BTMDY Extra 23

Author’s Note:

 

Highlight! Highlight! Highlight!

This side story features a shura field involving Xiao Lin, Lu Chengxuan, Old Lin and Shi Yuan from two different timelines appearing at the same time.

Because characters from different timelines appear together, once the divider line ‘######’ shows up, names from the previous life timeline will have a ‘#’ added after them for easy distinction.

 

Example:

Shi Yuan# looks at Shi Yuan

(This means past-life Uncle Shi is looking at the Shi Yuan from the main timeline.)

Shi Yuan# looks at Lin Shen#

(This means past-life Uncle Shi is looking at past-life Chairman Lin: Lin Shen.)

 

One-line explanation:

Anyone with a ‘#’ is from the previous timeline and is older.

 

---

 

“Xiao Lin, get up. Didn’t you say you had to wake up early today?”

 

“Time to get up.”

 

Soft morning light slipped through the gaps in the curtains and spilled into the bedroom. Lin Wangye, wrapped tight in his blanket and openly refusing to get out of bed, felt his cheeks getting itchy.

 

He squinted his eyes open and took a look—it was Shi Yuan, poking his face over and over with a finger.

 

His sleepiness still hadn’t cleared, so Lin Wangye lowered his head and buried his face into the pillow, thinking he could dodge it this way. But the next second, he was wrapped up in the blanket like a spring roll and lifted straight into the air. By the time he opened his eyes again, he was already standing in front of the bathroom sink.

 

Normally, no matter how lazy Lin Wangye got, Shi Yuan would never use this kind of method to wake him up.

 

But considering that last night President Xiao Lin had very seriously ordered, ‘No matter what, you have to wake me up tomorrow,’ Shi Yuan naturally kept his word.

 

After being ‘violently’ rebooted, Lin Wangye stood there half out of it, turned on the faucet, and squeezed toothpaste onto his brush. Halfway through, he felt something touch his ankle. He looked down and saw slippers that Shi Yuan had pushed over to his feet.

 

Lin Wangye slipped them on, letting Shi Yuan take the blanket off his shoulders and toss it back onto the bed in the bedroom. With sleepy eyes, he brushed his teeth while staring at his reflection in the mirror.

 

“Why are you so tired? You went to bed pretty early last night—didn’t sleep well?”

 

“Mm… yeah…Ah.”

 

Lin Wangye had toothpaste in his mouth and couldn’t talk clearly, so he just answered vaguely. After spitting out the foam, he finally spoke to the person behind him. “Dreamed all night long. So exhausting.”

 

“What kind of dreams?” Shi Yuan asked with a smile.

 

“It’s all Old Lin’s fault. He’s been dragging me around lately talking about some once-in-decades five-star alignment, saying you can time-travel and go back to the Qing dynasty to be emperor. I kept dreaming about jumping back and forth through different timelines. So tiring.”

 

Lin Wangye bent down to wash his face and kept talking.

 

“I even saw you from another timeline.”

 

“Oh?” Shi Yuan looked genuinely interested. “What was I like in the dream? Did I say anything to you?”

 

At that, Lin Wangye suddenly froze.

 

He straightened up and stared at himself in the mirror. Water slid down his face and dripped off his chin. Those usually bright, lively eyes now carried a hint of loneliness.

 

“It was like you couldn’t see me. You didn’t talk either. There was blank paper in front of you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to write. You just sat alone on the balcony, staring off into the distance.” Lin Wangye sighed without meaning to, met Shi Yuan’s eyes through the mirror, and tugged at the corner of his mouth. “You didn’t look very happy.”

 

After living together for so many years—and now both of them already nearing thirty—Shi Yuan had long stopped feeling overly bothered by Lin Wangye’s lingering thoughts about another version of him in a different timeline.

 

Sometimes, he even felt sympathy for that version of himself.

 

Losing family. Losing friends. Losing Lin Wangye.

 

It was something he couldn’t even imagine, let alone accept.

 

Still, those thoughts stayed in his head. He would never say them out loud and let Lin Wangye hear them.

 

Seeing that Lin Wangye seemed affected by the dream, Shi Yuan smiled gently and explained things for that other version of himself in a tone that sounded completely casual, meant to comfort him. “Sitting there spacing out and not writing is normal. I was probably just looking for inspiration.”

 

Lin Wangye could tell he was trying to comfort him. He instinctively smiled, pulled out a towel, covered his face, and wiped off the water, smoothly changing the topic.

 

“I also dreamed about my dad.”

 

For Lin Shen in this timeline, Lin Wangye usually called him ‘Old Lin’ in daily life. When he used that tone to say ‘Dad,’ it usually meant the father from another timeline.

 

“Oh?” Shi Yuan asked. “Did he say anything?”

 

“Not really. He was just working the whole time.”

 

Lin Wangye put the towel down, stretched lazily, then turned and dove straight into Shi Yuan’s arms. He let his whole body relax, mumbling slowly and comfortably, “Dad in my memory really was always busy.”

 

Shi Yuan pulled him close and, out of habit, reached up and gave his ear a light squeeze.

 

For some reason, over the past few days Shi Yuan had felt oddly dazed, like his mind was never fully clear, as if his soul was drifting outside his body. He knew what he’d said and done, but when he tried to remember, it all felt unreal, like some blurry illusion.

 

Maybe he’d just been too busy lately.

 

After waking up today, though, he felt refreshed and sharp, nothing like the strange off feeling from the past few days.

 

Lin Wangye naturally noticed the change. The person beside him looked way more awake and lively today, so he lifted his head from Shi Yuan’s chest and looked at him. Pouting on purpose, he complained, “You’ve looked so tired lately. I didn’t even cling to you or act spoiled, and you didn’t come looking for hugs at all. So mean. You owe Xiao Lin tons of kisses!”

 

Shi Yuan kept smiling, a bit of surprise flashing across his face. “Was I really that bad?”

 

“Way worse than bad!” Lin Wangye declared loudly.

 

With things said this far, Lin Wangye fully expected Shi Yuan to lean down and kiss him naturally. Instead, Shi Yuan only lowered his head, his gentle smile slowly turning into something that clearly meant he was up to no good.

 

“Then how should I be punished?”

 

Lin Wangye blinked quickly a few times, suddenly catching on. He grinned wide, showing bright white teeth, stood on his tiptoes, lowered his voice, and whispered something into Shi Yuan’s ear.

 

The moment he finished, his cheeks were impatiently cupped, and a soft good-morning kiss landed on his lips.

 

After soaking in that sweet, cozy morning moment, Lin Wangye got dressed and went out, knocking—‘duang duang duang’—on the door across the hallway.

 

Today was the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. Lin Shen had asked Lin Wangye to go worship the God of Wealth together and had even stressed that this time it was a pure father-and-son outing.

 

Lu Chengxuan and Shi Yuan were not allowed to join.

 

Lin Wangye had deliberately gotten up early just like Lin Shen told him to. The result, as expected, was discovering that the other party was the real one still lazing in bed.

 

Well, that was true enough. The man was lazy by nature.

 

When Lin Wangye got lazy, Shi Yuan still had enough ‘family status’ to haul him out of bed. But once Lin Shen made up his mind to sleep in, with Lu Chengxuan’s personality, there was no way he’d use any tough methods. He’d just let it be.

 

Thankfully, he also wouldn’t hold Lin Wangye back just because he indulged Lin Shen too much.

 

Irritable Xiao Lin stormed into the bedroom and went straight for the blanket, yanking it off by force.

 

As the saying goes, there’s always someone who can deal with you.

 

The Lin Shen that ten Lu Chengxuans couldn’t wake up was quickly dragged out of bed by Lin Wangye, washed up, changed clothes, and shoved out the door.

 

Their destination, the God of Wealth Temple, was up in the mountains outside Ningwen City. Lin Wangye drove the rich-stepmom-style G-Wagon, with Lin Shen riding along, and the whole way was smooth and clear.

 

Because of the special date, people started getting more crowded as they got closer.

 

Bored, Lin Wangye casually started chatting.

 

“Old Lin, why didn’t you let those two come along?”

 

“Just the two of us making money quietly. No need to bring them.” After saying that, Lin Shen noticed Lin Wangye raise an eyebrow, his face full of disbelief, and finally told the truth. “Valentine’s Day is in a few days. Has Lu Chengxuan prepared a surprise for me or not?”

 

“Why are you asking me?” Lin Wangye shrugged, spreading his hands. “How would I know?”

 

“What if he talked it over with you?”

 

“Nope. And even if he did, if I told you, would it still count as a surprise? Come on, can you be a little more mature? You’re how old now, still obsessing over Valentine’s Day surprises. I don’t even care anymore.” Lin Wangye complained, completely done with it.

 

“Shut up.”

 

Lin Shen leaned back in the passenger seat, staring straight ahead. On the surface, he looked calm, but inside, he was practically grinding his teeth to dust.

 

“That Xu guy is in the arts—of course he knows how to be romantic. He’s always thinking about how to make you happy, pulling surprises every other day. Why would you even need Valentine’s Day with him? Does the guy named Lu even have that kind of cell? I spend the whole year looking forward to our wedding anniversary, Qixi, and Valentine’s Day. What’s wrong with caring a little?”

 

Hearing that, Lin Wangye sighed and tried to reason with him gently.

 

“People are just different, okay? Besides, Brother Lu isn’t like Shi Yuan—he doesn’t have that much free time. As long as his heart’s with you, that’s what matters. If you want surprises, just tell him. He’ll do a great job.”

 

Lin Shen snapped back, “If I have to say it myself, does it still count as a surprise?!”

 

Lin Wangye honestly found his dad’s way of thinking unbelievable.

 

“Even if he did prepare something, you ask me, I tell you—does that count as a surprise? Then you’ll already be expecting it, get unhappy if it’s not good enough, and start nitpicking. This isn’t the first time, Old Lin. Sometimes I seriously feel like no one in the world is harder to please than you.”

 

Lin Shen hated it most when someone argued against him. Even when, deep down, he couldn’t refute it, it would still trigger his passive skill: arguing for the sake of arguing. He immediately fired back.

 

“Why does your elbow always bend outward? Who gave birth to you, huh?”

 

“My mom, who I’ve never even met, gave birth to me!”

 

Lin Wangye’s mouth was well-trained by now. He shot back fast, “Brother Lu isn’t an outsider. He’s the mom you found for me after going through all that trouble.”

 

Lin Shen had nothing to say. He went quiet, turned his head away, and stopped talking.

 

The father and son were always like this—noisy, always bickering. Arguing was normal, and neither of them ever really got mad. It would pass in no time.

 

The fifth day of the Lunar New Year was for welcoming the God of Wealth, and the temple was packed inside and out.

 

No matter how confused or careless people were in everyday life, when they stood in front of the God of Wealth, they suddenly became extra sincere. Lin Wangye and Lin Shen squeezed through the crowded mass of people, lit incense seriously, and prayed for everything to go smoothly this year.

 

There wasn’t just one God of Wealth enshrined in the temple. Besides the civil and martial Gods of Wealth, there were also the Five Saints, so the place was huge, and every brick and tile was beautifully maintained. Since they’d already driven such a long way, neither of them was in a hurry to head back.

 

While wandering around a quieter area, enjoying the snowy scenery, Lin Shen suddenly grabbed Lin Wangye and ran forward, then stopped at a spot.

 

“There’s a well here. Looks like a wishing well.”

 

He patted Lin Wangye’s arm and held out his palm. “Got any coins? I want to make a wish!”

 

Lin Wangye felt his dad’s level of superstition lately had reached a point beyond saving.

 

Dragged over against his will, he dug through his jacket and pants pockets. He actually did find a coin, but when he held it up, he hesitated.

 

“I only have one yuan.”

 

“You don’t need it. Your partner’s smart enough already.”

 

Lin Shen snatched the coin from his hand with lightning speed, like a robbery, then clasped his hands together and started muttering toward the well like he was casting a spell.

 

“This humble believer, surnamed Lin, has a bad temper and is a bit lacking in virtue, but I haven’t really done anything terrible in the first half of my life. With the gods watching from three feet above, I sincerely pray here that Lu Chengxuan will be blessed by heaven, and that his emotional intelligence will rise to eight thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight. If my wish comes true, I’m willing to abstain for one whole week and not eat cilantro.”

 

After finishing his prayer, Lin Shen bowed three times with extreme devotion and tossed the coin from his palm into the well.

 

Lin Wangye watched him in silence, then rolled his eyes hard at the sky.

 

What was strange was that wishing wells usually weren’t very deep, but after the coin was thrown in, there was no sound at all.

 

Lin Shen immediately felt something was off. Thinking the coin might’ve missed the well and worried the wish wouldn’t count, he leaned over the edge without a second thought to look inside.

 

That lean was no small thing—half his body was practically inside already.

 

And the scene inside the well looked downright creepy. It was clearly broad daylight, but when Lin Shen stuck his head in, he couldn’t see a thing. There was no water at the bottom like he expected, just endless emptiness.

 

That boundless darkness swallowed his vision, as if it carried some irresistible pull, forcing him into a daze almost instantly.

 

“Hey! It’s freezing out, don’t go crazy! You’ll fall in!”

 

Lin Wangye was freaked out by the sight and rushed over to grab him around the waist.

 

But Lin Shen, lost in his daze, had already unconsciously loosened his grip on the well’s edge. Lin Wangye’s sudden lunge knocked his balance completely off, and he toppled headfirst into the well.

 

At the instant of weightlessness, Lin Shen’s awareness snapped back.

 

In that split second, all he could do was reach upward, instinctively grabbing onto something.

 

When he realized it was Lin Wangye’s hoodie hood, it was already too late.

 

Father and son fell in one after the other, vanishing without a sound, leaving behind only one of Lin Wangye’s shoes, dropped in the rush, by the edge of the well.

 

######

 

Before fully waking up, Lin Wangye’s first thought was that it was cold.

 

He subconsciously lifted a hand to rub his dry eyes, propped himself up to sit, scrunched his neck, and rubbed his hands together to warm his icy fingers. He looked around, left and right, finding the scene in front of him extremely strange.

 

He was standing on a balcony. The reason he felt cold was because outdoor wind was blowing over him.

 

Thinking back to what happened before he lost consciousness, he clearly remembered being dragged into the well by his dad.

 

Could it be that he’d knocked himself out from the fall, been sent to the hospital, and then brought home to recover?

 

But there was no way Shi Yuan would leave him asleep on a balcony chair—and without even covering him with a blanket.

 

Besides, this balcony wasn’t familiar at all.

 

Lin Wangye had no clue what was going on. After turning his head to look out over the buildings outside, he could at least confirm he was still in Ningchang City. He hesitated, stood up, slid open the balcony glass door, and walked into the living room.

 

This was a place he’d never seen before.

 

The decor was upscale and tasteful, yet everything about it felt cold and empty. All the furniture and appliances needed for daily life were there, but it didn’t feel like anyone actually lived here.

 

Lin Wangye couldn’t understand why he’d wake up in someone else’s house. Afraid to mess with things, he carefully looked around and spotted a passport sitting on top of the TV cabinet.

 

To confirm who this place belonged to, he stepped closer, picked it up, and flipped it open. The moment he saw the name, he was shocked.

 

Shi Yuan?!

 

His mind went completely blank. His first thought was when Shi Yuan had quietly bought a new place behind his back. But as he unconsciously stared at the photo on the passport, his pupils suddenly trembled, and his eyes flew wide open.

 

No—this wasn’t right.

 

The person in the photo wasn’t Shi Yuan.

 

No, that wasn’t quite right either.

 

This wasn’t Shi Yuan in his twenties. It was Uncle Shi.

 

Lin Wangye was completely stunned. He pinched his wrist to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, then looked at the passport again. After failing to find his phone in his pocket, he started rummaging through drawers and cabinets, desperately looking for anything that could prove what year it was.

 

Very soon, he found a digital watch in the entryway drawer.

 

Judging by the date displayed on the screen, seven years had passed since his car accident.

 

Lin Wangye stood there holding the watch for a long, long time, his face full of shock and disbelief.

 

He had time-traveled.

 

He had time-traveled again.

 

This time, it didn’t seem like a dream.

 

It was real.

 

Lin Wangye stood there in a daze for a long time. Then he put the digital watch down, shifted his gaze back to the passport in his other hand, and stared at it without blinking. After a while, he lifted his head and looked toward the few rooms at the end of the hallway that had never been opened. His lips trembled uncontrollably.

 

“Uncle Shi…”

 

His voice was mixed with a thin, squeezed breath from how tense his throat was. It was so quiet he could barely hear it himself.

 

“Uncle Shi.”

 

He called again, but the empty house gave no response.

 

Clearly, Shi Yuan# wasn’t home right now.

 

He felt a bit disappointed, but he wasn’t anxious. The passport being at home meant Shi Yuan# hadn’t gone far. Sooner or later, he would come back.

 

This era no longer belonged to him.

 

He didn’t have a phone, and he didn’t have an ID.

 

With no way to contact anyone or run around outside, Lin Wangye could only return to the living room and sit on the couch, racking his brain over how he could appear in front of Uncle Shi in a way that felt natural.

 

Coming back from the dead—anyone would be scared by that, right?

 

Lin Wangye felt a little troubled, but more than that, he was happy.

 

He would be seeing this person again very soon.

 

As he sat on the couch, thinking back on all the little moments he’d shared with Uncle Shi in the past, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of many bottles and containers on the stand next to the TV cabinet.

 

When it came to the Shi Yuan of both timelines, Lin Wangye knew them well.

 

He had never once seen things like this appear in this man’s living space before. Curious, he stood up and walked over to take a closer look, only to find that every single one of them was medicine.

 

Lin Wangye picked one up to examine it, but couldn’t understand any of the complicated drug names on the labels.

 

Well… you couldn’t really blame him for that.

 

Growing up, Lin Wangye had barely ever dealt with medicine. Aside from Xu Sui and the special meds he had to take, the only ones he was familiar with were ibuprofen and Ganmaoling.

 

Those spell-like combos of words with things like ‘phenyl,’ ‘fluoro,’ and ‘ketone’ made his head hurt just looking at them. Still, one thing was clear—medicine was never good stuff.

 

Lin Wangye picked through the bottles and grabbed one box. Just as he flipped his wrist to check what was written on the back, he suddenly heard the sound of the front door opening.

 

That single noise instantly grabbed all of his attention.

 

The moment he looked up, his eyes collided with Shi Yuan#’s gaze.

 

The marks left by time on Shi Yuan# weren’t very obvious, but he was much thinner than Lin Wangye had imagined. He wore simple casual clothes, and in his hand was a plastic bag filled with fresh vegetables from the supermarket.

 

He spotted Lin Wangye standing in the living room right away.

 

While Lin Wangye was so excited his heart felt like it was about to burst out of his chest, pounding wildly, Shi Yuan# didn’t show any obvious emotional reaction. The only change was that the eyes, dulled by a deep, bone-weary exhaustion, lit up just a little.

 

That tiny bit of light was like a glow hidden in ashes.

 

Faint and uncertain, like a firefly in the dark night.

 

As if it might quietly go out in the cold wind the next second.

 

Lin Wangye hadn’t expected him to come back so soon and hadn’t even had time to prepare an opening line.

 

In that instant, his mind went completely blank. Just like he’d done countless times growing up, he instinctively lifted the thing in his hand, blinked, and asked the question he didn’t understand.

 

“Uncle Shi, what medicine is this?”

 

Shi Yuan# stood there with the bag still in his hand, silently watching him for a long while.

 

Just as Lin Wangye finally realized—too late—that he was someone who had ‘come back from the dead’ and started desperately thinking about how to explain himself, Shi Yuan# suddenly spoke.

 

His voice was very soft, very light.

 

“Vitamins.”

 

There was no way Lin Wangye was that easy to fool. Even if he didn’t know much, he’d gone to school—those words on the box didn’t look anything like vitamin names.

 

But Shi Yuan# was clearly just tossing out a careless lie. He didn’t even bother trying to make it believable.

 

He set his keys down on the cabinet by the entryway, walked straight into the living room, and placed the bag in his hand onto the coffee table. Then, before Lin Wangye could even react, he stepped up and pulled him into a hug.

 

“Can you stay a little longer this time?”

 

The whispered words drifted into his ears. If he hadn’t leaned in so close, they would’ve been impossible to hear.

 

Lin Wangye froze in place, his pupils trembling slightly.

 

It took him a long, long time—after exhausting every guess, turning the thought over and over in his head—to finally understand what that sentence really meant.

 

No wonder Uncle Shi wasn’t surprised at all when he saw him.

 

He never thought this was real. Just like when Lin Wangye was stuck in another timeline and would dream of him from time to time, Uncle Shi had probably thought this was just another dream.

 

So it turned out that in the broken ruins of time itself, someone had been quietly carrying the long pain of his death.

 

The moment he realized that, Lin Wangye’s eyes instantly turned red.

 

He knew his tears would hurt the other person, but no matter what, he couldn’t hold back the deep, raw pain surging from his chest. All he could do was hug him back with all his strength.

 

Shi Yuan# soon heard the sobs that were being desperately held down.

 

He quickly ended the hug, cupped Lin Wangye’s face, and studied him carefully. The pain in his eyes was impossible to hide. He gently wiped away the tears on Lin Wangye’s face, his movements careful, his voice soft.

 

“Don’t cry.”

 

“I really missed you…”

 

Lin Wangye had so many words prepared in his heart, but after only those four, he choked up and couldn’t say another thing. His tears spilled even harder, completely out of control.

 

That only made Shi Yuan#’s heart ache more. He fumbled, trying to wipe the wetness from the face in front of him, but the tears were like a dam breaking—endless, unstoppable.

 

Of course. After all these years, this part of Lin Wangye had never changed.

 

He rarely cried, but once he did, it meant something huge—either unbearable hurt or a goal he desperately wanted. In moments like this, unless he cried enough or got what he wanted, there was no way he’d stop.

 

After all the emotions had finally poured out, Lin Wangye slowly calmed down.

 

Clutching a wad of tissues, he sat on the couch. Once he’d adjusted himself a bit, he sniffed, eyes still red, and turned to look at Shi Yuan#. His voice carried a thick nasal tone.

 

“Uncle Shi, I’m back.”

 

Shi Yuan#, who had been sitting quietly beside him the whole time he cried, stared at him without blinking, as if he still hadn’t fully understood what those words meant.

 

Lin Wangye decided to cut through the mess fast. He grabbed Shi Yuan#’s wrist and bit down.

 

This bite wasn’t gentle at all. Lin Wangye really put force into it, afraid that if he held back even a little, Shi Yuan# wouldn’t feel the pain and wouldn’t realize what was happening.

 

The moment he let go, a very clear bite mark appeared on Shi Yuan#’s wrist.

 

In truth, Shi Yuan#’s sense of the outside world really wasn’t that sharp anymore.

 

Being stuck in a long-term low mental state did serious damage. Most of the time, he was slow and numb—to the point where he could accidentally slice his hand with a box cutter and not feel a thing, only noticing later when the blood had already dried.

 

Shi Yuan# lowered his head and stared at his wrist. After a few seconds, his pupils shrank. He suddenly snapped his head up and locked his gaze onto Lin Wangye.

 

“It’s me, Uncle Shi—it’s me!”

 

Lin Wangye, eyelashes still wet with tears, was overjoyed. He broke into a smile in an instant, grinning wide with the expression Shi Yuan# knew best. The words stuck in his throat finally spilled out.

 

“I’m really back! Don’t think it’s weird or unscientific—this is real! You have no idea, after the car accident I went to another timeline and so many things happened, and I even met—”

 

Once again, he didn’t get to finish.

 

Before his long, prepared story could even get past the opening line, the person in front of him yanked him into an embrace. Compared to the earlier hug, this one was clearly much tighter.

 

Their chests pressed together, heartbeats syncing.

 

Lin Wangye could feel how fast the other man’s heart was beating—way too fast.

 

The end of an adult’s emotions is always silent, like a hidden avalanche at the peak of a mountain—huge, overwhelming, and wordless.

 

Shi Yuan# took a long time to accept all of this. During that time, he didn’t say a single word. He just held Lin Wangye tightly, as if what happened later, how he came back now—none of that mattered.

 

The only thing that mattered was that he still existed.

 

Lin Wangye understood how he felt. He obediently rested his chin on Shi Yuan#’s shoulder and let him hold on, his own emotions settling from wild excitement into something calm and steady. The process dragged on for so long that he even started to feel sleepy.

 

After who knows how long, Shi Yuan# finally moved.

 

He eased out of the hug and, after staring at Lin Wangye for a long moment, lifted his hand.

 

“Bite again.”

 

Lin Wangye blinked, then leaned forward and took a bite, just like when he was a kid eating snacks handed to his mouth. He left behind a tooth mark, still glistening with a bit of saliva.

 

This bite didn’t hurt as much as the last one.

 

But the instant the pain registered, a spark flared up in Shi Yuan#’s eyes, like dead ashes coming back to life. He tugged the corner of his mouth into a slightly stiff smile and casually reached out to pinch Lin Wangye’s cheek.

 

Lin Wangye’s shoulders twitched without thinking. Then he tilted over and leaned against him, turning his head to rub against Shi Yuan#’s shoulder the same way he’d done countless times before—like a fluffy little animal doing its best to show affection within its limited abilities.

 

Shi Yuan#’s entire heart was wrapped in a warmth he hadn’t felt in ages, steadily heating up.

 

He was still thinking about what he should say to Lin Wangye when he heard the other person speak first.

 

“What were those medicines? Are you sick?”

 

Shi Yuan# didn’t want Lin Wangye to know about any of that. When he thought this was a dream earlier, he’d brushed it off easily—after all, people in dreams don’t ask follow-up questions.

 

But the Lin Wangye in front of him was real.

 

He thought. He questioned.

 

There was no way he believed those were vitamins. Because he cared too much, that was the first thing he fixated on.

 

Shi Yuan#, who had taught him since childhood to be honest, couldn’t bring himself to lie. In the end, he could only tell the truth.

 

“It’s nothing serious. Just something to stabilize my emotions and help me sleep.”

 

Those words were clearly a heavily softened version of the truth.

 

If Lin Wangye were younger, maybe he wouldn’t have read too much into it.

 

But now he was already in his twenties. He’d been through so much—just a few words were enough for him to roughly understand what was going on.

 

Still, knowing that Shi Yuan# didn’t want to dwell on the topic, Lin Wangye tacitly let it go and didn’t press further. He turned his head and looked deeply at the man’s pale face. After a long pause, he met his eyes and said softly, “Uncle Shi, I’ve grown up.”

 

Shi Yuan# had been watching him closely for a long time already.

 

Although Lin Wangye’s looks had grown much more mature, he was still the same boy Shi Yuan# remembered—clear eyes, bright smile. It was obvious that during the time he’d been away, he’d been well protected.

 

That question of his also seemed to carry something unspoken beneath it.

 

Shi Yuan# thought about it for a moment, then understood right away.

 

He looked seriously into Lin Wangye’s eyes. Without saying a word, he simply smiled and nodded.

 

Lin Wangye’s lips moved. He was about to speak, but swallowed the rest of the sentence back down. Instead, he quietly looked at him, choosing not to put him in a difficult spot. In that moment, another very similar face surfaced in his mind.

 

Right after that, all the questions that had been temporarily buried under the joy of reunion came rushing back up.

 

Lin Wangye suddenly stood up, his thoughts racing like flashing bullet comments in his head.

 

Wait—something’s wrong. In this timeline, I’m dead. My dad is dead too!

 

But I time-traveled because I fell into the well. Following that logic… did my dad fall in too?!

 

If that’s the case, wouldn’t we get a perfect happy ending in this timeline as well?

 

No—wait, that’s not right either! Then what about the Shi Yuan and Brother Lu from the other timeline?!

 

And Brother Lu also reincarnated! Is he in this timeline too?!

 

The more Lin Wangye thought, the more tangled it got. By the end, it felt like his brain was about to explode. He had no choice but to temporarily shelve the questions he couldn’t solve and sort out what he could do right now.

 

First, he had to find out whether his dad had come too.

 

If he had arrived and Lin Wangye was at Uncle Shi’s place… then where would his dad be?

 

Thinking it over again and again, the first person who came to mind was Lu Chengxuan.

 

With that thought, he immediately looked toward Shi Yuan#.

 

Shi Yuan# had noticed he was deep in thought from the moment he stood up, so he hadn’t interrupted. Now, seeing Lin Wangye look over, he tilted his head slightly, signaling that he was listening.

 

“Uncle Shi, can you contact Lu Chengxuan?” Lin Wangye asked anxiously.

 

Shi Yuan# nodded at him. “I can.”

 

Lin Wangye’s face lit up instantly. Then it hit him that Uncle Shi still had no idea what was really going on. At the very least, he should explain things clearly. He hurriedly organized his thoughts and started talking fast.

 

“After the car accident back then, I didn’t die. I went back to when you and my dad were still in high school, and I met you guys and Lu Chengxuan, and then—”

 

Before he could finish, Shi Yuan# had already raised his hand and turned the phone screen toward him. On it was a number being dialed, the contact name clearly reading ‘Lu Chengxuan’.

 

“It’s fine. Deal with what you think matters most first,” Shi Yuan# said with a small smile, lifting his chin slightly to signal him to take the phone.

 

No matter when or where, the support from the person in front of him always gave Lin Wangye endless confidence and courage. He took the phone, pressed it to his ear, and waited nervously for the call to connect.

 

***

 

On the other end, at the Lin family villa.

 

The situation was so unbelievable that even someone as calm and steady as Lu Chengxuan had temporarily lost control of his expression. His eyes were filled with shock. At this very moment, he was standing face-to-face with Lin Shen#, both of them utterly confused.

 

After the Lin father and son passed away, this house had been kept exactly the same. People came regularly to clean it. To prevent anyone from sneaking in to steal things while it sat empty for years, Lu Chengxuan had installed cameras to keep an eye on it.

 

The whole thing started when a subordinate reported that someone had suddenly appeared in the Lin residence.

 

The moment Lu Chengxuan opened the feed and saw Lin Shen# walking back and forth in the living room, he seriously considered the possibility that he was hallucinating or losing his mind. He immediately rushed to the Lin villa—and after seeing Lin Shen# standing there, alive and breathing, he was completely stunned.

 

Lin Shen# had no idea what was happening either.

 

His memories were still stuck at the moment before he lost consciousness. If Lu Chengxuan hadn’t barely kept his sanity and explained things in time, Lin Shen# wouldn’t have even known he’d died from overwork.

 

After the initial shock, Lin Shen#’s first reaction was that Lu Chengxuan had gone crazy.

 

Forget resurrection—something that ridiculous and unscientific. He couldn’t even accept the idea that he had died in the first place.

 

Who dies and then stands here perfectly fine seven years later?

 

What’s more, everything in the house was exactly the same as he remembered. Even the tie he’d casually pulled off and tossed aside was still hanging on the armrest of the sofa. How could seven years possibly have passed?

 

Even so, the Lu Chengxuan standing in front of him did make him uneasy.

 

Compared to how he looked in Lin Shen#’s memory, the man in front of him seemed a little different somehow. His face hadn’t changed much, but if Lin Shen# had to put it into words, that sharp, commanding air—the kind that ruled the business world without even raising its voice, looking down on everyone—had faded.

 

He wasn’t even wearing a suit. Just plain, casual clothes. He didn’t look like someone who’d just stepped out of a meeting at all. Instead, he looked more like someone who’d rushed out of the house while on vacation.

 

That alone made him seem a lot more human.

 

And yet, that very sense of ‘human warmth’ was what made Lin Shen# feel unfamiliar.

 

In the end, he chalked all these subtle changes up to the fact that they hadn’t seen each other in a long time. People changing over time was normal enough.

 

Lin Shen# glanced around, intending to call someone over. Only then did he realize none of the house staff were anywhere to be seen. He looked back at Lu Chengxuan, feeling oddly unsettled, his chest tight and restless. Out of habit, he put on a stern face and spoke coldly.

 

“I don’t know what nonsense President Lu is talking about, and I don’t recall inviting you to my home. I still have things to do. I won’t see you out.”

 

With that, Lin Shen# turned to leave—but his wrist was suddenly grabbed.

 

It was only at the moment he touched something solid that Lu Chengxuan truly confirmed this was real. He stared at the man in front of him, heart pounding wildly. The shock was so overwhelming that he briefly lost the ability to speak. Every word he wanted to say was stuck in his chest, and he couldn’t form even a single opening sentence.

 

As for Lin Shen#, the instant he was grabbed, his thoughts fell into complete chaos.

 

He reacted on instinct, shaking the other man off. When they turned and locked eyes, his brain seemed to shut down entirely. Panicked and flustered, he shoved forward hard.

 

Caught off guard, Lu Chengxuan stumbled back several steps. His head slammed hard against the pillar behind him.

 

Lin Shen# unconsciously followed him two steps. Just as his fingers were about to touch him, he froze as if shocked by electricity, then slowly pulled his hand back.

 

“…Are you okay?” he asked.

 

Lu Chengxuan steadied himself, lowered his head, and rubbed the back of his head. When he looked up again, the clarity in his eyes was completely different from before.

 

Seeing Lin Shen# standing there, shock flashed across his face once more. Then he scanned the surroundings, thought for a moment, and a look of understanding quickly appeared.

 

“Do you remember what happened before?” he asked Lin Shen#.

 

“Before?” Lin Shen# frowned slightly. “Didn’t you already ask that just now?”

 

Hearing this, Lu Chengxuan carefully retraced his thoughts. The memories from a few minutes ago finally snapped back into place. He looked at the person he hadn’t seen in so long, then reached out, grabbed his hand, and pulled him toward the stairs.

 

This time, the strength in Lu Chengxuan’s grip was much stronger than before.

 

Lin Shen#’s mind was a total mess. By the time he snapped back to his senses, he’d already been dragged from the first floor up to the second. The warmth coming from Lu Chengxuan’s palm felt strange—foreign, yet impossible to ignore. Lin Shen# stared at the man in front of him and suddenly felt like it wasn’t Lu Chengxuan who’d gone crazy.

 

It was him.

 

Lu Chengxuan moved around the Lin house like he’d lived there for years, easily finding the study without hesitation.

 

Lin Shen# followed him inside. The moment he saw what was in the room, his soul took another brutal hit.

 

This wasn’t the study he remembered at all.

 

Right in the most noticeable spot stood a desk. On it sat a framed photo of him and Lin Wangye.

 

Black and white.

 

“Do you believe what I said earlier now?” Lu Chengxuan asked.

 

Still reeling, Lin Shen# felt like the man in front of him had become even stranger.

 

Wasn’t this Lu always stiff as a robot? Since when did he learn to speak in such a gentle tone?

 

What the hell.

 

That thought only flashed through his mind for a second. Lin Shen# didn’t have the luxury to dwell on it. His attention was completely locked onto the photo frame with Lin Wangye’s face.

 

No father could look at a black-and-white photo of his own son and feel okay.

 

His brows knit tighter and tighter as he spoke quickly, “What happened to Lin Wangye?”

 

Lu Chengxuan gave him a reassuring look.

 

“Relax. He’s fine.”

 

No matter the time, place, or situation, once Lu Chengxuan made a promise, it carried a strange power that made people believe him without question. Lin Shen# couldn’t deny that power—or the fact that he himself was affected by it.

 

And maybe that was exactly why he’d always been so hung up on the promises Lu Chengxuan refused to make.

 

Lin Shen# didn’t want to look at the desk anymore, so his gaze dropped. Naturally, his eyes landed on their hands, still tightly clasped together.

 

He tried to pull his hand free.

 

Lu Chengxuan didn’t let go.

 

Lin Shen# lifted his eyes, about to ask what this was supposed to mean, when Lu Chengxuan suddenly spoke first, starting with, “The day I received your email…”

 

And just like that, he began telling the story.

 

The story was long, but Lu Chengxuan told it clearly, without dragging things out. Lin Shen# quickly got pulled in, sorting through the details and grasping the main points, finally understanding what had happened.

 

When Lu Chengxuan reached the part about ‘Lin Wangye and Lin Shen falling into the well and going missing, and how Shi Yuan and he followed them over,’ the story came to an end.

 

Lin Shen# stayed silent for a long time after that, then took a deep breath.

 

“So what you’re saying is…” he finally said, “…Shi Yuan hooked up with my son?”

 

---

 

Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters.  (๑>ᴗ<๑)