At the start, I had to choose one of four options, and I immediately picked the Brahmin from the cou

This story is entirely fictional and contains no harmful content.

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……

Li Xiao died, but he came back to life.

When he opened his eyes again, he found a semi-transparent panel floating in front of him, with four options neatly listed on it, like a beginner's guide for a Tencent pay-to-win mobile game.

A countdown timer is thoughtfully displayed in the upper right corner of the panel—29 minutes and 58 seconds, 29 minutes and 57 seconds…

"Please complete your birth choice within the specified time."

Li Xiao stared at the semi-transparent panel for a full three seconds before suddenly sitting up from the ground in the void.

"Am I really still alive?"

It wasn't a dream, nor was it a hallucination.

The helplessness of burning the last drop of blood on my sickbed in my past life still feels like yesterday, but at this moment, my heart is beating as hard as a V8 engine that has just been filled with fuel.

Li Xiao took a deep breath, suppressing his inner elation, and finally focused his gaze on the semi-transparent panel in front of him.

[A: A native of Beijing, whose family owns a courtyard house within the Third Ring Road.]

[B: A second-generation rich kid; his father is the chairman of a listed company.]

[C: You are a Brahmin in the county town; your family is very influential in the area.]

[D: You're a celebrity offspring; many famous stars and directors are friends of your parents.]

None of these four options are unusual. A means being reincarnated in the center of Rome, B means being reincarnated in the Roman palace, and D means being reincarnated on the red carpet in Rome. As for C… he narrowed his eyes slightly, mentally pondering the words "county Brahman" over and over again, finding it increasingly intriguing.

In his previous life, when he was in college, he had a friend surnamed Zhou who came from a poor county in Guizhou Province.

Despite coming from a poor county, he is genuinely wealthy. Not only does he have top-of-the-line food, clothing, and daily necessities, but what's most outrageous is his confidence that he can handle anything.

It wasn't until later that he learned that the family's influence in the area was terrifying. The county's building materials market belonged to his uncle, the largest hotel belonged to his cousin, and even the most valuable piece of land in the new urban area was acquired through their efforts.

The kind of influence that is deeply rooted in a place and deeply entrenched cannot be measured by a few more zeros in a bank account. It can be said that as long as they do not break the law, their family is the ceiling of human relationships that transcends legal principles, and they live a hundred times more comfortably than the young masters in the capital.

Later, when he was drunk, he said something to Li Xiao that he still remembers clearly: "Brother Li, don't be fooled by the wealth of people in big cities. That's just called being rich. We're the ones with roots. Rich people can fall if they want, but try touching someone with roots!"

And you must remember one thing: a poor county is only poor in the county itself, it doesn't mean the whole county is poor.

He looked up, his gaze sweeping over the other three options that were gleaming with gold.

Option A, the courtyard house within the Third Ring Road, sounds impressive, but in a place where you could easily hit three department heads with a brick thrown at you, you'd have to keep a low profile if you actually lived there.

Moreover, this option only includes a courtyard house. Putting aside whether it can be sold, even if it could, it would only be worth two or three hundred million at most. Compared with options B and C, it is still a bit lacking.

Option B sounds prestigious—the son of the chairman of a listed company. However, listed companies vary in size, ranging from trillions to only a few billion.

Moreover, this option is essentially a blind box. If you happen to draw a small company with a market value of over a billion but tight cash flow, the value of the so-called "rich second generation" title will be greatly diminished. In that case, despite having the title of a board member's son, the actual pocket money he can control might not even be as much as the rent collected by a Brahmin family in a small town.

Even if you're lucky enough to win a business empire worth hundreds of billions, you'd better pray that your father only has you as his child. Otherwise, the struggle for inheritance and control of the company alone will be enough to give you a hard time.

If something unexpected happens, or if you get sidelined by the company's board of directors, then you're in for a rough time, I'm talking about you, Brown...

As for option D, that's even less interesting.

Although the entertainment industry looks glamorous and is full of handsome men and beautiful women, it is actually a cesspool with a gilded edge.

There are no secrets under the spotlight. When you're dating, the whole internet will analyze your zodiac compatibility. Even getting your driver's license can land you in the top three trending topics.

To put it bluntly, it's a business where you live in a glass jar, with no freedom and no privacy. You even have to plan ahead before going out to eat a bowl of spicy hot pot.

Moreover, while the connections of celebrity parents may seem useful, they are actually mostly debts of gratitude that are difficult to repay.

After all, people are praising you because of your parents, and your parents will have to repay them double in the future.

Today Director Wang gives you a role, tomorrow your mom will have to go and support him for free, the day after tomorrow Producer Zhang will take you to the set, and the day after that your dad will have to drink until he has a stomach hemorrhage. All these social obligations are mixed together, making life more tiring than going to work.

What's worse is that the label of "second-generation star" is inherently prone to attracting negative attention.

If you act well, people will only say that your parents paved the way for you. But if you act poorly, you're in big trouble. You'll be stuck with labels like "good-for-nothing" and "a dog son of a tiger father."

If you're low-key, they'll say you're pretentious; if you're high-profile, they'll say you're arrogant and do whatever you want just because you have celebrity parents.

Either way, it's wrong. Even rolling your eyes can be screenshotted and turned into an emoji that can be passed down for three generations.

If your parents cause any more negative news, you'll have nowhere to hide. The paparazzi can dig up your embarrassing past from kindergarten and parade you around in public.

Just thinking about that kind of life is suffocating.

Li Xiao had seen too many cases of celebrity offspring ruining their careers while scrolling through short videos in his previous life. He rubbed his temples, too lazy to even glance at option D again.

This stuff is like chocolate-flavored kefir; it smells good and tastes alright, but that doesn't change the fact that it's kefir.

After discarding option D, Li Xiao turned his attention back to the panel. Having gone this far in the process of elimination, the answer was practically obvious.

A is a high-level security guard guarding a gold mine that's hard to monetize; B is gambling with his life by opening blind boxes and is likely to be involved in a family feud; D is a chocolate-flavored fertilizer (shit) that he just threw into the trash can.

Only option C—the Brahmin in the county town—is the truly divine choice.

What does it mean to be a local tyrant in a small county town?

You see familiar faces every three steps when you go out, you don't need to queue or take a number to get things done, and making a phone call is more effective than going to the government office ten times.

They may not have as much money as the sons of listed company owners, but their quality of life is far superior.

Having made his choice, Li Xiao reached out and pointed in the air.

The moment his fingertip touched option C, the semi-transparent panel instantly transformed into countless points of light that surged into his body.

A voice that only he could hear resounded in his mind.

"Li Xiao, identity confirmed. For your best experience, the Happy Life System is loading..."