Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 1

The bar was filled with deafening music, and the multicolored lights swept across the room, dazzling to the eyes. Zhu Xiao sat in a corner booth, out of place with the atmosphere here. He seemed troubled, his brows furrowed with a cold expression.

“Zhu Xiao, is the sun rising from the west?” Zhao Zirui, Zhu Xiao’s good friend, arrived fashionably late and immediately punished himself with three glasses of the most expensive drinks, since today’s gathering was organized by Zhu Xiao and, of course, paid for by him.

“It used to be hard to get you to show up at all. Why the change of heart today?” Zhu Xiao now taught at a university, and with his responsibilities of teaching and academic research, he rarely visited such places. Since he had started competing with Wu Jiu, these occasions had become even rarer.

Speaking of Zhu Xiao and Wu Jiu, they were truly a pair of rivals. Since their university days, they had been in the same major, constantly competing against each other, comparing everything, and vying for the top spot in every subject. Their grades were always neck and neck, with the first place constantly switching between them, often before either of them could settle into it. As a result, Zhu Xiao had no time for leisure; he spent almost all his free time competing with Wu Jiu. After entering the workforce, they continued this relentless spirit of competition, rising rapidly together and becoming the youngest associate professors in their college. That year, the news was particularly exciting when their photos appeared together in the newspaper, earning them the nickname “Archaeological Twin Stars.”

Zhao Zirui still remembered this ridiculous title vividly because on the day it was given, someone had cut out the photos of Zhu Xiao and Wu Jiu from the newspaper and pasted them side by side on the school’s bulletin board for everyone to see.

By the way, Wu Jiu. Zhao Zirui suddenly remembered that he had recently heard something.

“Um, that guy, I heard he’s… gone?” Zhao Zirui spoke delicately, not mentioning the name or the word “dead.”

Zhu Xiao, who was already annoyed, replied, “I don’t know.”

Zhao Zirui was puzzled. “How could you not know?” After all, death is a rather straightforward matter—once you’re dead, you close your eyes, stop breathing, and that’s it. How could one not know?

“No, that’s not right,” Zhao Zirui suddenly remembered. “Didn’t you attend his funeral?”

Recalling Wu Jiu’s funeral, Zhu Xiao still felt like he had been tricked. The mourning hall was filled with fresh flowers on both sides, and the floor was covered with a bright red carpet—on which was written the stylish word “welcome.” If it weren’t for the word “mourning” surrounded by red flowers in the center of the hall, Zhu Xiao would have thought he had come to the wrong place. Looking around, he was the only mourner. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like a poorly executed prank.

In response to this, Wu Jiu’s butler explained, “Mr. Wu said before he passed that he couldn’t stand people crying and wailing, so the funeral shouldn’t be too sad to avoid anyone getting emotional.”

After conveying Mr. Wu’s wishes, the butler added, “Oh, Mr. Wu also instructed me that if Mr. Zhu cried, I must remember to record it.”

Then, with particular sincerity, he asked Zhu Xiao, “Do you feel like crying now?”

“…” Zhu Xiao sneered, “Why would I cry? I’m not his wife.”

…

At the funeral, Zhu Xiao asked the butler for the third time, “Is he really dead?”

The butler answered for the third time, “Mr. Wu has passed away.”

“How did he die?”

“Non-cardiac sudden death.”

It was made to sound very official, but Zhu Xiao thought with a deadpan expression.

“What about the body?”

“It’s been cremated.”

“And the ashes?”

As if to convince him, the butler quickly brought out a small urn and handed it to him. “They’re all in here.”

Zhu Xiao glanced inside briefly, but his expression remained unchanged. “I could tell if you just put some flour in here.”

“Ahaha.” The butler chuckled awkwardly, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

The butler gritted his teeth and then pulled out two sheets of paper from his pocket as his trump card: “These are Mr. Wu’s cremation certificate and death certificate. Please take a look.”

A funeral could be a joke, and the ashes could be flour, but the stamped certificates were not fake.

Zhu Xiao’s otherwise expressionless face finally showed a crack.

Did Wu Jiu really die?

After hearing Zhu Xiao’s brief account, Zhao Zirui understood most of it: “So he’s dead, right? You’ve seen the certificates.”

“I don’t know.” Zhu Xiao paused for a moment and then said, “Would a dead person do something so outrageous?”

“What else did he do?”

Zhu Xiao took another two sips of wine in frustration and continued.

At that time, Zhu Xiao was just a little complicated in his feelings.

What happened next was truly shocking.

The butler brought over a thick stack of documents and began to read without saying a word.

From real estate to the internet, from manor wine cellars to flower shops and internet cafes, from Song and Tang dynasty calligraphy and paintings to Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong’s imperial Huanghuali furniture.

After listening for a while, Zhu Xiao realized that the butler was reading Wu Jiu’s assets.

Perhaps worried that Zhu Xiao would get bored listening, the butler read with a deliberate intonation, almost singing by the end, sounding like an ancient eunuch reading a dowry list.

“…All of the above will be gifted to you according to Mr. Wu’s will,” the butler finished in one breath, feeling a bit out of breath and quickly taking a deep breath of fresh air.

Zhu Xiao maintained a calm expression on his face, but inside, he was in turmoil. He thought he had misheard. “What did you say?”

The butler patiently repeated, “All of Mr. Wu’s assets will be gifted to you.”

“…”

Wu Jiu, giving all his assets to him?

Zhu Xiao had just started to believe that Wu Jiu was dead, but now he doubted it again.

“Is this a joke?”

His eyebrows lowered, and a hint of coldness crept into his voice. “Where is Wu Jiu? Let him come out.”

The butler answered for the fourth time, “Mr. Wu has passed away.”

Then, he officially handed over the documents in his hand to Zhu Xiao. “These are various certificates and asset proofs. Please review them.”

He then took out another agreement. “As long as you sign here, all of Mr. Wu’s assets will be yours to dispose of as you wish.”

“—However, Mr. Wu has one condition.”

“You must regularly visit Mr. Wu’s grave, at least once a week.”

“Heaven, a fortune…” Zhao Zirui was shocked. “What is this, a surprise rival?”

He then asked, “Are you going to refuse?”

Zhao Zirui, a friend of Zhu Xiao for many years, knew that Zhu Xiao was the type of person who wouldn’t accept a gift without contributing something in return. He would even refuse a piece of fruit from a student during a festival. Wu Jiu’s huge inheritance had no reason to be accepted.

“I accepted it,” Zhu Xiao glanced at him sideways. “Why not take the money that’s handed to you?”

“Then,” Zhao Zirui swallowed hard, “are you really going to visit Wu Jiu’s grave?”

“Go.”

Zhao Zirui didn’t know what to say, and in the end, he could only sigh, “Ah, this is just too sudden.”

“He’s gone, and no one is competing with you anymore. You… you should take care and not work yourself too hard.”

Listening to Zhao Zirui’s words, Zhu Xiao was lost in thought for some reason. He lowered his eyes and stared at the wine glass in front of him, watching the red and blue lights sway inside.

After a while, he spoke: “I still think he’s not dead.”

“Well, didn’t you see those two certificates?”

“I don’t know.” The problem returned to where it had started. Zhu Xiao said, “I still think he’s not dead.”

Three days later.

According to the agreement, Zhu Xiao was going to visit Wu Jiu’s grave today.

Following the address given by the butler, Zhu Xiao hailed a taxi.

The driver was talkative and glanced at the address, striking up a conversation with Zhu Xiao: “Wow, the suburbs. This place is really remote; not many people go there. Hey, young man, are you going there for fun or what?”

Unfortunately, Zhu Xiao was not a talkative person. He fastened his seatbelt and said indifferently, “Visiting the grave.”

These two short words successfully made the driver feel a bit chilled. He rubbed his arms and continued, “Oh, why choose this time to pay respects to your ancestors? It’s not a holiday or festival.”

Visiting a grave is either for ancestor worship or for mourning a deceased spouse. The driver naturally assumed it was the former, thinking that such a filial young man was truly rare.

Zhu Xiao: “It’s not for ancestor worship.”

Not for ancestors… then it must be for a deceased spouse?

The driver’s eyes widened slightly as he glanced at Zhu Xiao during a break in observing the road conditions.

Zhu Xiao’s face was the epitome of a dream lover, and he was clearly the type who wouldn’t lack admirers.

He was truly handsome, but it was a pity that he had become a young widower at such a young age.

The driver didn’t want to bring up a sore subject, so he just muttered, “Married quite early, huh,” and didn’t say anything more.

Zhu Xiao didn’t know that in the driver’s eyes, he had become a pitiable young widower. He didn’t hear the driver’s muttered sentence, but he was also too lazy to ask. After all, the driver had stopped talking, and he was happy to have some peace and quiet.

Once it was quiet, he thought of Wu Jiu again.

He still thought Wu Jiu wasn’t dead.

Zhu Xiao couldn’t describe where this certainty came from.

But he just felt that Wu Jiu couldn’t have died so easily.

Wu Jiu’s vitality was like that of a cockroach, and Zhu Xiao had witnessed it.

Once, when their residential complex caught fire, Zhu Xiao saw that the walls were all charred when he returned, but Wu Jiu came out as if nothing had happened. Except for his face being a bit sooty, he was unharmed in every other way.

Another time, during a mountain expedition, the mountain road was difficult to navigate at night, and Wu Jiu accidentally fell off a cliff. Everyone was busy calling for emergency rescue, but Wu Jiu just rolled over and climbed back up as if it were just a small hillock.

There was also a time when Wu Jiu fed some food he made to a hamster, causing the hamster to die on the spot, full of grievances. But he himself also ate it and was perfectly fine, without even a stomachache.

…

There were countless such examples, and Zhu Xiao couldn’t recall them all.

After getting out of the car, Zhu Xiao walked to the entrance of the cemetery.

The butler had been waiting for him early on. “Mr. Zhu, you’ve arrived.”

“Follow me.”

The butler led Zhu Xiao to Wu Jiu’s tombstone.

After standing still, Zhu Xiao looked up and immediately felt a pain in his eyes.

Wu Jiu’s tombstone was covered with dense text!

—Published more than 20 academic papers in national key academic journals, authored and edited 8 monographs and textbooks, participated in 10 national and provincial research projects, invited to review for multiple internationally renowned academic journals.

Zhu Xiao was speechless. Who the hell writes their resume on a tombstone?

That was still tolerable, but what followed was even more outrageous.

After listing his achievements, this fool started to list his self-proclaimed titles.

—King, Handsome Guy, Master, Rich Man, Outstanding Youth, People’s Teacher, First-Class Cook, Senior Excavator, Amateur Artist, Most Handsome Face in Asia, Most Popular Person in the College, the Brighter Star of the Archaeological Twin Stars, Overwhelming Man, Man Among Men, Ruler of Men.

Not only that, but even the space next to his name, which should have been for his birth and death dates, was not wasted.

—Wu Jiu (188.88cm)

Zhu Xiao’s face turned extremely ugly. Once again, he felt like he had been tricked by Wu Jiu.

Bringing My Rival Back to Life (Accidentally) - Chapter 1

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Hate that cliffhanger, don’t you?

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