Chapter 1
Lu Mian hadn’t even opened his eyes when a sharp pain shot through the back of his head. It was likely the result of being sent flying by an unknown person on a motorcycle who hadn’t bothered with traffic laws – no helmet, running a red light.
He landed headfirst, instantly losing consciousness.
Those who survive a great disaster are destined for good fortune.
Lu Mian’s eyelashes fluttered; he struggled to open his eyes.
“Young Master…?”
A cautious, tentative voice reached his ears, followed by a chorus of overlapping voices.
“He’s awake! Young Master is awake!”
“Thank goodness, we’re not going to die!”
Lu Mian’s head buzzed, the lingering smell of medicine in the room making his headache worse. His heavy eyelids slowly swept to the side. Three figures in ancient costumes, varying in height, appeared before his eyes. The ‘overlapping’ voices had come from them.
Hallucination?
Lu Mian blinked several times, but the scene remained unchanged. A young man, dressed distinctly from the others, stepped forward. “Lu-xiong?”
“Who… who are you?” Lu Mian’s voice was hoarse and weak. He raised a hand to rub his eyes. He saw a pair of delicate, jade-like hands, white and tender.
He moved his hand again, and the hand in his vision followed.
This was… his hand?
Lu Mian’s pupils constricted. He heard the person say, “Me! Wu Xingwen!”
‘Wu Xingwen,’ he seized upon the name like a keyword.
Wasn’t this a minor cannon fodder character who appeared a few times in a novel he’d read?
The reason he remembered him was because this character was the sidekick of a major cannon fodder character who shared his name. They committed all sorts of misdeeds together and ultimately met with unpleasant ends.
Lu Mian shivered violently. What did this mean?
“Who am I?” he asked again.
A look of surprise appeared on Wu Xingwen’s face. “Lu-xiong, you… don’t remember? You’re the former Grand Tutor’s son, the current Minister of Rites’ stepson, and Her Majesty the Empress’s nephew.
“And I am your closest friend, the legitimate son of the Vice Minister of Revenue – Wu Xingwen!”
Lu Mian felt increasingly dizzy as he listened.
It was real. He hadn’t died in the accident, but…
He’d transmigrated into a book!
And he’d become that insane, doomed cannon fodder character!
He was cannon fodder because ‘Lu Mian’ in the book constantly bullied his older stepbrother, the future villainous boss.
Having offended the villainous boss, Lu Mian died a gruesome death. His legs were broken, and he ended up huddled in a stinking beggar’s den, freezing to death on a cold snowy night.
That was the original owner’s fate.
And now, it was his!
He, Lu Mian.
An ordinary high school graduate, a prospective university student.
They say seventeen is the age for adventure.
But…
No one told him it would be this kind of adventure!
He’d transmigrated, but without a system!
Who stole his system?!
Other people transmigrated as emperors, generals, regents, or at worst, princes… princesses, he supposed.
He – a cannon fodder character, such a hellish identity. He’d rather have just died in the motorcycle accident!
Furthermore, even if he had to transmigrate, wasn’t the Transmigration God at fault?!
He couldn’t carry anything on his shoulders, he couldn’t lift anything with his hands, why did he have to be the one to transmigrate?!
In the book, the villain Lu Lin was initially a pitiful character. His mother died young, his father was indifferent, and then his father remarried.
After that, he suffered under his stepmother’s oppression and his stepbrother’s constant torment, living a miserable life.
Wu Xingwen was Lu Mian’s accomplice, and the two often teamed up to torment Lu Lin.
The villain didn’t explode in rage, but… he became twisted in silence!!!
His career soared, and after ascending to the position of Chief Grand Secretary, he personally sent his father to prison, killed his stepmother, and unleashed his insane revenge on his stepbrother.
Lu Mian hugged himself tightly.
He was going to die, he was really going to die, the villain was terrifying.
As he thought this, the back of his head started to hurt again.
“Could he have been knocked silly?” Wu Xingwen muttered beside him. An hour ago, while they were fooling around, Lu Mian had accidentally fallen and hit his head, losing consciousness.
Just then, a startled cry rang out as a servant rushed forward. “Y-Young Master, why… why are you crying!?” Their young master always boasted about his fortitude and rarely shed tears!
The pain in the back of his head made Lu Mian grimace. When the servant spoke, he thought he’d lost an important body part.
Before Lu Mian could examine himself, Wu Xingwen’s excited voice rang out, “It hurts?” A gleam appeared in his eyes. He quickly pulled out a pill the doctor had left and swiftly shoved it into Lu Mian’s mouth.
Instantly, Lu Mian’s tears flowed even more freely.
This pill was…
More bitter than his future!
“What’s going on?” Seeing him cry even harder, the light in Wu Xingwen’s eyes dimmed, and he immediately became anxious. “Quick! Go and invite the doctor back!”
The two servants immediately ran out, practically greasing their feet. If something happened to the Young Master, their lives would be forfeit!
Lu Mian cried and shouted, “Water! Water!”
Wu Xingwen poured him a cup of water. “Here’s the water!”
Lu Mian gulped down the water, the bitterness in his mouth fading slightly, replaced by a salty taste.
His tears.
Lu Mian was still crying.
From the pain.
Of course, also from the bitterness.
He was naturally more sensitive to pain than others, which naturally resulted in extra-developed tear ducts – it wasn’t because he was a crybaby!
At this moment, the sharp pain in the back of his head assaulted him again. Lu Mian just wanted to hit his own damn head again to show these tear ducts who was in charge of this body.
Damn tears, stop!
But the tears didn’t stop; instead, they flowed even more freely.
Wu Xingwen, whose features were quite handsome, looked at him curiously and handed him a handkerchief.
Soon, the two servants returned, one carrying a medicine box, the other supporting an elderly man. “The doctor’s here, the doctor’s here! Quickly examine our Young Master, why won’t he stop crying?”
The old doctor had white hair and rough, wrinkled hands, covered in a thick layer of calluses that appeared dark and shiny. His teeth were yellowed as he spoke. “Young Master, please extend your left hand, and I will take your pulse.”
Before Lu Mian could move, Wu Xingwen grabbed his hand and offered it to the doctor as if it were his own. “Doctor, please examine him carefully. He just asked who he was. Could that fall have really damaged his head?”
Hearing this, Lu Mian’s teary eyes flickered. So this body had also hit its head, just like him. It seemed the original owner had probably died like this, and he had woken up in his place.
“The wound is somewhat deep, there might be blood stasis…”
The old doctor took his pulse, then reached out and examined his head, before turning towards the table. “My skills are limited, I can only prescribe another dose of medicine for the Young Master.”
Wu Xingwen sat down on the edge of the bed. “Lu-xiong, do you really not remember? What are we going to do…”
Before Lu Mian could speak, Wu Xingwen had already concluded that his head was injured, and he began to chatter, trying to jog his memory. “Do you know why we came out today?
“Right, that Lu Lin somehow got lucky and entered the Jian Yue Academy. We agreed to kidnap him after school today, put him in a sack… Hmm? Why don’t we blame your fall on him? Then Master Lu will definitely punish him, and then…”
‘Jian Yue Academy’, ‘put him in a sack’, ‘punishment’ and other keywords… Lu Mian’s breath hitched as he listened. He was too familiar with these; they had all actually happened in the book!
Now Lu Mian was certain that the time he had transmigrated to was precisely when the original owner was at his worst towards the villain!
Lu Mian’s vision went black.
“Ah! Doctor! His eyes have rolled back!” Wu Xingwen, caught up in his excitement, wanted to push all the blame onto Lu Lin. That way, no one would be held responsible for Lu Mian’s fall. Otherwise, when he returned home, his father would definitely force him to go to the Lu residence and apologize.
As Lu Mian’s eyes rolled back, someone rushed in from outside. “Young Master Lu, Young Master Wu, school is out over there, and all our men are assembled!”
Wu Xingwen glanced over there, then quickly turned back. He had more pressing matters to attend to.
Lu Mian, however, slowly lowered his black eyes and stared at the newcomer upon hearing the news. The person was stunned by his gaze, unsure if Young Master Lu was dissatisfied with his slow pace, and lowered his head.
Wu Xingwen’s eyes darted around. “Lu-xiong, you… you still remember that we’re going to deal with Lu Lin! Let’s go, let’s go, I’ll help you, maybe if you look at him, you’ll remember more.”
Based on Lu Mian’s behavior since waking up and the old doctor’s diagnosis, he had concluded that Lu Mian’s head was injured. Perhaps after seeing Lu Lin’s miserable state, he might remember more.
With that thought, Wu Xingwen directed Lu Mian’s two servants to help him up. The person who had come to report had already run out to make preparations.
Lu Mian, his lips pale, was helped outside. Downstairs was the main hall of the restaurant. As they made their way out, his eyes darted around, landing on the carriages passing by on the street. A thought flickered in his mind.
What if he ran into one? Maybe he could go back.
However, the risk was significant.
If he didn’t go back, he’d be worse off, potentially paralyzed…
But if he fully accepted the current situation, Lu Mian worried his brain wouldn’t be enough.
He wasn’t the original owner at all. The legendary shared memories after transmigration hadn’t happened, practically doubling the risk. If exposed, he might be caught and burned as a demon. Whether he could survive three chapters was questionable.
Even if he survived three chapters, the villainous boss was waiting to take revenge on him.
Lu Mian felt his life stretching out before him, predictable and bleak.
If only he could make peace with the villain.
Thinking of this, Lu Mian suddenly had an idea.
Lu Lin seemed to have no resistance to harmless things, just like the protagonist of the book.
Although he wasn’t a ‘thing,’ Lu Mian didn’t realize anything was wrong with that statement at the moment. He thought that his personality might be very different from the bright and sunny protagonist, but he could pretend!
At this point…
His only option was to face the man head-on!
Lu Mian came to his senses when he was led into a dark alley across the street.
Today’s events had been planned by Wu Xingwen and the ‘Lu Mian,’ and they had chosen the restaurant closest to Jian Yue Academy for convenience. Only, something had gone wrong in the middle; ‘Lu Mian’ had become him.
“Where is he?” Wu Xingwen frowned.
As soon as he spoke, a rustling sound came from the end of the alley. He grinned suddenly, and Lu Mian subconsciously stepped back.
“Lu-xiong, why are you staggering?” Wu Xingwen grabbed his ‘swaying’ body.
Lu Mian looked at him, opened his mouth, then closed it, his thoughts racing. He said seriously, “Your demonic aura swept over me.”
Wu Xingwen’s face was blank. “What?” He suddenly couldn’t understand him.
At the same time, a scream came, followed by the sounds of fists and feet hitting flesh.
Lu Mian was dragged further into the alley.
Turning left, there was another small path, the walls peeling and covered in moss. Three or four people were either leaning or sitting there, clutching their injured arms and legs, looking utterly disheveled.
Opposite them, a slender but seemingly frail young man was held captive by two larger men. There was blood on the corner of his lips, a bruise on his cheekbone, and his eyes were sharp, harboring a glimmer of darkness, like a starving wolf ready to tear apart any enemy that dared to approach.
In just an instant, Lu Mian met his gaze.
A fierce, wolf-like stare bore into him.
Lu Mian felt exposed, as if his entire body had been ‘bitten’ by that gaze, leaving him aching and numb.
This was the villainous boss.
Lu Lin.
