Rebirth: The Willing One Takes the Bait

Rebirth: The Willing One Takes the Bait Author: Baye Dang [Completed + Side Stories]

Synopsis:

The world said Weng Shao was blinded by greed and stopped at nothing, even climbing into his enemy's bed to climb the social ladder. They also said the two of them were wolves in sheep's clothing, colluding for profit, and would inevitably turn on each other.

Weng Shao thought so too. It wasn't until Pei Xingze died miserably at the hands of kidnappers while trying to save him that Weng Shao realized the man who seemed so heartless had actually loved him the deepest.

*

Opening his eyes once more, Weng Shao returned to twenty years ago—the day his background was exposed and he was discarded like trash by his biological parents.

Looking at his flesh and blood, who wore sanctimonious faces while lecturing him on his wolfish ambition and lack of gratitude, calling him an ingrate, Weng Shao smiled.

In his youth, he had been naive, mistakenly believing that if he gave his heart and soul, he would gain his family's approval. Instead, he was squeezed dry of his last bit of utility and kicked out of the house without mercy.

Now that he had been granted a second chance, he would fight for what he wanted himself. As for the Weng family, he would use them as bait to lure his target in.

Living a second life, Weng Shao would take his revenge, make his money, and hook his man. Since the world called him insatiable, he would ensure he had everything.

*

What Weng Shao didn't expect was that when he appeared before Pei Xingze as prey, guiding the situation and planning every step, he finally managed to hook his target. Before he could even enjoy the fruits of his victory, he was blocked at his front door by a wealthy couple: "Son, we finally found you."

Weng Shao: "???"

*

It wasn't until his biological parents showed up that Weng Shao realized he wasn't the Weng family's biological son at all.

Now that the truth was out, his wealthy parents, having finally found their long-lost son, granted his every wish to make up for the past.

Hearing that Weng Shao liked luxury mansions, his wealthy parents bought a plot of land and gifted it to him. He could build it as grand as he wanted.

Weng Shao: "?"

Hearing that Weng Shao liked luxury cars, his wealthy parents acquired his favorite sports car brand and opened a dedicated production line just to make him custom models.

Weng Shao: "??"

Even when Weng Shao wanted to be with Pei Xingze, his wealthy parents hired a matchmaker and took the initiative to go to the Pei family to present the betrothal gifts—

Pei Xingze: "..."

Old-school melodrama, wealthy business wars, grudges and romance, self-indulgent writing.

Content tags: Strong vs. Strong, Wealthy Family, Rebirth, Face-slapping, Revenge.

Protagonist perspective: Weng Shao, interaction with Pei Xingze.

One-sentence summary: After the ruthless villain is reborn, he takes what he wants himself.

Theme: One must rely on oneself.

Chapter 1

"Since you want a better life so badly, I'll grant your wish."

Weng Yingxiong's weathered face turned beet red, and his palm slammed onto the table with a loud "thwack." In the flickering, dim lamplight, every wrinkle on his face seemed to claw at the air: "From this day forward, you are no longer my son. Those eighteen years prior, I'll just consider that I raised an ingrate... cough, cough, cough..."

Before Weng Yingxiong could finish his sentence, he fell into a fit of heart-wrenching coughing.

Seeing this, Weng Yingjie hurriedly stood up to explain: "Big brother, please don't say that. The moment Weng Shao was born, I adopted him out to you. He is your son, and he is the one who is supposed to provide for you in your old age."

The elderly Old Master Weng reached out, gently patting his eldest son Weng Yingxiong on the back, and frowned as he scolded Weng Shao: "You heartless beast, get on your knees!"

The moment Old Master Weng finished speaking, the guests' murmurs erupted all around: "Can you believe this?"

"Even if the eldest couple didn't have much, they still raised Weng Shao for eighteen years. Now that he's finally an adult, who would have thought that the moment this kid found out about his background, he'd start making a scene to return to his real parents... Isn't this just a wolf that can't be tamed!"

"If you ask me, Huixin shouldn't have opened her mouth. Why bring up all that old, dusty history? Now look, the son they raised with such hard work is about to climb a higher branch."

"Weng Shao used to be so sensible. Who could have imagined he'd do something like this!"

"They say you can know a person's face but not their heart! A child who was sensible and filial since he was small might not be truly filial after all."

"They say a child doesn't mind an ugly mother, and a dog doesn't mind a poor home. To raise a child who turns out worse than a dog."

"It's just like they say: mutton doesn't stick to a dog's ribs. No matter how well the eldest couple treated him, he still wants to go back to his real parents to live the good life..."

"That's right, a father who can't move on the bed versus a father who runs a big company in the city—if it were you, who would you choose?"

The sounds around him were noisy and chaotic, the gossip pouring into his ears like the rising tide. Before him, shadows flickered, countless colors weaving together like a greasy, unbearable canvas. Everything in his field of vision swayed and distorted. A hand shoved Weng Shao hard, and someone barked: "What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and kowtow to your father to apologize."

Staggering from the push, Weng Shao snapped his eyes open. He looked around in a daze, realizing he was standing in the main hall of the old country house. A dozen large round tables packed the spacious hall, filled with members of the Weng clan.

It was evening, the sun setting in the west. Under the dim, flickering lights, everyone's faces became blurred, save for the burning gazes that pierced through the gloom, staring at him unblinkingly. Every face wore an expression of shock, contempt, disdain, or even the excitement of someone eager to watch a spectacle. One hideous face after another spun rapidly before him, the buzzing gossip accompanied by flying spit, mercilessly washing over eighteen-year-old Weng Shao.

Weng Shao stared blankly at the scene. It took a long time for him to slowly recall that this must be the Qingming Festival from twenty years ago, when the successful Weng Yingjie had brought his wife and children back to the village to pay respects to their ancestors. On the night before they left, they held a massive banquet in the old house to treat the villagers and clansmen.

It was on this very night that Weng Shao, having learned his true background from Yu Huixin, made the decision that would change his life—he wanted to return to his biological parents.

At the time, Weng Shao was in his third year of high school. The heavy pressure of life made the young Weng Shao hesitate. Even though he had the ability to get into Jinghai University, the country's top institution, he had planned to give up the National College Entrance Examination and choose to attend Jinghai Normal University, which had offered him a recommendation—simply because the Normal University not only waived tuition and housing fees but also provided a living stipend, meaning he wouldn't need his family to spend a single cent.

However, his mother, Yu Huixin, did not agree with Weng Shao's decision. In her eyes, her son had already sacrificed too much for the family. The National College Entrance Examination was a major life event; Weng Shao shouldn't make a rash decision to save money and ruin his future. Moreover, everything Weng Shao had endured was not something he should have had to bear in the first place.

Yu Huixin tossed and turned, hesitating for a long time, before finally deciding on the night before the Weng Yingjie family was set to leave to reveal the secret she had buried in her heart for eighteen years—Weng Shao was not the biological son of her and Weng Yingxiong.

Eighteen years ago, the families of Weng Yingxiong and Weng Yingjie, who had been working away from home, encountered robbers on their way back to the village. To protect his younger brother, Weng Yingxiong had his spine broken by a robber's club during the struggle, leaving him paralyzed in bed and infertile from that day on.

For a man responsible for holding up his household, such an ordeal was undoubtedly a fatal blow. Weng Yingxiong once harbored thoughts of ending his own life. Not wanting to see a white-haired man bury his son, Old Master Weng took charge and decided to have his younger son adopt out a child to the elder one.

At that time, Weng Yingjie already had his eldest son, Weng Zhen, and his wife, Zhou Shujing, was three months pregnant. To repay his elder brother for saving his life, Weng Yingjie agreed to Old Master Weng's proposal. Several months later, Zhou Shujing gave birth to twins. Weng Yingjie adopted out the elder of the twins to Weng Yingxiong, and that child was Weng Shao.

Born of the same mother, the two brothers began lives that were worlds apart from that day on.

Weng Shao still remembered that at eighteen, when he suddenly learned of his true parentage, he could not fathom why, despite being born to the same parents, Weng Zhen and Weng Sui could enjoy a life of luxury and the best education while he lived so miserably.

When Weng Zhen and Weng Sui attended international bilingual kindergartens, he carried a bamboo basket, picking up wheat grains in the freshly harvested fields to stave off hunger. When Weng Zhen and Weng Sui spent tens of thousands on international summer camps, he was cleaning out stinking pigsties and digging for earthworms and wild vegetables on the mountainside to feed the chickens. In the scorching heat of summer, he would brave the sun, riding a tricycle to hawk hundreds of watermelons along the streets just to earn a little extra money for the household, sometimes forced to flee in a panic from the city inspectors, stripped of all dignity. When Weng Zhen and Weng Sui wore suits and leather shoes, riding in cars to school, he had to wake up before dawn every day, run for two hours, and travel several kilometers to attend the county middle school. While Weng Zhen spent millions to study abroad, and Weng Sui, struggling with his studies, spent millions more to transfer to an arts program, Weng Shao gave his all to get into City No. 1 High School, only to have to work as a tutor before the term started to earn his tuition.

They were his own flesh and blood, yet while he suffered in the countryside, his biological parents lived in mansions in the big city, drove luxury cars, acted as big bosses and wealthy socialites, and even established a charity fund in the Weng name to help impoverished students, all without ever asking a single time if he was doing well. Even when Weng Shao, desperate for money to attend his dream university, swallowed his pride and reached out to acknowledge them, he was met not with the affection and compensation they owed him for eighteen years, but with a barrage of scolding and endless humiliation.

His biological parents did not understand him, his own brothers despised and suspected him, his grandparents and uncle cursed him, and even the neighbors who had no relation to him could point at his spine and gossip.

"You would abandon the parents who raised you for eighteen years just so you could live a good life. I don't have a son as ungrateful and cold-blooded as you. You have disappointed me so much."

"Do you have any idea how much like a clown you look, jumping around like that? You're making such a shameless scene just for money, aren't you! Don't talk to me about being the biological son of our parents; look at whether they even acknowledge you. You are a shameless, despicable person. They don't recognize you, and neither will we. We don't have a brother as greedy and disloyal as you."

"You went to such lengths to get into the company, isn't it just because you want to fight me for the family inheritance? You are vastly overestimating yourself. Who do you think you are? A country bumpkin who hasn't even washed the mud off his pant legs—what right do you have to compete with me?"