TL: Hua

Chapter 128: Save oneself

To an ordinary person, this hypothesis might sound absurd, but to Lin Yanran, it was highly probable.

Since both he and Gu Siye had transmigrated for some reason, others could certainly do the same.

Based on his and Gu Siye’s current situations, he speculated that everyone’s timing for entering the book was likely different; the points in time they arrived in this world were not unified, and they would all lose some memories.

However, the memories each person lost were different.

For instance, he himself still remembered the vast majority of past events.

Gu Siye, on the other hand, had forgotten everything prior, only feeling a sense of familiarity toward Lin Yanran, and had only recently begun to slowly recover parts of his memory.

Therefore, if the Lin Muyang his brother spoke of was also a transmigrator, it would explain how he knew exactly where their mother was giving birth and the precise time of his own birth.

Lin Muyang transmigrated earlier than he did and retained some memories from the previous world.

Driven by a desire for revenge against the Lin family, he prepared meticulously, specifically bribing the doctor and nurse at that private hospital, then took Lin Yanran away and left him by the roadside.

And if Xuan Yihan was also a transmigrator, then he was the person named Han Yixuan in the dream.

From the dream, it could be inferred that the two knew each other in the previous world.

After transmigrating, Lin Muyang had clearly designed the plan to discard him, yet seemingly redundantly revealed his location to the Xuan family.

He most likely did this because he had reached some sort of agreement with Xuan Yihan in their previous life.

Lin Yanran guessed that their agreement was likely what Xuan Yihan had mentioned in the dream—to replace him.

In fact, if he hadn’t transmigrated here, and if this world had followed the plot he previously understood, the two of them would have indeed succeeded.

Because of Lin Muyang’s instigation, the original owner was adopted by Xuan Hongwei and his wife, subsequently suffering all kinds of abuse, leading to a bleak and gloomy life.

Meanwhile, Xuan Yihan, who was away from the family, returned in glory at the age of sixteen, enjoying smooth sailing life all the way, and eventually becoming the winner in life he had always wanted to be.

These matters were complex to untangle, but at this moment, Lin Yanran’s mind was exceptionally clear.

Based on this deduction, he even had an even bolder suspicion.

There was no original owner in this world at all.

That so-called original owner was simply himself.

A version of himself whose life trajectory had been deliberately altered by the collaboration of Xuan Yihan and Lin Muyang and who was ultimately successfully replaced by the other party.

His transmigration back to this world was no accident.

Was he here to save the self whose life had been changed?

Lin Yanran was startled by this final association.

He remained silent for a moment but quickly regained his composure.

What he needed to do now was to warn his brother to watch out for Lin Muyang.

The opponent possessed memories of the previous life.

Seeing the news that broke a while ago about him reuniting with his family, the man would surely realize something was wrong.

Lin Yanran quickly shared his suspicion that the other party might also be a transmigrator with his brother, though he withheld that final, boldest guess.

He had previously confessed his origins to his brother, so Lin Yunzhe was not surprised after hearing it.

“No wonder he ran so fast this time.”

“Brother, what do you mean?”

“I discovered Lin Muyang’s involvement during that time. His business wasn’t clean; he did many illegal things in private. I’ve been cooperating with the police on a secret investigation, so this matter was never made public,” Lin Yunzhe said, his tone involuntarily dropping a few notches.

“But he still escaped the day before the planned arrest. Currently, all assets under his name have been frozen and seized, but no one knows which corner he is hiding in.”

After hearing Lin Yunzhe’s words, Lin Yanran felt inexplicably uneasy.

Since he had now transmigrated back and changed the course of this world, would Lin Muyang and Xuan Yihan, who both wanted to be the winners in life, still refuse to accept their defeat?

As if he could hear his thoughts, Lin Yunzhe also warned him worriedly, “Although he has fled, his career is completely ruined, and the police are hunting him. However, this man is quite sinister. I’m always worried whether he’ll do something crazy again this time to retaliate against our family. You’re often out and about, so remember to be extra careful.”

Lin Yanran nodded. “I’ll be careful.”

Lin Yunzhe hummed in response, but before hanging up, he suddenly called out Lin Yanran’s name.

“Do you still remember the Law of Conservation of Energy I told you about before?”

“I remember.”

Though he answered this way, Lin Yanran found it strange. Why would his brother suddenly bring this up?

But in the next moment, the words Lin Yunzhe spoke caused a wave of bitterness to well up in his eyes.

“Love is also conserved.”

Lin Yunzhe spoke slowly in a low voice, “I can sense your hesitation. You don’t let the family interfere with your career, and you don’t dare to be overly affectionate in front of Mom and Dad. You’re working hard to position yourself as an outsider. Is it because you’re worried you’re enjoying everything that originally belonged to the ‘Yanran’ of this world?”

With just a few simple sentences, Lin Yunzhe had pointed out exactly what Lin Yanran had been struggling with.

Lin Yanran had to admit that even though he and his brother hadn’t grown up together in this world and they were missing twenty-two years of companionship, Yunzhe remained the person who understood him best.

Indeed, because of his awkward identity, he had previously restrained himself from many opportunities to express love to and receive love from his parents.

Such was his personality; he didn’t want to owe others, nor did he want to usurp what belonged to someone else.

So, even though his parents and family in this world were identical to those in his memory, he couldn’t bring himself to feel as at ease as he once did.

Over the receiver, Lin Yunzhe’s voice continued.

“But actually, I want to say: you are you, and you have always been you. Whether it’s the ‘original owner’ you speak of or the current you, in the eyes of Mom, Dad, and me, it has always been the same person.”

Lin Yunzhe’s voice was gentle and calm. When those words reached his ears, it made Lin Yanran feel as if he were looking at a distant, crystal-clear lake.

“Little brother, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. We are and will always be family.”

—

When Gu Siye used the key card he got from Lin Yanran’s assistant to swipe open the door, he saw Lin Yanran sitting on the bed with his head bowed, lost in thought.

He walked to the bedside, his shadow falling across the pristine white sheets.

Noticing the shadow, Lin Yanran looked up and finally realized who had arrived.

“Teacher Gu.”

As he spoke, Lin Yanran knelt up on the bed and reached out to hug the man in front of him.

After holding him for a long time, Lin Yanran finally spoke again.

“Thank you for always staying by my side.”

Whether it was the last world or this one.

You can purchase complete translation in EPUB format HERE.