Xu Zifan served as emperor for over twenty years, and then as retired emperor for over twenty years. When he left that world, he was already somewhat of a hermit, living a very comfortable life.
Back in the void, he slowly organized the things he had collected in that world, gradually letting go of everything from there. He quickly returned to his best state and entered the new world. He could feel that he was becoming more and more accustomed to each time he traveled through time, and increasingly adept at adjusting his mindset. The new world was another completely new beginning.
Xu Zifan woke up with a splitting headache, reeking of alcohol, and with a naked woman in his arms. He glanced around the room and realized he was in a hotel. The perfume on the woman was unbearable, so he pulled his arm away, sat up, glanced at the messy suit and shirt on the floor, and walked naked to the bathroom.
The woman on the bed opened her eyes and said sweetly, "Young Master Xu, it's so early, why don't you sleep a little longer?"
"You go to sleep, I'm going to take a shower." Xu Zifan replied casually, went inside and locked the door, taking a shower while learning about the situation in this world.
Of the four prominent business families in Yanjing, the Xu family ranked last. This was because the patriarch, the most capable businessman in the family, had passed away, the head of the family was of mediocre ability, and the original owner of this body, the heir, was an incompetent and playboy. His sister was only seventeen and still in her final year of high school, at best a refined and well-mannered socialite. The Xu family was no longer able to compete with the other three families.
The Xu family started out in the jade gambling business and has been in the jewelry business ever since. Their brand influence is among the top in China. Even though the group has been declining in recent years and is about to fall out of the ranks of the four great families, they are still one of the most prestigious and influential families in China. Originally, even if the original owner had been a playboy all his life, the family would not have been ruined. The problem was that a major incident happened in the family: the original owner's younger sister, Xu Yalin, was switched at birth. His real sister was Wang Mengyao, who grew up in the countryside.
Despite being a spoiled brat, the original owner of this body had always been very kind to her younger sister, Xu Yalin. Xu Yalin was sweet-talking and knew how to charm people, so the matriarch of the family and Xu's parents doted on her. Suddenly learning this news was a huge blow to the whole family. Xu Yalin, being sensible, took the initiative to ask to switch back, but her eyes were red and swollen every day, clearly because she couldn't bear to leave her beloved family, and she kept crying behind their backs.
The Xu family naturally felt sorry for her. Even before meeting Wang Mengyao, they already felt a bit resistant towards her. The original owner of this body had even said that Xu Yalin was his only sister. So in the end, the Xu family gave the Wang family a large sum of money to bring Wang Mengyao back to the Xu family, but they didn't send Xu Yalin away. They only said that they would raise the two daughters together in the future, and the Xu family could give them a better life.
The Wang family was greedy and favored sons over daughters, completely disregarding their daughters. They readily agreed to the Xu family's demands upon receiving the money. Because the Xu family had no good impression of Wang Mengyao, they quickly transferred her to the school Xu Yalin attended, planning to announce this at the two girls' 18th birthday ceremonies and adopt Xu Yalin as their daughter. However, within a few months, Wang Mengyao made numerous embarrassing mistakes, becoming the target of ridicule from her classmates and socialites.
Compared to Xu Yalin's elegance and thoughtfulness, Old Madam Xu and Xu's mother grew increasingly disgusted with Wang Mengyao. Xu's father also felt humiliated and displeased, so he simply announced at their eighteenth birthday celebration that Wang Mengyao was the Xu family's adopted daughter. From then on, the Xu family had an adopted third young lady. Wang Mengyao desperately wanted to win her family's favor and tried every means to expose Xu Yalin's true colors. Unfortunately, she had grown up in the countryside and had always had a simple life, so she was no match for Xu Yalin.
Instead of exposing her, she was repeatedly humiliated and embarrassed by Xu Yalin's schemes, causing the Xu family to lose patience with her and making her a laughingstock in the industry. Due to the Xu family's attitude and Xu Yalin's machinations, Wang Mengyao became increasingly gloomy, gradually becoming extreme and irritable. During one of her most heartbroken moments, she was seen crying by Qi Xiangheng, the original owner's best friend. Qi Xiangheng comforted her, and she finally saw the light in the world, beginning to pursue Qi Xiangheng and abandoning all hope for her family.
However, Qi Xiangheng was in love with Xu Yalin. Xu Yalin deliberately befriended Qi Xiangheng to toy with Wang Mengyao, taking pleasure in seeing Wang Mengyao heartbroken. Rumors even circulated about a marriage alliance between the two families. Wang Mengyao, unable to bear it any longer, publicly revealed the paternity test report at Old Madam Xu's birthday banquet, exposing her and Xu Yalin's true identities. Xu Yalin instantly went from a wealthy heiress to a usurped heiress, losing all her prestige and being ostracized by her social circle. She hated Wang Mengyao to the core. The Xu family, humiliated at the birthday banquet, became even colder towards Wang Mengyao, but felt sorry for Xu Yalin.
The Qi family wouldn't accept the fake heiress as their daughter-in-law. Qi Xiangheng hated Wang Mengyao for ruining the love he had worked so hard to achieve, and his attitude towards her became extremely hostile. Xu Yalin knew that no powerful family would accept her anymore, and even if she schemed to marry into one, she wouldn't have her own family's support. In order to return to the social circle, she took a risky approach and began to subtly and deliberately seduce the original owner of this body.
First, she moved out to sever ties with the Xu family and changed her surname back to Wang. Then, she frequently met with the original owner to confide her troubles and evoke sympathy from the original owner. Gradually, she made the original owner realize that they were not blood-related siblings. Then, she orchestrated a drunken encounter between the original owner and her. At first, the original owner was panicked. After all, they had been siblings for over a decade, and how could he accept such a sudden turn of events? But seeing Xu Yalin's pain and fear, he couldn't bear it. Step by step, he fell into Xu Yalin's trap and truly fell in love with her, restraining his promiscuous behavior for her sake.
The Xu family initially disagreed, but Xu Yalin was their beloved child of over a decade, and they couldn't bear to see her suffer. Seeing that the two children genuinely wanted to be together, they eventually agreed. Besides, Xu Yalin had demonstrated talent in jade gambling and jewelry, and with her as a capable helper managing the business, the elders felt more at ease.
Wang Mengyao finally managed to get Xu Yalin out, thinking that the Xu family sooner or later, she would see through Xu Yalin and accept her, but unexpectedly, Xu Yalin transformed into her sister-in-law, and even the servants in the Xu family treated her with the utmost hostility. The disgust from her family and her beloved caused Wang Mengyao unbearable pain, and Xu Yalin's constant provocations and schemes were even more unbearable. Her emotions gradually became depressed, and by the time she realized it, it was too late. Finally, on the day that Xu's father handed over the CEO position to Xu Yalin, she committed suicide by cutting her wrists.
Xu Yalin's marriage to the original owner, her taking over the Xu family business, and Wang Mengyao's suicide attempt made the Xu family a laughingstock in high society, utterly disgracing them. Xu Yalin's constant attempts to please Wang Mengyao led the three elders to blame everything on her, while only the original owner remained deeply troubled by Wang Mengyao's death. This was because the original owner was the first to discover Wang Mengyao's suicide attempt; when he found her, she was still somewhat conscious, and the only thing she said to him was, "Are you really my brother?"
Wang Mengyao died despite all efforts to save her, but those words haunted the original owner of this body like a nightmare. He began to reflect on his attitude towards Wang Mengyao, from initial rejection to later disgust. He had never truly treated Wang Mengyao as a sister. What had Wang Mengyao done wrong? She had only been targeting Xu Yalin, but ultimately hadn't done anything harmful. They always thought she returned to the Xu family out of vanity, but in the end, she committed suicide, gaining nothing.
The original owner imagined what it would be like if he had been switched at birth and raised in the countryside, returning to the Xu family. This thought filled him with deep guilt towards Wang Mengyao. Naturally, this displeased Xu Yalin, who, having gained power, became less patient with him, and the two began to argue. As they spent more time together, the original owner keenly realized that Xu Yalin was not the obedient and sensible girl he had imagined. After Xu Yalin revealed her ambition for the Xu Group, he uncovered many buried truths, realizing that Wang Mengyao was innocent and that Xu Yalin had been the one harming her all along.
In order to prevent the Xu family business from falling into Xu Yalin's hands, the original owner entered the company to compete with her for the Xu family business. However, the people in the company had already accepted Xu Yalin. The original owner had no knowledge of gambling on stones, jewelry, or company operations. He made mistakes time and time again, and fell into Xu Yalin's traps. He was even framed by Xu Yalin for embezzling public funds and leaking trade secrets, and was eventually sent to prison.
Even at this point, the three elders of the Xu family were still deceived by Xu Yalin, believing that the original owner was too weak-willed to do these things, and they trusted Xu Yalin completely. The original owner died unexpectedly in a prison riot, never knowing whether the Xu family elders were doing well or not. He only knew that the Xu Group had completely fallen into the hands of Xu Yalin, an outsider, and that he was powerless to do anything about it. In his dying moments, the original owner remembered Wang Mengyao's last words, and he finally understood Wang Mengyao's feelings.
The original owner sought the arrival of the interdimensional messenger to protect the Xu family, to become the most outstanding heir, and to prevent the Xu Group from falling into Xu Yalin's hands again. He also wanted to be the best older brother, giving Wang Mengyao the life she deserved, ensuring her happiness and preventing her from being bullied and schemed against by Xu Yalin, or from becoming depressed and suicidal. As for the three elders, the original owner didn't mention them. Xu Zifan thought he might not know whether he should be filial or not, since even after the original owner went to prison, the three of them still believed Xu Yalin and refused to believe him.
Xu Zifan stood under the showerhead with his eyes closed, having sorted out the memories in his mind. He wiped his face, dried himself with a towel, and put on the hotel bathrobe. By this time, Wang Mengyao had been taken back to the Xu family and transferred to Xu Yalin's school. After a few embarrassing incidents, she had become taciturn, but it wasn't yet their eighteenth birthday. Since he was here, he naturally wanted to give his sister the most wonderful coming-of-age ceremony.
Xu Zifan dried his hair and walked out of the bathroom, not even glancing at the woman on the bed. Back in his wild days, eating, drinking, and having fun were his daily routine. This woman was a minor celebrity who had accompanied his buddies at their party the previous night; there was no need for him to continue interacting with her. He called the front desk and asked them to send up a new suit.
The woman sat up, lifting the blanket, and tentatively approached Xu Zifan, "Young Master Xu? Where shall we go today?"
Xu Zifan filled out a check for her, saying, "This is yours, don't look for me again."
The woman's face darkened for a moment, but she smiled again when she saw the number on the check. "Thank you, Young Master Xu. If you change your mind, I'll be at your beck and call."
The hotel staff quickly brought over his clothes. Xu Zifan changed and went to the parking lot. Seeing the cool silver supercar, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and a pleased smile appeared on his face. Finally back in the modern world, it would be a disservice to this era not to have some fun.