1.1 The genius
A-Xuan was in a place all white. He stretched; it felt fantastic to be in his body for once. He couldn't even recall the last time he was in it. Probably 20,000 years ago. Or was it longer?
Who cares? He's finally free, so all the power he gave while slaving off, he'll get it all back. He couldn't help but smirk as he looked at his forearm, and an interface appeared. His eyes glistened as he touched it.
When A-Xuan opened his eyes again, he was lying on a king-sized bed. The first thing he saw was equations written on the ceiling.
Before he could touch his forearm to receive the information about this world, he heard a knock on the door and the voice of a woman: "First master, breakfast is ready, the family is waiting for you."
A-Xuan said, "Tell them I'll be down in fifteen minutes."
When he couldn't hear her footsteps anymore, A-Xuan tapped on his forearm to receive the world's data. After reading it, he let out a small laugh. This world will be fun.
The original was 20 years old, known as Cao Jun Xiang or A-Xiang, and was Cao Empire's first son. His parents were both from wealthy families, and it was decided from a very young age that they would marry.
Luckily, they loved each other, so after the marriage, both companies became one. His father was the President of the Cao Empire, while his mother stayed at home.
For years, they tried to conceive a child unsuccessfully. His mother always dreamed of having children, so they decided to adopt a child from the orphanage, which ended up being A-Xiang.
They raised him like he was their own son and doted on him deeply. His father raised him as the heir of the Cao Empire.
Luckily, A-Xiang was smart; his IQ was twice as high as normal people, so running the company was child's play.
While they were in the procedure of adopting, his mother was pregnant unbeknownst to them. When they finally found out, they decided to still go through with the adoption.
The two babies ended up being just a few days apart, with A-Xiang being older than his brother, Cao Yunchen. They raised both of them as fake twins and kept secret the fact that A-Xiang was adopted.
They were genuinely excited, and they loved that A-Xiang had a baby brother to play with.
Although Cao Yunchen was their biological child, there were no disparities in the way they treated A-Xiang; for them, they were both their children.
As A-Xiang became older, they realized how different he was from other kids. He didn't like to mingle, he was quite shy, and his intelligence was far higher than anyone around him.
Younger, his features were quite feminine, as a result, he was often bullied by his peers. A-Xiang had a hard time recognizing social cues, so he couldn't understand why they hated and mocked him.
His parents frequently asked Yunchen to look after him at school, which he did with great enthusiasm, since to him his big brother was his model. Every parent of his peers thought that A-Xiang was the perfect child in every way.
He was smart, always the first in class, cute, and very obedient. So every time they scolded their kids, the name A-Xiang would always be heard, which enhanced the bullying.
Luckily, they were smart enough not to get physical. Despite that, A-Xiang became more and more withdrawn, he only felt safe at home with his parents and his baby brother, whom he started to count on more.
They were always together, whether at home or school. When he started high school, A-Xiang met Wu Jinyan, and that's when his life changed for the better.
Wu Jinyan's father was a partner of Cao Empire, their company always worked together. When she turned 14, she lost her parents and ended up being raised by his father's baby brother, Wu Jing.
Jinyan was a classmate and the school flower, as soon as she met A-Xiang, she felt the need to be there for him and protect him. Before high school, she heard of him from her father, how he was a genius and the heir of the Cao Empire.
She also heard of the bullying he went through and felt heartache for him. Once she saw him, she never left his side. As time went on, A-Xiang managed to become more open and extroverted thanks to her help.
He started to become popular and finally started to make friends. He felt like he was finally like every boy his age. Ever since he was a kid, he felt like the odd one out, that's why he was so grateful for his little brother being there for him.
As time went on, the relationship unfortunately wasn't as close as before. Yunchen had his group of friends and started to feel resentful toward A-Xiang.
He felt like he abandoned him as soon as he became popular, at least that's what he told himself. The truth is that Yunchen fell in love with Jinyan the moment he laid eyes on her, but she only had eyes for his older brother.
After high school, they both entered the same university, Jinyan as well. A few months before graduating, Jinyan confessed her feelings to A-Xiang.
She said that she ended up falling in love with him, even though she only saw him as a friend in the beginning.
She felt that if she didn't confess to him before they finished college, then she wouldn't have a chance in the future since he would be running Cao Empire.
Luckily, A-Xiang returned her feelings. He also developed feelings for her but didn't confess for fear of losing her.
After college, A-Xiang took over Cao Empire. He had 35% of the shares, while Yunchen had 30%. Their father did it that way since A-Xiang was the eldest and the heir of the family.
Ever since he was a kid, he always had more responsibility than Yunchen. Even after school, he would go to the company to work.
Even in high school, the new idea he brought made the company millions, so it was only fair that his shares were bigger.
Over the years, his father bought more and more shares to make sure that when it was time for A-Xiang to take over the company and work with his brother, they would have more power than the board of directors.
Cao Empire soared to new heights under A-Xiang's leadership. The happier the board of directors was, the angrier Yunchen got.
Over the years, his resentment for A-Xiang grew, but the tipping point was the night A-Xiang brought Jinyan home to their parents and told them they were engaged.
Yunchen felt like life was unfair to him. Ever since he was a kid, all he would hear was how his brother was a genius, how without him Cao Empire wouldn't be where it was.
He hated how his parents doted on him more and would ask him to always look after him, which he did, only to end up being abandoned by A-Xiang as soon as he made friends.
If that wasn't enough, he stole the only light in his world and decided to marry her. Yunchen didn't want to work at the company because he couldn't handle seeing A-Xiang's dutiful fiancée coming every day at lunch to eat with him.
He left his job as a general manager and went abroad. While he was away, he still couldn't get over A-Xiang having what he cared most about, especially since news of him and his wife being so happy was constant.
A few years after he left, he had to go back to China because his parents passed away in a car accident. He went back to his familial home to help A-Xiang take care of everything.
He got there first since his brother was in a business meeting further away than he was. Furthermore, he went to his father's office and ended up finding a white envelope hidden under a false panel in the drawer.
When he opened it, he saw A-Xiang's adoption papers, which shocked him deeply. His parents never told him he was adopted, and they didn't tell A-Xiang either, he was sure of it. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
A-Xiang was the person his parents doted on and cared most about, the person his parents gave Cao Empire to, the person who married and took from him the person he cared most about, but he wasn't his real brother.
He was just a child his parents had picked up from the street. He was so furious that he fainted. When he woke up, he was in his room, except that it was decorated like when he was in college.
After calming himself and looking around, he realized that he had gone back in time. It was a year before A-Xiang took over Cao Empire. He then decided that everything A-Xiang took from him, he would take back; they were his to begin with.
With a cheat like knowing the future, he destroyed A-Xiang's reputation. The more time passed, the more disappointed his parents became.
After making mistake after mistake at the company and always having Yunchen come to save the day, A-Xiang realized that someone was sabotaging him.
Since he trusted his brother more than anyone, he told him his suspicions. Yunchen told him that he would investigate so that the person sabotaging him wouldn't find out, which he agreed to.
Yunchen got closer to Jinyan in the guise of finding out who was after A-Xiang. But the more time Jinyan spent with Yunchen, the more she started doubting A-Xiang. She finally gave up on him the day she caught him in bed with a man.
A-Xiang obviously wouldn't do that, since he was in love with her. He was drugged by the man who was hired by Yunchen. The next day, pictures of him in bed with the man spread everywhere.
The company suffered losses, and the board of directors and his father decided to name Yunchen the heir after chasing A-Xiang out of the house.
Yunchen told him that he only agreed to pacify them and that as soon as they would find evidence of the person after him, he would give him back the company.
After getting tired of Yunchen evading him, A-Xiang confronted him, and he finally admitted that he was the one framing him.
He didn't see the point in pretending anymore, since he finally managed to have his father's complete trust and the board of directors in his pocket.
He convinced his father to retire early, and he and his wife moved abroad. When A-Xiang heard everything, all he could do was ask why.
Yunchen threw the adoption papers in his face and said that he took everything from him ever since he was a kid, so it was normal for him to give everything back since he wasn't part of the family.
He also told him how his parents couldn't stand to be in the same country as him and how they regretted adopting him.
Seeing him on the verge of a mental breakdown, Yunchen showed him a video of him proposing to Jinyan and her crying happily after saying yes.
A-Xiang lost it and ran into the street, feeling like he had lost everything he cared most about, including his mind. He wasn't mindful of his surroundings and got hit by a car. He died at the hospital an hour later.
Yunchen pretended to mourn him and made a spectacle of his burial to show how much he cared for him. Everyone was touched because even though A-Xiang was difficult and conceited, he still loved him wholeheartedly.
That reputation was, of course, the result of months of Yunchen's work. Jinyan was even more touched because of how much he cared for his brother, and their relationship grew closer.
In the end, Yunchen ended up marrying her and running the company to the top 10 like in their past life, since he used every one of A-Xiang's plans.
Just because Yunchen is the protagonist, he felt like it was okay for him to destroy an innocent person's life? A-Xuan couldn't help but ridicule.
He hates how just because he's the son of heaven, his having a second chance at life is described as counter-attacking. What was the counter-attack from in the first place?
A-Xiang has never done anything to hurt him. So, what because the girl you were in love with was in love with A-Xiang that makes him the bad guy?
A-Xuan got up while tapping on the interface of his forearm. He walked to the bathroom to look at his new body.
The reflection showed a tall, handsome man with green eyes and two dimples. His eyes seemed particularly gentle and moving every time he smiled. His dark hair made his green eyes shine brighter.
He carried an aquiline nose that complemented his prominent cheekbones. A-Xuan liked the shell; he looked quite similar to his original one, particularly with those two dimples.
After changing his body to the most optimal conditions, he got into the shower.
Today is two days after Yunchen went back in time. Luckily, he didn't have time to put in place any of his plans, although even if he did, that wouldn't change much.
Since Yunchen loves Cao Empire so much, I'll offer it to him on a platter. After I'm done with it, of course, but who knows if it'll still be useful by then?
If A-Xiang's parents didn't throw him out like dirt after those pictures got released, he wouldn't go as far as to destroy it, but since they turned their back on him, he'll do the same.
Actually, that's not true; he was going to destroy them either way. A-Xiang brought millions to the company ever since he was a kid.
After school, instead of going out and making friends, he worked long hours at the company. And this is how they repay him? Jinyan, that black lotus, is going to pay as well.
I don't understand how A-Xiang couldn't see that she was using him just to secure herself a future. A-Xuan's eyes flashed with ridicule. He'll get revenge for him with great pleasure.
After Jinyan's parents passed away, her uncle Wu Jing took over the company. It was clear from the beginning that she was never going to inherit the company, so she did the next best thing, which was to find someone who was going to inherit one.
After the heir of the Cao Empire changed to Yunchen, she went to him. Honestly, Yunchen is even more stupid than A-Xiang.
Doesn't it look strange that as soon as there were rumors about you becoming the heir, she started to get close to you? Love is truly blind.
After getting out of the shower, he put on clothes and got ready to go downstairs. Let's meet my wonderful family, shall we?