The real young master thought he was hated by everyone

The conversation with Mrs. Xie took much longer than Li Heng had anticipated.

When she expressed her relief at how much he’d grown, he had an impulse to retort that he’d actually matured a long time ago. He felt she only treated him like a child out of guilt and affection. However, he ultimately decided to let her have the satisfaction of a mother’s perspective, nodding in agreement without correcting her.

The farm wasn’t very large, and it didn’t take him long to find his grandmother and two older brothers at the stables.

In the stables, there was a worker—a freckled young man—who was grooming a horse and occasionally chatting with others.

The horse, a chestnut beauty, stood proudly with its mane braided into a long plait. Its sleek coat shone with a satin-like gloss under the light, exuding a graceful elegance from afar.

Their conversation wasn’t in English, so Li Heng couldn’t understand it. After Xie Duzhi translated the young man’s greeting, Li Heng attempted to reply in English, offering his own greetings.

This was his first real conversation with a foreigner, even though it was just a simple exchange of pleasantries. Despite its simplicity, he couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous.

Fortunately, the farm worker turned out to be more easygoing than he had expected.

After a brief moment of surprise, the young man responded with a broad smile, showing his white teeth, and switched to English as well.

However, this wasn’t a controlled listening comprehension exercise. When they talked about the horse, especially, Li Heng found himself struggling to grasp certain terms, often needing a moment to guess their meanings.

The conversation soon turned to the horse’s temperament. The mare was pregnant, and the worker hoped the foal would inherit her gentle nature rather than the more fiery temperament of the stallion they had previously borrowed for breeding. Although the stallion had an equally noble lineage and had won many championships, its aggressive nature made it difficult to handle, even potentially dangerous for its caretakers.

Meanwhile, Xie Sizhi, still sore from a playful ambush by two sheepdogs earlier, felt a pang in his back. Despite finding Li Heng’s confused yet earnest attempts to follow along endearing, he resisted the urge to tease him and simply tousled his hair with a smile.

Li Heng gave him a questioning look.

“Nothing, just thought you were cute,” he said, his arm twitching as if tempted to reach out again. “How about letting me be your interpreter?”

“No,” Li Heng rejected him with righteous indignation, deftly dodging his hand and retreating behind Xie Duzhi. “I already have Third Brother as my translator.”

Li Heng eyed Xie Sizhi with suspicion and mistrust, convinced that his second brother’s offer was a ploy to see him make a fool of himself, thus seeking revenge for his sore back.

“Figures,” Xie Sizhi muttered, rolling his eyes with exaggerated disdain. “Always siding with outsiders.”

“I’m not siding with outsiders. I’m just choosing a different ally,” Li Heng retorted with flawless logic, “I’ll tell Mom you think Third Brother is an outsider when we get back.”

Xie Sizhi: …

He was momentarily at a loss for words.

In his mind, any time his younger brother didn’t take his side, it was akin to betrayal, regardless of the situation. It wasn’t about considering Xie Du an outsider, as Li Heng had mistakenly interpreted.

“Fine, fine.” he raised his hands in mock surrender, his tone dripping with insincerity. “No betrayal, just domestic rebellion.”

Li Heng ignored him entirely.

Although the farm worker couldn’t understand their banter, he sensed the familial warmth and camaraderie. Knowing from their grandmother that they were her grandsons, he couldn’t help but compliment their close bond, expressing envy and a desire to have more children with his girlfriend.

He was an only child with no cousins.

This thought, however, was quickly dismissed when he patted the mare’s head and rewarded her with a carrot from his pocket.

Taking care of children seemed far more challenging than tending to horses, and he still wanted to enjoy his couple’s world with his girlfriend.

With Xie Duzhi translating, Li Heng was able to follow the conversation more smoothly. He realized his vocabulary wasn’t as limited as he had feared, and gradually, he kept up with the flow of dialogue.

However, when asked what name he had in mind for the foal, he was stumped.

They had discussed the foal during a video call, but he hadn’t expected to come to Europe suddenly. Though he had promised to think of a name, he hadn’t even cracked open a dictionary.

Xie Duzhi helped him out of the awkward situation by explaining that in their culture, naming was a matter of great care and significance. He even provided examples, though Li Heng struggled to fully grasp them.

Even with Xie Duzhi’s slower pace, the lengthy explanation about symbolic blessings left his head spinning.

“It’s based on one’s birthdate and the Five Elements theory,” Xie Duzhi explained casually.

Li Heng now understood why the freckled young man, whose name he learned was Slyan, suddenly looked at him with newfound respect, giving him a thumbs-up for being impressive.

“But I don’t understand any of that. I was just going to look up a dictionary or name it after one of the Eight Steeds,” Li Heng tried to clarify to Xie Duzhi.

The gravity of Xie Duzhi’s explanation had made him feel as if a poorly chosen name would deeply disappoint their foreign counterpart.

Xie Sizhi had been suppressing laughter ever since Xie Duzhi had stoically claimed that names in the East carried a certain power tied to destiny. He couldn’t hold it in any longer when he heard his youngest brother’s earnest plan.

“He was just pulling Slyan’s leg, telling him not to ask too many questions. You took it seriously?” he teased, switching seamlessly to rapid, fluent English to explain his sudden laughter to Slyan, concocting a humorous anecdote based on Xie Duzhi’s earlier words.

“No wonder your mom says you’re mischievous,” their grandmother said after hearing the story, wishing she could grab a cane to knock some sense into him. “What if he took it seriously?”

However, she didn’t outright dismiss Xie Sizhi’s story as a fabrication. Instead, she tactfully told Slyan that it was merely a legend from their homeland and that such mystical things didn’t happen in reality.

But Slyan seemed deeply convinced by the story, even using Viking legends to argue that myths often had roots in reality.

Li Heng found himself struggling to keep up again, especially as Slyan’s rapid speech included phrases in other languages.

“Good job,” he muttered towards Xie Sizhi.

The discussion on legends was finally curtailed by their grandmother’s stern glances at Xie Sizhi. She then steered the conversation towards the farm, trying to divert Slyan’s burgeoning interest in their homeland.

Until this point, Li Heng had believed that this farm was the graduation gift mentioned in their video calls.

But it wasn’t.

The farm their grandmother intended to give him was actually a much larger one, complete with wheat fields, located not here, but in the Americas.

It was a farm they had purchased during a visit to other relatives of their grandfather. They had considered moving there for its balanced day-night cycles. However, after a few months, they found they preferred their previous home for its better security and stability. So, they hired people to manage it and moved back.

Just now, she was discussing with Slyan the idea of having him guide the workers at that farm through phone or video calls on how to groom horses better.

“Not bad. Second Brother supports you becoming a farmer after graduation,” Xie Sizhi said, clicking his tongue and giving a thumbs-up. “Given our great relationship, letting Second Brother be the deputy farm manager shouldn’t be an issue, right?”

He wasn’t interested in the farm’s revenue or any fixed assets. The appeal was the more open laws in that region, where carrying firearms was legal, and hunting was allowed, sparking his adventurous spirit.

“Second Brother can even teach you how to ride,” he added, suddenly thinking that adding a stint as a cowboy to his life experiences wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

Later, Xie Sizhi suggested a riding competition to test Xie Duzhi’s claimed horse-riding skills. The farm worker, Slyan, kindly offered his facilities for the afternoon. The family picnicked on the grass, accompanied by two large dogs and Slyan, who had been roped into staying.

During the race, Li Heng borrowed his grandmother’s phone to capture the event since his own had died. His grandmother was more focused on complimenting his photography than the race itself. 

Despite his best efforts, Xie Sizhi lost, conceding that Xie Duzhi was indeed the better rider. Frustrated, he joked about Li Heng having some mystical mentor in his dreams, teaching him various skills.

“I’m announcing my departure! I’ll go back home tomorrow!” He declared, storming off in mock anger.

“We can book your flight today,” Xie Duzhi replied coolly, much to Li Heng’s concern. However, he assured him that it was all in jest.

By the end of the afternoon, with his brothers’ antics and the excitement of learning to ride, Li Heng found himself hoping that Xie Sizhi would stay away just a bit longer, to avoid any more teasing.