He Shichen struggled for quite a while but couldn’t manage to drive Chu Qianli back inside the house. In the end, he angrily grabbed his suitcase and said coldly, “Fine, then stay here if you want. I’m leaving.”
The security in the villa area was pretty good, so she probably wouldn’t run into any trouble. There was no need to worry unnecessarily.
Chu Qianli kept her eyes on the cartoon she was watching and waved him off nonchalantly. “Bye-bye, rootless man.”
He Shichen turned around suspiciously. “What did you just say? What kind of man?”
“Rootless man,” Chu Qianli lifted her head to glance at him briefly, then instinctively looked back at the cartoon. She spoke casually, “This is a major turning point in your life, like one of those branching options in a video game. Stepping out of this door will lead to a completely different future.”
If He Shichen chose to leave home, he would become like rootless grass.
“This is different from the small choices you make in life. You could say it’s a significant event in a person’s life. Some people even refer to such events when recalibrating their fate.”
In daily life, people don’t experience drastic changes, but there are always certain events that bring major breakthroughs—like getting married, studying abroad, moving, or buying a house.
He Shichen frowned, visibly annoyed by anything related to mysticism. “Speak in plain human terms.”
Chu Qianli looked up at the sky for a moment, then glanced at the current time and murmured, “Well, it’s still early…”
“It’s nighttime, so of course, we’re talking ‘underworld’ things. Why don’t we chat about underworld topics for a bit?” Chu Qianli teased with a laugh as she patted the stone bench beside her. “Come on, come on, keep me company and help me pass the time!”
He Shichen remained silent for a moment before sneering, “That’s why I say you’re naïve and foolish.”
“What?”
“Isn’t my leaving a good thing for you?” He Shichen scoffed. “Do I really need to show you some news stories about babies being swapped at birth, about the darker sides of society, before you finally wake up?”
He turned around and took two steps forward. Standing by the yard’s railing, he looked at Chu Qianli.
The vines and dense leaves entwining the railing cast shadows across his face, shrouding him in the deep night’s darkness.
He Shichen mocked, “You do have a bit of skill, but you’re too far behind in other areas. If I were to seize your family assets or orchestrate an accident to get rid of you, you wouldn’t even have the ability to fight back.”
He Shichen was used to interpreting others with dark motives. When Chu Qianli first came home, he was highly vigilant, but it became apparent that Chu Qianli’s head lacked certain thoughts—she didn’t even have the inclination to compete or scheme.
He even thought Yu Shen and He Zhenghe were absurdly careless, completely failing to understand how dangerous his identity was. They naively trusted him and let him interact with Chu Qianli.
He could easily devise a sinister plan. The simplest one? Cut off her lineage. As long as he feigned friendliness and won over Chu Qianli, everything would eventually fall back into his hands.
He couldn’t understand what these people were thinking, forcing him to spell out the worst-case scenario.
Chu Qianli, faced with his threats, remained unfazed and said casually, “I get it. It’s just the dark side of human nature. Everyone has dark thoughts, but thinking and acting on them are two different things.”
Seeing her so composed, He Shichen gritted his teeth. “You don’t understand at all…”
“I do. Why wouldn’t I understand?” Chu Qianli said calmly. “You’re just thinking how much better it would be if I disappeared. Or how much better it would have been if there had never been a baby swap in the first place. Why did you have to be unlucky enough to deal with this? Why were you suddenly put in the position of the perpetrator?”
He Shichen froze at her words, his gaze becoming complicated. “…Why can you say all this so calmly?”
He began to suspect that Chu Qianli was some sort of saint. She had no reaction to hearing his true thoughts, as if she didn’t take his dark intentions seriously at all.
“Brother, everyone has a dark side, myself included.” Chu Qianli smiled. “I also have dark thoughts sometimes, like, ‘How can someone like that live such a long life?’ or ‘Why do ignorant humans call me naïve and foolish?’ Sometimes, I even feel like crushing them.”
He Shichen: “…”
Chu Qianli blinked, her expression innocent, and said softly, “But I control myself. By the way, that second thought was about you, so feel free to take it personally now.”
He Shichen realized how easily she could provoke him. Taking a deep breath, he found her words ridiculous and mocked, “You think you can crush me!?”
He Shichen had been raised with excellent education and would never casually use physical force, but he felt that someone else might have already slapped Chu Qianli to the ground.
“You think you’re strong, don’t you? Whether it’s your intellect or your strength, you believe you’re far superior to me.” Chu Qianli spoke calmly. “Have you heard of Rupert’s Drop?”
“Glass teardrops are much tougher than regular glass and can withstand tons of pressure without breaking. But if you pinch the tail, they shatter into pieces. You’re just like a Rupert’s Drop. You don’t even realize how fragile your tail is, but I’ve already found it. It’s just a matter of whether I want to pinch it or not.”
He Shichen, with his elite arrogance, indeed had the potential to become the best of the best. But that didn’t mean he had no weaknesses.
He had stayed home despite being provoked by Chu Qianli for so long. But after seeing the warmth of a three-person family, he suddenly decided to leave. It was simply because his “tail” had been stepped on.
People are often puzzled by the collapse of someone strong. How could someone so capable and accomplished fall apart over a small setback? Why would they choose such an extreme and decisive way to leave?
Even that person may not understand, but the star chart reflects their subconscious.
He Shichen dismissed her words as posturing and time-wasting. He said indifferently, “Enough. I don’t want to hear your nonsense anymore. If you want to keep spouting this juvenile talk, do it by yourself.”
Chu Qianli said leisurely, “You say that, but I can make you stay and listen with just one sentence.”
He Shichen sneered, “Impossible.”
He picked up his suitcase and walked away, unwilling to keep arguing with her.
Chu Qianli said, “I’ve known about my true identity since birth, but I never intended to return.”
Her words carried a chill in the night breeze, tingling his ears.
“…What did you say?” He Shichen turned back in disbelief, only to see her sitting calmly in the yard, still looking relaxed and careless.
Faced with his stunned expression, Chu Qianli patted the stone bench beside her and grinned. “Can we talk about underworld topics now?”
In the yard, He Shichen eventually sat on the stone bench. He now felt like he was being manipulated, completely ensnared by her trap.
Not only had he failed to leave the house, but he had also been lured into the yard.
Chu Qianli paused her cartoon, and as soon as He Shichen sat down, he asked, “Why didn’t you come back?”
If Chu Qianli had been switched back at birth, many things wouldn’t have happened, and He Shichen wouldn’t have been put in a passive position.
“Because it wasn’t the optimal choice. If switching back had been better, I would have done it.” Chu Qianli began to cast her chart on her phone and said casually, “This is just how people think—they assume their logic applies to everything, without analyzing specific problems specifically.”
“Even your social news examples are based on this logic. There’s no such thing as ‘what if’ or ‘if only.’ If either of us had been swapped, things wouldn’t have happened the way they did.”
Chu Qianli sighed deeply. “Sigh, explaining these things to people is so starry annoying. It almost triggers my dark side again.”
Chu Qianli was tired of it all. She felt like she couldn’t get through to these people. But as an astrologer, she was obligated to provide positive guidance, forcing her to restrain her temper and patiently lead them.
“The world is so beautiful, yet I’m so irritable. That’s not good, not good.” Chu Qianli took a deep breath and softly reassured herself, “Be humble, be kind, be a model Marxist. Don’t stoop to the level of the unenlightened.”
If Chu Qianli hadn’t studied astrology, her attitude toward certain people might have been, “This person is mentally off.” But now that she had delved into astrology, her perspective had shifted to: “Understanding the diversity of star charts, understanding this person’s energy expression through their chart.”
One had to admit that astrology had improved her temperament—it was practically a form of spiritual practice.
He Shichen angrily said, “…Who are you implying here?”
Chu Qianli raised her phone and waved the star chart in front of He Shichen’s face. “Alright, here’s your birth chart, brother. Let’s start from here.”
He Shichen: “?”
Chu Qianli mused, “Your chart is interesting. Most of the planets are clustered in the 10th and 4th houses, which happen to be opposite houses. Most of the planets are in the lower hemisphere, but there’s a lone star in the upper hemisphere. That lone star might exert as much influence as the star cluster.”
He Shichen: “???”
He frowned and interrupted, “Wait a minute, why are we suddenly back to your astrology talk?”
He Shichen had stayed to learn why she hadn’t returned to her family sooner, but now she had unilaterally started analyzing his birth chart.
“Shut up! I didn’t even charge you for looking at your chart, so don’t complain so much!” Chu Qianli snapped. “If I weren’t killing time, do you think I’d bother wasting words on you?”
“…”
The next second, Chu Qianli continued, “The 4th house is the house of family, depicting the influence of one’s original family. The 10th house represents life goals, showing the traits we wish to be admired or revered for. Since as children we first seek our parents’ recognition, the 10th house is also related to parents.”
He Shichen wanted to leave now, but he found that Chu Qianli’s rapid-fire speech left him no opportunity to leave. He had no choice but to sit and listen.
Chu Qianli explained, “From your chart, it’s clear that your life is inextricably linked with your parents and family. No matter how indifferent, ruthless, or profit-driven you may seem, you actually have a deep sense of family responsibility. Your proudest moments are tied to fighting for your family’s honor…”
“But unfortunately, your planets are in opposition and conflict. The things that bring you the most pain also stem from family—likely the clash between your biological parents and the ideal family image you envisioned. Your original beliefs have been utterly shattered, and suddenly you’ve lost your life’s purpose.”
Before He Shichen learned the truth about his birth, he saw everything as a matter of course. He believed he would carry on the family legacy, becoming the heir admired by both his parents and outsiders.
However, once he discovered the reality of his biological parents, his long-held goals were abruptly destroyed. He realized he wasn’t truly needed by the family, leaving him lost and disoriented.
As someone who believed deeply in benefits and alliances, he only trusted the bonds of blood and mutual interest. This bizarre turn of events was akin to reshaping his worldview.
In the original story, He Shichen also left home. This had nothing to do with feelings for the original male lead or female supporting character—it was because He Shichen could never coexist with the child whose identity had been swapped with his.
This was simply his personality. Whether it was the original Chu Qianli or the current one, he would feel guilt and responsibility but never romantic love.
He was more aware of his identity than anyone else and calculated gains and losses more meticulously than anyone else. Others could feign ignorance, but he could not pretend not to understand.
Thus, he fled from the female supporting character’s affections. Unable to resolve the situation, his only solution was to avoid it entirely.
He Shichen stared silently at the star chart in front of him, forcing himself to appear calm. Yet he kept fidgeting with his fingers, trying to suppress his emotions. After a moment, he asked quietly, “So what?”
He admitted that Chu Qianli wasn’t wrong—but so what?
His subconscious understood everything, which was why he had to leave.
Chu Qianli closed the birth chart on her phone and pulled up a predictive chart instead. She said slowly, “After analyzing your birth chart, we can now predict two paths and see how events might unfold based on different choices.”
“Path one: you leave home without looking back. You’ll achieve success through your own efforts, but unfortunately, you’ll spend your entire life trying to escape the influence of your original family. The pain you’re experiencing now won’t diminish—it will double as the years go by.”
Chu Qianli smiled brightly and clapped her hands in mock applause. “Sometimes, you’ll think you’ve forgotten everything, only to relive it all in the middle of the night, like an inescapable nightmare. Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the ‘Bad Ending.’”
If He Shichen left home, it wouldn’t solve anything. He would still think of Yu Shen and He Zhenghe but would know deep down that he no longer had the right to return to this family.
Seeing her cheerful demeanor, He Shichen grew inexplicably annoyed. He said irritably, “Why are you so sure I’d feel guilty? Maybe I don’t care about any of this!”
Hearing his bravado, Chu Qianli waved dismissively. “You can try it out. Whoever feels the pain will know in their heart. I won’t make choices for others—I just lay out the possibilities for the future.”
He Shichen was silent for a few seconds before asking, “…And what’s the other path?”
Chu Qianli had mentioned two paths, but so far, he could only think of one.
Chu Qianli smiled. “Brother, you only care about benefits, so emotional persuasion won’t work on you. The other path is a mutually beneficial alliance. You can’t figure out your identity right now, but I can help you find psychological balance.”
“How?”
“You don’t know how to interact with me, so let’s talk in terms of money. Let me be honest: you’ll earn a lot of money in the future. I want all of your income for the next seventeen years—a lump sum to settle the seventeen years of identity swap.”
Chu Qianli added, “The debts you owe Mom and Dad, you handle yourself. But once you pay me, we’re square.”
“The second path means you stay home and pay up. Of course, it won’t be easy—you’ll also have to take on the responsibility of supporting your parents and taking care of the family. But you seem to enjoy contributing to the family anyway. I’m not sure if this path is a ‘Happy Ending,’ but it’s at least better than the ‘Bad Ending.’”
He Shichen pondered for a moment and asked, “So no matter how our parents distribute the inheritance, you want all of my income for the next seventeen years?”
Chu Qianli nodded. “Exactly.”
He Shichen said seriously, “Why seventeen years? The influence of childhood lasts a lifetime. It would make more sense for you to take a proportional share of my future income. Who knows, I might earn more in old age than in my youth.”
“Are you really going into this much detail?” Chu Qianli widened her eyes in surprise. “Well, that works too.”
He Shichen replied calmly, “Since we’re talking about a profit-driven alliance, everything should be clarified in advance to avoid accusations of me taking advantage of you later.”
Chu Qianli couldn’t help muttering under her breath, “That’s fair, but the seventeen-year deal was actually more favorable to me…”
He Shichen didn’t catch her murmurs. He was already typing up a contract on his phone. Before long, he handed it to Chu Qianli, adopting a businesslike tone: “See if there’s anything you’d like to add.”
Chu Qianli looked at the detailed contract in amazement. “I already knew you were this type of person, but deciding so quickly… Are you sure you even know how much money you’ll make in the future?”
“Doesn’t matter,” He Shichen said with a tight-lipped expression. “I’m buying my freedom right now.”
Unable to find a way out of his predicament, He Shichen knew that to move forward with a clear conscience, he had to pay the price for the stain he was born with.
Chu Qianli was right—he was in pain and needed a way to balance things out.
After reviewing the contract together, He Shichen began the payment process.
He Shichen: “This is my current income. The rest is tied up in accounts and can’t be transferred immediately.”
“Just send it whenever you can,” Chu Qianli waved generously, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the balance. “Not bad! The printing press is fully operational!”
He Shichen: “?”
Something felt off, but since Chu Qianli had clearly stated she was taking the money to settle the matter, he couldn’t find any faults. Honestly, he felt much better now, and his days of anxiety seemed to vanish.
Standing up, He Shichen felt a sense of relief. He urged, “Alright, now that the main issue is settled, you should go back inside.”
Chu Qianli: “I’m not going.”
He Shichen looked at her in surprise. “…Didn’t I already transfer the money?”
Chu Qianli nodded cheerfully. “Yep, but I never said I’d go back inside after getting paid.”
He Shichen: “?”
Chu Qianli explained, “Brother, I’m really observing the night sky—it’s not like I’m just hanging around here to bother you. There’s an astronomical event tonight.”
He Shichen: “???”
Seeing her still refusing to budge, He Shichen finally lost his temper and roared, “Get inside! It’s already 3 a.m.!!”
Chu Qianli had already put her phone away. She raised her head seriously to look at the sky and said, “Don’t rush me, don’t rush me. It’s just two more minutes.”
Realizing how stubborn she was, He Shichen had no choice but to wait impatiently by her side.
Two minutes later, He Shichen stared at the sky, where nothing had happened, and said blankly, “So, where’s this astronomical event of yours?”
The night sky remained unchanged and ordinary.
Chu Qianli was equally disappointed. She clicked her tongue and grumbled, “City stars are just awful! They’re nowhere near as bright as the ones in my village!”
In her village, she could stargaze with the naked eye. Now that she was back in the city, she couldn’t see a thing.
He Shichen: “…” Did he have to apologize on behalf of the city stars now?
The two returned home after a fruitless late-night stargazing session.
He Shichen carried his suitcase back upstairs. Standing at his bedroom door, he suddenly said, “By the way, I have a question.”
Chu Qianli became alert. “What question? You’re not planning to back out after paying, are you?”
“…No.” He Shichen hesitated before asking, “Why did you say I’d be the one taking care of our parents alone?”
Chu Qianli froze.
He Shichen, ever sharp-minded, pressed on, “What are you planning to do?”
With his emotional turmoil subsiding, He Shichen’s intellect regained control. He immediately sensed something off.
Chu Qianli replied lazily, “Obviously, I plan to eat and wait for death. Someone as lazy as me just needs to not trouble Mom and Dad. Why would I take care of them?”
He Shichen: “…”
Without hesitation, He Shichen pushed open his bedroom door and slammed it shut behind him. He thought to himself that dealing with this brat was truly a mistake.
