“Ah-choo!”
Shen Yu had been sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt a chill run through his body. Even the sunlight shining down on his head seemed unbearably bright.
He instinctively raised a hand to shield his eyes, but just then, a deep male voice sounded beside him.
“Since you’re awake, why aren’t you getting up?”
The voice startled Shen Yu so badly that he immediately sat upright with a sudden jerk.
What was going on?
There was a man in his house!
Had he gotten so drunk last night that he’d actually brought a man home?
The moment this outrageous possibility crossed his mind, Shen Yu became wide awake.
However, when he opened his eyes, the scene around him completely caught him off guard!
This wasn’t his house.
It wasn’t a hotel either.
The only thing surrounding him was a stretch of empty land enclosed by earthen walls built from stones.
Beyond that, there were nothing but mud houses and towering trees whose tops seemed to disappear into the sky.
Was this some ancient mountain village?
Had he been kidnapped and sold?
As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Shen Yu immediately shuffled backward.
His eyes filled with wariness as he cautiously sized up the man standing before him.
Likewise, the man wasn’t looking at him particularly kindly either.
His features were sharp and stern, giving him the appearance of someone who was extremely difficult to deal with.
He wore a grayish-black shirt with his strong arms exposed, while the legs of his trousers were rolled up to his calves.
After remaining silent for a while, the man finally spoke impatiently.
“Why aren’t you at the educated youth dormitory at this hour? What are you doing in my house?”
Educated youth?
Who was an educated youth?
Just as Shen Yu was lost in thought, a sudden, splitting pain shot through his head.
A complete set of unfamiliar memories abruptly flooded his mind.
Along with them came the memory of a novel titled Rebirth: A Guide to Winning Over Powerful Men with Scheming Tactics.
He had read this novel several years ago and still remembered some of its plot.
Back when he had graduated from high school and was waiting for the new semester to begin, he had been bored out of his mind every single day.
He had heard that the male supporting character in the novel shared his name, Shen Yu.
Out of curiosity, he had casually clicked on it and started reading.
So… he had transmigrated into the novel?!
But he remembered that Shen Yu’s fate in the original story was quite miserable.
In the original novel, the female protagonist, Feng Yanyan, fell in love at first sight with Shen Yu, an educated youth who had been sent down to the countryside.
As a result, Feng Yanyan disregarded her family’s objections and insisted on breaking off her childhood engagement with the male protagonist, Chen Liming. She was even willing to run away from home just to marry Shen Yu.
But the original Shen Yu was nothing more than a despicable, shameless scumbag!
While living in the village, he constantly sweet-talked and deceived Feng Yanyan, all for the sake of getting special treatment when it came to his assigned farm work.
When he had first arrived in Sishui Village, the original Shen Yu had even gone out of his way to sabotage the relationship between the male and female protagonists, hoping to make Feng Yanyan even more devoted to helping him.
Later, when the period of sent-down educated youth came to an end, Feng Yanyan finally managed to marry Shen Yu after making one scene after another.
However, Shen Yu spent his days drinking, carousing, and staying away from home. Despite having a handsome face, he was constantly surrounded by women.
Things became even worse when one of his mistresses showed up at their home to cause trouble. Shen Yu actually beat Feng Yanyan and drove her out of the house despite her being seriously ill.
After being thrown out, the female protagonist’s illness went untreated for a long time, and she eventually chose to end her life by jumping into a river.
Before her death, Feng Yanyan happened to see a newspaper article about a successful businessman being interviewed.
That man was none other than Chen Liming, the person to whom she had been engaged since childhood.
The female protagonist died consumed by resentment and regret.
After being reborn, she first embarked on a path of revenge against Shen Yu, ruining his reputation and making him suffer the same fate of drowning in the river.
Then, using the special advantage granted by her rebirth, she launched a series of attempts to win over the emotionally dense, straightforward Chen Liming.
In the end, she achieved success, made a name for herself, and won the heart of her handsome man…
So, had he transmigrated into the original Shen Yu’s body just to become cannon fodder when the female protagonist returned from her rebirth?!
After digesting the plot, Shen Yu raised his eyes and casually sized up the tall man standing before him. He tentatively asked,
“Ch… Chen Liming?”
“What?”
The man folded his arms leisurely, effectively confirming his identity.
Shen Yu’s face fell as he secretly tightened his grip on the hoe in his hands. A strong sense of foreboding crept over him.
During his time as a sent-down educated youth, the original Shen Yu had been practically useless at everything except causing trouble.
Whenever he showed up at the male protagonist’s house, nine times out of ten, he was there to frame Chen Liming, and the remaining time was spent sabotaging something.
“Why are you holding Aunt Zhao’s hoe?”
Chen Liming continued.
“Ah, yes…”
Why was he holding a hoe in the first place…?
Shen Yu glanced down at the hoe in his arms.
Instantly, he felt a wave of guilt.
Chen Liming was undoubtedly one of the poorest people in the entire village.
The original Shen Yu frequently sneaked things into his house, hoping to find an opportunity to frame him for stealing.
He firmly believed that once Chen Liming’s reputation was ruined, Feng Yanyan would naturally step forward and break off her childhood engagement with him, allowing her to devote herself wholeheartedly to helping Shen Yu.
What the original Shen Yu hadn’t realized, however, was that Feng Yanyan herself looked down on Chen Liming’s impoverished family.
The two of them had never had any real feelings for each other in the first place!
Damn it!
Why couldn’t he have transmigrated earlier or later? Why did it have to happen at this exact moment?!
Now look at him.
Not only had his attempt to frame Chen Liming failed, but he was about to get caught red-handed by the very person he had intended to frame!
Chen Liming took in every trace of guilt on Shen Yu’s face.
Remembering the miscellaneous items that had mysteriously appeared in his house recently, he immediately grew suspicious of Shen Yu.
The man lowered his eyes and took a few steps forward before crouching down.
His dark pupils were sharp and intimidating, and a faint scar marked the end of his eyebrow. Without revealing his thoughts, he scrutinized the unexpected visitor from head to toe.
“Were you planning to steal things and frame me?”
Shen Yu looked up at the man’s stern, unyielding features.
For some reason, he felt as though this man might grab him by the arm at any moment, snap his entire body in half, stick him into the ground, and casually pat the dirt down over him…
“No! Absolutely not! I’m not framing you!”
Shen Yu hurriedly shook his head.
He loosened his tight grip on the hoe and tried his best to make his voice sound sincere.
“I brought this hoe to give to you!”
“I’ll pay for it!”
Chen Liming didn’t look particularly surprised. Instead, he gave Shen Yu a faintly amused look, as though he were staring at an idiot.
“Give it to me?”
Shen Yu stood there with his mouth half open before mechanically nodding.
As he stared at the man’s well-defined features and the scar near his eyebrow, he found himself unconsciously dazed.
Damn!
No wonder this man was the male protagonist.
Every single feature of his face was exactly to his taste!
What an overwhelming presence!
Shen Yu’s heart was practically pounding against his throat.
However, he knew this was hardly the time to indulge in his appreciation of the man’s looks.
He quickly snapped out of it and responded as calmly as possible.
“That’s right!”
“Try it out and see if it’s any good. If you find it useful, I’ll go straight to Aunt Zhao and pay her for it!”
With that, he deliberately got to his feet, dusted off his backside, and briskly shoved the hoe into Chen Liming’s hands.
Then he turned around and made a run for it!
Phew!
That was close! That was really close!
He had almost been caught red-handed with the stolen goods!
“Wait.”
“I don’t need these things. Take them back the same way you brought them here.”
Before Shen Yu could even make it to the gate, Chen Liming caught up with him in just a few strides.
He shoved the hoe and a large woven sack into Shen Yu’s hands.
The moment the sack was moved, its contents clinked and rattled.
There was no need to guess. He knew perfectly well that everything inside was part of the original Shen Yu’s stolen loot…
How childish!
How despicable!
What a scoundrel!
“Uh… alright!”
“If you don’t need them, I’ll return everything!”
Shen Yu lowered his head, not daring to say another word.
Taking the sack, he dragged it along and hurried away in a complete panic.
…
Fortunately, some of the original Shen Yu’s memories had merged with his own.
Although he was still unfamiliar with the place, he could at least make his way around the village and navigate its winding paths.
Shen Yu went to considerable trouble before finally managing to sneak all the stolen items back to their original owners.
By then, the sun was already blazing overhead.
Everyone had finished lunch and was feeling too lazy to move around, so hardly anyone was outside.
Before the scorching heat could completely drain him of his strength, he finally made it back to the educated youth dormitory.
“Shen Yu, you’re finally back!”