Danzhou Port lies on the eastern side of Qing Yu Nian. Although it borders the sea, with the recent construction of several ports in the south and the anticipated sea route to the west already connected, the nation's trade center has shifted southward. Consequently, this port has gradually declined, its once bustling docks becoming quiet years ago.

Seagulls fly freely, no longer bothered by those detestable sailors.

The residents who originally lived in Danzhou Port didn't feel a significant change in their lives. Although their income had decreased somewhat, His Majesty the Emperor had long ago exempted them from several years of taxes, so their lives were still decent. Moreover, this seaport was beautiful and now even quieter, making it an even better place to live.

Therefore, occasionally, some important figures would choose to build estates here.

However, due to its great distance from the capital, not many officials truly stayed. The old lady in the courtyard west of the city could barely be considered one.

It was said that the old lady was the mother of the Earl of Sinan from the capital, who chose to retire here. The city residents knew that the Earl of Sinan was highly favored by His Majesty the Emperor and had not been sent out of the capital according to the law, but remained working in the Ministry of Finance. Therefore, most people showed sufficient respect and reverence toward that courtyard.

But the children didn't understand these things.

One day, the weather was fine and sunny. Adults sat in taverns, enjoying the salty and damp air carried by the sea breeze, savoring pickled plums and the drinks in their glasses.

A group of teenagers surrounded the back gate stone steps of the Earl of Sinan's mansion west of the city, densely packed, seemingly doing something.

Looking closer, one would find a very interesting scene. These teenagers were listening to a child of only four or five years old speaking.

The little boy was very handsome, with exquisitely drawn eyebrows and clear, bright eyes. His voice still retained its childishness, but his tone was surprisingly old-fashioned.

He sighed and gestured with his small arms, saying, "So, Truman walked to the wall and found a ladder there. He climbed up step by step, found the door, and pushed it open..."

"And then?"

"And then? Then... naturally, he returned to the human world." The little boy pouted, seeming impatient that the teenagers older than him would ask such a foolish question.

"Really? Wouldn't he go beat up that... that Harry..."

"Harry Smith," another teenager interjected.

"Right, wouldn't Truman beat up that Harry Smith to vent his anger? He was locked up for so many years."

The little boy shrugged. "Nope."

"Tch! How boring. Fan Xian, this story isn't as good as the ones you told the other days."

"Then what do you want to hear?"

"飘邈之旅 (Piao Miao Zhi Lü)."

"风姿物语 (Feng Zi Wu Yu)."

"Tch!" The boy called Fan Xian gave the surrounding children the middle finger. "Fighting and killing are unhealthy, digging for treasure everywhere is not environmentally friendly!"

Suddenly, an extremely angry voice came from inside the courtyard: "Young Master! Where have you run off to again?"

The children around him imitated his gesture and gave the middle finger as well, but since there were more of them, it looked much more spectacular. They said in unison, "Tch!" and then scattered with laughter.

The boy called Fan Xian stood up from the stone steps, dusted off the dirt from his bottom, and turned to run into the courtyard. Just before closing the door, those extremely clever eyes glanced at the young, blind owner of the grocery store across the street, and a complex emotion, completely unsuited to his age, appeared on his face. Then he gently closed the wooden door.

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This was Fan Shen's fourth year in this world. Over these years, he finally understood that he wasn't dreaming. He had really come to an unknown world, a world that seemed the same as the one in his memory, yet also very different.

By eavesdropping on the servants in the Earl's mansion, he finally understood his identity. He was the illegitimate son of the Earl of Sinan from the capital.

Like in a typical drama about conflicts within wealthy families, the status of an illegitimate child easily attracts the venom of aunts and second aunts. It seemed that his cheap old man only had him as a son. In order to continue the Earl's bloodline, he was sent to Danzhou Port, far away from the capital.

Over these years, he gradually got used to his identity. Although having the soul of an adult trapped in the body of a toddler, experiencing completely different physical and psychological sensations, would probably drive a normal person insane – fortunately, Fan Shen had been a patient with myasthenia gravis in his previous life, lying in bed for many years. Now he was just a little inconvenient in his movements. Compared to the miserable situation in his previous life, it wasn't much, so he didn't feel too uncomfortable inhabiting this child's body.

The most uncomfortable thing was actually his current name. When he was one year old, the Earl from the capital sent a letter and named him: Fan Xian, styled Anzhi.

This name wasn't good. It sounded like a curse word from his hometown - "犯嫌 (Fan Xian)," meaning "disgusting."

But he only looked like a child, so it was impossible for him to express his opposition verbally.

When he was being treated in the hospital in his previous life, he could still move his head in the early stages, so he often asked the lovely little nurse to buy him some pirated DVDs and books to watch.

After living in the Earl's mansion for a long time, although the old lady was cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and secretly loved him, and the maids and servants in the mansion didn't treat him differently because of his status as an illegitimate child, the pain of not being able to communicate with anyone still made him feel uncomfortable.

Could he tell the maids that he was from another world? Could he tell the tutor that he could actually recognize all the words in this book?

So he often secretly sneaked out of the side gate of the Earl's mansion and played with the common children on the street, mostly telling them stories, stories from the movies and novels of his world.

It seemed that he wanted to remind himself of something with this, to remind himself that he didn't belong to this world, that his world had movies, the internet, and YY novels.

Until today, he didn't know why, he told them the movie *The Truman Show*. The plot of this movie was already a bit wooden, and without Jim Carrey to act cute, he should have known very well that these teenagers from Danzhou Port would never like it.

But he still told it.

Because there was always an absurd feeling deep inside him. He was supposed to be a dying man, so why was he suddenly reborn in this body? He couldn't help but think of that movie... Maybe, the people and streets in front of him, the seagulls flying in the sky, were all arranged by someone?

Just like Truman.

Truman finally discovered the falsity of the world he was in, so he resolutely set sail and found the exit.

But Fan Shen, no, it should be Fan Xian... knew that he wasn't Truman. This world was truly real, not a big film studio.

So he realized that telling stories every day to remind himself that he was from another world was, in itself, a very absurd act.