"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A flurry of urgent knocking erupted on the door.
"Lin Ge, why are you still lazing in bed? Get up and have breakfast! Today is younger brother Qingyang's birthday banquet. We all agreed to go and celebrate with him, yet you’re still not up. I think you're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Just because Qingyang didn't wait for you after school yesterday, is that how you treat him?"
"Truly a wild child raised on the streets—no manners, narrow-minded. Look at the time; it’s nearly eight o'clock and you’re still lying in bed!"
"You're truly a hopeless case! If we had known it would be like this, we should have advised Mom and Dad not to bring you back in the first place..."
The impatient pounding and the incessant, grating noise jolted Lin Ge from his sleep.
"This is...? Ouch, it hurts!"
Lin Ge clutched his throbbing head, eyes scanning his surroundings. After a moment of bewilderment, he realized he had been reborn.
In his past life, he was kidnapped at the age of two. Being clever, he escaped, but unable to find his way home, he drifted through various hardships until he was sent to an orphanage. He wasn't brought back to the Lin family until he was sixteen. Having lacked familial love since childhood, Lin Ge cherished his return to his biological parents and five sisters.
Regrettably, the sincere devotion he showed them was never reciprocated. When his mother suffered from frequent headaches, he taught himself massage to soothe her pain. His eldest sister, Lin Shunyi, suffered from cold-induced uterine pain; he would brew brown sugar water for her every month. His second sister, Lin Jiayi, would have him pose as a model for hours whenever she lacked inspiration for her paintings, and he never complained. His third sister, Lin Xinyi, loved singing but also loved fine food; Lin Ge studied countless recipes to cook delicious meals that wouldn't strain her throat, eventually making her palate extremely picky. His fourth sister, Lin Zhenyi, practiced martial arts from a young age and suffered from hidden injuries; Lin Ge traveled everywhere to collect medicinal herbs for her baths, healing her scars. His fifth sister, Lin Qingyi, was in college and enjoyed writing; whenever she had writer's block, Lin Ge would provide her with ideas to spark her inspiration.
In short, Lin Ge treated everyone in the house with sincerity and selfless dedication. Yet, in the eyes of his parents and sisters, no matter what Lin Ge did, he could never compare to their cousin, Lin Qingyang, whom they had adopted from their uncle's family.
Years ago, when Lin Ge went missing, his mother was devastated. His uncle, feeling for his sister, offered his own young son, Huang Qingyang—who was the same age as Lin Ge—to be adopted into the family. The uncle had argued that since he had many sons and they were siblings, his son was the same as her son. Thus, the toddler Huang Qingyang became "Lin Qingyang" and moved into the Lin house.
In the years without Lin Ge, the well-behaved Lin Qingyang had provided companionship to his parents and sisters, forging deep familial bonds. By the time Lin Ge was found, to the parents and sisters, the well-educated and obedient Lin Qingyang felt much more like their actual son and brother. Lin Ge, having grown up in an orphanage, felt completely out of place and could never truly integrate into their lives. His heartfelt efforts and attempts to please them were seen as ulterior motives. No matter what he did, he received no response. In fact, the more humble Lin Ge appeared, the more they loathed him!
Whenever there was a small conflict between Lin Ge and Lin Qingyang, they would unconditionally trust and side with Lin Qingyang, while blaming Lin Ge without a second thought, demanding apologies regardless of who was right.
In his past life, to gain their approval, Lin Ge would always suppress his own grievances and take the initiative to get along with Lin Qingyang, believing this hard-won family bond was worth cherishing.
Until the day before his eighteenth birthday, when Lin Qingyang suggested they all go to nearby Half Moon Lake to celebrate. A small yacht carrying Lin Ge and Lin Qingyang suddenly capsized, and both fell into the water. In their frantic rush to save Lin Qingyang, who had a leg cramp, everyone neglected that Lin Ge could not swim. He drowned before help could reach him. That suffocating feeling of being unable to breathe was something Lin Ge would never forget.
"Did even the heavens find it unbearable, and so gave me a chance to start over?"
Reflecting on this, Lin Ge felt a sense of melancholy. But this time, he was tired. He was truly exhausted. The home he had so desperately longed for and the affection he had so cherished had brought him nothing but pain and endless suffering.
If that was the case, then he didn't want it anymore.
The one pounding on the door was his sharp-tongued third sister, Lin Xinyi. She was stunningly beautiful, with a glamorous figure and a sweet voice. With her natural advantages and the Lin family's vast assets, she had achieved great success as a popular singer in the country. Unfortunately, she also had a volatile temper.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Seeing no movement inside, Lin Xinyi hammered on the door, furious. Unlike her second sister, who might simply ignore Lin Ge if she disapproved of him, Lin Xinyi refused to let things go. She believed that since Lin Ge had returned to the family, his bad habits and personality had to be corrected—and as the third sister, it was her duty. She was truly frustrated that her brother, who had returned halfway through life, was such a disappointment.
Lin Ge sat up in bed, his head splitting with pain.
Yesterday after school, Lin Qingyang had told him to wait so they could go home together. Lin Ge had sat in the classroom doing homework while waiting, but when the end of the day came, there was no sign of him. Lin Ge had to take the last bus home. The bus stop was quite a distance from the Lin villa, and it started to pour. Having no umbrella, he had to walk home in the rain. By midnight, he had developed a fever. He had been delirious since early morning; if not for his third sister’s noise, he would likely have slept until noon.
In truth, this wasn't the first time Lin Qingyang had toyed with him. The family car that took them to school was almost always used by Lin Qingyang; Lin Ge usually took the bus because Lin Qingyang would always find excuses to ditch him. Occasionally, when in a good mood, he would wait for Lin Ge, but more often than not, he would play these games. He would promise to wait, only to leave Lin Ge stranded. Sometimes, when it was too late to catch a bus, Lin Ge had to walk home.
Initially, Lin Ge had told his family about these incidents, but under Lin Qingyang’s sweet talk, they all chose to believe the cousin and instead grew angry at Lin Ge for "not managing his time properly." Eventually, Lin Ge just suffered in silence, knowing that speaking up was useless.
Given the family’s wealth, they could easily have arranged a separate car for him; everyone else in the house had a private car and a personal driver. His parents had said he had just returned and shouldn't be too flashy, and that he would get his own vehicle only after his identity was officially announced at eighteen.
In his past life, Lin Ge had believed those excuses. Only now did he realize that they simply had never accepted him in their hearts.
There are many kinds of love, but their preference was clearly not for him.