching far away.

Tourists slathered with sunscreen lazily lay on the beach, their skin displaying deep and shallow tan lines, either lying face down on beach mats or sprawled on their backs, their gazes hidden behind sunglasses, unsure whether they were admiring the vast clear sky or the scenes beneath the girls' skirts.

Amy bitterly cursed everyone on this beach from the bottom of her heart, resenting these people who could enjoy their vacation time, singing and drinking chilled wine, while she had to rush around for the Siren Miracle.

With a grimace, Amy saw the tourists lounging on the sand appearing to transform into fat white worms, wriggling their pale bodies. She stepped over a person's back without any regard for the protests from behind.

Just as the person was about to erupt, they saw a blue-haired girl approaching from the side, offering an apology with her eyes, and he was immediately stupefied. He swore he'd never seen such a beautiful girl before; her clear eyes seemed capable of holding the stars and the sea.

Much later, his companion came over to find him lying on the ground, crying his eyes out, looking bewildered: "What's wrong with you?"

He recalled the white dress blooming like a Blue Iris, wiping a face smeared with tears and snot, and choked out: "I saw Aphrodite on this beach."

Along the way, Tang Xin was recognized by many people. Her current popularity in Star of Art was so far ahead of many top-tier stars that many youth from affluent families secretly vowed to capture this girl's heart and earn the admiration of their peers.

Fortunately, those who prided themselves on being noble hunters in matters of love did not lower themselves to initiate a conversation, merely observing from afar. Instead, it was the shyly smiling tourist couples who approached with postcards to ask the girl for autographs and blessings.

Walking along the relatively long coastline, with the sound of receding tides in their ears, they saw a manor in the distance. The manor's yard was overgrown with weeds, surrounded by a two-person-high stone wall. A sign at the entrance read: Closed for Business, No Entry for Tourists.

Upon closer inspection, they saw the manor, along with its hundreds of square meters yard, sat on the beach. The three-story high building was already overgrown with creeping plants, appearing like a windswept green carpet from the outside.

"Xin's popularity is really high now." Amy naturally pulled aside the caution tape and stepped into the manor's territory.

Tang Xin was momentarily stunned, recalling that face smeared with tears in the snow, feeling betrayed herself. Unknowingly, she had reached heights that once seemed unattainable, chasing after her idol's shadow step by step beside the blonde girl.

Tang Xin followed into the manor. Behind them, the cameraman held up the camera, his sturdy body laboriously crossing the yellow caution tape, gesturing an OK hand signal to them.

The two nodded, pushed open the rusty iron gates, and walked into the manor yard. The garden was overrun by green vines, the flowers and plants in the pots withered, and the hedges once shaped into forms had become grotesque. Despite the lushness, there was an indescribable sense of desolation.

Amy brushed aside the weeds reaching her waist and said:

"Why was Xin so disinclined toward Lindong's family before? I heard that guy named Yain sent people to Iris Foster Home several times attempting to take Xin away, but you always refused."

"The Iris Foster Home, that's the foster home in the Piano Key District, right? The educational resources in such a place must be very poor."

"The children at Green Jade Foster Home all receive one-on-one specialized services."

"If Xin was willing to grow under Lindong's family resources, the fame of the Starry Singer would have been recognized by everyone earlier, wouldn't it?"

Despite her speaking, Amy got no response from Tang Xin, turning back, she saw Tang Xin standing silently on the spot.

"What's the matter?"

Tang Xin remained silent, recalling a scene from long, long ago, when the woman rushed into the foster home crazily drunk. At that time, she was in class. The strange woman hugged her, the young child, amid numerous astonished gazes, saying she had mesmerized the man from Lindong's family, that she could finally come to find her, able to adopt her as a daughter and take her to a better place.

Between the lines, the woman reeked of alcohol, constantly emphasizing how impressive that man was, how she married into such a family, and crossed so many social classes.

She didn't know this woman and only later learned from the foster home's director that this woman was her biological mother.

The woman said she had already planned out her future, that as long as she went with her to Lindong's family, she could marry one of the family men, saying she was a Starry Singer, a treasure that everyone in the family would scramble for.

She was not even eight years old then, just hearing her biological mother wanting to hand her future to a man over forty, hearing the woman tell her she should submit to her fate, learn to be obedient, and try to please those in the family.

Perhaps the woman was madly drunk, perhaps it was what she truly thought all along.

From then on, she understood that the woman had no feelings for her daughter whom she had never met, nor did she come to make her life better, but intended to use her as a stepping stone into Lindong's family.

As her thoughts slowly returned, Tang Xin said, "I don't want my future to be dictated by others, don't want to become a puppet, and don't want to lose even a shred of my right to choose."

Amy realized she might have said something wrong:

"Sorry, I didn't know about your past, Xin."

Tang Xin shook her head and said nothing.

Do past events just pass like that?

She could not tolerate such words.

If all suffering could be dismissed like this, should those at the mercy of life's unfairness just be scorned by those above?

Constantly compromising with the heavens, constantly reconciling with fate.

Must one submit, numbing oneself with such words over and over, growing up amidst repeated harm?

Whether it was peers in the foster home, people in the academy, or those in the family, everyone compared her to the woman. Words like 'dirty' wounded her deeply, too harshly glaring.

Because of the woman, she suffered a lot of unjust treatment and bullying. Until today, her lack of opinion and weak character was like the world's malice, deeply engraving itself in the core of her being.

In the midst of their conversation, the two arrived at the Siren Manor's entrance. The two worn-out mahogany doors exuded a heavy aura as they approached. Tang Xin placed her hand on the door, slowly pushing it open.

Someday, she would break free from all constraints and fly out of the cage.

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