The real young master thought he was hated by everyone

On the first day of reporting, Li Heng woke up half an hour earlier than his alarm clock, more anxious than ever.

Xie Duzhi’s driver, Mr. Wang, took him to school first before dropping off Xie Duzhi.

Breakfast had been ordered from a restaurant, and inside the thermal bag was an exquisite food box with three layers: steamed dumplings on top, walnut buns and other delicate pastries in the middle, and a bowl of porridge at the bottom.

The food box looked small, but it was quite filling. After finishing the porridge, he felt a bit stuffed.

However, Xie Duzhi decided to order from a different place next time.

The reason was that classes at the first high school ended at noon, and eating too little in the morning would leave him hungry.

Last night, Xiaozhi even tried to sneak into the backpack to steal some food.

The cat had stayed, but Xie Duzhi’s villa was different from home; every room had a predetermined purpose—storage, study, gym, etc. So, for the time being, the cat was living with him.

He had arranged for pet supplies to be delivered from a pet store near the villa last night.

Fortunately, although the cat had gotten a bit chubby, it hadn’t developed any picky eating habits and didn’t throw a tantrum when its diet was downgraded from raw meat to cat food and canned food.

Aside from holding a grudge and showing Li Heng its “airplane ears,” everything was pretty much the same as when it was at home.

Mrs. Xie wanted to accompany him to school to handle the paperwork, and Xie Duzhi had initially planned to take a day off.

However, considering that it might not just be the two of them coming but the whole family, Li Heng firmly refused this proposal.

Gu Mingyue came by during the big break, holding what was said to be the best milk tea near the first high school.

He shared the jerky and other snacks with his desk mates and the ones sitting in front and behind him.

The cafeteria food was actually quite good.

The teachers were also very considerate, and he was able to keep up with the classes.

After the evening study session ended, he said goodbye to his new classmates and on the way home with the driver, he mentally listed the events of the day, pondering which ones were worth telling Xie Duzhi or sharing with Mrs. Xie in a video.

They were all trivial everyday matters.

He was a bit worried that if he shared everything, he would come across as chatty.

And it would be somewhat time-consuming.

He still had two exam papers left unwritten, and he hadn’t copied all the notes his desk mate lent him.

He would have to get up early tomorrow to memorize vocabulary and do a few more reading comprehension exercises.

Compared to other subjects, he felt that his English skills were noticeably weaker.

In the end, he decided to mention the milk tea.

After all, Xie Duzhi might have had it when he was at the first high school too.

If Xie Duzhi hadn’t tried it, he could ask Gu Mingyue to bring an extra one next time.

It was just before ten when he got out of the car. For most third-year students, this time was just the beginning of the night.

When Li Heng opened the door, he found Xie Duzhi sitting on the sofa in the living room, reading.

Hearing the noise, Xie Duzhi looked up and closed his book.

“There’s soup in the kitchen.”

“Mom called earlier and asked if you were done with classes.” He stood up, looking like he was about to serve the soup. “Remember to call her back.”

As he got up, the coal ball near the game console also sat up with a “thump,” appearing on guard.

Cat, person, person—perfectly forming a triangle.

It might even apply to the Pythagorean theorem.

Li Heng’s “I’m back” got stuck in his throat.

“Thanks. I’ll go drink it soon.”

He quickly arranged his shoes at the entrance, then stepped onto the new carpet as he entered, saying, “I’ll call Mom after I drop off my backpack.”

“First, drop your backpack.”

Xie Duzhi estimated the weight of the bag and asked, “Do you want me to help you unpack it?”

“What?” Li Heng was confused, then followed his gaze to notice the large pile of gift boxes and various shopping bags in the corner.

“Gifts from my dad’s and mom’s work partners, plus some returns from relatives on both sides,” Xie Duzhi explained, not mentioning that some of those work partners included him.

The gifts had been brought over by Xie Sizhi, who drove his sports car. If Li Heng had finished class earlier, he might have even run into him on the road.

“The delivery times were different, so Xie Sizhi simply brought everything over at once.”

“… Oh.”

Li Heng instinctively glanced at the pile of gifts multiple times, feeling a bit overwhelmed.

There were simply too many—many more than the pile that had been stacked at his door that day.

But if he didn’t unpack them, they would take up too much space, even risking damaging the living room’s decor.

Moreover, it seemed a bit impolite.

After all, these were gifts that someone had gone out of their way to send.

Yet if he unpacked them, he felt it might take a long time to finish his papers.

He went to the kitchen first to serve some soup and, while drinking, called Mrs. Xie for a video chat.

“You’ve lost weight.” The first thing she said when she saw him through the screen was this, her tone quite certain.

He had only been away from home for less than forty-eight hours, and he had just studied for a day.

But seeing him drinking soup, Mrs. Xie was pleased and urged him to drink more, asking if she should send him another portion for lunch tomorrow.

Using his busy studying as an excuse, he managed to avoid that offer of care.

After finishing the soup and hanging up, Li Heng noticed that Xie Duzhi had a subtle smile on his face.

Li Heng felt an inexplicable sense of defiance.

He stared into Xie Duzhi’s eyes, looking almost accusatory. “Clearly, brother stays up late every day too. Why are you only telling me to drink?”

Shouldn’t they be on the same team?

The cat stretched lazily, its sapphire-like eyes half-closed, looking over with a somewhat disdainful expression.

Perhaps because its owner was right behind it, it seemed to have completely lost the previous wariness it showed when confronting him in the corner with its tail tucked.

Xie Duzhi fell silent for a moment, under the gaze of both Li Heng and the cat, and surprisingly didn’t know how to respond.

If defined in general terms, this was actually a form of concern.

But he couldn’t be sure if his concern was the same as Mrs. Xie’s.

His gaze fell on Xie Duzhi’s slender wrist, the bone clearly visible, and lingered for a while.

“I just look a bit thin; my weight is perfectly normal!” Before he could speak, Li Heng quickly replied.

“You’re still growing.” Xie Duzhi paused, then changed his wording to be more accommodating.

“…” But can drinking soup every day really help someone grow taller?

Besides, his main concern seemed to be why Xie Duzhi wasn’t drinking it, rather than why he himself should drink it.

Li Heng twisted his eyebrows, feeling conflicted.

“Do you need help?” Xie Duzhi asked casually once more.

He successfully shifted Li Heng’s attention, watching as the tension in his almost twisted brows gradually relaxed, his expression unwinding.

“Then let’s unpack the gifts first.”

If he continued to procrastinate, the homework really wouldn’t get done.

Fortunately, although there were many gifts, regardless of the packaging or anything else, they were not as detailed as those he received on his birthday, and they were all within a normal “product” range.

After unwrapping a certain brand’s seasonal limited edition watch for the third time, which only differed slightly in color from the previous two, Li heng even felt that what was in front of him was not a gift but a mountain of candies.

He felt that he would never lack cufflinks, brooches, or tie clips in his lifetime.

He even wouldn’t lack fountain pens—if those fountain pens indeed had practicality instead of being just luxurious display items.

As he unwrapped more gifts, Li Heng became like an unfeeling counting machine, needing no thought to know what was in the box that looked somewhat familiar and where to place it after unwrapping.

“Speaking of which, Third Brother, have you tried the milk tea from that place at the high school?” He finally remembered the topic he had forgotten since entering.

“It’s quite famous; it has been around for over ten years, and everyone goes there to check in.”

The name of that milk tea shop was a bit awkward, and since Gu Mingyue had only mentioned it casually, when it came to his lips, he momentarily couldn’t pronounce it.

Li Heng didn’t even know whether the snack street was at the west or east gate of the high school, let alone the milk tea shop.

However, since it was famous, his former classmates must have talked about it, but he had dismissed it as irrelevant and ignored it in the past.

So when Xie Duzhi brought it up, he wouldn’t even have the slightest impression.

“I don’t drink it much.”

He did not admit that he didn’t know that shop.

“Oh…” Xie Duzhi wasn’t

 too surprised by this answer, casually putting aside the newly unwrapped brooch, “Do you want to drink it?”

“Their milk tea isn’t sweet at all, and the new coffee is said to be quite good,” Li Heng could confirm that Xie Duzhi didn’t have much of a sweet tooth.

He seemed to want to nod along with that.

“Don’t you study during the lunch break and evening self-study?” Xie Duzhi asked.

“I do, so Mingyue said he would help me bring it.” Li Heng was completely unaware of the underlying meaning, his expression normal, “He basically goes there every day to check in.”

Of course, he didn’t need to mention that “the cashier at the milk tea shop is really handsome.”

He thoughtfully left a little face for his new friend in front of his brother.

Xie Duzhi wanted to ask him when his relationship with Gu Mingyue had become so close, but he also wanted to call Gu Mingyue and ask him why, with the competition coming up, he didn’t go to training every day but was wandering around S City and could still buy milk tea.

Didn’t he know that excessive sugar intake could negatively impact brain function?

“… Next time when I pick you up, we can try it.” 

In the end, Xie Duzhi said this, hesitating for a moment before hiding “playing with Gu Mingyue affects study” deep in his heart.

This was merely a probability event; saying it directly was not rigorous enough.

As the unwrapping approached its end, Li Heng took out a violin from a box that had been tightly wrapped.

He glanced at it and recited a long string of names, feeling somewhat surprised.

The violin was a beloved work by a certain master in his later years, and its name, when translated, means “Moonlight Silently Flowing over the Spring Water,” and it was priceless.

“… What?” 

Hearing that this violin was older than his parents by two generations, his wrist slightly trembled, and his gaze held a bit more respect.

“If you want to learn, you can let my older brother teach you,” Xie Duzhi said.

Xie Shenzhi had learned the violin all the way to high school. Although he had set it aside later, the basics should not be a problem.

Perhaps it was just because this was a precious violin that the other party chose to give it as a gift.

Li Heng placed the violin aside, thinking this.

He had said goodnight to Xie Duzhi in advance, and by the time he returned to his room to take out the test papers, it was already close to eleven-thirty.

Xie Duzhi was still in the living room.

To facilitate correspondence with partners, both sides’ personnel had numbered the gifts received with an erasable oil pen.

Xie Shenzhi had tossed all those gifts over to him, and perhaps he hadn’t looked closely.

On one of the lists at the very bottom, the names of Bai Wei and Bai Ruan were clearly written.

A mother and child had intentionally sent gifts separately.

Li Heng had already unwrapped Bai Wei’s gift, a bracelet that was visibly perfunctory, directly placed in a box of a certain jewelry brand, without any wrapping.

As for Bai Ruan.

Li Heng lowered his gaze, closed the thick original book, and unwrapped that gift box, which had been specially set aside and pressed under the cushion from the start.

Even if it was merely a precaution to check, this action could not be considered entirely proper.

However, human emotions are always complex and honest, and the heart has its own thoughts, making decisions ahead of reason.

Before realizing “he perhaps shouldn’t,” Bai Ruan’s gift had already been singled out and placed aside.

Inside the box was a piece of very pure emerald, with a greeting card next to it.

The card was filled with blessings, and the neat handwriting expressed that he had also experienced wandering and sincerely felt joy for Xie Duzhi’s reunion with his family.

On the back of the card was an address and an inquiry asking, “Can we become friends through letters?”

Li Heng took the card out, tore it to shreds, and threw it into the trash can, meticulously restoring the gift to the state of being unopened.

With so many things, it was perfectly normal to overlook something while unwrapping.

As long as he knew there was such a gift and that it was indeed received, it was enough.

As for who it was from and what the purpose was.

He didn’t want him to know.