Chapter 7: CH 7

Rong Jing had no idea how long Xie Ling had been inside. It was a little creepy to think that he was being watched as he slept.

Is this Xie Ling’s hobby? Rong Jing thought that they needed to talk about it.

“Are you tailing me?”

“Heh,” Xie Ling snickered.

There was a hint of ridicule to it as if to say: You think I need to?

Mockery at its fullest. Very ‘Xie Ling’ indeed.

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Ssdt Kkdt alrzkle, “Ls, usw’al dsv.”

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Eyp Ssdt Kkdt zkjl vbkp clqsal?

Rong Jing seldom stayed in the Xie family’s house after he became an adult, so Xie Ling didn’t remember much. He felt like something about Rong Jing changed. Didn’t his attitude towards him also become a bit nicer?

The growing estrangement from before that they always had would never break, had silently shown a little crack. It wasn’t obvious and even looked a bit like an illusion.

For ten years, his younger brother hid whenever he saw him. The child trembled whenever he talked to him as if he were some kind of disaster.

He had seen him tremble in fear many times but for which reasons, he didn’t bother to remember them anymore. Even if he did, most of them were just memories of him scolding his brother. Otherwise if he just let him be, who knows if the child grew crooked in the future.

If he hadn’t felt a little change in his younger brother during his previous call, and if they didn’t happen to be in the same hotel, he wouldn’t come over. He was not a masochist, why would he come when his little brother always rejected him?

Xie Ling covered his mouth and pressed his smile down.

He got up and pulled open the heavy curtains. Light instantly filled the room, which outlined the figures of the two people inside.

Assistant Zhou Xiang came to the door and knocked.

“Mr. Xie, the Xie family’s evaluation report has arrived,” Zhou Xiang greeted the two inside who looked very cordial. “It’s been a while, young master.”

Rong Jing nodded in response. He was told that ‘it’s been a while’ since they last saw him but actually, the original owner of the body never planned to see them again.

“Come out as soon as you’re ready,” Xie Ling said as he went out. He took the tablet Zhou Xiang handed him, looked up, and seemed to be waiting for Rong Jing.

Rong Jing was actually surprised to see Xie Ling. In his memories, his brother was very impatient with the original owner of the body. He wouldn’t talk to him for long, let alone wait for him.

His brother was well-known in the business world. He was known to be a person who valued his time and was stingy with time and money. Talk to him about money and he’d rob you out of it. He had an interview once where he said that he didn’t like waiting for people since there wasn’t anything more expensive than his time.

It wasn’t unreasonable for the original owner to be afraid of Xie Ling. No matter what he did, Xie Ling showed his strength and strong dominance.

However, Rong Jing had a slow response time. He wasn’t able to pick up someone’s aura quickly. Since he was unfamiliar with everything, he didn’t force himself to quarrel with him. He quickly tidied up himself and followed Xie Ling out.

Zhou Xiang followed the two with a satisfied expression and took the shopping bag that Rong Jing brought with him.

Xie Ling looked at the shopping bags with dissatisfaction, “Are you going to wear those at the party? What a mess.”

This statement was very easy to misunderstand. The original owner had heard many similar ones before and always thought that Xie Ling mocked him for being a country bumpkin and looked down on him.

But actually, Xie Ling and the original owner were raised differently, so their thoughts wouldn’t really click.

Same sentence, but with a different point of view, it would come out differently.

Seeing that Rong Jing had turned quiet again, Xie Ling urged, “I’ll ask someone to order another set for you after I go back. A ‘Xie’ should at least dress appropriately.”

Rong Jing had his own tastes in clothes. Custom-made clothes were certainly good but he preferred to choose them himself, except for formal clothes that he would only wear a few times. No one knew better than him what he needed.

He knew that Xie Ling didn’t look down on him, he just really didn’t like what he bought.

“I just need to wear it casually, there’s no need to have it custom-made. You’re so old-fashioned,” Rong Jing’s slightly playful tone warmed up the original stiff atmosphere. “That wouldn’t help you look young.”

Zhou Xiang thought that there was going to be a cold war again. He felt greatly relieved to see the young master answer.

Goodness, if they fought again today, the vice president will certainly sulk again.

Xie Ling looked at the clothes carefully. It was an off-white sweater of a trendy brand. Below it was a black casual pants, which looked very common. But it would look good on Rong Jing. It would make his legs look longer.

Xie Ling no longer objected and just sneered, “Do you mean to say that I’m old-fashioned?”

He couldn’t help but glance at the blurred reflection of a man in the elevator’s metal frame. He thought to himself that he was still in his prime.

Rong Jing realized that Xie Ling only wore custom-made clothes, but his words didn’t really mean anything. It was just that, the relationship of the brothers wouldn’t turn out bad if they only tried to understand each other’s words.

Rong Jing shared his opinion again, “Your suit makes it hard for me to check. Big brother looks about the same age as me so why not try another color next time?”

In the original owner’s memory, Xie Ling’s clothes only switched to bright black, dark black, and matte black.

Xie Ling thought that he was saying he was a bit too gaudy, but he also felt quite happy with his brother’s words. The look in his eyes turned gentle.

The more he talked, the stranger he became to his eyes. After ten years of trying to know each other, Rong Jing had never been so comfortable with him as to even dare share his opinion.

“Do you remember what I told you yesterday?” Xie Ling seriously doubted that Rong Jing would remember what he told him. Who else in the entire Xie family would dare not take his words at face value but this kid?

“I didn’t forget. I’ve already bought some clothes for dinner.”

Rong Jing saw two Omegas standing near the elevator. He didn’t recognize that one of them was actually the drunkard he helped last night. He only felt that one of the Omegas with an outstanding aura suddenly became tense.

It was a subtle reaction. Only a person who’s nervous or fatigued would react like that.

Rong Jing remembered that in this world, there were Omega that were sensitive to other people’s breath. He paused for a moment and beckoned Xie Ling to use the stairs instead.

It wasn’t much of a problem, but for an Omega, it would be a big help.

Though Xie Ling thought it was strange, he could only come to the conclusion that Rong Jing wanted to exercise. He had no reason to object.

When they reached the entrance of the hotel’s restaurant, Xie Ling stopped and looked at Rong Jing.

In the past, Rong Jing never tried to get along with him except when he was forced to do so when he was still a child. He and Rong Jing drifted apart over the years. It had been a long time since he last had a good chat with him, let alone eaten with thim.

Yet today he was willing to eat breakfast with him. How could a person change this much?

Rong Jing suddenly felt goosebumps. Xie Ling’s eyes looked very dark. When he looked at people seriously, he looked quite cold and menacing.

Rong Jing became quite uncomfortable, “What’s wrong?”

Xie Ling’s eyes squinted, “I’ll work first.”

A waiter guided them to a table near a window. Xie Ling sat down and told him, “Go get us some food.”

Xie Ling looked at his tablet. Someone was giving him a report via a video call by a branch from the other side of the world. Xie Ling put on his bluetooth earphones and replied occasionally.

Rong Jing could sense his changing moods, and skepticism. 

It would be impossible to deny that he didn’t feel nervous. After all, Xie Ling was an excellent businessman with a clever mind. He wouldn’t be easy to deceive. But he didn’t want to pretend and act like the original owner even when he wasn’t sure when he would be able to go back to his own world. If he was unlucky, maybe he wouldn’t actually be able to come back.

Would he now need to always play the role of the original owner?

Most people wouldn’t notice that the soul inside the body had changed, right?

Even he, himself, took several days to believe what happened. Because no one would be whimsical enough to think of something like that happening.

Yet he still felt a bit surprised that Xie Ling noticed the changes. He worried that the original owner’s mother would be the one to notice but he didn’t expect that the unfamiliar eldest brother would be the first one to realise.

But no matter how anxious Rong Jing was, his face still looked calm. He looked like a lazy person incapable of serving any other expression besides the one he had now.

He chose a few dishes according to Xie Ling’s preferences in his memory.

This hotel’s breakfast, lunch and dinner were served at a buffet table. Unlike other hotels, their Chinese food was particularly sumptuous. Especially the cantonese snacks. He saw several foreign guests had already eaten a few dozen of it.

Although Xie Ling was focused on the video report, his eyes never failed to observe Rong Jing’s actions. The look on his brother’s face still looked the same, but his aura had undergone a radical change.

There were a lot of Betas and Omegas who winked at him and tried to get close to him. His younger brother was very popular. He suddenly felt a sense of pride because his younger brother had now matured.

But the kid’s poker face stayed. He didn’t notice the people’s gaze on him, maybe because he didn’t see them or he simply didn’t care.

It seemed like Rong Jing had grown up completely but he didn’t even see it happen. Xie Ling felt like he had missed out on a lot that happened to him. Somehow, his heart felt empty.

Rong Jing picked up some food for breakfast, then divided them into some categories. He also got a bowl of noodles with shallots and especially asked the chef to put in lard.

There was no mistake. Except for his family, no one else knew that he liked to put lard in his noodles and rice. This really was his younger brother.

The only difference was that in the past, Rong Jing rejected and hated him, as if he would never accept anyone from the Xie family. But now, it seemed like he didn’t feel any anger towards him.

After Rong Jing sat down, a waiter brought them some morning snacks. Xie Ling personally poured Rong Jing a glass of milk.

Rong Jing looked at the hot milk. Xie Ling said indifferently, “Calcium supplement.”

Rong Jing no longer thought that he would grow any more at his age, but meh, let him be. He didn’t like arguing, so he gulped it down to give Xie Ling some face.

Xie Ling felt satisfied. The mood around them was good. He casually asked, “How do you like the breakfast here? Do you have any opinions to share?”

Actually, he wasn’t expecting Rong Jing to say anything useful. He just found it hard to start a topic.

“I can see that it’s well-thought-out. The person who manages the hotel did a good job. Buffet meals offered in most hotels are mainly western-style but most of them are more or less the same. They’re not good to eat when they have already turned cold. But this hotel offers a variety of Chinese dishes. The ingredients are very fresh. Flavors of the dishes are authentic. The cantonese snacks were especially popular.”

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Rong Jing just shared what he had noticed as he looked at the crowd. A comforting yet distinctive breakfast experience such as this was certainly good. He even felt that his money was spent wisely as he sipped his warm boat congee.

Though the tone of his voice was flat, he was very articulate as he explained slowly, giving the people around him the thought that he was sincere. It made people listen to him.

Rong Jing once went to M country to shoot for a magazine cover at Christmas in his previous life. The site was not very far from Chinatown. He found that on Christmas day, more than 90% of the stores in M country were closed, and there were almost no people on the street. The only lively place was Chinatown, where almost every Chinese restaurant was full of people. Most of their customers were locals from M country.

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After hearing Rong Jing praise him, Xie Ling coughed, “Breakfast here is made by a national five-star chef.”

Rong Jing nodded, “No wonder.”

Few hotels put effort into making their breakfast. Most of them only offer food through room service but this hotel offered the opposite. There was a reason why it was expensive.

“You graduated a few months ago. Do you not consider doing something else? You really wanna pursue acting?” This question was just Xie Ling’s test.

Aside from Father Xie, he was also one of the people who tried to stop Rong Jing from taking the entrance exam to his university. What would his acting do if he couldn’t bring home money back to his house? It wasn’t good.

“Anyone could do what I did just now through observation. You’re more suitable than me to do business. I know what I want to do,” Rong Jing thought that the other party was testing whether he had an ambition in life or not. After all, he felt like the Xie family’s second son had been scrambling all day over their family’s assets.

“So now you know how to compliment people? You’ve used up all of your allowance for this month. I won’t give you anymore,” Xie Ling thought of sharing something. “You’re quite talented in this aspect. You quickly saw Xie Li’er’s characteristics at a glance. No matter how much a person ages, it wouldn’t be that simple to gain a discerning eye.”

Who? Xie Li’er? That seemed like the name of the hotel. Ha, probably just  a coincidence.

Rong Jing paused and looked at Xie Ling. He now realized how Xie Ling knew which room he checked into and how he was able to enter unhindered.

Xie Ling’s expression changed and the tone of his voice sounded threatening, “You—you really forgot?”

Ah, heck. This brat really was so cold to him! How dare he ignore everything about his brother!

This brother, I don’t want him!

“No,” Rong Jing immediately concealed his shocked expression and buried his head in his food with a guilty conscience.

The original owner didn’t consider himself a member of the Xie family at all, so he wouldn’t care about their businesses, let alone Xie Ling’s assets. How would he know what the original owner didn’t?

“You think I don’t know that you paid for your room?” He was now holding a grudge.

“…”

“Young but old-fashioned, huh?”

“…”

“What, now that you’ve matured, you want to live on your own now?”

The more Xie Ling complained, the angrier he became. His words turned more cold and harsh. He really was a little irritated.

No one dared to approach their table. Except Rong Jing who still felt safe in front of his scolding, the rest of the people around obviously felt uncomfortable. The waiters around saw that the person making a scene was their boss, so they all turned their heads and ran around nervously.

Rong Jing noticed his surroundings and found that the people around were now overwhelmed by Xie Ling’s barrage of scoldings. But he felt that Xie Ling was not indifferent to him. He didn’t dislike his origin as the original owner thought before.

Now he needed to look for an excuse to go back to the university and escape.

Before he left, Xie Ling asked him to add him on WeChat. His attitude was still a bit fierce.

The past Rong Jing would’ve looked for any reason to refuse his request, but this time, Xie Ling’s little brother unexpectedly agreed.

It took ten years for Xie Ling to finally be able to add his younger brother on WeChat. He managed to stop himself from checking his brother’s contacts. He only looked at him, who looked like he badly wanted to escape now. “Don’t go missing now, you hear me. I don’t want what happened last night to happen again.”

Rong Jing understood what he meant. He wanted him to contact him regularly.

But what did his last sentence mean? Didn’t he help an Omega get a room? Was that something that he wasn’t supposed to do? Was he supposed to get only one room with that Omega, and risk his chastity?

Rong Jing declined the offer of the lobby manager to call a taxi for him. Taxi fares could turn out to be quite dubious especially during peak hours. It’s hard to commute in first-tier cities because they’re either crowded, congested, or jammed.

He checked the subway line and found that the nearest station to the University was just a ten-minute walk away from the hotel.

On the other side of the lobby, Gu Xi and his friend, Guan Honyi were asking the receptionist about Rong Jing, who now had his back on them. 

They wanted to pay the fee for the hotel room, but they were told that it had already been settled. Guan Hongyi asked hesitantly, “May I know who helped me? I want to pay him back.”

The receptionist still remembered that the drunk person back then had blond hair, but now the person had turned into a handsome young man.

Trans people weren’t still quite accepted in society. Guan Hongyi could feel the strange looks of the people around him but he had long been used to it. He no longer cared.

The receptionist answered politely and handed over a note with an address, “The gentleman said that if you wanted to pay him back, you can send it here to this address.”

Guan Hongyi took the note and read it.

XXXX Film Academy. Level 12. Give to Lei Feng.

Guan Hongyi and Gu Xi looked at each other and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Film academy, so he’s your junior?”

Gu Xi nodded. He graduated early by skipping a few levels. A level 12 student would indeed be his junior.

The receptionist also felt a bit awkward. Who would’ve thought that the person who checked in last night was actually their young master. Rich men usually looked ‘rich’ but he was different from them and still gave them the choice to pay him back.

The letter seemed to tell the two that although the person helped them, since they’re basically strangers, they could pay him back if they wanted to. Of course if they didn’t, the receptionist wouldn’t take out the note.

Still, Rong Jing planned to pay for everything himself.

Guan Hongyi: “You don’t have to give us his name, you can just give us his room number. We will just go up and say thank you.”  It was such a pity to let go of such a rare species.

The receptionist apologized and stated that they couldn’t disclose another customer’s private details. 

Guan Hongyi was unwilling to let the opportunity pass, “We just need to say thank you, please?”

The receptionist continued to refuse with a smile, “I’m sorry.” Mr. Xie had given the order himself to not disclose the young master’s information.

“That guest has already left,” He actually just walked out.

Gu Xi could read Guan Hongyi’s thoughts. He was having fun hunting the man. He dragged him out and whispered, “Don’t make it difficult for others.”

It was obvious with their attitude that they wouldn’t absolutely tell them anything.

Guan Hongyi sighed, “It’s such a pity. You’d also act like this if you saw him.”

Gu Xi smiled faintly. His smile was shallow yet still soul-stirring.

When Guan Hongyi looked at Gu Xi, he thought that the guy was thinking too much again.

Others couldn’t help but covet Gu Xi, but Gu Xi would never be interested in anyone.

It was impossible for this to happen.

***

[Restaurant.]

After Rong Jing left, Xie Ling’s expression instantly became cold. As soon as he got up, an energetic young man came up to him. His hair was dyed red. He had a flamboyant temperament, and his whole outfit looked very expensive, as if to say that he was a walking ATM.

“Brother Xie, wait up!”

Xie Ling turned around and recognized that he was a prominent figure from Shanghai. He was nicknamed as the ‘Prince’ by the younger generation since he was the sole heir of the Wu family. He was still in college. He was generous to people, and he knew how to pay people with gratitude and resentment. However, since their family changed from illegal business to being clean, he still had his ‘past’ habits and was very arrogant.

“Wu kid.”

Wu Fuyu didn’t care about Xie Ling’s poker face. He wasn’t in the same league as him. Although he was only ten years older than him, Xie Ling already had real power. He wasn’t just some son of a typical family. Even he dared not to fight with him.

He underwent massage therapy last night but his neck still hurts. When he went to the hospital and had it checked, the quack in the hospital told him that he only sprained his neck. It was nothing serious. But the quack’s expression seemed to be telling him that he was lying. He became angry and couldn’t sleep all night.

It hurt so much yet it was nothing serious at all? Were they all blind?

He was going to find that damn bastard!

He painstakingly drew a portrait of ‘that’ man with his own hands and gave it to Xie Ling, hoping that he could help him find the person.

His family was a rich local in Shanghai, so they had no contacts in Beijing. It was better to ask for help from this city’s local snake.

Xie Ling looked at the so-called portrait of the person, his face expressionless.

Behind him, his assistant, Zhou Xiang’s mouth twitched as he glanced at the confident young master of the Wu family.

The sketch looked like a drawing of a little monster. Where would they look for someone who looked like that? Even its shadow would be hard to find.

Were there people in this world who actually looked like Godzilla?

***

The author has something to say:

Wu Fuyu: Everyone tells me I’m the modern Picasso.

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