Waking Up

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

The first thing he saw was a fashionable woman in a white V-neck T-shirt, with large eyes and long, wavy hair.

Who is this?

Before he could get a good look at her face, the woman cried out in surprise and delight:

"Teacher Wei, come quickly! Little Jin is awake. He's finally awake!"

Her voice was full of relief and excitement.

The man in the hospital bed looked at the world before him with unfamiliarity and bewilderment. The dim room was filled with the faint smell of disinfectant.

Who am I? Where am I? Who's this woman? Who's this man?

As a doctor entered the room, he struggled to remember and piece things together. Suddenly, a flood of fragmented memories poured into his mind. His head lolled to one side, and he fell unconscious.

"Ah, doctor, what's going on? He was clearly awake just now!"

The middle-aged Teacher Wei asked nervously. The doctor walked over to the bed, lifted the man's eyelids, and said calmly:

"There's no major problem. It's good that he woke up. His head suffered a severe impact, and he still needs some time to recover. Don't worry."

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

The same gorgeous face met his eyes. She looked a little haggard, but her features were well-defined and perfectly proportioned, with the air of a mature older beauty, yet her eyes held the gentle grace of a woman from Jiangnan.

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

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

After a preliminary merging of memories, he had roughly figured out how this had all begun. His name was Wei Jin, the Wei Jin of "Wei-Jin elegance." Born in 1983, he was a student in the directing department of Beijing Film Academy's class of 2002.

It was now June 24, 2003. Three days ago, Beijing's SARS lockdown 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 hometown in Shaanxi for the summer vacation.

But he had died before his campaign even got off the ground. Before he reached the mall, a sedan that had inexplicably gone out of control struck him. The back of his head hit the ground hard, and he lost his life.

After that, a soul from 2023 had taken over the body. In his previous life, he had been a veteran bank relationship manager. Years of drinking and staying up late had caused his heart to stop, and he had died suddenly.

His soul had floated in the darkness for who knew how long before he finally saw a light. The next thing he knew, he had woken up in this hospital room.

The silence didn't 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 could I have faced your mother?"

Along with the voice, a refined-looking middle-aged man of about forty hurried into the room and tightly grasped the hand on the bed.

The man was Wei Jin's father, Wei Xingbang, a university professor.

Wei Jin had been born into a scholarly family. His mother, Yang Yu, had been an elementary school teacher, but she had died of an illness three years ago. Since then, Wei Jin had been rather withdrawn.

After doing poorly on the college entrance exam, Wei Jin had followed his father's advice and taken the art-school entrance exams, entering Beijing Film Academy's directing department in 2002.

"Dad, sorry for making you worry. I'm fine now."

Wei Jin offered his father comfort. After merging with the memories, calling him Dad didn't feel forced.

"Teacher Wei, Little Jin, I'm so sorry. It was all my fault. I went out driving as soon as I got my license. If anything had happened to Little Jin, I could never have forgiven myself."

The woman sitting in the chair immediately stood up and spoke uneasily, her face full of guilt.

"All right, what's done is done. Nobody wanted this to happen, and besides, you didn't do it on purpose. Just be more careful driving from now on. Not everyone is as lucky to be alive as I am..."

Wei Jin wasn't the type to press his advantage relentlessly when he was in the right. Besides, without this car accident, he wouldn't have been able to transmigrate. The original owner, on the other hand, was rather innocent.

Hearing what his son said, Wei Xingbang also thought of how the girl before him had come to care for his son every day for the past three days, arriving before dawn and leaving only at night. He said nothing more to reproach her.

But he didn't take up her topic either. Instead, he said to Wei Jin, "Son, you've been lying here for so long. You must be hungry, right? I'll get you something to eat and ask the doctor to come take a look while I'm at it."

After Wei Xingbang left, Miss Zeng looked at Wei Jin in the hospital bed. "Little Jin, I'm Zeng Li. I should be older than you, so call me Sister Li."

"You're Zeng Li? No wonder. I was wondering why you looked a little familiar."

Wei Jin finally understood where the sense of familiarity came from. The woman before him was known as "a beauty the Central Academy of Drama sees only once in two hundred years."

"You know me?" Zeng Li was a little puzzled.

"Yeah, I've seen you act."

Wei Jin was talking complete fucking nonsense. The only reason he recognized the woman before him was that, in his previous life, he had read a novel whose protagonist was called Official Cao. Curious about what the heroine, Zeng Li, looked like, he had specifically searched for her and retained some impression. He had to admit, she was gorgeous.

"In The Glamorous Life, you totally outshone Ziwei. I don't know what the director was thinking."

"That's an exaggeration. Ruby Lin is very pretty too, you know."

Although Zeng Li was happy to be recognized, she didn't dare give anyone grounds to criticize her. After all, Ziwei was far more popular than she was.

"Hey, don't you read the comments online? Ziwei is dark and ugly. The male lead must have something wrong with his eyes."

What Wei Jin didn't know was that the TV drama had only started airing two months ago and really wasn't that popular yet.

But women were always happy to hear compliments. Although Zeng Li looked modest, she was clearly in a very good mood, a faint smile on her lips. He had to admit, her mature charm was rather alluring.

After floating in the darkness for so long, Wei Jin hadn't touched a woman in ages. His mouth felt dry as he stared straight at Zeng Li.

Wei Jin's rather blatant gaze made Zeng Li feel a little embarrassed. Why are this kid's eyes so aggressive?

The awkward atmosphere was broken by the arrival of the doctor and Wei Xingbang. After giving Wei Jin a series of examinations and asking him some questions, the doctor made his assessment:

"The patient is basically fine now. However, because of the head injury, his sense of balance may be a little poor in the early stages of recovery. On top of that, he has a minor fracture in his lower leg, so he'll need to stay in the hospital to recuperate. Hmm... about a month or so. Pay attention to his diet; light but nutritious food would be best. All right, make sure he gets plenty of rest."

The doctor left the room after that, and Wei Xingbang hurried after him to ask about some precautions and details.

Zeng Li started feeling guilty again.

"I'm sorry to hold you up for so long. Will it affect your studies?"

"It's fine. My dad has already asked the school for leave, and vacation is about to start anyway. It's just that my plans for the summer have gone down the drain."

Wei Jin felt a little regretful.

"Huh? What were you planning to do over the summer? Let me see if I can help."

Zeng Li felt a little embarrassed.

Looking at the beauty before him, Wei Jin wanted a taste of her charms, but he would have to take it slowly.

"I was planning to find a girlfriend over the summer, but now that's gone down the drain. How about giving me a hand, Sister Li?"

Zeng Li froze. It took her quite a while to realize that the brat was flirting with her. Laughing, she scolded him:

"How old are you, kid? What's the rush to find a girlfriend?"

"I'm almost twenty, practically twenty-one, heading for twenty-five, and nearly thirty, the age to stand on my own. How could I not be in a rush?"

Wei Jin tossed out the cheeky remark without thinking, making Zeng Li giggle.

Happy times were always short. After dinner, Zeng Li said goodbye and left, having promised to return the next morning.

In the private hospital room, Wei Xingbang sat by the companion bed. Thinking back to the scene he had seen when he returned, he realized his son had grown up. A smile appeared on his lips as he asked:

"Son, tell your dad about school. Any pretty girls chasing you? You seem more cheerful than before."

"Ahem, Dad, with your son's looks and figure, the girls at school are practically howling after me."

Wei Jin answered without the slightest pressure, though it was true enough. This body was 181 centimeters tall, weighed 78 kilograms, and was well-proportioned. As for his features, Wei Jin had quietly looked in the mirror after dinner. He was debonair and handsome, with swordlike brows and starry eyes, somewhat reminiscent of Qiao Zhenyu, one of the Four Beauties of Tianya.

Seeing that his son had become cheerful and optimistic after entering university, Wei Xingbang looked gratified. Father and son talked for a while longer, but after caring for his son for several days straight, Wei Xingbang couldn't hold out and fell asleep first.

Accompanied by his father's snores, Wei Jin began to gather his thoughts and plan for the future, ready to enjoy the benefits of transmigration.