ITVCFITB CHAPTER 127

Chapter 127 — Extra: If This Were a Modern AU · 1

Luo Shuyu found himself back on the day he and Li Mingjin got engaged.

They’d met through a blind date. Luo Shuyu came from a middle-class family; Li Mingjin’s background was excellent, born into one of Huaxia’s top clans, a shortlisted candidate to inherit the Li family.

Their world had still been “invaded” by a transmigrator: Shen Mingyun, from another reality. With the help of a special system, Shen Mingyun rose to superstardom. He mingled among the elite, befriending the rich and powerful; men fell for him left and right, the quintessential a heart-stealing darling.

Charming person or not, he had a chosen lover: Li Mingchun, another of the Li family’s potential heirs.

Li Mingjin was the son of Li Tiansheng and his first wife, but when Mingjin was ten, his mother died in a car crash. Not long after, Li Tiansheng married again to the woman who would become Mingchun’s mother. When she entered the Li household, Mingchun was only three years younger than Mingjin.

Mingchun resembled Li Tiansheng by five or six parts out of ten, in other words, he and Mingjin were half-brothers.

This had become an open secret in the Li family. The so-called “stepson” was in fact Li Tiansheng’s biological child. Mingchun’s name had even been added to the clan genealogy; he was a legitimate Li heir.

In this telling, Mingjin was the obstacle, the “antagonist” blocking Mingchun’s path to the family headship. From Shen Mingyun’s point of view, Mingchun and his mother had suffered before entering the Lis, so he pitied Mingchun. To him, Mingchun was the beautiful, capable, tragically wronged archetype. With his system’s help and a web of admirers, Shen Mingyun dragged Mingjin down and smoothed the way for Mingchun to claim the Li family throne.

In their previous life, Mingjin did marry Luo Shuyu, but because of Shen Mingyun, the marriage was unhappy.

They died on the way to file for divorce, a semi truck plowed into them. Mingjin might have survived, but when steel rods from the truck slid forward, he shielded Luo Shuyu in the passenger seat; one bar pierced his heart. He died seconds before Luo Shuyu, who watched him go with eyes wide open.

When Luo Shuyu opened his eyes again, he was back on their engagement day.

He propped his head with a hand. Bright white lights swam above; his head throbbed, and the reek of alcohol stung his nose.

He frowned. A cool hand touched his forehead, and a familiar voice asked, “Are you okay?”

It was Li Mingjin, five years younger, the Mingjin of that day. A faint cologne with a hint of musk told him so.

Luo looked up at Mingjin’s unsmiling face and the formal clothes he wore. Today was their engagement. It was the only time he ever saw Mingjin in a pure white suit. Those long straight legs were bent slightly as he sat by the sofa, one hand pressed to the cushion by Luo’s arm.

By their usual ice-polite routine, Luo Shuyu should have said he was fine. But with a lifetime of memories flooding back, he swallowed the default reply and said instead, “I feel awful.”

“I’ll get you some water,” Mingjin said.

Luo Shuyu’s eyes brightened. He blinked. “Okay.”

Mingjin started to stand, paused when he noticed Luo Shuyu watching him so intently, and added, “Lie here a bit. I’ll be right back.”

“Mm, okay.”

Only after Mingjin’s figure disappeared from the lounge did he sift through the why and how of his rebirth and what he now knew.

Yes. He knew.

Shen Mingyun was a transmigrator with a system. He didn’t belong to this world; he’d crossed over from a parallel one.

He was dangerous, surrounded by many and among them was Luo Shuyu’s “cheap little uncle,” Li Mingchun, yet another man under Shen’s spell.

But Shen Mingyun had no fondness for Mingjin or Shuyu. In his narrative, they were “villains,” stumbling blocks to Mingchun’s rise. And how had Mingchun won Shen’s sympathy, pity, love? By dropping tidbits about his miserable childhood, of course, harvesting Shen’s compassion.

As a transmigrator, Shen’s vision was narrow, he saw only what he wanted to see, heard only what he wanted to hear, and what others curated for him.

And though he claimed to be here to build a career, he was really here to romance. As a ‘heartthrob’, he had no shortage of outstanding men eager to kiss the ground he walked on and orbit his every move.

If Shen shot a pretentious art film, people hailed him as an A-list actor. If he sang a song, he was a living vocal god. Film an ad? An angel fallen to earth. Fry tomato and egg? A delicacy of the mortal realm. In their eyes, Shen Mingyun was divine and anyone who crossed him met a miserable fate and a fall into the abyss.

When Mingjin returned, Shuyu was still on the sofa, hand draped over his brow, eyes closed as if resting.

“Here’s your water.”

Shuyu hadn’t been sleeping, just thinking, but he was a little pale. He took a look at Mingjin and said, with a double meaning, “Thank you.”

At the end, in that last life, Mingjin had given his life to save him. Whatever had driven them to divorce was complicated.

Mingjin’s own companies had been crushed by the Li conglomerate under Mingchun’s lead; bankruptcy loomed. That was when Mingjin proposed divorce.

Shuyu had been heartsick and agreed.

Only in the moment of their deaths did he truly realize this man loved him, he just didn’t know how to show it.

And perhaps Shuyu himself had never truly expressed his feelings either.

After a few sips, his throat felt much better.

Their engagement banquet was at a five-star hotel. Shuyu and Mingjin reentered the hall.

As they stepped out, guests lifted glasses to congratulate them.

Standing beside Mingjin, Shuyu savored the sheer sensation of being alive.

Sensing he wasn’t feeling great, Mingjin murmured, “Hungry? I’ll get you something. If people you don’t know try to chat, just brush them off. If you don’t want to, leave it to me.”

Luo shook his head and, of his own accord, took Mingjin’s hand. “I’m fine like this.”

Mingjin froze. He… took my hand?

Since the blind date, they’d met a few times, short lunches, the occasional dinner, a movie here and there. Pleasant enough, but no further steps. No hand-holding, no kissing.

For Shuyu to suddenly lace their fingers, it stunned him. He even half wondered if Luo Shuyu didn’t like him very much.

He looked up and met Shuyu’s smiling eyes, starlit and beautiful. His heart kicked hard.

They were about to speak when a burst of loud laughter rang out ahead.

Shuyu focused and saw it: Li Mingchun had brought Shen Mingyun to their engagement banquet.

Those two were still in their ambiguous phase; Mingchun was pursuing the ‘charmer.’

As a scion of high society, Mingjin’s engagement drew guests from every field, including Shen’s admirers.

The one making a scene was a minor star from a different agency than Shen. Recently, they’d both auditioned for the lead in a film. Thanks to his system-blessed ‘charmer’ aura, Shen had landed the role. The young star was furious. He’d just “accidentally” splashed a drink all over Shen. Not only had he lost the role, his agency had terminated his contract for offending Shen, and negative press now blanketed the internet.

Seeing Shen drenched in wine, Shuyu couldn’t help cheering silently for the young actor, though he felt sorry for him as well.

Mingjin tightened his hold on Shuyu’s hand. When Shuyu stayed quiet, he said, “If you don’t want them here, I’ll have them shown out.”

Luo shook his head. “No need. Who’s the one who threw the drink? I want to sign him to my company.”

Mingjin didn’t follow at first. “Someone Zhou Ping, second young master of the Zhou family, brought. Handsome kid, currently fuming.” He couldn’t quite understand Shuyu’s sudden idea and he was a little jealous. “He’s nothing special to look at.”

“I’m after his acting,” Luo said dryly. “What are you thinking?”

Mingjin chose to shut up. “Nothing.”

Mingchun valued appearances; he immediately took Shen Mingyun to change clothes. Today was his older brother’s engagement, if he ruined it, their father would scold him, and Mingchun had no desire to leave a bad impression. He cultivated the image of the considerate son.

After the banquet, Shuyu decisively signed the young star who’d fallen out with Shen Mingyun.

His name was Chen Rong, an actor the entire internet was currently slamming.

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