“Smack…”
A slap landed hard across Xiao Chen’s face.
He staggered backward and fell heavily to the floor, his head striking the corner of the table. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and a bruise on his forehead swelled quickly.
An angry voice rang out, “Xiao Chen, you’re the older brother. What’s wrong with giving in to your younger brother?”
“If you hadn’t taken so much nutrition in the womb, how would your brother have grown up so weak and sickly?”
“You’re becoming more and more unreasonable.”
“He’s a jinx. Our Xiao family almost went bankrupt because of him.”
“It’s enough to let him stay in the countryside. Why bring him back to live with us?”
Struggling to his feet, Xiao Chen suddenly saw his parents standing before him with faces full of anger. His eldest sister, Xiao Yan, looked at him with disappointment. His second sister, Xiao Qian, sneered coldly. And there was his twin brother, Xiao Ming, standing there with a face full of grievance.
He had been reborn.
The time was his first physics exam after transferring back to the Xiao family. With first place in the interschool competition, he had been selected by the school to participate in the city physics contest. If he ranked well, he would be directly recommended for admission to top universities.
But his family believed he had cheated to win.
They demanded that he withdraw voluntarily and give the spot to Xiao Ming.
A buzzing sound filled Xiao Chen’s head as a flood of memories rushed in.
He and Xiao Ming were twins. Because Xiao Ming had been born weak, their parents blamed everything on Xiao Chen. They even pinned the Xiao family’s financial crisis, which had nearly led to bankruptcy shortly after his birth, on him.
In his previous life, they despised him and believed he was a jinx. From childhood, they had thrown him to his grandmother in the countryside and ignored him completely.
Only in his final year of high school, when his grandmother’s health declined, did they bring him back.
Yet everyone in this family rejected him.
His parents and two sisters treated him like an outsider. Xiao Ming bullied him both openly and in secret.
And in order to fit into this family, he had desperately tried to please them.
The Xiao family lived in luxury. Limited-edition sneakers and star-collaboration clothes were never lacking for Xiao Ming. He received 30,000 in pocket money every month without fail.
Meanwhile, Xiao Chen still wore sportswear his grandmother had bought years ago, patched again and again because it was torn. With no living expenses, he often survived on plain buns and cold water, developing stomach problems at a young age.
On their shared birthday, the family took Xiao Ming traveling, chartered a yacht to go out to sea, and gave him a Trek Butterfly bicycle worth tens of thousands.
As for Xiao Chen, when he fell ill with a high fever and convulsed alone, no one cared. It was his classmate who discovered him in time and called emergency services to send him to the hospital, saving his life.
In his previous life, Xiao Ming inherited the Xiao family business and became the youngest rising star in the financial world. With several classic business strategies, he propelled the Xiao Group to the top tier of Jiangcheng.
As for Xiao Chen, he became the notorious rich second-generation in their social circle.
Street racing, assaulting traffic police, even being a regular at the police station for gathering to use drugs.
What no one knew was that the one who should have become the financial star was him.
The classic strategies that pushed the Xiao Group to the top of Jiangcheng were his plans.
The one who raced cars, used drugs, and beat traffic police, disgracing the Xiao family, was Xiao Ming.
But because his parents disliked him, and because he had desperately tried to please them and Xiao Ming, he handed over his plans. He analyzed stock trends for Xiao Ming and even took the blame for all the negative scandals.
All for the hope that one day he could truly become part of the Xiao family and gain their recognition.
But Xiao Ming was never satisfied. He colluded with kidnappers to abduct him, demanded a huge ransom, and finally had him killed.
He would never forget how the kidnappers, for the sake of ransom, cruelly cut off his ears and nose, chopped off his hand, and sent them to his parents. Their faces had been completely indifferent.
“How come he doesn’t just die? That unfilial son should have died long ago.”
“Xiao Ming is our son. That beast dying early would bring peace…”
The pain in his heart slowly magnified.
After his death, his obsession did not fade. His soul wandered around the Xiao family home.
He witnessed the Xiao family’s end. Xiao Ming wanted to be with a female celebrity but faced family opposition. In a fit of madness, he set fire to the Xiao family villa. His parents and two sisters all died in the flames.
Xiao Chen’s eyes gradually became clear.
In this life, I, Xiao Chen, will live for myself.
I will never again try to please you just to belong. My life will be decided by me.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Xiao Chen’s mother asked with a dark expression. “I don’t know what cheating method you used to get first place.”
“But only the top five can participate in the city physics competition. You must give your spot to your brother.”
In their eyes, their good son, Xiao Ming, was the truly outstanding one.
“Xiao Chen, winning by cheating is shameful. The city physics competition is extremely strict. You won’t be able to cheat there,” Xiao Yan said coldly. “Withdraw voluntarily and give the spot to Mingming.”
“How do you know I cheated?” Xiao Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. “Did you investigate my grades or learn anything about my past?”
Xiao Yan froze. She truly didn’t know. In fact, she had never cared about anything concerning this younger brother.
“Does that even need investigation?” Xiao Qian said with disdain. “How good can someone from the countryside possibly be?”
“Mingming has always ranked in the top 50 in the city, especially in physics. If you hadn’t cheated, how could you possibly score higher than him? I hate people like you who fake things.”
In his previous life, because he talked back to his father, he had been slapped hard and forced to withdraw from the physics competition.
Xiao Ming then participated, cheated with petty tricks, got first place, and was directly recommended to top universities.
From then on, afraid that surpassing Xiao Ming would make the family unhappy, Xiao Chen deliberately held back in exams. Even in the college entrance examination, he only got into an ordinary university.
But in this life, what is mine, no one will take away.
“Call your homeroom teacher right now, admit that you cheated, and withdraw from the competition,” his father said coldly.
Xiao Chen stared at his father, then slowly shook his head. “Impossible.”
“What did you say?” The Xiao family members were all shocked.
In their eyes, Xiao Chen had always been obedient and compliant.
What was wrong with him this time?
“I said, what’s mine is mine. No one can take it,” Xiao Chen said. His voice was not loud, but every word was firm.
“What’s yours? I’m your father. Without me raising you, you would have starved to death,” his father roared.
“My father?” Xiao Chen sneered. “Ask yourself honestly. Other than giving birth to me, have you ever taken care of me for even a single day?”
“I lived with my grandmother in the countryside. She raised me on a few acres of thin farmland.”
“My tuition was pooled together by villagers. My clothes and shoes were secondhand from kind people.”
“Even after being brought back here, I lived in the storage room. Except for half a semester’s tuition, I earned my own living expenses through part-time work.”
His father froze. He suddenly realized that after sending Xiao Chen to the countryside, he had never cared about him at all.
“Everyone thinks I’m an orphan. Who would know that I have a father who is the chairman of the Xiao Group?” Xiao Chen said coldly.
“Shut up. What kind of tone are you using to speak to me?” his father shouted, feeling his authority challenged.
“The tone I use depends on how you treat me,” Xiao Chen said, lifting his eyes with a faint smile.
“Since you gave birth but never raised me, then tell me, my dear father, why didn’t you just hold back for those few seconds back then and end your bloodline against the wall?”