Chapter 2

A persistent sense of unreality lingered, and the stinging pain from the brambles’ lashes on his skin had yet to fully fade.

As the pain dulled, an uncontrollable, impossible-to-ignore itch began to spread.

Qiu Baozhu switched on the light in the cloakroom and studied the reflection in the mirror carefully.

The features and temperament were the same, yet the person was strangely unfamiliar, far beyond familiarity.

It had been more than a year since the Qiu family went bankrupt, when he finally moved into the Wei household, dragging his suitcase behind him.

The thrill of arriving at the Wei family was still vivid in his mind.

The young lovers had been too naive, believing that without material constraints, their bond would be inseparable and everlasting.

Qiu Baozhu once thought he hadn’t changed much; after all, he was living quite well—better even than before his family’s bankruptcy.

If he claimed to be living poorly, it would have been a blatant lie.

But when he looked back at his younger self in the mirror, two identical yet vastly different people met each other’s gaze. The surprise and doubt in their eyes spoke volumes about how much he had changed.

The feigned innocence and carefree charm, the cautious probing and flattering, the ever-present sadness and wistfulness, the tamed, pet-like look—all of that had vanished utterly at this moment.

Like a pair of cat’s eyes yet untouched by storm or rain, they held the purest, most vivid brilliance.

Qiu Baozhu gazed out the window; his eyes shimmered with dazzling gold, devoid of any trace of decay or despair.

“Qiu Baozhu,” an abrupt voice called, “dinner.”

?

When Qiu Baozhu turned around, he caught only the hem of a boy’s garment.

His breath caught; removing his glasses and carefully placing a blanket on the chaise lounge, he ran barefoot after him.

“Qiu Fei!”

The boy walked down the stairs with his head lowered. Taciturn by nature, he was distant from everyone regardless of closeness.

Upon hearing Qiu Baozhu call him, he merely responded with a grunt.

Only later did Qiu Baozhu come to understand the true Qiu Fei.

Great straightforwardness appears as subtlety; great skill seems clumsy; great eloquence appears as hesitation.

Qiu Fei was slender and pale.

Seated at the dining table, he picked up his chopsticks and ate silently and methodically, every movement mechanical and precise.

Qiu Baozhu and Qiu Fei were twins, with Qiu Baozhu born first, thus the elder brother.

Not only was he first to be born, but afterward, he always took precedence.

In the previous life, after their family’s bankruptcy, more than a year later, Qiu Fei was sent abroad with their parents by Wei Shu.

When Wei Shu informed Qiu Baozhu, he was grateful but also angry at Qiu Fei for secretly going abroad without even saying goodbye.

But that anger didn’t last long.

Qiu Baozhu never received calls from his family and could only call them himself, but the lines always showed as powered off.

He was truly furious.

Months later, Qiu Baozhu finally received a call from Qiu Fei.

Before he could even whine or complain, Qiu Fei’s cold voice cut through: “Qiu Baozhu, break up with Wei Shu immediately. Leave him!”

Qiu Baozhu thought it was a joke.

But by the time he regretted it, it was too late; he had willingly walked into the cage Wei Shu had built for him.

That phone call was the last they ever had.

Qiu Baozhu never saw Qiu Fei again and had no idea how his family was doing or where they were.

Carrying the last dish of soup, the housekeeper emerged from the kitchen and looked up to see the boy still lingering on the second floor.

“Baozhu, come down for dinner. Didn’t you say you’d be going to a classmate’s birthday party later?”

Birthday party?

Qiu Baozhu hadn’t yet checked the date or whose birthday it was.

But Aunt Xiao Wan surely hadn’t forgotten.

He was quite popular during his school days; no matter whose birthday it was in class, they would invite him.

And when it was his birthday, the celebration was even more grand.

“Sleepyhead?” Aunt Xiao Wan chuckled at Qiu Baozhu’s dazed expression as he sat down, placing a bowl of rice before him. “I told you not to nap too long—half an hour is enough. But you? You always sleep for hours…”

Her nagging even made Qiu Fei frown.

However, Qiu Baozhu felt a long-missed warmth.

Aunt Xiao Wan was a distant relative of their family.

Though she was called that, Qiu Baozhu never truly knew the exact relation.

After the Qiu family’s bankruptcy, introduced by his mother He Yingjie, she went to work as a nanny for another family.

Her life later was even better than the Qiu family’s, and she often brought food and necessities to see Qiu Baozhu and Qiu Fei.

She had even asked Qiu Baozhu if he wanted to leave with her and be her son.

Qiu Baozhu appreciated her kindness but didn’t agree.

Aunt Xiao Wan’s familiar nagging and the scent of home-cooked food made his rebirth feel even more real.

He devoured three large bowls of rice in one go, feeling so full his throat tightened, which startled Aunt Xiao Wan into exclamations.

“Why are you eating so much today? You’ll get indigestion!”

“Weren’t you just saying you were tired of my cooking yesterday?”

Qiu Baozhu smiled sweetly, “I just had a nightmare—dreamt I ate ten years’ worth of nutritionist-approved meals. It scared me.”

“Nutritionist meals? Hah, sounds fancy, but I’ve tried. Even dogs won’t eat that stuff…”

Aunt Xiao Wan was so amused she soon brewed a digestive apple and hawthorn soup in the kitchen.

Knowing Baozhu liked sweets, she added plenty of rock sugar; otherwise, it would be too sour, and Baozhu wouldn’t touch a drop.

After the meal, the sky in the distance flushed with rosy clouds.

“Qiu Fei, where are you going?” Qiu Baozhu called after the boy who looked poised to leave.

At the door, Qiu Fei swapped into his faded canvas shoes.

Beside them lay a pair of Qiu Baozhu’s custom leather shoes, retailing for over a hundred thousand yuan—stylish, with no visible leather surface, utterly unavailable on the market.

Shoes of this brand were all bespoke, and even top-tier members waited half a year for a pair.

Seeing this, Qiu Baozhu felt a bitter pang in his heart.

“Aren’t you going to the birthday party?”

Qiu Fei grabbed his keys. “They didn’t invite me.”

Qiu Baozhu attended Jicai Middle School, the most selective private school in the city.

Students there were either from wealthy backgrounds or handpicked top talents from across the country.

The two groups barely mingled.

The wealthy saw the elites as pretentious and poor; the elites viewed the wealthy as spoiled rich kids.

Qiu Baozhu and Qiu Fei belonged to the former group but were only average by Jicai’s standards.

At social events, invitations depended solely on personal preference, not on family background.

After Qiu Fei left, Qiu Baozhu drank a bowl of the apple hawthorn soup under Aunt Xiao Wan’s hopeful gaze.

In less than ten minutes, the sunset had spread across the sky.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, Aunt Xiao Wan was giving instructions to the new gardener.

Nearby, two housekeepers washed mops by the pool, the sound of water refreshing and pleasant.

Qiu Baozhu flipped through his phone’s calendar: May 13th…

He couldn’t recall whose birthday it was.

But at this time, he and Wei Shu didn’t even know each other yet.

Thank goodness.

Getting involved with Wei Shu would probably ruin his life.

Before the family’s bankruptcy, Qiu Baozhu always believed he was cherished at home, liked by teachers and classmates, and had many friends.

He thought he was God’s favorite, a chosen one.

Once bankrupt, the friendly circle quickly and decisively cut ties.

Teachers who had once been gentle became harsh; top students refused to accept him and Qiu Fei.

Even Qiu Jinyan and He Yingjie grew increasingly impatient with him.

Falling from heaven to hell, it was Wei Shu who caught him.

At the time, Qiu Baozhu thought Wei Shu was an angel.

But he forgot that he had fallen into hell—and Wei Shu was born there.

Recalling this saddened him; he pursed his lips and stopped thinking about Wei Shu.

Unable to find “whose birthday it was” in the calendar, Qiu Baozhu opened QQ.

Immediately, his eyes were overwhelmed by countless unread messages and various group chats.

From jewelry and fashion groups to city gourmet check-in groups, from pet groups to horseback riding, baseball, fencing, and swimming groups—some with dozens, others hundreds of members—all prefixed with “Shepherd’s Purse.”

After pondering why all group names started with “Shepherd’s Purse,” he suddenly realized it was a homophone for “Jicai.”

Leaning back in his chair, Qiu Baozhu slowly exited all group chats one by one, leaving only the class group.

After the family’s bankruptcy in the previous life, he never had to leave these groups himself; they tacitly and unanimously kicked him out, citing inactivity for over a month.

Reading the class chat, Qiu Baozhu learned that today was the birthday of Xiao You, the class sports committee member.

Classmates were enthusiastically chatting about it.

[Already on my way.]

[Get ready! I’ve been hungry for three days!]

[Can my gift be myself, old Xiao? *shy jpg*]

[Xiao You: Sure, I’ll kill you publicly.]

Qiu Baozhu couldn’t help but laugh.

He hadn’t liked Xiao You in the previous life because of his crude and unruly behavior and tendency to gang up with others.

But Xiao You was the first to suspect that Qiu Baozhu was being held captive by Wei Shu.

At a party, Xiao You openly told Wei Shu he intended to rescue Qiu Baozhu.

Of course, he failed.

Qiu Baozhu didn’t know the details afterward, only that Xiao You’s leg was broken by his father, and he spent three or four months in a wheelchair before being sent abroad—never to be heard from again.

From the bookshelf, Qiu Baozhu found the gift he had prepared for Xiao You in advance: a common viral electronic watch.

How much did he dislike Xiao You to be so perfunctory?

He put the watch back and carefully opened his gemstone display case—the one belonging only to him—filled with gems he had collected since childhood.

Some were finished products on the market; others were raw stones whose worth was imperceptible to the naked eye.

He had loved beautiful stones since he was little, so he collected many. Unfortunately, his parents sold the collection to pay off debts.

Qiu Baozhu picked up a large piece of ice-type raw stone, roughly the size of a fist, which could make several small items.

He weighed it in his hand, reluctant to put it down.

Better to choose something else, lest Xiao You be overwhelmed.

The boy gently caressed nearly every stone in the collection, each labeled with the date it was acquired.

He began collecting at age three, in bits and pieces.

Cheap stones of uncertain color, expensive and rare jade, ornaments—all radiated colors in the dim light, as if silently saying to the boy sitting on the floor: “Baozhu, welcome home.”

At first, Qiu Baozhu was still unsure whether it was all just a dream, but when his fingers touched them, everything became incredibly clear and real.

This was real time reversal, real rediscovery.

This time, he would be a responsible elder brother, an excellent jewelry designer.

This time, he would no longer fall in love with Wei Shu.