Luck Ch.15

Chapter 15: “I am from the Qin family”

Qin Yan touched something furry and wet.

He grabbed the little creature, loosely holding it in his hand through a tissue, climbed down the ladder, and held it out to Jiang Chi.

Jiang Chi lowered his head to inspect it for a while and felt that no matter how he looked at it, this thing didn’t resemble a cat.

The tail was too thin.

The little creature didn’t have the round head and body of a kitten. It was slender, with short limbs, eyes still shut, and it kept squeaking softly.

Jiang Chi took off his jacket and wrapped the furry ball in it. “Is this a mouse?”

Qin Yan sniffed his hand, and his long brows immediately furrowed. “It’s a yellow weasel.”

Jiang Chi: “!!!!!!!”

“A weasel?” Jiang Chi looked at Qin Yan in disbelief. “It’s a little spirit!”

Qin Yan held his hand up to Jiang Chi’s nose.

Jiang Chi took a cautious sniff, and the sharp, musky smell shot straight to the top of his head, almost knocking him out.

Jiang Chi was stunned. “There’s actually a weasel spirit in my hotel? Does that mean we’re about to get rich?”

Qin Yan commented objectively, “Your family’s already pretty rich.”

Jiang Chi pulled out his phone. “It’s a protected animal—and a spirit too. We can’t let it die in our hands. I’ll call the Forestry Bureau and ask what to do.”

Qin Yan guessed, “It’s still a baby. Its eyes aren’t even open yet. Maybe a stray cat brought it over as food.”

Jiang Chi responded, “Hmm, I’ll ask the staff to leave some cat food here later—as a little offering to the stray cats.”

He dialed the number, listening to the beeping as it rang.

Once connected, the Forestry Bureau staff suggested feeding the baby weasel some goat milk formula first. They also asked for Jiang Chi’s location and said they’d send someone over before the end of the day.

Jiang Chi, afraid of accidentally killing the little spirit, said, “I’ll feed it and bring it over to you.”

The staff member quickly replied, “That would be wonderful, thank you so much.”

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Chi walked out holding the little weasel spirit. “Great Spirit, it was this handsome young man beside you who saved you. If you ever become a real immortal, you must bless him with peace and a long life.”

Qin Yan reattached the ceiling panel. “I’ve never seen you this superstitious before. Weren’t you a staunch materialist?”

Jiang Chi didn’t know where the baby weasel’s ears were, so he gently pressed one hand over its head and whispered, “I was pretty firm about it… but come on, I’ve transmigrated into a book!”

Qin Yan: “……”

…

Weirdly enough, that very night after delivering the weasel spirit, Jiang Chi came down with a fever.

After taking fever medicine, he drifted into a muddled sleep, plagued by nightmares from which he couldn’t wake, as if trapped in sleep paralysis.

In that haze between dreams and reality, he kept feeling like someone was standing by his bed, looking down at him.

Jiang Chi woke in a cold sweat.

He forced himself awake, struggling to open his eyes—only to realize the small nightlight in his room had gone out at some point.

Panicking, Jiang Chi grabbed his pillow and ran upstairs to find Qin Yan.

In his flustered state, he didn’t even knock. He pushed the door open, jumped onto the bed, and threw his arms around Qin Yan.

Qin Yan was a light sleeper and had already noticed the sounds from downstairs.

He knew it was Jiang Chi, so he didn’t fully wake up. He just turned over, ready to go back to sleep when Jiang Chi suddenly leapt onto the bed.

Had it been anyone else barging in, Qin Yan would’ve drawn his gun the moment the door opened.

Qin Yan was naturally cautious. No matter how deeply he slept, the moment someone got close, he would immediately wake and reach under his pillow for his gun.

But when he heard Jiang Chi coming upstairs, he somehow managed to drift back to sleep without confirming who it was—a fact that surprised even him.

Being approached while asleep was a deeply unsafe thing.

Human ancestors lived in a world full of danger. As early as tens of thousands of years ago, they had already evolved an early warning system. But with the pace of urbanization, that system has gradually degraded.

Qin Yan had grown up in an unstable environment—his internal warning system was exceptionally sharp. But around Jiang Chi, that ever-tense sense of alertness had failed him.

Somewhere deep in his subconscious, his instincts had marked Jiang Chi as safe, issuing a silent command to his brain that it was okay to stay asleep. That’s why, even when Jiang Chi opened the door, Qin Yan’s mental alarm never went off.

And the subconscious doesn’t lie.

Only now did Qin Yan clearly realize that Jiang Chi’s place in his heart was far more significant than he had imagined.

Maybe… maybe the moment he went against his cold, detached nature and reached out to pick up that smelly little weasel, he should’ve known.

Qin Yan sighed silently and sat up, twisting on the bedside lamp.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, seeing the deathly pale look on Jiang Chi’s face. He couldn’t help but worry. “Are you feeling unwell?”

The moment the light came on and he saw Qin Yan’s face, Jiang Chi felt his nerves begin to settle. He told him about the fever and the nightmares.

Qin Yan touched his forehead, only to feel cold sweat all over. “Did you take medicine? Let me take you to the hospital.”

Jiang Chi glanced at the clock—it was exactly 11:45 PM.

He’d rescued a weasel spirit during the day, had nightmares by night—there was no way he was risking a trip to the hospital in the dead of night.

“No, it’s fine! I’ll be better tomorrow. Tonight… can I sleep with you?” Jiang Chi asked.

Qin Yan looked at him, repeating the question uncertainly: “Sleep with me?”

Jiang Chi really was feverish and dazed—he could barely speak properly, almost bit his tongue trying to talk. “It’s creepy downstairs. Just let me stay the night. Please, man.”

Qin Yan instinctively refused. “I’ve never shared a bed with a buddy before.”

Jiang Chi looked at him with a soft, steady gaze.

Because of the fever, his usually bright eyes were now glassy and a little red.

“We’re not just buddies—we’re best bros,” Jiang Chi said sincerely.

Qin Yan’s resolve melted. “Alright… best bros. You’re welcome to stay, brother.”

Ever since Qin Yan first met Jiang Chi, the guy had always been gutsy—bold to the point of recklessness, willing to try just about anything. This was the first time he’d seen Jiang Chi genuinely scared, and he couldn’t help but find it a little novel.

Qin Yan couldn’t hold back a smile. “You’re afraid of ghosts?”

Jiang Chi’s ears turned bright red—whether from the fever or something else, it was hard to say. “It just feels… weird. Mostly, it’s just too coincidental.”

Qin Yan closed the door, shutting out all the darkness from the hallway. “Get some sleep.”

The warm, amber glow of the bedside lamp fell across Qin Yan’s figure, casting a soft halo of light that made him look especially comforting.

That warmth was just what Jiang Chi needed to ease his fear.

Qin Yan always handled things with calm composure—there was a deep, steady air about him, something that seemed like it could repel any lurking evil.

With Qin Yan beside him, Jiang Chi started to feel like maybe ghosts didn’t even exist after all.

He vividly described his nightmare: “I felt like someone was standing right beside my bed… I knew I was dreaming, but I just couldn’t wake up.”

Qin Yan poured him a glass of water. “That’s odd. You’re such a good fighter—why would you be scared of ghosts?”

Jiang Chi analyzed, “Mental attacks count as magical damage. Physical strength might be useless against that kind of thing.”

Qin Yan raised an eyebrow. “Alright, I don’t believe in any of that stuff. And I’m not scared. So just stay here.”

Jiang Chi lay down and pulled the blanket over himself, instantly feeling more secure. “It’s so much better being with you. Plus, the blanket barrier can resist all forms of attack.”

Qin Yan: “…Do you want to leave the light on?”

Jiang Chi glanced at the lamp. “Let’s keep it on for now… By the way, if you don’t believe in ghosts and spirits, do you believe me when I say I transmigrated into a book?”

Qin Yan lay back down. “I believe you.”

Jiang Chi looked puzzled. “Isn’t that contradictory? Transmigration counts as a supernatural phenomenon. Science can’t explain it.”

Qin Yan was feeling drowsy, and the lamp was too bright to sleep. He pulled the pillowcase over his eyes to block the light. “It’s not that I believe in the supernatural. I believe in you.”

Jiang Chi’s heart stirred slightly, and he leaned over to switch off the bedside lamp.

Qin Yan was already drifting off, but the change in light roused him. Groggily, he asked, “Why’d you turn off the light? Not scared anymore?”

In the darkness, Jiang Chi replied, “I guess… it doesn’t feel so scary now.”

“You won’t be scared if you hold this,” Qin Yan said.

He reached under his pillow, intending to hand Jiang Chi a gun—but of course, he found nothing.

Qin Yan always forgot this wasn’t his home. There was no gun under the pillow here.

Jiang Chi asked, “What is it?”

Qin Yan had already spoken and couldn’t backtrack. Since there wasn’t a real gun to give for comfort, he extended his index and middle fingers, mimicking the shape of a handgun.

He held out his hand. “Here, take my gun.”

In the pitch-black room, Jiang Chi fumbled around and found Qin Yan’s hand.

He wrapped his fingers around Qin Yan’s: “This really does make it better.”

Qin Yan, beyond exhausted, used his other hand to pat Jiang Chi’s back gently, comforting him. “Go to sleep. I’m here.”

With that reassurance, Jiang Chi truly did fall asleep.

He dreamed again, but this time, there were no nightmares.

Early the next morning, Jiang Chi woke up.

The moment clarity returned, a flood of fragmented, disordered memories rushed into his mind.

Since transmigrating into this book, it felt like he was finally waking from a long, drawn-out dream.

He had almost fully recovered all his memories—including those of this world’s original Jiang Chi.

Yet everything from the past two years remained a complete blank.

With the two sets of memories blending together, Jiang Chi could hardly tell what was truly his and what had belonged to the original version of “him.”

Just then, the crisp ringing of a phone pulled him fully awake.

Qin Yan stirred too. “Who is it?”

Jiang Chi slowly opened his eyes and glanced at the screen. “Hong Zixiao.”

Qin Yan rolled over. “Answer it.”

Jiang Chi picked up the call.

On the other end of the call, it was a bit noisy. Hong Zixiao shouted over the background chatter, “Come out and hang, Brother Chi! Fang Sizhe’s finally back—he graduated college! Old Master Fang bought him a yacht to celebrate. We’re heading out to sea!”

In this world, Jiang Chi, Hong Zixiao, and Fang Sizhe were childhood friends—thick as thieves since they were kids. Together, they formed the “iron triangle” of the wealthy young elite.

Jiang Chi’s thoughts stirred.

Even though he had no memory of the past two years, he and Hong Zixiao were still friends. Maybe he could gather some clues from him?

As Jiang Chi pondered, Fang Sizhe’s voice came through the phone.

Fang Sizhe said, “Ever since Young Master Jiang got himself a boyfriend, he’s been neglecting us. I went and graduated college—won’t Second Young Master Jiang spare us a moment and come see some old friends?”

Hong Zixiao chimed in, “Yeah, Jiang Chi. You’re just sitting around anyway—come hang out. A ton of people will be there. Most of them haven’t seen you in two years. Quit spending all your time on that love life!”

Two years?

The two years he had no memory of were the same two years the original Jiang Chi had started dating… and during that time, he’d drifted away from his old friends?

That didn’t sit right at all.

After hanging up, Jiang Chi turned to Qin Yan. “You wanna go?”

Qin Yan answered honestly, “Is it fun? I’ve never been out at sea for leisure.” Business trips only.

Jiang Chi replied, “It’s okay… play some party games, poker, eat seafood, drink a little… maybe a show or two.”

Qin Yan considered it and didn’t decline. “Sounds interesting.”

In his twenty-two years of life, Qin Yan had never gone out to “have fun” with people his age.

To become a competent heir in such a short span of time, the sacrifices he made were unimaginable.

He’d had no time for entertainment—sacrificing rest to cram in studies beyond regular coursework, immersing himself in family management and business strategy, all to ensure a seamless transition when he took over at eighteen.

Though only twenty-two, Qin Yan had already been the head of the family for six years.

In a person’s life, some time is destined to be spent—it’s only a matter of sooner or later.

Qin Yan had a hard life during his first twenty years, but the rewards he gained were substantial.

After his grandfather passed away, it took him only two years to fully take control of all of the Qin family’s overseas enterprises, leaving only a small portion of domestic assets for the illegitimate children to fight over.

To be honest, Qin Yan originally didn’t think much of the domestic side of things. He only returned to the country because he was bored and wanted to watch the show.

But now, he had found something far more interesting.

Jiang Chi was a very amusing person—everything was fun with him.

Maybe it was because Jiang Chi himself was just naturally funny.

Qin Yan checked his phone and said with a hint of regret, “Too bad I don’t know how to play any board games… I haven’t played a single one of the ones mentioned online.”

Hearing that, Jiang Chi felt a pang in his heart.

At their age, how could anyone have never played board games?

Just from that little detail, Jiang Chi imagined a whole tragic backstory:

The illegitimate son of a wealthy family, Ji Yu, had been ostracized since childhood, had no friends, and could only study hard without ever relaxing. He finally got into his dream university, only to be forced to drop out and marry into another family for the sake of family interests.

How pitiful.

Jiang Chi reached out to ruffle Qin Yan’s hair and said with heartfelt emotion, “Poor little thing. From now on, you’ll have lots of friends.”

Qin Yan: “???”

“My friends are all easy to get along with,” Jiang Chi smiled. “If you go out with us, I guarantee you’ll be happy every day.”

Qin Yan didn’t look at Jiang Chi, but said softly, “I’m already happy now.”

…

The next afternoon, Hong Zixiao drove over to pick up Jiang Chi and Qin Yan, and the group headed to the dock.

Before that, they stopped at the largest nearby supermarket to buy daily necessities.

In the supermarket, Jiang Chi found an opportunity to slip away from Qin Yan and quietly asked Hong Zixiao if he had noticed any changes in him over the past two years.

Hong Zixiao froze in place when he heard the question. It took him a while before he patted Jiang Chi on the shoulder and said, “You’ve changed quite a bit, but I can understand it.”

Jiang Chi asked, “What do you understand?”

Hong Zixiao glanced around and then said mysteriously, “If your body’s not doing well, it’ll definitely affect your mood. But now that your body’s better, aren’t you just like you used to be?”

Jiang Chi: “……”

Hong Zixiao continued, “You were honestly a bit weird during those two years—kind of like you had split personality. I even heard your mom almost took you to a mental hospital to get your brain checked, but then it was just dropped. Hey—did you tell your mom about your health problems too?”

That was a lot of information at once.

Jiang Chi cleared his throat and asked, “So it was because you noticed something was off with me that I ended up telling you about my health?”

Hong Zixiao nodded affirmatively. “Yeah. I even asked a doctor about it later. He said when that part of the body isn’t working, it leads to reduced testosterone, which can affect someone’s personality too.”

Jiang Chi more or less understood what was going on now.

He nodded. “Got it. Zixiao, just think of me as having been mentally unwell those two years. If there was anything I didn’t do right, I hope you’ll cut me some slack.”

Hong Zixiao clicked his tongue. “We’re brothers—no need to say stuff like that.”

Jiang Chi smiled. “Alright, I won’t say it again.”

Hong Zixiao gave Jiang Chi a one-armed hug. “No matter what, welcome back, Brother Chi.”

After leaving the supermarket, the three of them continued walking toward the beach.

Hong Zixiao asked Jiang Chi, “Brother Chi, how should I introduce the person next to you later?”

It wasn’t until Hong Zixiao asked that Jiang Chi finally realized the situation.

Ji Yu and Qin Yan’s engagement still hadn’t been officially addressed. This outing to sea involved a lot of people, all from the upper-class circles. If he and Ji Yu were seen together, even if they were both clear of conscience, gossip would still be inevitable. Who knew what kind of rumors might spread?

What if Ji Yu ended up getting back together with Qin Yan later on, and Qin Yan brought this up as a scandal? That’d be a disaster!

Jiang Chi asked Qin Yan, “How do you think we should explain things?”

Qin Yan hinted, “Actually, I’m a member of the Qin family.”

Jiang Chi: “???”

Hong Zixiao exclaimed admiringly, “Brilliant! The Qin family has so many illegitimate children no one can keep count. If you say you’re from the Qin family, everyone will just pretend they get it and won’t bother asking too many questions.”

“I…”

Qin Yan had just started to speak when he was cut off again.

Hong Zixiao slapped the steering wheel. “You already have an engagement with the Qin family. Saying you’re part of it isn’t exactly a lie. Ji Yu, you’re really smart—doing something I’ve always wanted to do but never had the guts for.”

Qin Yan asked, “What’s that?”

Hong Zixiao said, “Going out and using someone else’s name! You get all the fun while someone else takes the fall!”

Qin Yan replied calmly, “I really am using someone else’s name.”

Hong Zixiao gave him a thumbs-up in admiration. “That’s why you’re smart! One time I got into a fight at a nightclub and I wanted to give Jiang Chi’s name, but unfortunately the cops came and took my ID, so I couldn’t pull it off.”

Jiang Chi gasped. “Wow, thanks for trusting me so much!”

Hong Zixiao, not catching the sarcasm, grinned wide. “Brother Chi, if you ever get into trouble, feel free to use my name!”

Jiang Chi’s train of thought was completely derailed by Hong Zixiao, and the two of them ended up chatting nonsense for a bit.

After syncing up their story, Hong Zixiao turned to Qin Yan and said, “Alright, we’ll say you’re from the Qin family.”

Qin Yan replied, “I am from the Qin family. Jiang Chi, you…”

“Right, right, your last name is Qin,”

Hong Zixiao blinked and met Qin Yan’s eyes through the rearview mirror. “Brother, you really get into character fast. If I had your reflexes, the cops wouldn’t have caught me lying that day.”

Qin Yan: “……”

Just then, Hong Zixiao raised a hand and made a “shh” gesture. “Fang Sizhe is calling.”

Qin Yan had no choice but to swallow his words again, casting a slightly helpless glance at Jiang Chi.

Jiang Chi gave Qin Yan a bright smile.

Forget it.

Qin Yan gave up struggling.

Even if he revealed his real identity, Hong Zixiao would probably just be amazed and somehow steer the conversation into an even weirder direction.

Originally, Jiang Chi just thought Qin Yan was Ji Yu. Now Qin Yan had to pretend to be “Ji Yu pretending to be a Qin family illegitimate child.”

It was just too much.

Jiang Chi was the one who got it wrong—why did he have to suffer the consequences?!

Qin Yan mentally pulled out his little notebook and added a heavy stroke to it.

Jiang Chi suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, as if a deep cold had crept up out of nowhere.

He reached over to turn up the car’s air conditioning and even asked Qin Yan, “Are you cold?”

Qin Yan asked Jiang Chi, “If one day they find out they got the wrong person, do you think they’ll be really mad?”

Still feeling a chill, Jiang Chi zipped up his jacket and replied offhandedly, “Of course not. Only idiots would mistake someone’s identity.”

Qin Yan’s mood instantly lifted. He quietly tucked away his mental notebook.

The temperature in the car gradually warmed.

Hong Zixiao laughed loudly. “I seriously can’t wait for that day. Their jaws are gonna hit the floor!”

Qin Yan leaned back in the rear seat, arms crossed, his gaze sweeping over the two in the front seat.

“I’m looking forward to it too,” he said coolly.

<< _ >>

**TN

In Chinese culture, weasels, particularly the “yellow weasel”, are associated with both good and bad fortune, often linked to their perceived magical or spirit-like qualities. They are believed to be “wandering spirits” that can steal or replace people’s souls, so killing them is considered bad luck.