The Master of His Fate

Shen Yuan

Shen Yuan never really questioned his luck. It never occurred to him to even think about it before and after he transmigrated.

Before transmigration, he was just a millennial who was content to live the remainder of his life. His weak constitution did not allow him to have a normal childhood. His constant visits to his uncle's hospital were more than the amount of his stay at his home with his family. And while he rarely leaves his private ward, he has a variety of friends —from old people and children his age that he came across from his morning wheelchaired walks, to toddlers he sometimes randomly babysits when his nurses or other doctors and random people were too busy to babysit their kids.

Due to his numerous near-death experiences, and the fact that half the people he met at the hospital never showed up to visit him again, Shen Yuan grew indifferent. He grew accustomed to people coming and leaving, readily accepting that, unlike him, they had a life ahead of them or that they wouldn't be able to visit him anymore.

At such a young age, he came to understand that he was born different. His peers called him weird while the adults would comment that he grew mature for his age all while sending him pitiful looks. Nonetheless, Shen Yuan embraced their words and took them as compliments.

At some point, however, he became partially aware of his daily life at the hospital. He became less responsive and more absent to the present to the point that he vaguely remembers the rest of his childhood. It was either because of his medications, or perhaps his body was failing him... Either way, he doesn't recall how it happened or when it started, but he was aware that he made those close to him worry excessively over him.

Shen Yuan later found out that the locum doctor —who covered for his uncle who was overseas for half a year every other year, who accompanied him on days when he was alone, and taught him things when he had questions —had been intentionally prescribing him the wrong medicines for money. The medical malpractice caused a silent uproar in the hospital for a time; his uncle became a daily presence beside him, never handing over his duties to anyone else, and acted more like a guard dog than a doctor. And although he physically recovered from the quackery, his decreased responsiveness remained.

Only due to his older brothers introducing him to classic novels and reading him stories in the late afternoons was he able to recover from his tranced state and be more present in those moments. When they were able, his parents would sometimes visit and humor him by bringing him food or collectibles he grew curious about from his novel escapades. And when his health would permit him, they would visit the places that inspired the settings of his favorite books.

At 12 years old, his health had stabilized enough for him to permanently leave the confines of the hospital and experience school life. At that age, he learned that their da-ge was an adopted child when Papa Shen and Mama Shen introduced a new addition to their small family, his baby little sister.

Although there was a 6-year gap in their age, Shen Yuan doted on his adopted little sister as he had done with the toddlers he babysat. He was ecstatic from then on because his meimei had become a constant presence in his life. She would not become another face in the crowd of people whom he had forgotten, or become just another name in his memories.

At the age of 14, his health started acting up again that he was, therefore, homeschooled instead. His meimei would occasionally join him when she did not want to go to school, and Shen Yuan relished those moments and experienced what it was like to be a teacher. His older brothers who were consecutively 2 and 4 years older than him would sometimes join them in their impromptu class, while their parents would bring them books to critique in their small group discussions and humor them by asking them questions to debate and laugh about when they weren't busy.