AITFYMIBP Chapter 75

TL: Hua

This embrace was passionate and tender.

It took a long time before Xie Roufei could bear to let go.

“Yanran, Ranran…”

Xie Roufei smiled through her tears.

She had so much she wanted to say to Lin Yanran, but a thousand words ultimately converged into a simple name.

Yanran.

Ranran.

Xie Roufei murmured her son’s name, raised her hands, and gently touched the face she had missed a thousand times over.

Her gentle gaze was full of attachment to her child, as if she could never look enough.

She arranged the stray hairs on Lin Yanran’s forehead, a happy smile on her face.

The little baby in her dream that she couldn’t touch or protect seemed to have grown up overnight. Now, he was standing in front of her.

He called her Mom.

And she had truly embraced him.

Those wishes she couldn’t reach in her dreams had all come true today, one by one.

While arranging his hair, her fingertips inadvertently touched Lin Yanran’s warm forehead.

A tear of joy slid uncontrollably from the corner of Xie Roufei’s eye.

For twenty-two years, she had repeatedly trapped herself in that scene of seeing the child’s body.

Waking up in countless midnights, breakdown and heartache always swallowed her in the dark.

Fortunately, the truth was now out, and her Yanran was back.

Lin Yanran, whose brain was still deprived of oxygen, gently wiped away his mother’s tears upon seeing them.

“Mom, don’t cry.”

“Okay.”

Xie Roufei tried hard to hold back her tears, a happy smile appearing on her face.

Although it was many years late, hearing this “Mom” now was enough.

The pain of the past finally healed automatically in this moment.

“Mom, it’s cold here. Let’s go back first.”

Among the group, Lin Yunzhe, the only one relatively level-headed, reminded Xie Roufei.

Hearing the voice, Lin Yanran looked up at his brother opposite him.

Seeing Lin Yunzhe tilt his head slightly to the right, he immediately understood his meaning.

This wasn’t a suitable place to talk.

So he said, “Mom, let’s go home.”

Xie Roufei was still emotional, but Lin Yanran’s words were very effective on her.

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, she agreed happily and couldn’t wait to take her child home.

As they walked towards the garage, Xie Roufei held Lin Yanran’s hand tightly the whole way.

It was as if he would disappear again as soon as she let go.

Lin Yunzhe drove, and Lin Yanran sat in the back with his mother.

Waves of warmth from the car’s heater dispelled the chill from Lin Yanran’s body.

After a buffer period, the deceptive effect the brain produces upon returning to loved ones also gradually dissipated.

Reason slowly gained the upper hand.

“How did you find me?”

Lin Yanran looked at his mother with a smile, his eyes holding both curiosity and doubt.

The warmth in his hand was real.

So he could be sure this wasn’t a dream; he had indeed met the family he thought about day and night.

But he was still a bit confused about whether he had transmigrated back or if his family had transmigrated over as well.

He recalled that when he originally transmigrated into the book, it seemed to happen in an instant—the world suddenly changed.

Hearing this, Lin Yanhui, sitting in the passenger seat, turned around to explain to Lin Yanran, afraid that bringing it up would upset Xie Roufei again.

“You might find it a bit unbelievable when I tell you.”

“Actually, when you were born, we all thought you died from a difficult birth. But suddenly one day, your mother told us she dreamed you didn’t die but were taken away.”

“So we reinvestigated what happened back then, and it turned out to be true.”

Lin Yanhui didn’t go into too many details, just roughly telling Lin Yanran that such a thing had happened.

After hurriedly recalling the process, Lin Yanhui’s eyes were filled with self-blame. “It’s all my fault for being negligent back then and not investigating carefully, leaving you alone all these years…”

He knew everything Lin Yanran had gone through, including being exploited by the management company and not even being able to attend school; he was clear on all of it.

So the thought that his negligence led to his child having such a miserable life made Lin Yanhui feel more heartache the more he thought about it.

Lin Yanhui’s words also touched Xie Roufei’s sore spot.

People are always like this, always unsatisfied.

When she hadn’t found the child, her greatest wish was just to find him.

Now that she had found him, she felt regret for not having been able to give the child happiness.

Seeing the well-behaved and sensible child now, she couldn’t help but wonder.

What was Ranran like in his childhood? Was he rebellious like his brother in his teenage years?

Thinking about her younger son’s life experiences over the first twenty-two years—experiences she didn’t accompany him for and couldn’t go back to participate in—Xie Roufei felt both self-blame and sadness.

Her hands couldn’t help but grip Lin Yanran’s hand tightly again.

With the couple both immersed in self-blame, no one noticed the complex look that flashed through Lin Yanran’s eyes at this moment.

Thought after thought flashed quickly through his mind.

He tried his best to convince himself that this might be a disordered consciousness caused by transmigrating into the book.

But those things that felt out of place and the logic that was not self-consistent made it impossible for him to ignore the fact.

There was a huge difference between the information he and his family had received!

The precious moments of their loving life together seemed to be clearly remembered only by him.

But the twenty-two years of companionship given to him by his parents and his elder brother were missing for them.

Lin Yanran couldn’t figure it out, so he could only tightly hold his mother’s hand in return.

Soon, he followed his family back to the house.

Before reaching the villa’s front door, he saw four familiar figures.

In the night, his paternal grandfather, who usually dressed casually, was wearing his most formal bespoke suit, while his maternal grandfather was wearing the Chinese tunic suit he remembered as his favorite.

Standing beside them were his maternal grandmother, who had cared for his health since childhood, and… his perpetually smiling paternal grandmother…

“Ranran, welcome home.”

His maternal grandmother opened her arms to him, embracing him gently, just as she had done countless times when picking him up as a child.

For a moment, Lin Yanran felt as if he had returned to his childhood.

After returning to the bustling, lively home, the family sat together.

“Your parents are good at keeping secrets; they only told us when they were almost home.”

After asking about Lin Yanran’s current situation, his paternal grandparents took out a beautifully framed piece of calligraphy.

“Your grandfather wrote this for you when you were born twenty-two years ago.”

Lin Yanran’s gaze immediately fell upon the calligraphy—

May joy always accompany you, and may you grow up happily.

The calligraphy was exquisite, with strong and natural brushwork, clearly his grandfather’s handiwork.

But after reading the piece, Lin Yanran’s fingers subtly clenched.

When he was born, his grandfather had also written him a piece of calligraphy like this.

It was still hanging in his study, exactly the same.

Being back with his family, the familiar and warm atmosphere was almost unreal in its beauty.

Lin Yanran felt like he had so much to say, but he couldn’t utter a single word.

So he just listened quietly; even just hearing these voices was a good thing.

Xie Roufei had endless things to talk about with Lin Yanran. She took him through every part of the house, inside and out, seeming afraid that her child wouldn’t be able to quickly integrate into the big family, so she patiently introduced everything to him one by one.

After the tour, Lin Yanran realized that this house was actually a little different from his memory, but the overall setup and arrangement were largely similar.

Finally, they arrived at a room.

Before even opening it, Lin Yanran guessed what it was.

As expected, when the door was opened, the specially modified room showcased the various awards his mother had won.

Lin Yanran walked past the trophies and certificates one by one, listening to his mother’s gentle and careful words, while quietly completing the details of each award in his heart.

He had even been present at the ceremonies for quite a few of the awards.

“Mom, you looked so beautiful when you received the award.”

Lin Yanran picked up a photo. Xie Roufei in the picture was looking at the camera, smiling gently.

He remembered clearly that this photo was taken when he was six years old, and the exact words he had said to his mother then were this very sentence.

When Xie Roufei heard the phrase, “Mom, you looked so beautiful when you received the award,” she suddenly felt a strange emptiness in her heart.

It was as if something important had been missed by her.

Tears suddenly fell again.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be a part of your past.”

Lin Yanran looked at the photo, recalling the scene at the time.

He helped his mother hold the trophy, and his mother hugged him, who was holding the trophy.

Seeing his mother cry made Lin Yanran feel sad too, so he smiled and comforted her.

“It’s okay, as long as I remember.”

Even if you all forget, it’s okay as long as I remember everything that happened.

Xie Roufei had experienced great emotional ups and downs today. After the initial surge of excitement, the tightly strung nerve finally relaxed.

As soon as she and Lin Yanran walked out, her body seemed to lose its support, and she slumped weakly to the floor.

Lin Yanran was quick to react, carrying her to the living room. The butler immediately called a doctor.

Xie Roufei soon woke up after fainting. She then tightly held Lin Yanran’s hand, seeming afraid that her child would disappear again when she woke up.

Lin Yanran understood her thoughts, so he stayed by her side and whispered to her, “Mom, I’m here.”

Perhaps hearing Lin Yanran’s voice, Xie Roufei finally felt secure enough to fall asleep.

After the doctor examined her and confirmed that his mother was completely fine, Lin Yanran and Lin Yunzhe went to the study together.

When Lin Yanran entered, the first thing he saw was a photo album casually placed in the corner by Lin Yunzhe.

He picked it up and casually turned to a page.

The first thing that caught his eye was a photo of Lin Yunzhe during his student days.

Young Lin Yunzhe had a blue headband tied around his head, wore a jersey printed with the number 17, and was smiling brightly while holding a basketball.

The person in the photo was exactly as he remembered, and even the lucky number his brother liked was 17.

Lin Yanran picked up the photo and asked Lin Yunzhe, seemingly casually, “Brother, was this taken when you were on the school team?”

Lin Yunzhe hesitated for a moment before answering in a low voice, “Yes.”

Lin Yanran did not say anything more, only continuing to flip through the pages.

In the photos, Lin Yunzhe gradually looked more mature, but the number of photos also became increasingly fewer.

Later, there was only one or two photos occasionally.

They were either skiing, rock climbing, or skydiving.

Lin Yanran’s gaze fell on the photo of skydiving.

He still remembered that when he first went skydiving with his brother as a teenager, he was actually a little scared.

Before boarding the plane, he had boastfully thought skydiving was no big deal.

But at the very moment he had to jump, his heart pounded violently when he looked down, as he had a slight fear of heights.

With the wind blowing on his face, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, counting down three seconds to mentally prepare himself.

But before he was fully ready, his brother mischievously gave him a shove and pushed him off.

He didn’t clearly hear what the diving instructor said to him at the time.

But in the second his heart stopped, he opened his eyes and vaguely saw his brother waving and smiling at him.

“Brother.”

Lin Yanran snapped out of his memory, suddenly turning around to meet Lin Yunzhe’s gaze on him.

He didn’t know how long his brother had been looking at him.

Perhaps just now, perhaps the whole time.

But it didn’t matter.

Lin Yanran revealed a knowing smile on his lips. “Shouldn’t we do a paternity test?”

Lin Yanran’s question was as casual as asking the other person what they wanted to eat for dinner.

A flicker of surprise crossed Lin Yunzhe’s eyes, but he quickly concealed it.

He did not falsely say there was no need for the test, but he also didn’t answer directly.

He walked forward two steps, raised his right hand, and not-so-gently ruffled Lin Yanran’s hair, messing up the hairstyle the stylist had painstakingly blown dry.

Lin Yanran lowered his head, dodging with practiced familiarity.

But his brother was taller, had longer arms, and was stronger than him. Just like in the past, he couldn’t escape, so he said helplessly, “Hey, Brother, my hair. The stylist spent a long time on it. If you mess it up, you have to pay for it.”

Lin Yunzhe showed the only relaxed smile of the day and asked, “How much should I pay? Is fifty cents enough?”

After leaving Lin Yunzhe’s study, Lin Yanran returned to his own bedroom.

He opened his phone contacts and calmly made a call to Yingying, asking her to help take care of Ultraman.

Afterward, he replied to a message from Gu Siye.

Actually, Lin Yanran really wanted to call Gu Siye now, but because his own thoughts were a mess, he didn’t call, afraid of affecting the other person.

However, the other party seemed to have telepathy, sending him a message right at that moment.

gsy: Come out and look at the moon.

Lin Yanran leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window and looked outside.

It was pitch black.

Lin Yanran: Liar. There’s nothing there.

gsy: There is.

gsy: In my heart.

Lin Yanran read Gu Siye’s sentence several times.

He couldn’t fully understand what those words meant.

After replying with a simple “I’m going to sleep,” he took a shower and lay down on the large, soft bed.

Despite usually being an early sleeper, he suffered from insomnia tonight.

Every person he had contacted recently served as a reminder that he was currently living inside the world of a novel.

Yet, the moment he closed his eyes, images of every family member flashed through his mind.

Clearly, every familiar face made him feel as though he had returned to the side of his true parents and relatives.

Clearly, the look of “reunion after a long separation” in his family’s eyes wasn’t fake.

And yet, their memories were fundamentally different from his own.

He and his family had clearly only been apart for four months, but now, it had become twenty-two years.

He had returned to his loved ones, yet at this moment, he felt utterly lost.

Lin Yanran opened his eyes to look at the dark night; too many unsolvable questions left his thoughts in a state of chaos.

The next day, Lin Yanran cooperated openly with the family for a DNA sample collection.

During the two days spent waiting for the results, he went nowhere, staying home instead.

Through his interactions with the family, he gradually began to understand his “background” in this world.

At the same time, he looked into the past of the original “Yanran.”

It turned out that after the original owner was born, he was picked up by someone and quickly adopted by the Xuan family. At nearly sixteen, he was sent to an internet addiction treatment center, where he became friends with Shang Chengcheng, only to eventually be kicked out of the wealthy household.

The Lin family had originally been grateful to the Xuan family for adopting Lin Yanran, but seeing how heartlessly they had cast their son out later, they had treated the Xuan family with cold indifference since.

They were particularly troubled by the fact that the child had been sent to an addiction center. Though they didn’t know the real reason, they couldn’t let it go.

No parent who truly loved their child would do such a thing.

When Lin Yanran learned all this, he remained silent because he didn’t truly understand that past.

However, the family misinterpreted his silence as a desire to avoid mentioning a past trauma. Thinking of the hardships he must have endured wandering alone at such a young age, they felt even more heartache for him, doubling their efforts to treat him well.

The paternity test was expedited, and the results were available two days later.

Unsurprisingly, Lin Yanran and the Lin family were biologically related.

After the results came out, Lin Yanran accompanied his mother on a walk that evening, then immediately returned to his room, took out pen and paper, and began to record his thoughts.

The current situation was a mess; he had to organize it.

Lin Yanran rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

In all his years, he had never encountered something so difficult.

Even when he had first transmigrated and was poor and miserable, it hadn’t been as troublesome as this.

Holding his pen, Lin Yanran wrote down the things he couldn’t figure out on the blank paper and began to categorize them.

He created two hypotheses for himself.

Transmigration into a book

After transmigrating, he had broken out of the original world-building settings, so he didn’t die a tragic death. Even the family members the novel never mentioned were “filled in” with plot points based on his own background because of his arrival?

But if that were the case, why was the information his family received completely different from his own?

Lin Yanran drew a question mark behind this deduction.

Then, he wrote down the second theory.

Parallel worlds

What if, like in the movie “Coherence,” he had accidentally stumbled into a parallel world?

In that case, where he was now was another theoretically existing real world.

In this world, “Yanran’s” settings and family were the same as his own, but the trajectory of his life had changed due to certain events.

That would explain why the information his parents had was entirely different from his.

Lin Yanran felt that the parallel world theory could temporarily explain his current situation.

But then, his pen paused, and he drew another question mark after “Parallel World.”

If he was an intruder, where did the previous “Yanran” go?

Where was the entrance to this parallel dimension?

If he could come here, was there a third “Yanran” coming?

Furthermore, if it was a parallel world, why did his subconscious establish the “transmigration into a book” worldview when he arrived? And why did he forget some things from his previous world?

Besides, an accidental intrusion should involve the entire person moving to another world.

Yet he could clearly feel that this body was different from his old one.

Though the appearance and build were largely the same, the physical constitution was far inferior to his own.

Could it be that his consciousness traveled from one space-time to another?

Lin Yanran scribbled on the paper, but he couldn’t convince himself.

Even the parallel world theory, which felt closest to the truth, seemed riddled with oddities and contradictions.

It was like an equation with insufficient variables; no matter how he calculated, he couldn’t find the right answer.

After thinking for a while, Lin Yanran simply closed his eyes.

He felt he was missing a crucial piece of information, but he couldn’t pull it out of the fog yet.

Unable to come up with a solution, Lin Yanran didn’t force himself. Instead, he took a risky but simpler approach.

Find Lin Yunzhe.

Through the past two days of contact, he realized that while the information his family had regarding his origins was different, everything else—including their personalities—was exactly as he remembered.

Based on his understanding of his brother, such a detailed and rational person couldn’t have failed to notice his abnormalities.

But out of fear of upsetting their mother, combined with his tolerance for his younger brother, he must have been holding back.

Thinking of this, Lin Yanran recalled the incredibly restrained reaction during their first meeting. His brother must have many questions of his own.

There were three knocks on the door.

Lin Yanran snapped back to reality.

“Ranran.”

Lin Yunzhe’s voice came from outside.

Lin Yanran was surprised that the other party would come at this time, so he quickly went to open the door.

“Brother.”

Lin Yanran took the warm milk the other offered him, and once he was inside, he immediately locked the door.

Lin Yunzhe noticed the small gesture and raised an eyebrow. “You have something to say?”

Lin Yanran nodded.

The tacit understanding between the brothers hadn’t changed at all.

Though he knew things were different, looking at this familiar face, Lin Yanran couldn’t help but feel as close to him as he always had.

He and his brother had never kept secrets.

“Don’t you have anything to ask me?” Lin Yanran didn’t beat around the bush. “Don’t you think my reactions are strange?”

Lin Yunzhe’s expression didn’t change. Instead, he gave a faint smile and admitted directly, “Yes, your calling out ‘Mom’ at the first meeting was very abrupt, as if you already knew we would come looking for you.”

Lin Yanran took a sip of the warm milk and shook his head. “While I felt you would eventually find me, the truth is, I’ve been looking for you all along.”

A low chuckle came from Lin Yunzhe. “It’s the same.”

Lin Yanran looked down and took another sip.

He actually wanted to say it wasn’t the same.

But there was no point in dwelling on that now, so he started a different topic.

“You hate sweets.”

“But you always finish the cakes Mom makes for you with a smile.”

“You hate birds and animals with pointed beaks.”

“But you love fencing.”

At this point, Lin Yanran added silently in his heart: But I don’t like it. You always make me practice with you, and I lose miserably every time.

Lin Yanran watched Lin Yunzhe’s expression as he continued, “You fell off a horse when you were seventeen and still have a scar on your calf, which is why you don’t like wearing shorts.”

“You have a PhD in finance, but what you originally wanted to study most was philosophy.”

“While others study the conservation of energy in physics, you insist on exploring its philosophical significance.”

“You hate birds with pointed beaks because someone brought a chicken to trick you when you were little, saying it was a Psyduck. You actually believed them and raised it carefully for months, until…”

Lin Yanran listed things one by one—things that only the two brothers knew.

Lin Yunzhe’s expression became noticeably embarrassed as he listened. “Alright, you don’t need to be that detailed.”

He coughed dryly to mask his awkwardness.

Then, he became curious about how his brother knew such private details so clearly.

Some of these things even their parents didn’t know.

But soon, a vague idea formed in his mind, a feeling that made it all seem somehow natural.

Lin Yanran didn’t explain. He just smiled, walked up to Lin Yunzhe, and asked, “Brother, don’t you suspect me? I know so much about you and your family—aren’t you afraid I have an ulterior motive?”

The two brothers had always been honest with each other.

Lin Yunzhe had no intention of lying. He nodded. “I did suspect you before, but biologically, you are indeed my brother.”

He then added, his tone much softer than before, “Ranran, did something happen to you?”

“Yes.”

Lin Yanran looked into Lin Yunzhe’s eyes.

They had grown up together; he was his closest kin in this world.

They shared countless memories, having argued, fought, gotten angry, and made up.

He was one of the people he relied on most.

They had promised never to lie to or abandon one another.

So, he decided to take a gamble and confess his experience.

“Brother, actually, we spent twenty-two years together in another space-time. That’s why I know everything about you.”

Lin Yanran lowered his eyes, looking at the milk that was no longer hot, and told Lin Yunzhe his past experiences from beginning to end.

Before speaking, Lin Yanran thought he could explain it in a few sentences.

But once he actually started—especially as the small details of their time together came flooding back—he found that one memory led to another, as if he could talk for three days and nights without finishing.

Lin Yanran spoke for a long time, until the milk in his hand had turned cold.

He didn’t draw a conclusion about his relationship with Lin Yunzhe. After explaining everything, he simply looked at him.

“That’s all of it. I hope it helps you.”

Lin Yunzhe stood up and smoothed the wrinkles in his suit. He offered no subjective judgment on the story he just heard.

“Thank you for telling me all this.”

He walked two steps toward Lin Yanran and, just like before, reached out and ruffled his hair.

“Don’t tell Mom yet. Her emotions are unstable right now.”

This time, Lin Yanran didn’t resist. He nodded in agreement, his expression much more relaxed.

“I know. That’s why I came to you.”

A faint smile appeared on Lin Yunzhe’s lips.

He glanced at the dark night sky outside the window.

After a long silence, he spoke slowly.