Chapter 65

Chapter 65

About half an hour later, Shang Xueyan drove to the red-brick building, his emotions a tumultuous mix of complexity and excitement.

Why had he chosen to continue acting back then? Besides finding it interesting, he also wanted the name Shang Xueyan to be widely known. His elder brother had reunited with him when that name was still obscure.

But he also had parents.

Occasionally, Shang Xueyan had wished his parents had transmigrated too. The four of them could live together happily, just like before. Yet, sometimes he felt he was asking for too much.

Having his elder brother wasn’t enough—he wanted his parents too.

But had his parents truly transmigrated?

With barely contained excitement, Shang Xueyan parked his car in the company’s parking lot.

“Bro Yan,” a company employee greeted him.

Shang Xueyan didn't have time to stop and chat, offering a polite nod before hurrying up to the second-floor conference room.

Shang Mingde had transmigrated in March of last year. Fortunately, he wasn’t alone; his wife was with him. When they first awoke, they thought they had landed in some strange, supernatural realm, as everyone around them had blond hair and blue eyes.

Moreover, the objects surrounding them were astonishingly magical, beyond their wildest imagination.

It took them a month to grasp that the Earth was round. They hadn’t traveled to another world but had arrived a thousand years into the future, not in their homeland of the An Dynasty, but in a foreign country.

At the time, they were desperate to return home, but a lawsuit entangled them, preventing their departure. It wasn’t until five days ago, when everything was resolved, that they were finally able to return.

A month prior, they had seen Shang Xueyan online.

Could this be their son?

Not only did he look exactly the same, but his name was identical too.

Yet, Shang Mingde was still plagued by worry. What if it was just a coincidence? What if this person already had parents in this life? Or what if it was their son reincarnated but without memories of his past life? Would he think they were merely con artists?

The door creaked open.

Shang Mingde turned.

An older man and a younger man locked eyes, their features bearing a subtle resemblance.

For a moment, neither spoke. After a brief silence, Shang Xueyan tentatively called out, “Father.”

“Little Treasure,” Shang Mingde’s eyes welled up as he opened his arms to embrace his dear son.

The elegant and beautiful woman sitting on the sofa quickly rose, pushing aside the old man who was trying to claim her son, and embraced Shang Xueyan first. “Little Treasure, your mother has missed you terribly.”

“I missed you too, Mother,” Shang Xueyan hugged her back, his voice thick with emotion.

These were truly his parents. They too had traveled from a thousand years ago to a thousand years later. Their family of four was finally reunited!

Seeing this, Shang Duan embraced both Shang Xueyan and Su Qingrong.

Shang Xueyan had a million questions—when did his parents transmigrate? How had they been getting along? But as he opened his mouth to speak, he noticed Shen Ling was still in the office. After asking her to leave, Shang Xueyan closed the door, his face beaming with excitement. “Father, Mother, when did you transmigrate? How have you been all this time?”

Su Qingrong answered his questions. Over the past year or so, she and Shang Mingde hadn’t suffered financially, though they couldn’t leave the country.

The couple were Chinese entrepreneurs who had gone abroad, opening several Chinese restaurants and accumulating substantial savings.

Hearing that his parents hadn’t endured much hardship, Shang Xueyan felt relieved. Then he asked, “How did you transmigrate, Father and Mother?”

He and his elder brother had transmigrated due to violent deaths. Had the same happened to his parents?

“It was in the winter of the year you… died. Our carriage was startled while we were on our way to burn incense. We opened our eyes and found ourselves in that place called the United States,” Shang Mingde recounted.

Su Qingrong smiled. “Your father and I gained an advantage—we’re two years younger than we were in our original bodies.”

They had transmigrated at the end of the nineteenth year of the Yanxing era. At that time, Su Qingrong was forty-two and Shang Mingde forty-three. After transmigrating, Su Qingrong was forty and Shang Mingde forty-one.

“If only you were twenty years younger, we could have been brothers and grown old together,” Shang Xueyan said regretfully.

“Don't be ridiculous. Your father and I are already very satisfied as it is,” Su Qingrong replied.

“Indeed,” Shang Mingde said, though the smile on his face faded slightly. “If only your elder brother had transmigrated too. Our family is only missing him.”

Shang Mingde had searched online for the name Shang Hengan but only found records of their son from a thousand years ago. In this world, that person didn’t exist.

Shang Xueyan suddenly remembered he hadn’t mentioned the most important thing. “Elder Brother has transmigrated too. We’ve been reunited for a year already.”

Shang Mingde and Su Qingrong’s eyes widened in unison.

Shang Mingde exclaimed in surprise, “Big Treasure is here too?”

“Yes, this company was even set up by Elder Brother for me,” Shang Xueyan said, picking up his phone. “I’ll give him a call.”

The call was answered shortly.

“A Yan?” Shang Xianwang’s voice came through the speaker.

Shang Xueyan didn’t give him a chance to say much. “Elder Brother, come home early from work today. I’ve prepared a huge surprise for you.”

Shang Xianwang chuckled softly. “What kind of surprise?”

“You’ll find out when you get home. I promise it will shock you.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“Remember to come home early.”

“Ba—”

“Ahem, I’ll hang up now. You can get back to work.”

Without giving Shang Xianwang a chance to say more, Shang Xueyan quickly ended the call and turned to his parents. “Father, Mother, where are you staying now? Let’s go home first and surprise Elder Brother when he gets off work.”

Shang Mingde and Su Qingrong were currently staying at a hotel a short distance from the company.

Shang Xueyan drove them back to the hotel, helped them gather their belongings, and checked them out. Then he drove them to Fengyun Bay.

“It seems you and your brother are doing well,” Shang Mingde said. A month ago, when he learned Shang Xueyan was acting, he had been a little worried. In ancient times, acting was considered a low-status profession. It wasn’t that he looked down on the profession, but he feared his son might be bullied.

Now, knowing that Shang Xueyan’s company had been established by Shang Hengan and that the brothers had already reunited, Shang Mingde and Su Qingrong were completely reassured. Not only were they overjoyed that Shang Xianwang was also in this world, but they also felt reassured.

With Da Lang around, how could Second Brother possibly be bullied?

Their two sons supporting each other—who in the capital hadn't praised their brotherly bond?

To have raised sons like this, what more could one ask for in life?

The Rolls-Royce was parked in the garage, and Shang Xueyan got the suitcases out of the car. "Not long after I arrived in this world, I was reunited with my big brother. But he spent nine years here alone. Mom, Dad, you guys have no idea how awful the relatives of the body Shang Xianwang inhabits were!"

Shang Xueyan vented angrily about how Shang Xianwang’s younger brother here had tried to hit him with a car, how his grandfather had threatened and intimidated him, how his aunt’s family had constantly sniped at him and talked down to him, and the turmoil he faced when taking over the company. Every time he thought of these people, Shang Xueyan still seethed with anger and wished he could beat them up.

"Dammit, where does that old man Shang Huaimin live now?" Shang Mingde rolled up his sleeves, furious.

"He’s abroad now, and his health is failing. But my brother doesn’t have any contact with them anymore, and they can’t stir up any trouble."

Su Qingrong walked ahead empty-handed, while Shang Xueyan and his father each carried two large suitcases. "That’s good. From now on, it’ll just be the four of us living together."

"Mom's right," Shang Mingde said, then changed the subject. "By the way, is your brother seeing anyone?"

Su Qingrong turned around, her eyes lit up.

Shang Xueyan noticed the anticipation in their eyes.

His grip tightened on the suitcase handle, and his heartbeat suddenly quickened.

His throat felt dry. "He... he doesn’t have a girlfriend."

Right, no girlfriend—just a boyfriend.

"Your brother is already twenty-nine," Shang Mingde sighed. "How come he's still single?"

Shang Xueyan cleared his throat. "Mom, Dad, you’ve been in this world for over a year now. You should know that people get married later here. The average age for first marriage in our city is thirty-three. Twenty-nine is still quite young, isn’t it?"

"That’s true. People live much longer these days. Back in our time, living to sixty or seventy was extremely rare," Shang Mingde mused.

As they spoke, Shang Xueyan opened the security door. Dajin, hearing the noise at the door, bolted from the corner of the living room into the entryway. Seeing two strangers, it didn’t bark aggressively but let out a couple of gentle yips before affectionately rubbing its head against Shang Xueyan’s pants.

"This dog..." The small dog had a strong mechanical, sci-fi look—imposing yet gentle-natured. Su Qingrong looked down, her eyes widening in surprise.

Having been in this world for over a year, she had seen many astonishing things, but this dog was uniquely beautiful and cyberpunk.

"This is a mechanical dog my brother bought for me. Cool, right?" Shang Xueyan said proudly.

"Cool!" Shang Mingde and Su Qingrong were not particularly traditional or stern parents. Even back in the capital, they had often stood out among other noble couples. Shang Mingde gave a thumbs-up. "So cool!"

"By the way, Mom, Dad, in this life, my brother is allergic to dog fur. When we go out, avoid contact with dogs. If you do touch a dog, make sure to shower as soon as you get back and don’t touch my brother. He’ll cough and break out in hives."

Su Qingrong smiled softly. "You’ve always been so attentive to your brother."

"Of course, he’s my brother, ya know?" Shang Xueyan said. He had said the same thing to his parents before, always with straightforward confidence, but now he couldn’t help feeling a little guilty.

"He’s allergic in this life too?" Shang Mingde frowned. "It seems his body is just the same as in his previous life."

Shang Xueyan was stunned. "My brother was allergic in his past life too? But when we kept Congming, he wasn’t allergic at all."

Shang Mingde explained, "He wasn’t allergic by then. Before he came to our family, he lived with his uncle’s family. He was allergic to dogs, but his uncle kept three dogs. Thankfully, he was tough—he suffered from hives for almost two years but eventually built up a tolerance and wasn’t afraid of being around dogs anymore."

Shang Mingde still felt angry bringing it up. "Otherwise, why would I have disliked his uncle’s family so much and insisted on bringing him to our home?"

"That was so long ago, no need to mention it again," Su Qingrong said.

Now Shang Xueyan finally understood why his brother had talked about desensitization and said it would get better in a few years. So he had gone through something like this before—and still dared to claim he hadn’t been allergic in his past life.

Well, it wasn’t entirely a lie. After all, by the time he came to their family, he was no longer allergic.

Shang Xueyan added, "In this life, I didn’t know about his allergy at first. It was only after I got a real big dog that I noticed he was uncomfortable. If I hadn’t found out, I think he would’ve just endured it until he wasn’t allergic anymore."

He watched his parents’ expressions carefully. "My brother is really too good to me."

"Also, when I was acting, there was an actor assigned by an investor who didn’t get along with me. My brother invested in the production I was in and got that actor removed. I love cars, so he bought me several. Before I met him, wasn’t I blacklisted by my company’s boss? As soon as I reunited with him, he resolved it and even sent that boss to prison."

Su Qingrong poked his forehead. "Since your brother is so good to you, you should be good to him too, understand?"

Shang Xueyan grinned and promised, "Of course I’ll be good to him."

So good that he’s even given him his wife.

"Mom, Dad, let me take your suitcases to your rooms first. You’ll stay on the third floor."

"Sure."

"Which floor do you and your brother live on?" Su Qingrong asked, glancing up at the villa’s vaulted ceilings.

"We’re both on the second floor. But there... each of us has our own room, plus there’s a study. No spare rooms left." It was a perfectly reasonable explanation—his parents wouldn’t be on the same floor as them. Shang Xueyan felt he shouldn’t feel guilty about it.

He pushed the suitcases toward the elevator, but as he passed the living room, his peripheral vision caught sight of the condoms thrown on the coffee table. His mind suddenly went blank.

Just then, he noticed his mother’s gaze drifting toward the coffee table.

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Author's Note: Goodnight, mwah mwah mwah [kiss][kiss][kiss]