Chapter 4

Life, in fact, has never offered too many choices, even though we always think it is we who choose how to live our lives. In reality, when we look back, we often find that we have not had many choices and have simply walked down a predetermined path.

When you think you have seized the throat of fate, God will mercilessly mock your naivety. The lucky ones in this world are few, and the person who wins the lottery will definitely not be you.

When Cheng Xiaoyu saw the clock on the opposite wall ticking to half past six, he heard the steady footsteps in the corridor, neither fast nor slow, with a constant rhythm. Cheng Xiaoyu knew his father, Su Zhanghe, had arrived.

He was more familiar with his father's footsteps than his voice. In the past six months, Cheng Xiaoyu had rarely communicated with Su Zhanghe, and there had been no private conversations. Su Zhanghe had never called him son, and Cheng Xiaoyu had never called Su Zhanghe dad.

They almost communicated through Zhou Peipei. Cheng Xiaoyu had no prejudice against this very beautiful stepmother, but he did not call Zhou Peipei mom; he just called her Aunt Zhou.

Zhou Peipei was one of the few ballet dancers in the country. In her youth, she won the highest award at the Helsinki International Ballet Competition and the Best Female Dancer Award at the Boston International Ballet Competition. She was one of the top ballet dancers in the country and now taught at the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

The footsteps paused at the door for a few seconds, then the door opened.

Su Zhanghe was forty-five years old, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, with a neatly combed back hairstyle. His eyebrows were like willow leaves, his eyes narrow and sunken, his nose high and straight, his lips slightly thin, his figure tall and slender, almost to the point of being frail. He was dressed in a dark gray Zhongshan suit, and his leather shoes were polished to a shine.

He looked like a university teacher in his early thirties, with a refined and cold demeanor. Cheng Xiaoyu turned to look at Su Zhanghe, said nothing, and then turned his head to stare at the ceiling light.

Su Zhanghe remained silent for a while, seemingly waiting for Cheng Xiaoyu to speak first. Cheng Xiaoyu didn't know what to say; calling his father "dad" was not in his nature, and it was a difficult thing for him to do, no matter which identity he assumed.

Finally, Su Zhanghe gave in first, sighed, and said, "This time, you were lucky. The girl you hit came out of the critical period yesterday and is out of danger. The traffic police said if you hadn't swerved at the last moment, the girl would have died on the spot."

Cheng Xiaoyu was stunned because he had no memory of how he hit the girl. He only remembered that it had rained that day, and it was the one-year anniversary of his mother's death.

In Cheng Xiaoyu's memory, this was one of the few times Su Zhanghe had spoken to him in a gentle tone. Cheng Xiaoyu spoke in a low, hoarse voice, "I don't remember hitting anyone. I only remember driving to Zhongshan South Road to go to the Bund. When I woke up, I was in a car accident, and the girl was lying in front of me. I called the police, the ambulance came, and I was taken to the hospital, then I passed out."

Actually, Cheng Xiaoyu didn't tell the whole truth. That day, he didn't intend to go to the Bund but to Yuyuan. His mother, Cheng Qiuci, had performed "Butterfly Lovers" and "Dream of the Red Chamber" many times at the Yuyuan Theater.

Su Zhanghe didn't think much about it and said, "You rest well. I'll handle the accident, and you don't need to feel any psychological pressure. If you need anything, tell Aunt Zhou. She will come over later."

Cheng Xiaoyu responded with a "Oh" and said nothing more.

Su Zhanghe frowned and said, "I'll go talk to Dean Li to understand the situation. I'm busy these days and may not be able to come see you again. I'll ask Aunt Zhou to come more often." With that, he turned and left.

Cheng Xiaoyu let out a long breath. He wasn't used to being with such a cold father, and Su Zhanghe not coming to see him suited his wishes.

The time in this dimension was not the time of his previous life's accident but November 2009. Cheng Xiaoyu didn't know the exact date because he didn't know how long he had been unconscious.

After a while, the nurse who had appeared earlier came in with a cart, changed the IV fluid without any emotion, and then opened the foldable table on the bed, placing a bowl of mushy liquid food in front of Cheng Xiaoyu.

The nurse asked without any emotion, "Can you sit up by yourself?" Cheng Xiaoyu grumbled to himself but still made an effort to sit up.

Cheng Xiaoyu looked at the unappetizing food and turned to ask, "Do you have water?"

The nurse didn't say anything, found a disposable cup in the bedside cabinet, and poured a cup of warm water from the thermos under the bed for Cheng Xiaoyu.

Cheng Xiaoyu picked up the cup and drank it in one gulp. He didn't have the nerve to ask the nurse for more and reluctantly started eating the nutritional mush. During this time, the nurse poured another cup of water for Cheng Xiaoyu and reminded him not to drink too much.

Cheng Xiaoyu responded, "Okay," and then asked a question that had been on his mind for a long time, "How long have I been unconscious?"

The nurse replied, "More than two days. This is the third day."

Cheng Xiaoyu said "Oh" and then asked, "How did I go to the bathroom these past few days?"

The nurse blushed and didn't answer, then left the room.

Just as Cheng Xiaoyu was feeling confused, Aunt Zhou came in.

This time, Cheng Xiaoyu called out, "Aunt Zhou!"

Zhou Peipei was nearly 1.7 meters tall, wearing a beige long wool coat and black high boots. Her ballet training gave her an excellent figure, with long arms and legs and a well-proportioned body, making her stand out. She was beautiful and graceful, with a refined and elegant presence that exuded a cold and noble aura.

Zhou Peipei pulled a wooden stool from the door and sat by the bed. She took a breath and said, "Xiaoyu, I'm not saying this to scold you, but you were too careless this time. Hitting someone has caused your father a lot of trouble. Now it's in the newspapers, saying that a rich kid was speeding and hit someone in the city. The internet is in an uproar, and even your sister has been affected."

Cheng Xiaoyu's face turned slightly red, and he said awkwardly, "I'm sorry, Aunt Zhou. I've caused you trouble."

Aunt Zhou was a bit displeased and helpless, saying, "What good does it do to say sorry to me? All the trouble is on your father. You should say sorry to him."

Cheng Xiaoyu was speechless. Thinking about how Su Zhanghe hadn't mentioned any of this, he changed the subject and asked, "How is the girl who was hit now?"

Aunt Zhou knew that the rift between father and son wouldn't be resolved in a day or two, so she didn't press the issue. She said slowly, "The girl is out of danger now, but she hasn't woken up yet. She's a student at our school and quite famous. There are many posts on the school forum saying they want to find you and cause trouble. The whole school is in an uproar. Fortunately, according to the surveillance, you were slightly speeding, but not enough to be considered dangerous driving. The police investigation results are out, and the media is reporting that your uncle has called in favors. The public opinion has calmed down a bit."

Only then did Cheng Xiaoyu realize how serious the situation was. He remembered that when he arrived at the hospital, reporters were already waiting. He was surprised and said, "It's that serious?"

"The reporters went to your school to interview. The teachers said you sleep in class, don't study hard, and your grades are the worst in the class. Your classmates didn't say anything good about you, saying you sleep in class, eat snacks, and sometimes skip school. What can I say? After half a year of school, you don't have a single classmate who can say something good about you. For this, your father blamed me!" Aunt Zhou said with a teasing tone.

Cheng Xiaoyu felt a bit overwhelmed and thought, "This image is so bad, it's hard to salvage! Fortunately, I'm still a rich kid; otherwise, I might as well have been hit and reborn." But he said sincerely, "Aunt Zhou, I will take my studies seriously from now on. I really don't remember hitting anyone, but I will apologize properly when the girl wakes up. It was raining that day, and the visibility was poor, plus the road was slippery, so..."

Cheng Xiaoyu felt a bit embarrassed but knew this wasn't the time to shirk responsibility. He didn't feel guilty about hitting someone, as he was also a victim in a sense, and he really had no memory of the incident.

Aunt Zhou didn't blame Cheng Xiaoyu much for the accident. She just talked to him about how unfavorable the public opinion was, and how the internet had almost demonized Cheng Xiaoyu, portraying him as a spoiled rich kid who did nothing but cause trouble.

Fortunately, Cheng Xiaoyu's uncle, Su Zhangqing, was the deputy minister of the Central Propaganda Department. After making calls to the relevant authorities, the mainstream media and online reports started to shift, saying that the family of the perpetrator was actively compensating and showing a video proving that the perpetrator had swerved to hit the roadside barrier, risking his own safety. They also mentioned that Cheng Xiaoyu had studied in the U.S. and used an American driver's license, was unfamiliar with the local road conditions, and the rain had affected visibility. Many radical posts about Cheng Xiaoyu's family background were deleted. Fortunately, Cheng Xiaoyu was unconscious at the time of the accident and didn't flee the scene; otherwise, he would have faced a much worse outcome.

Before leaving, Aunt Zhou gave Cheng Xiaoyu a new phone and a laptop. Cheng Xiaoyu played with the Great Wall phone for a while. It had only three phone numbers, all entered by Aunt Zhou: Dad, Aunt Zhou, and Sister.

The technology in this era was roughly on par with that of another timeline, with only some local differences. Specifically, China's technological strength was slightly weaker than the U.S. In 2009, the largest global mobile phone manufacturer was China's Great Wall, followed by Nokia. Apple's iPhone 1 had only been released in the U.S. the previous year and hadn't made much of a splash in the global market. Samsung, the Korean company, had become the largest contract manufacturer for China.

Due to the lack of widespread MP3 technology and the effective protection of intellectual property in China, there was no threat of piracy, and online downloads required payment. As a result, the music industry was in its golden age.

The popular music of this era was quite different from that of another timeline. Due to China's rise, many African Americans had moved to China, with many now living in Taiwan, Guangzhou, and Hunan, significantly reducing the African American population in the U.S. Additionally, the export of Chinese culture meant that many African Americans and Caucasians could sing traditional Chinese opera and Yueju opera. The mainstream of Chinese popular music was folk songs, folk ballads, and songs from TV dramas and movies.

Due to the lack of influence from African American music, genres like blues, rap, and soul had not become mainstream in the U.S. The mainstream of American popular music was rock, jazz, country, and dance music. Popular music as a whole did not have the same high social status as in the previous timeline. Those who performed traditional opera, played the piano, and conducted symphonies were considered the true musicians, the highbrow of the music world.

Cheng Xiaoyu's recovery was going well, and he could use the bathroom by himself the day after he woke up. He found out that he had been wearing adult diapers for more than two days, and the nurse who changed them was the cold and distant Hu Lili.

Cheng Xiaoyu, a seasoned old hand, wasn't embarrassed by the fact that a young nurse had seen him naked. Instead, the nurse blushed every time she saw him, as she had only recently been transferred to the special care ward, and in the regular ward, such tasks were usually done by family members.

Hu Lili's poor impression of Cheng Xiaoyu was not only due to the media and newspapers. Rich kids who were ugly and unkind were often portrayed as villains in movies and TV shows. Moreover, the victim was in the special care ward on the floor below, cared for by another nurse. During breaks, she often heard her colleague talk about how the victim's mother wept by her daughter's bedside, a heart-wrenching sight, especially since the girl was beautiful and innocent.

So, when Hu Lili gave Cheng Xiaoyu an injection, she always tried to stick him multiple times, thinking that the "fatso" had thick skin and veins that were hard to find. Even if he complained, she had a good excuse to give the head nurse.

Cheng Xiaoyu didn't notice the nurse's ulterior motives, thinking she was just inexperienced. He didn't blame her and silently endured it, even smiling at her after each injection. This smile, however, made the nurse feel even more disgusted, thinking the "fatso" had ulterior motives, and her attitude toward Cheng Xiaoyu became even worse.

Aunt Zhou came every evening, bringing plenty of food from De Shantang, such as braised chicken with chestnuts, braised pork lion's head, crab meat tofu, and fermented tofu meat, with a different dish each day. Cheng Xiaoyu, who ate everything, often ate until he was sweating and full, and after meals, he would think about how he had already entered a carefree life of eating and waiting to die.

Aunt Zhou didn't talk much when she came. She usually smiled and watched him eat, helped clean up his room, chatted a bit, and then left. On the first day, she talked about the accident, but after that, she didn't mention it again. Cheng Xiaoyu had also offered to visit the girl, but Aunt Zhou said to ask his father. The matter was left unresolved.

Cheng Xiaoyu never got to see the victim, who was just one floor below.

When Cheng Xiaoyu was almost fully recovered, he walked around the hospital to stretch his legs. He noticed people pointing and whispering, so he stopped going out. He spent his days in bed, using the laptop to surf the internet. The special care ward had broadband, not Wi-Fi, which hadn't been widely adopted yet.

Cheng Xiaoyu had also gone on the school forum and Baidu Tieba out of curiosity. The top post on the homepage was about him, titled "Rich Kid Speeding Causes Tragedy, SHTA Beauty Still in Coma."

Public opinion in this era was relatively open, and even someone in the Central Propaganda Department like Su Zhangqing couldn't just ban it. He could only request that websites delete some radical posts that violated privacy.

However, Cheng Xiaoyu couldn't escape the backlash. His school photos were all over the internet, and his unappealing appearance, compared to the victim's delicate beauty, only fueled public anger.

Cheng Xiaoyu clicked into the post and learned that the girl was Pei Yanchen, the new SHTA beauty, who had been the top scorer in the humanities in Hunan Province for the college entrance exam. She had aced the interview, singing "Daiyu Buries the Flowers" and stunning everyone. She had entered the SHTA's opera performance program as the top student, seen as the most promising star after the famous actress Jiang Lan.

SHTA and the Central Conservatory of Music were known as the cradles of Chinese arts, often referred to as "South SHTA, North CCM." These were the hardest art schools to get into, with almost all the top opera talents concentrated in these two institutions. Every year, the Plum Blossom Awards