The real young master thought he was hated by everyone

Li Heng was still a bit confused when he got into the passenger seat.

He even forgot to put the cake, which should have been placed in the back seat, down.

Xie Duzhi, however, was in a good mood.

Half of it was due to the butler getting shut down, and the other half was because of the young man sitting next to him.

Of course, he didn’t forget to explain the reason to him.

“Mom originally planned to cook herself and even gave Aunt Zhen the day off.” The young man turned his head slightly, and the corners of his lips barely lifted. “But Xie Er already booked the hotel, and Dad made a reservation at a restaurant owned by an old friend.”

“Plus, since Big Brother is on a business trip in a nearby city and might not make it back for dinner, we had to vote again to choose a place.”

Li Heng nodded seriously.

He appeared to understand the situation, but in reality, he was still trying to sort out the relationships, matching the names Xie Duzhi mentioned with his own understanding.

Big Brother is Xie Shenzhi.

Xie Er… should refer to Xie Sizhi, right?

Xie Shenzhi and Xie Sizhi are twins, born just a few seconds apart.

But why did Xie Duzhi call Xie Shenzhi Big Brother, and Xie Sizhi just Xie Er?

After hesitating for a moment, he quickly pushed his curiosity aside.

He suddenly realized that, although today’s experience felt like a dream, the timing was completely different.

In the dream, he had already been reunited with the Xie family after his birthday.

He had two birthdays—one to commemorate the day the orphanage director took him in, and the other was the one recorded on his hospital birth certificate, accurate to the minute.

The former was in the winter, while the latter was in late spring, meaning his actual age was a year younger than his recorded age.

He remembered this so clearly because, in the dream, Xie Duzhi’s birthday was in the summer. When Xie Duzhi said he was throwing him a belated birthday party, it was actually meant to celebrate his own birthday.

Grain Rain had just passed, and today was April 21st.

There were only three days left until the birthday on his birth certificate.

The young man blinked slowly, realizing belatedly that he was still worrying about how to return that card, which felt like a hot potato.

“You can probably spend it before your birthday.”

That’s what the other person had said at the time.

The Xie family had deep roots and vast wealth.

Even though he’d been a Xie family young master for a brief time in the dream and had glimpsed the so-called upper class, the so-called wealthy families, his limited imagination could only sketch a fraction of this enormous entity.

He still remembered that when he realized Xie Duzhi was targeting him because he wanted the family fortune, he went to confront him.

He promised Xie Duzhi he wouldn’t covet his wealth and only wanted to live with the family, but he didn’t believe his promise at all.

He turned around and cried in front of Madam Xie, stammering that he must have done something wrong and didn’t deserve to stay in the Xie family, leading Madam Xie to think he’d been terribly wronged and become even more disappointed in him.

Would someone really give a large sum of money to someone they didn’t like?

Or was this another sugar-coated bullet, just like in the dream, but in a different form—meant to make him feel awkward so he could be laughed at?

The face from his dream and the cold, aloof features beside him seemed to overlap for a fleeting moment.

He couldn’t make a clear judgment.

In reality, Xie Duzhi gave him a sense of unfamiliarity, as if he were a completely different person.

Xie Duzhi, on the other hand, interpreted the boy’s silence as some kind of discomfort.

If he were in the boy’s shoes—being dragged around the city, barely getting a sip of tea, and then being rushed to the next destination without any mental preparation—he would also be annoyed.

“They were just… too surprised.” So surprised they lost their composure and were thrown off balance.

Over the years, the Xie family had worked closely with the police to combat human trafficking and track down the group responsible. They were also active in various charity fields.

In addition to not wanting more families to suffer such misfortunes and helping others out of kindness, they also had a small part of their motivation in hoping for good karma.

Whether it was donating money, establishing various funds, or participating in school construction, they always held a tiny, infinitesimal hope.

They hoped that boy could be helped.

That he would live safely and smoothly.

That, even in places they couldn’t know about, he would grow up happy and carefree.

Even though they knew it was futile, they persisted year after year, with that sliver of fragile hope.

Thinking about this, the young man subconsciously softened his voice. “Everyone wants to meet you as soon as possible.”

Li Heng didn’t know how to respond, and his nose stung for no apparent reason. After a moment, he softly murmured, “Mm.”

He lowered his head slightly, his lashes trembling like butterfly wings, hiding his expression.

The air fell silent again.

Xie Duzhi inadvertently stared at the side of his face for a few seconds, suddenly recalling the incident in his office that day.

The new secretary had accidentally knocked over the pile of contracts for those chubby cat streamers, scattering them all over the floor.

Coincidentally, Li Heng’s contract had landed near his screen, along with a white-background ID photo.

At the time, he had also glanced at it unintentionally.

The investigation had been conducted without alerting the boy.

The people he hired, while investigating the boy’s past, had found hair samples in the trash left outside the door.

The DNA test was done without notifying anyone else; the Xie family had already faced too many disappointments. Xie Duzhi didn’t want to pile more straw onto the camel’s back.

If the results weren’t a match, he had a plan ready as compensation for intruding on the boy’s privacy.

He’d offer him a six-month streaming priority on the platform, boosting his exposure across the network.

Whether he could fully seize the opportunity would depend on the boy himself.

—Of course, this was before the paternity test results came back.

The results dispelled his earlier idea of simply supporting the boy financially.

“Is it enough?” Xie Duzhi veered off the navigation route, steering the car toward the highway entrance.

Li Heng, confused, asked instinctively, “…Enough for what?”

He hesitated for a moment before answering, “…Pocket money.”

The only thing related to pocket money seemed to be that card.

So, Li Heng was forced to confront the question he had tried to avoid.

Can a black card really be maxed out?

…How do you even max it out?

His face unintentionally showed a bit of conflict, his true thoughts slipping out as he asked the question aloud.

“That card has a limit of just one million,” said Xie Duzhi, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

That’s why he called it a meeting gift, pocket money.

He did have a no-limit black card, but he didn’t have it with him.

“I’ll bring it to you next time we’re home,” he thought for a moment, mentally pushing back a certain acquisition meeting by two days.

Since turning eighteen, he had moved out to live on his own. His house was close to both the company and the school, but far from his family’s home, so he didn’t come back often except on weekends and holidays.

This was also why Butler Fu always gave him a cold face, constantly teasing him about being so busy.

Just as Li Heng was beginning to regain some semblance of mental clarity, he was suddenly left breathless by this statement.

It seemed like Xie Duzhi had misunderstood his intentions. He had asked the question because the so-called “pocket money” was too much, not because he wanted to ask for more.

“No, I just think that card has too much on it, and I want to give it back. I wasn’t trying to ask you for more…” As he spoke, his voice grew quieter, his ears burning as if they were on fire.

“You’ll be out of money after buying a car,” Xie Duzhi didn’t seem to think it was too much.

“Games also have in-app purchases,” he added, remembering that Li Heng was a game streamer. In his mind, games were quite an expensive hobby.

Li Heng: ……

“Xu’s youngest son spent all his pocket money on the game and even borrowed a lot from his friends, just to win the championship in their server.” Xie Duzhi gave an example.

“In fact, buy-to-play games don’t really cost that much.” Li Heng tried to explain.

In his heart, Xie Duzhi had already decided the card’s limit was too low and made up his mind to give him the real no-limit card as one of his early birthday gifts, to show his support for Li Heng’s career.

Li Heng suddenly didn’t dare to ask what the amount would be beyond “pocket money.”

It was clear that Xie Duzhi’s understanding of cars and games was quite different from his.

At least, he couldn’t think of any game where one could casually sink millions.

The atmosphere in the car grew increasingly awkward.

Even someone like Xie Duzhi had to admit that, while Xie Family’s second son might be flippant, he could handle any situation smoothly when he wanted to.

If Xie Sizhi were the one driving right now, the atmosphere wouldn’t be this uncomfortable.

Finally, the car stopped in front of a convenience store not far from the highway exit.

He opened the passenger door and took the cake that had been resting on Li Heng’s lap, placing it in the back seat.

“Let’s go grab something to eat.” His expression was as indifferent as when he suggested spending a million on games.

Li Heng blinked, quickly recovering, and softly thanked him as he followed him out of the car.

In the dream, Xie Duzhi said many kind words. He was gentle, considerate, and generous to the point where no one could find fault.

He would knock on the door and ask if he was tired from studying, if he wanted some water, or if he needed to take a break, but he never actually brought him a cup of water or anything else.

It was a concern meant for others to see, a very fake kind of kindness.

Holding the steaming hot oden, he suddenly felt a bit more willing to believe that this Xie Duzhi wasn’t a bad person.