But then he was reborn and it was the time he had health issues aggravating, he truly did not know why he was reborn. What he did not know was that Sheng Wei from the Sheng family he brought down in his previous life was reborn too. Now he reached agreement with his father that Lin Lu will live at the Sheng family and Sheng Wei was working hard on bringing everyone he cared for, Lin Lu's partner Bai Jiyan and Lin Lu's father Lin Haitian down, but he had no idea that his revenge was against people Lin Lu now deeply hated. So even if he showed shocked and sad face deep inside Lin Lu wanted to laugh out loud.
I greatly liked this novel. Even if I found it a bit draggy for my taste, but I still read it in one go, spent several days consuming the content and was quite satisfied. Probably because I liked the portrayal, it was simple, but it was delievered. Explanation to some details that I liked in the spoilers section.
Note: The disease that Lin Lu has is completely fictional and does not exist, it exists solely for the plot, but Lin Lu in general has weak constitution and immune system, so he is more often prone to colds, fevers, low blood pressure, blod sugar etc. This is where his symptoms come from in the novel.
I truly liked the settings and how it evolved. Because both protags were more like enemies. To be precise it was Sheng Wei who treated Lin Lu like one. Sheng Wei's family was bankrupt in previous life, but it was not all, he died in an accident, which he remembered was caused by faulty breaks, which means it was man-made. many of the things that happaned to him were put on Lin Lu's head. Only being close to Lin Lu for a long time he began to realize that the prejudice he had and the person in front of him gave him two different feelings.
Lin Lu indeed used many tricks to get what he wanted, but as we find out that he was not without a bottom line, the one who truly hated Sheng Wei till his teeth broke was actually Bai Jiyan, Lin Lu's partner. Many of the most sinister moves against the Sheng were not directed by Lin Lu.
Even Lin Lu's "scandals" are nothing more but smoke, since he can have a loud mouth, which makes it feel that Lin Lu doesn't feel shame, but it's comepletely different, he was never unreserved.
Understanding this truth brought Sheng Wei a lot of headache, because from one side he understood that he wasn't against Lin Lu as much as before, but from another point the hatred from the past life was weighing down on him.
On Lin Lu's side for his Sheng Wei's move was the best at that moment, he had to sign agreement where he is obliged not to help Lin family and the company founded with Bai Jiyan - Shuangmu. It was the best excuse for him to distance himself from people he hated and who betrayed him. It wasn't about love, he just hated them for betraying his trust, so we have a glimpse of what Lin Lu seeks in friendship and relationships.
For the first part of the story Lin Lu indeed acts like a glass doll, but eventually it's revealed that it's not only the physical condition but also psychological. Lin Lu was living with the thought of dying, he knows that eventually he will die and that is why he has such pessimistic outlook on everything. This is why he never understood why he was reborn. Even when Sheng Wei did not shy away of showing his hostility he believed that maybe he indeed did many bad things and deserved what is happening to him again. What both did not know, ironically, is that Sheng Wei might not know Lin Lu was terminally ill in his previous life and was betrayed and Lin Lu had no idea how Sheng Wei's life ended. Feeling guilty Lin Lu went along with Sheng Wei. But one should not think that Sheng Wei acted out of boundries, absolutely not. What he did was nothing more but counter-attack some underhanded moves from Bai Jiyan. It was his right to get rid of people who snooped in the company and revealed information to Bai Jiyan. Like he prevented several dirty moves that were used against him in his previous life. What Sheng Wei did was truly great as from the business perspective, but Bai Jiyan made moves that were truly dirty only because he bore hatred and his motivation was mostly personal.
Only later when Shuangmu was brought down and the Lin family went through several turmoils Sheng Wei's revenge seemed to be complete, but from another side he realized his feelings for Lin Lu changed and how could he earn the person, whose closest people he destroyed, back. And Lin Lu who also realized that after such a long time he had feelings for Sheng Wei, but he had no idea what to do, after all Sheng Wei had some hatered for him previously and also, how can he entangle with the person if he knows he will be gone soon. Sheng Wei did so much in the shopping malls, but actually was the most attentive when it came to his body condition.
Main characters.
Lin Lu. I must admit that his character is quite vivid and he doesn't come as completely bad or a good person, he is a combination of many things. He also has a strong will I'd say, because it takes some strength to still act with people you truly dislike from previous life and he does not lash out. When he is kind he is kind to others, but when he is bad, he is actually pretty low-key about it, you will realize it while reading. You can figure out his temperament through many situations that happened, so his porrayal to me is quite vivid. I also like the fact that he is not one-sided, like an eternal kind person or entirely enraged person who was betrayed. When it comes to interpersonal relationships you could use the term of green tea, but it's not entirely the case, he is more than that, he's Premium class. It needs an explanation. Lin Lu knows he is handsome and avokes affinity in other people when they talk, he is very attentive and friendly, he never puts on airs even he is an heir to a huge company who talks with a common office worker. Throughout the novel you can see that he can easily make others open up, but it's not veiled with evil intentions and he is not fully hypocritical, he just knows how to communicate and feels like a fish in water when he does so. Also he does admit that he does/did many things to his own advances, but it doesn't mean that he only takes and doesn't give anything back. Like his best friend noted "it's hard not to like Lin Lu, even those who might dislike him at first might end up liking him in the end, if they spend more time together". For example, there was a situation where this friend had a temporary star girlfriend and she asked for a dress which was hard to rent and Lin Lu was the one who connected with the designer, since he had those connections. Also there is an observation from Sheng Wei who witnessed how Lin Lu remembered people's names clearly, knew their position, knew their family members, remembered everyone's health problems, what they did etc. He held a huge amount of information inside of his head. You know there is a saying about being liked by children, animals and elderly people, well Lin Lu is that type of person. But when it comes to green tea premium I'll give you an example as well, because Lin Lu was reborn he knew Bai Jiyan had a lover on the side and this lover looked a bit like him, especially with make-up on, he knows the name and many things about the two. Lin Lu did not proactively seek revenge on this person, at first he had no idea if this stand-in named Qiao Hanghang had an idea about Lin Lu's existence, but after a chance encounter he knew that Hanghang was mcuh aware that he was a mistress, one who wants to become the main palace. His actions were just a reaction to Hanhang's "provocation". The situation was as follows, Lin Lu spent some time in an orchard mannor and neighboring place was occupied by a variety show, Qiao Hanghang with the help of Bai Jiyan built an image of a noble and rich person but down to earth, this program connected to the main house and Lin lu took part in the game, about jewelry, but guests had no ready answers, so they had no idea. Hanghang who knows nothing about jewelry of course lost. After this episode aired his reputation plummetted and overturned. Some still supported him. To be "kind" Lin Lu phones Bai Jiyan and started talking about Hanghang, but only on the verge when Bai Jiyan thought Lin Lu discovered his relationship with Hanghang, Lin Lu eased his conscience when talked that he wanted Hanghang to endorse Shuangmu as a compensation to online contraversy. He did not care, but sounded like a good person, but I thought this move was so poisonous, because Lin Lu was also aware that Sheng Wei acted very roughly during that time and sent several blows to Shuangmu and he might follow along and expose Hanghang online to give Shuangmu another blow. Hanghang was ecstatic, he wanted to be famous and not only spend time drinking with bosses, but at this point the black material about him not only visiting some drinking parties with bosses were revealed online, it was also mentioned that he took part in avoiding taxes, so his career ended there. Bai Jiyan no matter how reluctant chose the company and did not protect Hanghang. Simple situation but shows who is who. This is why I say it's low-key but poisonous. At other times Lin Lu actually does great moves of kindness, like he saved a girl in the hospital or he also saved Tongtong who is Sheng Wei's niece, he never thought about benefits when he did that.
Sheng Wei. Unlike Lin Lu he is more straightforward, domineering and doesn't give many people face. He does what he wants. But he's not like an open book that will allow you to read everything. He made many plans and preparations and his past life not only gave him experience to avoid traps of past life, but he gained experience to look further. Maybe because they are on the opposite of the spectrum this is why they connected so well with Lin Lu. Sheng Wei was always a healthy and strong personality and only together with Lin Lu he learnt to be more careful, even if he grumpily commented like someone is so squemish, after all Lin Lu looked like he will be blown away by the wind. He is quite a resolute person. But what I liked is that he is not portrayed as someone smarter than Lin Lu, on the contrary at some point he admitted that he might have deserved to be defeated by Lin Lu. He always considered Lin Lu a cunning fox and everyone else is a coop of chickens ahahaa. At first he was pretty resolute with his feelings about Lin Lu, but later when things started to reveal he realized that Lin Lu might not be as he remembered him. To be honest if it wasn't his past life he might as well also fall under Lin Lu's spell, but he kept on going for a long time. Together they were actually each others' first love.
Secondary characters.
There are many and they are interconnected, so the story feels quite full.
Because the first part of the story has a lot of just homely content, since Lin Lu always got sick and such, he spent a lot of time at Sheng Wei's house with Aunt Xu a cook and the housekeeper. Because Lin Lu look frail and sickly he always makes people look after him, so everyone at the house had affection for him. But you can see that Lin Lu cared for them too, like gave Aunt Xu confidence to finish nutritionist courses, helped her son, always brought back things from other places.
Another circle is the firend circle. Eventually we know that Lin Lu keeps in touch only with two closest people, one is his assitant Jiang Xuewen who was meticulous in his job and also cared for Lin Lu and as we know did not talk to Lin Lu as boss and subordinate (other assistants who sold themselves in last life he fired after his rebirth), another person is his friend Lou Yang, coming also from a prominent background of biggest entertainment company.
Sheng Wei's circle is wider, but mainly two people are mentioned, Yu Yao who is a very friendly and loud personality and Shen Xiuwei, whose lover is connected to Lin Lu's past and what will happen in the end. His circle is more open-minded and does not act like a bunch of people acting to seek benefits.
As for family member, maybe they should have been mentioned first, but they leave such a bad taste and that is why they don't deserve it. Lin Haitian is Lin Lu's father, he married his mother Ou Yunyun, but she had a genetic disease and had lived in a nursing home after a breakdown, so we don't hear about her often before she finally passes away. Lin Haitian is mainly face-loving person seeiking benefits, so he doesn't mind sending Lin Lu away. If it was his bloved son Lin Xuanche the story will be different. He was always surrounded by his secretary Aunt Xuan. As Lin Lu admitted he did not take her seriously, because he was too conceited and never actually delved into their relationship, thus he failed to find out the truth and that Lin Haitian had an illegitimate son older than him and his mother was this Aunt Xuan. About them in spoilers.
Uncle Sheng, Sheng Wei's father was actually a good old man, even if he often fought with Sheng Wei, but he cared about him. His wife died when Sheng Wei was young, so he was hit too hard and work and everything else lost meaning for him, thus he delegated his power to Sheng Wei when he was old enough. He spent a long time in mourning, but eventually failed to see his son growing up and regretted about it. Lin Lu was actually quite a connection between them. Since many elderly like Lin Lu, Uncle Sheng did not stay untouched. Sheng Qian is Sheng Wei's aunt, her daughter Tongtong and her appear in the story too.
Bai Jiyan chased after Lin Lu for years and maybe this is what earned him place close to Lin Lu, yet Lin Lu didn't completely love him, so his feelng of hatred had nothing to do with love, just betrayal of trust. The co-founded company was mostly built thanks to Lin Lu's connections. After Lin Lu resigned and lived at Sheng's the story showed that without Lin Lu many things crumbled down and it showed the difference between the two. Bai Jiyan is the basic vain person who despises others who are lower than him, but enjoys the feeling of being sought after. This is also the biggest difference between the two, since Lin Lu is an actual heir and a wealthy person without this company, but he never treats people badly. Bai Jiyan's feelins are quite cheap and in the end when his affair was revealed he tried to wriggle out of it. Everyone else is at fault but not me, the basic idea behind it. They are actually quite a match between him and Qiao Hanghang. After all Hanghang entered the company and served the bosses, later he was found by Bai Jiyan and felt he was cared for and was greedy for success and love. Nothing bad about it, but he also knew he was a mistress. In previous life his gifts and businesses were opened in the name of Lin Lu, he took things without much guilt.
Relationship.
I thought it was quite good. Although by the end it was a bit of a bundle when they realized their feelings and faced a predicament, but in general it was quite okay. Their start is the worst though, not entirely enemies, but it's not a good beginning. Although Sheng Wei is so sharp, but he actually cared and never left Lin Lu when it came to his health. Lin Lu on the other side for the first time felt what it is like to be in love even if their beginning wasn't the best.
Their feelings grew slowly. With conenction and understanding of each other. Also comparison existed too.
At first they simply co-existed in the same house, Sheng Wei still bore anger, while Lin Lu could tease from time to time.
Later Sheng Wei's opinion changed, but another question popped up, how will he confess when he caused Lin Lu's ex to go bankrupt and Lin family to suffer.
Lin Lu realized the hostility from Sheng Wei and he was ready to be the sacrifice, but also he had no idea what to do because he believed his life will end and he loved Sheng Wei.
So they kind of danced around each other by the end and probed when they wanted to fight for love.
/!~SPOILERS~!/
It might not be a perfect story, I admit it. The beginning felt more draggy because it had a lot of daily interactions and a lot of ill Lin Lu. Sometimes something exciting happened, but it involved Sheng Wei's fight with Shuangmu and other things.
Sheng Wei brought his company further and survived several time nodes that existed in his previous life, but he turned tables around and it was Shuangmu who suffered defeat. Some are, the accident with an Expo center (where Bai Jiyan bribed a director not to allow Sheng company hold a presentation), robot competition (where Bai Jiyan wanted to steal data of Sheng team), shortening of the existing company (when Bai Jiyan thought he acquired new company along with Sheng's technology) and many other instances. You could see that Bai Jiyan always plays dirty. But eventually was defeated because Sheng Wei was ready for all traps.
What surprised me more was actually what happened in the Lin family actually.
Even if Lin Lu's mother was alive (but she lived in the nursing home), Lin Haitian brought his illegitimate son back, but to make people believe that he was first-born, he forged documents to make everyone believe that he was born to Ou Yunyun, but lived abroad all this time. This Lin Xuanche isn't really an opponent to Lin Lu because Lin Lu did not react as he thought he would. This is what is terrifying about Lin Lu, even if he knew about Lin Xuanche, but he went along with the story, he made people believe in this forged story of a first-born kid living abroad. I think this shows his inner confidence and not taking this guy into consideration at all. Although being conceited burned him in his past life, now he didn't care. Maybe it is also a confidence. It proved to be true. Even if Lin Xuanche was dragged around and Lin Hiatian paved the way for him unlike Lin Lu, he also wiped his butt because they faced several incidents. Lin Xuanche is not sought after as he expected, but because he did not grow up with these people he was actually blinded by the glitz. He allowed others to cater him when Lin Lu showed his positive attitude, but eventually he was not worth much, he also did the same thing as Bai Jiyan, they liked to be sought after, but they still look down on others. Though he himself is pretty aware that he is just an illegitimate son. His love from Lin Haitian was earned because he catered to what Lin Haitian liked in kids. To him Aunt Xuan was his first love and Ou Yunyun was a business marriage.
But glitz managed to blind the person. I somehow felt vivid about the portrayal, it was something more than just a description or an afterthought. First incident was about antiques, he spent all his savings to invest into antiques, but they were fakes, this is a set up y Lin Lu, pretty shabby, but it worked on Xuanche.
The big project promised by Sheng in previous life encountered natural disaster, thus it was a burden, he gave it to Lin Haitian (he also had doubts if Lin Lu gave it with ulterior motives). Because it was a disaster, Lin Haitian couldn't blame Sheng Wei. Another incident involved a house, which also suffered from landslide. All these incidents were broadcasted on the news, so Xuanche became quite famous. Another big pie as they thought involved Haitian's brother who passed away, his business was big but shady, in the end they encountered another Waterloo.
Failure after failure.
Lin Lu didn't even do much, but it doesn't mean he wasn't happy.
And the biggest reveal is in the end, because otherwise how you explain Lin Lu's health. Actually, there was a conspiracy and he realized that his health in past life deteriorated not without man-made causes.
He was diagnosed in the same place where his mother lived, because he knew Dr. Lu he trusted him, who knew he was connected to Aunt Xuan and forged his diagnosis. His medicine was changed to something that would cause him ealth damage if he took them on a regular basis. Lin Lu was actually healthy, it was only because the realization that he was about to die weighed down on him and he was depressed all the time, which allowed his condition to worsen. He is frail in nature, but he would be okay with positive outlook and taking care of himself. After figuring things out he sent all those involved, including Aunt Xuan, to jail. He even checked Xuanche and it happened that he was not the son of Haitian at all, but of his brother. As it happened Aunt Xuan dated his brother before him. Such unremarkable woman managed to lay low and waiting for success, but what she got was not wealth and prosperity, but bars.
Lin Haitian found out about it, but he did not actually change his ways. He did not even apologize to his son and thought he could rule with authority, but Lin Lu wasn't a soft persimmon and made Haitian to abdicate and retire. After all they did not share much love. Haitian spent his love on other people's children, lost all his face. But the only thing they did was not disclose illegitimate status of Xuanche.
And the ending. Which is connected to Shen Xiuwei's partner. This boy was from the same uni as Lin Lu, they met during a competition, but this boy asked Lin Lu to abdicate, because the boy was riddled with debts and he needed to win this competition, Lin Lu refused fo course, so the boy was offended by it and later dropped out. The final incident with fire involved Sheng Wei's dad. As it happened his dad had a copmay co-founded by three people, because they had different views they decided to divide. Sheng became prosperous, the other person Bai (Bai Jiyan's family, thus the hate) also started a company, but the third person cashed out. Later came back for more money. But this person's son also thought his father was cheated (which was not). Later he met this boy, they shared the same feeling of being chased by debtors etc. So when he approached Shen Xiuwei it wasn't for big feelings, but knowing Shen Xiuwei was brothers with Sheng Wei he leaked some information and such. The location of ski resort where they will stay was leaked by him. Thus the arson, thus Lin Lu jumped out of the window and also saved Tongtong. So you can see it as an example of people who blame others, if they don't move and they think were at fault.
/~/
Although not perfect, after all this novel has its' own misses, I still greatly enjoyed it. Maybe it's all about portrayal, that the main character was so dimensional. Some points that were interesting.
The medical part was certainly quite a miss, it was a bit of a bundle. But the reveal was quite okay.
The beginning and the interaction felt like not progressing, but then the dynamics were better. But to some it might feel draggy. I make it easy for myself, if some parts can be read dioganally, I did so.
RATE: 4,5/5. Rare occurance when the cover is consistent with the content - pretty :)
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