Anime Heart

He fell asleep in his hospital bed before he could even accept the little girl's family's thanks. With so many wounds and excessive blood loss, he was already exhausted.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in the back seat of a car, with a woman holding him. Upon seeing that he was awake, she exclaimed a string of words that he couldn't understand but were very familiar with.

Seeing his expression, the woman paused, then asked with concern in somewhat broken Mandarin, "Xiandong, are you alright?!"

"I'm fine. Where am I?" As soon as he said this, He Xiandong realized that his voice had become a somewhat childish one.

Has I transmigrated? And even been reborn? I wonder if I've transformed. If I have, that would be a truly tragic story!

A grown man turned into a girl, and the thought of his little Dongdong disappearing made him shudder.

Thinking he was a little cold, the woman hugged him tightly, murmuring, "You've suffered so much, child! I shouldn't have kept your mother's illness from you."

He Xiandong was puzzled by the woman's inexplicable words. However, he still thought about his earlier problem, so he reached out and touched his neck. The moment he touched his Adam's apple, he felt relieved. Thankfully, he was still a man.

There was no transformation, only transmigration and rebirth, which was a stroke of luck amidst misfortune. And just now, he tried pinching himself, and the pain almost made him cry, so he knew that these things were real, not a dream.

Anyone with a brain knows he can never go back. Taking things as they come and remaining calm and composed are perhaps He Xiandong's few virtues.

But judging from what the woman just said, he had become a Japanese person? Then why could he speak Mandarin? Although he didn't understand what the woman said the first time, based on his years of experience watching anime and movies, he judged that the woman was speaking Japanese.

"Who are you? And who am I?" After a brief moment of thought, He Xiandong uttered these two questions.

No so-called past life memories flooded his mind, only some subconscious thoughts existed, such as He Xiandong disliking the woman in front of him, but having no related memories.

In order to better integrate into this world, He Xiandong decided to 'lose his memory'. After all, the problems in one's head are the most inexplicable, and even if one goes for a check-up, one will not be able to find out the truth.

This is the approach with the least chance of revealing a trap.

Sure enough, the woman panicked, the driver panicked, and the other child in the car panicked.

The car drove directly to the hospital, where He Xiandong underwent a series of tests arranged by the man, all of which came back normal.

Chapter Three: This World

"Amnesia is a mental issue that our current equipment struggles to address, so I'm sorry! It's likely caused by emotional issues. Didn't this child have a coma before? That should have been the cause."

These were the doctor's exact words. After hearing them, the man pulled He Xiandong aside, squatted down, stared into his eyes, and said in fluent Mandarin, "Xiandong, now it's just the two of us, father and son. Tell me properly, have you really lost your memory?"

“I’m also very sad because your mother passed away. After all, she was my wife! I understand that you are sad and upset, but please don’t cause any more trouble for the adults, okay?”

"But I really don't know who you are?" He Xiandong was also helpless. Not having memories of his predecessor was really troublesome.

"But I know you are my father, that woman is my aunt, and that boy is my brother. I don't know your names, I don't know your circumstances, I don't know where I am, and I don't even know who I am! I... I'm so scared!"

After hearing these words, He Xiandong actually burst into tears. Although he had not accepted the memories of his predecessor, the strong emotions of this body moved him deeply.

The man hugged him tenderly, almost bursting into tears. As a strong man in his thirties, he was also deeply saddened to hear his son's words.

"Come on! Let's go home. We'll talk to you about your issues and ours slowly!"

The four of them got into a car and returned to what they called their home.

However, an unexpected thing happened. As soon as He Xiandong arrived, he felt a headache, as if he did not want to come to this place.

At the same time, the image of a loving woman appeared in his mind, holding him and saying slowly, "Xian Dong is the younger brother, but the younger brother can't only be protected by his older brother! The older brother may need your protection in the future!"

Needless to say, that figure must be the mother of the previous incarnation, but He Xiandong also clearly felt that maternal love was enveloping him.

This was the first time he, an orphan, had felt the warmth of a mother, even though that mother had already passed away.

Seeing He Xiandong's unusual behavior, the man immediately drove away from the house, and after getting a certain distance away, He Xiandong's headache symptoms suddenly improved.

The group rushed to the hospital again, but after a series of examinations, there was still no problem.

"Isn't this child suffering from amnesia? So, if he goes to places that triggered his memory loss, he'll naturally feel uncomfortable. This child's symptoms are more severe, which is why he's experiencing headaches. You should try to keep him away from those places for the time being."

The doctor found a reasonable explanation again. Upon seeing this, the man seemed to have made a decision and said to the woman, "I'm entrusting Gongsheng to you. I hope you can temporarily act as Gongsheng's guardian. I'm going back to my family to see if there's a way to help Xiandong regain his memory."

The woman pulled the man aside and said a lot of things, while He Xiandong was grabbed by the boy, who was wearing glasses and staring at him nervously. The boy said in Chinese, "Little brother, don't you really recognize me?"

"Well, I just feel like you look familiar, but I don't know who you are."

The boy didn't speak, and anyone could see the disappointment in his eyes, but he still pretended to be fine, as if he didn't want others to worry about him.

After the man and woman finished discussing, they came over, put their arms around the two children's shoulders, and said, "Dad just made a very painful decision."

"Kousei, Daddy's taking your little brother somewhere else. Can you listen to Aunt Seto?"

The boy looked at the man, then at He Xiandong, and nodded firmly, saying, "Dad, take my brother to find his memories! I'll be a good boy!"

"What a good boy!" The man touched the boy's face and said, "I will come back to see you often, but I may not be able to see your brother. It depends on his headache symptoms."

"I know! Don't worry, Dad!"

At the hospital entrance, the man handed the car keys to the woman and said, "Ms. Seto, please! This car is a gift for you, as a small token of my appreciation. There will be other ways to thank you later."

"This?! I'm only willing to be Kousei's guardian because I'm Saki's good friend, and you're too busy to take on the role. I can't accept it."

"But taking care of Kousei also costs money, which will be a burden on your family, so please be sure to let me pay for it!"

The man carried He Xiandong into a taxi. The boy named Gongsheng finally couldn't hold back his tears. He looked out the taxi window but didn't say anything. But this sensible behavior made people feel even more sorry for him.

Seeing this, He Xiandong was moved and leaned against the car window, shouting, "I will definitely come back!"

Taxis in Japan are expensive, but men don't even flinch.

Afterwards, He Xiandong followed the man to the airport, where he boarded a plane for the first time in both his lives. Strangely, although he knew the destination was Shanghai, China, he discovered that the man, who was his father, hadn't produced his passport when he bought the ticket.

After returning to China, He Xiandong learned why he didn't need a passport to buy a plane ticket back then, and he also learned that the history of this world was different from that of his previous life.

Since the Tang Dynasty, Japan has been a loyal ally of China. Later, due to certain events, Japan was directly incorporated into the Chinese territory, becoming a province of China, and remains so to this day.

Japanese can only be considered a dialect, like Cantonese, while Chinese is the official language. In Japan, almost everyone can speak both Chinese and Japanese.

Because Japan has always been China's junior partner, China's development in this world has been quite good. Now, only the United States can rival it.

If China hadn't been unwilling to start a war, who would be number one in the world?

Since Japan was incorporated into China a long time ago, it is normal that there are people of the Yamato ethnicity in China and people of other ethnicities in Japan.

However, just like in the previous life, the province of Japan still speaks the most Japanese.

Some of the more capable members of the Arima clan came to the Chinese mainland and established their own empires, such as the Arima clan. The ancestors of the Arima clan were considered extremely powerful, reaching the very top of the Chinese world.

He Xiandong, or rather, You Ma Xiandong, also figured out the situation of the people who were important to him.

Arima Kento did not accept his memories upon arriving in this world; instead, his memories slowly resurfaced as he was moved by the sights and sounds around him.

As time went by, he and his father traveled all over the world, and many images slowly appeared in his mind. One scene in particular left a deep impression on him.

His mother was very kind to him, her younger brother, but very strict with Kousei Arima. Kousei cried out, "Why can my younger brother stay in my mother's arms?"

"Because you're the older brother!"

Chapter Four: Memory Recovery

Arima Shiki, the father, is the son of the head of the Arima clan. He came to Japan alone to make a name for himself and then met his mother, Hayase Saki.

My father and mother fell in love at first sight. They got married shortly after meeting without informing anyone.

My mother, Hayashi Hayashi, is a piano teacher. Although she is not very famous, she is a very nice person.

Hayashi Saki's secret marriage to Arima Shiki was opposed by the main family. They were already somewhat disgusted by Arima Shiki's going out to work hard elsewhere, and now instead of a proper marriage, he married a short-lived woman.

After giving birth to the two brothers, the mother's health deteriorated, and the cause of her illness could not be found. This displeased the main family even more. However, although the main family did not acknowledge Wasa Sayo, they still acknowledged the two children.

The piano talent shown by her older brother, Kousei Arima, gave their mother a way to make her proud. She believed that as long as Kousei became a world-renowned pianist, everything would be solved.

Furthermore, even if the family doesn't acknowledge the two children afterward, they can still live well because they have the world-renowned pianist Kosei Arima by their side.

Originally, their mother did not want her older brother Kousei to become a pianist, but after hearing Hiroko Seto praise Kousei for having the talent to be a pianist, she began to train Kousei with strict and winning-oriented elite education. Because she was ill, she realized that she did not have much time to spend with her two brothers, so she taught Kousei with a strict attitude.

The woman who had been with them all along was Hiroko Seto. Arima Kento disliked her, and it was because of her that his brother, Kousei Arima, suffered.

The older brother, Kousei Arima, is a piano prodigy, but his path to success was somewhat disapproving to his predecessor because his mother punished him with beatings and scoldings when he made mistakes. However, the older brother loved his mother very much, and her death was a huge blow to him. Xian Dong heard from his father in mainland China that his older brother had given up playing the piano.

He can't go back to see his brother right now because of a headache. He needs to talk to his brother properly later so that his talent won't be wasted.

After all, that was what her mother hoped for.

The only memories he has are of his two friends, Tsubaki Sawabe and Ryota Watari. The four of them grew up together. The older brother was required to practice piano and couldn't go out to play, but the younger brother could go out and play carefree like other children.

Later, he accompanied his mother to his brother's piano competition and admired his brother's dazzling performance on stage.

However, he has always had a good relationship with his brother, and the two of them would joke around and tease each other.

Because they are twin brothers, one born only a few minutes earlier than the other, the younger brother, Arima Kento, often doesn't acknowledge or call his older brother "brother," and only calls him "Kousei."

He would only call Kousei-nii (older brother Kousei) when he needed something from Kousei or in a formal setting.

Of course, there are many more interesting stories. These are pretty much all the memories of the original owner. After all, he was just an eleven-year-old child. How many things could he pay attention to or care about?

Having accepted his identity as Ma Xiandong, he was willing to live peacefully in this world.

Moreover, the status and treatment in this world are far better than in that world. Just by virtue of being the grandson of the Arima clan chief, he can live a carefree life as a parasite and happily spend his life.

However, he was unwilling to do so now. Although it only existed in his memory, he could feel his mother's love for him and for Arima Kento.

He wanted his family to acknowledge his mother, at least to have her memorial tablet placed in the family ancestral hall.

He needs to achieve something to do so.

But what is he good at? The answer is writing novels. In his previous life, he only achieved some success in online novels, barely qualifying as a minor author, just enough to support himself.

In this life, after some research, he discovered that online novels were equally developed in both mainland China and Japan, not much less so than light novels. And those online novels and light novels that were wildly popular in his previous life didn't exist in this world. What existed were only online novels and light novels unique to this world.

One difference between web novels and light novels that I haven't mentioned before is their ability to be adapted into anime. Unless it's a wildly popular IP, web novels rarely get animated, while light novels are different; they often get animated as long as they have the potential to become bestsellers.

Moreover, many light novels only truly became popular after being adapted into anime. A prime example is "Reo," where the light novel's sales were only so-so, but the anime became a global phenomenon.

Therefore, in order to achieve his goal, Arima Xiandong plans to take a two-pronged approach: on the one hand, serializing his wildly popular online novel from his previous life online, and on the other hand, honing his writing skills and then trying to publish a light novel.

This world is a bit effeminate, and it's not just popular in mainland China; it's also incredibly popular in Japan, and even has English-language branches overseas.

Publishing the novel that was a huge hit in my previous life on this world's Qidian platform should be fine, right?

Even if these things don't get the family's attention, there's still his older brother, isn't there? He won't let his brother just fade into obscurity like this.

Although he had recovered most of his memories in the first year, he still had to play the part completely.

Traveling around the world with his father, Arima Kento also made many good friends.

There was a world-class genius painter who was about the same age as him, named Shiina Mashiro. Despite her somewhat eccentric personality, Arima Kenji managed to become friends with her.