The real young master thought he was hated by everyone

Ever since learning that Bai Ruan—who in his dreams was “Xie Duzhi”—was now his cousin, Li Heng had mentally prepared himself for the possibility of running into him at family gatherings or during the holidays.

But he had never imagined that he would stumble upon him in such a wretched state.

In his dreams, Bai Ruan always had a sweet smile, was cute and well-behaved, like the moon being chased by countless stars—the apple of the Xie family’s eye.

He was always poised and graceful, always knowing how to act in any situation. Even when he appeared pitiful, it was the kind of endearing, bright-eyed pitiful. 

Even when he had openly admitted that he disliked Li Heng and said that no one would ever like him, it was with a certain matter-of-factness that made it seem completely justified.

And after glimpsing Bai Ruan briefly on a TV screen that day—wearing a performance outfit and looking radiant, like the darling of the stage—Li Heng naturally formed a certain preconceived notion.

The Bai family was wealthy too. His aunt’s husband had married into the family, and the aunt who adopted Bai Ruan was now in charge of the family business. Bai Ruan was just being pampered by another family, becoming another family’s precious little prince.

After all, he seemed to be born knowing exactly how to win people’s favor.

Li Heng had imagined meeting him, exchanging polite but distant greetings, maybe being formally introduced to him, then parting ways with only the vague impression of each other as distant relatives—that would be perfect.

Bai Ruan had his own family and wouldn’t be coming to steal his.

But what if he wasn’t living the life Li Heng had assumed?

The atmosphere in the hotel was warm and inviting. It was a farewell party, and with everyone having had a little alcohol, the mood quickly turned nostalgic. Several teachers who had close relationships with the students were invited, turning the team-building event into a trip down memory lane.

Some used the occasion to confess their feelings; others admitted to a past unrequited love; some, on the brink of parting ways, finally voiced their grievances about fellow classmates, then downed a gulp of wine, wishing everyone luck in their exams.

As someone who had joined later, Li Heng had shared some collective memories and forged a few bonds with the others.

But when talk turned to the sports day or the class rehearsals, he felt that staying any longer might make things awkward for the others. They might start considering his feelings, and some things that they’d originally wanted to say might be left unsaid. 

Using the excuse of going to the restroom, he gave up his spot and decided to wander around the hotel for a while.

The hotel prided itself on its services. There was a small garden on the rooftop, the lobby offered nearly 24-hour buffets, and there were pools, gyms, murder mystery rooms, and karaoke spots on certain floors.

His desk mate had mentioned that their floor even had a small shop filled with claw machines and other arcade games, where guests could get unlimited tokens to play for free. 

He wanted to give the claw machines a try, so he followed the signs in the hallway. He happened to pass by the restroom he had used as an excuse to leave.

Before he could walk away, he was startled by a sudden angry shout from inside—a man’s voice, filled with fury.

After the shout, there was a series of loud banging sounds, as if someone were forcefully kicking a door.

The hotel’s private rooms were well soundproofed, and the hallway was empty, with no one else around.

He instinctively froze, reaching for his phone in his pocket, unsure if he should call the police.

Or maybe it would be better to find a hotel staff member first…?

Then he realized he had left his phone behind.

The door-kicking continued, accompanied by furious cursing—words like “worthless trash,” “bastard,” and other insults that were unbearable to hear.

“Can’t you win him over?”

“After all these years, even a dog would be loyal by now! Are you really no better than a dog? You don’t even know how to suck up to him?!”

“Damn it, I must’ve been blind to sign you.”

The sound of glass shattering rang out, and then, suddenly, everything went quiet.

Li Heng, heart pounding, hesitated for a long time. Finally, he cautiously stepped forward to see what had happened.

He didn’t dare go find hotel staff, afraid that the door might burst open any second and he’d hear someone crying for help.

He should have been braver earlier.

As this thought crossed his mind, he bit his lip anxiously, feeling unsettled. Just then, someone brushed past him, nearly knocking him to the ground.

He hadn’t even had a chance to speak when he heard a disgusted “tch” and the word “disgusting,” spat out along with the smell of alcohol.

Before he could make out the man’s face, the reeking figure had already stormed off without looking back.

The restroom floor was a mess—liquor, shattered wine glasses, and bottles mixed together, with footprints smudging the mess into a grimy stain.

A door marked with footprints hung wide open, but the room was empty.

Someone stood in front of the sink, either washing their face… or perhaps crying.

He wasn’t sure, and he didn’t dare step forward. He hesitated, wondering if there was anything he could do to help.

The person at the sink looked frail, their soaked, alcohol-stained shirt clinging tightly to their body, emphasizing their alarmingly thin frame.

Based on the man’s earlier shouting about “signing you,” “worthless,” and “resources,” it seemed like the person was a celebrity—one in a difficult, struggling situation.

Just as Li Heng was debating whether to speak or how to approach the situation, the person suddenly turned around.

His head hung low, wet streaks of water dripping down his tangled bangs, making it hard to see his expression clearly.

He didn’t seem to notice Li Heng or didn’t care, lifting a hand to wipe his face, his expression somewhere between numbness and calm.

It was the same person who had once shone brightly on stage, the one who should’ve been cherished by another family, the one Li Heng had instinctively avoided—Bai Ruan.

Li Heng froze in surprise.

But Bai Ruan didn’t seem to see him or care, walking right past him without a word.

He saw the bruises on Bai Ruan’s arm and noticed that one side of his face was slightly swollen. That was when Li Heng realized he had misunderstood the situation entirely.

Bai Ruan hadn’t hidden in the restroom out of fear of what his manager might do to him, which had only escalated the man’s aggression.

It was because he had already suffered his manager’s violent treatment that he ended up retreating to the restroom.

“He harmed you in your dreams; he’s your enemy. Even if you don’t take this chance to kick him while he’s down, you should at least feel some satisfaction, using this as leverage to make him hang his head low in front of you.”

A voice in his mind urged him to call out Bai Ruan’s name, to ask if he was indeed the cousin Li Heng had never met before.

“But he looks like he really needs help.”

At least, that’s what Li Heng’s instincts were telling him, based on the emotions he was picking up from Bai Ruan.

It was as if Bai Ruan wasn’t even aware that his instincts were crying out for help, as he walked straight past Li Heng without so much as a glance.

Li Heng thought it would take him a long time to make up his mind.

But in reality, he only hesitated for a few seconds, and his feet didn’t root him to the floor the way he thought they would.

S City had been cooling down drastically due to the typhoon, and when Li Heng left earlier, Mrs. Xie had made sure to pack a coat in his bag.

The air conditioning in the hotel was so strong that Bai Ruan might catch a cold if he didn’t change out of his wet clothes soon.

Besides, he really did look frail.

Li Heng hurried after him, running into the hallway, but there was no sign of him.

Even when he returned to the private room and was pulled into the lively karaoke session, he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

Would he still be bullied by that manager or by someone else?

Did his aunt even know about this?

If she knew, why was she letting it happen? And if she didn’t, why didn’t Bai Ruan say anything…?

The feeling gnawed at him, leaving him restless during the second half of the gathering. Several times, he pulled out his phone, tempted to message Xie Sizhi, who clearly knew more about the family’s situation and might shed some light on what was going on.

By the time the gathering ended and Xie Duzhi was waiting for him in the hotel lobby to take him home, Li Heng still found himself instinctively scanning the crowd for any sign of Bai Ruan.

He didn’t even notice when Xie Duzhi walked up to him.

Xie Duzhi raised an eyebrow, running through several possibilities in his mind before settling on the most likely one.

“Did some unfamiliar classmate confess to you?”

Otherwise, he couldn’t think of any reason for Li Heng’s slightly dazed, wilted demeanor.

There had been confessions, but not to him.

Li Heng almost nodded in agreement before catching himself and nearly biting his tongue. “No, it was other classmates confessing to each other.”

Xie Duzhi inexplicably felt a little more at ease, but continued to guess, “…The results came out, and you didn’t do well?”

“No, not yet. We haven’t checked the results.” No one would be so tactless as to bring that up at a party.

Besides, Li Heng actually felt like he’d done better than usual. The math section this year had been particularly difficult, with some questions involving advanced principles from math competitions. Thanks to his classmate Xiao Guo, who had explained similar concepts to him before, he’d been fortunate not to let it shake his confidence.

Xie Duzhi fell silent, unable to think of any other reasons.

“I just… I’m not sure if I did the right thing or not,” Li Heng said hesitantly as he sat in the car. After a moment of contemplation, he decided to come clean. “I wanted to help someone I don’t like, but I’m worried they might get hurt.”

It was the first time Xie Duzhi had heard Li Heng admit to disliking someone. He always tended to see the best in people, and it was much harder to make him dislike someone than it was to make him like them.

“Who?” Xie Duzhi asked, curious and concerned.

“It’s just…”

Li Heng quickly shut his mouth.

He realized that if he directly said it was Bai Ruan, not only would it require a lengthy explanation, but he’d also have to come up with a lie to justify why he didn’t like him.

But before he could even speak, his lips had already shaped the name.

Xie Duzhi frowned slightly, trying to guess the name from the lip movement.

“B…”

Was it… Bai?