Accident

City M, the day of Ying Huai's Birthday Party.

The banquet hall doors were flung open, and the reporters lying in wait surged forward at once, swarming around the person who stepped out.

"Mr. Ying Huai! Is everything Mr. Lexi said true? Did you really accept bribes and suppress your juniors?"

"Mr. Ying Huai, Mr. Lexi was your only disciple, and he has suddenly come forward to report you. Do you have anything to say about this most intolerable 'betrayal'?"

"Mr. Ying Huai, do you admit to having engaged in improper conduct—"

"Mr. Ying Huai—"

Countless voices came from all sides, finally merging into indistinct buzzing that reached his ears.

The black-haired young man before them turned a deaf ear, eyes lowered, walking forward step by step.

The reporters behind him seemed deterred by some pressure and didn't dare approach directly, only jostling forward in a crowd. No one noticed the petite female reporter at the very front stumble and pitch forward.

"Ah—"

The female reporter cried out and instinctively shut her eyes. The next second, a cold hand suddenly reached out and steadied her.

"Careful."

A careless voice sounded in her ear at the same moment.

The female reporter froze for a beat, then looked up in disbelief.

Ying Huai's eyelids were slightly lowered, watching her quietly.

Ying Huai was famously beautiful.

Behind his lenses were the most captivating peach-blossom eyes, yet when he didn't smile, there was a jade-shattering indifference between his brows. A Hongyu Jewel Pendant hung from the ends of his hair, swaying gently with his movements.

"In such a rush to grab a headline?"

"I'm not, you—"

The female reporter was startled by Ying Huai's rare cold expression.

She opened her mouth, momentarily at a loss for words.

The next moment, the person before her suddenly released her hand. The corner of his eye curved, and he smiled lazily as usual: "Don't rush, you'll have one soon enough."

The female reporter froze.

The startled reporters around them began stirring again. Ying Huai stretched, subtly pressing a hand to his chest as he slowly straightened up.

The next second, he suddenly felt his arm grow heavy.

The female reporter he had just helped up suddenly pressed closer, her loosely held hand now gripping Ying Huai's arm tightly, holding on with all her might.

"Mr. Ying Huai, I'd like to ask you a question—"

The female reporter noticed the hand Ying Huai had been pressing to his chest, and also noticed that his complexion was paler than usual.

But she still took a deep breath and asked, trembling: "Mr. Ying Huai, did you really—betray Teacher Liang Shining?"

The moment the words left her mouth, the female reporter clearly felt the hand she was gripping tremble involuntarily.

Liang Shining, the youngest Best Actor in the entertainment industry, was Ying Huai's publicly known rival, and the most famous name among the many allegations of Ying Huai suppressing his juniors.

A flash of reluctance crossed the female reporter's face, but she stepped forward again, shoving her microphone right in front of Ying Huai.

"Do you think Lexi's betrayal this time is retribution for what you did before?"

Ying Huai's manager finally arrived with bodyguards in tow, perfunctorily shooing the surrounding reporters away.

Amid the clamor, a soft laugh suddenly rang out.

"No."

The surrounding reporters fell silent. The female reporter looked up in alarm.

She saw the delicately featured young man before her curl his lips in mockery.

"Lexi isn't even worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Liang Shining."

The words fell like a stone into deep water, instantly raising a great uproar.

The manager irritably pulled Ying Huai into the hotel elevator. No one noticed that on the other side, a certain panicked-looking person clutching something had stepped into another elevator at the same time.

·

"Recently, the well-known singer Ying Huai has fallen into a whirlpool of public opinion. His alleged bribery and suppression of juniors have drawn criticism, and relevant departments are now intervening in the investigation...."

The sound of the news broadcast gradually mingled with the rain outside. Ying Huai drew a low, labored breath and pushed himself up to sit from the doorway.

His manager had casually dumped him back in the hotel room and walked off, grumbling on the way out about the trouble Ying Huai had caused.

The moment the door slammed shut, Ying Huai could no longer hold on and collapsed to the floor.

His fragile heart could no longer bear the strain. Ying Huai pressed a hand to his chest and, panting, glanced at the phone beside him.

Countless calls were flooding in, all probably because of that last thing he'd said.

His throat itched. Ying Huai muffled a few coughs behind his hand and felt, for no reason, a little amused.

—All his countless previous explanations and evidence had sunk without a trace, yet a single offhand remark had stirred up such an uproar.

"So in the end........I really should've ridden Liang Shining's coattails sooner."

Ying Huai curved his lips. He tossed the phone aside and, bracing against the wall, slowly made his way toward the cabinet where his Medicine Bottle was kept.

The scene before his eyes flickered in and out. Waves of dizziness from insufficient blood flow to his heart washed over him. Unable to see clearly, Ying Huai simply closed his eyes and felt his way forward.

A few soft sounds came from beside him, as though someone had passed by the storage cabinet, setting off a faint hum of glass.

A singer's keen hearing made Ying Huai instinctively sense something was off. He opened his eyes slightly, and the next second, a sudden coldness struck his chest.

Ying Huai lowered his head in a daze.

A paper cutter had been planted squarely in his chest.

Sharp pain spread from his chest through his entire body in an instant. Ying Huai's breath caught, and the taste of blood flooded his throat, making him choke and cough.

"Cough, cough—"

A fan with a twisted expression slowly emerged from the shadows, eyes carrying a trace of hesitation and a touch of madness: "Does it hurt?"

She still held the paper cutter in her hand, stepping forward slowly, then suddenly shrieked: "This is for bullying our Shining-gege!"

Ying Huai dodged her swinging arm by turning sideways, but a sudden wave of blood loss crashed over him at the same time.

His body went limp and he dropped heavily to his knees.

The stabbing pain at his heart gradually turned into a throbbing, dull ache, and his heartbeat grew rapid along with it.

Ying Huai felt a vague sense of dread. He reached for the Medicine Bottle on the cabinet beside him, but suddenly felt another stab of pain in his arm.

The fan before him pulled the paper cutter out of Ying Huai's arm and slowly crouched down in front of him.

"What are you afraid of?" Liang Shining's fan gritted out. "Why don't you think about how scared Shining-gege was back then? If you hadn't been jealous of our Shining-gege, suppressed him and buried him, he wouldn't have suffered so much!"

Ying Huai's gaze went slightly unfocused. After a few seconds of processing, he felt an inexplicable urge to laugh.

—Since when did he have that kind of power?

But before he could ask, the fan before him suddenly remembered something else, her expression growing even more furious: "And you even subjected him to improper conduct!"

Ying Huai was taken aback.

This time he really couldn't hold it in and laughed outright.

The fan before him froze for a beat, then instantly grew more agitated: "You still dare to laugh! That means you admit it, right, you—"

The hand holding the knife suddenly rose, but then she saw the person before her, mid-laugh, shudder and cough up a mouthful of blood.

Blood seeped down between his fingers, and the fan instantly panicked: "H-how are you coughing up blood?"

—She had only wanted to stab Ying Huai as a warning; she had never meant to kill him.

The thick smell of blood spread through the room, making Ying Huai dizzy. He closed his eyes briefly, then suddenly looked up with a laugh: "What are you afraid of?"

The fan's whole body trembled uncontrollably.

Ying Huai's looks were already exquisite to the extreme. Now his pale lips were stained with blood, and the Hongyu Jewel Pendant at the ends of his hair hung down past his ear, making him appear extraordinarily fragile.......and bewitching.

He coughed twice behind his hand, mimicking her tone from earlier, and repeated softly with a raised lip: "What are you afraid of?"

The paper cutter clattered to the floor. The fan screamed and abruptly turned and fled.

The door slammed shut with a bang. The smile vanished from Ying Huai's face. His arm gave out and he collapsed sideways onto the floor.

Blood loss plunged his vision into darkness, but the phone nearby kept ringing insistently.

Ying Huai tried to rise and reach for it, but the moment he moved, a piercing pain shot through his chest.

He closed his eyes briefly, then gave up on getting up. Bracing against the wall beside him, he inched his way across the floor toward the phone.

Blood loss left him cold all over. His consciousness was blurred and heavy, his Glasses slowly sliding down his nose with each movement, and the light from the phone before him growing dimmer.

Ying Huai paid it no mind.

The Glasses had been prescribed for the vision decline caused by his worsening heart condition. Whether he had them on or not now......made no difference.

He stretched his hand out bit by bit.

The moment his fingers touched the phone, his vision finally went completely black.

—Insufficient blood flow to the heart affected the blood supply to his eyes, not to mention he had already lost too much blood.

Ying Huai dialed 120 from memory, but the dialing tone beeped several times with no one picking up.

He held the phone, leaned against the wall, and finally couldn't help letting out a low laugh.

—And they said there was no karma. Here it comes, right on cue.......

"Hello?"

A slightly cold voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

The voice was both too unexpected and too familiar, snapping Ying Huai's foggy consciousness clear in an instant.

His breath caught, and he couldn't help but cough.

"Cough, cough, cough........Liang Shining?"

Ying Huai struggled to suppress his cough, his tone surprised: "Why are you suddenly calling me?"

The other end was silent for a moment. "........You're the one who called me."

Ying Huai froze, then realized something, and his coughing grew louder.

—He must have accidentally pressed Speed Dial.

But it was fortunate, too. Given his current state, only Liang Shining—rigid to a fault—would pick up his call.

The person on the other end said nothing more, waiting until Ying Huai's coughing subsided before finally speaking again: "What is it?"

Ying Huai was already struggling to keep his consciousness clear.

His fingertips were growing cold and numb, the sensations around him dulling—signs of hemorrhagic shock.

Listening to Liang Shining's long-absent calm tone, he drifted for a moment, then instinctively spoke softly: "Liang Shining, save me."

The person on the other end's breath hitched. He didn't answer immediately, but spoke again, his tone inexplicably much colder: "What is it?"

Ying Huai suddenly came back to himself.

He closed his eyes briefly, then spoke again, returning to his old teasing tone: "It's nothing, just my heart hurts a little. Could you help me........"

Ying Huai had never told anyone outside that he had Congenital Heart Disease.

Combined with his lifelong cavalier personality, never a single truthful word from his mouth, others at most thought his health wasn't great, but nothing serious.

Before Ying Huai could finish, Liang Shining suddenly cut in: "Ying Huai, the boy-who-cried-wolf trick is only good for one use."

Ying Huai froze, his words cutting off instantly.

—He knew what Liang Shining was referring to.

The stabbing pain in his chest returned. Ying Huai covered his mouth and spat out another mouthful of blood.

Fresh blood wound down his palm, but the dull ache in his chest showed no sign of easing—if anything, even breathing was gradually becoming difficult.

Feeling the faint warmth on his palm slowly fade, Ying Huai gradually became aware of something.

—Even if the ambulance arrived now, his body was probably already........beyond saving.

All explanations on the tip of his tongue stopped short. Ying Huai stared blankly for a long moment, then suddenly laughed softly: "Ah, you caught me."

—Since there was no saving him, there was no need to let Liang Shining "carry" another life on his conscience.

Ying Huai groped for the phone beside him, trying to press the end-call button: "I'll hang up then, Mr. Liang, don't let me keep you........"

Before he could finish, Liang Shining suddenly cut him off in a low voice: "So it's like this again."

Ying Huai froze, instinctively pausing his hand: "What?"

"Why did you call me today?"

"Why did you say that in front of the media?"

Liang Shining's voice returned to its most familiar indifference.

"You never even bother to explain yourself to me, yet you keep coming to bother me every time." Liang Shining took a deep breath. "What do you take me for? A dog you can summon and dismiss at will?"

Ying Huai opened his mouth, but for a moment couldn't get a word out.

"Are those scandals true?" Liang Shining's voice suddenly softened.

"Tell me, Ying Huai." Liang Shining's voice dropped very low, even carrying a note of pleading. "Tell me, and I'll help you explain......"

It felt as though a blunt knife was grinding ceaselessly at his heart. Ying Huai's consciousness was muddled, and he instinctively spoke: "No......"

A mouthful of fresh blood suddenly surged up. Ying Huai choked, snapping back to himself: "No need."

Blood he couldn't swallow in time slowly trickled down from the corner of his mouth. Ying Huai leaned back against the wall and said with a smile: "Just take it......that it's all true."

The breath Liang Shining had been holding instantly deflated.

His hand at his side slowly clenched: "Why are you always like this, Ying Huai?"

"You're like this with everyone, with everything—casual, indifferent, uncaring. You can't even be bothered to explain when you're being slandered." Liang Shining gritted his teeth. "Ying Huai, is there anything you actually care about? Is there anyone you actually care about........"

"No."

Ying Huai suddenly spoke, cutting him off.

Another mouthful of blood came up. Ying Huai's throat caught, and he broke into urgent, muffled coughing.

Liang Shining on the other end clearly hadn't expected that answer. He froze for a few seconds before suddenly calling out: "Ying Huai!"

"Yeah, I'm here." Ying Huai coughed a few times, then laughed weakly. "Is there something else, Mr. Liang?"

"Today's my birthday. Is Mr. Liang about to wish me a happy birthday........"

"There won't be a next time, Ying Huai." Liang Shining spoke, cutting Ying Huai off.

He paused, then spoke word by word: "You make me sick."

With a soft "snap," the Hongyu Jewel Pendant at the end of his hair inexplicably fell off, instantly covered in fine, dense cracks.

A sharp, stabbing pain pierced his heart. Ying Huai couldn't help curling up on the ground. When he opened his eyes again, his darkened vision inexplicably regained a sliver of clarity.

He stared at the mottled Hongyu Jewel Pendant for a few seconds, then curved his lips slightly. "Okay."

The brief surge of strength brought on by his final rally was fading. Ying Huai pressed the end-call button and laughed softly.

"Goodbye, Liang Shining."

Beep, beep, beep—

His slender wrist suddenly lost strength, the hand bone slightly buckling, and the lit phone slid from his palm.

Thud—

All sound fell into dead silence. Only the busy tone from the phone rang for a moment before gradually, hazily fading away.

·

The well-known singer Ying Huai died on the spot on the evening of his birthday at the start of the year, when an accidental injury triggered his Congenital Heart Disease and he failed to take his medication in time.

None of his former teammates or disciples attended his funeral.

At the end of the same year, the assailant who had been on the run was suddenly brought to justice, while all of Ying Huai's scandals were simultaneously cleared by an unknown party.

At the beginning of the following year, the renowned actor Liang Shining also died unexpectedly, on the very day Ying Huai had passed away.

·

"Ying Huai!"

An arrogant voice sounded in his ear, giving Ying Huai a splitting headache.

He turned his head to dodge, but the voice only escalated, reaching out to pull him up: "Don't play dead on me. If you don't drink with me today—"

Someone beside them spoke hesitantly: "Is he really okay like this, Brother Zhang Xi? I just saw his lips were a bit purple........"

"What's there to fear? If he can't handle it, we'll treat him," the man named Zhang Xi said dismissively. "He's drowning in scandals right now. If he wants to clear his name, he has to come begging us. Is it too much for me to ask him to come drink with me........"

Ying Huai was groggy, his whole being still caught in the painful, chaotic emotions of his near-death experience.

The person behind him kept tugging at him. Ying Huai frowned and instinctively raised his hand—

Slap—

All the noise came to an abrupt halt with that slap.

Everyone stared blankly. The young man by the table slowly pushed himself up, squinted, then lay back down: "Sorry."

"I'm about to die. Could you all please get out of my way."

........

The surroundings fell silent. Zhang Xi, who had been slapped, finally came back to himself from his daze.

He was instantly furious and raised his hand in turn: "Ying Huai, are you insane—"

Before he could finish, he suddenly saw the dark-haired young man in front of him frown, sit up straight again, and look up at him.

Zhang Xi froze.

Ying Huai had always presented himself before others as casual and unhurried, smiling as if he would never get angry.

But that glance carried an inexplicable coldness and disgust, sending a chill down the spine.

Zhang Xi's forward motion instantly froze.

He had once heard people say that those who always smile are the most terrifying when they get angry.

He instinctively shrank his neck, but saw the young man in front of him merely glance at him, then slowly raise a hand to rub his temple.

After a moment, Ying Huai finally realized something was off.

The blindness from insufficient blood flow had long vanished. His heart was still uncomfortable, but it was the familiar, dull pressure of everyday—not the stabbing, piercing agony of being cut open.

And he was clearly not in that cold, blood-stinking hotel room, but at some banquet gathering.

Vague thoughts stirred in Ying Huai's mind. A little panicked, he braced himself against the table and slowly stood up, instinctively reaching for his Glasses—only to find nothing there.

He froze for a moment, and the next second, a warm voice suddenly came from beside him.

"Shifu!"

A young man in a white suit, cheerfully greeting everyone around him, bounced up to him.

It was Le Xi.

—His only disciple from his previous life, and also the one who had directly caused him to be blacklisted across the internet afterward.

But right now, his face was full of innocent obedience, the very picture of a pure little white flower.

Ying Huai watched Le Xi walk up to him, looked at Zhang Xi in front of him, and asked curiously, "Shifu, who is this?"

Ying Huai's hand at his side trembled slightly. He let out a silent breath.

—So he really had been reborn.

Seeing Ying Huai not answer, Le Xi leaned in a little closer and suddenly exclaimed, "Shifu, why is his face all red? Did he bump into something..."

As he spoke, he reached out to touch Zhang Xi. Zhang Xi's brow twitched, and he finally couldn't help but suddenly raise his hand: "You f***ing—"

Le Xi cried out, and the next second spun around, trembling as he hid behind Ying Huai.

"Shifu, he's going to hit me, please save me—"

Ying Huai: ......

In the past, he would have stopped Zhang Xi for Le Xi, but now......

Before Le Xi could finish speaking, he suddenly saw the person in front of him sway while clutching his chest, and then collapse onto the sofa.

—Which conveniently left Le Xi exposed.

Le Xi: ??

Before he could understand what had happened, he had already taken a heavy slap across the face from Zhang Xi.

Le Xi had been pampered since childhood—when had he ever endured such treatment? He instinctively raised his hand and slapped back.

Le Xi was stunned. Zhang Xi was stunned too.

"Sorry, my heart felt a bit uncomfortable just now, I lost my footing for a moment," Ying Huai braced himself on the sofa and slowly sat up. "Are you two alright?"

He raised his head, a hint of teasing in his peach-blossom eyes: "Or is this the fashionable way to greet people these days?"

Le Xi finally came to his senses. He shook his head and said softly, "I'm fine, Shifu."

He wiped at his tears, his voice pitifully sweet: "I'm your disciple, it's only right that I take this hit for you. You said everyone here is my senior, and I should learn more from my seniors."

—In one move, he'd twisted black into white, pinning the trouble he'd started on Ying Huai.

"What an exceptionally pure little white flower," Ying Huai murmured.

—But then, who couldn't play the little white flower?

Le Xi's ears were ringing from the slap, and he didn't catch it for a moment: "Shifu, what did you say?"

"I said—" Ying Huai suddenly turned his head and curved his eyes toward Zhang Xi beside him, "Since that's the case, shouldn't you thank this senior for his teaching?"

Le Xi: ?

Zhang Xi: ??

Zhang Xi, having been thanked like that, found the fury from that slap suddenly impossible to vent.

He was completely bewildered: "Are you f***ing crazy or something..."

Ying Huai ignored him. His gaze swept around the room, and he gave a small, dry laugh in his heart.

His luck......

—He'd been reborn right at the moment he'd just been blacklisted across the internet.

That was why his company had brought him to this banquet—trying to use him to connect with business tycoons and squeeze out the last bit of his usefulness.

Ying Huai closed his eyes briefly, reached out again for his Glasses, and once more found nothing.

He froze for a moment, then belatedly realized something.

—At this point, his heart hadn't yet been overburdened to that extent, so naturally he didn't need Glasses.

Ying Huai's fingers trembled.

The red bead at the tip of his hair swung down before his eyes with the movement. He stared at that intact Hongyu Jewel Pendant for a few seconds, and the corner of his mouth slowly curved up.

—Since he'd been reborn, everything would have to start over.

Wasn't it just playing weak to lure people? As a genuine patient, could he really not pull it off?

Zhang Xi in front of him had just started cursing when he suddenly saw the young man lean forward slightly and say with a smile, "I remember you."

He leaned forward slightly, his palm braced on the sofa, the slight protrusion of his vertebrae showing a beautiful outline beneath his fair skin.

Zhang Xi's anger faded considerably in an instant. Before he could be pleased, he heard the "beauty" in front of him say seriously, "You're the eldest young master of the Lu Family, right?"

Zhang Xi's face instantly turned green.

"What Lu? My surname is Zhang, I'm called Zhang Xi, the second young master of the Zhang Family. What nonsense are you spouting—"

Someone beside them let out an undisguised snort of laughter. Zhang Xi roared "Shut up," but it was useless.

The smile in Ying Huai's eyes grew wider.

The Zhang Family and Lu Family companies were well-known rivals in the business world, and more importantly, in basically every business war, the Lu Family always managed to suppress the Zhang Family in the end.

So naturally, the sons of both families were compared at every occasion. And by coincidence, the Lu Family's young master always came out slightly ahead.

Ying Huai was of course well aware of all this.

He let out a soft "ah," his tone apologetic: "Sorry, I must have confused Young Master Zhang with my shixiong."

Zhang Xi was furious and didn't think too carefully about who Ying Huai's shixiong was: "Your shixiong isn't even fit to be compared to me..."

"Of course not." Ying Huai squinted at a familiar figure in the inner hall and replied casually.

"So Young Master Zhang came to find me—is there something you need?"

Zhang Xi had been stunned by those two slaps just now, and only now remembered his actual business.

He said through gritted teeth: "Of course it's to 'invite' Mr. Ying over for a drink with us."

Ying Huai didn't reply immediately. He stared at Zhang Xi for a few seconds, then said absently, "Us? Who?"

Ying Huai's attitude seemed to shift. Zhang Xi paused, then continued: "Go to the inner hall, my friends and I are there, the more the merrier."

This banquet was divided into inner and outer halls. Given Ying Huai's current situation, he shouldn't have been able to enter the inner hall, but now a ticket was being delivered right to his door.

"Who are Young Master Zhang's friends? I might not know them," Ying Huai's eyes flickered slightly, though his expression feigned hesitation. "This... doesn't seem quite right."

His original intention had been to coax out of Zhang Xi who was in the inner hall, but he hadn't expected this idiot in front of him to get impatient directly.

"Don't be ungrateful when I'm offering you a drink!"

Zhang Xi had boasted in front of that group of rich heirs that he could absolutely bring Ying Huai back for their amusement.

He stepped forward with a dark expression: "Why did you come here? Your company must have instructed you too, right?"

Ying Huai narrowed his eyes.

Zhang Xi leaned close to Ying Huai: "You need to court the business tycoons, use up your last bit of value. Right now I'm still 'inviting' you—don't wait until I turn hostile..."

Before Zhang Xi could finish speaking, he saw Ying Huai's arm suddenly move.

Zhang Xi instinctively stepped back, watching Ying Huai raise his hand—and cover his mouth as he yawned.

Those two inexplicable slaps on his face were still throbbing. Zhang Xi's brow twitched, and he suddenly said through gritted teeth: "I heard Liang Shining will also be coming to the inner hall later."

Ying Huai's movement paused.

Zhang Xi's heart was pounding. He didn't notice anything off about Ying Huai, and just pressed on with his bluff: "Mr. Ying is currently mired in scandals, but Liang Shining is at the height of his power. If I introduce Mr. Ying to Liang Shining later..."

"Liang-ge is coming too?" Before Ying Huai could speak, Le Xi beside him suddenly grabbed his arm.

Ying Huai's body trembled, and he instinctively shook the person off.

Le Xi paused for a moment, but didn't mind, quickly switching to an obedient expression: "Shifu, can you take me to the inner hall?"

"Your shifu might not be able to get in, but we can take you both in."

Zhang Xi felt pleased with himself. He also turned to look at Ying Huai, "How about it, you..."

Before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly froze: "What's wrong with you?"

The person in front of him was pale, bracing against the armrest beside him, his figure swaying unsteadily.

His first reaction upon hearing those three words "Liang Shining" was to turn around and leave.

Zhang Xi, baffled, looked at Ying Huai with a hesitant expression: "Hey, don't play dumb here. Are you going or not?"

Ying Huai closed his eyes briefly: "I'll go."

He turned to look at the group in the inner hall with the Lu Group logo printed on them, and suddenly smiled: "Of course I'll go."

—Given Liang Shining's taciturn personality, whether he'd actually come to this banquet at all was uncertain.

He couldn't give up the rest because of this baseless thing.

Ying Huai took a light breath.

He wanted everyone who hadn't listened to his explanations in his previous life to explain things for him personally.

He wanted those who had destroyed him to have their most treasured things destroyed as well.