Shang Jingwu woke up the next morning and saw a dark head lying next to his bed. He first breathed a sigh of relief, but then a violent headache made him hiss involuntarily.
He Yi, who was just sleeping, immediately woke up. When he saw that Shang Jingwu had opened his eyes, he rushed over and said happily, “Honey, you’re finally awake!”
Shang Jingwu hummed in agreement and raised his hand to rub his temples.
Seeing that he seemed to be in a lot of pain, He Yi quickly asked, “Honey, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? I’ll call a doctor for you!”
As he spoke, he stood up and pressed the bedside bell. He had secretly remembered it when he saw Du Yuwei do it yesterday.
The doctor and nurses came over to give Shang Jingwu another check-up. Du Yuwei also rushed over after hearing the news. He Yi watched as these people busied themselves around Shang Jingwu. He wanted to go over and talk to Shang Jingwu, but he was afraid of delaying the doctor’s examination, so he could only retreat to a corner of the ward and wait for the doctor to finish.
Shang Jingwu looked through the crowd at He Yi, who was standing on the outermost edge, standing on tiptoe and craning his neck to look at him with a worried expression. He felt both familiar and unfamiliar with He Yi.
The only thing he was certain of was that this was not the same He Yi he knew, and he did indeed have a lot of things about this He Yi in his mind.
He clearly remembered dying in a car accident, only to find out after his death that he had been living in a melodramatic novel. This novel, which readers called “sister-in-law literature,” featured He Yi and Shang Jingyun as its main characters.
The story can be summarized as follows: a tragic illegitimate child is sold by his father after his mother’s death and forced to marry into a wealthy family to a sickly disabled man to bring him good luck. After the marriage, he is neglected and abused by this violent and ruthless man. On the first day of their marriage, he is forced to sleep on the sofa in the living room, and he is never allowed to enter the bedroom. Therefore, the two are husband and wife in name only.
Because of his husband’s neglect, the protagonist’s life in the wealthy family is not smooth. The only person who brings him warmth is the protagonist, who also has a difficult background.
However, the protagonist is the cousin of his sickly husband. Although the other protagonist has fallen for him, he doesn’t want to do anything against ethics. The two are caught in various dilemmas and tests, and their relationship stagnates.
The sickly husband was the biggest obstacle to the further development of their relationship, so he was naturally made cannon fodder by the author and eventually died in a car accident.
After the cannon fodder dies, the protagonist’s career goes smoothly, and he successfully ousts his father to become the next heir to the wealthy family.
Just when readers thought the successful protagonist was about to officially marry the uke and have a happy ending, the plot suddenly took a 180-degree turn. The protagonist tore off his disguise in front of the uke and told him that he had only pretended to like him while enduring disgust, in order to use him to get rid of that sickly man and obtain the family property. In fact, he had never thought much of him, the illegitimate son of a prostitute.
The protagonist is already insecure and sensitive because of his shameful background. He finally finds someone he likes, only to discover that it was all a lie.
Moreover, he unintentionally caused the death of someone else, which caused him great pain. In a breakdown, he ran out of the mansion and fled to an unknown small city, where he lived a disheartened and aimless life.
After the man left, the seme married a wealthy heiress of equal social standing. His power grew, and his family and career were both going smoothly. However, he couldn’t help but think of the man he had used and then discarded, and the time they spent together. As a result, the readers in the comments section who had been cursing the scumbag seme started to eagerly anticipate seeing him go through a painful ordeal of chasing after his wife.
However, the author did not write according to the readers’ expectations. After finding the bottom, the seme forcibly took him back and locked him up.
The seme not only didn’t give the uke a title, but also restricted his personal freedom, played all sorts of forced play, and even went out to have affairs while maintaining that kind of relationship with the uke. His wife at home also got pregnant by him. This angered readers so much that they flooded the comments section with angry comments about the author. Many people even said that it would be better to just let the uke commit suicide and have a bad ending, so that he could at least be free from the torment of the scumbag seme.
Later, the author was probably so criticized that he lost his composure and actually wrote an ending where the victim committed suicide.
Shang Jingwu finished reading the novel and the comments in a chaotic space, then fell into a coma. When he woke up again, he found that he had an extra memory in his mind, and his body was not crushed by the truck. Instead, he was lying well in a hospital bed.
He was certain that both memories in his mind were real, so the only explanation was that he had been reborn and possessed the memories of this life.
In his previous life, He Yi hadn’t been mentally impaired by the accident, and the wedding went smoothly. He Yi didn’t suddenly lean in to kiss him, didn’t secretly ask him for a small cake, and didn’t ruin the wedding banquet just to eat a piece of steak.
He could tell that He Yi was unwilling, and since he didn’t want his life to be disturbed by another person, he suggested that they sleep in separate rooms. He remembered that He Yi was visibly relieved at that time.
After that, he was busy with company affairs every day, just like before he got married, and rarely had contact with He Yi. Later, he heard that He Yi was getting close to Shang Jingyun. He reminded He Yi once not to have too much contact with Shang Jingyun, but He Yi did not listen to him, so he was too lazy to care anymore.
When the car accident happened, he thought it was his destined death, but he never expected that Shang Jingyun was behind it.
Thinking back now, it seems that He Yi asked him about his itinerary that day. Shang Jingyun probably got the information from He Yi and then orchestrated a car accident that looked like an accident. The part in the book about He Yi being used by Shang Jingyun probably refers to this.
”Does your head still hurt?” the doctor asked in English.
Shang Jingwu snapped out of his daze and shook his head at the doctor.
”There are no problems for now, but you still need to stay in the hospital for observation for a period of time to see if there will be any aftereffects,” the doctor said.
Shang Jingwu responded and then thanked the doctor.
After the doctors and nurses left, He Yi returned to the bedside. Looking at Shang Jingwu’s pale face, he asked worriedly, “Husband, how are you? Is there anything else that’s bothering you?”
Shang Jingwu stared at He Yi’s face for a moment, lost in thought. Although this He Yi looked very similar to the one from his previous life, the feeling he gave off was completely different.
Then he suddenly remembered what He Yi had said before he fainted in the fire in this life. At that time, he was still under the influence of the sleeping pills and his mind was in a daze. Now, thinking about it carefully, He Yi’s words were actually very strange.
”Let’s go to another world together” might sound like it refers to going to heaven after death, but this euphemistic way of saying it doesn’t sound like something He Yi would use. So He Yi is probably referring to the literal meaning. In He Yi’s understanding, people go to another real world after they die.
In other words, the He Yi in front of us is very likely from another world. Moreover, the person inside this shell is definitely not the He Yi who committed suicide in the original book, but is very likely someone from another world.
In addition, He Yi once said that he hadn’t left the house in a long time and had been locked up at home by his mother since he was a child. He also mentioned twice that he was a starving ghost. Shang Jingwu couldn’t help but guess that He Yi had died at least once, and that he had starved to death. That’s why he had such a strong obsession with food.
”Husband?” He Yi waved his hand in front of Shang Jingwu when he didn’t react.
Shang Jingwu grasped He Yi’s hand and squeezed it gently before realizing that his actions seemed to be influenced by his memories from this life.
He withdrew his hand and said to He Yi, “I’m fine.”
He Yi visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing this, Assistant Du quickly advised, “Xiao Yi, go and get some sleep.”
Shang Jingwu noticed that He Yi’s eyes were a little red and couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t you sleep last night?”
He Yi shook his head. He didn’t know why, but he felt that Shang Jingwu seemed a bit fierce now, and in a strange way, which was very different from before. So he didn’t dare to speak, afraid of angering Shang Jingwu.
Du Yuwei explained, “He was worried about you and stayed here the whole time. I told him to go to sleep, but he wouldn’t. He stayed up until almost dawn before finally sleeping for a while by the bedside.”
Upon hearing this, Shang Jingwu felt a slight swelling and astringency in his heart, something he had never experienced before, more like a natural reaction from his body.
”Then you should go and get some sleep,” he said to He Yi.
“But…” He Yi hesitated for a moment, then carefully moved closer to Shang Jingwu, and said softly with a hint of grievance, “I can’t sleep alone.”
The feeling of swelling and sourness in Shang Jingwu’s heart intensified, and then he suddenly realized that he was feeling sorry for He Yi.
This kid saved his life, after all. Thinking this, he patted the bed beside him and looked at He Yi, saying, “Come on up and squeeze in.”
Although the hospital beds here are not wide, they are both quite thin, so they can squeeze in and sleep together.
Normally, He Yi would have jumped on the bed long ago, but this Shang Jingwu felt somewhat unfamiliar to him. He hesitated for a moment, then carefully climbed onto the bed and lay down properly next to Shang Jingwu. He closed his eyes and smelled the familiar scent on Shang Jingwu’s body, which made him feel more at ease.
Although Shang Jingwu had memories of this life, he was still not used to close contact with others. He tensed up as soon as He Yi came up, and the child kept squeezing against him. He couldn’t push him away, so he could only awkwardly let He Yi be next to him.
He Yi made a small test, and seeing that Shang Jingwu did not chase him away, he took advantage of the situation and hugged Shang Jingwu’s arm, even rubbing his cheek against it.
Shang Jingwu froze again, and asked awkwardly, “What… are you doing?”
He Yi opened his eyes, looked up at Shang Jingwu with his little face, and said innocently, “Go to sleep.”
Shang Jingwu then remembered that He Yi usually liked to hug his other arm when he slept. In order not to arouse He Yi’s suspicion, he did not pull his arm away, but just let He Yi hug him stiffly.
Seeing He Yi staring at him with his eyes open, Shang Jingwu couldn’t help but ask, “Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
He Yi moved his head to Shang Jingwu’s shoulder and whispered, “Honey, do you not like me anymore?”
Shang Jingwu was taken aback. He hadn’t expected He Yi to be so sensitive. He asked in an evasive manner, “Why are you suddenly saying that?”
”I don’t know either, I just feel like you don’t like me anymore. You don’t want me to hug you or let me get close,” He Yi said, sounding aggrieved.
”No,” Shang Jingwu retorted instinctively, his Adam’s apple bobbing twice. Avoiding He Yi’s gaze, he whispered, “I don’t dislike you. Go to sleep.”
He Yi suddenly sat up, looking at Shang Jingwu’s turned face and accusingly said, “Husband, you lied to me, you tricked me, you just don’t like me anymore. Is it because I didn’t listen to you? But I really don’t want to go out alone. What if I go out and never find you again?”
As He Yi spoke, his voice began to tremble with tears. Shang Jingwu said helplessly, “No, it’s not what you think.”
”Then why don’t you like me anymore?” He Yi asked, crying.
Shang Jingwu felt another pang of heartache. He instinctively pulled He Yi into his arms, patted He Yi’s back to comfort him, and said in a somewhat stiff tone, “I like you, really.”
He Yi tilted his head back and asked, “Then give me a kiss?”
Left with no other choice, Shang Jingwu could only lower his head and kiss He Yi, then say, “Can we go to sleep now?”
He Yi chased after him and kissed him on the lips again before saying with satisfaction, “I believe you now.”