Seize the Throne

Chapter 4: Returning And Escaping.

Crazy?

Of course, Bian Yi knew that he wasn’t normal. But how could he be normal, after spending so much time in that hellhole?

Especially when he saw Bian Yu’s face and heard his voice.

Bian Yu had always been attracted to Kou Li, which Bian Yi had known for a long time. Due to this, Bian Yi never gave Bian Yu the chance to get close to his family, even when his father asked Bian Yi to bring his husband and son home for New Years. Bian Yi will never eat at the same table as Bian Yu.

Bian Yu was the son of Bian Yi’s stepmother, and he was 3 years younger than Bian Yi. Although he wasn’t considered an illegitimate child, Bian Yu’s mother was already pregnant with him when Bian Yi’s parents were just going through the divorce process.

For that reason, Bian Yi’s father felt somewhat ashamed, and didn’t force Bian Yi to get along with his brother.

However, even though Bian Yi didn’t want to interact with Bian Yu, Bian Yu was always trying to get in the way of both husbands.

Before Bian Yi got kidnapped, Bian Yu took every opportunity, with a very poor performance, to flirt with Bian Yi’s husband. But these acts could only be described with one word, ‘tragic’.

When Guan Xi came, he became close friends with Bian Yu, allowing him to enter Bian Yi’s house. At that, Bian Yu showed off to Kou Li.

There were two purposes to this.

Firstly, through Bian Yu’s performance, Guan Xi would enjoy the fact that Kou Li’s heart wasn’t moved by anyone else. Secondly, while showing the appearance of a white lotus, Guan Xi liked to be with Bian Yu. Better said, he liked to watch Bian Yu’s falsely smiling at Guan Xi, because Bian Yu’s eyes couldn’t hide the jealousy he felt.

However, if things stood at these unnecessary disputes and jealousy, everything would’ve been alright. After all, when Bian Yi saw Guan Xi and Bian Yu together, he just felt that these two were extremely ridiculous.

But it just so happened that these two foolish and vain men made up their minds to harm his Xiao-Shu.

Bian Yu introduced a pianist to Guan Xi. A renowned and talented musician. Guan Xi saw this man as a target to obtain more points the moment he saw him.

In order to create opportunities for him, Guan Xi invited this pianist to be Xiao-Shu’s teacher through Bian Yu. The only thing Guan Xi could see was a simple man, but he didn’t even bother to check the pianist’s personal life, nor did he notice the disgusting gaze this man had been sending to Xiao-Shu.

Bian Yi squeezed the picture frame beside the nightstand, closed his bloodshot eyes, and took a deep breath. However, the intense hatred he felt in his chest couldn’t be reduced.

The picture frame he was squeezing was one of Kou Li holding Xiao-Shu up. That photo was taken by Bian Yi, for the father and son duo, in the garden of their house. The sunlight looked very dazzling in the photo, while the father and son smiled gently and naively. But, what about the photographer’s smile? It must have been as bright and happy, right?

As if the sunlight in the photo had stung his eyes, Bian Yi squinted with slight pain, finally putting the photo back to its original place.

“If you don’t want Xiao-Shu to visit you in prison in the future, calm down.” Kou Li’s voice sounded at the door. His voice was much more normal than before. But, of course, his voice still sounded harsh in Bian Yi’s ears.

Bian Yi didn’t know when Kou Li came in, and he didn’t care either. As Bian Yi lifted the quilt, he glanced at the bed in disgust. With a smile on his face, he replied with irony: “If it weren’t for Xiao-Shu, do you really think that you’d still be standing over there? Talking to me?”

Kou Li became silent.

Bian Yi snorted again. As he walked towards the door, seeing how Kou Li looked up and down at him, he added: “What, you don’t want to talk anymore? I thought you would say, ‘A-Yi, you’ve changed’.”

Kou Li was so smart, how couldn’t he know that Bian Yi had changed? Bian Yi didn’t know what Kou Li needed to look at and explore about him.

Instead of trying to talk to this man, Bian Yi bumped Kou Li’s shoulder as he went to choose a guest room to rest in.

After Bian Yi left, Kou Li walked to the bed and pulled out an additional piece of broken glass from under the pillow Bian Yi had slept on. It looked similar to the piece that had been placed against Bian Yu’s neck, but it was more slender and sharp.

At this moment, Uncle Hua, the butler, came to inform Kou Li which guest room Bian Yi was resting in. He also asked Kou Li if Bian Yu, who was almost scared to death by Bian Yi, needed to be consoled, and if there was a need to respond to the questions asked by the people who were still in the hall.

“Ask them to leave.” Kou Li’s tone wasn’t fierce. Together with the glasses on the bridge of his nose, his appearance looked more gentle, which was the total opposite from his previous crazy appearance when Bian Yi had arrived home. As Kou Li took the photo by the bedside, he opened the photo frame and threw the frame into the trash can. “Throw away everything on this bed.”

“Including the bed.”

Uncle Hua was stunned for a while, feeling like this scene was a bit familiar. But he adjudicates that it must be due to his old age, which made him unable to remember things from time to time.

He then responded to Kou Li and went to arrange for someone to clean it up.

A year ago, the youngest son of the Kou family, Kou Li, saw that his other brothers were about to subdivide the Senyuan Biotechnology Laboratory he created. In just one year, who would’ve thought that Kou Li would achieve his current status?

Uncle Hua wasn’t stupid, nor does he like to be smart. He just likes to do his job well, and get paid on time. As for other things, he doesn’t have the time to ask any more questions.

Bian Yi was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

He had been in this guest room before. Whenever Bian Yi got angry at Kou Li, he would hide away here. It’s just that he had never slept here alone.

When he had casually entered the room earlier, he didn’t recognize this room; but now that he remembered this place, he wanted to change rooms. However, he didn’t have the energy to move.

Bian Yi felt very tired. He wanted to rest, but his mind was filled with the smiling face of his son, the moment Bian Yu pretended to cry, and the moment Kou Li choked him violently. Bian Yi was scared to close his eyes, fearing that when he opened them again, he would be back into that place, with three flat walls and a huge screen.

There were also a variety of sounds inside Bian Yi’s mind. In addition to the voice of his Xiao-Shu calling him ‘Daddy One’, Kou Li’s sentence was the clearest among them.

‘Seventeen years? Finally back?’

‘Was Kou Li also reborn? Did he come back in time earlier than me? Or did I remember the wrong number of years?’

Bian Yi changed to a side-lying position, hiding his hands in front of his chest, clenching a fruit fork in his right hand. The fork was small and exquisite, but it gave him a little sense of security.

The sense of fatigue swept through him over and over again. Bian Yi was really tired, and he was too lazy to think about Kou Li’s problem. In other words, even if Kou Li was reborn, so what?

Kou Li mentioned more than ten years, which meant that he was able to recognize Guan Xi at first sight. Which meant that if Kou Li recognized Guan Xi the first time he saw him, Kou Li still let him live in their house for more than ten years. Guan Xi let a wolf enter his house, and when that wolf had already entered the room, Kou Li still didn’t protect his son from the mouth of the wolf.

This sin was unforgivable.

Bian Yi hated him to the bone.

The people who came to Kou Li’s house, after Uncle Hua asked them to leave, were now gathering in the main entrance.

As soon as Kou Li stepped out of the door, the group of people still gathering together were leaning on the old man behind Kou Li, accusing him of rudeness and frivolity. One by one, they spoke vigorously, but no one dared to speak too loudly.

Just when everyone was ready to leave, they saw the police coming, followed by the most renowned psychiatrist from Beijing.

The police didn’t come here for Bian Yu’s matter, but for Bian Yi’s kidnapping case. Their arrival confirmed that the kidnapping had been real.

It was really strange that no one could tell real vs fake. As long as they saw him, who couldn’t tell if he’s the real one or not? Not only Kou Li and the Bian family, but even Bian Yi’s mother couldn’t find out? Perhaps, they sensed something wasn’t right, but they couldn’t imagine this route?

After all, Bian Yi wasn’t a well-mannered man. He was quite improper, someone who prefered to be part of the Entertainment Industry as an actor. As a young man, he had already won several awards. Meaning that if he were to change attitudes all of a sudden, perhaps the people around him would think that he had received a new script and got too immersed in the role.

When the police came with the psychiatrist, the group of people’s inquisitive minds felt even more heavy. But no one expressed their curiosity in the open, and no one dared to shamelessly rely on their identity as Elders to accompany the police into Kou Li’s house.

Bian Yi intended to rest, so it was Kou Li who faced the police.

The policeman surnamed Qi, who had dealt with Kou Li long ago, brought some bad news. As previously revealed by Bian Yu, Guan Xi had run away, and no one was able to catch him.

In this case, Kou Li nodded his head, indicating that he already knew about it.

Policeman Qi looked at him strangely, filled with doubts. Then he inquired about Guan Xi’s usual behaviour and habits, in order to track down his whereabouts. As for Bian Yi’s side, they let him get some rest first, so he said that they will come back tomorrow.

…

Guan Xi was hiding in a small hotel and he was low on cash. The System can give him Golden Fingers, but that can’t be bought with this world’s money.

For the first time, Guan Xi felt that he was utterly useless.

However, he also knew that without the System, there were no Golden Fingers, so he was afraid to go to the police station today. If he’s lucky enough, he’ll be sent to jail for fraud, but he can’t explain the fact that his genes and body are the exact same as Bian Yi’s. Even the birthmarks and old injuries were the same. He may be treated as an experimental subject, and spend the rest of his life on the cold table of a laboratory. The worst thing that could happen, would be if this world finds out the System in his brain. He may as well suffer an unimaginable torture.

Guan Xi stood in the bathroom, in the shower. Even though the water dripping on him was hot enough, he still felt as cold as ice. Even his hands and feet were cold, making him unable to stop shivering.

Guan Xi was unable to figure out why the body’s original owner appeared all of a sudden. After all, how could there be such a ‘bug’? He had already asked the System, but the System seemed to be disconnected for the moment.

Guan Xi’s task was very simple. He shouldn’t become an antagonist, and he just needs to live positively. However, he could also obtain extra points from men. At this moment, Guan Xi wanted to thank himself. Fortunately, he had accumulated 4000 points after sleeping with two men, which allowed him to buy some Golden Fingers. With these points, he could be safe for now. After all, the science and technology of this world wouldn’t be able to find him.

Bian Yi appearing all of a sudden, meant that Guan Xi could no longer use Bian Yi’s face and identity from now on.

Guan Xi also knew that this face wasn’t originally his, and if he had just transmigrated he would’ve given it away without hesitation. But Guan Xi had been living as ‘Bian Yi’ for an entire year.

He felt as if something that used to belong to him had been suddenly taken away by someone who came out of nowhere.

Guan Xi was extremely reluctant.

The sound of water in the bathroom stopped, and as Guan Xi wiped the bathroom mirror, he looked at himself.

He had long become used to seeing himself in Bian Yi’s face, but when Guan Xi looked at this ordinary look, he frowned.

It was so ugly.

This isn’t his original appearance. He is Bian Yi.

He has to go back.

…

Bian Yi was still resting, but he didn’t sleep peacefully.

When Kou Li opened the door, he didn’t make any sound, so the man on the bed wasn’t awakened.

He was holding a brand-new phone. Unlike the ordinary phones on the market, the chip inside this one was made by Kou Li himself, in the laboratory.

As Kou Li placed the phone next to Bian Yi’s pillow, he gazed at Bian Yi, who was curled up in a ball on the bed. Kou Li’s fingers stretched out, but they were retracted right away.

He looked at Bian Yi repeatedly and carefully. It wasn’t until Bian Yi shrunk himself even tighter in discomfort, that Kou Li withdrew his exploratory gaze.

“I hope you’re the real one, otherwise….” Kou Li’s lips moved silently, as his eyes smiled with infinite tenderness: “I’ll kill you again.”