I Snatched the Overbearing President’s Canary [Transmigration] - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: First Encounter

Thump, thump, thump—

The restless pounding of drums jolted He Shenyu awake in an instant. For a dazed moment, he thought he was in the front row of a concert; even the sound of the bass was loud enough to make his ears ring.

But after attending one concert in the past, he had decided they weren’t for him. Why would he go again? What was happening?

Shenyu propped up his head and opened his eyes. Before him lay a dim corridor.

The lights flickered incessantly, making him feel as though he were trapped in a kaleidoscopic illusion. Garish spots of light splashed across the walls. Piercing music, mixed with the cacophony of noisy voices, poured into his ears relentlessly. For a moment, He Shenyu felt spiritually dazed.

Where… where was he?

With such tacky lighting, was this a KTV?

How did he end up at KTV? Yesterday—no, wait—wasn’t he on the night shift yesterday? Where would he have found the time to go out and play?

“Boss He, do you need anything? Why are you standing at the door?” A waiter walked over from the intersection of the corridor and asked softly beside him.

Boss He?

Since when was he a “Boss”? He hadn’t even finished his graduate degree…

“I’m fine,” He Shenyu forced himself to calm down. He suspected that after finishing those medical records yesterday, he had gotten dizzy and lost consciousness.

Did he die from overwork and transmigrate?

“Then, Boss He, could you step aside for a moment?” The waiter spoke with some hesitation. “President Fu rang the bell inside. I need to go in and check.”

“Oh, go ahead, go ahead.” Shenyu still hadn’t figured out the situation. Since he was blocking someone’s way, he might as well move first.

The waiter pushed the door open gently. The chaotic singing, blended with the clamor of voices, poured out all at once.

Shenyu instinctively turned his head to glance inside. The room was dimly lit, making it hard to see clearly, but he caught a glimpse of many people sitting on the sofas.

The sounds of conversation were drowned out by the music, making it impossible to hear specific details. Shenyu withdrew his gaze, but in the next second, he heard a man’s voice intentionally raised. He shouted something that sounded like a person’s name.

Fu? Fu Hengzhan?

He… he recognized that name.

Shenyu froze. No way? Could it really be such a coincidence?

This name belonged to one of the leads in a novel called Prison of Deep Love.

While bored during his night shift yesterday, he had browsed the web on the front desk computer. Among the pages a nurse had left open was this novel. At first, he thought it was a “counterattack” power fantasy, but the more he read, the more “off” it felt.

The novel was actually a melodramatic, “dogblood” romance. To put it simply, it told the story of the domineering CEO Fu Hengzhan sponsoring a male college student named Ning Chen. It was a cycle of “I love you, you don’t love me, you don’t love me, now I love you,” filled with physical and emotional abuse.

The novel followed Ning Chen’s perspective. In the beginning, he was quite hardworking and ambitious; He Shenyu didn’t see anything wrong at first. It wasn’t until he was “taken in” by the CEO that He Shenyu realized something was amiss.

However, since the night shift was incredibly boring, He Shenyu continued reading despite his doubts. Then, he became completely speechless at the convoluted plot between the two. By the end, Ning Chen was even rendered blind. Shenyu’s brows had been knitted so tightly they could have crushed a fly.

Unable to endure the self-torture any longer, he had quit reading. Those forty short chapters had been a massive shock to a straight man who usually only read “level-up” power fantasies.

Throughout the story, he had kept hoping Ning Chen would rise up, turn the tables, and give the CEO a taste of his own medicine. Instead, he just watched him get more and more miserable until he lost his sight. Shenyu had been so angry he gulped down half a bottle of water, only realizing much later that this was actually a BL (Boys’ Love) novel…

As for the sponsorship part at the beginning, He Shenyu had assumed the CEO was just a minor boss meant to be defeated by the protagonist. Instead, they fought until the very end and the protagonist never won…

In any case, He Shenyu was deeply unimpressed by the story. He never expected to hear the name Fu Hengzhan here.

Wait!

This was KTV? Didn’t Fu Hengzhan’s first appearance take place at a KTV?

No way. Such a coincidence?

Shenyu scratched his hair and habitually raised his arm to check his sports watch. It read 8:54.

“Boss He, is something the matter? Why have you been standing here?” The waiter had returned. He closed the door and stood beside He Shenyu with a constrained air.

“Nothing. Don’t mind me, I’m going to the restroom.” Shenyu finally realized how strange it was to just stand there.

“Alright, Boss He. The restroom is at the end of that corridor.” The waiter kindly pointed the way.

Shenyu thanked him and headed in the direction indicated.

Though he really wanted to ask which “Boss He” he was, asking others would immediately expose him.

Boss He? Was there a ‘Boss He’ in the novel? Who did I transmigrate into? Or did they just give me a new identity?

By the time he reached the restroom, he still couldn’t recall a “Boss He” in the book. Standing before the sink, he examined himself in the mirror.

It was still that familiar face. Even the faint dark circles from frequent all-nighters were exactly the same. This should be his own body, right?

What exactly was going on? Why wasn’t there a system giving him a quest?

Forget it. Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it. If there were no quests, he’d just play along himself…

Shenyu turned on the faucet and began washing his hands.

Don’t ask why. After spending so much time in a hospital, washing his hands had become second nature.

While he was focused on scrubbing, he glimpsed someone walking to the sink next to him. At first glance, he only saw someone wearing a black hoodie and cargo pants, with a backpack on his shoulders.

Likely a student. Most of the classmates He Shenyu met at school dressed like that.

He glanced up at the mirror. Sure enough, the guy had a youthful face, looking to be in his early twenties.

Except, his looks were not those of an ordinary student. Even with a simple, unstyled haircut, his face was—even framed by such a plain hairstyle—excessively handsome.

It was the kind of beauty that made one instinctively sigh in admiration upon first sight. In a school setting, he would definitely be a campus celebrity…

Shenyu felt a sincere sense of awe in his heart. Such a handsome man was rare even on the internet, let alone in real life. It was indeed a shock to the senses, so much so that he stared for an impolite amount of time.

He usually liked beautiful things. Whether he was scrolling through videos of scenery, beautiful women, handsome men, or cats and dogs, he would always give them a like. Right now, he felt a bit of regret that this handsome guy wasn’t in a video—he couldn’t replay the view.

However, He Shenyu looked up a few more times. Perhaps because the lines of this guy’s nose were too sharp, he gave off a very aggressive vibe. At first glance, he was stunning; a second later, you’d be deterred by the feeling that he wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

Shenyu instinctively wanted to turn his head away and stop staring. But in the next second, he accidentally caught a glimpse of redness around the boy’s eyes, and his “meddlesome” doctor’s heart came back to life.

He couldn’t help it; doctors were like that. If you didn’t think about healing people, why would you become a doctor?

Besides, the boy’s current state was indeed very wrong. Even though He Shenyu had been staring for so long, the other person hadn’t noticed at all, as if completely immersed in his own troubles.

Shenyu rinsed the soap from his hands, turned his head, and asked cautiously, “Are you okay?”

Only then did the boy snap out of his dazed state. He lowered his head, hiding his expression in the shadows, and replied softly, “Thank you, I’m fine.”

“Ning Chen, aren’t you done yet?” A voice drifted in faintly from outside.

The boy quickly turned off the faucet and responded, “Coming.”

Shenyu watched his hurried departure, momentarily dazed. He reached out his hand, only to grasp empty air.

Ning Chen? Ning Chen!

He is Ning Chen?

No wonder he’s so good-looking; he’s the 2D protagonist…

Wait, hold on. Isn’t this exactly the part of the plot where the CEO takes Ning Chen in? Both protagonists are here.

Then what about him? Which “Boss He” was he?

Wait—Shenyu suddenly remembered. He had come out of Fu Hengzhan’s private room, which meant he was part of their group.

In the original text, there weren’t many people surnamed He around Fu Hengzhan. The only one who appeared in this part of the plot was—Doctor He!

The CEO’s private doctor in the novel. A purely traditional “tool” character who played the role of the person responsible for healing the protagonists after they were physically abused.

As a complete tool character, the novel hadn’t even mentioned his first name. Everyone just called him “Doctor He,” which was why He Shenyu had forgotten for a moment.

To be the CEO’s private doctor, his skills must be excellent, and he likely wasn’t short on money. Therefore, it was quite normal for the waiter to call him “Boss He.”

He had become Doctor He? Shenyu frowned. He really didn’t want to be a miserable tool who got called to work in the middle of the night by a single phone call.

Being a doctor was hard enough; having to be at a CEO’s beck and call was even more of a cursed fate…

Shenyu felt around his person and finally found a phone in the inner pocket of his suit. He placed his finger on it, and it unlocked successfully.

After scrolling through the contacts and chat history, He Shenyu finally confirmed it: he had indeed transmigrated into the book as a tool character.

As for “Doctor He,” his real name was indeed He Shenyu—he found a photo of his ID card.

But was the name changed to He Shenyu because he had transmigrated? Or was Doctor He originally named He Shenyu, and the author just never wrote it?

Shenyu didn’t dwell on it. It was just a novel anyway; there was no point in agonizing over these details.

After all, the “Doctor He” in the book was already a big shot who owned his own private hospital, whereas in real-life he was still a grad student…

There was no way everything would match up…

Shenyu thought for a moment and opened his bank app. Then… then he was nearly blinded by the string of zeros in the account…

Doctor He! How are you so rich? Why are you still the CEO’s private doctor when you have this much money? You really are dedicated to your work!

Shenyu stared at the balance with wide eyes. It took a long time to snap out of it. Truly, even among doctors, fates were different…

However… Shenyu put his phone away and walked quickly outside.

Why was he allowed to transmigrate into this specific plot point?

Was it… to allow him to change everything?

Shenyu recalled the anger he felt when he reached the end of the book. He remembered thinking back then that it would be better if these two never met.

After all, Ning Chen was really put through the wringer, eventually losing his sight.

Shenyu thought of the seemingly well-behaved college student he had just run into. He couldn’t quite link him to Ning Chen from the plot.

Right now, he looked just like any ordinary student. Even his style of dress was so simple and plain; there was none of the hysterical madness from the later parts of the original work.

That was it. Nothing had happened yet. Ning Chen was supposed to be a hardworking, good student.

This was the “normal” Ning Chen.

Thinking of this, He Shenyu instinctively quickened his pace. He knew the reason Ning Chen accepted Fu Hengzhan’s sponsorship was because he was desperate for money—his younger brother was currently lying in a hospital, waiting for a heart transplant.

Ning Chen could never raise that massive sum of money just by working part-time. So, under the temptation of the bar manager, he agreed to sell himself.

Was he so sad just now because he had already agreed to the manager’s proposal?

The image of those beautiful eyes flashed before He Shenyu’s mind. Such clear pupils—wouldn’t it be too tragic and cruel if they went blind?

Fortunately, he had money in his account now. In that case, he would be the one to change all of this. He hoped he was still on time.

Shenyu rushed out the door. The corridor, messy with the stains of multi-colored lights, was empty. Ning Chen was nowhere to be seen.

Where did he go? Where would he be right now?

“What’s wrong with you today?”