Eldest Son: My Brother and Sister Simulated My Life, and I Broke Down in Tears

Wei Xia, the eldest son of the Wei family in Yecheng, lies dying in a hospital bed, his body ravaged by illness and his reputation destroyed by decades of criminal activity. His four younger siblings—Wei Pingsheng, a wealthy businessman; Wei Pingzheng, a high-ranking government official; Wei Pingyang, a renowned neuroscientist; and Wei Pingling, a famous singer—visit him not with compassion, but with disdain. They view him as the family’s disgrace, the brother who failed to uphold their parents’ legacy while they rose to prominence. Desperate to rewrite history and prove their own superiority, they propose a controversial New Year’s Eve broadcast titled "Memory Recall: The Eldest Son’s Life Comparison." Using a cutting-edge brainwave device developed by Wei Pingyang’s team, they plan to enter Wei Xia’s childhood memories to simulate how they would have lived his life, contrasting their hypothetical competence against his actual failures.

The broadcast goes live on New Year’s Eve, drawing millions of viewers. Wei Pingsheng enters the simulation first, taking control of eighteen-year-old Wei Xia’s body in 1995. When their parents are murdered by a drug cartel on that fateful night, Wei Pingsheng’s simulation shows him calmly reporting the crime to the police and attempting to lead the family to safety. However, the simulation reveals that the killers are too powerful and well-connected; the police are unable to protect them, and the evidence is destroyed, forcing the family into hiding. Wei Pingsheng’s version portrays a rational, decisive eldest son who nonetheless fails to secure justice, leaving the family vulnerable and fearful.

The broadcast then shifts to Wei Xia’s actual memories, revealing a starkly different reality. In the true events of 1995, eighteen-year-old Wei Xia witnessed his parents’ brutal murder but chose not to cry or panic. Instead, he meticulously memorized every detail of the six assassins, sketching their features and recording evidence while hiding his parents’ bodies to prevent further retaliation. Realizing the police were insufficient and the killers were watching, Wei Xia orchestrated a complex trap. He fabricated rumors of human traffickers in the area, inciting mass panic among the villagers and mobilizing hundreds of men to search the mountains. He stole a police car to chase down the killers, capturing one of them—a man named Yang Dayong—and interrogated him in a freezing cave to uncover the conspiracy behind his parents’ deaths. To complete his cover, Wei Xia stabbed himself and left himself for dead, allowing the police to find him as a victim of the traffickers rather than the mastermind behind the investigation.

As the memories unfold, the public and Wei’s siblings are stunned. Wei Xia did not abandon his family out of laziness or cowardice, as they believed; he sent them away to different households to protect them from the drug cartel’s vengeance. He bore the burden of revenge and danger alone, enduring physical pain and social ostracization while maintaining the facade of a useless criminal. The broadcast reveals that his parents were anti-narcotics officers who had uncovered a mole with high-level connections, a secret Wei Xia inherited and fought against in silence. The retired police officer who originally investigated the case watches in horror, realizing that the massive anti-trafficking campaign launched thirty years ago was inadvertently triggered by Wei Xia’s solitary actions.

The narrative exposes the tragic irony of Wei Xia’s life: he sacrificed his youth, his reputation, and his mental health to ensure his siblings could grow up safe and successful. While they enjoyed the privileges of a clean record and bright futures, he descended into the criminal underworld, taking the blame for crimes he may not have committed and absorbing the hatred of his family. The story concludes with the siblings confronting the painful truth that their "failed" eldest brother was actually the strongest pillar of the family, having shouldered an impossible burden alone until his death.