Although he thought everything would be fine, Shi Yao couldn't help but feel a pang of unease as he flipped through the book. The glowing symbols and shifting diagrams had started to make more sense, revealing fragments of the story behind this strange world.
"What the… So, I'm not their real son, but Li Yuan is?" Shi Yao muttered; his voice tinged with annoyance. His brows furrowed as he pieced together the truth laid out in front of him.
"Let's summarize," he said to himself, leaning back in his chair with a skeptical expression. "So, this is the world of a novel named…" He paused, realizing he didn't know the name yet. "I'm the second male lead, and Li Yuan is the main lead. We both like Fu Sixiao—hm, isn't he the guy who called me for lunch today? Well…"
He flipped another page, his eyes scanning the text rapidly. "And on top of that, we were exchanged in the hospital at birth. Couldn't the writer come up with something more realistic?" He scoffed lightly but soon fell silent, his thoughts spiraling deeper.
Shi Yao paused for a moment, staring at the page as if contemplating something. "Ah. No wonder Li Yuan resembles the folks here."
His eyes wandered across the room, tracing the details of its warm and inviting atmosphere. "But it's surprising… These people loved Shi Yao so much in the original story. Even after finding out the truth and all the idiotic behavior of the original character, they grieved for him when he went missing. They loved him deeply."
Shi Yao let out a quiet sigh, barely audible in the stillness. "It's not bad to live with them… I guess," he murmured softly, as if testing the thought.
Despite not lacking anything in his original world, Shi Yao had never known what it felt like to be cared for with genuine warmth. His aunt, Shi Lian, had provided him with everything he could ever ask for—and even the things he didn't—but she had never offered the emotional support he secretly yearned for.
She had always been distant, not out of neglect but simply because she didn't know how to express care. Her teachings had been practical, guiding him through life's difficulties with wisdom and logic. She had prepared him to face the world, but not to embrace its softer, gentler moments.
Shi Yao's thoughts drifted back to one of her lessons, a mantra she had often repeated: "If you want to continuously grow, you must learn from everything and everyone. Every particle in the universe can be a writer, and you must be the editor."
He smiled faintly, the words resonating in his mind. Perhaps, in this unfamiliar world, there was more to learn than he had initially thought.
His stomach growled suddenly, pulling him out of his reverie. "I'm hungry… Let's go downstairs," he muttered, standing and stretching as he made his way toward the door.