The real young master thought he was hated by everyone

Xie Duzhi waited for a moment, giving him time to process his emotions before speaking.

“In the dream, did you tell Mom and Dad about the bank card?”

Why would Bai Ruan have a bank card?

According to Xie Sizhi’s account, their relationship wasn’t good later on, so entrusting Bai Ruan with something like that seemed unlikely.

Recalling Bai Ruan’s prior behavior, Xie Duzhi was inclined to believe he simply wanted to leave someone cornered with no way out.

Asking the dreamer about these detailed issues would be more effective, but he didn’t want to make him relive memories devoid of any joy.

Forcing Bai Ruan to talk using truth serum or similar methods was indeed convenient, but that would take time.

At the moment, Bai Ruan had yet to be fully apprehended.

Xie Sizhi’s memories remained the quickest way to piece together the dream.

“…I told them.”

Xie Sizhi’s voice was hoarse. “In that dream, I told Mom. I was a little suspicious of him.”

His reason for doubt was simple—the bank card in Bai Ruan’s possession. Delegation was impossible; at that time, the two brothers were bitterly at odds.

If Bai Ruan had simply found the card, why wouldn’t he mention it? That didn’t align with how he typically presented himself to their family.

“I shared my concerns with Mom and felt a little uneasy. She was worried too but reassured me it might be a misunderstanding. She said she’d ask Bai Ruan about it when he came back that evening.”

At this point, Xie Sizhi’s energy, which had barely returned, drained away once more.

“You might not know this, but Heng didn’t go to college. He’s been living with us ever since. His livestreaming account was also banned because of what happened earlier.”

They hadn’t reached out to him—not because of pride, but perhaps due to other reasons. None of them wanted to admit their mistakes and waited for him to contact them instead.

“And then?”

Xie Duzhi’s tone remained calm, though the pen in his hand, gripped with unusual force, betrayed his struggle to stay composed.

He was restraining himself.

Admittedly, venting his anger at Xie Sizhi, mocking his arrogance, or criticizing him for failing as an elder brother might provide momentary relief for both of them.

But it would accomplish nothing.

“I didn’t dream that part.”

Xie Sizhi’s bitterness showed. “I woke up, found myself in a bar, my mind a mess—just that dream on repeat. Then I thought of reality… and came to find you.”

He had intended to thank Xie Duzhi properly, then recount the dream in an exaggerated tone or find some other way to test the waters. But his emotions had overwhelmed him.

Guilt and regret consumed him like a tide.

Xie Duzhi didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he walked to his desk, opened a drawer, rummaged for a moment, and tossed a small white bottle to him.

“…What’s this?”

Xie Sizhi instinctively caught it. “I only drank a little on the way here. I don’t need hangover medicine.”

It was true; he had barely sipped the bottle of wine he opened. Feeling stifled, he called for a ride straight to Xie Duzhi’s place.

Xie Duzhi knew he wasn’t drunk and said flatly, “Melatonin. You might need it after you wake up.”

Xie Sizhi’s hand trembled, nearly misinterpreting it as a sign of disdain—a suggestion to take the pills and end things.

He wouldn’t put it past Xie Duzhi to do such a thing.

“Third Brother, you—”

“Go to sleep,” Xie Duzhi interrupted coldly. “There’s a bed in the adjoining rest room.”

“I need to know what happened next, along with any specific times or dates—if the dream-you noticed them.”

Xie Sizhi was stunned for a few seconds before recovering.

To be honest, he was afraid to close his eyes, terrified the dream concealed a deeper abyss that would trap him entirely.

He didn’t even know why a mere dream affected him so profoundly. What exactly was he so afraid of? Instinctively, he resisted sleep.

“I might not dream it again…”

After hesitating, he glanced at Xie Duzhi for three seconds before quickly looking away, admitting defeat.

“…”

“Dreams are uncontrollable. I can only promise to try,” he gritted his teeth. If he dreamed the continuation, he resolved to seek forgiveness from his younger brother upon waking.

Xie Duzhi nodded, though he didn’t hold much hope.

He wasn’t sure whether Xie Sizhi would dream of the rest.

But Xie Sizhi certainly needed rest.

The door to the rest room clicked shut.

Xie Duzhi silently counted, and by the time he reached seven, he heard the door reopen.

Xie Sizhi poked his head out. “…Third Brother, don’t tell him yet. Let me… let me finish the dream, digest it, and talk to him myself.”

“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as a yes.”

Half an hour later, Li Heng received a message from Xie Duzhi.

While fetching the documents Xie Duzhi requested from the marketing department, Li Heng had also acquired an assortment of snacks and specialties gifted by his overzealous coworkers.

Given these “bribes,” he decided to pretend not to notice the open chat windows on a few employees’ desks or the conversations displayed within them.

Carrying the documents and a bag of buttered popcorn meant for sharing with Xie Duzhi, he returned to the 29th floor and knocked on the door.

Xie Duzhi told him to come in directly.

Before stepping inside, he cautiously opened the door just a crack and scanned the room, relieved to find no sign of Xie Sizhi.

“Second Brother left already?”

He entered the office and noticed a bruise at the corner of Xie Duzhi’s mouth that hadn’t been there earlier. Forgetting the documents, he frantically searched the office drawers for some ointment to reduce swelling.

“…Did he really hit you? And in the face?” Li Heng regretted listening to instructions to head to the marketing department instead of staying.

Had he been there, he might have been able to mediate the situation. “Duzhi, you didn’t hit him back, did you?”

“He probably acted impulsively, not thinking it through.”

Li Heng dabbed some spray onto a tissue and gently applied it to the bruise. “Anywhere else?”

The corners of Xie Duzhi’s mouth lifted slightly. “Were you just defending me, or defending Second Brother?”

His tone made it clear he was teasing.

Li Heng couldn’t help pressing harder on the bruise. “Neither. I’m just stating the facts.”

He doubted Xie Duzhi would impulsively hit back after being struck. Nor did he believe Xie Duzhi would be caught completely off guard and take a punch to the face.

Knowing him, Xie Duzhi might have deliberately let it happen.

“Why did Second Brother come to see you out of the blue?”

Having finished applying the ointment, Li Heng remembered the documents and placed the unopened bag of popcorn on the desk as well.

“…And this little bottle?”

The bottle was something Xie Sizhi had left on the desk before heading to the rest room, adamantly claiming he wouldn’t need melatonin anytime soon regardless of what he dreamed.

Xie Duzhi answered his questions one by one.

“It’s melatonin. Second Brother didn’t leave; he’s sleeping in the rest room. He only hit me once.”

“As for why he came…”

He hesitated briefly but chose not to reveal the full story. “It’s about Bai Ruan.”

Seeing the straightforward way he answered, Li Heng decided not to hold a grudge over being teased earlier.

“Melatonin? Did Second Brother bring it?”

Li Heng asked, thinking this seemed more important than whatever Bai Ruan was up to.

There was still the faint smell of alcohol in the office. Xie Duzhi obviously wouldn’t drink during work hours, so it must have been Xie Sizhi.

But would Xie Sizhi bring melatonin to a bar? That didn’t fit his personality at all, and he didn’t seem to have sleep issues.

“It’s mine.”

Xie Duzhi added quickly, as if to reassure, “It’s old but not expired. I haven’t used it in a long time.”

“Is the expiration date the issue?”

Li Heng’s train of thought momentarily derailed. “Can you even take melatonin after drinking?”

Why would Xie Sizhi suddenly need melatonin?

“Second Brother’s been sleeping poorly lately. I was going to let him take it home.”

Li Heng was slightly stunned by the explanation. “…So you’re keeping it here to avoid wasting it?”

Xie Duzhi nodded earnestly.

“I feel like you’re bluffing.”

Li Heng muttered under his breath and couldn’t resist confirming, “You’re not taking it now, are you?”

“Not since summer break,” Xie Duzhi replied. “I used to take it during late-night overtime.”

Since he no longer stayed up late for work, Li Heng reluctantly accepted the explanation. Still, he pocketed the melatonin.

“I’ll just confiscate this for now. Neither of you should object, right?”

Xie Duzhi blinked and shook his head. “No objections.”

Of course, he had a stash of prescription sleep aids at his place in Linfeng Bay, but he wasn’t about to let anyone discover those.

“Then it’s mine now.”

Li Heng thought for a moment before adding, “I’ll make you and Second Brother some chamomile and lavender tea bags. They help with sleep too.”

“Second Brother doesn’t need them.”

Xie Duzhi was quick to reply, “He’s just been drinking too much, which messed with his sleep. He’ll be fine after a while.”

Li Heng: …

He couldn’t help but laugh.

How had he not noticed how petty Xie Duzhi could be?

“Fine. I’ll tell him to buy pre-made ones himself. That should work, right?”

Finally, Xie Duzhi seemed satisfied.

“You know, Duzhi, you’ve been acting a bit like Xiaozhi lately.”

Even Xiaozhi wasn’t as territorial as this.

If Xie Duzhi were a cat, he’d be a big, elegant breed like a Siberian Forest Cat or a Maine Coon—not a Siamese.

Not giving him a chance to retort, Li Heng quickly changed the subject. “So, Second Brother came to see you about Bai Ruan. What’s going on with him now?”

“Not much,” Xie Duzhi replied, shaking his head. “He’s still under house arrest by the Bai family.”

The Bai family had been hoping for a discussion, given their familial ties through Xie’s mother, even attempting to exert pressure through their grandparents to reach a compromise.

Unfortunately for them, the grandparents were free spirits, rarely even reachable by their own daughter, let alone the Bai family.

“Second Brother has a lot of connections,” Xie Duzhi added after a moment’s thought, preemptively revealing what Xie Sizhi was bound to do next to protect his secret.

“He doesn’t trust the Bai family. He’s worried they might help Bai Ruan evade responsibility by claiming mental illness. He’s planning to investigate on his own.”

“…Oh.” Li Heng grew worried. “Bai Ruan wouldn’t really use that as an excuse to apply for medical parole, would he?”

He thought he did seem to have some psychological issues.

“We won’t give him the chance.”

Xie Duzhi reassured him, “The formal trial starts next week.”

“…That’s so fast!”

Though he said so, Xie Duzhi still felt that nearly a month was quite slow. Bai Ruan had been meticulous in handling things, and they had spent a lot of time gathering evidence.

“How long do you think he’ll be sentenced for?” Li Heng asked curiously.

“I’m not sure,” Xie Duzhi shook his head.

The only thing he was certain of was that Bai Ruan wouldn’t have a good time in prison. The Su family was involved in both business and politics, and Su Xingchi was the most favored among the younger generation. Moreover, Xie Sizhi had a good relationship with Su Xingchi, so asking him for help shouldn’t be difficult.

If Xie Duzhi remembered correctly, Su Xingchi’s uncle was currently serving in a high-ranking position in G Province.

“Second Brother has so many connections,” Li Heng remarked after hearing the explanation.

Though he wished Xie Sizhi’s gatherings with his friends could be a bit more wholesome—fewer trips to the bar would be better.

He handed all the snacks he’d snuck from the marketing department to Xie Duzhi, leaving himself only a few pieces of beef jerky. Then he returned to writing his economics homework.

Feeling a bit tired midway through, he tiptoed into the lounge to check—Xie Sizhi was sleeping soundly, so much so that even poking his face several times elicited no reaction.

Li Heng tucked the blanket securely around him before stepping out, only to find Xie Duzhi reviewing his work.

“I’ve noticed that Second Brother doesn’t like using a blanket when sleeping,” he said, squeezing in next to him. “Even with the heating, you should still cover up properly. What if you catch a cold… I didn’t make any mistakes on this question, right?”

Whether Xie Sizhi used a blanket or not was irrelevant to Xie Duzhi. He planned to have his assistant arrange for the lounge to be thoroughly cleaned the next day anyway, with everything replaced and sanitized.

“There’s a mistake here,” he casually said, drawing a dashed line under a part of his answer. “This is a different concept.”

“—But the rest is fine.”

Li Heng snatched his pen back, marking the section with a note. “Don’t tell me; I’ll fix it and memorize it myself tonight.”

“Alright,” Xie Duzhi replied, a hint of regret in his voice as he set the homework aside. “I could still help you review…”

“No, you can’t,” Li Heng said flatly, pushing him aside. “Mr. Xie Duzhi, this is work hours. You should focus on your job.”

“But I’ve already finished my files,” Xie Duzhi said innocently. “I can clock out early.”

“That’s not ideal,” Li Heng said. “It makes me feel like I’m not achieving anything in my studies.”

Though Xie Duzhi was diligent and thorough when tutoring him, often providing clear explanations and examples, he also had a penchant for teasing him while going over questions.

“Let’s think about something else,” Li Heng tried to change the topic. “…Like next week, should we go home together and come clean to Dad, Mom, and Big Brother?”

After all, Xie Sizhi already knew, so there was no need to hide it any longer.

“Mom even asked me a few days ago if I’d managed to woo you yet and said she wanted to create opportunities for us to spend time alone.”

The reality was, they had already been together for a month and had even changed their couple profile pictures multiple times.

Xie Duzhi pondered, “Do we need to prepare gifts?”

“What gifts?” Li Heng didn’t catch on immediately.

“Visiting gifts,” the young man explained with a serious expression, making it hard to tell whether he was joking or genuinely planning.

“There’s no need to be so formal,” Li Heng said, instinctively frowning and scrutinizing him, trying to find a clue on his overly composed face.

The titles of “Dad” and “Mom” had been used for years. It wasn’t like becoming a boyfriend instead of a brother would suddenly turn them into “Uncle” and “Aunt.”

Li Heng couldn’t imagine Xie Duzhi showing up with a pile of gifts like a son-in-law on his first visit.

When the thought occurred to him, he noticed Xie Duzhi’s faint smile.

Clearly, the earlier question was meant to provoke that mental image intentionally.

“…After we come clean, you can just serve tea to Mom and Dad,” Li Heng said, swallowing back his initial retort. “As a sign of respect.”

“But we haven’t officially gotten married yet, so…”

Traditionally, that kind of tea ceremony was reserved for after marriage.

Before Xie Duzhi could finish his sentence, the visibly flustered Li Heng covered his mouth.

His puffed cheeks looked a little fierce but mostly adorable.

“It was my oversight,” Xie Duzhi quickly apologized, changing his tone. “I just feel that being a boyfriend and future partner is different from being a brother. Others should also recognize this shift.”

While there was some intentional teasing involved, he had genuinely been considering how to reassure their family through his commitments and actions.

“No matter how the role changes, you’re still you,” Li Heng said, unconcerned. “Mom and Dad already know what kind of person you are.”

If Xie Duzhi couldn’t put them at ease, Li Heng felt no one else in the world could.

“Let’s just go home as usual.”

Xie Duzhi didn’t argue, though he silently began calculating his assets in his mind.

“I have class tomorrow, so I won’t be heading back with you tonight,” Li Heng recalled. “Should we go home next Friday or Saturday?”

He had plans to meet up with his former desk mate and a few other high school friends.

“Either works,” Xie Duzhi replied, always accommodating.

“Then we’ll decide later,” Li Heng said, unable to make up his mind. “Either way, when we tell them, they’ll definitely be surprised.”

Except for Mrs. Xie.

“By the way, about Bai Ruan—there’s one more thing.”

Xie Duzhi hadn’t intended to bring up that dream in front of him.

But thinking of Xie Sizhi resting in the next room and the vague suspicions in his mind, he felt it necessary to gauge the boy’s reaction.

“I plan to visit G Province and use a truth serum to get him to reveal everything about that dream.”

“Are you taking me with you?” Li Heng asked, though he didn’t hold out much hope, knowing Xie Duzhi likely wouldn’t agree.

“You have final exams coming up, so I doubt you’ll have time,” Xie Duzhi replied.

“…” Li Heng didn’t need to ask to know this timing was deliberate.

Even if Bai Ruan were a wolf, he wasn’t some defenseless lamb.

He wasn’t sure if he should call Xie Duzhi overly cautious or something else. He made a few disgruntled noises. “Then bring me back some local specialties.”

He listed several specialty items, and Xie Duzhi made note of each one, as if he were merely planning a routine business trip to G Province next month.

“Suppose, in that dream, everything was orchestrated by Bai Ruan behind the scenes. Would you choose to forgive them?”

Xie Duzhi asked the question he’d prepared earlier with a composed expression.

He deliberately mentioned Bai Ruan to set the stage for this question and to avoid making the other person suspicious.

Li Heng opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for how to respond.

Forgive? Resent?

In that dream, those feelings did exist.

He had occasionally recalled details of the dream after waking up, realizing that he wasn’t as unlikable as he had thought.

However, he didn’t feel much love or affection in the dream either. Even the dream version of Mrs. Xie, his mother, seemed lacking in comparison to reality. It felt as though she loved not him but the idealized version of him.

He knew that the cold treatment he received in the dream had a lot to do with Bai Ruan’s manipulation. He was devious and good at pretending, so it wasn’t surprising that everyone was deceived by him.

While he could understand and rationalize this, emotionally, it wasn’t so easy to let go.

He had once held onto hope, tried to communicate, and called out for their love. In the end, all he wanted was for them to notice him, but he couldn’t even get that.

In that dream, no one explicitly expressed their love for him, either through words or easily recognizable actions.

Take his shared birthday celebration with Bai Ruan, for instance. He could have convinced himself that they chose to postpone the celebration for a better date to accommodate more guests and make it more meaningful—especially since he did seem a bit dependent on him at the time.

But all he received was a decision communicated without any explanation.

“…Duzhi, I don’t know,” he answered softly.

“From my perspective, I can understand them. I know they didn’t hate me or dislike me; they just didn’t express it well, and I didn’t receive it properly.”

“This is something to blame on Bai Ruan. He exploited them and me.”

After speaking, he paused for a while, recalling the grievances and later despair from that dream.

“But I can’t forgive on their behalf, nor can I forgive on Bai Ruan’s behalf.”

“At that time, he had no self-confidence after what happened in the Xie family. He doubted himself daily and habitually took all the blame upon himself.”

“He didn’t attend school and was rejected from many job applications, ultimately returning to a small northern town on a cargo truck and finding work at a construction site.”

Li Heng sniffed, realizing that he had become quite emotional and possibly expressed himself poorly.

“Although the dream version of me is still me, our lives are different. I am me, and he is him.”

“If I forgive on his behalf simply because I experienced his suffering in the dream and know the truth about Bai Ruan, wouldn’t that be arrogant of me?”

If he forgave just because he understood the reasons and complexities, he felt he’d be no different from the family in the dream.

“I understand,” Xie Duzhi emphasized instead of comforting him. “But regardless, he will face the punishment he deserves, paying for his actions, whether in the dream or reality.”

“…Don’t push the limits of the law,” Li Heng cautioned, his attention pulled back to Xie Duzhi, his tone worried.

No matter how evil the person, one shouldn’t become evil to defeat them.

Xie Duzhi hooked his pinky finger around his, his expression soft and reassuring. He promised obediently.

After dinner, Li Heng took a cab back to school.

He didn’t let Xie Duzhi drop him off since the latter had a meeting that evening.

After the meeting, Xie Duzhi stayed late at the office.