The Real Young Master is Entangled by the Paranoid Fake Young Master - Chapter 26

While Song Yuening was still lost in thought, Zhaoqing had already run out of patience for their conversation. The bus arrived, and he boarded immediately after swiping his card.

“Excuse me, if you can’t find your card, please wait to the side. Do not block the others from boarding, thank you!”

Zhaoqing had just found a seat when he heard the driver’s voice from behind.

“My apologies.”

The response came in the same melodious voice that had been nagging him just moments ago.

Zhaoqing stiffened and whipped his head around. Sure enough, Song Yuening stood on the bus steps, looking fragile and pitiable as he fumbled through his pockets. He was still clutching the thermos, making his search appear particularly difficult.

“Oh, young man, did you forget your money today? Here, let me lend you two yuan.” A kind-looking elderly lady offered gently, clearly deceived by Yuening’s appearance.

Zhaoqing had no idea why Yuening had chased him onto the bus, but he wanted nothing more than to play dead and ignore him. But how could Yuening let him have his way?

In a voice like striking jade, Yuening said softly: “That’s quite alright, Grandma. My friend is on the bus—see, the boy in the third row. He’ll pay for me; I wouldn’t want to trouble you.”

Zhaoqing: ?!

The moment those words were out, every eye on the bus turned toward him. Several middle-aged women even shot him looks of disapproval, as if condemning him for being a poor friend.

How can this person be so utterly shameless! Zhaoqing fumed.

With the standoff delaying the bus, and the other passengers beginning to whisper, the atmosphere grew tense. Yuening maintained his humble, weak facade, but Zhaoqing could clearly see a glint of mischief in his eyes.

Fine! You win!

Livid, Zhaoqing marched forward, pulled out his card, and swiped it for him with a sharp “beep.” Yuening, taking full advantage of the situation, followed Zhaoqing cheerfully and sat down right next to him as the bus pulled away.

Throughout the ride, Zhaoqing stared fixedly out the window, refusing to utter a single syllable. But Yuening had no intention of letting him go. Zhaoqing suddenly felt a puff of warm breath against his neck, drawing closer and closer…

When Yuening was less than an inch away, Zhaoqing finally snapped. He shoved him away and gave him a murderous look of warning. Yuening, however, seemed to have a natural talent for being thick-skinned.

“Zhaozhao, why did you hit me? I was just curious why you always smell so good. If you don’t believe me, you can smell it yourself.”

To prove his point, he leaned in even closer.

Smell good. The phrase triggered another wave of bad memories for Zhaoqing. He felt cursed today revolving boomerangs of the past hitting him at every turn.

“What ‘good’ smell? It’s just laundry detergent. Oh, I forgot a young master like you has never done his own laundry. People like us can’t afford perfumes like De Profundis; we just use fresh-scented detergent.”

Zhaoqing’s tone was harsh, hoping to insult Yuening into silence.

“But this doesn’t smell like detergent…” Yuening insisted.

He wasn’t lying. Ever since he woke up that first morning and caught that scent of soap mixed with fresh grass on Zhaoqing, he had sent people to buy every similar-smelling detergent on the market. But none of them were quite right. He didn’t understand why the scent only smelled that good when it was on Song Zhaoqing.

He was momentarily dazed, did he like the scent of the detergent, or did he simply like the scent of Zhaoqing’s body, which looked so full of vitality?

He wanted to ask: Zhaozhao, how do you know I have a perfume called De Profundis? You’ve never been to my room, have you?

But he swallowed the words. He was afraid Zhaoqing would misunderstand him as showing off. He settled for a suspicious glance, and seeing that Zhaoqing was ignoring him again, he scooted a bit closer, as if narrowing their physical distance could close the psychological gap.

Ten minutes later, they finally reached their stop. Zhaoqing prepared to bolt, but Yuening grabbed his hand and handed him the thermos. Neither moved; it was a standoff to the death.

Impatiently, Zhaoqing snatched the thermos and rubbed his wrist. Yuening whispered a reminder: “If you don’t take it, I’ll go to your classroom and deliver it myself.”

Zhaoqing stared at him with pure resentment for a long time, but Yuening met his gaze calmly, with no intention of backing down. Seething, Zhaoqing took a deep breath, grabbed the thermos, and got off the bus without looking back.

As he entered the school gates, someone tapped his shoulder. He turned to see An Yi’s beaming face.

“Hi, Zhaoqing! Are you and Song Yuening close?” she asked playfully, her eyes full of gossip.

“Not close,” Zhaoqing lied without blinking.

“Is that so?” The class president looked puzzled. “But I just saw you two get off the same bus, and he watched you walk away for ages. His family is rich, right? Why is he taking the bus? I remember he used to be dropped off in a very nice Maybach.”

“Maybe the young master wants to experience how the commoners live?” Zhaoqing summarized.

“That’s so weird…” An Yi sighed, looking dejected. “If I had someone to drive me, I’d rather sleep more than catch the bus. Look at me, I’m going bald from studying late. But that’s not the main issue. Have you heard about the Chongshan District Middle School Basketball League?”

“Our class has to send players, and the job of mobilizing everyone fell on me. I’m so stressed; we don’t have many boys who are good at basketball. Yu Yuan is okay, but he twisted his ankle on his bike the day before yesterday. He won’t recover in time for the league. Sigh, being class president is hard.”

An Yi wailed while Zhaoqing listened quietly. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Wait! Why am I looking for fish in a tree? There’s a candidate right here! Zhaoqing, I remember you mentioned you could play basketball during your introduction! How about you fill in for Yu Yuan? Please, Zhaoqing, you’re the best! I’m at my wits’ end!”

Seeing her sincerity, Zhaoqing eventually nodded. His basketball skills were actually quite good more than enough for a league. Ironically, he had improved because Xie Chengxuan loved the sport. In his past life, as a boyfriend, he had frequently accompanied him to the courts.

This time, he decided to play for himself, to feel the adrenaline and the freedom of youth, rather than just to accommodate someone else.

“Zhaoqing, I’ve seen you and the Student Council President commuting together lately.”

Zhou Sixuan from the basketball team took a sip of water and slung an arm over Zhaoqing’s shoulder. “Are you guys on good terms? I’ve seen him talking to you at the water station. If you’re friends, could you ask him to play with us? For the school selection, Classes 1, 2, and 3 are on one team. If Song Yuening joins, we might actually beat the other teams!”

“We’ve only spoken a few times; he wouldn’t consider me a friend,” Zhaoqing laughed, explaining: “Besides, I heard Yuening’s health isn’t great. He’s a delicate young master who gets winded just walking; if something happened to him on the court, we’d be the culprits. Better to forget it.”

“That makes sense…” Zhou Sixuan scratched his head. “I just thought if he joined, we could use the school court at night. He has the authority to open the gates past 7:00 PM. After all, he’s the one who got that biology lab built…”

Zhaoqing breathed a sigh of relief. Yuening playing basketball? The Song family would have a heart attack.

Lately, Yuening had been forsaking his Maybach to catch the bus with Zhaoqing every day. He had learned his lesson, though; he now had his own bus card and sat a respectful distance away, simply watching Zhaoqing with an unblinking gaze.

It was annoying enough, but what annoyed Zhaoqing more was the boy’s grades. When the midterm results were posted, Zhaoqing was genuinely proud to have reached 700th place out of 1,300 students, given how long it had been since he studied high school material. But at the very top of the list sat Song Yuening.

He had lost almost no points across all subjects. It was infuriating. Yuening never seemed to study late at home; even for this exam, he had only glanced at his books for a few days. He spent more time harassing Zhaoqing than he did studying!

Zhaoqing had to tell himself not to be angry. He knew Yuening had already self-studied the entire high school curriculum years ago. Yet, seeing that effortless attitude reminded him of every time he had lost to Yuening in the business world in his previous life. It was a nightmare.

Determined not to let Yuening become his inner demon, Zhaoqing focused on himself, heading straight to his room to study every night. He might never beat Yuening, but he could be better than his former self.

Hearing the “bang” of a door closing, Song Shicheng slammed the table in dissatisfaction. “Hmph, Song Zhaoqing is getting more undisciplined by the day. Does he have any shred of a Song child in him?”

Since the Song and Fu families had co-invested in a project, Shicheng was riding high on success and looking to re-establish his “stern father” authority.

“Forget it, let him be,” Old Madam Song said, fingering her emeralds and playing the part of a kind grandmother.

“Mom! You’re too lenient with him,” Shicheng grumbled.

“Brother isn’t—” Song Lili started to defend him, but was cut off by Song Zhiyuan.

“Grandmother, you treat him like a grandson, but who knows if he treats us like family?”

“Actually, it’s a good thing that Zhaoqing is willing to study hard,” the usually laconic Song Yuening spoke up. “High School A has several national-level competition tracks. If he can get in, it will benefit the Song family’s reputation.”

“Psh, Ningning, you don’t know our ‘dear’ brother. Lin Qi said that back at the gambler’s house, he was famous for fighting and being a delinquent. We should be grateful if he doesn’t ruin our name.”

Yuening didn’t argue. He sensed Zhiyuan’s unusual hostility, it was as if he were deliberately trying to poison Yuening’s image of Zhaoqing.

“But the school knows Zhaoqing is a Song,” Yuening said reasonably. “If he fails, we lose face. News travels fast in S City’s education circles. Look at how much trouble the Fangs had when Haoyang almost got expelled from No. 1. Now that Zhaoqing is trying, it’s a service to our reputation. In the eyes of outsiders, we are one family, we rise and fall together.”

His words were impartial and logical. Shicheng’s anger dissipated, and he looked at Yuening with approval. Zhiyuan looked sour but couldn’t find a flaw in the logic. Only Lili blinked in confusion. Why is my second brother defending Zhaoqing so much lately? I thought he’d be the one most resentful of his return…

Is something happening between them that I don’t know about?

Mini-Theater:

Song Yuening: Zhaozhao, who did you say gets winded after two steps? Zhaoqing: You know exactly who! Song Yuening: How about we test that theory? Zhaoqing (Wary): What do you mean? How? Song Yuening (Chuckling): How about this, don’t lock your door tonight, and we’ll test it inside your room? Zhaoqing (Thinking): Why does that sound so wrong…