The fateful connection between Li Xiaohao and Nangong Ying must be traced back to the grand conspirator Li Tai Zheng. After his wife Xiao Linghua gave birth to twin children at Shadow Manor, he initiated a great revenge plan that would come to define their lives. But let us set aside those machinations for now; what concerns us are the diverging fates of these twins.

The younger daughter was taken home and entrusted to Madam Nangong's care. Xiaohao remained with Xiao Linghua in Shadow Manor, where she was forced yet willing to feed the lifeless child with her own blood. The boy grew at ten times the normal rate - when his sister was barely two, he had already reached seven or eight years old, his intelligence expanding like a storm.

While Li Tai Zheng taught him various disciplines, he systematically infused the boy's mind with his grand revenge scheme. He promised that upon maturity, the father would provide an arranged bride chosen in advance to bear another powerful demon-child. Yet however brilliant children might be, they remain children.

From this, Xiaohao developed early fantasies about his bride-to-be. On several occasions Li Tai Zheng secretly brought him home and pointed out Nangong Ying playing in the garden. This first encounter quickly took root in his mind like wild ivy. To him, this girl was the one destined for him - her warmth toward others was natural, especially as Xiao Shu cultivated bonds with her every day. But how could she treat strangers to his face when she doted on Xiao Shu? The moment she spoke those first indifferent words, a seed of disappointment began to sprout.

This explained their inexplicable initial meeting. Through paternal conditioning, Li Xiaohao had merged Nangong Ying's destiny with his own in the mind, while she saw him as just another ordinary person. This vast chasm between ideal and reality made him act capricious around her - one moment sulky, next explosive.

At this point, when Ying realized the beanie-wearer was Xiao Shu's twin brother, her irritation softened somewhat. At least there were no abduction worries now. She ceased struggling toward the highway and merely murmured, "You share our surname? What did my parents ask you to do?"

"They want to move into their country villa," he said, pointing at the van nearly disappearing over the horizon. "Your father is directing from the passenger seat while your mother oversees the cargo in the back. If you don't hurry back now..."

Hearing this, Ying suddenly felt embarrassed. The man was her parents' hired helper who had been wrongfully accused. She lowered her head and softly apologized as she opened the van door, sliding into the rear seat.

Those who pine secretly always share a trait - they interpret every accidental word or gesture from their object of affection as an unspoken signal. Now that Ying felt foolish for causing a scene, her apology carried special meaning to Xiaohao. He believed only soulmates could intuitively sense what others most needed. Since his deepest wound was this lingering disappointment, and she had just so conveniently apologized - who else in the world could possibly understand him as intimately?