After Transmigrating for the Third Time, the Real Young Master Decides to Slouch - Chapter 1

When Jiang Zao opened his eyes, his first reaction was: his bangs were so long.

He pinched the strands hanging in front of his eyes and thought, how long had it been since they were last cut? He could barely see what was in front of him.

He brushed his bangs aside. Once his vision cleared, he calmly looked around, then clicked his tongue lightly. Same old place, same old familiar people. Very good. He had transmigrated back again.

If there were ever a question asking, “What kind of experience is it to transmigrate into the same book three times?” Jiang Zao felt that he would definitely be the perfect person to answer it.

One second ago, he had still been dragging out class under the students’ resentful gazes. The next second, he had transmigrated into a book he had already entered twice before. Finding joy in misery, Jiang Zao thought this was probably his retribution for still letting classes run overtime even in university. He would stop grinding from now on, so please let him go back.

Of course, this kind of promise was completely useless. One minute passed, and Jiang Zao was still sitting perfectly steadily on the cold bench in the corner of the banquet hall.

He curled his lips, reached out, and picked up the cup in front of him. Inside was tea, completely out of place with the atmosphere of the banquet. But he had no intention of fitting in anyway. After all, he was just an unlikable cannon fodder character.

Jiang Zao took a sip of tea. It had been a while since he last came back, so he needed to review the backstory.

This was a real-and-fake young master story. The character he had transmigrated into was the real young master.

The real young master, who should have been born at the very top, had been switched at birth, so his entire childhood and adolescence had been spent in poverty. On top of that, his adoptive parents were busy making a living and lacked the time to care for him, causing his personality to become gloomy, dull, and unlikable. The only thing he had going for him was his grades.

It was not until ninth grade that the real young master was recognized and brought back by his biological parents. While returning to his roots and acknowledging his ancestors, he also met the other child who had been switched—the protagonist of this book, the fake young master, Lin Ran.

This fake young master was much luckier. He had grown up in the Lin family, spoiled and doted on. If he wanted the stars, they would give him the moon. He himself was also accomplished, able to play the violin beautifully, a proud son of heaven admired by everyone. Because he was a child they had raised by hand, the Lin couple could not bear to send the fake young master back to his biological parents to suffer, so they kept him by their side too.

Two children raised in completely different environments might not seem so different when looked at separately, but once placed together, the contrast was like clouds and mud. The fake young master was cheerful and generous, able to mingle with anyone, while the real young master was narrow-minded and small in outlook, worthless except for his studies. At first, the Lin couple could still ignore these flaws out of guilt and pity, but as time passed, they inevitably grew irritated. No matter what, the Lin family was also a wealthy and powerful family in Jing City. They felt embarrassed that their heir was so unpresentable. Gradually, they began to dislike their biological son and poured all their attention into the adopted son who suited their hearts so well.

After noticing his parents’ attitude, the real young master worked even harder at his studies in order to gain their approval. Unfortunately, in the Lin couple’s eyes, he was nothing but a bookworm who only knew how to bury his head in practice questions, someone utterly out of place among them. As a result, they disliked him even more. Under this vicious cycle, the real young master became increasingly gloomy and withdrawn.

Jiang Zao raised a hand and rubbed his forehead, laughing self-mockingly. He had only learned all of this later.

The first time he transmigrated into the book, Jiang Zao, who knew nothing about anything, had only felt the original owner’s intense desire to study. At once, he felt a sense of deep sympathy, as if he had met a kindred spirit. And so, holding on to the thought that a true bosom friend was hard to find, he decided to grind on the original owner’s behalf!

After grinding himself half to death for three years, Jiang Zao had been full of confidence that he would definitely bring back the title of top scorer. In the end, the day before the college entrance exam, he returned to reality.

His hard work had yielded no harvest. Jiang Zao was furiously incompetent about it, but after his rage passed, he could only let the matter go and gather his mood to fill out his university applications. He still had to attend university. How could he have time to dwell on such a small matter?

Just as he was about to forget this bizarre experience, his second transmigration came without warning.

Time had advanced three years. The original owner was already a junior in university and was currently preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam. As it happened, Jiang Zao was also preparing for the same exam in reality. Thinking that studying was studying no matter where he did it, he simply continued grinding.

After grinding himself half to death for another year, Jiang Zao once again transmigrated back the day before the postgraduate entrance exam.

This time, Jiang Zao’s emotions were very stable. First, he calmly went to take the exam. Only after the postgraduate entrance exam ended did he go back and search up the original book, patiently reading it from beginning to end. After finishing it, Jiang Zao had only one thought: Great. So he was just a study tool.

Jiang Zao actually had a feeling there would be a third transmigration. After all, once and twice meant there could be a third. Now that this third time had arrived right on schedule, he was not surprised. He had really guessed it right. This time, the original owner was going to take the national civil service exam three months later, so he had transmigrated again.

But so what?

Jiang Zao smiled lightly. In any case, he had already prepared himself long ago. This time, there was no way he would obediently be a tool again.

As for the plot, whoever loved following it could follow it. He would not be accompanying them.

“Jiang Zao.”

A warm, pleasant voice sounded beside his ear. Jiang Zao turned his head and saw a young man with a very beautiful smile walking toward him. “Why are you sitting here all by yourself?”

The other person’s appearance was slightly different from his memories, but overall, there had not been much change. So Jiang Zao recognized him without much effort: the fake young master, Lin Ran.

The original book had described the real young master’s feelings toward Lin Ran as complicated. On the one hand, he was jealous that Lin Ran was favored by their parents. On the other hand, he was deeply attracted by Lin Ran’s cheerfulness and excellence. To put it simply, it was both love and hate. But for Jiang Zao, none of those feelings existed. He had no particular thoughts about this universally adored protagonist. Or rather, he had no thoughts about anyone here.

Since the other person had taken the initiative to speak to him, Jiang Zao could not very well pretend he had not heard. He casually nodded as a greeting. “It’s quieter here.”

Lin Ran sat down across from him and said in understanding, “I forgot, you’re afraid of noise—oh, right, how are your exam preparations going? I heard the national civil service exam is really difficult. Are you confident?”

With concerned words and a worried expression, anyone who saw him could sense the sincerity in it.

Jiang Zao lowered his head and drank tea.

When he did not get an answer, a trace of awkwardness flashed across Lin Ran’s face, but he quickly smiled again. “Did I ask something I shouldn’t have? Haha, that’s true. Today is our birthday, after all. It would really ruin the mood to talk about something like this on such a happy day.”

Lin Ran paused. Seeing that Jiang Zao was still drinking tea without any reaction, he continued, “I know you might be under a lot of pressure right now, but you mustn’t force yourself. If it doesn’t work this time, there’s always next time—ah, I’m not cursing you to fail this time. I hope more than anyone that you can pass smoothly. Jiang Zao, you’re so outstanding. You’ll definitely succeed. I believe in you!”

Jiang Zao suddenly asked him, “Do you want some tea?”

“Huh?” Lin Ran froze. His emotions were split apart by the sudden interruption, and even his smile became rather unnatural.

The corners of Jiang Zao’s mouth curved. “You said so much. Aren’t you thirsty?”

Lin Ran had already recovered his composure and smiled as he shook his head. “Thank you, I’m not thirsty yet.”

“Oh.” Jiang Zao refilled his own cup and continued drinking tea.

Lin Ran suddenly felt a little as if he were sitting on pins and needles. This was the first time he did not know what to say when facing Jiang Zao. In the past, such a thing would have been impossible. Today’s Jiang Zao was a little different.

But…

Lin Ran secretly observed the person across from him. He could not see anything different about Jiang Zao. Same as always, he kept to himself. He did not want to pay attention to others, and others did not want to pay attention to him either. However, his bangs seemed longer than the last time they had met, covering his entire eyes and making him look even gloomier.

There was nothing different about him.

Lin Ran reached his conclusion.

He smiled and was just about to say something before taking his leave when another lively voice cut in. “Brother!”

Jiang Zao and Lin Ran turned their heads at the same time.

The owner of the voice was a boy of sixteen or seventeen. When he saw Jiang Zao looking at him, he immediately became unhappy. “I was calling Brother Lin Ran, not you. Don’t flatter yourself.”

The boy’s attitude was truly poor. Lin Ran looked a little embarrassed and said to the boy disapprovingly, “Xiao Tang, Jiang Zao is your biological older brother. How can you say that to him? Hurry and apologize.”

This was what Lin Tang hated hearing the most. Even though the person saying it was Lin Ran, whom he had always liked and respected, his tone did not improve. “So what if he’s my biological older brother? We never lived together, and we don’t have any feelings for each other. What does blood relation alone count for? Mosquitoes suck my blood too, so I’m related to them by blood. Do I have to call a mosquito brother too?”

Lin Tang spoke with righteous confidence. Lin Ran frowned, his voice becoming a little stricter. “Xiao Tang, if you keep acting like this, I’m going to get angry.”

Lin Tang shut his mouth unwillingly.

Lin Ran turned to Jiang Zao and apologized guiltily. “Jiang Zao, are you angry? Don’t take these words to heart. Xiao Tang is still young and doesn’t know any better. You’re his biological older brother, so don’t lower yourself to his level.”

Jiang Zao had been watching them perform their brotherly affection and respect. Suddenly called on, he could only join the performance. He smiled. “I won’t. You said it yourself, he’s young and doesn’t know any better. I’m his older brother. How could I lower myself to his level?”

This was basically repeating Lin Ran’s words back to him. Lin Ran’s brows furrowed even more. Sure enough, something still felt a little off.

Before he could figure out why, Jiang Zao put down his teacup. “I’m going to the restroom.”

He got up and left.

“Hmph.”

Lin Tang snorted disdainfully. He had no intention of avoiding anyone, so he did not lower his voice. His words entered Jiang Zao’s ears clearly just like that.

“It’s better that he left. Just looking at that rustic, tacky appearance makes me annoyed. Why doesn’t he have any self-awareness? Does he really think today’s birthday party is being held for him? He doesn’t even think about whether he’s worthy. If it weren’t for the two of you having the same birthday, how could he possibly have been included along the way?” The more Lin Tang spoke, the more indignant he became. “In what way does he look like someone from our Lin family? From his appearance to his bearing, not a single bit of him resembles us! I really suspect whether he was actually switched at birth. Don’t tell me that poor family came to scam us.”

Lin Ran advised him gently, “Xiao Tang, don’t say that. The paternity test has already been done. The two of us really were switched.”

As he spoke, his voice sank. His head also lowered. “I occupied Jiang Zao’s identity and made him suffer so much. Those hardships should originally have been suffered by me. I’m the one who wronged him.”

Lin Tang hurriedly comforted him in a fluster. “Brother, don’t think that. Maybe even the heavens thought he wasn’t worthy of being a member of our Lin family, so they deliberately arranged the switch and sent you to our side. I don’t care. In my eyes, only you are my real brother. Me, you, Mom, and Dad—we’re the real family!”

Lin Ran’s eyes reddened. Moved, he held Lin Tang’s hand. “Thank you, Xiao Tang. Hearing you say that really makes me so happy.”

Jiang Zao quickened his pace. He had drunk too much tea.

He wanted to throw up.

Author’s Note:

Princess, please have some tea~

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Pushing my upcoming novel The Cannon Fodder Shou Was Reborn After the Ending. Interested cuties can bookmark it QAQ

Only after being reborn did Chu Rong discover that he was the cannon fodder in a novel, used to set off the protagonist shou.

But when other people were reborn, they were reborn at the beginning of the story. Chu Rong, however, was directly reborn at the ending. The protagonist gong and shou had achieved perfect love and successful careers, and their wedding of the century was set to take place in one month.

As for Chu Rong, the stepping stone in this breathtakingly beautiful love story, he would die alone in a great fire at a psychiatric hospital on the day of the wedding, drawing the final period on his ridiculous life.

Remembering the events of his previous life, Chu Rong secretly gritted his teeth. He was going to live better than anyone else!

His nominal eldest brother came to see him. Before the always cold man could reveal disgust, Chu Rong’s eyes reddened first. He grabbed the hem of his coat. “Big Brother, I want to go home.”

The man’s gaze darkened. He took off his overcoat, draped it over Chu Rong, then held his hand and brought him home.

Everyone who knew Chu Rong felt that he had changed. He was no longer that willful, spoiled young master of a wealthy family. After coming out of the psychiatric hospital, the fragility and unease he revealed pierced deeply into their hearts, making them want only to protect and cherish him properly.

The top star who looked down on everything lowered his pride and status. “My songs are sung for you alone.”

The fickle, romantic childhood friend put away his flirtatious nature. “From now on, there is only you in my heart.”

Even the protagonist gong, who had already found true love, showed him every possible kindness. “Rongrong, I was wrong before. Will you forgive me?”

Chu Rong ignored all of these gestures without exception. While everyone else beat their chests and stamped their feet, regretting their past actions, someone saw Chu Rong, who had shed his sense of distance, bury his face in the arms of the cold and stern head of the Chu family.

Chu Lingfeng showed his youngest brother a gentleness that shocked everyone else. “What do you want? Tell Big Brother.”

Chu Rong acted spoiled in a soft voice. “You.”