What it Means to be Human

Mutual Salvation (2)

What can drive a man crazy, a woman desperate, and a child yearning?

There are many possible answers to this question. Some examples would be: endless desire, family, and friends. But the most common and predictable answer would be...

Love.

The novel this world was based on was of a book called, 'Love Aeternum'. The title would make readers immediately think of happy endings, but this book doesn't quite conform to their wishes.

Love Aeternum revolves around the male and female protagonists. Both of whom grew up as childhood sweethearts. They shared a close bond ever since childhood.

The female protagonist, Xia Mei Lien, was born as the precious princess of the prestigious Xia family. The Xia family were relatives of the famous Ling family and descendants of the ever-distinguished Xia clan. In addition, the Xia family's current patriarch, Xia Chao's wife, Song Jia Li was the princess of the Song family, as well as a reputable actress in her own right. Seeing the favorable conditions of her family, it was expected that the novel would end in a happy note. However, it unfortunately did not.

Xia Mei Lien was born with congenital heart disease, making her body weaker than her peers. It was estimated that unless she found a suitable heart donor, she wouldn't be able to live past 25 years old.

Nevertheless, despite her awareness, Mei Lien grew up as the sunshine of her family. She grew up gentle and caring, the epitome of a lady. Her parents were proud yet regretful of their precious princess.

At the age of five, she met the world's male lead, Shen Haoran, in a birthday party held by the latter's family. She looked to be too eccentric, being old enough to stand on her own yet still being carried by her father. This earned her the mockery and isolation of other kids her age. Shen Haoran, who bore witness to this, couldn't help but want to protect the little cinnamon bun, and so he did. The two started off on a favorable impression of each other, which, as time passes, steadily grew into affections. Thus sealing the start of their tragic love.

At the age of 20, Xia Mei Lien passed away due to her inborn disease. The Xia couple, unable to take the loss of the daughter who they raised as a precious gem, became unable to properly function in society. Xia Chao, unable to properly attend to his company's affairs, helplessly watched as the company he painstakingly built crumbled. Song Jia Li, unable to accept the death of her daughter, died of grief a few months later. His wife's death drove him further into a corner, Xia Chao committed suicide by jumping off of his company's rooftop 3 days later.

Song Haoran, left without his sweetheart, swore to preserve all the memories they had together. He once again built the Xia company, removed the mortgage on the Xia's property, and recovered his beloved's relics. Later on, he died at the age of 43 due to organ failure.

━━━━✿❘༻༺❘✿━━━━

A series of knocks could be heard outside of the door as a middle-aged female voice followed soon after.

"Young master Ru, it's time for breakfast."

The spacious room was surrounded by an air of simplicity and tranquility. The person on the bed shifted as the light that shone through the crack of the window gave him an ethereal halo.

His long, black eyelashes fluttered as he groggily opened his eyes, revealing beautiful black irises that shone like starlight. His big doe eyes were filled with water, which fell as he yawned.

The 5-year-old on the bed looked extremely angelic, so pure and innocent, yet the look on his cute, round face gave him an air of indifference. It was such a stark contrast, but it somehow did not feel strange. Instead, it seemed as if this was just how things were supposed to be.

The child's pink lips opened as he uttered a sentence with his adorable voice, "...got it, Niuniu. I'll... be down in a second."

Having heard a reply, Niu, the maid outside, respectfully bowed and left with unhurried steps.

[Host, the birthday party where the male and female leads met is scheduled to be held tonight.]

The young boy, who was brushing his teeth, disinterestedly turned his head to face a 14-year-old boy standing by his side. He indifferently stared at the older boy which seemed to fluster the latter.

The young boy continued to stare until the older boy turned red from head to toe. He replied, "What's the point of reminding me, Hong'er?"

Caihong was stunned by his host's reply. He didn't expect Wang Fai to react like that. He hesitated for a few moment before he responded, [(＃＞＜) But, host! Isn't this a chance to hug the male lead's thigh early on and reverse the original owner's fa—]

"No."

Wang Fai finished brushing his teeth and proceeded to walk unhurriedly to the dining room.

"The only mission I have... is to prevent the Xia family from falling apart, not to reverse Xia Ru's fate. That's why, I'm not obligated to do such a thing.

Besides, what good would it do for me? Xia Ru has been neglected since young, you can't expect that his parents would suddenly start to care for this body."

[Th-that's why we could just change the plot! There are no rules about being unable to do so!]

"Hong'er, living happily in this world is impossible. As the female lead of a tragedy novel, Xia Mei Lien has a very rare blood type. We won't be able to find any suitable donors... except Xia Ru. They're twins, after all."

[But won't that just repeat the whole tragedy of the original story?]

Wang Fai was surprised by his system's worries. He smiled amusedly at Caihong and stated, "Well, aren't you naive? If this world revolves around the male and female leads then why would supporting roles, especially a cannon fodder, matter? In the original story, the couple died after months of grieving for their daughter, uncaring of the son they left behind. So, tell me, would the tragedy repeat itself if we follow the plot?"

Caihong was rendered speechless. He felt sorry for the original owner, however he knew that what his host said was right. The death of Xia Ru,

Will never achieve the same effect as the death of his twin sister.

━━━━✿❘༻༺❘✿━━━━

Wang Fai was sent to this world 5 years ago when the original host was not born yet. After inquiry, Caihong said that since he was a new host, he would undergo a period of adjustment. He would be sent to worlds on a young age, which would then increase as time passes by. After the initial adjustment period, he would then be allowed to occupy the host's body during random times.

After being born, Wang Fai, still dumbfounded, was suddenly met with a sharp pain on his behind. Startled, he couldn't control his body's instinct as tears welled up in his eyes. After which, a loud wail was heard.

He deemed that moment as one of his black history later on. Wang Fai then started to formulate a plan to achieve the easiest and most convenient success.

Analyzing all the possible solutions, he came up with the method of "organ donation". He deemed it as the most plausible and convenient method to use in fulfilling the original host's wish. After all, despite being one of the precious children of the Xia family, 'his' parents, the Xia couple, pay more attention to their eldest, Xia Mei Lien.

Basing his thoughts on the current Xia couple's attitude towards their children, as well as the novel's original storyline, Wang Fai inferred that the death of Xia Ru would not cause as much of an impact as Xia Mei Lien's demise.

Based on this, the easiest and most convenient way to fulfill the task is to save the female lead (Xia Mei Lien)'s life by finding a suitable organ donor. However, befitting of a tragedy novel's protagonist, Xia Mei Lien possesses a rare blood type — which, despite all the efforts of the Xia couple, they were unable to find a suitable donor.

With all these reasons, Wang Fai decided that sacrificing Xia Ru would do the job in fulfilling his mission. He decided to donate his heart to the female lead once his body reaches the appropriate age — that is, the age of 18.

He is unwilling to stay in this world that is reminiscent of his own.