Chapter 1: Waking Up

It felt as if he had been floating in darkness for a long time, a sensation of weightlessness enveloping his entire body, as the pale-faced man struggled to open his eyes.

What met his eyes was a fashionable young woman wearing a white V-neck T-shirt, with large eyes and a head of wavy hair.

"Who is this?"

Before he could manage to get a clear look at this face, he saw the woman shout with some surprise:

"Teacher Wei, come quickly, Xiao Jin is awake, he's finally awake!"

Her voice carried a sense of relief and excitement.

At this moment, the man on the hospital bed looked at the world before him with eyes full of unfamiliarity and confusion; the dim room was filled with the faint scent of disinfectant.

"Who am I? Where am I? Who is this woman? Who is this man?"

Seeing a doctor walk into the ward, he tried hard to recall and ponder, when a massive amount of Memento flooded into his brain; his head tilted to one side, and he immediately passed out.

"Ah, Doctor, what is going on? He was clearly awake just a moment ago?"

The middle-aged man, Teacher Wei, asked with some nervousness. He saw the doctor walk to the head of the bed, lift the eyelids of the man on the bed, and say calmly: "No major issues, it's good that he's awake. It's just that his head suffered a violent impact and it will need some time to recover, don't worry."

Time flew by until it was almost dark, and the man woke up for the second time.

What entered his eyes was still that stunningly beautiful face, slightly haggard, but with perfectly balanced features, three-part-five-eye proportions, and a three-dimensional profile. She carried the air of a mature, sophisticated woman, yet her eyes held the gentle tenderness of a woman from the Jiangnan region.

"You're awake? Are you hungry?" the woman asked gently.

Looking at the somewhat familiar beauty before him, the young man fell silent.

After initially merging the memories, he had roughly figured out the sequence of events: his name was Wei Jin, the Wei Jin of "Wei Jin romanticism," born in 1983, a student in the 2002 Director Department at Beijing Film Academy.

It was now June 24, 2003. Three days ago, the SARS lockdown in Beijing had just been lifted, and Wei Jin had gone to a shopping mall near the school to buy some things to take back to his father in his Shaanxi hometown for the summer vacation.

Who would have expected that he would meet with disaster before achieving his goal; before he even arrived, he was struck by a car that had inexplicably lost control, his head hit the ground, and he died on the spot.

Then, a soul from 2023 occupied the body. In his previous life, he was a senior bank account manager who had died suddenly from cardiac arrest due to long-term drinking and staying up late.

His soul had floated in the darkness for who knows how long before finally seeing a light, and when he woke up again, he was in this hospital room.

The silent atmosphere did not last long before a voice interrupted Wei Jin's thoughts.

"Son, you're finally awake. You scared me to death. If anything had happened to you, how would I have been able to answer to your mother?"

Accompanying the voice, a refined middle-aged man of about forty walked quickly into the ward and tightly gripped the hand on the hospital bed.

The person who arrived was none other than Wei Jin's father, Wei Xingbang, a university professor.

Wei Jin was born into a scholarly family; his mother, Yang Yu, was a primary school teacher, but she had passed away due to illness three years ago, and since then, Wei Jin's personality had been quite gloomy.

After failing the college entrance examination, Wei Jin, under his father's suggestion, embarked on the path of art examinations and entered the Beijing Film Academy Director Department in '02.

"Dad, I've made you worry, I'm fine now."

Wei Jin comforted him. After merging the memories, this "Dad" did not feel forced when Wei Jin said it.

"Teacher Wei, Xiao Jin, I am truly sorry. It's all because of me, getting on the road just after getting my driver's license. If anything had happened to Xiao Jin, I really would be Unable to Forgive myself."

The woman sitting on the chair stood up uneasily and said.

"Forget it, you didn't do it on purpose. Besides, people face unpredictable misfortunes, it can't be blamed on you."

Wei Jin was actually grateful to this beauty for giving him a chance to start over; as for the original owner, well, sorry about that.

When Wei Xingbang heard his son's words, and thought about how this girl had come to take care of his son every day before dawn for the past three days and only left at night, he didn't say anything more to reproach her, but just nodded faintly and said:

"Miss Ceng, it's good that Xiao Jin is fine, don't blame yourself anymore. By the way, son, you must be hungry, I'll go buy something to eat and call the doctor over while I'm at it."

After Wei Xingbang left, Miss Ceng looked at Wei Jin on the hospital bed:

"Xiao Jin, I am Ceng Li. I should be older than you, you can call me Li Jie."

"You are Ceng Li? No wonder! I was wondering why you felt a bit familiar." Wei Jin finally understood where the sense of familiarity came from; the woman before him was known as the "beauty seen once in two hundred years at the Central Academy of Drama."

"You know me?"

Ceng Li was a bit surprised.

"Of course, I've seen your show."

Wei Jin was completely talking nonsense. The reason he recognized the woman before him was entirely because in his previous life, he had read a novel where the protagonist was named Cao the Great, and out of curiosity about the appearance of the heroine Ceng Li, he had specifically gone to Search for her. He had some impression, and honestly, she was truly stunning.

"In 'Affair of Half a Lifetime', you completely overshadowed Zi Wei. I don't know what the director was thinking."

"It's not that exaggerated, Lin Xinru is also very beautiful, you know."

Although Ceng Li was very happy to be recognized, she didn't dare to leave any room for gossip; after all, Zi Wei was much more famous than her.

"Hey, don't you look at the online reviews? Zi Wei is dark and ugly; the male lead must have had poor eyesight."

Wei Jin didn't know that the TV series had only started airing two months ago, and the popularity really wasn't that high yet.

But women, after all, are always happy to hear praise. At this moment, although Ceng Li looked humble, her mood was clearly very good, with a faint smile hanging on the corners of her mouth. And honestly, that mature, sophisticated charm was truly a bit alluring.

Having floated in the darkness for so long, Wei Jin hadn't touched a woman in ages. He felt a bit parched and dry, his eyes fixed directly on Ceng Li.

Ceng Li was also made to feel a bit embarrassed by Wei Jin's somewhat direct gaze, thinking to herself how this kid's eyes could be so aggressive.

The awkward atmosphere was broken by the arrival of the doctor and Wei Xingbang. After conducting a series of examinations and questions on Wei Jin, the doctor made a judgment: "The patient is basically fine. However, due to the head injury, his sense of balance might be a bit poor in the early stages of recovery, and combined with a minor fracture in his lower leg, he still needs to be hospitalized for recuperation. Hmm... about a month or so. Pay more attention to his diet, light and nutritious is best. Alright, pay more attention to rest."

After speaking, the doctor left the ward, and Wei Xingbang hurried to follow him to ask about some precautions and details.

Ceng Li now began to feel a bit guilty again:

"I'm sorry, it's going to delay you for so long. Will it affect your studies?"

"It's fine, my dad has already asked for leave from the school. Besides, it's basically time for summer vacation anyway, it's just that the plans I made for this summer are ruined."

Wei Jin felt a bit regretful.

"Ah? What were you planning to do this summer? Let me see if I can help?"

Ceng Li felt a bit embarrassed.

Looking at the beauty before him, Wei Jin had a mind to get intimate, but he would have to take it slow.

"I was originally planning to find a girlfriend this summer, but now that's ruined. How about Li Jie helps me out?"

Ceng Li was stunned, and it took her a long while to react that this kid was flirting with her. She laughed and scolded: "How old are you, kid? Why are you in such a rush to find a girlfriend?"

"I'm almost 20, turning 21, heading toward 25, and soon I'll be thirty and standing on my own; how can I not be anxious?"

Wei Jin spouted nonsense effortlessly, which made Ceng Li burst into a fit of delicate laughter.

Happy times are always short; after finishing dinner and agreeing to meet again tomorrow morning, Ceng Li said her goodbyes and left.

Inside the private hospital room, Wei Xingbang sat by the companion bed, recalling the scene he had seen just after returning, realizing his son had grown up; a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as he asked:

"Son, tell your old man about things at school; are there any pretty girls chasing you? You seem to have become more cheerful than before."

"Ahem, Dad, with your son's looks and this physique, back at school, the young girls are practically howling to chase after me."

Wei Jin answered without any pressure, though this could be considered the truth; this body, with a height of 181 centimeters and a weight of 78 kilograms, had a well-proportioned build, and as for the facial features, Wei Jin had already quietly checked the mirror after dinner—he was dashing and debonair, with sword-like eyebrows and star-like eyes, somewhat reminiscent of the 'Four Beauties of the World' Qiao Zhenyu.

Seeing his son become cheerful and optimistic after entering university, Wei Xingbang also wore a look of gratification; the After This Our talked for a while longer, and having taken care of his son for several days in a row, Wei Xingbang could not hold on any longer and fell asleep first.

Accompanied by his father's snoring, Wei Jin also began to organize his thoughts, plan for the future, and prepare to enjoy the benefits of his transmigration.

A fifteen-year veteran bookworm attempting to write a book; a newbie asking for attention and follow-up readings, thank you, masters. (End of chapter)