Lu Shiyao hadn't expected to be reborn into the year she just graduated.
It was around this time in her previous life that she met Ran Chongyan, a talented but unrecognized individual, while visiting her teacher. This encounter marked the beginning of a tangled and unfortunate relationship.
In her past life, upon learning the truth of her father's death, her sole thought was revenge. However, before she could act, she was killed by one of his obsessive admirers.
This time, she decided to take the initiative. She revisited the place where they were supposed to meet, but Ran Chongyan was nowhere to be found. Her mentor had indeed brought a senior student who, after graduating, had struggled to find stable employment, but it wasn't Ran Chongyan.
Unable to resist, she began to investigate and soon found Ran Chongyan.
To her astonishment, this life's Ran Chongyan bore almost no resemblance to the one from her previous existence. Especially his enviable life of privilege; while others might be born in Rome, he was born on the throne, destined to rule.
He had become something of a legend at their alma mater.
She started to doubt if the Ran Chongyan others spoke of was the one she sought.
After checking around, the address of his hometown was correct, and some childhood details matched, including the deception and concealment of his having a child bride.
Then, her focus shifted from Chongyan to the child bride.
The information she had managed to obtain from a private investigator back then was very simple.
Female.
23 years old.
From XXX city, XX province, XX region.
Chairman of YL Corporation, a listed company.
The YL Group, which she had never even heard of in her previous life.
A massive conglomerate spanning numerous industries, with over 500,000 employees in its parent and subsidiary companies.
And the man, a "phoenix man" who should have been unknown in her previous life, owned 18% of this company.
It was supposedly a coming-of-age gift.
She was dumbfounded at the time, and then she noticed the change. The child bride, who had died young and whom Ran Chongyan had glossed over in her previous life, had apparently become someone so formidable in this iteration.
This was why she had gone to such lengths to meet her.
And then she had exposed her identity with a single sentence.
"I'm still very curious, how exactly did you know I was reborn? Are you a transmigator from a book? Do you have a script? Then are you..."
"No," Zhu Lin said. "I'm indeed not from this world, but it's different from what you think. Chongyan isn't the Ran Chongyan you speak of. The previous one, after you died in your past life's story, he realized he still loved you. He realized your parents weren't as harsh to him as he imagined, and that he had been terribly wrong. So, he made a deal with death, letting you be reborn."
Zhu Lin had only just learned all the plot details herself.
So that was what "wild phoenix" meant.
The "Ran Chongyan" spoken of by Lu Shiyao was, in fact, also a reborn individual.
In his first life, he was mediocre, living at the very bottom of society, drifting through life until his death in his early forties, ending a life devoid of any highlight.
Then he was reborn.
He wanted to change his destiny, studied hard, and using the wisdom of an adult, he made some changes. Yet, he still couldn't alter his humble origins, couldn't overcome the psychological trauma of decades of hardship, nor could he change his inner darkness and narrow-mindedness.
When he harmed the person who truly loved him and treated him well, he regretted it.
Recalling his rebirth experience, Ran Chongyan fervently prayed for another chance. But the suffering of his first life only allowed him one rebirth. To have another, he would have to pay with his own life.
He agreed.
Lu Shiyao was reborn, and he disappeared.
This was why, when Zhu Lin first met her, she hadn't discovered the karmic link between her and Chongyan.
She had previously thought it was because the current Chongyan wasn't the former "Ran Chongyan." Now, she realized that when something happened to her, she used the original host's body, and all the karmic entanglements on that person would transfer to her. To eliminate them, one had to either reclaim what was owed or lent, or offset it with merit.
There was no karma between him and her because "Ran Chongyan" had already repaid it.
As Lu Shiyao listened to her absurd pronouncements, the starlight in her eyes gradually shattered, finally darkening. She desperately suppressed her complex emotions and asked, "Are you telling the truth?"
She thought it was her good fortune, a gift from heaven. But in the end, it was all the sacrifice of the person she hated the most.
He had meticulously planned to kill her family, only to use his own life in the end to reunite them.
Was it meaningful?
Zhu Lin nodded indifferently.
Lu Shiyao could no longer suppress her emotions and cried out loudly.
"You're lying to me, aren't you? Wuwuwu! You must be lying to me. How could someone so selfish sacrifice himself to fulfill others? You're lying to me, woo..."
Zhu Lin watched silently as Lu Shiyao cried for a long time, until her sobs turned into quiet whimpers.
"Then, how did you know all this?"
Zhu Lin explained briefly, concluding, "If, as you said, there would be karmic entanglements between you, but in reality, there's nothing, it means he doesn't owe you."
This lack of debt or credit might not necessarily mean Ran Chongyan had repaid everything to her, but rather that debts are extinguished with death.
Ran Chongyan had completely vanished, so it was no longer possible to say he had karmic entanglements with anyone.
Lu Shiyao cried even louder.
Zhu Lin didn't console her and left first.
Shortly after returning, she received a call from Yan Huaizhang, demanding to know why she had made the person cry.
Zhu Lin couldn't be bothered and blocked him.
These two were destined partners. Even if Lu Shiyao knew that Ran Chongyan had ultimately sacrificed himself for their family, she wouldn't fall in love with him again.
Firstly, he was gone. Secondly, Ran Chongyan himself had confessed step-by-step how he had seized the Lu family's company and how he had gradually caused Lu Shiyao's father's death. Even if he were back now, Lu Shiyao couldn't forgive the murderer of her father.
Just because the person returned didn't mean the past suffering had never happened.
Her tears were more of a release for emotions she had nowhere to express and a lament at the twists of fate.
She would marry Yan Huaizhang, and in her heart, she would erect a monument to Ran Chongyan, keeping him in her heart forever.
She wouldn't forget, but she would never speak of him again.