88 – In his previous life, the little fool had died without ever knowing his true feelings.
Even after getting into Lu Tianchen’s car, An Xing remained sullen and unhappy.
Lu Tianchen stopped at a red light and glanced sideways at An Xing. His eyes were fixed blankly out the window, his almond-shaped eyes completely devoid of their usual liveliness.
Though he hadn’t said a word, Lu Tianchen could sense An Xing’s sadness. After a moment’s hesitation, he spoke softly:
“Xingxing, do you not want to come to my place?”
A hand reached over and ruffled his hair with just the right amount of pressure. Snapping him out of his daze, and An Xing met Lu Tianchen’s questioning gaze.
“If you’d rather stay at home…”
Realizing Lu Tianchen had misunderstood, An Xing shook his head quickly.
“No, no! I want to live with you, Chen gege!”
At dinnertime, An Xing called Lu Tianchen to pick him up. By the time Lu Tianchen arrived, he had already heard all the speculations from his parents.
His current dejection did not stem from reluctance to leave home, but from the sudden shock of the truth, leaving him somewhat saddened.
“Chen gege, did you know… back then, the mix-up between me and my brother, it was Second aunt who swapped us.”
Lu Tianchen looked slightly surprised, but quickly understood why the boy was unhappy tonight.
“Uncle An and Aunt Shen already told you?”
An Xing nodded, his voice muffled.
“I always thought Uncle An and Auntie just wanted An Ning Jewellery, so they deliberately covered up the mix-up with my brother. But I never imagined…”
Or rather, he’d been too naive, underestimating people.
In his past life, Uncle An and Second Aunt’s family had gone as far as driving a wedge between Ning Rong and them, even staging a surprise attack that triggered Shen Ying’s illness. That alone proved they had no familial affection, and that they only care for themselves and stops at nothing to achieve their goal.
And yet, he hadn’t dug deeper. He’d actually believed they’d seen news reports, thought Ning Rong resembled the An family, and that’s why they’d asked him to take the paternity test.
So, based on the events of his past life, the sequence likely unfolded like this:
Twenty years ago, Shen Ying and Gu Lan both became pregnant simultaneously. Shen Ying’s labor started unexpectedly, and she was rushed to the hospital. However, no one from the Shen family was present, only An Zhaoming and Tan Xiu were by her side.
Gu Lan also went into unexpected labor and was admitted to the same hospital, with only Ning Jingze accompanying her.
Shen Ying gave birth to a boy. He was taken to the nursery by a nurse for examination. An Zhaoming stayed with Shen Ying, unaware that Tan Xiu had slipped away. Upon learning that the Ning couple had also delivered a baby boy, Tan Xiu came up with a plan.
She first swapped the two babies while the nurseries were unattended, then hid An Xing and left. When the nurse came to take the baby for examination, she discovered the “An family’s child” was missing.
Tan Xiu used this news to shock Shen Ying, causing her to suffer fright right after delivery. She then accompanied the nurse to help “find” the child. Since both babies shared the same blood type, and the other two newborns born that day lay still in their beds, no one suspected anything.
Thus, the lives of the two children from the An and Ning families were exchanged.
If the hospital incident was Tan Xiu’s impulsive crime, the subsequent two decades involved her keeping the Ning family under constant surveillance, primarily through that “Brother Hai.”
The Nings, both schoolteachers, should have been entitled to school-provided housing and various benefits. Yet due to chaotic school administration at the time, Tan Xiu somehow sabotaged their promotions, leaving the couple financially strained throughout their careers.
Despite this, Ning Rong excelled academically, consistently achieving top grades throughout his schooling and ranking among the best in high school. Tan Xiu, determined to prevent him from attending a prestigious university, orchestrated an attack by the thugs monitoring the family, surrounding him before the college entrance exams. Yet the plan failed, and Ning Rong was still admitted to S University.
It wasn’t until the Ning couple died in a volunteering accident and the DNA match results were exposed in the news that Tan Xiu sought to preemptively strike. She tracked down Ning Rong first, aiming to drive a wedge between him and the An family
Then, An Xing was reborn, changing everything.
*
Lu Tianchen took An Xing’s luggage back to his room, only to find the teenager still sitting on the living room floor, sulkily petting the calico kitten.
Hua Hua lay sprawled on the floor, exposing its soft white belly as it purred and swung its tail. Yet the boy’s face bore none of the joy he usually showed when petting the cat.
Lu Tianchen walked over to An Xing, sat down on the floor beside him, and ruffled the boy’s hair.
“Is it because we hid the truth from you that you’re upset?”
“Of course not!”
An Xing blurted out, meeting the man’s gaze with a somewhat dejected look.
“I just feel… so useless.”
Even now, thinking back, An Xing still believed he’d been utterly cowardly in his past life. He’d hidden away at home, doing nothing, while his father struggled outside. Only at the very end had he mustered the courage to seek Ning Rong out for an explanation, only to…
So in his past life, it hadn’t been an accident either—it had been Tan Xiu’s doing. Yet he remained completely unaware in both lifetimes. Only now, after his father revealed Tan Xiu’s true nature, did he finally understand.
Thinking of his parents and older brother’s worries, An Xing stroked the cat’s head. A thought that had been swirling in his mind all along suddenly became crystal clear.
“Chen gege, I’ll tell you a secret. Don’t tell anyone, especially Mom and Dad, okay?”
“I had a dream once. A really scary nightmare.”
Lu Tianchen was slightly surprised when the boy said this secret mustn’t be shared with the An family. But as An Xing described the dream in detail, his expression grew increasingly grave.
Truthfully, even when he was reborn, An Xing had struggled whether to tell his parents everything openly. But in the end, he hadn’t done it.
First, the idea of rebirth was simply too bizarre.
Second, revealing the truth would mean explaining all the heartbreaking events his family had faced in his previous life, and how he had ultimately died—he wasn’t confident he could hide any of that from his parents.
Moreover, he feared his parents might develop a preconceived negative impression of Ning Rong upon hearing it, so he ultimately kept silent.
Later, as everything began unfolding favorably, revealing the truth became even less of an option.
But now, An Xing realized his death in the previous life might not have been accidental—it could have been orchestrated by Tan Xiu.
Why would Tan Xiu kill him?
With all her plans shattered in this life, wouldn’t Tan Xiu want to kill him again, perhaps even more desperately than before?
He was merely the adopted son of the An family; An Ning Jewellery had nothing to do with him. An Xing feared his family might not be wary enough of Tan Xiu, but he didn’t know how to voice his concerns. So he disguised it all as a nightmare and turned to Lu Tianchen for help.
The living room fell silent, broken only by the steady purring of the cat.
Lu Tianchen snapped out of his trance. Lowering his gaze, he saw the boy staring at him, uneasy and anxious.
Meeting his gaze, the boy straightened his chest, trying desperately to appear less nervous.
“I… I just had a dream, okay? Don’t read too much into it, Chen Ge. If you think this dream…”
Before he could finish, he was swept into a pair of strong arms as the man held him tightly.
“Don’t be afraid, Xingxing. It’s just a dream. Dreams are the opposite of reality. Isn’t everything turning out much better now than it did in that dream?”
The man’s voice was deep and gentle. An Xing finally exhaled the breath he’d been holding. He let out a long sigh, buried his face against the man’s chest, and nodded vigorously.
“Exactly! It’s all nonsense! Dreams can’t be trusted!”
He didn’t notice the murderous intent filling the man’s eyes until it was completely suppressed, and only then did he slowly release his grip.
“But Chen Ge, I don’t really get it. Help me figure it out, okay?”
An Xing rubbed against the man’s shoulder again before lifting his head and tugging at the man’s sleeve.
“I don’t get it. Why did Tan Xiu try to kill me in the dream… in my past life?”
Lu Tianchen’s grip on the boy’s arm tightened, then quickly relaxed. Suppressing the rage churning in his chest, he analyzed the situation as calmly as possible.
“Based on what you said, even though An Rong harbored resentment toward you in the dream, he only avoided Uncle An and Aunt Shen and treated you coldly. He didn’t take any further action. That means An Zhaoyuan and Tan Xiu tried to sow discord and manipulate An Rong, but they failed.”
“An Rong might have been unhappy, but he didn’t become a weapon in their hands, let alone one aimed at you.”
“Uncle An and Aunt Shen aren’t fools. They were simply overwhelmed by the sudden shock and the sheer volume of events. Once they and the Shen family came to their senses and began investigating, Tan Xiu’s schemes would be impossible to conceal.”
“Therefore, Tan Xiu’s objective is to crush Uncle An and Aunt Shen in the shortest possible time.”
Lu Tianchen didn’t continue, but An Xing understood his meaning.
He died, and it happened while searching for Ning Rong. Even if Mom and Dad later uncovered the truth, they couldn’t face Ning Rong.
His death would tear their family apart.
Lu Tianchen leaned forward, pulling the trembling youth into his embrace, one hand patting his back soothingly.
“Am I so useless? So clueless? So stupid…”
The boy’s voice cracked with tears.
“You’re not useless, Xingxing. You’re the most important thing.”
“For us, losing our fortune isn’t terrifying. Losing you is the most painful thing.”
A wave of bitterness surged in his chest, making An Xing’s eyes redden further.
“It’s okay, don’t be afraid. You’ve already done so much. Leave the rest to us.”
Holding the sniffling youth close for comfort, Lu Tianchen sighed silently.
The little dumpling really is a fool—daring to spill such a huge secret about rebirth to him.
And then claiming he had a nightmare? As if he’d actually believe that.
Lu Tianchen had long suspected An Xing might know something.
He knew An Xing’s personality inside out. Even if An Hao had said something hurtful, this little fool would never have thought to get a paternity test to prove him wrong.
Later, repeatedly stepping in to protect An Rong was completely out of character for this little fool. He would have sought help from the An couple or him, acting alone was odd.
Back then, he’d drunk his fill of bitter jealousy.
But if there had been a past life, where An Xing had already seen through the second branch of the An family and known An Rong’s true identity beforehand, it all made sense.
Thankfully, this little fool had been reborn. Otherwise, how unjust it would have been for him in this life, losing such a great bride just like that.
The thought struck Lu Tianchen like a sudden jolt. His expression turned serious as he asked:
“Xingxing, in your dream, did I not confess my feelings to you?”
After resting in the man’s embrace for a while, An Xing felt much better. Hearing the question, he paused before answering.
“No… but Chen Ge, you’ve always been by my side! Even when that fake young master incident happened, you never said you wanted to break off our engagement. When others bullied me, you were the one who protected me!”
The youth’s voice grew lighter, filled with excitement and joy.
“Chen gege is the kindest to me!”
Which meant that in his previous life, the little fool had died without ever knowing his true feelings.
The man held the youth tightly in his arms, as if cradling a little star gifted by heaven, terrified that if he loosened his grip, this tiny star would vanish.
He snorted coldly, filled with deep contempt for his past self.
What a useless fool! What good was just guarding this little fool?
He had a mouth but didn’t know how to confess his feelings. He deserved to lose his bride!
TRANSLATOR’S CORNER: I am not a native speaker of either Chinese or English. I basically MTL and edit the text, sometimes I also use some sites for reference. I can’t guarantee that everything here is accurate, But I try to stick to the author’s work as much as possible. Please feel to comment any mistakes🙂🤗.
