Chapter Three: A Mind That Couldn't Be Ignored
1316 Words
Morning came too early.
Shen Jia Li had barely slept.
The pages of her textbook were still open beside her, notes scattered in precise, neat handwriting.
At some point during the night, exhaustion had pulled her under, but not for long.
By the time the first light filtered through the curtains, she was already awake again.
Habit, or maybe survival.
She dressed quickly in her simplest clothes, tying her hair in a ponytail before glancing at the large mirror across the room. For a moment, she couldn't recognise the girl staring back at her.
The room was too grand.
The reflection too small.
She looked away.
The dinning hall was already set when she arrived.
A long table. Too long.
Breakfast had been laid in quiet perfection– porcelain plates, golden utensils, fresh fruits arranged like art work. The kind of setting where breathing felt like it needed permission.
Jia Li paused at the entrance.
“Why are you just standing there?”
Madam Li's voice.
Sharp. Effortless.
Jia Li stepped forward immediately. “Good morning ma'am.”
Madam Li didn't respond. She simply sipped her coffee, eyes scanning a document in her hand.
Yichen sat opposite from her already dressed for work. His expression calm, but his gaze flickered towards Jia Li before returning to his plate.
“Sit.” Madam Li said after a moment, gesturing to the far end of the table.
Jia Li obeyed.
She ate quietly, carefully, aware of every movement she made.
“You're attending the university today?” madam Li suddenly asked.
“Yes ma'am.”
“What are you studying?”
“Medicine.”
Madam Li raised a brow. “Ambitious.”
The word didn't sound like a praise.
Jia Li lowered her gaze. “ I'll study hard.”
“You should,” Madam Li replied coldly. “The Li's family does not tolerate mediocrity.”
Yichen's hand paused slightly against his cup.
But he said nothing.
The university felt like a completely different world.
Here, Jia Li could breath.
The air was loud, messy, alive with students rushing between classes, arguing, laughing and complaining about exams. No one bowed. No one looked at her like she didn't belong.
Here, she was just another student.
Or maybe… she used to be.
“Jia Li.”
She turned at the sound of her name.
Her friend, xiaomei, hurried towards her. “You disappeared for days now! I tried calling– are you okay?”
Jia Li hesitated. “I… had some family matters.”
“That must be some ‘family matters,”’ xiaomei said, narrowing her eyes playfully. “You look like you moved into a palace or something.”
Jia Li forced a small smile.
Not far from the truth.
Before she could respond, another voice cutting in.
“Professor Junhao posted the exam rankings.”
The hallway scattered instantly.
Students rushed towards the notice board, tension rising like electricity.
Jia Li felt her stomach tighten.
She hadn't checked.
She hadn't planned to.
“Come on!” Xiaomei grabbed her wrist. “Let's go!”
They pushed through the crowd.
The list was long.
Names ranked neatly from top to bottom.
Jia Li's eyes moved slowly down the page–
Then stopped.
Shen Jia Li
A perfect score.
Again.
A hushed spread through the students around her.
“She topped again?”
“Isn't she just a first-year?”
“How is that even possible?”
Xiaomei let out a small whistle. “You're not human.”
Jia Li shook her head. “I just studied.”
“Everyone studies,” xiaomei said. “Not everyone destroys the rest of us.”
Jia Li didn't respond.
Because to her, it wasn't about winning.
It was about not failing.
By the time she returned to the Li mansion that evening, the sun was already setting.
She stepped inside quietly, hoping to slip past unnoticed.
“Miss Shen.”
She froze.
One of the house staff approached her with a polite bow. “The old master is asking for you.”
Jia li nodded. “I'll come immediately.”
General Li was in the study room.
The room smelled faintly of ink and aged paper. Military medals lined up the walls, reminders of a life built on sacrifice and discipline.
He looked up as she entered.
“Come here,” he said gesturing for her to sit.
Jia li obeyed.
“I heared about your results,” he said.
She blinked. “You…did?”
He chuckled. “Did you think I wouldn't pay attention?”
“I didn't mean–”
“You ranked first again,” he continued, pride evident in his voice. “Good.”
Jia li lowered her head. “Thank you sir.”
“You're wasted hiding in that corner of the dinning table,” he said bluntly.
She stiffened.
Before she could respond, the door opened.
Yichen stepped in.
“Grandfather, you wanted to see me?”
“Yes,” the old man said. “Sit.”
Yichen glanced briefly at Jia Li before taking a seat.
“I've been thinking,” General Li began, folding his hands together. “About the future.”
Something in his tone made the air shift.
Jia li felt it.
Yichen felt it too.
“I brought Jia Li into this house for a reason,” the old man continued. “Not just because she saved my life.”
Yichen's expression hardened slightly.
“Grandfather–”
“I want her protected,” he said. “Properly.”
Jia Li's heart began to pound.
“I can take care of myself,” she said quietly.
The general's gaze softened. “ You don't have to.”
Silence fell.
Heavy. Deliberate.
Then–
“I've made a decision.”
Yichen's jaw tightened.
Jia Li's hands curled into her skirt.
The old general looked between them.
And spoke the words that would binding their lives together.
“You will marry her.”
Everything stopped.
The air.
The sound.
Even Jia Li's breathing.
Yichen stood abruptly. “Absolutely not.”
Jia Li's head snapped up, her heart dropped instantly.
“I already have someone,” he continued, his voice cold, controlled. “You know that.”
“I know,” General Li answered calmly.
“Then we shouldn't even be having this conversation.”
“We're having it,” the old man said, his tone sharpening slightly. “And it is not a request.”
Jia Li felt like she had been pulled into a storm she didn't understand.
“This is so unfair,” she whispered.
Both men turned to look at her.
“I didn't come here for this,” she said, her voice trembling despite her effort to stay composed.
“I'm grateful, but I don't want to–”
“You don't get to refuse either,” the general said calmly, but firmly.
Tears burned behind her eyes.
Yichen let out a bitter laugh. “So that's it? You decide, and we… we just obey?”
“Yes.”
That single word landed like a verdict.
Yichen ran a hand through his hair, frustration breaking through his usual composure.
“This is my life,” he said.
“And she's now a part of it,” the general replied.
Silence followed.
Tense.
Long.
Unavoidable.
Jia Li stared at the floor, her vision blurring.
Yichen looked at her.
Really looked at her.
At the girl who had stood fearless in a hospital room…
Now looked like she was about to break.
Something twisted in his heart.
But it wasn't enough.
Not yet.
“I don't accept,” he said finally.
Jia Li's heart clenched.
General Li leaned back in his chair.
“You will,” he said calmly. “Eventually.”
And just like that–
A marriage neither of them wanted…
Had already begun to take shape.
- Writer
