Rebirth Of A Male Empress

Chapter 1

Edited by Asmita_Mukherjee

Chapter 1

The city was covered in a powder-like snow. This time of the year will always be the loneliest time for a young man who was living alone. Xiao Bai stared out of his rundown apartment's window as the little snowflakes floated down, one by one to the ground.

Xiao Bai let out a frustrated sigh as he thought about how the things were in his life. Xiao Bai was a 21year-old guy who lived on his own; he stopped going to school at the age of 15 and was forced to do hard work in order to support himself. His parents owned a mediocre business but unluckily both of his parents died in a car accident leaving the 10-year-old Xiao Bai in his maternal aunt's care.

At first, his aunt's family was nice to him and cared for him but that was until all the assets of his parents were transferred to Xiao Bai; his aunt, as his legal guardian, managed to get her hands on the money showing her true colours. They began to abuse the poor boy. Xiao Bai endured all of it for 5 years, until he grew tired of being a white lotus and decided to run away from home.

It wasn't even a home - it was a place full of monsters that hurt him and used him to get all his money. It was hard for him at first but he strived to get a job and somehow managed to get himself a rundown apartment to take shelter and enough money to buy food and other basic necessities.

As he snapped out of his rather sad past, Xiao Bai decided to go out and buy something to at least reward himself for making it into another year. He pulled his old coat from the rusty rack and go out on the cold night.

"Woah! I never knew snow could be this beautiful!" he murmured, amazed as he stepped outside on pile of snow that could be seen everywhere. He was somewhat annoyed for being always ignorant about these things for the sole reason that he just wanted to survive in this scary world making him forget to appreciate the beautiful things around him. But one thing was for sure, his heart was surely slowly turning cold the moment he faced his reality. Cold just like this winter season.

After a while of looking around, he bought some snacks and two bottles of liquor from a nearby convenient store, and walked out to see an old beggar who was silently walking on the cold streets alone and was only wearing a thin layer of clothes. He eyed the old beggar who went ahead to lie down on a cardboard under a shabby looking shed. On a whim, Xiao Bai decided to go and talk to him.

As unfortunate he was, he had to harden his heart to protect himself. But, at the end of the day, he was still a human and found it unbearable to see others suffer. He couldn't help but feel a little pity for the poor man. Then and there, he decided to have a little chat with the beggar since he didn't really feel like going back on that empty apartment yet.

"Mister, do you have it hard too? I mean, are you having a hard time in life?", he asked as soon as he sat on one of the concrete benches and the old man looked at him devoid of any feelings as if he was looking at a void. Xiao Bai also looked at the man and handed him a bottle of liquor and some snacks.

The old man saw this and his eyes sparkled at the offer. He reached out at a lightning speed making Xiao Bai startled. The old man suddenly started talking with a hoarse voice due to the temperature, "You know I don't really have it hard. I get to live and breathe every day; I think it's good enough."

He spoke while chugging the liquor and Xiao Bai also decided to drink his share. Xiao Bai replied enviously, "Must be nice!"

"Hey mister, do you have a family? How about a special someone?" he continued after a short pause while blankly staring at the snow outside of the shed's roof.

"I don't. But I knew in my heart that my family is always there, and that I will always cherish them no matter how many lifetimes have gone." The old man replied and also looked solemnly at the snow. The old man gave such an abstract answer but Xiao Bai could feel that he was really serious. After a while of Xiao Bai's silence, came a series of soft sobs and the old man looked at him questioningly.