The Real Young Master is Entangled by the Paranoid Fake Young Master - Chapter 29

“Ren Wei ” The moment Xie Chengxuan recognized who the culprit was, he punched him without mercy. The force was so great that two of Ren Wei’s teeth were knocked out instantly, leaving his mouth a bloody mess as bruises began to bloom across his face.

“Are you okay, Zhaoqing?!” “Song… Song Yuening, are you alright?”

The students from High School A swarmed forward to help the two of them up.

Zhaoqing was, of course, uninjured, but Song Yuening, who had rushed in to protect him, wasn’t so lucky. Although he had reacted quickly enough to avoid the full force of Ren Wei’s kick, he had used his own body to shield Zhaoqing from the hard ground. Now, blood was soaking through his torn trousers, a sight that made everyone’s heart skip a beat.

Song Yuening had been physically frail for years, and his blood coagulation was poor; the sight of the blood spreading across his knee was terrifying.

Zhaoqing opened his mouth to say something, but Xie Chengxuan, finished with punishing Ren Wei, didn’t give him the chance.

“Yuening… are you okay!” Xie Chengxuan hovered over him, his previous violent indifference completely replaced by a soft, cautious concern.

Even Zhaoqing, who knew all about Xie Chengxuan’s secret crush, was momentarily dazed by the sheer speed of his personality shift.

However, Song Yuening ignored him entirely. He didn’t even bother to correct the intimate way Xie Chengxuan addressed him. He simply stared at Zhaoqing, looking like a defendant waiting for a judge to pass sentence.

“You…” Zhaoqing finally found his voice as everyone’s attention shifted back to him. “Thank you. I’ll call Lin Qi; we’ll take you to the hospital together.”

Zhaoqing’s gratitude was brief and to the point, followed immediately by a plan for medical care.

Hearing “hospital” sent Xie Chengxuan into a flurry of activity. He looked back and forth between Zhaoqing and Song Yuening, seemingly weighing their relationship, before saying urgently:

“Yuening, you’re going to the hospital? Go to the Xie family hospital, alright? I’ll arrange the best private suite and doctors right now! You lot, help me get Yuening there immediately! Fast!”

He sounded so desperate to prove his worth that his words came out more like a command than a suggestion.

Before Zhaoqing could react, Song Yuening frowned openly. He grabbed Zhaoqing’s sleeve and leaned in, looking pitiable. His voice was a mere whisper, like a feather brushing against Zhaoqing’s ear:

“Don’t go to the hospital. If the family finds out about today, you’ll be blamed.”

After saying this, he slumped his entire weight against Zhaoqing, as if his legs had given out. Zhaoqing instinctively caught him, trying to see the man more clearly.

That sentence was even more shocking than the act of saving him. In his past life, Song Yuening would have jumped at any chance to make Zhaoqing the scapegoat.

For a moment, Zhaoqing truly wondered if Song Yuening had been “shaken stupid” by the fall, or if that previous car accident had left him with some undiagnosed brain damage.

Seeing Zhaoqing’s intense gaze, Song Yuening lowered his eyes and said calmly:

“Take me to the Mingsi High clinic for a simple bandaging. It’s the closest place.”

“But your injury looks really serious,” Zhaoqing said, his concern finally outweighing his suspicion at the sight of the gruesome wound.

“It’s fine. I know my own body. I won’t let you get in trouble.”

“I didn’t mean it like that!”

Zhaoqing tried to explain, but seeing that Song Yuening was unwilling to talk further, he could only nod. “Fine. I’ll take you.”

He then shot an angry glare at the bystander-turned-benefactor Xie Chengxuan and snapped: “We’re going to your school’s clinic. You lead the way! Hurry up!”

“But…!” Xie Chengxuan wasn’t an idiot. He had finally put two and two together: Zhaoqing was the famous “real young master” of the Song family.

However, he never expected that this supposed “thug-raised” real young master would share such a strangely intimate and harmonious relationship with Song Yuening. He wanted to continue persuading Song Yuening to use his family’s hospital, but the cold look Song Yuening gave him suggested that if he spoke another word, he would be loathed forever.

Xie Chengxuan knew that once Song Yuening made a decision, no one could change it.

Finally, he took a deep breath, shot a final glare at Ren Wei, and helped the High School A team carry Song Yuening toward the Mingsi High clinic.

“Xie-ge… Xie-ge…”

Ren Wei, his mouth full of blood, had never seen Xie Chengxuan so terrifying. He didn’t know what he had done wrong; he tried to crawl after him to plead for mercy, but another lackey stopped him, whispering frantically in his ear:

“Ren-ge, it’s over! It’s really over! Do you know who that guy was? He’s the second son of the Song family the legendary Song Yuening! You could have offended anyone, but why him?!”

Song Yuening, Song Yuening. In an instant, Ren Wei’s world spun. He let out a wail and collapsed onto the ground.

In the Mingsi High clinic, the school doctor was bandaging Song Yuening’s wound. Zhaoqing had already sent the other High School A student’s home. They had all looked terrified especially the girls, whose eyes were red with fright. Zhaoqing felt this disaster shouldn’t be their burden to carry.

Once everyone was gone, only Xie Chengxuan and Zhaoqing remained waiting outside the room.

Xie Chengxuan reached into his pocket, looking for something to soothe his nerves, but remembered he was in a clinic and his beloved Yuening was inside, so he pulled his hand back empty.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking,” Xie Chengxuan said suddenly. Unable to find a distraction for his anxiety, he looked at the boy who seemed to have nothing to say to him. “So, what if you’re the biological one? It’s no big deal. You better watch your step in the Song family. If I find out you’ve let Yuening get hurt like this again, I’ll definitely.”

“You like him.”

“What? What did you say?” Xie Chengxuan looked as though he had been throttled.

The secret he had kept in the darkest corners of his heart was suddenly dragged into the light. His panic was visible to the naked eye.

Zhaoqing, leaning against the wall, didn’t even bother to lift his eyelids. Boring, he thought. None of them have the guts to own up to their feelings.

“Say that again?” Xie Chengxuan’s fragile ego was hit by a tidal wave. He stormed up to Zhaoqing. Before Zhaoqing could react, he was grabbed by the collar and slammed violently against the wall. Zhaoqing’s shoulder blades went numb with pain, and he glared back with equal intensity.

It wasn’t that Zhaoqing wasn’t afraid of a beating; he knew he was no match for Xie Chengxuan, who fought like a maniac when he was a teenager. But he stared him down nonetheless.

The silence lasted until Zhaoqing was certain a punch was coming, but Xie Chengxuan slowly let go and took two steps back.

“How do you know?” he asked warily. He suddenly felt this boy was incredibly eerie. He knew his name from their first meeting, and he knew about his crush on Song Yuening. Moreover, the boy seemed to harbor a deep, inexplicable hatred for him from the start.

Xie Chengxuan began to scrutinize Zhaoqing’s overly beautiful face. The boy didn’t look like a thug; he wasn’t vulgar or rude, and he didn’t seem interested in broadcasting the secret to the world.

Perhaps because Zhaoqing looked so calm and indifferent, Xie Chengxuan’s heart softened for a moment. In the instant the secret was voiced, he felt the relief of a man who no longer had anything to hide. Finally, someone shared the burden of his long-held secret.

“You… you aren’t allowed to tell him, or else…” Xie Chengxuan warned.

Zhaoqing simply let out a sneer and straightened his collar. “Not interested.”

Not interested in telling your secret, not interested in knowing how you end up. That was his answer.

Xie Chengxuan frowned at his dismissive attitude, but before he could speak, the clinic door opened.

“Zhao-zhao, Zhao-zhao, are you still there?”

Song Yuening’s insecure voice drifted from the room.

The school doctor watched the long-haired youth with a look of pure astonishment. When he was dressing the wound, the youth had been cold and silent, as if he were accustomed to pain. The doctor had been impressed by his toughness. Yet the moment he looked toward the door, he turned into a fragile, delicate porcelain doll. Two faces for two audiences, the doctor thought, speechless.

Zhaoqing and Xie Chengxuan exchanged a look. Xie Chengxuan snapped out of his daze and scrambled inside, with Zhaoqing following behind.

“Yuening, you… are you okay?” Xie Chengxuan, who had just been making sharp-tongued threats, was suddenly stuttering with nerves.

“Hello, Chengxuan. I apologize for not recognizing you earlier; you won’t hold a grudge, will you?”

Oh? Zhaoqing arched an eyebrow. He was surprised Song Yuening would say something so pointed. The subtext was clear: “I’m sorry, who are you? I didn’t recognize you and it took me forever to remember your name.”

What a provocation. That wasn’t Song Yuening’s usual style; Zhaoqing had expected him to use grand, empty words to string his “loyal dog” along. It seemed that in Song Yuening’s heart, Xie Chengxuan was even more insignificant than he’d imagined.

Sure enough, Xie Chengxuan’s face turned pale at the remark.

Song Yuening, acting as though he hadn’t noticed, turned his shimmering eyes toward Zhaoqing, as if waiting for something. Seeing this, Xie Chengxuan’s gaze also shifted to Zhaoqing’s face.

Zhaoqing: “…”

The school doctor looked at the three different types of beautiful youths in the room and shook his head with a sigh. Ah, young people.

“Little student…” the doctor said tentatively to Zhaoqing. “This student’s physical condition is not good. You as his family should pay more attention to him.”

“And… has he been taking any specific medication? His heart rhythm feels like…” Like a rare condition that appeared years ago, but for which a special drug was developed… As a student, the doctor had seen such a case in a research paper. His instincts told him this long-haired youth shared several traits with those past cases.

But strangely, the medicine for that condition was now widely used, and the manufacturer was a famous local enterprise, what was the name again? The doctor couldn’t remember. If the cure is so accessible, why hasn’t this child recovered? Why does he seem to be getting worse?

Ultimately, the doctor kept those thoughts to himself. He said instead:

“Anyway, the wound is dressed. Change the bandages every two days. Avoid spicy or stimulating food, no strenuous activity, and no water on the wound for the first two days.”

The doctor delivered the instructions and left the room to the three of them.

“Yuening, I’ll take you home,” Xie Chengxuan offered, still trying.

“How?” Zhaoqing asked bluntly, unable to stand how stupid the man became in front of Song Yuening.

Xie Chengxuan remembered he had arrived on a motorcycle and his hands fell awkwardly to his sides. Song Yuening, finding the man’s presence a nuisance to his time with Zhaoqing, said with forced patience:

“Let’s leave today’s matter here. I hope this doesn’t reach the ears of Mr. Xie or my father, alright?”

Xie Chengxuan nodded hurriedly. Song Yuening offered a polite thank you, glanced at Zhaoqing, and then said to Xie Chengxuan:

“Also, we won’t be using that basketball court anymore. We won’t disturb you again. However, your school’s Ren Wei attacked a student from High School A; he must give a public apology… and…”

“Fine! I’ll make sure he apologizes publicly! And, and I’ll make him take a leave of absence. I won’t let him show his face in S-City and offend your eyes again.” Xie Chengxuan couldn’t promise fast enough.

“No way! Song Yuening, what right do you have to ban us from that court? You don’t have the authority!” Zhaoqing protested, refusing to yield an inch. The two of them were making decisions without even looking at him.

Song Yuening didn’t argue. He simply said to Xie Chengxuan:

“Young Master Xie, could I trouble you to find the doctor and get some painkillers for me? I forgot to ask. Thank you.”

Xie Chengxuan knew he wanted a moment alone with Zhaoqing. As much as he wanted to stay, this was their family business, so he left the room while looking back over his shoulder three times. Before he left, he shot Zhaoqing a complex look, as if warning him to keep his secret.

Zhaoqing looked back with a defiant, triumphant glint in his eyes.

The atmosphere in the clinic became subtle. Song Yuening watched the “intimate exchange of looks” between the two until he let out a heavy cough, snapping them out of it.

Once Xie Chengxuan was gone, Song Yuening leaned toward Zhaoqing with a fawning, cautious air. He tugged at Zhaoqing’s sleeve and said softly:

“Don’t be angry, Zhao-zhao. We won’t use that court anymore. The Yinquan Sports Center was a gift from the Song family; I’ve already called the manager. You can train there from now on. It’s close to school and convenient for you to get home.”

He watched Zhaoqing’s expression as he spoke. Seeing him soften slightly, he pulled him down to sit on the edge of the bed and continued:

“You were so late coming home today. I only found out about the training after asking your seatmate. I was worried something had happened to you, so I came to look. I didn’t mean to spy on you.”

He sounded so sincere that Zhaoqing studied his eyes, trying to gauge the truth of his words. Song Yuening met his gaze with total transparency.

Finally, Zhaoqing folded. He said:

“Regardless, thank you for taking that kick for me.” Otherwise, he likely wouldn’t have been able to play in the official basketball tournament.

Zhaoqing began to reflect on his own behavior. Am I being too much? I can’t punish the Song Yuening of this life, who has saved me several times, for the sins of the Song Yuening from my past life.

“It’s fine. I’m used to being sick or getting hurt,” Song Yuening said in a tiny voice.

His words sounded so heartbreaking that Zhaoqing’s tone involuntarily softened. “I’ll look after you until your leg is better. Business is business; I don’t like owing people favors.”

“Really?” Song Yuening looked up in disbelief, his eyes shining as if he had received a priceless gift.

If it weren’t for his past life, Zhaoqing would have believed he was an angel on earth. Sadly, he wasn’t, and he never would be.

Silence fell again. Song Yuening struggled to find a topic.

“Those flowers… do you like them?”

Zhaoqing knew he was talking about the greenhouse under his balcony, so he nodded. Song Yuening looked delighted.

“I gave you flowers. Does that mean we’re good friends now?” “…” “Are we? Or not?”

Zhaoqing remained silent. Song Yuening murmured to himself:

“You always treat me like this. Sometimes I really don’t know what I did to make you hate me so much.”

“I want to get along with you, yet you won’t treat me as family or a friend.”

“I truly don’t understand why it was so easy for Fang Yang, Zhou Sixuan, and An Yi to become your friends.”

“If I hadn’t appeared today, would Xie Chengxuan have become your friend in a few days too?”

“Zhao-zhao, if you’re testing me, could you at least give me a deadline? When can I finally be your friend?”

Song Yuening, until you realize that hearts aren’t a game to be won or ‘conquered,’ I might stop hating you so much, but we will never be friends. You had that chance once, and you destroyed it with your own hands, Zhaoqing thought.

But he didn’t plan on telling Song Yuening that.

“But it’s fine now. I’m hurt, so we can be together all the time. We can go to school and come home together. You won’t be able to ignore me this time, will you?”

Song Yuening’s expression held a touch of triumph and innocence. His beauty was radiant in his excitement. “Ah, when you look at it that way, my injury came at the perfect time!” he sighed.

“Are you crazy? How is getting hurt a good thing?” Zhaoqing couldn’t understand this psychopath’s logic.

” I’m not crazy! I know that if you hadn’t saved me in the car accident, I’d be dead by now.”

“You saved me, so I’ll follow you forever.” He sounded like he was joking, yet his eyes held a terrifying obsession.

“That sounds like you’re ‘repaying kindness with a grudge’,” Zhaoqing noted helplessly. Since Song Yuening had just saved him, he couldn’t find the words to scold him properly.

“Have you ever heard that story, Zhao-zhao?” Song Yuening asked with great interest.

“Once there was a demon sealed in a bottle and thrown into the cold sea by a wizard.”

“In the first hundred years, the demon prayed: ‘If anyone frees me, I will give them all the gold and jewels in the world.'”

“But no one came.”

“In the three hundredth year, the demon prayed: ‘If anyone frees me, I will give them all the power in the world.'”

“But still, no one came.”

“He endured unbearable cold, loneliness, and pain.”

“Finally, the demon grew furious.”

“In the five hundredth year, the demon swore: ‘If anyone frees me now, I will eat them alive.'”

“And then, a fisherman appeared and hauled the bottle up from the sea.”

“So the demon decided to…”

Repay kindness with a grudge. He didn’t say the final words.

I know you don’t want to talk to me, but I’m going to haunt you. Even if you find me annoying, even if I have to pay a price, you have to be with me, Zhao-zhao.

[Author’s Note]: Xie Chengxuan: “My instincts tell me your ‘intimate’ relationship isn’t right.” Zhaoqing: “Who’s intimate with him?” Song Yuening: “My leg hurts.” Zhaoqing: “…”

(Let me clarify: Zhaoqing hasn’t forgotten his past life, nor does he plan on becoming close with Song Yuening. His friendliness is just a mask. He will get his revenge later, but he isn’t strong enough yet! He has to bide his time!)

Also, there’s a hidden clue in the story Song Yuening told, haha~ Lastly, Han Yizhu’s surname used to be Han (when he was in the red-light district), but it changed to Jiang after he was adopted by the Jiang family