The villa belonging to Lin Wanwan's uncle was located in a rather respectable yet slightly outdated residential area in the old part of the city. Compared to the top-tier security and modern design she had grown accustomed to, the place exuded a dated, rigid aura of wealth.
Upon receiving the phone call that Lin Wanwan was coming back, her uncle Lin Jianming and aunt He Wan were quite surprised, even somewhat flattered. After all, ever since Lin Wanwan "married" into the Shen family, she had practically cut off all contact with them. Later, after falling out with Shen Mo and striking out on her own, she had never once returned to this "home," which she viewed as full of oppressive memories.
*(Lin Jianming's internal thoughts: Why is she suddenly coming back? I heard she's doing extremely well for herself now, and even Shen Mo took a tumble because of her... Could she be here to settle old scores?)*
*(He Wan's internal thoughts: Pressuring her to visit the Shen family more often back then was for her own good, and for the good of the Lin family. Now that she's successful, she surely can't forget her roots, right? Could she be here to give something back to her maternal family?)*
When Lin Wanwan's understated yet expensive car parked at the villa entrance, Lin Jianming and He Wan were already dressed up, stepping out to greet her with slightly awkward and ingratiating smiles.
"Wanwan is back! Come on in, come on in!" He Wan eagerly reached out to take Lin Wanwan's hand, only to be smoothly and imperceptibly dodged.
"Uncle, Aunt." Lin Wanwan gave a slight nod, her tone flat, betraying neither joy nor anger. She looked over the couple who had raised the original owner of her body; her memories of them were filled mostly with their harsh criticism and exploitation regarding how she was "not driven enough" and "failed to capture Shen Mo's heart," with very little warmth.
The living room decor was much as she remembered it from before the original owner's marriage—flashy and tacky, bearing He Wan's distinct aesthetic imprint. After exchanging a few superficial pleasantries about their recent lives, Lin Wanwan cut straight to the point, having no time to waste on hypocritical polite talk.
"I'm back this time to sort through some old belongings left behind by my parents." Lin Wanwan's gaze swept across the living room. "I remember some things were supposedly always kept in the attic?"
Lin Jianming and He Wan exchanged glances, both looking surprised. Lin Wanwan's parents had passed away in an accident when she was very young, leaving behind few possessions, most of which were worthless old items that they had long ago thrown into a corner of the attic to gather dust. Why would she suddenly want these things?
*(Lin Jianming's internal thoughts: What good things could her parents have left behind? Did we misjudge the situation?)*
*(He Wan's internal thoughts: Could it be that now she has money, she's trying to find some family token or something to put on airs?)*
"Oh, right, right, they're in the attic," Lin Jianming hastily replied. "They're just old things covered in a thick layer of dust. Should I have your aunt find someone to help you sort them out?"
"No need to trouble anyone, I'll go take a look myself." Lin Wanwan stood up, her tone leaving no room for argument.
The attic was piled high with sundries, the air stale and thick with dust and the smell of mildew. Lin Wanwan stopped in front of an old wooden chest covered in a thick layer of dust; based on the original owner's extremely vague memories, this seemed to be what her parents had left behind. Refusing the servants' help, she put on the gloves she had prepared and opened the box.
Inside were mostly old clothes, yellowed letters, and a few photo albums. She carefully flipped through the albums, which contained mostly pictures of her parents in their youth, along with images of the original owner in early childhood. The little girl in the photos wore an exquisite princess dress and smiled with innocent charm; her features bore a faint resemblance to the contours of her face today, but her temperament was utterly different from the "Lin Wan" described by Yang Wenyuan—the girl who wore thick glasses and buried herself in her studies.
*(Lin Wanwan's internal thoughts: Could it really just be a coincidence? Did Yang Wenyuan mistake her for someone else?)*
Unwilling to give up, she continued searching. At the very bottom of the box, her fingers brushed against a hard, square object wrapped in oilcloth. Unwrapping the oilcloth, she revealed an exquisitely crafted rosewood box fastened with a small, slightly rusted brass lock.
*(Lin Wanwan's internal thoughts: What is this? There is no trace of this box in the original owner's memory at all.)*
She tried giving it a hard snap, and the rusted latch broke right off with a click. Opening the box, she found no jewelry or documents as she had imagined, but only a few simple items: a completely dried-up, seemingly handmade makeshift tube of lipstick; a few pieces of fruit candy carefully wrapped in colored cellophane that had melted and stuck together; and a thin, yellow-paged, hand-drawn booklet.
She picked up the booklet and opened it. Inside were not drawings, but meticulously pencil-drawn diagrams of various plants, accompanied by names and brief characteristic descriptions written in a childish yet neat hand. Further in, simple chemical formulas began to appear, accompanied by her own notes and questions.
This was definitely not something drawn by a girl who only cared about pretty dresses and high-society life!
Lin Wanwan's heart skipped a beat. She quickly flipped to the title page of the booklet, where the same handwriting spelled out a name—Lin Wan.
It really was her! The missing "Lin Wan"!
So the original owner of this body, at an earlier time, truly had another name, a completely different set of hobbies and personality? What had caused her later drastic transformation? Was it a deliberate disguise, or... had something happened?
*(Lin Wanwan's internal thoughts: Multiple personality disorder? Impossible, too bizarre. It's more likely that at some point in time, a drastic change occurred to the real "Lin Wan," causing her temperament to radically shift, or even... to be "replaced" or "reshaped" to a certain extent?)*
The thought made her blood run cold.
She continued flipping through the booklet, and on the back of the final page, she discovered a line of tiny characters written with an ultra-fine pen tip, nearly blending into the paper's grain so that they would be impossible to spot without close inspection:
"They don't like me like this. Mom says that to be loved, I have to become Wanwan."
"Become Wanwan"?!
The words exploded in her mind like a thunderclap!
So, "Lin Wan" was her original self, while "Lin Wanwan" was a persona deliberately acted out just "to be loved"? Did this "they" and "Mom" refer to Lin Jianming and He Wan? Or... someone else entirely?
*(Lin Wanwan's internal thoughts: Completely negating her true self just to be loved... Did the original owner harbor such profound pain and distortion deep inside? Did the accident that killed her parents have anything to do with this as well?)*
She felt a pang of panic, as though she had brushed against the deepest, darkest scar of the original owner's body.
"Wanwan, did you find anything?" He Wan's voice suddenly came from the top of the stairs, carrying a trace of hard-to-conceal tension.
Lin Wanwan swiftly closed the booklet, shoved it into her handbag along with the lipstick and candy, and restored the rosewood box to its original state at the bottom of the chest.
"Nothing much, just some old toys from when I was a kid." She stood up, brushed the dust off her clothes, and kept her expression calm and unruffled, as though her recent discovery were a matter of no consequence.
Walking down from the attic, Lin Jianming and He Wan were still waiting in the living room with probing gazes.
Lin Wanwan looked at them and suddenly asked a seemingly casual question: "Uncle, Aunt, when I was little... did I have a nickname, or... did either of you ever accidentally call me by another name? For instance, calling me straight out by 'Lin Wan'?"
The complexions of Lin Jianming and He Wan flickered for a fraction of a second. Though they recovered quickly, that instantaneous unnaturalness did not escape Lin Wanwan's eyes.
*(Lin Jianming's internal thoughts: Why is she suddenly asking this?! Could she have remembered something? No way!)*
*(He Wan's internal thoughts: Damn it, did she find something in the attic? I should have thrown that junk out ages ago!)*
"How could that be!" He Wan laughed first, her tone dripping with exaggerated familiarity. "You've been our Wanwan since you were little, our one and only Wanwan! Did your dad blurt out some nonsense when he was drunk before? He sometimes doesn't make any sense."
Lin Jianming chimed in hastily as well: "Right, right, right, don't let your imagination run wild. Have you just been working too hard lately?"
Their reaction was practically protesting too much.
Lin Wanwan sneered inwardly and pressed no further. She knew that getting the truth out of them was probably impossible. But today's harvest had already far exceeded her expectations. Not only had she confirmed the existence of "Lin Wan," but she had also found a direct clue pointing to the secret behind the drastic change in the original owner's personality.
*(Lin Wanwan's internal thoughts: It seems my uncle and aunt know far more than they are letting on. Furthermore, they are scared—scared that I'll find out about the existence of "Lin Wan".)*
Leaving the Lin family villa and getting into the car, Lin Wanwan watched the rapidly retreating streetscapes outside the window, her gaze ice-cold.
The mist shrouding her identity had not dissipated; instead, it grew even heavier, pointing toward even darker possibilities. The original owner's past seemed to hide a cruel transaction concerning "being loved" and "self."
She gripped the hand-drawn booklet tightly inside her handbag.
No matter how sordid the truth might be, she had to investigate it to the end. This was not only to cope with any potential crisis, but also to... give an accounting to the girl who was once named "Lin Wan," who had loved nature and science.
A new battlefield was quietly opening amidst the dust of her past. And she had just added another bargaining chip to her hand.