In the mirror, he saw himself with a typical punk look—yellow-dyed hair and a row of edgy earrings on his ear.
His face was covered in all kinds of red pimples, and the dark circles under his eyes from countless late nights were worse than a panda's.
He was dressed in tight pants and loafers, with a T-shirt featuring a flashy dragon and tiger design—a total street thug vibe.
With his pale and exhausted face from overexertion last night, he looked like someone nobody would even bother picking up from the trash!
Even organ traffickers would shake their heads at him.
Qin Jiang shook his head in disgust and quickly jumped into the shower.
An hour later, Qin Jiang emerged from the bathroom, freshly dressed and clean.
His chiseled features were sharp, with sword-like brows and piercing eyes, a high nose, and thin lips. He left the top two buttons of his white shirt undone, paired with black dress pants that highlighted his long legs, giving off a calm and gentle aura.
Ignoring the acne scars and dark circles, he now looked like a refined young master.
In his previous life, to make sure Yan Liang wouldn't like him, he had deliberately made himself look unkempt, encouraged by Bai Chuchu, just to gross Yan Liang out.
Luckily, he had been afraid of pain back then and didn't actually pierce his ears, just stuck fake earrings on his earlobes.
The yellow hair was done with temporary dye.
These were easy to fix, but the dark circles and acne-covered face made his eyes suddenly cold.
He had gotten those from staying up all night working on a financial plan for his eldest sister, Qin Moyun, and writing a hit script for his fourth sister, Qin Shuyun, just before marrying into the Yan family in place of Qin Yun.
As for the pimples, they were from poisonous spider bites he got while searching for a medicinal herb in the rainforest for his second sister, Qin Muyun.
Thinking about all this made Qin Jiang's knuckles crack: In his past life, he had foolishly sacrificed everything for the sake of family, only to end up dead, drained of blood and missing a kidney. So dumb!
In this life, he wasn't going to let the Qin family exploit him anymore.
Now that he had been reborn, everything could change.
He could rise again and change his fate!
Everything he had given to the Qin family in his previous life, he was going to take it all back in this one.
His abilities were his own; he didn't need to give them to anyone who didn't matter.
With that resolve, he was confident he could build his own business empire, and even if he couldn't surpass Yan Liang, he would become a man who could stand beside her as an equal!
His body completely exhausted, Qin Jiang fell asleep as soon as he lay down.
When he woke up, he turned on the phone that had been sitting on his bedside table.
Wow, he'd slept for two whole days and nights.
Unsurprisingly, the missed calls list was blowing up.
Soon enough, the number that had called most frequently popped up again.
Qin Jiang answered, and the woman's voice, as usual, was condescending and extremely impatient:
"Qin Jiang, all we asked was for you to marry into the Yan family in place of A-Yun, and now you won't even give him some blood?"
"How can you be so selfish?!"
"I'm giving you half an hour to get to the private hospital in Beijing and give A-Yun that blood."
The caller was his fourth sister, Qin Shuyun.
As an award-winning actress, Qin Shuyun's voice was usually light and pleasant, like jade clinking, clear and melodious, but now it was full of frustration.
In just a few words, she managed to make Qin Jiang laugh out of sheer anger.
The night before he married in Qin Yun's place, the Qin family had morally blackmailed him into giving two bags of his blood, just in case Qin Yun suddenly got sick.
And now, after only three days, they'd already used it all up?
"Oh, I can't give any more."
"Wedding night, the wife was too tempting."
"Used it all up!"
Qin Jiang half-raised an eyebrow, his tone cold and cutting.
Qin Shuyun frowned, surprised that Qin Jiang had actually slept with that little monster, and came out of it unscathed.
And he dared to talk back to her now?
But she didn't really care about any of that, so she just got colder and more impatient: "Qin Jiang, so you had to lower your standards—A-Yun's health is fragile. You're a grown man; all you have to do is take care of Yan Liang, that little freak…Miss Yan."
"Why do you have to make this a big deal and gross out the family?"
"Even if you're in love with Bai Chuchu, she's worried about A-Yun's health too. If you really want to make her happy, then get to the hospital and give that blood."
"If not, Chuchu will break up with you herself!"
The threats rolled off Qin Shuyun's tongue effortlessly, but she couldn't help feeling tense.
The whole family was uneasy about making Qin Jiang marry into the Yan family in Qin Yun's place.
But it was the best way to protect A-Yun.
Sacrificing Qin Jiang to save the entire Qin family and keep A-Yun safe? Worth it!
"Qin Shuyun, your mouth is so filthy. Did you not wipe after using the toilet?"
"Or did someone leave a sewer open for you to crawl out of?"
Qin Shuyun exploded: "What did you say? I'm your sister—you dare insult me—"
Qin Jiang: "If you know how to talk, then talk properly. If not, go eat with the dogs."
"Forget insulting you; if you can't hear clearly, I'll even carve it on your tombstone for free!"
Qin Shuyun: "Qin Jiang, you've lost your mind—!!"
Qin Jiang hung up the phone in one swift motion.
Then he immediately blocked her number, and while he was at it, he blocked all of his sisters and parents too.
In this life, he didn't need any family at all.
Hearing the busy tone on the other end of the call, Qin Shuyun was momentarily stunned. Qin Jiang actually dared to hang up on her? And even curse her out?!!
After blocking his entire family, Qin Jiang felt refreshed. He was ready to head downstairs to grab something to eat, and maybe even cook up some soup for Yan Liang to help her recover.
Qin Jiang knew his way around the kitchen. He grabbed some pork bones to prepare, picked up a large cleaver, and with a single chop, blood splattered from the fresh pork bones that had just been delivered and hadn't even been frozen yet.
*Bang.*
Hmm, the knife was a bit dull. It needed sharpening.
So, Qin Jiang headed to the yard, grabbed a "family heirloom" whetstone, and began sharpening the knife with gusto.
As he was sharpening, a loud noise suddenly came from outside.
"Qin Jiang, you coward! Don't just hide in there—I know you're home! Get out here, now!"
The person outside kicked the door open and stormed into the estate.
Qin Jiang turned to look and saw a figure dressed in a colorful, chaotic mix of clothes, like a wild turkey, charging into the estate. It was none other than Yan Liang's rebellious younger brother—Yan Zuo, who was in the middle of his teenage years.
At this moment, Yan Zuo noticed Qin Jiang too.
"Who… who are you? Why are you in Liang Yue Manor? Where's that punk Qin Jiang?"
The 17-year-old boy, full of attitude, approached Qin Jiang aggressively, questioning him. But the young man in front of him was wearing a white shirt and black pants, exuding a refined and clean aura. Even though there were some acne marks and dark circles on his face, his sharp features and handsome looks were still evident. With a bit of work, he could easily make it big in the entertainment industry.
Could it be that his sister finally changed her taste?
Had she returned to having a normal sense of aesthetics?
"Are you looking for Qin Jiang, Young Master?"
Qin Jiang asked this to lower Yan Zuo's guard. In his past life, after he agreed to marry into the Yan family on behalf of Qin Yun, he foolishly ran to the hospital on his own to donate blood to Qin Yun. As a result, he lost too much blood and fell into a coma, barely clinging to life when Yan Liang brought him back to Liang Yue Manor.
Even when he was on the brink of death, upon hearing that Qin Yun needed more blood, he still wanted to escape and save him.
He remembered it clearly.
Yan Liang had locked him to the bed with chains, with IV fluids hanging to keep him alive. She held him tightly, trying to warm his cold body. She whispered in his ear: "Ajiang, no one's life is more important than yours. If you dare to die… I'll make sure your entire family joins you in the afterlife!"
Eventually, the woman's domineering and ruthless demeanor shattered, like a fierce beast retracting its claws:
"You're mine… How could you leave me?"
Her voice was faint, and he had felt something warm sliding down his neck. But when he woke up, he thought it was just a hallucination before death and never gave it much thought.
Thinking back on it now, that definitely wasn't a hallucination.
But this time around, he didn't donate blood to Qin Yun, so it was only natural for things to play out differently.
He looked at the young boy in front of him. There were rumors that Yan Zuo had a distant relationship with Yan Liang. Yan Liang was the only girl in the Yan family, yet she held the most central power. It was said that this was because her brother was disabled and voluntarily gave up his power.
There were even rumors that Yan Liang was the one who crippled her brother's legs with her own hands.
And Yan Zuo, being able to still act out under his sister's pressure, must have some tricks up his sleeve.
"Hah, you're just a worker in our family's estate, so I don't mind telling you. I'm here under Sister Chuchu's orders to get that ungrateful brat Qin Jiang to go donate blood for his dying brother."
"Sister Chuchu said, even if Qin Jiang doesn't show up, we need to at least draw two bags of fresh blood and send it over."
"They're brothers after all. How could an older brother just watch his younger brother die?"
"Also, if Qin Jiang wants to get Sister Chuchu's forgiveness, he should transfer the 20,000 yuan prize he won under Qin Yun's name at last month's university tech competition to her account so she can buy health supplements for Qin Yun…"
Yan Zuo rattled on, feeling somewhat righteous. He wasn't exactly a good person, but he jumped at the chance to cause trouble for Qin Jiang.
After all, he had a thing for good-looking people and couldn't stand seeing his sister chasing after someone as gaudy as Qin Jiang, playing out some ridiculous drama.
Every word that came out of Yan Zuo's mouth made Qin Jiang's blood boil. He had just sharpened his knife and was itching for a way to release his anger. He swiftly swung the cleaver, narrowly missing the boy's crotch and striking the ground instead. The blade gleamed, sharp from Qin Jiang's work.
Blood splatter from chopping the pork bones earlier still stained the knife and part of Qin Jiang's collar…
"Hey, kid, the Qin Jiang you're looking for is right here!"
"What do you want?"
"..." Yan Zuo: !!
Little Yan Zuo: (´;д;`)