Past life, present life

At those words, both men froze.

Cheng Yu reacted most strongly, laughing in anger as his tone turned hostile. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

Bo Xi came over with his tea and calmly sat down beside Cheng Yu. "Don't get worked up. What he said might be true."

Lin Xingmo knew how shocking his words were. Never mind them-when he had first heard about it himself, he had felt completely dumbstruck.

It had taken him a long time to sort through his thoughts after going home.

Lin Xingmo continued, "That story my brother keeps remembering in his mind-I used to think he'd had a dream or something. But I don't think a dream could feel that real."

"And a dream couldn't cause strange things to happen, either. With everything that happened afterward backing it up, I don't think my brother was imagining things."

Neither man argued, because they had once thought the same thing. After Lin Xingye woke up that day, Qi Sijing had actually asked him about it.

Lin Xingye had brushed him off with a couple of casual excuses. "Didn't you ask me to go watch? Then I remembered last time, when I was, uh, out eating or something, I heard them secretly plotting this!"

Qi Sijing asked, "Plotting with whom?"

Oh no, oh no, I dug myself a hole.

His gaze darted away, and he pretended his head hurt. "Ugh, I can't really remember. Anyway, I heard it."

"Then, when you messaged me afterward, I realized it was real. I was going to tell you, but I forgot."

That's right. Please believe me. I'm running out of things to make up.

Help me, help me!

Lin Xingye felt so uncertain that he didn't even dare lift his head, afraid Qi Sijing would catch him lying the moment their eyes met.

The three of them: ...

Thanks for asking. We already know you're lying.

Seeing that Qi Sijing didn't intend to press further, Lin Xingye quietly sighed in relief.

Thank goodness. It's not like I can tell him this happened in my past life.

Who would believe me? I can't exactly say...

I am the Seer. I'm cosplaying the Seer, here to hand out owls and save people.

Qi Sijing secretly held back his laughter, not daring to turn around.

Of course, Lin Xingmo knew they must also know things he didn't. Exchanging information with them had its benefits.

Every sentence Lin Xingmo spoke was like dropping a bomb, each one another shocking revelation. "He married Li Hanwen in his past life."

"What?" Cheng Yu rolled his eyes on the spot. "Him? Does he deserve him?"

Given how much Lin Xingye hated him, there had to be another reason behind it.

"Someone drugged him. He thought Li Hanwen had saved him and had no idea who had actually done it. That misunderstanding happened, and my brother wanted to stop people from gossiping."

"It also affected the company's reputation, and the board members criticized him, so he agreed to marry him." Lin Xingmo's face was full of indignation as he spoke. If not for those old men!

His brother would never have had to go that far!

It had all been to keep those people from making things difficult for him. They were already unhappy with him being CEO, and with an opportunity like that, they would only use it as an excuse to try to oust him.

Bo Xi set down the tea he had been holding all this time. It had nearly gone cold, but he truly couldn't stomach a single sip.

He should have drunk his tea before letting Lin Xingmo talk.

Remembering the things he had learned while following his brother around, Lin Xingmo's eyes gradually filled with tears. "Otherwise, my brother wouldn't have... been abused like that!"

"Every last one of you was chasing after Qin Ke, and Mr. Bo was often abroad. No one helped him in his past life."

He grew more agitated as he spoke. He wasn't usually one to cry, but thinking about all this made his tears spill. "Li Hanwen stole the company and even hit and verbally abused my brother."

Bo Xi quickly pushed his teacup away, afraid he might lose control and smash it in a moment, giving An Shi something to tease him about.

The man beside him wasn't feeling much better. Swear words circled on the tip of his tongue, but he held them back, pulled out his phone, and started typing furiously.

Li Hanwen, huh? Just you wait!

Suddenly, something occurred to Bo Xi. "Wait. You said Li Hanwen took credit for something someone else did?"

Lin Xingmo didn't know why he had suddenly brought that up, but nodded. "That's right."

Bo Xi remembered waking up in bed, when Star had asked why he hadn't said anything and let someone else take all the credit.

At the time, he had been utterly confused. Now, it was as though the fog had lifted, leaving everything crystal clear.

Bo Xi's usually impassive expression suddenly shifted. He looked as though he had swallowed a dead fly, with a murderous glint lurking in his eyes.

The change in him caught both their attention.

A bold idea suddenly occurred to Lin Xingmo. "Um... so, could it be that... it was you?"

He pressed his thumb hard against the ring on his index finger, his jaw tightening, and didn't deny it.

Then his guess was probably right.

Bo Xi couldn't express how much he regretted it at that moment. Such a wonderful opportunity-a chance to be with Star-and he had let it slip through his own fingers.

He had been unbelievably stupid.

Although Cheng Yu was glad Bo Xi hadn't succeeded, that still shouldn't have left Li Hanwen with a chance. He patted Bo Xi's shoulder. "Don't overthink it. With that ability Qin Ke has, he must have had a hand in things turning out that way."

"Even if you'd told him then, the outcome might still have been the same."

Bo Xi rubbed his aching brow, relaxed back against the sofa, and sighed softly. "Keep going."

Qi Sijing's and Lin Xingye's hands had mostly healed, and their bandages were no longer as thick as they had been at first. Bored, their mothers had turned on the television and were watching a drama.

It was a family melodrama, and the female lead was arguing with her parents about why they wouldn't let her marry him and so on.

Even one extra glance made Lin Xingye's eyes hurt. He had no idea how their mothers' breasts could withstand all that aggravation, yet they were watching with relish and occasionally offering commentary.

Qi Sijing stealthily reached over and held his hand. "Star..."

Looking at his arm covered in injuries, Lin Xingye didn't pull away. "What?"

He had assumed this pervert was about to get handsy out of nowhere again, but instead, Qi Sijing stared at his leg with a face full of guilt. "It really hurts, doesn't it? Will it leave a scar? It's all my fault. I shouldn't have gone racing."

He shrugged indifferently and smiled at him. "What's the big deal? I used to have uglier..."

Uglier scars.

Qi Sijing tilted his head in confusion. "You used to have what? Do you have other scars? How come I've never seen them?"

He had nearly let it slip. Hastily stopping himself, he gave a couple of awkward laughs. "No, nothing else. I meant when I was little. I got uglier scrapes from falling, but they all disappeared later."

"Besides, this is my medal of heroism. Watch what you say!" He looked smug, as though he was immensely proud of it.

Qi Sijing didn't contradict him. He went along with it and praised him until he was positively blooming with delight.

Even though he didn't remember anything that had happened when he was little.

Lin Xingye beamed at all the praise, his ego swelling, and failed to notice the increasingly intense look in the other man's eyes.

He was just about to turn and talk to him about his heroic bearing when his forehead suddenly bumped into something soft.

At some point, Qi Sijing had sat up.

Shorter than him, Lin Xingye looked up in bewilderment. "Is your back okay now?"

He clearly saw the man's Adam's apple bob, desire filling his eyes.

Unable to move his body much, he could only shrink back a little and remind him softly, "Our moms are still here."

Qi Sijing leaned closer and pressed his forehead against his. "It's fine. They're focused on the TV. Star, I want to kiss you."

"I've wanted to ever since you woke up. I want to kiss you so badly. Will you let me?"

Qi Sijing stared straight into his eyes, making no attempt to hide the affection in his gaze. His voice was low and husky. "Star..."

He could feel the warmth of the other man's breath against his face as he spoke. His heartbeat gradually quickened, filling his ears.

"Star, do you like me?"