17
The wedding date drew nearer, and I grew more depressed. Just the thought of marrying that woman made me feel like I was suffocating.
One day, I took a yacht out to sea to clear my head. While I was lying on the deck with my eyes closed, a crew member suddenly lunged at me, wielding a gleaming dagger, stabbing wildly...
At the critical moment, someone intervened and stopped him. Together, we managed to subdue the attacker.
Once the danger had passed, I got a clear look at my rescuer.
The man had my face—Joey's face, to be exact.
"Who are you?" I asked in astonishment.
"A few months ago, did you receive two strange phone calls? Those were from me." The man smiled bitterly. "I am you, five years from now."
18
What the man told me next left me thunderstruck...
The so-called "life swap" was actually a premeditated conspiracy!
Joey appeared cultured and refined on the surface, but he was a monster inside. A girl he'd seduced and abandoned had jumped to her death. He used his connections to cover it up, but the girl's brother was a ruthless man who swore revenge.
After that, Joey's life was constantly in danger. He was attacked several times and nearly killed.
The girl's brother was a former soldier—not only an excellent marksman but also highly skilled at counter-surveillance. The Qiao family tried everything but couldn't eliminate him.
He was like the proverbial Sword of Damocles, hanging persistently over Joey's head. No one knew when it would suddenly fall...
Day after day, this terror drove Joey to the brink of a breakdown! Eventually, the old man Jansen came up with a plan: find a stand-in to take the hits for Joey...
And that unfortunate stand-in was me!
According to my original life trajectory, I would have been stabbed on this yacht by the girl's brother. Although I would have been resuscitated, I would've become a vegetative patient.
After the stabbing, the girl's brother went into hiding. Without catching him, the threat persisted, and Joey had no choice but to continue living as "Owen."
The old man was sharper than anyone. He came up with another gambit—finding an opportunity to "adopt" Joey as a godson, allowing him to return to the Qiao empire under that identity...
19
Hearing this, I was overwhelmed with emotion. There's a saying that rings true: every gift from fate already has a price tag attached in the dark! I was so foolish, so pitiful!
"Me, five years from now" continued: After becoming a vegetable, he lay in a hospital bed for five years. Not long ago, he suddenly woke up. Piecing together everything that had happened, he figured out the whole truth. To survive, he had to keep pretending to be in a coma.
One day, he managed to get hold of a nurse's phone and, on impulse, called his own number from the past. Miraculously, the call went through... The person who answered was me, five years in the past!
But before he could say much, the nurse came back. He had to hang up quickly and hide the phone.
When he tried to call me again, he was discovered. They confiscated the phone and lied to the me on the other end, claiming he was a psychiatric patient...
After that, Joey had him locked up.
"How did you get here?" I asked curiously. "Did they invent a time machine five years from now?"
"No, there's no such thing as a time machine," he shook his head, then told me something even more incredible.
After being locked up, he'd been frantic every day, desperate to escape and contact the me of five years ago, to tell me the truth and keep me from falling into the trap!
One day, he had a sudden inspiration and drew a door on the wall. To his shock, the door became real!
When he pushed it open and tried to walk through, something even more bizarre happened—he had traveled through time...
And he'd arrived right here on this yacht!
20
His experiences were more extraordinary than any story I'd ever heard. Perhaps his sheer willpower had created a miracle!
Suddenly, I thought of something. "What about Vivi? What happened to her?"
At the mention of Vivi, he let out a long sigh. "Joey married her, but treated her terribly—he fooled around with other women and beat her regularly..."
"Vivi!" My heart felt like it was being pierced by knives. It was me, despicable me, who had personally pushed her into that hell!
"Now you understand why I came to find you," he said. "I had to stop you from falling into the abyss of misfortune!"
"I was wrong, so wrong!" I was filled with remorse. "What should I do now?"
21
The Qiao family had many underground businesses—all of them dirty. Using my identity as "Joey," I gathered plenty of incriminating evidence, then took it to Joey to negotiate.
I demanded an end to the "life swap" game and to have our brains swapped back.
He didn't dare refuse. If that evidence went public, the Qiao family would face total ruin.
Before the surgery, I warned him that I'd made copies of the evidence. If I didn't make it off the operating table, my friends would see that justice was served!
Joey's face turned green with fury.
The surgery was a success. I became myself again.
But the fallout wasn't over. Not long afterward, the evidence was leaked anyway. The Qiao family not only lost everything—they went to prison too...
The person who leaked the evidence was the dead girl's brother. He'd chosen a different method to avenge his sister.
Of course, I was the one who'd given him the evidence.
Once the dust settled, I went to find Vivi with a heart full of hope. But all I found was a letter from her.
It turned out that Joey had told her everything. My actions had broken her heart completely, and she never wanted to see me again!
I clutched that letter, drowning in regret...
22
Years later, I finally fulfilled the dream I'd had back then.
Shandong Kitchen—this was the dumpling shop that belonged to me and Vivi.
Every day I was here, making dumplings and boiling dumplings, waiting for one person.
I believed that one day, she would walk through that door.
She definitely would.
(End of Story 14: The Double)
*
When the Boss finished his story, everyone fell into another wave of reflection.
"Trading lives—that's a fascinating and profound topic," Stan said. "I think at certain moments, we've all envied someone else's life, but in reality, they might be secretly envying ours."
"Poor people have poor people's troubles, and rich people have rich people's suffering. Nobody's life is perfect. But if given the chance, I'd still want to try living a different life!" Luke shared his thoughts. "A life like Joey's—could anyone really turn that down?"
"Yeah," Cindy agreed. "I also fantasize sometimes about experiencing a different life."
The Boss turned to me—I'd been sitting quietly. "Miss, did you like that story? If you could swap lives with someone, who would you choose?"
I paused, then smiled. "What if that person were you?"
"Why me?"
"Running a quiet little shop in the middle of a bustling city, with scenery in your eyes and hope in your heart—doesn't that sound nice?"
"Hehe, you have a point." The Boss smiled too. "But I might not agree to swap with you. I'm quite satisfied with my life as it is."
"Then I wish you a life without regrets," I said.
"Thank you. I hope the same for everyone."
Outside, the rain had quietly stopped. Chatting about stories, we'd unknowingly made it through that long, dreary rainy night. The generous Boss comped everyone's meal in the end.
He said every person's story was wonderful.
One by one, the customers left, until only I remained.
"Boss," I said, "I have one more story I'd like to share with you."
"Oh? I'm all ears." He paused, then sat down across from me. "Please, go ahead."
"This story was also written by 'Dumpling,'" I smiled softly. "To be more precise, it's a continuation of the Heartbreak Doll Shop story..."