The real young master thought he was hated by everyone

After dinner, Li Heng was pulled aside by Grandma Xie for a long, casual chat.

Elders’ questions usually revolved around similar topics: how he was adjusting at home, whether he was getting along with everyone, and if school life was going well—or if he’d been bullied. And of course, there was the inevitable extension into whether his brothers were picking on him and, of course, a touch on matters of the heart.

In many ways, she reminded him of his mother, yet there was a unique kindness in her gaze. Unlike his mother’s cautious probing, Grandma Xie, perhaps due to her age, was refreshingly direct in her questioning.

“Our handsome grandson—how could there not be any girls who like you at school?”

The sudden attention to his love life left Li Heng at a loss. “But…”

He stammered for a while, not knowing what to say, feeling his cheeks grow warm.

“In high school, one shouldn’t be dating early, and I really haven’t paid attention to whether others like me or not.”

The more he spoke, the softer his voice became, his words stumbling over themselves. He hadn’t expected her to ask about a “granddaughter-in-law” with a look that was both curious and teasing. “I mean, isn’t it a little early to talk about this?”

“Early? Nonsense,” Grandma Xie replied, her tone gentle yet earnest.

Her hands continued knitting as she spoke, not even noticing as her reading glasses slipped slightly down her nose. “A young man shouldn’t be too shy, or he’ll have a hard time winning over a wife.”

“Your father was shy when he was young, too,” she added.

Li Heng glanced over to see Xie Sizhi, who was idly poking at a wool felt ornament, roll his eyes with exaggerated disdain.

“Grandma—” he drawled, “I don’t know how many times I’ve told you; my dad wasn’t shy. He was reserved.”

“That’s still shyness,” she retorted, waving her knitting needle at him, gesturing for him to go amuse himself and stay out of the conversation. “If you’re bored, go to the study and practice calligraphy with your grandfather.”

Xie Sizhi immediately fell silent.

“Your dad didn’t have any girls interested in him,” she continued. “If it hadn’t been for your mother, who took a liking to him and chased after him, bringing him breakfast and saving seats for him, who knows—he might still be single to this day.”

“When he liked your mom, he would only dare to look at her when standing up to answer questions in class. Any other time, he wouldn’t say a word to her.”

Li Heng was both baffled and shocked. He hadn’t expected his parents’ love story to have such a twist.

When Xie Sizhi had given him bits of family history, he’d gotten the impression that his mother had been very outgoing and energetic in her youth, but he never imagined that she had actually pursued his father rather than the other way around.

It left him feeling rather complicated. Not only was his image of his father as the stoic family patriarch thoroughly shattered, but even his inherent reverence for his father seemed to wobble a bit as he listened to more of these stories.

“So…”

He wanted to ask more, but Grandma Xie, firm in her conclusion, cut him off. “The lesson is, don’t be too shy, or you might miss out on a good marriage if the girl you like is even shyer than you.”

Li Heng felt there was something odd about her words, but he had to admit she had a point.

“Are you sure no girls have given you love letters or little gifts?” she persisted, as if unwilling to accept his answer. “Even your brother received love letters when he was in school.”

“What do you mean, ‘even I received love letters’? I was very popular back in the day,” Xie Sizhi interjected, looking exasperated. “A lot of people liked me. My charm was universal!”

Grandma Xie felt the urge to nudge him with her knitting needle, remembering to push her slipped glasses back up her nose.

“And yet here you are, still single!” she raised her voice slightly.

“Well, I’m not the only one single!” he retorted. “Look at Big Brother, and look at Third Brother.”

He tried to pull Xie Duzhi, who was working quietly at the table nearby, into his argument. “Grandma, you can’t be biased. It’s unfair to only worry about my love life.”

“Your big brother and… Little Du,” she paused, glancing at the young man sitting calmly, then continued, “have their careers to focus on. Waiting a few more years might make them even more appealing, with girls even more eager to date them.”

She didn’t actually believe that this particular grandson was only here on a business trip, tagging along with the other two as he claimed.

Words can deceive, but eyes cannot.

In some ways, she thought he resembled her own son, Xie Zhuwei, more than her other grandsons.

Back when her son was still in school, he’d once taken a tutoring class in the exact opposite direction of their home just so he could walk out of the school gate in the same direction as the girl he liked, even if it meant just a few steps together.

How many coincidences truly exist? So often, they only happen because of what—or whom—you care about.

But though she saw through it, she said nothing. She simply felt a bit happier, taking joy in the close bond among her grandchildren.

She chuckled and teased, “These days, isn’t the ‘cold CEO’ type popular? Surely they’ll have no shortage of girls interested in them.”

Xie Sizhi was speechless.

“When I return home, I’ll open an art collection company myself,” he mumbled discontentedly, “Grandma, you’re just not in tune with the times.”

Forget domineering CEOs—that was old news. Nowadays, the trend was all about people like him, full of talent, pride, unwavering passion, and dedication as an expert or professor figure.

Around eight in the evening, the sky was still bright, the sun only slightly further west than when they’d first arrived, the scene hardly different.

Yet, Li Heng was already feeling a bit sleepy.

His schedule had been relatively regular lately, and he hadn’t fully adjusted to the time difference.

Grandma Xie urged him to rest and continued knitting on the couch, reminding him to get up a bit earlier the next day.

“The mare I mentioned before is about to give birth soon. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to see her.”

Then, she started planning breakfast. “How about bacon-roasted potatoes for breakfast? Or, if you prefer something Chinese, we still have beef wontons and dumplings in the freezer; I can cook them for you.”

“I want dumplings,” Xie Sizhi chimed in quickly, “Are they beef and celery?”

“No beef and celery,” she said with a glance his way, “Take it or leave it.”

In the end, they settled on dumplings for breakfast.

The room where Li Heng was staying had been cleared especially for him, and he’d be sharing it with Xie Duzhi. Since the two elderly grandparents lived in a small standalone villa with limited bedrooms, the arrangements were straightforward. 

On previous summer visits, Mr. and Mrs. Xie would share one room while the twins took the other. Originally, Grandma Xie had suggested that each of them take a separate room, but Xie Duzhi had declined, saying that preparing so many rooms would be troublesome. 

Since he and Xie Sizhi couldn’t possibly share a room or bed, the remaining choice was clear—it was Li Heng or no one.

Other than once falling asleep on the couch while reading, Li Heng hadn’t had any experience of resting in the same room as Xie Duzhi—especially sharing the same bed.

The guest bed was large, though not as spacious as the one at home, but it could just about work as a double bed.

Standing by the window, he pulled the thick blackout curtains closed, taking a moment to stare outside. From this angle, he could see a distant mountain peak covered in snow—his first-ever view of a snow-capped mountain.

Despite his tiredness, with yawns escaping him one after another, when he finally returned to his room to rest, he found that the drowsiness hadn’t truly settled in. Instead, his mind was buzzing with lingering thoughts and doubts, making him feel even more awake the longer he dwelled on them.

Throughout their stay, his grandparents had not once mentioned anything about illness. Even if he didn’t want to think too deeply about it, an uneasy suspicion lingered in his mind.

And then there were Grandma Xie’s questions earlier when they’d been chatting.

His fingers absentmindedly began playing with the beads on the bracelet she’d given him the moment she’d seen him. It was red with small golden beads, the main part crafted into the shape of a peace-lock charm. 

Alongside it, two small beads shaped like peach blossoms were different from the others. Grandma had said that she wanted him to be safe and well-liked, hoping he’d attract good luck and bring home a future wife sooner rather than later.

She didn’t seem to have any issues with the idea of a young person getting married in college; after all, Mr. and Mrs. Xie had tied the knot while they were still in university.

Now that he was calm, with the tension of being around family gone, he felt surprisingly at ease considering the subject of romance. He didn’t feel as opposed to it as he’d imagined but was simply unfamiliar with it.

When friends around him had started exploring love through romance novels or idol dramas, drawn into stories of youth and infatuation, his mind was preoccupied with studies or setting an example, hoping to inspire other kids at the orphanage to focus on their education.

After entering high school, he dared not slack off. 

At that time, he’d even been appointed class monitor, and to live up to his teachers’ trust, he would spend every free moment, even during lunch breaks, in friendly competition with the class study monitor. He barely had time to think about who might like whom or follow the occasional bits of gossip he overheard.

Even those who were dating did so discreetly, never daring to be too open around teachers or other classmates. 

So as long as he hadn’t witnessed it himself, Li Heng pretended that dating wasn’t a thing in his class. Whenever the homeroom teacher asked if someone was dating someone else, he always answered with unwavering confidence.

Although, he’d never once received a love letter in his life, not even in his dreams.

…He probably wasn’t that popular.

This thought gave him a sudden, unexpected sense of seriousness.