Jian Li woke from a nightmare with his head splitting from pain. Shadows moved back and forth around him.
He slowly opened his eyes. A middle-aged woman hurried to his bedside. “Young master, you’re finally awake…”
Young master?
He frowned at the woman beside the bed, then looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. “What… happened to me?”
Nanny Zhang sucked in a breath and grabbed a nurse’s hand for help. “Get the doctor. Quickly!”
After the nurse hurried out, Nanny Zhang returned and took Jian Li’s hand. “Young master, it’s me, Nanny Zhang. Do you recognize me?”
Before landing in the hospital, the original Jian Li had gone street racing in the suburbs with a few no-good friends and gotten into an accident. His lower leg was broken, and he’d been diagnosed with a grade-two concussion.
Jian Li rubbed his forehead. A wave of dizziness suddenly washed over him. “Mm… Nanny Zhang?”
His mind was too muddled to think. Two sets of memories were crammed into his head, and he couldn’t even tell which was real and which was a dream.
Seeing him like this, Nanny Zhang’s eyes filled with tears. She had watched him grow up. He could be stubborn, but he wasn’t a bad person. Now that he didn’t recognize her, she went out in tears to call Qi Xiaoyan.
After a frantic flurry of activity, Jian Li finally pieced together his situation.
He was Jian Li, a poor orphan supported out of charity by the eldest son of a wealthy family. He was now in an extravagantly luxurious private room at City Central Hospital.
Qi Xiaoyan had flown in from overseas after dinner. Jian Li was bent over the side of the bed, vomiting until he was dizzy and disoriented. A concussion was no joke. As he slowly came around, he could vaguely recall bits of the original owner’s life, but nothing clearly.
In his daze, he wondered if he’d really had a nightmare, or if he’d traveled through time… or been reborn.
“Once you’re discharged, I’m freezing your bank card for six months. You’re going back to school and behaving yourself. You can talk to me about money again when you’ve learned some discipline!” Those were the first words Qi Xiaoyan had said to him, and the only ones during his hospital stay.
Jian Li showed little expression. In his memories, this man had always been cold. He nodded and said, “All right.”
The original Jian Li was living under someone else’s roof, and the two of them weren’t related by even a drop of blood. Jian Li couldn’t help wondering where the kid had gotten the nerve to act out so recklessly. Wasn’t he afraid of being thrown out?
After checking on his condition, Qi Xiaoyan left without another word.
Nanny Zhang sighed and wiped the sweat beading on his forehead from the pain. “Don’t be upset, young master. The moment he heard what happened, your master flew back from overseas. He does care about you.”
Jian Li managed a strained smile to show her he was all right.
The broken bone was one thing. What he couldn’t stand were the aftereffects of the concussion: the dizziness and headaches, and being unable to eat. Even a sip of water came right back up.
Nanny Zhang fretted beside him. “Oh, what are we going to do… I’ll go get the doctor again.” She started for the door.
Jian Li sat up and called after her. “Nanny Zhang, don’t go. The doctor said this is normal for the first few days. You’ve been looking after me all day. Go home and get some rest.”
“You only just got admitted today. How can I leave? I already told your master I’d stay here and look after you tonight.” Nanny Zhang clearly didn’t want to leave him alone in the hospital.
Jian Li shook his head, warmth spreading through him. “I’m really fine, Nanny Zhang. You know me. It’s nothing serious. Come get me when I’m discharged in a couple of days.”
Nanny Zhang couldn’t talk him out of it, so she finally agreed to go home. “Then I’ll come back first thing tomorrow morning.”
He smiled and took her hand. “Mm… It’s fine if you come a little later. You know I love sleeping in.” Jian Li coaxed her weakly.
Nanny Zhang was always a pushover when he acted like that. She helplessly patted the bandages wrapped around his head. “Honestly, you need to learn from this. Once you’re discharged, you absolutely can’t go back to your old ways. Understand?”
Jian Li nodded eagerly, nearly making himself throw up. A concussion was no joke.
Holding his head, he obediently let Nanny Zhang help him lie back down. “Look, I’m in no shape to do anything but lie in bed and sleep. Don’t worry. When you come tomorrow, I promise I’ll still be asleep.”
Only then did Nanny Zhang head home, still worried.
Just as Jian Li had expected, he didn’t see Qi Xiaoyan again during the rest of his nearly two-week hospital stay.
In name, the original Jian Li was nothing more than an ordinary orphan supported by Qi Xiaoyan. Yet Qi had indulged him as he ran wild and made trouble. If there was anything special about the boy, perhaps it was that he’d been lucky enough to have a bodyguard for a father.
The original Jian Li’s father had died protecting Qi Xiaoyan.
To find out whether he’d had a nightmare or truly transmigrated into someone else’s body, Jian Li tried accessing his old social media account by special means. The evidence showed that two Jian Lis really did exist in this world.
And he was already dead. He hadn’t even known he’d died. This wasn’t transmigration. He had truly been reborn.
Jian Li remembered getting drunk at a bar before he fell asleep… Had it been alcohol poisoning? Or…?
He sucked in a breath. He’d been through so much, but he’d never thought of taking his own life. Why…?
The next moment, he understood. He saw his ex-boyfriend posting a condolence message on his feed, and his expression immediately turned cold.
After leaving the hospital, he asked the family butler to look into his former life. The records listed the cause of death as a drunk-driving accident in the suburbs.
The two accidents had been eerily similar. No wonder he’d been reborn in the original Jian Li’s body, he thought.
Jian Li stayed in his room all day without coming out.
Nanny Zhang paced anxiously outside the door, afraid something was wrong.
Later, when Qi Xiaoyan came home, he finally couldn’t stand watching her worry and unlocked the door himself.
The whole room was dark. The man reached out and switched on the light, but Jian Li was nowhere to be seen.
Nanny Zhang followed him in. “Oh, where is he? I haven’t seen him come out all day.” Without thinking, she tried to explain Jian Li’s absence to Qi Xiaoyan.
The man frowned and walked to the glass door of the small balcony. Jian Li was curled up in a rocking chair, lost in thought.
Qi Xiaoyan paused at the doorway for a few seconds before knocking. At the sound, Jian Li turned around. His expression was flat, but when he saw Qi Xiaoyan, surprise gradually showed on his face.
Jian Li swung his injured leg down from the rocking chair. Qi Xiaoyan opened the door for him.
“Don’t you know you shouldn’t be sitting in a cold draft right after leaving the hospital?” The man’s voice was calm. If you weren’t paying attention, you might not even hear the reproach in it.
Jian Li struggled in from the balcony, eyes lowered to the leather shoes at the man’s feet. Qi Xiaoyan must have just gotten home, since he hadn’t even changed them yet.
Nanny Zhang started to explain, but before she could speak, she heard Jian Li, who had never been one to back down in front of Qi Xiaoyan, say, “I’m sorry for causing you trouble.”
The original Jian Li had been young and headstrong, unable to understand Qi Xiaoyan’s actions. He seemed to think the whole world should revolve around him. But Jian Li, who had experienced so much of life’s warmth and coldness, understood that Qi Xiaoyan had already done everything he could for the boy.
Both of them were taken aback by his attitude. Nanny Zhang touched his hand. It was icy cold, so she scolded him, “Oh, you never take care of yourself. Maybe your master really should freeze your card for two years, so you’ll learn your lesson.”
Jian Li’s lips curved in a bitter smile. “Mm, you’re right, Nanny Zhang.”
Qi Xiaoyan stared at Jian Li with a frown, as if trying to figure something out.
“As long as you’re all right. Nanny Zhang’s been worried about you all day. Go change, then come out for dinner.” The man turned and walked out.
Nanny Zhang gave Jian Li a furtive look, urging him to say a few more words, but he didn’t know what to say. Whatever he said, in Qi Xiaoyan’s eyes he was still a burden who did nothing but cause trouble.
“Honestly, you should’ve made the most of it. Your master came home early for once.”
Jian Li shrugged as Nanny Zhang helped him sit down. “You’re overthinking it. I caused such a huge mess this time. It’s already good of him not to throw me out. I’d better not go out of my way to annoy him.”
“Why… have you suddenly become so sensible?” Nanny Zhang asked hesitantly, a little worried.
Jian Li patted the back of her hand. “I’m an adult now. If I still don’t know how to behave, even you might stop liking me.”
Nanny Zhang froze, then hurried to reassure him. “How could that happen? Why would you think that, young master?”
Jian Li shook his head and rubbed his stomach, not wanting to say more. “I’m hungry. Let’s go downstairs for dinner,” he said. “And, Nanny Zhang, don’t call me ‘young master’ anymore. I’m not really part of the Qi family.”
Nanny Zhang sighed and said nothing more.