Hu City, Xingyuan Industrial Park, Feiyu Technology Headquarters.
In a luxurious top-floor office, Chen Yansen sat in his chair. He skillfully tore open the foil, tossed a small, diamond-shaped blue pill into his mouth, and washed it down with warm water.
'Once a man hits thirty, it's hard to keep up without a little technological assistance,' Chen Yansen lamented to himself with a long sigh.
At thirty-four years old, after more than a decade of hard work, he finally had a 500-square-meter standalone villa, a three-million-yuan Maybach GLS 600, and a publicly traded company on the main board.
Add in the "single" buff, and young women found him absolutely irresistible.
What young woman didn't dream of marrying a rich guy and climbing the social ladder?
Chen Yansen was well aware of this.
You could talk about money with young women, but never, ever about feelings!
"Daddy, I bought a really sexy swimsuit."
His phone buzzed as a new message popped up.
Chen Yansen glanced at it and couldn't help but smile faintly.
Cheng Guo was, as expected, his longest-running girlfriend. Pure in public, seductive in private.
She called him President Chen during the day and Daddy at night. What man could resist that?
Chen Yansen calculated how long it would take for the pill to kick in, then replied, "Daddy prefers Angemon. Be a good girl and wait at home."
Without waiting for a reply, he pushed the door open and headed straight for the parking garage.
Moments later, an all-black Maybach entered Yixian Avenue and sped toward the North-South Elevated Road.
The city scenery outside the window continuously receded.
The neon lights were just beginning to glow, and the streams of traffic merged into flowing ribbons of light, like a river of stars on the ground.
A few minutes later, Chen Yansen's heart suddenly clenched. His chest pounded violently—THUMP, THUMP—and his head grew heavy.
"Holy shit! Is this pill really that strong?"
Chen Yansen cursed under his breath.
The strength in his hands gradually faded until he lost his grip on the steering wheel completely!
The car smashed straight through the guardrail and launched dozens of meters into the air!
With a deafening BOOM, Chen Yansen lost consciousness completely.
...
...
"You son of a bitch, Chen Yansen, wake the hell up!"
In his daze, Chen Yansen heard someone shouting his name. As he was shaken, the intense feeling of weightlessness rapidly dissipated, and the pain in his guts vanished in an instant.
A flash of white light passed, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Do you have any idea what time it is? The party was set for seven-thirty, and you just had to sleep until a quarter past eight!"
The speaker was a slightly chubby, dark-skinned teenager, about seventeen or eighteen, with a helpless and aggrieved look on his face.
"Wang Zihao?"
Chen Yansen stared at the chubby guy in front of him. A familiar name popped into his head, and he called it out subconsciously.
'That's not right!'
'Wang Zihao died three years ago!'
He'd married a manipulative woman, and to his surprise, the son she gave birth to was darker than charcoal. Wang Zihao's own complexion was a bit on the dark side, but there was no reason for him to have a Black baby.
'Fucking hell, they weren't even the same race!'
After a paternity test, the two of them had a massive fight.
He ended up losing half of his assets in the divorce. Unable to get over it, Wang Zihao chose to jump from a building.
"Aren't you dead?"
"Bah! What nonsense are you spouting now? If you don't get your ass out of bed, I'm gonna kill you!"
Wang Zihao grabbed a T-shirt and threw it right at his best friend's head.
Chen Yansen pulled the shirt off his head and looked around, only to realize he was lying in the rest area of a bathhouse.
The decor was dated, looking exactly like a public bathhouse from over a decade ago.
He hadn't been to a place like this since graduating from college.
Seeing that he was still in a daze, Wang Zihao simply grabbed a pair of gray shorts from the side, intending to put them on Chen Yansen himself.
"Let go. I'll do it myself."
The moment he was touched, Chen Yansen felt a wave of discomfort. He kicked Wang Zihao away and quickly pulled on the shorts and T-shirt.
The second he had his shoes on, Wang Zihao grabbed him and started running outside in a hurry.
As he passed a full-length mirror, he finally got a clear look at his current appearance.
He was sporting long hair with side-swept bangs that left only his right eye visible, and a ring of dark peach fuzz circled his mouth. He looked both immature and utterly moronic.
Long-buried memories broke free, and he finally remembered!
This was the summer of 2010. After submitting his college applications, he had insisted on dragging Wang Zihao to the bathhouse to soak before their party that night.
'I fucking got reborn!'
Chen Yansen's scalp tingled as if a current of electricity had passed through him.
He couldn't say he was happy about it. After all, his 2026 self was top-tier in every aspect—except for his kidneys.
'I still had sixty million in my bank account I hadn't spent!'
At that thought, Chen Yansen couldn't help but curse inwardly.
Standing at the intersection, Wang Zihao hailed a cab while sizing Chen Yansen up and down. He asked tentatively, "Did you get into a fight with Zhou Keyuan? Is that why you're trying to stall and not go to the party?"
Chen Yansen was busy observing the Chunshen of 2010. Compared to over a decade later, it was less clean and tidy, but it had a more lively, down-to-earth atmosphere.
The early summer night was a bit muggy, but it was not without a refreshing, gentle breeze.
The streets were bustling with people and lively noise.
"No."
Chen Yansen paused at the question before denying it.
The reason he had refused to get married in his past life was half because of what happened to Wang Zihao, and half because of this woman, Zhou Keyuan.
Back then, his skills were shallow and his 'bitch-dar' was weak; he'd been completely played by her.
He'd eagerly acted as her simp for five or six years!
"I got a cab, get in!" Wang Zihao urged impatiently, having flagged down a taxi.
"What's the rush? We're already late anyway. Come with me to get a haircut first," Chen Yansen said unhurriedly, waving his hand dismissively.
"Are you guys getting in or not?" the taxi driver poked his head out and asked, his face full of impatience.
"Sorry, we're just discussing something," Wang Zihao said apologetically to the driver, seeing his friend refuse to budge.
"Take your time, then."
The driver pursed his lips, rolled up the window, and sped off in a flash, giving Wang Zihao no time to think.
Chen Yansen, standing off to the side, was amused. 'The taxi industry, before getting beaten down by ride-sharing apps, sure had an attitude!'
'Too bad their good days won't last for more than a few years!'
"Alright, let's go, my lord! I guess I'll just have to tell Big Sis that we'll be there a little later," Wang Zihao sighed.
"Haozi, just for calling me 'lord,' I guarantee that in this life, your son will definitely be your own flesh and blood," Chen Yansen said with a wide grin, slinging an arm around Wang Zihao's neck.
"Can't expect a dog to spit out ivory! All you do all day is make shit up about me!" Wang Zihao heard the strange undertone in his words and immediately cursed back through gritted teeth.
Accompanied by the evening breeze, the two of them ambled along until they found a barbershop.
"Do you know how to do a textured crop?" Chen Yansen plopped down in the chair, glanced at the barber's own punk-style side-swept bangs, and asked uncertainly.
"Piece of cake! But are you sure you want to cut it?" The barber nodded confidently but, worried Chen Yansen would cause trouble for him afterward, repeatedly sought confirmation.
After all, side-swept bangs were the mainstream hairstyle for trendy small-town guys.
"It's fine. Even a buzz cut would look better than this," Chen Yansen shrugged, his tone firm.
'Probably another heartbroken kid, trying to start over,' the barber sneered inwardly. This was nothing new to him.
He silently labeled Chen Yansen, then picked up a spray bottle and quickly dampened his hair.
SNIP—SNIP—
The sharp scissors moved back and forth, and large clumps of hair fell away, revealing a broad, full forehead with lines as smooth as if carved by a knife. His entire aura was now completely different.
'Being reborn isn't so bad. At least my kidneys are brand new.'
Chen Yansen gazed at the teenager in the mirror and finally accepted his reality.
Future money-making opportunities were as plentiful as ox hair: Bitcoin, e-commerce, short videos, smart chips, AI, and so on. If he seized any one of them, he could easily join the ranks of the super-rich.
"Ding! The sacred flame drifts into the mystic heavens, soothing the mortal heart to forge an immortal path."
"Sacred Flame Deification System has been loaded!"
Before he could fully digest the immense shock of being reborn, a string of strange text appeared before Chen Yansen's eyes.
"What the hell is this?"
A translucent panel floated in mid-air, its surface shimmering with blue starlight, both mysterious and bewitching.
Chen Yansen narrowed his eyes and was instantly lost in thought.