In the middle of a summer night, the river water was still icy cold.
Jiang Yumo shivered and swam with all his strength toward the person drifting in the current, attempting to jump into the river.
As soon as he grabbed the person’s arm, he was almost choked by the struggling movements of someone fighting for survival.
【Host, I can help you subdue him if you use 1 energy point…】
Jiang Yumo pressed hard over the person’s nose and mouth to make him temporarily lose consciousness and ability to move, then held the upper body from behind and swam toward the shore using one hand to paddle.
【…】
System: 6
From now on, nothing the host does will surprise it anymore.
The commotion of two people jumping off the bridge attracted a few concerned bystanders.
As they approached the shore, a couple of middle-aged men came down to help pull the person out. One man on each side lifted the unconscious jumper onto the bank, while another tried to assist Jiang Yumo, but he dodged.
The wind blew, and Jiang Yumo’s body, soaked from the river, shivered violently. His pale skin was already noticeable, but now his lips had turned white as well, making him appear almost translucent. His fragile appearance reminded the bystanders of their own kids who only played on their phones, evoking even more pity.
“Young man! You’re braver than I expected! Are you okay? I called 911, do you want me to take you to the hospital too?”
Jiang Yumo shook his head, not wanting to speak, not even to respond politely, only focusing on leaving.
The concerned men still wanted to say a few words, but someone shouted, “He’s passed out! Is there anyone who knows first aid?”
“I can!” one man yelled as he ran over.
Jiang Yumo slowly climbed the steps, his wet hair hanging down and almost covering half his face, hiding his cold, annoyed expression.
Under the admiring gaze of the onlookers, he got into a taxi.
The streamer on the other side of the bridge couldn’t reach him and reluctantly kept her phone aimed at the taxi until it merged into traffic and disappeared.
The streamer sighed with regret, “I wonder when I’ll see this young man again! He’s so kind, his family must really love him.”
【They say only those who are loved know how to love others.】
【Then his family must be very kind and well-raised to have taught such an outstanding young man!】
【It’s all scripted, and you actually believe this? People nowadays are way too gullible!】
【You’re the only one who’s clear-headed, fine, whatever, get lost!】
ᘻᘿᓍᘺ
Late at night, after the party ended, Jiang Huarong returned to the Jiang residence with his wife and children.
As soon as he got out of the car, he roared at the butler in fury, “Where’s Jiang Yumo? Bring him out here right now!”
A maid took the coat that Jiang Chongyuan had removed.
“This time Jiang Yumo really went too far!” Jiang Chongyuan said. “One careless move and the Jiang family could face total ruin. Is he still at that dog’s den?”
Jiang Ran looked completely clueless, sitting beside her mother and linking arms with her, a worried expression on her face. “Mom, what did Second Brother do? Why are Dad and Big Brother so angry?”
Jiang’s mother patted Jiang Ran’s hand. “Don’t think too much. This isn’t something for you to concern yourself with. Didn’t you make plans to go out with friends tomorrow? Go upstairs and get ready.”
Jiang Ran obediently nodded and kissed her mother’s cheek. “Okay, Mom. Good night.”
She went upstairs and stopped at the edge of the second floor. From there, she couldn’t be seen below, but she could hear the conversation.
Jiang Huarong took a sip of water and glanced at the butler still standing in place. “Hm? Why haven’t you gone to call him yet?”
Butler: “Third Young Master hasn’t returned.”
Jiang Huarong bellowed, “What! If he’s not coming here, then where could he possibly be?”
He turned to his eldest son.
Jiang Chongyuan looked at the messages on his phone, expression grave. “We couldn’t find him.”
The family had spent the entire evening socializing and didn’t have time to watch livestreams or check trending topics. The people sent to look for Jiang Yumo were temporary hires, searching blindly in the real world. They tried to estimate his location based on the timeline Jiang Chongyuan provided.
But Jiang Yumo had lingered near the hotel, and by sheer luck, he had slipped past their search.
“Hire more people to find him! He must be delivered to Qian Sheng by tomorrow night,” Jiang Huarong ordered. “Chongyuan! You’re my eldest son! I’m getting old! Eventually, the company will be in your hands! If the Jiang family survives this crisis, we’ll rise to an even higher level.”
Jiang Chongyuan and Jiang’s mother exchanged a subtle glance.
“Dad, don’t worry. I will definitely find him!” Jiang Chongyuan said, then paused, his eyes turning cold. “I have a rough idea of where he might go.”
ᘻᘿᓍᘺ
Meanwhile, Jiang Yumo was already deep in an old urban village on the outskirts of the city.
Everything here was run-down. The walls were yellowed, and near the door, scratch marks etched into the surface seemed to be from children measuring their height.
On the bedroom floor was a dark stain, and the floorboards bore countless scrubbing marks, cleaned repeatedly, yet it never came completely clean.
Jiang Yumo walked in slowly, took fresh clothes from the wardrobe, and only after taking a hot shower in the bathroom did he begin to recover.
His steps were deliberately slow, like an old man in his eighties taking a leisurely stroll in the park. He wandered into the kitchen, rummaged out some ginger he didn’t even remember buying, and brewed a cup of ginger tea to ward off the chill.
The living room was small, barely over ten square meters. The only source of light was the glow from the old, square television.
Jiang Yumo curled up on the sole sofa, covered his legs with a thin blanket, and sipped the steaming ginger tea cupped in his hands. The clichéd TV dialogue prevented the room from being completely silent, but the system thought this only emphasized the host’s sense of loneliness.
【Random punishment completed. Let the host take this as a lesson!】
The system cheered: 【Host! The punishment is over! We now have 10 energy points!】
These ten energy points kept reminding him of all the ridiculous things he had done tonight, filling Jiang Yumo with embarrassment.
If he had known, he could’ve just endured it, shaking hands wouldn’t have cost him anything. Next time, he thought, he’d spit on his own hand beforehand, gross Gu Yu out, haha.
Jiang Yumo didn’t bother replying to the system.
The night’s exertions had exhausted him. He finished the ginger tea without even putting the cup away, his eyelids drooping as he sank into a weary sleep.
But the sleep was restless, as though he was trapped in childhood nightmares, his face flickering with unease and resentment.
Equally restless was Gu Yu, in his luxurious city-center estate.
The massive room was strikingly minimalistic. On the two-meter-wide king-size bed, moonlight streamed through the curtains, landing on the man’s smooth forehead and casting deep shadows across his high nose and sharp features.
His brow furrowed so tightly it could crush an ant. His eyes moved rapidly beneath his lids, and after an expression of helpless sorrow, his beautiful face revealed a genuine, murderous intent.
“Huh!”
Gu Yu gasped sharply, jolting awake.
His eyes were unfocused as he snatched the phone from the bedside table.
The time displayed on the screen confirmed that he wasn’t dreaming, he really had been reborn.
Back to a time before any of it had happened.
“Jiang… Yu… Mo.” Gu Yu’s eyes darkened, icy and sharp, each name pronounced deliberately.
The next morning, Gu Yu arrived at the company early. He had hardly slept in the second half of the night, yet he was still full of energy.
The Gu Corporation spanned multiple industries and had recently collaborated with a hugely popular celebrity on an endorsement.
To prevent any potential scandals, the PR department monitored online information in real time, especially trending news across major platforms, so that they could respond immediately if the celebrity involved was implicated in any controversy.
The head of PR spotted an interesting trending topic and immediately shared it in a private group chat.
Work group.
PR Director: 【Hahaha, look at this! An insanely good-looking young man, a true hero with a kind heart, you wouldn’t believe how many good deeds he did in a single night!】
The PR Director retracted one message.
But Gu Yu had already clicked it by accident.
The video showed a live stream by an influencer, fast-forwarded three times. The face in the video was pixelated, so the real identity couldn’t be seen, but Gu Yu’s eyes remained glued to the screen.
His face maintained a faint smile, but his eyes had turned cold.
The boy in the footage threw himself recklessly into danger to save others, completely disregarding his own safety.
He didn’t care about getting hurt at all. The live comments were full of praise and admiration. Some criticized the streamer for clickbait: “Show the face if you’ve got the guts!”
The streamer responded: “The boy is incredibly good-looking and kind! We must respect his privacy.”
A faint smile tugged at Gu Yu’s lips.
When the footage showed Jiang Yumo jumping into the river to save someone, he couldn’t help but let out a small “heh.”
The employee giving a report froze, a cold sweat breaking out. “G-Gu… Gu, may I ask if there’s a problem?”
Gu Yu tapped the armrest and smiled lightly. “Nothing. I just… suddenly saw a funny joke.”
The employee wiped the sweat from his brow and continued reporting, but the pressure felt even greater than before, and in just a few minutes he sped through more than ten minutes’ worth of content.
Gu Yu propped his chin in his hand, a faint smile on his lips, his eyes cold and piercing.
He didn’t hesitate to entertain the harshest, most malicious assumptions about Jiang Yumo’s intentions.
This person was like a rotten apple, perfectly beautiful on the outside, but the core already blackened and moldy.
Gu Yu had no clear idea of when, in the previous life, he had ever provoked Jiang Yumo enough to make him act so extremely, using every possible method, direct or indirect, to orchestrate the deaths of those around him.
Sometimes, Gu Yu even wondered whether he shared some blood-deep, bone-deep vendetta with Jiang Yumo, but after investigating, he realized they barely had any interaction at all, so where could such hatred have come from?
Perhaps Jiang Yumo was simply naturally antisocial.
Could someone like that truly be a selfless, heroic figure?
Gu Yu was more inclined to believe that all of this was just another layer of Jiang Yumo’s disguise, every action meticulously laying the groundwork for his own schemes.
The endless praise and admiration for Jiang Yumo in comments and live chat erupted like a volcanic explosion, leaving Gu Yu’s emotions unsettled.
No one understood the power of public opinion better than he did. He could never let anyone think that Jiang Yumo was a hero, even if the person in the video was pixelated.
He flexed his fingers.
Gu Yu: Suppress this trending topic.
PR Director: Understood, Mr. Gu.