Chapter 49

Chapter 49

This was the most peaceful sleep Gu Yihong had experienced since his rebirth.

He awoke to a sliver of sunlight piercing through the window, warming his eyes. The familiar, comforting scent of the room filled his nostrils, and the cheerful chirping of morning birds drifted in from outside. It took him a moment to fully awaken and recall that he had slept in Gu Yubai’s room last night.

But the spot beside him was already empty.

Still groggy, Gu Yihong slowly sat up, his mind struggling to clear. After a while, he remembered he needed to find his elder brother.

The moment he opened the door to Gu Yubai’s bedroom, the distinct aroma of frying eggs wafted from the living room.

He walked through the living room and saw the kitchen door ajar. Inside, Gu Yubai, wearing an apron, was frying eggs while intently listening to something playing on the living room TV.

It seemed breakfast would be poached egg noodles—Gu Yihong’s favorite, especially the greens in it.

He instinctively moved towards the kitchen, passing the TV and sofa, when his steps suddenly faltered. Had something familiar just caught his eye?

Gu Yihong took two steps back, his gaze falling on the TV. He realized the screen wasn’t displaying its usual content; instead, it was mirroring a novel website from Gu Yubai’s phone.

The website’s interface was a sickly green, eerily similar to the one he had, in a fit of madness in his past life, personally driven to—the very site where he had urged the editors to push authors to write rebirth-themed novels.

Gu Yihong’s eyes narrowed.

Currently, the novel website displayed on the TV was using a monotonous, robotic female voice to read aloud a passage:

"xxx looked at xxx with a languid gaze: 'Who do you think you are? Just because someone gives you an inch, you take a mile? A nameless bastard like you, who usurped another’s place, actually has the nerve to call me Second Brother? Do you truly see yourself as a young master?'"

"xxx couldn’t hide the disdain on his face. He turned and gave a cold glance at the stunned Song xx, his contempt evident, and sneered: 'What standing do you have to call me brother?'"

*What standing do you have to call me brother!*

Gu Yihong felt a strange familiarity with those words. After a moment of thought, he realized—it was something he had said when he first rebirthed into the Su family and caused a scene.

He froze in utter horror.

*No one ever told me how cringey my past words were.*

And what on earth possessed his elder brother to suddenly be interested in novels?

So, inheriting this novel website in his will in his past life wasn't accidental after all. His elder brother actually had a taste for this!

Gu Yihong tiptoed into the kitchen, flashing Gu Yubai an innocent smile before casually bringing up the novel site on the TV.

"Big Brother, I never knew you liked reading novels before."

A flicker of amusement crossed Gu Yubai’s eyes as he hummed a light tune, feigning deep concentration on the novel’s narration.

"It’s not that I like them," Gu Yubai said casually. "It’s just that last night, you kept muttering in your sleep about needing to urge the authors on this site to update."

Gu Yihong’s heart leaped into his throat.

He was utterly terrified.

"Me?" He pointed at himself, his face a picture of disbelief. "I talked in my sleep? Did I blurt out anything else I couldn’t explain?"

Gu Yubai nodded emphatically, his expression still nonchalant and amused.

"Yes, you. You also said..."

He paused deliberately, successfully watching as Gu Yihong’s face went a shade paler.

"You also said the authors on this site are exceptionally good. And it’s true—the novel I’m listening to now is really engaging. The plot is about the True Young Master rebirthing and deciding to give up on reclaiming his place in a wealthy family. But then he finds out his younger brother also rebirthed and, to avenge his past life, impersonated him to return to the family."

Gu Yihong’s eyes widened in shock, as if he had just stumbled upon a shocking revelation.

Why did this plot sound so familiar? Where had he heard it before?

Gu Yihong lowered his head, lost in thought.

Meanwhile, Gu Yubai had already placed the fried eggs into bowls and was now cooking the noodles.

The robotic female voice from the TV in the living room spoke again:

"xxx gasped in shock, 'What? I’m not the only one who rebirthed? My elder brother already knew I was reborn and never planned to reconnect with the wealthy family? My... my brother just wants me to be happy... *sniff*, my brother is so good.'"

While Gu Yihong stood frozen by the narration, Gu Yubai suddenly chuckled and told him to wipe the table and prepare for breakfast.

"Stop zoning out. You haven’t washed up yet, right? Go brush your teeth, wash your face, and change. After breakfast, I’ll take you out."

Gu Yihong snapped out of it and hastily retreated from the kitchen, feeling that if he stayed any longer, the narration would only get weirder.

This plot was way too far-fetched. Based on his past-life experience of urging authors to write, ninety-nine percent of rebirth stories only had one reborn character. Who was this author? Why weren’t they following the common tropes? Did people actually read their work?

Gu Yihong couldn’t help but feel genuine concern for such a niche writer in this world.

Fortunately, the numbers seemed decent, so he breathed a little easier.

But how could such an ideal situation exist in reality?

Him rebirthing was one thing, but his elder brother also rebirthing? That was utterly impossible!

Just as he turned to leave, Gu Yubai suddenly called out to him.

For some reason, Gu Yihong’s heart clenched, and the atmosphere grew tense.

"Wh-what is it?" he asked.

Gu Yubai smiled slightly, tilting his head as if deep in thought before suddenly giving Gu Yihong a mysterious grin.

"You know, no wonder you were muttering about this novel site in your sleep. The stories really are quite entertaining."

Gu Yihong: "...Yeah, as long as you like it, Big Brother."

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Luckily, Gu Yubai acted normally afterward. The two ate breakfast together, and Gu Yubai finally turned off the novel narration. As he ate, he scrolled through his phone.

"Dorm assignments are out," Gu Yubai said. "Students from the same major are grouped together, but you and I are in different buildings. Later, we’ll head straight to the dorms to drop off our things, then take a walk around campus. After that, I’ll take you to meet your driving instructor."

Gu Yihong had no objections to the plan. After breakfast, he obligingly did the dishes. When he came out, he saw Gu Yubai packing the dorm supplies they had bought the night before, so the two carried the luggage to the elevator.

In the car, Gu Yubai turned on the radio, and a local music station began playing.

As the car started moving, Gu Yihong busied himself on his phone, searching for fellow freshmen in his major on forums. He had joined several Mingcheng University group chats and was now happily chatting away.

Gu Yubai focused on driving, saying nothing, and the car fell into a comfortable silence.

At that moment, the radio suddenly switched to a different voice—a crisp, bright female voice full of juicy gossip as she discussed the latest online news with her co-host.

"Hey hey, Xiao Ai, have you heard? Director Zhang has already finalized the actor for the male supporting role. Word is, it's an incoming freshman, a handsome guy Director Zhang ran into while buying coffee. Wonder what this guy looks like to match Director Zhang's aesthetic to snag the role just like that when they couldn't find the right candidate for so long."

"By the way, since he's an incoming freshman related to acting, he must be from Mingcheng Art Institute, right? Isn’t Mingcheng Art Institute located really close to the famous Mingcheng University?"

"There you go again. I knew you weren’t actually interested in gossip—you just wanted to show off your diploma. We all know you’re a top graduate from Mingcheng University, no need to rub it in all the time. I bet the listeners are already tired of hearing it."

The male host immediately chimed in.

A second later, he said, sounding both surprised and proud.

"You're impressive, but when it comes to gossip, you can't touch me. You don’t know this, do you? This guy’s background is extraordinary—he’s real rich-kid royalty. And though he hasn’t officially debuted yet, he’s already gone viral a bit. Many people consider him the golden boy, blessed with crazy good luck."

"Wow, really? Then who is he? Do I know him? With my 24/7 doomscrolling through trending topics experience, I should definitely recognize him, but I can’t seem to recall."

"Hahaha, he is—"

With a *snap*, before the host could reveal the name, Gu Yubai abruptly turned off the radio.

Gu Yihong, who had just been listening intently, was left in suspense and couldn’t help but glance at Gu Yubai in confusion.

Gu Yubai smirked and chucked his phone over to him.

"I heard the food at Mingcheng University’s cafeteria is pretty good, but since classes haven’t officially started yet, we don’t have our student cards. Hit up the forum—see if any upperclassmen would be down to lend us theirs."

Gu Yihong checked the time and realized they would indeed be staying on campus until the afternoon, meaning they’d need to eat lunch there. So he posted on the forum, and soon enough, someone replied. After a quick discussion, they decided to add each other as friends and meet at the school gate.

Not long after, Gu Yihong let out a confused sound.

He frowned deeply, staring intently at his WeChat.

Gu Yubai glanced over. "What’s wrong?"

Gu Yihong’s eyes widened in surprise. "This guy offering to help… I think we know him. He’s already in my contacts. Big Brother, do you remember that trust-fund kid from last year’s graduating class? The one who made that cringey public confession of his love for you with a loudspeaker during the college entrance exam pledge ceremony, right in front of the school leaders—"

Gu Yubai’s brow twitched slightly, but then Gu Yihong abruptly changed direction.

"—his lackey?"

This person, Gu Yubai actually did remember.

He was the class valedictorian of the previous graduating class. His father had passed away early, and his mother remarried a widower with a son. The whole family lived in the small house left by his father. To suck up to her new man, his mother not only refused to pay his tuition but even nearly kicked him out.

If not for the school’s intervention, he might not have been able to finish his senior year.

To survive and continue his studies, he had spent years playing errand boy to that show-off rich kid—the same one who had sent Gu Yubai gifts a few times through him.

Naturally, Gu Yubai had never accepted the gifts, but through their few interactions, he had learned that this seemingly meek, cold-faced top student was actually stubborn and aloof.

Rumor had it he had gotten into an elite university for college and completely cut ties with his family. As for the rich second-gen he used to follow? His domestic college entrance exam results were poor, so his family pulled strings to send him abroad.

Gu Yubai pulled up the memory of this struggling scholar from the depths of his mind and let out a small sigh.

"Never thought we’d run into him again. What a coincidence. But…"

Gu Yubai turned to Gu Yihong with an icy expression and let out a cold laugh.

"But when did you add him as a friend? I had no idea."

Gu Yihong: "……Hahaha, I forgot about it myself."

Of course, it was because back then, that rich senior kept bothering his big brother. To keep tabs on the guy's moves, Gu Yihong had added his sidekick as a contact.

But after the rich senior went abroad and disappeared, Gu Yihong had naturally forgotten about them all.