Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Boom—"

The sharp, piercing screech of brakes, the deafening crash of a collision, exploded like a thunderclap by his ears.

Song Nian never imagined he would die so young in a car accident.

The world spun before his eyes, his entire body was hurled into the air in an instant, then crashed heavily to the ground with a chilling thud.

His hearing faded, his vision blurred, the surrounding screams and shouts grew distant. His organs felt torn and crushed in agonizing pain.

He lay on the ground, pulse faint, unable to move even a single finger, watching as blood gushed from his body, staining the black asphalt.

— With injuries this bad, there was no need to wait for rescue; anyone could see he was beyond saving.

His eyelids grew heavy, darkness closing in. Song Nian felt his life force slipping away, bit by bit.

If he could just survive...

Consciousness slipped away like sand, and a long darkness engulfed him, he slowly closed his eyes.

Just as he thought he had died, Song Nian heard faint voices near his ear.

The voice was deliberately hushed; it sounded like a woman:

"He's fine... I'll keep an eye on him. Nothing can go wrong tomorrow..."

Who was speaking? Song—

He tried to move his body, but to his surprise, he realized he was still alive.

He slowly opened his eyes, and a white ceiling greeted him.

Was this... a hospital?

No, there was no smell of disinfectant, no beeping medical equipment.

This wasn't a ward.

As his senses returned, Song Nian, lying on the bed, turned his head slightly to take in his surroundings, but the small movement was immediately noticed by someone by the bed.

"Awake?"

She immediately hung up the phone and approached with long strides.

"Song Nian, you really scared your aunt to death. How could you try to jump off a building over something so trivial? Thank goodness you weren't hurt."

Looking at the unfamiliar woman's face, hearing her call his name clearly, Song Nian, who didn't know her, felt confused.

Aunt?

His father was an only child—where did an aunt come from?

"I'm doing this for your own good. Why are you so resistant, resorting to threats of jumping off a building? The Li family is way above our league; agreeing to them won't cost you a thing."

Who was the Li family? What had they agreed to?

He hadn't jumped; he had been in a car accident.

Wait, the car accident...

Thinking this, Song Nian looked down at himself.

He wasn't wearing hospital clothes, but an outfit he had never seen before.

There wasn't a single trace of injury, not even a drop of blood.

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, the woman claiming to be his aunt paused, sighed, assumed he was still dazed from waking up, and decided not to say more.

She glanced at the key card on the bedside table, discreetly pocketed it, stood up, and said one last thing before leaving:

"In any case, the wedding is tomorrow. Nothing can go wrong, so stay put here today and don't think about running away again."

As she left the room, besides the sound of the door closing, there was also the click of a lock.

Noticing her taking the key card and locking the door, Song Nian frowned.

What the hell was going on?

Hadn't he died in a car accident? How did he end up here with a strange aunt?

And this aunt seemed dead set on locking him up here.

He looked around and realized he was in what looked like a hotel room.

As he was puzzling over this, a flood of memories poured into his mind like a snowstorm.

Jumbled fragments of memory crammed into his head, making his head feel like exploding, but they also helped him understand what had happened.

So, he had been thrown into a novel.

It was that trashy, cliché novel he'd stayed up reading last night, becoming a cannon-fodder "male wife" with the same name.

In the original story, the cannon-fodder had lost both parents as a child, was raised by his aunt, and later married the novel's main villain, Li Yanchuan, for the sake of his company's prospects.

Li Yanchuan was the head of the Li Group, inherently suspicious, ruthless and sinister. Due to an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, he had no choice but to accept the marriage.

The original cannon-fodder, having grown up as a dependent, was sensitive and insecure, and extremely proud. Li Yanchuan, with his leg disability, became even more unpredictable and suspicious.

Forced together with such personalities, neither of them ever speaking openly, misunderstandings and suspicions filled their lives, and their marriage slowly crumbled.

Finally, when he discovered the original's betrayal, Li Yanchuan went completely dark, going all out to take revenge, and the original bore the brunt of it first, ultimately ending up dead on the street.

He had actually survived—he hadn't expected that.

Even if it was by becoming this tight-lipped cannon-fodder male wife.

Song Nian, who had the opposite personality, fell silent.

So they wanted him to be mute?

Damn, he actually could talk. Now what?

Fortunately, having read countless books, Song Nian adapted well to being transported into a novel and quickly accepted his new reality. He walked over to the mirror.

——The man in the mirror looked exactly like his former self.

His cheeks were fair and refined, his skin as pale as milk, his features delicate and handsome, with a high nose bridge. He had naturally droopy puppy-dog eyes, slightly downturned at the corners, with curled eyelashes.

His lips were rosy, naturally turned up in a warm smile that exuded warmth, with a distinct cupid’s bow that made them look plump and cute.

Aside from that, the most notable feature was a faint scar above his left eyebrow.

——This scar was exactly the one Song Nian had gotten from an accident as a child.

That meant he hadn’t transmigrated just as a soul; rather, his whole body had crossed over.

This was his original body.

Thinking of this, Song Nian rubbed his cheeks, found some comfort in this completely unfamiliar world.

Immediately, he started quickly forming a plan.

According to the original story, he was about to marry Li Yanchuan, after which he would suffer all kinds of misunderstandings and spiral into a tragic ending with no way back.

Since he already knew the predetermined ending, having a second chance at life, he definitely wouldn’t waste this chance to avoid going down that dead-end road again.

Moreover, there was no system beeping sound in his head, which meant there were no mandatory tasks requiring him to follow the original plot.

If that was the case, did that mean there was a way to avoid the fate of dying in the streets?

To escape Li Yanchuan's revenge, he had to avoid this wedding.

That is to say, he could either find another marriage partner to cling to, or simply run away.

Just as Song Nian was pondering which path to choose, the door suddenly swung open from outside, and a man rushed in.

However, although he looked flustered and hurried, he wasn't even sweating, which didn't fit someone who had just sprinted over.

More like a staged performance.

As soon as he saw the man, Song Nian recognized him from his memories.

——This man was Li Yanchuan’s half-brother, Li Wenguang.

In the original novel, Li Wenguang and his brother Li Yanchuan were both heirs of the Li Group. They were at odds with each other, their relationship like oil and water.

Although he was no match for his brother in ability, he had known the original host long before, and there was an ambiguous, unclear relationship between them.

This incident therefore became the trigger for the original host’s crumbling marriage, sparking countless misunderstandings.

Seeing this, Song Nian’s eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had found a new direction.

Since this man had an ambiguous relationship with the original host, presumably there was some affection between them. Should he take this opportunity to join his faction and latch onto him?

“Xiao Nian! I heard you jumped from the building. I was scared to death. Thank God you’re okay.”

Li Wenguang, his eyes brimming with tears, stepped forward and suddenly yanked him into a hug.

“H-Hello?”

Caught off guard by the sudden hug, Song Nian froze. Embarrassed, he curled his toes in embarrassment and spoke tentatively.

The book didn’t describe Li Wenguang in much detail, so he still couldn’t figure out his personality. He needed to get a read on him first.

What if he chose him, only to jump into an even bigger trap?

“Are you hurt? Do you feel unwell? Do you need me to call a doctor?”

“I’m fine.”

Faced with this barrage of questions, Song Nian almost couldn’t keep up.

“I heard from my parents about your marriage to Li Yanchuan tomorrow. You don’t want to marry him, do you?”

Li Wenguang grasped Song Nian’s shoulders, looking pained.

Could it be that he was starting to feel reluctant? Song Nian’s eyes lit up as he thought this seemed promising. He then began to act.

“Mm…”

He pressed his lips together tightly, constantly fidgeting with his fingers, wearing a bitter look of resignation.

—If Li Wenguang really cared about the original host, then seeing him so pitiful and unwilling, wouldn’t he take the initiative to take him away?

“Xiao Nian, I know you’ve been wronged. After all, my brother’s personality… no one can stand it.”

Li Wenguang paused, looking very reluctant.

“Yeah, I’m very scared of him, so… can you take me away…?”

Song Nian appeared aggrieved on the surface, but inwardly he eagerly waited for the other's next words.

—Agree quickly!

But unexpectedly, the man sighed and replied,

“Sorry, I wanted to do that too, but…”

“Can you just suck it up? Do it for me. After the wedding, you must find a way to get close to my brother and get the company's secrets out of him.”

With that, Li Wenguang even let a tear fall, putting on a very loving act.

Hearing this, a question mark slowly formed over Song Nian's head.

How did the conversation suddenly jump to stealing secrets?

“You are my only chance. Only by taking him down can I inherit the Li Group. After it’s done, I will definitely take you away from him safely.”

“Steal secrets? Me?”

Song Nian asked, struggling to respond.

“Xiao Nian, I know you don’t want to marry him, but can you see where I'm coming from? If you really care about me, you'll help me, won't you?”

What is this, that familiar PUA manipulation?

As he listened, Song Nian narrowed his eyes.

“Will you really take me away then?”

He shot back.

"Of course, don't you trust me? I care about you too. You're too sensitive."

"If you think I'm lying, then there's nothing I can do about it."

Li Wenguang theatrically spread his hands, feigning grievance.

Listen to him—is that even something a person would say? Every sentence was meant to suppress and shift blame, a total manipulator!

He didn't like the original him at all; he was just using him. Once his goal was achieved, he would kick him aside and enjoy the victory alone.

How despicable!

No, this guy couldn't be relied on. Hitching his wagon to this guy might end up worse than the original novel's ending.

Realizing this, Song Nian's goodwill toward him instantly plunged to zero. He didn't even want to act anymore, so he put on a stern face and stared at him.

Seeing that Song Nian didn't argue back, Li Wenguang assumed he was willing to help. He quickly took Song Nian's hand and coaxed him in a soft voice:

"Good Nian Nian, I knew you would help me. You are the most important person to me."

If it were the original him, he might have been fooled by his seamless PUA tactics.

But unfortunately, Song Nian wasn't buying it at all.

When leaving the room, Li Wenguang also locked the door from the outside, as if afraid the person might escape.

Hearing the lock click, Song Nian couldn't help but roll his eyes inwardly and silently flipped him off.

—It seemed the first path was a dead end. His only option was to escape during the wedding tomorrow.

Song Nian made up his mind secretly.

————

Coming out of the room, Li Wenguang hummed a cheerful tune and walked along the corridor toward the elevator.

Sure enough, Song Nian was a fool. All it took was a cheap favor and playing hot and cold with him to hook him.

Hopefully, he'd be reliable enough to successfully obtain the secret as the one sharing his bed, so that way he could gain leverage over Li Yanchuan by exploiting his weakness.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt the future was smooth sailing. Li Wenguang was in an excellent mood, with a triumphant look.

Just as he was feeling pleased, the elevator reached the floor and the doors slowly opened.

Accompanied by the sound of wheels rolling on the carpet, what stepped out of the elevator first was not a pair of straight, powerful legs.

But a black wheelchair.

The man sitting in it slowly raised his eyes, and when he saw the person opposite, a chill surfaced in his deep gaze.

Their eyes met, and a silent tension crackled in the air.

—The man in the wheelchair was none other than Li Yanchuan.