The real young master thought he was hated by everyone

Xie Sizhi thought he wouldn’t have such a strong reaction.

Although he was impulsive at times, his self-control was actually very strong. He had never faltered on major matters, knowing when to restrain himself and when to act boldly.

His younger brother and adopted brother being in a relationship—no matter who was pursuing whom,he didn’t feel he had much right to interfere.

Their parents hadn’t said anything about it.

Besides, would they break up just because of objections?

Xie Duzhi had moved his household registration out during high school, and the two had no blood relations or any ethical concerns. Even if he wanted to meddle, he wouldn’t find a valid reason.

However, when he saw that face, the string in his mind snapped.

That day—perhaps it wasn’t just that day—his emotions fluctuated wildly. Though it was Xie Duzhi who was hit, he felt disoriented, as if he were the one who had been struck.

When he threw the punch, Xie Duzhi didn’t instinctively dodge, instead standing still and taking the blow squarely on his face.

The young man had a faint bruise on the right side of his lip, calmly lifting his gaze, unperturbed, “Are you calm now?”

“…If I said no, would you stand there motionless and let me punch the other side of your face?” Xie Sizhi said with a self-deprecating smile, fully aware of Xie Duzhi’s temperament.

“I’d pour coffee on your head to help you calm down faster.”

Xie Duzhi drank iced coffee year-round. “Since you’re calm now, feel free to speak your mind.”

Compared to his usual self, Xie Sizhi looked incredibly disheveled. Dark circles under his eyes, stubble on his chin and upper lip, wrinkled clothes with a noticeable crease at the collar and wine stains on the sleeves—he hardly resembled the renowned “Second Young Master of the Xie Family” at all.

Xie Sizhi was probably lucky it was a holiday, and the security guards weren’t on duty. Also, since the front desk had been trained and had seen his family photos, they didn’t stop him at the lobby.

“I need to think,” he sighed, collapsing onto the sofa in Xie Duzhi’s office. “I don’t even know what to say… it’s just so absurd.”

He was silent for a long time, then covered his eyes with his hand and dejectedly spoke:

“Although these years I’ve always argued with you, gotten into disagreements, and tried to prove I’m better than you… I never hated you, and I’ve long acknowledged that you’re better than everyone. I’m grateful to you, and I’m glad Dad chose you back then, and you chose us.”

“So?”

Xie Duzhi raised an eyebrow. “If you came all this way just to share your sudden feelings, I’ll call my assistant to have you escorted out right now to avoid wasting more time.”

Xie Sizhi: “…”

“It’s exactly because you’re always like this that I can’t get along with you properly!” He ground his teeth in frustration. “…Can’t you at least show a little emotion?”

Xie Duzhi looked at him indifferently, his silence speaking volumes.

Xie Sizhi was ready to explode from his attitude.

“I have something important to say!”

The young man emphasized fiercely. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? I said I’m very grateful that Dad adopted you.”

“Oh.” Based on his response, Xie Duzhi had already deduced most of the situation.

He must have dreamed about things from a parallel world while drinking.

This so-called parallel world should overlap or intersect with reality in some way; otherwise, it wouldn’t explain why he kept having dreams about it.

Coincidentally, Xie Duzhi also suspected that the dream that Mrs. Luo had was about a parallel world.

However, Mrs. Luo was overseas and had limited information, so her dream was fragmented, filled with concern and anxiety, which led her to decide to return to the country.

Under the assumption that Bai Ruan was the one adopted, something had likely happened to the Xie family later on.

Xie Duzhi wasn’t sure whether the rest of the family would dream about these things, but he was certain that he wouldn’t.

“You couldn’t at least ask me why I’m so grateful that Dad adopted you?” Xie Sizhi was practically at his wit’s end.

How could anyone be so disinterested? Xie Sizhi thought he had shown enough unusual behavior to warrant a reaction.

Then, he recalled the earlier incident where he had walked in on Xie Duzhi eating “near his own nest.”

Xie Duzhi really was a beast, wasn’t he?

But Xie Sizhi had to admit that, as much of a beast as Xie Duzhi was, he was still much better than Bai Ruan or the version of himself in the dream.

“No,” Xie Duzhi replied flatly.

He didn’t have the patience to indulge him in these trivial conversations. What he really wanted to know was the development of the parallel world’s story from another perspective and any potential follow-up.

Rarely, Xie Sizhi didn’t retort. Instead, he locked the office door and collapsed back onto the sofa, sighing, “…I had a ridiculous dream. I dreamed that Dad didn’t adopt you, but Bai Ruan.”

“At first, I really rejected him, but at some point, I started to think of him as a substitute for Heng, imagining what he’d be like when he grew up.”

“…Maybe because for a time, he really reminded me of him.”

“This is a form of transference,” Xie Duzhi assessed, then asked, “And then?”

Xie Sizhi felt a swirl of mixed emotions, unsure how to proceed. He couldn’t even summon the energy to ask more questions.

“I dreamed that after Bai Ruan was found, our relationship wasn’t good due to some misunderstandings, even awkward at times.”

Maybe it was because he pushed Bai Ruan when he was first recognized? Though it was just a misunderstanding, once it was cleared up, no one took it to heart, but that moment must have shaken him.

Come to think of it, what was wrong with pushing Bai Ruan in the first place? He probably deserved it.

Xie Sizhi thought randomly, “…I also did a lot of terrible things in that dream, like saying to his face that the little troublemaker in the family was ugly, complaining about it, and then buying him a delicate plush doll.”

“Though that plush doll really was prettier than the little troublemaker at home.”

The family’s Siamese cat always scratched at Xie Sizhi, who, lacking the cat’s fighting ability, simply accepted the title of ‘little troublemaker.’

After pondering for a while, he couldn’t hold back a slip of the tongue, “…I still remember the name of the cattery. Maybe I should buy it back one day to keep the little troublemaker company, make it a concubine?”

—Which explained why some people still weren’t liked by cats.

Xie Duzhi seemed to lose focus for a moment, “…And then?”

“I gave the cat to Bai Ruan and asked him to speak well of me.”

Xie Sizhi’s mood suddenly dropped, lips pressed tight, “…I really thought he hated us a little at that time, and he had his own things to worry about. You know, he was stuck in a dilemma, so I thought, since he had a good relationship with Bai Ruan, maybe I could use him to maintain that relationship.”

“Stupid.”

Xie Duzhi gave his blunt assessment, not even bothering to add a single unnecessary word.

“What I was upset about at that time was related to you too.” Xie Sizhi swallowed his kind words, but his voice lacked conviction.

He mentioned the name of a competition, “You should still remember, right? The one with that idiot of a judge.”

“What made you doubt my memory?”

Xie Duzhi calmly retorted.

“…”

“Anyway, in that dream, I started off poorly, and it led to me being stuck in an awkward position, unable to advance or retreat, and constantly being overlooked.”

The family business was mostly domestic, though they had international partners, they didn’t have much influence in artistic competitions.

He had no solid foundation at the start. Even though he had some fame, it felt more like a house of cards.

“You should know, I decided to study art after Dad talked about it for a long time, right? In the dream, our relationship was also rather delicate because of this.”

The more Xie Sizhi spoke, the more he felt that his life in the dream was a failure. He couldn’t help but click his tongue in frustration.

“Mainly, the dream felt so real, so much like it actually happened. If Dad really had adopted Bai Ruan back then—oh, by the way, did I tell you how that little brat stayed with us?”

“He pretended he didn’t know how to use the bathroom and took cold baths until he got a fever. During the fever, he kept calling for ‘mom.'”

Xie Sizhi, seeing things from an outsider’s perspective, felt that Bai Ruan must have been pretending—after all, there was still a nanny in the house. If he had gotten cold water, surely he would have called the nanny, right?

He felt like he needed to figure out a way to deal with Bai Ruan, to get rid of the resentment in his heart.

He wasn’t innocent, but just thinking about how he might still be living easily in prison made a surge of violent anger rise within him.

“So, what happened after Heng was kicked out of the house?”

Xie Duzhi’s patience had completely run out, and he interrupted Xie Sizhi’s rambling.

Xie Duzhi wasn’t completely uninterested in misunderstandings and twists.

But in the face of facts that had already occurred, rehashing them endlessly didn’t seem useful.

“We thought it would be better for him to be independent. Whether it was mom or me, we would transfer money to his card. Dad and Big Brother also had the secretary send money regularly.”

“Until I found that card on Bai Ruan’s desk.”

Xie Sizhi subconsciously answered, realizing how arrogant he seemed in the dream.

He answered, then suddenly remembered he hadn’t explained the reason behind kicking someone out of the house. He looked at Xie Duzhi in shock.

“Third Brother… you…”

He struggled to speak, his voice rough.

In that dream, he hadn’t seen Xie Duzhi, nor had he heard of his company.

So how did Xie Duzhi know?

“He shouldn’t know… right?” He couldn’t describe how he felt at that moment.

He thought about the day they went to find the cat, and the brief overlap between the calm, sorrowful expression on the young man’s face and that moment in the dream.

How long could a stray cat survive, alone, with no one to care for it? What did he do in the dream?

Xie Sizhi didn’t dare think any further.

The young man’s eyes burned with emotion, his throat constricting as a soft whimper, like a puppy, escaped his lips.

“…Why do you think he doesn’t know?”

After a long pause, Xie Duzhi lowered his gaze and answered in kind.

He realized Xie Sizhi was crying.

The person who usually made a lot of noise, as flamboyant as fire, was now shedding tears without a single sound.