The real young master thought he was hated by everyone

In the end, it was Xie Sizhi who accompanied him to buy the exam papers.

When the young man wasn’t spouting off those strange, off-the-wall comments, he gave off a strong impression of confidence and control.

Li Heng followed behind him, watching as he browsed through piles of books with varied and colorful covers. It was enough to make his head spin.

Since arriving in S City for more than half a year, it was the first time he had been inside such a large, well-lit bookstore. This one had multiple floors, and even the section dedicated to academic materials was as big as two or three classrooms.

There were many study guides whose names he had never even seen before.

“Is this all they’ve got for a top scorer?” Xie Sizhi commented, flipping through a study guide that Li Heng had been looking at. He sneered. “My old notes were better than this.”

Feeling a twinge of competitiveness, he added, “Don’t be fooled by how detailed it looks. Most of it is just filler. If you follow this for revision, you’ll just waste time.”

“Got it. Thanks, Second Brother,” Li Heng obediently responded, putting the red-covered “Top Scorer’s Notes” back on the shelf.

In truth, he hadn’t planned on buying it. The words “top scorer” just caught his eye and he couldn’t help but take a peek. “Do you still have your notes from back then?”

Xie Sizhi was momentarily stumped.

Although he hadn’t participated in the tradition of tearing up books and notes during the break before the college entrance exams, he hadn’t kept them for long either. The day after the exams, he filled up the entire trunk of his car with his textbooks and study materials and drove straight to the recycling center.

Now, thinking back on how three years of hard work had been worth only the price of an ice cream, he felt oddly sentimental.

“Second Brother…?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just trying to remember where I put my old notes,” Xie Sizhi replied with a perfectly composed expression, though inside he was kicking himself for what he had just said.

His usual smile faltered slightly, but there was no way to take back what had already been said, especially in front of his younger brother.

“Here, this one’s better,” he said, quickly grabbing a copy of “Must-Have Exam Points” to change the subject, his brain working overtime.

Surely some of his high school classmates must have held on to their books and treasured their youthful memories, right? 

Even if most of them had tossed theirs, Xie Duzhi might have kept his.

“Just memorizing isn’t enough; you have to practice,” Xie Sizhi raised an eyebrow, switching the subject again. “But having good notes can definitely be helpful.”

He decided he would find an excuse to ask Xie Duzhi for his old notes—something like their high school teacher needing them for the current students.

After all, they were family, and borrowing someone else’s notes wasn’t really a big deal.

And besides, it’s not like it would be a free favor. He’d express his thanks to him, at least mentally.

The mere thought of Li Heng gazing up at him with that mixture of trust and admiration made him feel like he was walking on air.

“I’ll dig out my notes for you the day after tomorrow,” Xie Sizhi said lightly. “What do you want to study in the future?”

Li Heng hadn’t really given much thought to his career.

After a moment of contemplation, he decided to answer truthfully, “I’ve considered becoming either a teacher or a doctor.”

“No way,” Xie Sizhi shook his head. “Teaching is too hard—low pay, lots of work, long hours. You’re exhausted and unappreciated.”

“You definitely shouldn’t become a teacher.”

But being a teacher is great, Li Heng thought to himself, though he remained silent. It’s a stable job, with housing provided and long vacations in the summer and winter.

But before he could even begin to argue, Xie Sizhi had already moved on to criticizing the idea of being a doctor.

“Being a doctor is even worse. It takes at least five years of clinical training, then you have to get certified. If you go for a master’s or a PhD, you’ll be in school for even longer, and there’s no guarantee you’ll even graduate…”

“And then there’s the whole issue with doctor-patient disputes.”

He continued his critique, covering every career option he could think of, from teachers to doctors, to the latest hot professions like programming. In his opinion, they were either too tiring, didn’t pay enough, or were both exhausting and underpaid. Nothing seemed good enough.

“Art is the way to go. Or maybe photography. After graduation, you can come work in my gallery. You can set your own salary, or not even show up if you don’t want to,” Xie Sizhi finally revealed his true intentions.

Although he knew deep down that the responsibility of taking care of his younger brother wouldn’t seriously fall on him, no matter how he looked at it, staying at the gallery would be far easier than working for any of the family’s companies.

In the company, every position came with responsibilities, and no matter the role, work was required.

But his gallery didn’t have those kinds of demands.

Desperate to keep Li Heng from changing his mind, he added, “And didn’t Xie Duzhi mention that you’ve done some livestreaming? With my fame, if you film me, you’ll definitely attract tons of viewers.”

Listening to this, Li Heng almost didn’t have the heart to interrupt him.

He hadn’t changed his mind at all about becoming a teacher. He just felt genuinely happy.

Happy to feel close to his second brother.

He’d had similar conversations with classmates in the past, too.

Back then, he had earnestly said that he wanted to become like their homeroom teacher, and his classmates had teased him, saying he’d have to lose his memory and undergo a personality change to reach their teacher’s level of strictness.

It was friendly banter, but it wasn’t quite the same.

What Xie Sizhi was doing was very different. He was standing in the position of an “older brother,” earnestly helping him plan for the future.

Trying to bring him closer to him. Even if he didn’t seem all that reliable.

“Second Brother, I haven’t learned how to paint,” Li Heng decided to use this as a reason to politely decline.

“That’s even better. I’ll teach you myself,” Xie Sizhi’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. He was practically ready to call someone over to deliver all the trophies and awards from his gallery, one by one, to show Li Heng. “Second Brother’s really talented.”

“But I still kind of want to be a teacher…” Li Heng said quietly. “Besides, isn’t it too early to be thinking about this?”

“…An art teacher is still a teacher.”

Xie Sizhi wasn’t ready to give up just yet. “Second Brother’s really amazing; I can teach you any style.”

Of course, I know, Li Heng thought to himself with a faint smile. In that dream, I even secretly bought tickets to one of your exhibitions.

Seeing the look on his face, he finally understood what his second brother really wanted.

With a small smile, he adjusted his expression and, with the utmost sincerity, nodded his head, “I know Second Brother is really amazing.”

“They all say you’re a genius, a rising star in the art world.”

Xie Sizhi practically beamed with pride, “They don’t really know what they’re talking about. Second Brother is actually…”

At that moment, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

His phone was always on silent, and he was notorious for going AWOL. He only showed up in his circle of friends when he felt like it, living the word “freedom” to such an extreme that it was almost outrageous.

Having vibration alerts set for important contacts was already a significant gesture of respect toward his family.

“I’ll reply to this real quick,” he said naturally, pulling out his phone and casually informing Li Heng, “I’ll be done in a second.”

The message was from Mrs. Xie.

He discovered that he’d been added to a group chat called *Birthday Celebration*.

She had tagged him, informing him that the items she had ordered had arrived earlier than expected. She asked him to bring Li Heng home after dinner so they could assemble everything in advance and hide it, ready to decorate the living room and stairs as soon as midnight passed.

He lazily replied with an “OK.”

“It’s from Mom,” he said. “She said Auntie Zhen had to leave suddenly because of an urgent family matter, so I should take you out to dinner before we head back.”

“Alright.” Li Heng nodded, then asked, “Is everything okay with Auntie Zhen’s family?”

“Nothing serious,” Xie Sizhi replied smoothly, making up a reason on the spot. “Her younger daughter hit her rebellious phase and dyed her hair green, so she’s in a hurry to drag her back to the salon to fix it.”

He wasn’t completely making it up—it had happened, just a few months ago. The girl’s hair was now red and blue.

“Kids these days,” he sighed, shaking his head dramatically.

Still, his younger brother was the best.

Li Heng had been obedient ever since he was a child. When he got home from school, he would even hand over his brother’s shoes for him to change into.

Exiting the chat, Xie Sizhi quickly messaged Xie Duzhi about the old notes and then opened up a list of nearby food recommendations. “Let me see… There’s a mall nearby, a street with lots of food stalls, and a few places that serve Western and private home-cooked meals.”

“What would you like for dinner, little one?” he asked Li Heng.

“Anything is fine,” he said, leaving the decision to him. “Whatever Second Brother chooses.”

“Funny, that’s exactly how I feel,” Xie Sizhi replied with a grin. “How about we settle this with rock-paper-scissors? Best two out of three—the winner gets to decide.”

After losing three times in a row, Li Heng suddenly remembered that his brother dabbled in gambling and had apparently even studied psychology for it.

… He had underestimated him.

But the truth was, he really didn’t have much of an appetite and wasn’t hungry at all—probably because he had eaten so much over the past couple of days.

“How about rice with toppings?” he suggested hesitantly, but then added, “… Or maybe you should choose, Second Brother.”

Ignoring the second half of the sentence, Xie Sizhi immediately started searching for places that served rice bowls.

Even if the area didn’t have one, he’d make sure it did—he’d just find a private kitchen and pay them to adjust their menu if necessary.

Fortunately, there were quite a few such places on the food street nearby, saving him the trouble of making special arrangements.

“Got it. I’ll take you there,” he said, taking the study materials from Li Heng’s arms as they prepared to leave. “After dinner, how about we walk around a bit? There are a lot of interesting places in this area.”

When it came to food, drink, and entertainment, Xie Sizhi was confident no one could beat him.

Completing the task his mother assigned and bonding with his younger brother at the same time, how could life get any better?

Feeling quite pleased with himself, he went to the counter to pay, scanning his phone to complete the transaction.

Along with the payment notification, a message from Xie Du popped up.

[Xie Duzhi: I don’t have them.]

[I never took notes.]