Chapter 1

When the hashtag #HasSuXingyaoQuitShowbizToday# topped the trending list, Su Xingyao was at the bottom of a cliff, on the brink of death.

A branch had impaled his abdomen, and his once snow-white clothes were soaked with blood and mud.

Two hours earlier, Chu Zian had pushed him off the cliff.

The culprit, seizing the lack of witnesses and cameras, neither called the police nor said anything. He just acted like nothing happened and covered it up.

When the show's crew began filming, they couldn't find or reach Su Xingyao. Based on someone's vague comment, "I think I saw him leave," Su Xingyao, who already had a terrible reputation in the industry, instantly pissed off the entire crew.

Soon, word got out that he had arrogantly stood up the whole crew, and he was subsequently blasted to the top of the trending list.

"Left early because lunch wasn't to his liking—typical arrogant Su Xingyao."

"Su Xingyao? That guy who tried to meddle in Chu Zian and Jiang Xunche's relationship, clinging to Jiang Xunche like a homewrecker?"

"I heard he even ripped off Shen Huaixi's songs before."

"What a scumbag, what a disgusting face."

"Why isn't this jerk dead yet?"

"Su Xingyao should just die already +1."

On the trending page, fans and netizens were unusually united, all wishing Su Xingyao would just drop dead.

At this moment, Su Xingyao, despised by thousands, also felt that he was indeed about to die.

After repeatedly passing out from the pain, he had grown numb to the pain, and his whole body was going numb.

He had been down there for so long that the sun had set, yet no rescue had arrived.

The towering trees and dense jungle swallowed him up, and the cold mountain wind howled like wild beasts.

Su Xingyao weakly opened his eyes. His will to survive drove him to use his only working left hand to drag himself forward, inch by inch.

Though no one came to his rescue, he was lucky enough to find his phone.

But the mountain's poor signal meant he searched in vain for a spot with reception.

This was his only lifeline now.

In the mountains, finding a signal was as difficult as reaching the sky.

Su Xingyao crawled forward and changed places many times, but the phone still did not receive any signal.

Seeing the phone's battery almost depleted, Su Xingyao, whose physical strength was completely exhausted, finally stopped.

His breathing became shallower and shallower, sometimes not even exhaling for dozens of seconds.

Perhaps because all senses become exceptionally sharp when one is about to die, Su Xingyao found that he could actually feel the strength in his body dissipating bit by bit from his limbs.

The noisy insect chirps and beast roars in the deep forest became clearer and clearer.

He could feel that not far behind the bushes, several pairs of sharp eyes were staring at him, probing his situation.

When the time was ripe, they would pounce on him, tear him to pieces, and leave him with no place to be buried.

Such a dangerous situation made Su Xingyao realize that the time he had left to survive was almost up.

But now, with his limbs unable to move, he could only resign himself to what was about to happen.

Su Xingyao desperately glanced at his phone, only to find a faint signal in the upper right corner of the screen.

After his desperate fight to survive throughout the entire afternoon, he had finally found a glimmer of hope.

However, the earlier search had drained all his strength.

Unable to dial, he could only curl his now only movable little finger and feebly tap the emergency contact number on the current page.

His phone had saved three emergency contact numbers, but at this moment, he couldn't see clearly which one he had dialed...

This made him worry if anyone would pick up.

After all, his father was always busy and often hung up on him.

And his mother had told him to call her less unless necessary, to avoid making her adopted son, Shen Huaixi, feel insecure.

Su Xingyao knew very well that this call was his one and only chance to make a call.

So he hoped for a bit of luck, wishing that the person answering would be the kind and good-natured Qin Sihan.

However, he was currently studying abroad and was likely in class right now.

In just a few seconds, Su Xingyao's mind was flooded with thoughts.

So when the call connected and his mother Wen Ningshu's voice came through, he didn't react immediately, and his throat was too dry to speak.

"What is it?"

Wen Ningshu spoke coldly, her tone carrying a hint of impatience.

Trapped on the cliff all afternoon, already on the verge of death, Su Xingyao finally heard the voice of a loved one, and his pale, bloodless face seemed to show a flicker of life.

The phone was just out of reach, and he couldn't hear clearly what his mother was saying.

So he tried to summon the last ounce of strength in his body to move the phone closer to his cheek.

His movements were slow, inch by inch, and it took a great effort to drag the phone into place.

But on the other end of the line, Wen Ningshu, seeing that her son hadn't spoken for so long, became even more furious, already upset by the day's trending scandal.

"Su Xingyao, you spend your days dabbling in the entertainment industry without any real work, and what have you achieved? Every day it's one scandal after another, either being called a homewrecker or accused of being a diva. Who upset you today that you're throwing such a tantrum? It's a good thing people don't know you're a child of the Shen family. If they did, you'd have utterly shamed us!"

"You're a top graduate from a prestigious university, but what happened to your upbringing? Your knowledge? Don't you feel ashamed doing these things? Su Xingyao, tell me, why can't you be as dependable as Xiao Xi?"

Wen Ningshu had always been strongly against Su Xingyao entering the entertainment industry. After all, the Shen family was wealthy and influential, and Su Xingyao, as the young master of a prominent family, wanted for nothing.

In her eyes, there was no need for him to become a minor celebrity in the entertainment industry.

In the past, Su Xingyao had been very determined to join the industry, and although she opposed it, she hadn't spoken out much.

But today's scandal had blown up on social media, and her phone had been bombarded with notifications.

Seizing this opportunity, Wen Ningshu naturally began to lecture her troublesome son.

After all, both had entered the entertainment industry, but her adopted son Shen Huaixi was well-behaved and sensible, never causing trouble, and everyone praised him for being excellent and humble, bringing her great pride. But her biological son, from the moment he debuted, had been causing trouble, stirring up trouble at every turn, achieving nothing but accumulating scandals.

The more Wen Ningshu thought about it, the angrier she got. After questioning her son, she steeled herself and adopted a knowing tone to expose his hidden motives.

"Mom knows you're trying to compete with Shen Huaixi by being a star, but you can't sing, you can't act, and you even botched a variety show... Su Xingyao, is it really worth it to be a star? Everything at home is already yours, so why do you still need to compete with Shen Huaixi in the entertainment industry?"

No matter how hard you try, you'll never outdo him.

Wen Ningshu, remembering he was her own son, kept this last thought to herself.

With great effort, Su Xingyao managed to bring the phone to his ear.

His instinctive cry of "Mom..." was drowned out by Wen Ningshu's relentless scolding and questioning.

What Su Xingyao truly wanted to cry out was: Mom, I'm in agony, please help me.

But he lacked the strength to utter another word.

He was truly in pain.

An inexplicable agony radiated from his heart, engulfing his entire being.

It felt like salt was being rubbed into a fresh, gaping wound.

His body felt like a living corpse, decaying and consumed by swarms of insects.

The overwhelming pain plunged Su Xingyao into darkness.

In his haze of pain, a flood of memories surged through his mind.

He was transported back to the age of seventeen, to the day his parents brought him home from the orphanage.

After years of hardship and wandering, he believed he had finally found a warm, welcoming home.

Filled with hope and excitement, he used his saved scholarship money to secretly buy gifts for his parents and his new foster brother, whom he had never met.

He longed to quickly blend into this family and truly belong.

But upon arriving home, he realized he was the only one who cared deeply about this reunion.

His parents greeted his arrival with indifference, and the housekeeper and servants mirrored their cold demeanor.

There was no welcome, not even the courtesy of a shared meal.

No sooner had they arrived home than his parents rushed off.

He stubbornly lingered at the large table, hoping for a family reunion dinner that never came.

But as the food grew cold, he discovered his parents had left to fetch Shen Huaixi, who had just returned from a trip.

On his first day home, he ate the cold meal in silence, then sat quietly in the living room, watching Shen Huaixi bask in the warmth of their parents' smiles.

Su Xingyao felt a chilling numbness spread through his body as his thoughts grew increasingly muddled.

Just as this scene was not yet over, another scene came one after another like a revolving lantern.

It was the year of high school when he achieved first place in the whole grade.

The school arranged for him to give a speech as a student representative on Friday.

The teacher said there would be an award ceremony later and invited parents to come to the school to witness this moment.

So he excitedly told his mother about it.

But in the end, all he got was an offhand, "Oh, I have to attend Huai Xi's parent-teacher meeting that day."

So, during the speech and award ceremony, he stood tall and alone among the top ten students, all surrounded by their parents.

Whispers from the students in front reached his ears.

"Why didn't the top student's parents come?"

"Him? He's an orphan; he has no parents."

Nightmares pressed down on Su Xingyao one after another, gradually blurring his consciousness.

Wen Ningshu, having not received a response for a while, finally stopped her scolding.

For some reason, a flicker of doubt and unease crossed her mind inexplicably, and in her anxiety, she instinctively spoke.

"Xing Yao?"

Realizing that her earlier words might have been too harsh, Wen Ningshu finally softened her tone slightly, though the shift was abrupt and still carried a hint of stiffness.

"Why aren't you saying anything? What's wrong with you?"

To Wen Ningshu's concern, the other end of the line remained dead silent.

The panic in her heart grew more pronounced, and Wen Ningshu, unable to understand the reason, grew increasingly irritable.

She frowned, thinking of her son's habit of staying silent and uncommunicative whenever something was wrong, and gradually lost her patience.

"Are you deliberately not talking to spite me?"

The continued silence made Wen Ningshu think Su Xingyao was tacitly agreeing, and she immediately warned him coldly, "This trick doesn't work on me."

With that, she hung up the call decisively.

At the same time, Su Xingyao's phone slipped from his hand and fell to the grass.

Its battery exhausted, it finally shut down automatically.

Su Xingyao's precarious life, like a drained battery, was at its end.

The sky darkened completely, and the sound of chaotic footsteps grew clearer in his ears.

His body would soon be eaten by wild animals...

He twitched the corner of his lips, his blood-stained lips glowing an eerie red in the darkness.

Darkness quickly swallowed everything around him.

In his final moments, Su Xingyao turned his head slightly, opened his eyes gently, and took one last look at the pitch-black night sky.

Raindrops fell one by one on his face.

Rain fell in the mountains.

Su Xingyao woke up again, a month later.

*

During this time of deep sleep, he had an incredibly long dream.

However, in his dream, the protagonist was not himself, but his adopted younger brother, Shen Huaixi.

This dream also clued him in that the world he was in was actually a fictional world from a novel.

Shen Huaixi was the protagonist of this reincarnation novel.

As the protagonist, he was sunny, cheerful, and ambitious, with everything going his way. Everyone naturally adored him.

Thus, Shen Huaixi's parents, fiancé, friends, fans, and almost all the important characters in the book adored and cherished him.

He, however, was the dark foil to Shen Huaixi's goodness and beauty.

From the moment he was born, he was branded as harsh and sinister, universally disliked no matter his actions.

Even when he later met a tragic end, those he once cared about either sighed in relief or thought he got what he deserved.

After piecing it all together, the sound of medical equipment beside him jolted him awake.

Opening his eyes, he looked around the unfamiliar room and noticed many professional devices, giving the room the feel of a meticulously designed hospital room.

Yet, compared to a hospital room, the decor and details made it feel more like a cozy bedroom.

On the windowsill, a row of vibrant Juice Terrace roses were planted, with clusters of orange-yellow roses blooming brightly in the sunlight.

The entire room was painted in the light tones he loved.

He tried to prop himself up with his hands, then turned his head to find a simple round table by the bed, on which sat a beautiful bouquet of peonies.

Beside the bouquet, an electronic timer displayed that a month had passed since his fall from the cliff.

Had he really been out for that long...

Su Xingyao looked down at his body.

He remembered suffering severe injuries, but now the most serious abdominal wound had miraculously vanished.

Only a few scratches from branches and rocks marred his body...

Su Xingyao was a bit surprised.

Had his wounds healed so fast due to his rebirth?

Recalling that night, Su Xingyao couldn't help but wonder.

Who had found him in that remote cliff area and gone to such lengths to save and care for him for so long?

After all, equipping the room with such professional gear and maintaining such a tasteful environment for a month wasn't something just anyone could afford.

Su Xingyao quickly searched his mind for possible candidates, but his social circle was too limited, and there was no such plot in the book, so he couldn't figure out who it might be.

But he was truly grateful to whoever had saved him.

"Oh, you're awake!"

As Su Xingyao was pondering, a gentle woman's voice sounded in the room.

He looked up and saw a middle-aged woman in her fifties standing at the door in surprise.

Catching Su Xingyao's eye, she quickly walked to the bedside, her eyes filled with joy.

"You're finally awake, young man. You've been out for a whole month."

"Would you like some water or something to eat? I've got some porridge warming up for you. If you want some, I can go down and serve it now."

The unfamiliar woman's evident joy for him was so intense that Su Xingyao, unused to such care, was stunned for a moment before responding.

"Thank you..."

He responded accordingly, "I'll just have some water."

She nodded and swiftly poured him a glass of warm water.

Su Xingyao cradled the glass, taking a slow sip, then looked up at her, "Auntie, what should I call you?"

The middle-aged woman smiled warmly, "You can call me Aunt Zhang."

Su Xingyao nodded with a polite smile, "Hello, Aunt Zhang. My name is Su Xingyao."

"Ah, Xing Yao, that's good. I'm glad you're okay."

Aunt Zhang sat by Su Xingyao's bed, her voice filled with concern, "How do you feel? Dr. Lin will be here soon. Be sure to tell him everything—he's very skilled."

Su Xingyao nodded as Aunt Zhang remembered something, then spoke again.

"The night Mr. Lu brought you back, you were drenched in blood, not a single spot untouched. I've never seen anything like it..."

Su Xingyao, curious about his savior, finally pieced it together from Aunt Zhang's words that he had been rescued by a Mr. Lu.

In the original tale, the name Lu...

Su Xingyao's mind flashed to a handsome, shadowed face because of this surname.

Aunt Zhang continued to vividly describe the scene from that night.

But the tragedy of the scene turned her expression pained.

"I've never seen a face so pale, like a sheet of paper..."

After saying this, she turned to look at Su Xingyao with affection and sighed deeply, "Thank heavens you made it through and woke up."

Aunt Zhang said many more caring words to Su Xingyao but tactfully did not ask what had happened that night.

After chatting for a while, Aunt Zhang went downstairs to serve Su Xingyao a small bowl of plain porridge.

Su Xingyao wasn't really hungry, but he couldn't bear to disappoint Aunt Zhang's kindness, so he took it and started eating.

The porridge was made with great care, and Su Xingyao enjoyed it.

After being on an IV for so long, his hands were icy cold.

Now, with the warm porridge nourishing his stomach, his skin also began to warm up.

As he was sipping the porridge, Su Xingyao suddenly heard the sound of a puppy from the hallway.

Then his door was pushed wide open by the puppy.

Following the sound, Su Xingyao's light-colored eyes met a pair of deep, dark eyes from across the room.