The Awakening of the "Protagonist"

Near the Qin Corporation, there was a private restaurant.

Huangfu Chengshi skillfully ordered a few dishes that Qin Ya liked, then propped his chin on his hand, gazing at her with delight.

"Ya-jie, have you been working too hard lately? You have dark circles under your eyes."

"Don't call me Ya-jie. Call me Qin-jie or President Qin," Qin Ya corrected.

"No, I like calling you Ya-jie," Huangfu Chengshi insisted playfully, his tone so natural it seemed unquestionable.

He didn’t bring up the investment again, nor did he ask about the company. Instead, he shared stories from his time abroad, recounting amusing anecdotes that made her laugh.

Qin Ya realized that being with Huangfu Chengshi was effortless.

This boy, nearly ten years her junior, had a way of dispelling the shadows in her heart with his pure sincerity.

Moreover, Qin Ya could sense that Huangfu Chengshi possessed a level of social awareness and tact that far exceeded his age.

After the meal, Huangfu Chengshi insisted on walking her back to the company building.

"Ya-jie, go on up. Don’t overwork yourself," he said, waving reluctantly from beside his car.

"Got it, little caretaker," Qin Ya replied, ruffling his hair affectionately as if he were a younger brother. "You should head back too. The project’s just started—don’t stay up too late."

"Mm!" Huangfu Chengshi nodded emphatically, watching until Qin Ya disappeared into the elevator before finally getting back into his car.

His bright smile gradually faded, replaced by a tender expression tinged with something unreadable.

Back in her office, Qin Ya was alone again.

She thought of Huangfu Chengshi—his clear-eyed enthusiasm and drive—and then of Li Jinchuan, consumed by jealousy and failure.

The contrast in her mind grew sharper.

Times had truly changed.

The era of ruthless ambition was fading.

The future belonged to young people like Huangfu Chengshi—those who understood technology, data, and, most importantly, human nature.

She picked up her phone, her gaze turning cold and resolute, and sent out an order:

"Cut the budget for the 'Windchaser' project by another thirty percent. Transfer half of the marketing team to the 'Resource Strategy Department.'"

Li Jinchuan’s authority was further hollowed out.

Though the "Windchaser" brand—his last hope for revenge—still held a foothold in the mid-to-low-end market thanks to the Qin family’s legacy and early-mover advantage, everyone knew it had lost its soul.

Li Jinchuan, the so-called general manager, had become a hollow title.

Every day, he came to the office only to face the averted gazes of his subordinates and a pile of rejected reports.

He was a joke.

A cautionary tale—a failed specimen kept around by Qin Ya to warn everyone else.

Day after day, his resentment festered.

His hatred for Lu Chenyuan grew like a poisonous weed, spreading uncontrollably in his heart.

But Lu Chenyuan was beyond his reach.

That man stood atop the clouds, while Li Jinchuan remained trapped in the mud.

The helplessness gnawed at him, threatening to consume him whole.

Then, one day, the news announced a world-class forum for young scientists in Jingzhou.

There, Li Jinchuan saw a figure both familiar and distant—Lu Ruoxi.

As a guest speaker, she stood on stage delivering a keynote address.

Dressed in a simple white suit, her hair elegantly pinned up, her expression was composed, her gaze clear and focused.

Li Jinchuan didn’t understand a word of her speech.

Yet he couldn’t look away.

Under the spotlight, surrounded by top scientists and media, she seemed like an untouchable goddess—calm, rational, radiant.

He suddenly remembered seeing her like this once before, long ago, in the library of Jingzhou University.

Back then, he had foolishly believed that if he just reached out, he could pluck this star from the sky and hold her in his arms.

Now, he understood.

An entire galaxy stretched between them.

Old obsessions and fresh envy coiled around his mind like twin vipers, devouring his sanity.

Why?

Why did the Lu family get to have everything?

Lu Chenyuan, Mo Qingli, Lu Qianqian… and now, Lu Ruoxi.

They all stood in the light, revered by thousands.

While he lurked in the shadows, like a rat scurrying in the dark.

It wasn’t fair.

The world shouldn’t be like this.

That night, Li Jinchuan drank heavily.

The cold liquor burned his throat but did nothing to quench the fire inside him.

He pulled out his phone and stared at a photo of Lu Ruoxi he had saved long ago.

A mad idea took root in his mind.

He would go to her.

He would tell her—she didn’t belong in that cold, sterile world of science.

She belonged to him.

He was her destiny.

Li Jinchuan grabbed his car keys and stormed out of the bar.

He revved the engine and sped through the dark streets.

Alcohol blurred his vision, but his mind was alarmingly sharp.

He was headed to the outskirts of the city, to the Yuanlong Tech Research Institute.

Ever since Lu Ruoxi and Su Yang returned from their WAIC award, Yuanlong had proudly announced her new lab.

She had moved from the original Pangu Lab to the Yuanlong facility.

Now, he was going to see her.

Rain began to fall, though he didn’t notice when it started.

The windshield wipers thrashed wildly, struggling to clear his view.

The research institute drew closer.

He could already see the bright white building glowing in the distance.

Then, at a sharp turn, a massive truck suddenly barreled into view from the side.

Its blinding headlights glared like the eyes of death.

Li Jinchuan’s pupils contracted in shock.

Instinctively, he yanked the steering wheel.

CRASH—!

The impact sent his car careening off the road, slamming into a thick tree.

The airbag exploded outward, but the force still smashed his head against the wheel.

Agony erupted. Darkness swallowed him.

In the void, unfamiliar images flooded his mind like a tidal wave.

"Ruoxi, I love you. For you, I’d defy the world."

"The Lu family must fall!"

"I am Li Jinchuan. I am the protagonist of this world!"

He stood before the ruins of the Lu Corporation, holding a tearful Lu Ruoxi in his arms, a business empire bowing at his feet…

Scene after scene, terrifyingly vivid.

Was that… another life he could have lived?

Li Jinchuan couldn’t tell reality from delusion.

All he felt was a power unlike anything he’d known before, awakening within him.

"I… am the protagonist…"

With his last shred of strength, he whispered the words—then slipped into unconsciousness.

---

At the same time, inside the Yuanlong Tech Research Institute…

Lu Ruoxi stood before a massive data board, working through a complex equation.

Su Yang stood beside her, occasionally offering insights.

"If we replace this topological structure with a Klein bottle model, could it reduce algorithmic redundancy?"

"Worth testing," Lu Ruoxi agreed, picking up a pen to make adjustments.

Then—

A sharp, stabbing pain lanced through her temple.

She gasped, and the pen slipped from her fingers, clattering to the floor.

"Ruoxi? What's wrong?" Su Yang immediately steadied her, his face filled with concern.

"It's nothing." Lu Ruoxi pressed a hand to her forehead, closing her eyes as the world seemed to spin around her.

Strange, fragmented memories—ones that didn’t belong to her—suddenly and without warning flooded her mind.

A man with blurred features gazed at her with deep affection: "Ruoxi, trust me. I’ll avenge you."

She wept, throwing herself into his arms: "Jinchuan, you’re all I have left."

She watched as her brothers fell from grace, one by one, yet a twisted sense of vindication flickered across her face.

The scenes were absurd, melodramatic, saturated with emotions she couldn’t comprehend—jealousy, hatred, and that… obsessive, love-struck dependence on a man.

What was all this?

"Ruoxi, you’re pale. Let me take you to the infirmary." Su Yang’s voice pulled her back to reality.

"I’m fine."

Lu Ruoxi took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, the confusion had faded, replaced by her usual clarity.

The sharp pain had come and gone just as quickly.

The absurd images in her mind vanished like bubbles popping.

"Maybe… I’ve just been too tired lately. Had a waking dream," she explained, more to herself than to Su Yang.

Her gaze drifted to the elegant, rational equations on the whiteboard, then back to the unfamiliar, emotionally-driven version of herself from that bizarre dream.

It all felt ridiculous.

How could she ever be that kind of person?

Lu Ruoxi shook her head, dismissing the episode.

She picked up her pen.

"Let’s continue."

Her world remained what it had always been—one built on logic and truth, pure and untainted.

Unbeknownst to her, in another corner of the world, a man clung to that very dream she found absurd, believing it to be his reclaimed reality.