Lin Xi pushed Lin Zhe along the street. Though drizzled with light rain, her mood was joyful.
Her younger brother’s body had miraculously begun to recover, and the gloom that had weighed on her heart for months seemed to have met the long-lost sunshine—more than half of it was instantly dispelled. Even her steps were light and breezy.
But Lin Zhe, watching his older sister wander aimlessly in the rain, said helplessly, “Sis, where exactly are you going? If you want to savor the romance of the rain, the two of us aren’t exactly suited for that, are we?”
“I… don’t know where to go.” Lin Xi stopped awkwardly, her face clouding over with worry again.
“Let’s stay at Aunt He’s place for a day! Tomorrow we’ll head to Mocheng.”
“Aunt He’s? That’s not really appropriate,” Lin Xi said hesitantly. “We already owe Aunt He so much. Surely we’re not going to…”
“Then where do we go? Go back and fight with Auntie?”
“How about staying at Uncle’s place for a day?”
“Are you willing to go to Uncle’s and put up with Aunt’s dirty looks?”
Lin Zhe said with displeasure, “Adversity reveals a person’s true heart. Whatever we owe Aunt He, I’ll naturally repay. As for some relatives, we shouldn’t see them again.”
Lin Xi fell silent too. Recently, in order to borrow money for her brother’s surgery fees, she had gone everywhere—and had truly tasted the warmth and coldness of human relationships.
When she went to her uncle’s door, not only did she fail to borrow money, but her aunt hurled veiled insults, calling her a “jinx”—openly and covertly blaming her for the accidental deaths of Lin’s father and mother.
And yet, when Uncle’s family built their house a few years back, Lin’s mother had contributed plenty of money to help!
“Fine, then.”
Lin Xi bit her lip and pushed Lin Zhe toward Aunt He’s home, all the while mentally figuring out how to bring up borrowing two hundred yuan from Aunt He for bus tickets back to Mocheng.
Lin’s father and mother had run a small garment factory, and Aunt He had been a key manager there. Though she was subordinate to Lin’s parents, the relationship between the two families was closer than that of ordinary relatives.
After the Lin family’s tragedy, Lin Xi had withdrawn all the cash from the garment factory to save her brother, causing the factory’s cash flow to break down. Orders were delayed and compensation owed, and the snobbish bank came pressing for loan repayment.
Even with Aunt He doing her utmost to mediate, there was no saving it. The factory was now at the point of shutting down and selling off its equipment. It owed Aunt He several months of unpaid wages, yet Aunt He had even scraped together tens of thousands of yuan for Lin Xi’s emergency needs.
Compared with some of the Lin family’s relatives, Aunt He was more like true family to the Lin siblings.
Downstairs at Aunt He’s building, Lin Xi made a phone call first, and Aunt He hurried down with her husband to carry Lin Zhe up.
“You two kids, it’s raining outside and you didn’t think to take shelter! You should have called and had your uncle come pick you up!”
“Old Yan, hurry and get a towel to dry the child off, and find him a set of clean clothes…”
“Aunt He, I have clothes…”
Aunt He had no blood relation to the Lin siblings, yet she was closer than kin. Together with Lin Xi, without any scruples, she helped wipe Lin Zhe’s body and change his clothes.
When she saw the burn scars on Lin Zhe’s legs, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache, loudly cursing that Lin Yuehua wasn’t human.
Lin Zhe smiled and said, “We’ve moved out of Auntie’s place. We plan to go to Mocheng tomorrow—we won’t suffer this kind of treatment anymore.”
Aunt He nodded. “It’s good to leave Sucheng for now. Recently a competitor has shown interest in the garment factory’s equipment—”
“I’ll try to negotiate the price as high as possible. After paying off the loan, there should be some money left over. We’ll find a really good lawyer—we can definitely get those two houses back.”
Aunt He was furious at what Lin Zhe’s aunt had done, but hiring a lawyer costs money.
The ownership of the Lin family’s houses was rather complicated and couldn’t be sorted out quickly. A lawyer’s fee of tens of thousands was no small sum, and she couldn’t afford it either.
But Lin Zhe said, “Aunt He, let’s not auction off the garment factory’s equipment. We’ll have new orders very soon. This factory is Mom and Dad’s life’s work, and it will need Aunt He’s careful attention going forward…”
“New orders?”
Aunt He looked at Lin Zhe in confusion, then at Lin Xi.
The Lin siblings had never been involved in running the garment factory—where would orders come from?
Lin Xi was puzzled too, but Lin Zhe said, “My sister’s graduation work is outstanding. I believe it can represent Lidu Studio at next week’s Mocheng Fashion Show. We’ll be able to get orders and start production very soon…”
“Well…”
Aunt He felt a bit awkward, not knowing what to say.
Because the family had a small garment factory, and Lin Xi had shown some artistic talent from a young age, Lin’s father and mother had encouraged her to get into the fashion design program at Donghai Daxue. She was now in the final stage of her senior-year internship.
The Lidu Studio where Lin Xi was interning was a well-known elite studio in Mocheng, and it did indeed have an integrated industry chain covering design, production, and sales.
But as the saying goes, every trade has its barriers. Aunt He wanted to tell Lin Zhe that it wasn’t hard for a design piece to appear at the Mocheng Fashion Show—you just rent a booth and display it.
But going from exhibition to production involved many steps, and at every step you’d face countless competitors. How could it be so easy to turn into money?
Lidu Studio would never casually use its resources to help a newcomer.
Still, Aunt He was very fond of Lin Zhe, and she certainly couldn’t say anything now that would hurt a young person’s pride.
So she turned to Lin Xi and said, “Lin Xi, if you trust me, could you let me take a look at your graduation work?”
“Oh… all right…”
Lin Xi nodded in a daze, but when Aunt He went to get paper and pens, she turned around and quietly scolded Lin Zhe.
“My graduation work isn’t even finished yet! Zhe, don’t talk nonsense. We can lie to anyone but we can’t lie to Aunt He…”
“It’s fine. I’ll help you finish your graduation work today. Trust your little brother.”
“……”
Lin Xi was speechless. Although because of the family business, Lin Zhe could draw a few fashion design sketches.
But compared to her own talent… his was at the level of having no talent at all.
Aunt He quickly brought over colored pencils, markers, and 8K paper. Lin Xi had no choice but to pick up a pencil and, steeling herself, begin sketching the basic shapes on the drawing board.
It had to be said that Lin Xi’s professional skills were solid. Her pencil outlines were basically formed in a single stroke, and the human contours were extremely precise, hardly needing any repeated thickening. Aunt He, watching from the side, couldn’t help nodding in approval.
But halfway through the drawing, trouble showed up.
“Sis, I think the collar on this suit is wrong. It should be a small V-neck…”
“Sis, I remember you said this dress should show off the hips, so it should…”
“Big sis, shouldn’t the waist of this trench coat be cinched a bit higher? It makes the legs look longer…”
Lin Zhe, sitting in his wheelchair, kept directing from afar, nearly driving Lin Xi to throw her pencil in his face—something she’d often done as a child.
“You’ve never been as good as me since we were kids, and now you…”
What designer isn’t a proud, temperamental creature? How could she tolerate anyone criticizing her work?
But Lin Xi quickly realized something was off, because Lin Zhe’s suggested changes… actually made some sense!
Emotions surging, Lin Xi’s hands, as if possessed, made the modifications exactly as Lin Zhe requested. Only thanks to her excellent drafting skills could she alter the design on the spot so seamlessly.
Sketching the form, drawing the lines, adding color—she used lines of varying weight and strength to bring out the qualities of the fabric.
As Lin Zhe kept up his less chatter, a set of urban chic outfits that transcended the era was completed with barely a hitch.
After finishing, Lin Xi couldn’t believe it was real.
Because this collection of fashion designs completely exceeded her own level. The style was fashionable, the design innovative—it absolutely shouldn’t have been something she created.
Of course it shouldn’t have been her design. This came from Lin Zhe’s memories of his previous life.
In his past life, Lin Zhe had worked with many top-tier celebrities who eagerly displayed their elegance and allure before him—every one of them wearing top-level couture?
He knew the fashion trs of women’s clothing in this world all too well.
Of course, in the , all those top-level couture pieces ed up fallen on the floor, gathering dust.
His title of “Star-Making Machine” wasn’t earned merely by making celebrities famous.
Lin Zhe’s favorite thing in the world was the most beautiful kind of clothing.
“Well… I don’t really understand it, but I think your design, Lin Xi… is wonderful.”
“Oh, Zhe’s suggestions were important too. Who would have thought you both have a talent for design?”
Aunt He praised Lin Xi and Lin Zhe sincerely, but her gaze clearly drifted toward Lin Zhe.
By now, how could she not understand? This wasn’t Lin Xi’s graduation project at all—it was clearly Lin Zhe’s display of genius!
“Oh… oh… mm-hmm…”
Lin Xi nodded in a daze, though she felt a little guilty inside. Lin Zhe had said he’d help her design, but this was clearly an entirely new design.
Aunt He said excitedly, “I remember the factory still has some sample fabrics. Why don’t we make them tonight?
Then Lin Xi, you can take them to the studio where you’re interning—share the patent with them as your internship results, and then propose a collaboration…”
“Mm, yes!”
“Zhe, I’ll take you to bed first. We’re going out for a bit…”
Lin Xi agreed immediately. She couldn’t wait to turn her designs into reality and see how they looked worn.
But Lin Zhe said, “It’s past nine. I want to watch the lottery drawing.”
Lin Xi checked the time—somehow it was already nine ten. They had drawn six design sketches in a row and hadn’t noticed how fast time had flown.
The TV turned on, and the lottery drawing soon began.
Lin Xi also dug several lottery tickets out of her bag and sat beside Lin Zhe to watch the drawing with him.
She didn’t really hold out any hope. Everything that had happened lately gave her the feeling that the Lin family’s luck had turned sour these days—how could they possibly win?
“Today’s first winning number is 7… the second is 9… 11… 26.”
But as the numbers came out one by one, the corners of Lin Zhe’s mouth kept curling upward, wider and wider—by the time the final blue ball appeared, his grin would likely stretch to an absurd degree.
Meanwhile, Lin Xi kept looking up and down, up and down, her gaze darting back and forth between the TV and the lottery ticket in her hand, cross-checking again and again.
When the fifth ball was drawn, Lin Xi’s delicate palm began to tremble. She suddenly realized that her family’s streak of bad luck might finally be coming to an .
“Alright, the last blue ball is out—it’s 02.”
“Ah! Zhe, we won! Second prize—two second-prize tickets! Ahhhhhh~~”
Lin Xi leaped straight up, not caring at all that they were in Aunt He’s home, shouting and screaming like a madwoman.
When someone who has struggled through hardship for so long suddenly gets a burst of good fortune, the release of all that pent-up pressure is explosive.
Two second-prize tickets were worth at least three to four hundred thousand. For the Lin siblings in their current situation, it was as precious as rain after a long drought.
But Lin Zhe stayed silent, disappointment and confusion flickering alternately in his eyes.
“So winning the first prize really isn’t that easy. But if it gave me a hint, why didn’t I win?”
“Is it trying to remind me that even after being reborn, I can’t necessarily grasp everything?”