Chapter 31: These Two Old Idiots Are at It Again…
No one knew how long Song Yinxing had been staring blankly at the ceiling before he slowly sat up.
The familiar smell of disinfectant filled the air. Somewhere on his body—he didn’t know where—throbbed with sharp pain.
“Ah, student, you’re awake!” the nurse who walked in said in surprise. “You were unconscious for quite a while.”
Student?
Song Yinxing frowned slightly. It had already been eight years since he gave up repeating his senior year and went out to work. No matter what, he shouldn’t be addressed like that.
Suddenly, his body stiffened.
He looked down in disbelief at the clothes he was wearing.
It was Guanli High School’s uniform.
Frantically, he searched the bed and found his old scratched-up secondhand phone from high school. When he saw the year displayed on the screen—
He ripped off the blanket. The IV needle fixed to his hand was yanked out roughly. Not even bothering to put on shoes, he rushed into the bathroom.
In the mirror was a stunned face, still carrying a trace of youthful softness. He raised a hand and pressed it against his reflection.
At first, he’d thought Nie Ying had come up with some new way to torment him.
But this didn’t look like that.
Clothes could be swapped. Phone time could be altered.
But this face—no one could tamper with that.
He closed his eyes, refusing to look at the mirror any longer.
He had truly returned to eight years ago.
The nurse hurried in, flustered, asking if he felt unwell.
He was back.
Back to the most wretched, most humiliating period of his life.
After dropping out and working, without a diploma he couldn’t find proper employment. He’d worked temporary shifts at a convenience store, juggling multiple part-time jobs to repay debts incurred at Guanli High School.
The rules of society were nothing like school. He stumbled for a long time before barely adapting.
During that bleak stretch, he’d thought more than once—
If only he had never gone to Guanli.
But more than regret, he felt hatred.
Hatred for everything Nie Ying had done to him.
His drifting consciousness finally settled. He heard the nurse clearly.
“The person who fell down the stairs with me—where is he?”
“You mean your classmate?” the nurse assumed it had been an accident. “He’s mentally fine, just a fractured calf bone. He’s upstairs in orthopedics.”
“As for you, you have a mild concussion. Are you dizzy? You should lie back down.”
Song Yinxing shook his head, changed his shoes, and went to find him.
Ding Ziyu lay in the hospital bed.
When he saw Song Yinxing enter, guilt flashed across his face.
He knew he’d been impulsive on the stairs. He’d even ended up with a broken leg himself.
What he hadn’t expected was that Song Yinxing, after tumbling half a flight, would pass out completely.
His own situation was already bad. If something serious had happened to Song Yinxing, he’d be even more finished.
Luckily, Song Yinxing looked fine.
Anyway, he’d already pushed him. What could Song Yinxing do now?
Not wanting to appear weak, Ding Ziyu lifted his chin and stared back.
But when their eyes met, his heart skipped.
Something felt… different.
The same cold, distant face. Standing still. Dark eyes fixed on him.
Not a word spoken.
Yet goosebumps crept up Ding Ziyu’s spine.
He refused to admit fear. Instead, irritation flared.
“Lucky you didn’t die from the fall,” he sneered.
Song Yinxing said nothing. He walked forward step by step.
Earlier he’d rushed up here, but the closer he got, the calmer he became.
He stopped before Ding Ziyu.
If Nie Ying was the root of his lifelong tragedy, Ding Ziyu had been the biggest accomplice.
Back in school, Ding Ziyu had already shown hostility. Occasional harassment, manageable.
Until the day of the police report.
Ding Ziyu found the name badge with Song Yinxing’s name and told Nie Ying.
After that, every act of bullying from Nie Ying included Ding Ziyu.
Most of the time, Nie Ying kept his hands clean. Ding Ziyu did the dirty work.
After dropping out, life was hard—but at least he’d thought he escaped.
Until the day Ding Ziyu walked into his convenience store.
The nightmare resumed.
Sometimes Song Yinxing wondered if he’d committed some unforgivable sin in a past life.
But every time he wavered, he reminded himself—
The fault lay with the abusers.
So in the end, he had plunged a knife into Ding Ziyu’s abdomen.
He paid dearly for that.
Red spread across his clothes. The man’s face froze in disbelief before collapsing.
At least in that moment, he hadn’t regretted it.
Now, Ding Ziyu lay intact on the hospital bed.
That bone-chilling coldness returned—stronger than before.
“What—what do you want? You think you’ve won?” Ding Ziyu stammered.
“Even if I get expelled, I’ll just switch schools. My family has money—more than you’ll ever earn in a lifetime!”
“Whether I’ve won or not, I don’t know,” Song Yinxing said flatly. “But you, Ding Ziyu—you’re already out.”
Ding Ziyu stared.
“Once you leave Guanli, you can’t keep being Nie Ying’s dog. And at home, you’ll lose your place too.”
“After all,” Song Yinxing continued evenly, “your stepmother will never let you inherit anything.”
Shock. Humiliation. Rage.
“How do you know about my family? Who told you? Who?!”
He struggled upright to grab Song Yinxing’s collar—but his plastered leg failed him. He fell awkwardly to the floor.
Pathetic.
Song Yinxing looked down at him.
In his previous life, he’d missed the college entrance exam after being cornered and forced to drop out.
Now Ding Ziyu was the one expelled.
Enough.
He turned to leave.
“Don’t think you’re safe just because you’ve latched onto Gu Yang!” Ding Ziyu shouted. “The Gu family’s waters are deep. You think you can navigate them?”
“Gu Qingxu won’t let you off! Let’s see how long you stay smug!”
Gu Yang.
For the first time, Song Yinxing paused.
So many things had happened by now in his last life—being forced to kneel, working to repay Ding Ziyu, Liu Hua jumping from humiliation.
But none of it had happened yet.
And all the changes traced back to one person.
…Had Gu Yang also been reborn?
He lowered his eyes.
In his previous life, he and Gu Yang had no direct connection.
He only knew the name because of Gu Qingxu, one of Nie Ying’s circle.
The last time he heard it—
Was the news that Gu Yang had slit his wrists in his bathtub.
If Gu Yang had been reborn too…
Why save him instead of saving himself?
Gu Yang lounged lazily on the sofa, holding a glossy long-haired Ragdoll cat.
“Young Master, why are you just wearing a shirt in the living room? You’ll catch a cold—it’s freezing,” Xiao Huang fussed as she returned from searching for the cat.
Before she finished, Gu Yang sneezed lightly.
Caught red-handed.
She hurried to fetch a blanket and draped it over him.
“Why can’t it be someone missing me?” Gu Yang drawled.
He didn’t resist the blanket.
“I’ve been looking everywhere. So Pudding was with you. She really likes you, Young Master,” Xiao Huang sighed.
Pudding was the cat’s name. Well-fed, sleek fur, nearly twenty pounds—excellent “work performance.”
Yes, her job was literally caring for the cat.
She’d graduated in a niche major and nearly ended unemployed. Luckily her uncle, who worked for a wealthy family, introduced her here.
Monthly salary eight thousand, food and lodging included.
Duties: feed the cat, scoop litter, take it to grooming and checkups.
She often wondered how her uncle convinced the employer to create such a job.
Because she felt idle, she helped with other tasks—bringing water, fruit, blankets to the Young Master.
No ulterior motive.
She was just shallow and liked good-looking faces.
Gu Yang rested his head against the cat’s round back. The cat meowed, tail swishing.
Xiao Huang silently praised this heavenly job again.
The peace didn’t last.
Visitors arrived.
Relatives.
Two or three elderly men, senior even to Gu Yuhui.
Gu Yuhui greeted them politely.
Gu Qingxu respectfully addressed them as First, Second, and Third Grand-Uncles.
They nodded kindly—until they saw Gu Yang on the sofa.
Their expressions darkened instantly.
“Xiao Yang, your grand-uncles are here. Come greet them,” Gu Yuhui said lightly.
Gu Yang didn’t even glance at them.
“I can’t accept that title,” Second Grand-Uncle snorted.
He had always disliked Gu Yang.
Years ago, Yu Zheng returned from overseas with a woman insisting on marriage. Days later, he died in a car accident.
A month later, the woman was pregnant.
The timing was suspicious.
Worse, Gu Yuhui insisted on keeping her and refused a paternity test.
Rumors spread that he coveted his widowed sister-in-law.
The scandal had been huge.
“Why can’t I mention it?” Second Grand-Uncle sneered. “It even trended online and made our family a joke.”
First Grand-Uncle stroked his beard in agreement.
Gu Yang yawned sleepily, petting the cat.
These two old idiots are at it again.
Third Grand-Uncle frantically signaled them to stop.
But Gu Yang had already looked at Second Grand-Uncle and opened his mouth:
“At your age, sneaking out last night to fool around with your first love under the stars—your stamina’s impressive. Getting frisky in your golden years, huh?”
Second Grand-Uncle: ???
First Grand-Uncle: …
Third Grand-Uncle: I tried to warn you. This little brat has zero respect for the elderly.
