Chapter 1

When the trending topic “【Has Su Xingyao Left the Entertainment Industry Today?】” soared to the top of the trending list, Su Xingyao was at the bottom of a cliff, his life hanging by a thread.

A branch had pierced through his abdomen, and his once white clothes were soaked through with blood and mud.

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

However, the perpetrator took advantage of the absence of people and cameras at the time, neither called the police nor said anything. Instead, he calmly concealed the incident as if nothing had happened.

By the time the production team started filming, and the staff realized that Su Xingyao couldn’t be found and couldn’t be reached, someone vaguely mentioned, “I think I saw him leave.” This set off a chain of events, leading to Su Xingyao—already infamous in the industry—angering everyone on the production team.

Soon, news spread about his behavior of flaking on the whole team, and he was quickly bombarded with criticism on social media, making it to the top of the trending list.

【Su Xingyao left early because he didn’t like lunch, throwing a tantrum again?】

【Su Xingyao? Isn’t he the one who tried to interfere in Chu Zian and Jiang Xunche’s relationship, shamelessly chasing after Jiang Xunche?】

【I heard he even stole a song from Shen Huaixi before!】

【What a terrible person, what a disgusting face.】

【How is this trash still alive? Just go die already.】

【Su Xingyao, hurry up and die +1】

On the trending square, fans and random passersby were united like never before, cursing Su Xingyao to die.

At this moment, Su Xingyao, who’s despised by everyone, truly felt like he was on the verge of death.

He didn’t know how many times he had lost consciousness from the pain, but by now, he had grown accustomed to it, and his entire body was beginning to numb.

He had been lying there for so long—so long that the sun had set, yet no rescue had come.

The towering trees and dense foliage covered his body, and the cold mountain wind howled, making sounds like a beast’s screech.

Su Xingyao weakly opened his eyes, and driven by his will to survive, he used his only functioning left hand to push himself forward, dragging his body with great difficulty.

Although no one had come to his rescue, he was fortunate enough to find his phone.

However, there was no signal in the mountains, and after searching for a long time, he still couldn’t find a place with coverage.

This was the only thing that could save him now.

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

Su Xingyao crawled to several different spots, but his phone still didn’t catch even the faintest signal.

Looking at the dwindling battery, with his physical strength completely exhausted, Su Xingyao finally stopped.

His breathing grew more shallow, sometimes not exhaling for several seconds at a time.

He didn’t know if it was because the senses sharpen when one is close to death, but Su Xingyao found that he could actually feel the strength draining from his body, slowly dissipating from his limbs.

The chirping  of insects and the howling of wild animals in the dense forest grew clearer.

He could feel it—several pairs of sharp eyes were staring at him from behind the bushes, trying to figure out his condition.

Once the time was right, they would pounce on him, tearing him to pieces, leaving him with no burial ground.

In such a dangerous situation, Su Xingyao realized that his time to fight for survival was running out.

But now, with his limbs unable to move, he could only watch helplessly as everything he feared was about to happen.

With no strength left, Su Xingyao reluctantly looked at his phone, only to find that, at the top right corner of the screen, there was now a faint signal.

After struggling for survival the entire afternoon, he had finally found a glimmer of hope.

However, the previous search had drained him of all his energy.

Unable to dial, he could only bend his pinky, the only finger still able to move, and gently tap the emergency contact number on the screen.

There were three emergency contacts stored in his phone, but at this moment, he couldn’t even tell which one he was calling…

This thought made him anxious—would anyone answer the call after it was dialed?

After all, his dad was always busy and often cut off his calls.

And his mom had also told him to call her less when nothing was urgent, to avoid making her adopted son, Shen Huaixi, feel insecure.

Su Xingyao knew very well that this call was his only and final chance.

So, he hoped for a bit of good luck, wishing that the person who picked up would be the kind and innocent Qin Sihan.

But she was currently studying abroad, and he assumed she was likely in class.

In just a few seconds, Su Xingyao’s mind raced through many thoughts.

So, when the call was answered and his mother, Wen Ningzhu’s voice came through, Su Xingyao didn’t react immediately, and his throat couldn’t produce any sound.

“What’s the matter?”

Wen Ningzhu’s tone was cold, with a hint of impatience.

Having been trapped on the cliff for an entire afternoon, barely clinging to life, Su Xingyao finally heard the voice of a family member. At this moment, his pale, bloodless face seemed to regain a hint of life.

The phone was a bit far from him, and he couldn’t hear what his mother was saying clearly.

So, he tried to use the last of his strength to move the phone toward his cheek.

His movements were slow, painstakingly slow, and it took all his energy to pull the phone into position.

But on the other end of the line, Wen Ningzhu, seeing that her son hadn’t spoken for a long time, grew even angrier, especially since she was already upset about the trending topic today.

“Su Xingyao, you keep wasting your time in the entertainment industry, but what have you accomplished? Every day it’s just scandal after scandal. Either you’re being called a homewrecker or acting like a diva. Who pissed you off today that you had to throw a tantrum like this? Fortunately, no one knows you’re our Shen family’s child. If they did, our family’s reputation would be ruined because of you!”

“You’re supposed to be a graduate of a prestigious university, a high achiever, but where is your upbringing? Where’s your education? Don’t you feel ashamed doing all this? Su Xingyao, just tell me, why can’t you be like ^[1]“Xiao” (小) literally means “small” or “little.” However, when used as a prefix in names, it often conveys affection or familiarity, similar to calling someone … Continue readingXiao Xi, making things easier for everyone?”

Wen Ningzhu had always been very unhappy about Su Xingyao entering the entertainment industry. After all, the Shen family was influential, and as a young master of such a wealthy family, he had everything he could ever want. In her view, there was no need for him to be just another small-time celebrity.

When Su Xingyao first entered the industry, he was determined, and although Wen Ningzhu opposed it, she never openly expressed it.

But today, the trending topic had blown up, and news had spread everywhere.

Taking advantage of this, Wen Ningzhu began to lecture her troublesome son.

After all, her adopted son, Shen Huaixi, had entered the entertainment industry as well, but he was obedient, sensible, and never caused trouble. Everyone praised him for being humble and excellent, which made her proud.

But her biological son? From the moment he debuted, he had caused trouble after trouble. Everything he did seemed to stir up chaos, accomplishing nothing but accumulating scandals.

The more Wen Ningzhu thought about it, the angrier she became. After questioning him, she spoke in a tone that seemed to see through him completely, exposing his little schemes.

“I know you’re trying to compete with Xiao Xi by becoming a celebrity, but your singing isn’t good, your acting isn’t good, and you’ve messed up every variety show you’ve been on… Su Xingyao, do you really still need to be a celebrity? Everything in this family will be yours. Why do you have to compete with Xiao Xi in the entertainment industry?”

After all this competition, you’ll never outdo him.

This last line, Wen Ningzhu finally stopped herself from saying, since he was her biological son.

Su Xingyao, with great effort, managed to move the phone to his ear.

The instinctive words “Mom…” were completely drowned out by Wen Ningzhu’s scolding and her endless barrage of questions.

What Su Xingyao actually wanted to say was: “Mom, it hurts so much, please save me.”

But the words never came out. He no longer had the strength to speak, nor did he want to make any more sounds.

The pain was overwhelming.

The inexplicable pain spread from his heart and gradually filled his entire body.

It felt as though salt had been poured onto raw flesh that was being forcefully torn apart.

His body felt like a corpse that hadn’t died yet but was decaying, being gnawed and devoured by countless insects and ants.

The intense pain caused Su Xingyao to lose consciousness for a moment.

In the haze of his fading awareness, countless images flashed through his mind.

It was as though he was back at the age of seventeen, the day his parents picked him up from the orphanage.

Having suffered so much as an orphan, he thought this time he would finally have a warm home.

With eager anticipation, he saved up his scholarship money to quietly buy a gift for his parents and the adopted brother he had never met.

He wanted to quickly fit into this family, to become a part of it.

But when he got home, he realized that, in all the formalities, he was the only one who was so serious.

His parents’ reaction to his arrival was calm, and the butler and servants were unusually distant.

There was no welcome ceremony, he didn’t even have the right to share a family dinner together.

After arriving home, his parents hurriedly left.

He stubbornly stayed at the large dining table, hoping to wait for the family to come together for a reunion dinner.

But when the food had long since grown cold, he found out that his parents had gone to pick up Shen Huaixi, who had just returned from a trip.

On his first day back, he ate the cold food alone, quietly sitting in the living room, watching as his parents returned with Shen Huaixi, their faces full of smiles.

Su Xingyao felt his body growing colder, his mind becoming more and more disoriented.

The scene seemed endless, yet it quickly shifted to another memory.

It was his senior year of high school, when he had earned first place in his entire grade.

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

The teacher mentioned there would be an award ceremony afterward and suggested that parents should come to school to witness the moment.

So, with great excitement, he told his mother about it.

But all he got in return was a calm, “Oh, I have to attend a parent-teacher meeting for Huaixi that day.”

So, during the speech and the award ceremony, he stood tall, alone, surrounded by the other top ten students whose parents were present.

He overheard the whispers of the students in the front row.

“Why didn’t the parents of the top student come?”

“Ah… He’s an orphan, he doesn’t have parents.”

One after another, nightmares piled on, causing Su Xingyao’s consciousness to grow increasingly blurry.

On the other end, Wen Ningzhu, who hadn’t received a response, finally stopped scolding.

For some reason, a sense of doubt and unease flashed through her heart. Anxious, she subconsciously spoke.

“Xingyao?”

Realizing that her previous words might have been too harsh, Wen Ningzhu softened her tone slightly.

But the tone shift was too quick, still carrying some stiffness.

“Why aren’t you talking? What’s wrong with you?”

In response to Wen Ningzhu’s concern, the silence on the other end of the line remained deathly still.

The sense of panic in her heart grew stronger, but Wen Ningzhu couldn’t understand why, and her frustration began to show.

Furrowing her brow, she thought of her son’s silent, reticent nature, how he never spoke when faced with something troubling. Gradually, she began to lose patience.

“Are you deliberately keeping silent to vent your anger on me?”

Another round of silence made Wen Ningzhu think Su Xingyao was tacitly agreeing with her accusation, so she immediately coldly warned, “This trick won’t work on me.”

After saying that, she swiftly ended the call.

At the same time, the phone in Su Xingyao’s hand slipped from his grasp and fell onto the grass.

After the phone’s battery was completely drained, it finally powered off.

Su Xingyao’s life, too, like the drained battery, came to its end.

The sky had completely darkened, and the sounds of bustling footsteps became clearer in his ears.

His body would likely be devoured by the beasts soon…

He managed a faint smile, his bloodstained lips showing an eerie red in the darkness.

The darkness quickly swallowed everything around him.

In his final moments, Su Xingyao turned his head slightly, opened his eyes just enough to take one last look at the pitch-black night sky.

Raindrops fell on his face, one by one.

It was raining in the mountains.

—

Su Xingyao woke up again, but it had been a month.

During this long period of unconsciousness, he had a very long dream.

However, in this dream, he was not the protagonist. The main character was his adopted brother, Shen Huaixi.

It was this dream that made him realize that the world he was in was actually a novel world.

Shen Huaixi was the main protagonist in this “novel-world” story.

As the protagonist, he was sunny, cheerful, and full of vitality, everything going his way. He was loved by everyone by nature.

Thus, his parents, fiancé, friends, fans, and nearly all important people in the book adored and pampered him.

As for Su Xingyao, he existed as a dark contrast to Shen Huaixi’s goodness, serving to highlight Shen Huaixi’s virtues.

From birth, he had been branded with the label of being cruel and malicious, and everything he did was disliked by everyone.

Even after his unfortunate and tragic death, those people he once cared about either breathed a sigh of relief or thought he deserved his fate.

After realizing all of this, he was awakened by the sound of medical equipment beeping in his ears.

Opening his eyes and surveying the unfamiliar room, he noticed that the room was filled with professional equipment, like a hospital room that had been carefully prepared.

However, compared to a hospital room, the room’s decoration and various details made it feel more like a cozy bedroom.

On the windowsill, a row of lively fruit-bearing plants flourished, and several bouquets of orange-yellow roses were blooming vigorously in the sunlight.

The overall color scheme of the room was also in a light tone, which he liked.

He tried to prop himself up with his hand, and as he turned his head, he noticed a simple round table beside the bed with a beautiful peony bouquet on it.

Next to the bouquet, there was an electronic timer displaying the time—it had been a month since he had fallen off the cliff.

Did he really sleep for so long?

Su Xingyao looked down at his body.

He clearly remembered having sustained serious injuries, yet now the deep abdominal wound, the most severe of them all, had miraculously disappeared.

His body now only bore some bruises from being scratched by branches and rocks…

Su Xingyao was somewhat surprised.

The wounds healed so quickly—could it be because of rebirth?

Thinking back to that night, Su Xingyao couldn’t help but feel curious.

Who had found him on that desolate cliff and gone to such great lengths to rescue him and keep him alive for so long?

After all, not only had they managed to set up such professional medical equipment in the room, but they had also cared for him for an entire month, a cost that most people couldn’t afford.

Su Xingyao quickly searched his mind for possible candidates, but his social circle was so poor, and the book didn’t mention this event, so he couldn’t figure out who it was right away.

But since this person had saved him, he was truly grateful.

“Ah, you’re awake!”

While Su Xingyao was deep in thought, a gentle female voice sounded in the room.

He looked up and saw a middle-aged woman, around fifty years old, standing in the doorway, surprised.

When she met his gaze, she quickly walked over to the bedside, her eyes full of joy.

“Young handsome man, you’re finally awake! You’ve been unconscious for a whole month.”

“Do you want some water? Are you hungry? I’ve made some porridge for you, if you want, I can go get it for you now.”

The unfamiliar aunt’s expression of happiness for him was so obvious and enthusiastic that Su Xingyao, who had not been cared for by anyone in a long time, paused for a few seconds before realizing he should speak.

“Thank you…”

He replied according to what she had said, “Just some water will be fine.”

She responded with a quick “Okay,” and hurriedly poured him a glass of warm water.

Su Xingyao held the glass and slowly took a sip, then looked up at her. “Aunt, may I ask how I should address you?”

The middle-aged woman smiled and said kindly, “You can just call me Aunt Zhang.”

Su Xingyao nodded and politely greeted her, “Hello, Aunt Zhang. My name is Su Xingyao.”

“Ah, so you’re called Xingyao. Good, good, good. I’m glad you’re okay,” 

Aunt Zhang said, sitting down by Su Xingyao’s bedside and continuing to care for him. “How do you feel? Doctor Lin will be coming soon. If you have anything, be sure to tell him. He’s very skilled.”

Su Xingyao nodded, and Aunt Zhang seemed to remember something else, so she spoke again.

“When Mr. Lu carried you back that night, you were covered in blood, and your body had no uninjured spot. I’ve never seen so much blood in my life…”

At this moment, Su Xingyao, who had been wondering who had saved him, finally understood from Aunt Zhang’s words that it was Mr. Lu who had rescued him.

In the original story, the person with the surname Lu…

The surname triggered an image in Su Xingyao’s mind, and a handsome yet shadowed face automatically appeared in his thoughts.

Aunt Zhang, sitting across from him, was still vividly describing the events of that night. However, because the scene was so tragic, her expression turned sorrowful as well.

“I’ve never seen a face so pale, it was like white paper…”

After speaking, she turned her gaze to Su Xingyao with sympathy, letting out a long sigh. “Thank goodness you pulled through and woke up.”

Aunt Zhang continued to say many more caring things to Su Xingyao, but she was tactful enough not to ask him what exactly had happened that night.

After chatting for a while, Aunt Zhang went downstairs and brought Su Xingyao a small bowl of congee.

Su Xingyao wasn’t particularly hungry, but he didn’t want to disappoint Aunt Zhang’s kindness, so he still took the bowl and started drinking.

The congee had been carefully prepared, and Su Xingyao found it quite delicious.

His hands had been cold from the long period of receiving intravenous fluids.

Now, with the warm congee in his stomach, the warmth slowly spread through his skin.

While he was sipping the congee, Su Xingyao suddenly heard a few small dog barks coming from the hallway.

Then, his room door was pushed wide open by the little dog.

Following the sound, Su Xingyao looked up and met a pair of deep, pitch-black eyes with his own light-colored ones.