Volume One, Chapter One: Rebirth and Revenge

Zhang Han shuddered violently, the chilly July morning wind rushing in through the car window as he opened his eyes.

He stared in disbelief at the swiftly receding scenery outside, his heart pounding wildly.

Smack!

He slapped himself hard—pain shot through him.

He had been reborn.

Looking at the familiar surroundings, Zhang Han could barely contain his excitement. He never imagined he would have the chance to live again, returning to this critical turning point where he had once been framed.

“Zhang Han, what’s wrong with you?”

“Are you just too excited about finally becoming a man?”

His “best friend” Yang Song, sitting beside him, looked at Zhang Han with puzzled eyes, but a barely perceptible cold smile flickered at the corner of his lips.

Zhang Han turned his head and stared at Yang Song, a glint of icy light flashing briefly in the depths of his eyes.

What a great friend he was—truly.

The two had been inseparable, and it was no exaggeration to say that Yang Song’s every expense in high school—dining out with girls, buying gifts, even paying off the trouble when Yang Song broke another boy’s bones for a girl—had all come from Zhang Han’s pocket.

Even during a slump in Yang Song’s studies, it was Zhang Han who tutored him one-on-one every night.

As for his so-called girlfriend Liu Xin, he had flattered her for over two years—not just her, but her parents as well. Her father’s cigarettes and alcohol, her mother’s cosmetics—he paid for all of it.

Yet, for money, the two families had conspired to trap him—breaking and entering, drugging, all manner of crimes. In the end, Zhang Han had handed over five million for a settlement, but was still sentenced to eight years!

Eight years!

Did they know how he survived those eight years?

Heh… Zhang Han clenched his fists. “Of course I’m excited. She’s Liu Xin, after all—our class beauty, one of the top five beauties in the whole school. After two years of effort, I’m finally about to succeed. Wouldn’t you be excited?”

Eight years in prison had made Zhang Han calm and unflappable. Even now, looking at the friend who had ruined his life, he felt only the faintest ripple inside.

Yet it was those very eight years that had forged him into a ruthless man. Through his own connections, he had learned the real reasons behind the betrayal—why Yang Song and Liu Xin’s family had set him up.

There had been reasons behind their actions.

“Too bad I’m not as lucky as you—money and girls,” Yang Song joked breezily.

Ten minutes later, the taxi stopped in front of Liu Xin’s apartment complex.

They were both all too familiar with the place.

Soon, the door opened, and the beautiful Liu Xin appeared, dressed provocatively in revealing sleepwear. Unlike her previous perfunctory attitude, today she smiled with a genuine, wanton charm.

A woman’s allure had nothing to do with age.

Although Liu Xin had just come of age, her figure was flawless—ample where it counted, slim with not an ounce of excess flesh. Her features leaned toward pure and innocent, earning her the title of “bare-faced goddess” at school. Coupled with her explosive figure, the contrast made her a stunning sight on campus.

“Come in, come in,” Liu Xin greeted them, her manner open and poised, unbothered by Zhang Han and Yang Song’s gazes roaming over her pale skin. Instead, she deliberately straightened her slender back, letting them feast their eyes.

If it had been before, Zhang Han would have been beside himself with excitement. Now, however, he felt nothing but a trace of amusement.

He’d come to Liu Xin’s home because she had messaged him the day before, asking him to join her in a “transformation.”

It was obvious she was setting him up, but it was easy to ensnare a naive young man.

He would later learn it was all a plot, a carefully laid trap against him.

Now, reborn, Zhang Han’s first instinct was to make sure both families suffered tenfold, a hundredfold in return!

“Sit, sit. I’ll get you something to drink,” Liu Xin said, turning to the kitchen and exposing her smooth, delicate back.

Yang Song patted Zhang Han’s shoulder. “I’ll go help. You go take a shower. Don’t worry, I’ll keep watch downstairs—make sure you become a man in one go!”

Zhang Han arched a brow at Yang Song, knowing full well what he was about to do—drug the drinks.

In court, it had been proven that both Zhang Han and Liu Xin had drugs in their system.

At this very moment, Liu Xin’s parents were also waiting somewhere downstairs.

Zhang Han went to the bathroom, but didn’t really shower—he simply washed his hair and splashed some water.

On the coffee table sat three glasses of water.

One in front of Yang Song, one for Liu Xin, and the last—clearly for him—laced with a potent drug.

“By the way, Yang Song, I just remembered I forgot to buy something. Can you run downstairs and get it for me?” Zhang Han said after sitting down.

Yang Song glanced subtly at Liu Xin. “First time—do you really need it?”

“Go on, go on,” Zhang Han teased. “I’m not about to go to college with a son in tow.”

Liu Xin rolled her eyes at Zhang Han, pouting playfully. “You’re so annoying~”

“Go on,” Zhang Han handed Yang Song a hundred yuan. With no choice, Yang Song got up and left.

The moment Yang Song left, Zhang Han feigned impatience and lunged at Liu Xin on the sofa. Her eyes filled with disgust, but for the sake of over two million yuan, she endured, pushing Zhang Han away and whining, “What’s the rush? Yang Song hasn’t brought the stuff back yet. Don’t tell me you want me to get pregnant?”

“I’m going to take a shower first,” Liu Xin said, forcing herself to offer him a little benefit—a kiss on the forehead.

As the bathroom door closed, Zhang Han’s expression turned cold. He wasn’t bad-looking, had a good figure, and was wealthy—yet because he had groveled before her, she despised him.

He admitted Liu Xin had some beauty, but she was hardly out of his league.

He looked at the three glasses of water, and switched his with Yang Song’s. Downstairs, Yang Song, anxious to get back, would sprint to the store and rush right back up—hot and sweaty in the July heat.

When he returned, Liu Xin had just finished showering—she must have been timing it perfectly from the window.

“Here,” Yang Song tossed the protection onto the coffee table, grabbed the glass in front of him, and downed more than half in one gulp.

Zhang Han picked up the glass before him and drained it. Seeing both men drink, Liu Xin grasped her own glass, tilted her head, and emptied it in a few swallows, a trickle of water running down her chin to her collarbone, enticing and provocative.

“I’ll leave you two to it. I’ll go keep watch downstairs,” Yang Song said with a sly grin, pulling out his phone to send a message.

“Oh—oh—” Zhang Han clutched his stomach and cried out, “Wait, wait a minute—I’ve got a stomachache.”

He dashed into the shower room, pulled out his phone, and calmly checked the time.

As expected, within five minutes, sounds echoed from the living room—noises that needed no description.

Zhang Han flung open the bathroom door and rushed out. The two were already half-naked, only a step away from the final act. Zhang Han whipped out his phone and started recording, shouting, “Yang Song, what are you doing?”

“Are you crazy?!”

The next second, chaos erupted on the screen, mingled with a man’s screams and, inevitably, a few accidental punches landing on Liu Xin’s face.

“I was trying to save you, but Yang Song resisted and I accidentally hit you”—a perfectly reasonable excuse, wasn’t it?

Reborn, Zhang Han wanted a good reason to give them both a beating to vent his anger.

Beating people wasn’t right—but damn, it felt good.