The White Moonlight Clings to His Secret Identity - Chapter 2

“Here, take these: Quick Transmigration: Where Do Those Vicious Relatives Run? After Rebirth, I’ll Put Those Terrible Relatives in Their Place and The Nightmare Journey of a Vampire Relative,” An Xiujie said, pushing a stack of books across the table. “Read them. It might help you calm down.”

The young man sitting opposite him was strikingly handsome. A few strands of his soft, jet-black hair stood up in a dazed manner, complementing his clear, downcast eyes, which made him look both endearingly clueless and pitiful.

The youth glanced at the gaudily designed book covers, his lips twitching slightly.

“You really agreed to it?” An Xiujie glanced around nervously, as if guilty of something, then leaned closer to Yun Xiaoyan and whispered, “Have you seen the online posts and news about Ji Chenlin? They say he’s frigid, has a perverted sense of humor, and might have a hidden illness. It’s scared off all his potential marriage partners!”

“Mm,” Yun Xiaoyan mumbled. “I agreed. And I’ve seen them.”

An Xiujie hissed sharply, his voice filled with disbelief. “After seeing that, you still agreed to the blind date? And your relatives, aren’t they just pushing you into a fire pit?”

Yun Xiaoyan recalled the situation.

The arranged marriage was ostensibly to strengthen the Yun Family through a union of weak and strong. In reality…

His second aunt, the middle-aged woman with the heavy makeup and aggressive demeanor from yesterday—had only welcomed their eight-year-old “Crown Prince” after giving birth to three daughters: Zhaodi, Pandi, and Sidi.

But no matter how precious their own son was, as the eldest son of the Yun Family, only Yun Xiaoyan could marry into a wealthy family as a daughter-in-law. Only then would the children of the Yun Family’s direct branches have a chance to compete for the family’s assets.

Most of his other relatives with children were after the same thing. To secure their own share, they would even fight him to the death. They would never easily agree to him taking a son-in-law like Rainforest.

Yun Xiaoyan explained the situation to An Xiujie in detail.

An Xiujie’s pupils dilated in shock. He covered his face in imitation: “A bunch of bandits… This is tough! Are we just going to stand by and watch them carve up the Yun Family’s assets?”

Yun Xiaoyan recalled the eight-year-old, foul-mouthed terror in his second aunt’s family and couldn’t help but chuckle. “How could I? I just… don’t want them to pester me anymore.”

“You’re right,” An Xiujie said, rubbing his face as if a thought had struck him. “What trouble could they stir up? It’s just a pity for Brother Rainforest. Hey, by the way! Do you have a clear front-facing photo of our brother? Whether we’re allies or enemies, I’ll know once I see the photo.”

“Nothing.”

“What about a side profile? A voice message? Even a back view would do.”

Yun Xiaoyan: “None of that either.”

“What the hell?!” An Xiujie was baffled. “What kind of relationship is this, man? Aren’t you afraid the other person’s just a lolita-voiced, beer-bellied uncle who can’t get it up before he even starts? This… just break up already.”

Yun Xiaoyan unconsciously pressed his pale lips together. Instead of arguing, he opened his chat history with “Rainforest.”

An Xiujie leaned in and looked at the messages, then offered a sincere evaluation: “You’re always the one initiating. Looks like you’re the one acting like his simping dog.”

Yun Xiaoyan’s fair cheeks flushed, and he mumbled in agreement, looking endearingly childish and pitiful.

In his imagination, “Rainforest” was a blade of grass growing from muddy soil. Despite his poor background and the hardships of life, he hadn’t even claimed the six-yuan first-top-up gift pack in the game—he remained strong, optimistic, and full of life. Between brick-laying shifts, he’d wipe the sweat from his brow with clean hands and send Yun Xiaoyan a message: “Nice weather today.”

As he scrolled through the messages, An Xiujie began to sense something was wrong.

Although “Rainforest” appeared cold and taciturn, he responded to Yun Xiaoyan’s every word with instant, almost instant replies. It gave the impression of a cold, aloof flower of high status lowering himself for the one he loved.

“That little brat’s eating pretty well,” An Xiujie muttered to himself.

“Hmm? What did you say?” Yun Xiaoyan hadn’t heard clearly.

“Listen to me, man,” An Xiujie said, placing a hand on the young man’s slender shoulder. “Fake your death.”

Yun Xiaoyan: “?”

After An Xiujie’s “knowledgeable” explanation, Yun Xiaoyan finally understood what he meant.

“He’s flawless. How can you even bring up breaking up with him?” An Xiujie argued. “Besides, in my experience, men from less privileged backgrounds who don’t talk much are often very insecure. If you suddenly break up with him, it’ll make him feel inadequate for the rest of his life!”

“Then what should I do?” Yun Xiaoyan asked desperately.

An Xiujie typed a few lines into his phone’s notes app and held it up to Yun Xiaoyan’s eyes, a cunning smile playing on his lips. “Do this.”

Yun Xiaoyan’s eyes widened slightly, then he covered his face with his hands, looking as if he might break.

“Man, let’s be honest. The gap between your families means this won’t end well. For both your sakes, it’s better to rip the band-aid off! Send it!”

After An Xiujie’s half-hour mental conditioning, Yun Xiaoyan finally succumbed to the brainwashing. He slammed his hand on the table, as if steeling himself, and declared, “Send it! Better a quick pain than a lingering one!”

After painstakingly drafting a lengthy message, Yun Xiaoyan’s pale fingers hovered over the send button, repeatedly lifting and lowering without clicking.

After much hesitation, he copied the message to his clipboard and tentatively extended a foot—

Cloud: You there?

An Xiujie clicked his tongue. “Pathetic,” he scoffed.

Rainforest: Yeah.

Rainforest: Want to play a game?

Yun Xiaoyan’s fingers trembled as he typed.

Cloud: Hello, I’m the owner of this account’s mother. I saw you were his top contact and wanted to ask what your relationship is?

There was a moment of silence, then a message popped up—

Rainforest: Auntie, I’m his good friend.

Even An Xiujie couldn’t stand it anymore. He nudged Yun Xiaoyan. “You really are a scumbag. Even now, he’s still covering for you.”

Yun Xiaoyan’s ears burned crimson, and faint teeth marks could be seen on his lips.

As if suddenly resolved, he jabbed at the screen a few times with his slender fingers, then quickly flipped his phone face down on the table.

Cloud: I’m sorry, but since you’re so close, I have some terrible news I must tell you. Late last night, Xiao Yun was involved in a car accident due to fatigue-related driving. Despite being rushed to Shanghai Hospital at top speed, he couldn’t be saved. This morning… he’s gone.

Yun Xiaoyan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. An Xiujie immediately stepped forward to pat his chest and help him breathe, murmuring, “It’s okay, it’s okay, you’re alright.”

Before he could finish speaking, the phone on the table began vibrating insistently.

Yun Xiaoyan picked it up and saw a WeChat video call request from the other person.

His pale lips parted slightly, and he froze in place, his heart pounding like a drum.

He had fantasized countless times about video-calling his boyfriend. The man’s deep, magnetic voice made his ears tingle, and his mind couldn’t help but conjure images of those rough hands lifting heavy bricks, sweat beading and sliding down his solid muscles.

But he had never imagined that this longed-for moment would arrive under such circumstances.

As Yun Xiaoyan’s trembling fingers rejected the call request, another message from the other person immediately came through.

Rainforest: I just want to see him one more time, even just a glimpse.

Cloud: His condition… is too gruesome and bloody. Video calls aren’t suitable.

Rainforest: Which hospital are you at? I’m driving there now.

Immediately after, the other person sent another voice call request.

Yun Xiaoyan frantically hung up.

In his memory, his boyfriend had always been an aloof figure, unflappable even when Mount Tai collapsed before him. This… was a side of him he had never seen before.

Cloud: Let the child pass on peacefully. You should stop dwelling on him too.

Cloud: Before Xiao Yun passed, he said his greatest wish was for you to forget him and live your own life, marry, and have children. You were so close to him—you must know his boyfriend from online, right? Could you please relay this to him for me? [Crying]

The other person was silent for even longer this time.

“Did he… did he faint from grief?” An Xiujie asked worriedly.

Just as Yun Xiaoyan was about to send another message, the other person finally replied—

Rainforest: Understood.

Looking at those three simple words and a single punctuation mark—a phrase brimming with the weight of years and untold stories—Yun Xiaoyan suddenly realized that his first love, which he had once believed would last forever, had come to a sudden, anticlimactic end with this single, curt message.

He and “Rainforest” would never cross paths again.

He closed his eyes, clasped his hands together, and silently repeated “I’m sorry” over and over.

Meanwhile, in another skyscraper in Shanghai, a young assistant in high heels, clutching a stack of files, hurried to report the day’s schedule to her boss.

She knocked, then pushed open the door, only to lock eyes with a pair of pitch-black, menacing eyes.

Perhaps because the interruption was sudden, the man’s emotions hadn’t yet been masked. A thick, vicious coldness and an boundless chill struck her bewildered gaze, sending a shiver down her spine.

The assistant instinctively took a step back, but her professionalism quickly reasserted itself. Bracing herself, she forced herself forward and stammered, “P-President Ji…”

After her heartbreak, Yun Xiaoyan was devastated. She spent several days in a drunken, carefree stupor with her closest friends before finally recovering enough to agree to a blind date with Ji Chenlin, arranged by her relatives.

Of course, securing a meeting with a busy man of Ji Chenlin’s caliber wasn’t easy.

Their first date was scheduled for a week later at an upscale restaurant.

Seated in the lavishly decorated, intimate restaurant, Yun Xiaoyan silently rehearsed his “speech” while awaiting Ji Chenlin, the elusive “dragon” of the business world a man as elusive as the tail of a dragon, never revealing his true form.

The Yun Family had once been wealthy, and the Ji Family had been close allies for generations. Yun Xiaoyan had even visited the Ji Family’s ancestral home as a child. But as the years passed, the Yun Family’s fortunes gradually declined. By Yun Xiaoyan’s generation, they had fallen far behind the Ji Family, now a dominant force that could overshadow the sun.

This left Yun Xiaoyan wondering: Could Ji Chenlin be hideously ugly? Or perhaps he has an unspeakable illness? Or both? Why else would he agree to a blind date and a marriage alliance?

The speech in his hand was a collection of “Annoying CEO Quotes” compiled by the erudite An Xiujie, based on Mary Sue novels. Yun Xiaoyan was confident that uttering just a few lines would be enough to drive his date running.

If Ji Chenlin proposed breaking off the engagement first, his relatives would have no grounds to object.

As Yun Xiaoyan silently rehearsed his speech with dramatic flair, his phone buzzed—

AAA Building Materials Wholesale, Manager An: Bro, latest intel: Ji Chenlin’s been in a terrible mood lately. They say he was never the most even-tempered to begin with, but now he’s a walking time bomb—one spark and he’ll explode!

Cloud: That scary? [Cat covering its face and crying.jpg]

AAA Building Materials Wholesale, Manager An: [Hugs] Bro, just memorize the key parts of your speech selectively. Be careful not to get caught in the line of fire—if he gets angry, he might just “turn you into a real man” on the spot.

A faint blush crept across Yun Xiaoyan’s face as he jabbed at his phone screen, the plastic creaking under his fingers. He had just typed “Get lost” when a tall shadow suddenly fell over him, and the chair opposite him was pulled out with a scrape.

Yun Xiaoyan froze, his clear eyes still holding a hint of bewilderment. Slowly, he looked up.

The man was already tall and imposing, and from Yun Xiaoyan’s upward perspective, he seemed even more towering and imposing.

His handsome features were sharp and severe, with a faint hint of malice and coldness in his eyes. He carried an air of authority that was both oppressive and distant. Noticing the boy’s gaze, he gave a slight nod.

Yun Xiaoyan was stunned, his phone nearly slipping from his grasp.

Could this… could this be the legendary Ji Chenlin? The one with the terrible temper, the one who explodes at the slightest provocation, the one who’s supposedly ugly, sickly, and the nightmare of a forced marriage?

Support The White Moonlight Clings to His Secret Identity