The real young master thought he was hated by everyone

“I’m laughing so hard—your roommate isn’t just a social extrovert, he’s a *social terrorist,* you know?”

Xie Sizhi was doubled over, laughing.

“I really can’t believe there’s actually someone out there who introduces himself by saying he’s a ‘true local’ with properties in multiple districts… hahahaha!”

“If that’s the standard, I could probably just waltz in as mayor tomorrow, or hey, maybe take over your school as principal—or at least get a gig as a department head,” he said breezily. “If I need more houses, I’ll just buy more.”

Mrs. Xie rolled her eyes. “Even if that were the standard, you wouldn’t be next in line.”

“It’s just a joke, Mom. Why so serious?” 

Xie Sizhi shrugged and then, with a mischievous glint in his eye, offered up some advice. “You don’t have to put up with that kind of person! If he starts bragging again about being a local or about where he vacationed, just go right up to him, stand in front of him—”

“And then what?” Li Heng, despite knowing his brother was likely setting him up, couldn’t resist asking.

“Then just show him your bank balance.” 

Xie Sizhi smirked. “Ask him if it’s enough to buy his family’s factory. If it is, tell him to shut up. Otherwise, he’ll pollute the air you breathe.”

“And… what if it’s not?” the younger brother asked, swearing he wasn’t just being difficult.

“Then just pull all your bank cards out of your wallet, line them up, and ask him if this will do.”

Xie Sizhi yawned, barely holding it back. “But really, you’ll be fine—take it from me. Just follow what I said, and I guarantee he won’t even dare make a peep in front of you after that.”

According to his biological clock, this was prime sleeping time—he’d normally be deep asleep until lunchtime, instead of smiling stiffly at some project proposal downstairs.

At least that was how it was before his younger brother suddenly came home.

“Anyway, I haven’t heard of any Xue family doing exports,” he continued confidently, trusting the network of friends he and his so-called ‘bad influences’ had. 

“Remember that night I took you to the bar? The guy playing the drums is from a real export family.”

Li Heng remembered the mini concert vividly. Just the mention brought back a memory of the red-haired drummer who had gifted him an expensive watch as a greeting.

“The one with red hair?”

“That’s him. His family’s the real deal.” Xie Sizhi made a thumbs-up. “But they’re not as well-off as we are—just averagely wealthy.”

“…Wait, hold on,” Mrs. Xie, listening to all of this, suddenly felt something was off. “When did you take your brother to a bar?”

And why, as his mother, was she only now hearing about it?

“Ah… I just remembered—I have a friend to meet up with today.” Xie Sizhi, trying to divert attention, got up casually. “The one I mentioned, planning to start a business with me.”

When he had originally come clean, he’d only told his mother about taking his brother out to the countryside to watch the night-blooming cereus flower. He’d left out the part about the bar and the concert.

He couldn’t believe he’d kept quiet this long only to slip up now in his excitement.

Sensing a storm brewing, he quickly tried to make his escape.

“Anyway, I’m serious about following what I said.” He poked his head back through the door before he could get caught by Mrs. Xie. “I’ve seen plenty of people like him—just because they have a bit of money, they think they’re hot stuff. You need to beat them with wealth—got it?”

In fact, Li Heng did consider trying it out for a moment.

Thinking about his own bank balance, with all those zeros at the end, he couldn’t deny that it might actually be satisfying.

Because he knew for sure Xue Ce didn’t have as much money as he did.

Just last night before lights out, the guy had been going on about how, though the vice class president position was a bit awkward, he was determined to excel and win an award for his efforts.

Apparently, if he maintained a high GPA and received the scholarship and outstanding class officer award this semester, his father would reward him with a Rolex.

Supposedly, the watch was worth over a million yuan.

Not only that, but he also said that once he got it, he’d let them take photos for their social media, clearly brimming with pride over its value.

But from Li Heng’s last birthday alone, he had received enough watches to rival a rainbow lineup, each one more expensive than that Rolex. Now those watches lay in his drawer along with other small trinkets, all but forgotten.

Just as he entertained the thought of following his brother’s advice, Mrs. Xie cleared her throat.

“Don’t listen to your brother’s lousy advice,” she said.

“…It’s not very respectful.” She added, then hesitated, “Should I talk to your dean about changing your dorm?”

“He might become a distraction for you.”

“Mom—” he sighed in exasperation. “That’s not much better advice than my brother’s. Besides, I haven’t even had a conflict with him.”

He’d only come home, happened to see his mother and Xie Duzhi, and shared what he thought was a mildly amusing story—though, in truth, the most entertaining part was actually the witty comebacks from Wei Zhuowei and his other classmate.

His friend, Gu, who didn’t aspire to be a star, was as busy as ever, currently training hard for the S. T. Yau College Student Math Competition—hoping, in his words, to “prove his talent, at least before winning the Fields Medal.”

Before he could send an encouraging message, Gu Mingyue’s next text came in:

*“These stories are great—your little brother lives for this drama. Kiss-kiss, bro.”*

A heart-shooting sticker followed, leaving Li Heng amused.

“Then why did you suddenly come home?” Mrs. Xie asked, surprised. “It wasn’t because he bullied you?”

“Of course not.” Li Heng’s voice rose in indignation. “I came home to grab my camera.”

“We had our first class meeting yesterday, but there’s no class today—just club registration. Military training starts tomorrow.”

Mrs. Xie responded with a series of “Oh, good”s. She was just relieved her son hadn’t been mistreated.

“I wouldn’t get bullied.” Li Heng looked serious. “I pretty much ignored him after that, and I didn’t even vote for him in the class president election.”

“And besides, he’s not a bully in the way you think.” 

He thought for a moment, then tried to describe him. “My roommate is just, well, self-centered and kind of rude.”

“He’s the type that says things and acts in a way that constantly offends people, without even realizing it.”

He remembered the cookie incident. “When he moved in that night, I told him you’d baked cookies for me to share with my roommates, and he immediately said he doesn’t eat ‘unbranded stuff.’”

“…”

Mrs. Xie looked slightly exasperated. “Then does he refuse to eat his mother’s cooking too?”

“No idea. I gave the cookies to my old desk mate.”

Li Heng genuinely thought the cookies from home were delicious—sweet but not overwhelming, rich in flavor, with a perfect texture.

“He said he only eats cookies from some place called ‘JR,’” he added, thinking back.

“The two-star restaurant?”

Mrs. Xie, straightening up instinctively, replied, “If he means *that* JR, then I can tell you their prices aren’t particularly high.”

“The chef who licensed that brand has passed away, but back when I used to visit France, I did occasionally dine there.”

She recalled, “The desserts were decent, but I think he could’ve used even higher-quality ingredients.”

“Our cookies at home are made with excellent ingredients.”

At that, Li Heng became curious about what ingredients they used to make those cookies.

The ingredients she used were mostly premium and sometimes limited edition or imported. 

They might as well have been eating gold cookies.

But this wasn’t all that surprising to him; by now, he even had his own farm and had received some high-quality blueberries from there in August. 

The difference was definitely noticeable—they tasted much better than the ones in the grocery store.

“If he knew about the ingredients, he’d probably be very pleased to accept,” he remarked.

“Or he might not have heard of them and think you’re trying to fool him,” Mrs. Xie replied practically, having already assessed that this roommate of her youngest son probably had very limited experience.

“If he brings up money again… just mention that bakery where we ordered your birthday cake,” she added. 

“I don’t think it’s as serious as you and big brother seem to think.” He didn’t think it was necessary to go so far.

She’d suggested essentially the same strategy as his brother.

Plus, flaunting wealth would feel disrespectful to his other two roommates.

“I don’t really think he means to be rude, so I haven’t taken it personally.”

“I understand,” Mrs. Xie said. “I don’t think he’s malicious, just narrow-minded. I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable around him.”

After all, no one’s really better than anyone else, regardless of status.

“And even if you’re not upset, he’s still not showing you proper respect, is he?”

She still thought it might be best to move him to a different dorm.

“If he’s making you feel uncomfortable, imagine how your other roommates feel.”

Li Heng hesitated and then told her about their dorm group chat.

Mrs. Xie nearly choked laughing when she heard their group name.

“That little Wei sounds pretty funny,” she observed, though she worried aloud, “But do you think Lin might be a little timid?”

She already thought her son was on the soft side, but in this group, he somehow seemed assertive.

“I think Li Mo’s actually a little scared of him.”

“Hm, maybe he’s had conflicts with people like him before.” She thought it over. “If you can help him out, be there for him.”

“Of course,” Li Heng answered, “We’re roommates, after all.”

Back in the dorm, as they reviewed the class election results, Xue Ce, noticing Lin Mo seemed distant, began speculating whether his roommates had an issue with him. He even hinted that he thought someone was holding a grudge.

“So I just told him: if our dorm didn’t vote for you, you wouldn’t have only lost by two votes,” Li Heng recounted with a grin.

“Then I added that even though he might’ve felt nervous and didn’t perform perfectly, we still thought he was the right choice—just gave him a bit of reassurance.”

It was a mix of tough love and consolation, and it worked well enough to keep things calm.

“Though honestly,” he admitted, “none of us actually voted for him as class president.”

If anything, in Xue Ce’s eyes, *they* were the ones excluding him.

“And I plan to talk to him again sometime to clear things up.”

In the end, Li Heng concluded, “He should understand that he’s not been entirely fair.”

He thought Xue Ce owed Lin Mo an apology, at the very least.

“And what if he doesn’t see any problem in his behavior, and instead thinks you’re being oversensitive or petty?” Mrs. Xie asked.

“Then let him think that.”

Li Heng answered naturally, “If talking doesn’t work, I’ll just go to our counselor about it. Even if Mo’s afraid of him, with me and Wei around, it’ll be fine.”

Mrs. Xie paused but decided not to voice her doubts—if the counselor didn’t act fairly, her son might get discouraged, but it’d be a valuable lesson.

And in the end, it wouldn’t be the worst thing for him to learn to “use the family’s resources appropriately and confidently.”

After all, if the counselor tried to sweep things under the rug, she could always step in and play the role of the “pushy parent.”

After all, she hadn’t had that chance before.