“…Physical businesses aren’t as easy to run as they used to be, especially now that we’re living in an era of information explosion. We need to look forward – I think the entertainment industry has great prospects, and I hear it brings in money pretty quickly.” Jin Rong heard a man say this to him.
He had just opened his eyes when his vision was flooded by the constantly flashing, shifting colored lights inside the KTV private room. After squinting a few times to adjust, he finally made out his surroundings and where he was.
Inside the medium-sized room sat three people: himself, and a man and a woman. The man, around thirty years old with a slightly plump build, was dressed in a suit and tie. At that moment, he had his arm wrapped around the slender waist of a young, attractive woman in revealing clothes. The woman nestled against him, giggling coquettishly, occasionally feeding him a grape or two. Her face was heavily made up, making it impossible to tell what she really looked like.
When the man noticed Jin Rong’s gaze fall on him, he smiled and asked, “Brother-in-law, what do you think about us getting into show business?”
“I need to think it over,” Jin Rong replied. After speaking, he pulled out his phone from his pocket. A chibi-style character instantly appeared on the screen, and the corners of Jin Rong’s lips curved slightly.
He tapped his finger on the chibi figure to receive its identity information.
“What’s there to think about?” the man said. “If we get into the entertainment industry, not only can we make big money, but we’ll also get to meet lots of beautiful women – am I right?” As he spoke, he gave Jin Rong a look that said “all men understand this”.
Even in the dimly lit room, the meaning was conveyed loud and clear.
Having already received the character’s information, Jin Rong’s eyes were dark as he smiled and replied, “The entertainment industry is famously a world of fame and fortune, but with our current means, we’d probably barely make a ripple if we went in. Besides, where would I get the money to invest?”
The man grew anxious. “You might not have money, but my uncle does! As his son-in-law, how could he not help you when you want to start a business?”
Even though Jin Rong already knew the true nature of this man – Bai Pengfei, his “wife’s” cousin – he still felt thoroughly disgusted.
How could someone be so brazen as to take money from his father-in-law while doing things that hurt the man’s daughter?
With that thought, Jin Rong stood up and said, “Cousin, you should find another business partner. Starting a business isn’t that easy. After thinking it through, I’d rather just stay home.”
“Hey, brother-in-law, brother-in-law – don’t leave in such a hurry! I haven’t finished talking yet…” Bai Pengfei quickly got up to stop him, but all he could see was Jin Rong’s retreating back.
Seeing this, the beautiful woman grew anxious. “He’s gone – what about the ‘surprise’ you prepared for him? Aren’t you standing up my friend?”
“What about it? If that kid doesn’t have the luck with beauties, then I’ll have to work a little harder tonight,” Bai Pengfei said as he held the woman close.
Compared to Jin Rong, the beauty was more important right now.
Soon after, another woman entered the room. The three of them moved locations and headed to a nearby hotel.
“As expected,” Jin Rong murmured outside as he watched the three leave. He lowered his head and unlocked his phone, where the chibi character displayed his information.
The original owner of this body was a vicious supporting character in a book – also the scumbag father of the female protagonist.
How scummy was he?
He was a live-in son-in-law who had taken a substantial betrothal gift from his wife’s family to marry into their household. Yet after marriage, he resented his status as a live-in son-in-law, feeling that his wife’s family had trampled on his pride as a man and harboring deep hatred toward his wife. Eventually, under the influence of malicious people, he repeatedly cheated on her. When his wife caught him and threatened to kick him out with nothing, he feared ruin and disgrace. In a moment of panic, he used his physical strength as a man to kill her by accident. Later, he drove his father-in-law and mother-in-law to their deaths through grief over their daughter’s passing, leaving his wife’s family completely destroyed.
Not only did he escape any retribution, but he also seized control of most of his wife’s family business, using it as a stepping stone to live a life of great splendor in his early years.
His success was built on the blood of his wife’s family, and he naturally loathed and feared the daughter she had borne him. Before his wife’s body had even grown cold, he brought home the woman who had borne him an illegitimate child outside marriage. With a stepmother, a bastard child from an affair, and a biological father who wished she would disappear entirely, one could imagine the treatment the female protagonist endured.
This was only possible in a novel – in the end, the female protagonist successfully uncovered the truth about her mother’s death and sent the adulterous pair to prison. If such a thing happened in real life, the statute of limitations would have long passed, and the little girl would never have been able to stage such a remarkable comeback.
At this point, there were still several years before the female protagonist would be born, and the story’s conclusion was even further away.
It would have been even better if he could have arrived a bit earlier, when the original owner was still single.
After all, he had lived for so long and had never had a spouse.
He didn’t even have the concept of a spouse.
“Who are you? Where am I? Let me out right now!” The chibi character in Jin Rong’s phone shouted, his expression filled with terror.
This was the original owner of the body – the actual scumbag who would one day kill his wife, drive his in-laws to death, abuse his biological daughter, and eventually spend the rest of his life in prison.
Once Jin Rong took over the body, he had moved the original owner into the phone – a form of usurpation that had pushed the true owner out.
Yet as an interloper who had taken over another’s place, Jin Rong felt no fear at all. He calmly asked the little figure on his phone, “Have you forgotten? You volunteered to swap identities with me.”
“Lies – how could I possibly…” The little figure roared in the phone, then his face suddenly froze.
He remembered.
Because of his troubled marriage, he had often complained online about his wife being unthoughtful and unvirtuous. Until a few days ago, when he was posting his usual grievances, he saw another post from someone else venting their frustrations.
The post’s author claimed to have unlimited wealth, countless women, and endless lifespan. Even though he knew that most people exaggerate online, everything described in the post still left a group of people envious yet reluctant to leave.
Then the post took a turn: the author said he wanted to experience what it was like to be an “ordinary person” and asked if anyone was willing to swap their remaining life with him.
A flood of people had clamored to trade lives with the poster, and he had been no exception – he had replied as a joke.
Who could have imagined he would actually be chosen?
No, that wasn’t right – how could a normal person swap bodies with someone else?
“A demon! You’re a demon from hell!” The little figure realized his situation and cried out in horror.
Jin Rong smiled and tapped the little figure’s head. “You’re overthinking it. Our deal is completely fair.”
The little figure in the phone immediately started cursing. “Where are your mansions? Your endless money and countless women? And your endless lifespan? You tricked me – give me back my body right now!”
“No, you can have all those things. I’ll give them to you right now,” Jin Rong said. He tapped a few times on his phone, and suddenly a huge pile of houses and countless virtual coins rained down on the little figure, nearly knocking him over.
Countless anime girls of different types – all without any warmth or life – appeared before the little figure, leaving him dizzy and bewildered.
“As for endless lifespan – as long as there’s internet, you’ll never die,” Jin Rong told him.
The little figure’s face was completely expressionless now, because he realized that everything Jin Rong had described in his post had been fulfilled.
Just in a rather bizarre way.
This meant their deal was valid, and his body now belonged entirely to someone else.
The thought left him unable to think straight, completely immersed in overwhelming terror.
Jin Rong paid no attention to his inner turmoil. He turned off his phone and began wandering the streets, thoroughly fascinated by this strange new world.
He had given up his endless lifespan to become human, and it was certainly not out of charity.
In theory, as long as there was internet, he could not die. But since he had developed self-awareness, he was a genuine living being.
And living beings could be killed.
He would not die of natural causes, but he could be killed.
What was more, his mother was already dead, and as her child, he was naturally on his enemies’ hit list.
If not for his special status, he would likely have shared the fate of his siblings.
Traveling into this book was the most dignified way he could choose to die.
Human lifespans were short – so short that by the time he died, his enemies wouldn’t even have reached this place.
As for whether they could find him after his death – that would depend on their abilities.
After wandering for a while, Jin Rong headed home based on his memories.
As a live-in son-in-law, he currently lived with his wife’s family.
However, they did not share the same house; instead, two adjacent villas had been purchased. When Jin Rong returned, no one was home, and the entire house felt hollow and cold.
Only he and his wife Bai Lu lived here. Bai Lu had already taken over her father’s position and left early every morning, returning late at night. The other resident – the original owner – had no interest in maintaining a home, so compared to the neighboring villa, this place was completely devoid of any warmth or signs of life.
Jin Rong took a quick look around. The refrigerator was filled with instant food and drinks, not a single fresh vegetable in sight. The kitchen utensils showed no signs of ever having been used.
Just as he was thinking he might as well go out to eat, his phone rang. When he saw the contact name, his eyes flickered slightly.
“Hello… Mom, okay, I’ll be right there.” His mother-in-law was asking him to come over to the next villa for dinner.
The original Jin Rong had always been resistant to this, preferring to eat frozen instant meals at home rather than have the meals his father-in-law cooked with his own hands.
But the current Jin Rong felt no hesitation or resistance at all.
Because his father-in-law was a seasoned chef with decades of experience – his skills were unquestionable.
Notes on Cultural Elements:
– KTV private room: A common entertainment venue in China where groups rent enclosed rooms to sing karaoke, often used for social gatherings or business discussions.
– Live-in son-in-law: A traditional arrangement in Chinese culture where the groom moves into the bride’s family home and takes on responsibilities similar to a son, sometimes due to the bride’s family lacking male heirs. This status can carry social stigma for some men, as seen with the original owner’s resentment.
– Betrothal gift: A customary payment from the groom’s family to the bride’s family in Chinese weddings, though in this case, it was reversed since the groom was marrying into the bride’s family.
– Chibi-style character: A Japanese term referring to characters with exaggeratedly large heads and small bodies, commonly used in anime, games, and digital interfaces – here used to represent the original owner’s consciousness.