Back to My Dad's Youth

📖 Updates on the print publication are posted on Weibo at @Li Chengcheng

The full novel includes 50,000 characters of bonus side stories. The completed novel set in the same universe, "Less Talk!", is in my collection~

>> Reborn one day, Lin Wangye finds himself twenty years before he was even born. The young master can't bear the indignity of being left destitute on the streets, and in this desperate situation, a brilliant idea strikes him.

Go find my rich second-generation dad at eighteen and keep living off him!

Full of hope, Lin Wangye goes to ask around at school. His search eventually leads him to an internet cafe, where his dad is swearing at a black-and-white game screen, waiting to respawn.

Unable to stand watching, Lin Wangye yanks his dad off the sofa, takes his seat, and proceeds to dominate the whole game with a dazzling display of skill.

His dad: My long-lost wild dad! I'm useless, carry me!

Lin Wangye: ...?

And that's how Lin Wangye meets his dad, Lin Shen.

For a while, he can't decide which is more absurd: "His dad calls him Dad" or "His dad has fallen out with his own father and had his allowance cut off, so now Lin Wangye has to take care of him."

The most shocking discovery of all is that his dad isn't into women at all.

Help! Then where did I come from?!

With that question on his mind, Lin Wangye becomes good buddies with Lin Shen, hoping to figure out what happened back then.

When Lin Shen was young, he flirted with everyone and was a bit of a jerk. He got tangled up in ambiguously flirtatious relationships with people like the roguishly handsome internet cafe attendant and the gentle bookstore owner.

But from what Lin Wangye can tell, the person his dad truly cares about...

is probably that aloof, gorgeous desk mate who keeps sneaking glances at the two of them.

Even as a teenager, it's easy to see that this man will become his dad's business rival, locked in fierce competition with him many years in the future: Lu Chengxuan.

*

Besides his father, Lin Wangye is also determined to find someone else. He doesn't know when their paths will cross, but he's certain they will meet someday.

Just as he expected, he unexpectedly runs into that elegant gentleman from the past.

Before, I could only admire you from afar, loving you without hope. Let's see how I take you in hand this time, easy as pie!

Lin Wangye puts on his sunglasses: Hey, handsome, wanna date?

Handsome guy: Aren't you dating Lin Shen?

Lin Wangye: ?

Handsome guy: ?

Lin Shen: ?

Lu Chengxuan: ?

-+-

⭐A few things to know⭐

1. Four male leads. Both son and dad have romantic storylines. The son's romance comes first, the dad's later. Neither is a main or secondary pairing. The story is mainly from the son's perspective, with a contrast between a direct, no-nonsense couple and a couple who keep dancing around each other.

Son's story: [Straightforward, bait-casting, happy puppy bottom x Handsome, tragic, devoted, jealous top]

Dad's story: [Stubborn bottom with a soft heart who won't admit it x Icy, reserved, cool big shot top]

2. No extreme shipper takes, self-insert fantasies, or arguments over breaking up or reversing pairings. Anything of the sort will be deleted.

3. [No male pregnancy], [No marriage of convenience], [No wives married to gay men]. The four main characters are not related by blood.

4. Inspired by Keigo Higashino's "Toki o Kakeru Shoujo" and the film "Goodbye Mr. Loser". Details are in the author's note for chapter one. [Please don't make baseless plagiarism accusations]. If you still have concerns after reading the sample, please report it through the proper channel. Thank you for understanding.

5. The cover features [Lin Wangye].

"Recommended completed novel by a friend, perfect if you're looking for something to read"

"The Sickly, Violent Tycoon's Personal Physician" by Ting Wu

I got called in to treat someone in the middle of the night and knocked the crazed protagonist top flat with one punch!

[Short-tempered but sweet personal physician & sickly, violent big shot who flies into a rage from time to time]

● Completed novel in the same universe: "Less Talk!"

[Pure, flirtatious sunshine deaf-mute bottom & talkative, guileless college student top]

Yan Ning suffered an accident as a child. When he woke up, he couldn't hear anything and had lost the ability to speak.

To make ends meet, he works as an assistant at a sign language training class during the day, and sells handmade dolls at a street stall in the shopping district at night.

There's a very handsome street singer who always sings across from him.

Yan Ning can't hear him, but since sitting at his stall gets boring, he rests his chin in his hands each day, blinking as he studies the singer's strumming and figures out the lyrics by reading his lips.

Everyone's just trying to get by, so he occasionally tosses five yuan into the singer's guitar case, too.

Only much later does he find out that the shopping district belongs to the singer's family.

-

Lu Chengchen is a born rebel who refuses to inherit his family's throne. Even without an ear for music, he insists on going against the grain and becoming a singer.

He's utterly convinced he's a musical genius.

Friend: People praise you because you're handsome.

Lu Chengchen: What are you talking about? That shy stall owner across from me, who never talks to anyone, listens to me so attentively! He hasn't asked for my WeChat, but his eyes practically sparkle when he looks at me, and he's even willing to spend money on me. He's definitely my devoted fan!

Friend: ( ° △ °|||) Bro, wake up.

Lu Chengchen: (*￣︶￣) I have to achieve my musical dream. I can't let him down.

After getting a professional critique from his mentor, Lu Chengchen's musical dream falls apart. One day, as the stall owner across the way is packing up, he can't help grabbing him and pouring out all his frustrations about his unfulfilled youthful ambitions.

Yan Ning blinks at him, his bright eyes full of confusion.

The man is talking too fast and too much, and Yan Ning can't make sense of it.

In the end, Lu Chengchen decides to accept the fact that the Chinese music scene has moved on without him. He goes home to inherit the throne and support his boyfriend.

Bonus scene:

One day, Lu Chengchen catches the little stall owner skipping work to buy milk tea. "Ningning, treat me."

Yan Ning, who controls the finances, glances up at him, checks his expression, then rises onto his toes and briskly kisses the spot just below the corner of Lu Chengchen's mouth.

Lu Chengchen's brain freezes. His face turns bright red, and he can't help explaining.

"I meant treat me to milk tea..."

Yan Ning looks puzzled, but still gives the milk tea he just bought a kiss.

Theme: Respect your parents and care for the elderly