The real young master thought he was hated by everyone

“Momo, when a boy goes out, he must protect himself, understand?”

Wei Zhuowei’s face was full of seriousness.

He even specifically put on a pair of glasses as a cosplay prop on his nose to show how serious and considerate he was. “After you finish eating, if your boyfriend suggests going shopping, you should go to a crowded mall.”

“Also, when it comes to hotels or inns, if he asks you to accompany him, just walk him to the door. Don’t go into his room.”

Li Heng, who didn’t have as much experience as Wei Zhuowei in these matters, could only nod while drinking water, showing his support for the advice.

In the end, Lin Mo decided to meet his online boyfriend.

They agreed to meet at a famous couples’ restaurant in S City, with his boyfriend reserving the seat for Saturday noon.

Although it was Saturday, neither he nor Wei Zhuowei had time to accompany him, or to secretly reserve another seat in that restaurant to check out Lin Mo’s boyfriend.

The anime club was involved in an exhibition, and Wei Zhuowei, being part of the logistics team, had to help at the mall all day on Saturday.

As for him, he had even less time to go.

This Saturday was also Xie Duzhi’s birthday.

“…Uh, what I mean is, in case you meet him and find out he’s much better than you expected, and he likes you a lot, and you two fall for each other…” Wei Zhuowei was still talking, nagging like an old mother, “No matter what, you have to take precautions, understand? It’s best to ask if he has a health certificate. Regardless, make sure he uses protection.”

From years of experience, he was certain that Momo was a top.

Just as Li Heng was about to ask what protection meant, he suddenly realized that they were discussing adult topics. He almost choked on his drink.

Lin Mo also coughed, his ears turning red. “Can you think of something more… wholesome?!”

Why did Wei Zhuowei know so much? He seemed so familiar with these things!

“I just worry,” Wei Zhuowei pushed his glasses. “Gay men are tricky, and he’s the one chasing you, he’s the one turning you. Before you actually meet him, I have to assume the worst.”

Lin Mo quietly said, “He’s a really good person.”

“You have a rose-colored filter, of course, you’ll think he’s great.” Wei Zhuowei said, “But for people like us, your safety and health are the most important.”

“Right, Heng?”

He asked Li Heng.

Li Heng also subconsciously put on a serious expression, pursed his lips, and nodded. “Although Ah Wei’s words sound a bit harsh, he does consider everything thoroughly. I also think safety is the most important.”

No matter what, it’s always better to be cautious.

Lin Mo found their conversation both funny and embarrassing.

“I know already,” he quietly retorted. “And you, especially Ah Wei, worry too much.”

Although they were indeed in a relationship, and had been for a while, this was their first time meeting in real life. How could anything happen…?

“Can I wear that khaki coat tomorrow?” he hadn’t decided what to wear yet and asked Li Heng for suggestions.

Of course, it was also a way to change the subject, avoiding hearing more shocking comments from his roommates.

“Sure.” Li Heng thought for a moment about the style of the coat. “It would look good with jeans, very fresh.”

“You can layer it with a sweater and a shirt underneath.”

He remembered that Lin Mo had several sweaters, in both dark and light colors. Whether they were monochromatic or complementary colors, it would look good.

Moreover, Lin Mo had great proportions and a great body, perfect for casual, “neighborly” outfits.

“Isn’t it supposed to be cold tomorrow morning? Make sure to apply some moisturizer before you go out, or your skin will get flaky.” Li Heng unconsciously became as worried as Wei Zhuowei, “And lip balm. It gets dry in the fall, and with the mall’s air conditioning, your lips might crack after walking around.”

Lin Mo nodded obediently, taking notes on a sticky note, looking like a good student.

“I think I have an unopened one,” Li Heng said, rummaging through his drawer.

In addition to moisturizer and lip balm, he even found a face mask and some serum—he guessed it was something Mrs. Xie had put in there when tidying up.

But just the simple act of applying moisturizer and lip balm before leaving in the morning already made him stand out among most boys.

And his skin was great, never breaking out, so he didn’t really need to use face masks.

“I think you should put on a face mask before bed tonight,” he observed Lin Mo’s face closely under the light, noticing it looked a little dry. “To hydrate.”

This time, Wei Zhuowei was the one who laughed.

“Heng, can I put one on too? I’ll be out in the wind and sun tomorrow.” Ah Wei spoke while tugging at his own face. “I think I need to hydrate as well.”

Li Heng kindly told him to drink more hot water, avoid carbonated drinks, and eat less fried food.

In the end, before the lights went out in their dorm, each person had put on a face mask.

The driver came early the next morning to pick him up. By the time he left, the other two roommates were still in the bathroom, getting ready.

To be precise, they were talking while getting ready, with Wei Zhuowei doing most of the talking.

Li Heng listened for a while but, feeling awkward, coughed a few times to remind Wei Zhuowei to keep things appropriate.

Ah Wei even helped prepare an educational video, apparently having his friends find one with a pure and beginner-friendly version.

Sometimes, Li Heng couldn’t help but think, “Ah Wei is really a special talent.”

But whether the educational video had an effect, or if Lin Mo became angry and hit Ah Wei with a towel, he quickly stopped worrying about it.

Sitting in the back seat, holding his gift box, Li Heng began to feel his usual unease.

Just after midnight, he had already sent his birthday wishes. He hadn’t gone to Xie Duzhi’s house yesterday because part of his gift wasn’t fully prepared.

Besides, he was also worried about giving the gift early and then being nervous all night, unable to sleep.

Today, Mrs. Xie was in charge of the kitchen. When he arrived, he placed the gift down, then instinctively grabbed an apron and went to help with chopping vegetables and arranging the plates.

The cake was still from the place he had ordered it from for his birthday, but this time it was a coffee and dark chocolate flavor, with only a thin layer of sweet cream in the middle.

Xie Duzhi even cooperatively wore the small birthday crown that came with the cake for a photo.

He had also received a crown when it was his birthday, but he thought it looked childish, so he just pretended not to see it and didn’t wear it.

He didn’t expect Xie Duzhi to wear it.

“Why is your gift box for him so big?” Xie Sizhi barely looked away from the two piles of presents.

“Also, why do I feel like the gifts they gave him are more than what we gave him for his birthday?”

The twins’ birthday was at the end of the lunar year, long past.

“Take a closer look, could it be—” He couldn’t stop himself from pulling over the quiet Xie Shenzhi, who was waiting for Xie Duzhi to cut the cake.

The family wasn’t short on birthday gifts, but the competitive spirit—especially the one towards Xie Duzhi—had been brewing since just now, making Xie Sizhi a bit uncomfortable. As soon as they sat down to eat, he started complaining again.

Li Heng had long learned to ignore the second brother’s occasional petty complaints and didn’t even look at him, let alone answer his questions.

But Xie Shenzhi, the only honest person in the family, thought about the twins’ birthday at the beginning of the year. His brows furrowed and then relaxed, before furrowing again.

“It’s not that you got fewer gifts, it’s that you got fewer than me.”

He corrected him seriously, “My pile was about as high as Duzhi’s.”

Xie Sizhi: …

“I was adopted, wasn’t I? That’s gotta be it.”

Mrs. Xie gave him a look. “Don’t mind him, Duzhi, just cut your cake.”

“It’s not that, why is my gift smaller than his? And why is it smaller than yours?” Xie Sizhi still didn’t understand, and began pulling at Xie Shenzhi, kicking him.

“We were born together, it couldn’t have been just the uncles and aunts, or the suppliers who only gave gifts to you and not to me, right?”

“And I have so many friends, there’s no reason my gifts should be fewer than yours.”

The gifts Xie Sizhi got were fewer, but he could still understand. After all, Xie Duzhi had gone off to work on his own, and he had a lot of clients who wanted to improve their relationships with him, so it was normal to receive many gifts.

But for the past few years, he hadn’t filled out his home address, so everything was sent directly to his company and handled by assistants or the administration.

This year, Xie Sizhi was seeing his gifts for the first time.

“Because I’m the younger one,” Xie Shenzhi clarified calmly, even when his cup had finished.

Xie Sizhi felt that complaining a little bit was completely normal.

“Because you didn’t join the company,” Xie Shenzhi thought for a moment.

If he remembered correctly, many of his gifts were sent by clients he had developed later on. These clients didn’t necessarily know that their boss and his second brother were twins with the same birthday. If they were giving gifts, they would likely give them to him as their business partner.

“My circle of friends can’t possibly be smaller than your clients,” Xie Sizhi was choked up.

His brothers’ group had nearly a hundred people. How could it be smaller than the boss’s, who had few friends since childhood?

“Your friends also give us gifts,” Xie Duzhi casually answered his confusion.

The young man stood at the table, eyelashes half-lowered, his wrist not trembling at all, precisely and carefully cutting the cake in front of him.

The crown on his head hadn’t been taken off yet, slightly crooked, but it didn’t look ridiculous. Instead, it gave off an inexplicable sense of solemnity and gravity.

Li Heng couldn’t help but take several photos of him, deciding to adjust the lighting later and post them on his second account, which he used to store photos.

Photography can never just be about shooting landscapes; you have to learn to shoot people as well.

He felt that Xie Duzhi looked great in any photo, which completely compensated for his own shortcomings as a beginner in photography, both in terms of composition and technique.

“They even gave you birthday gifts…?” Xie Sizhi couldn’t believe it, raising his voice.

As if, once Xie Duzhi nodded, he would immediately disband the group chat and cut ties with his ungrateful brothers, who couldn’t even keep a unified front.

Xie Duzhi nodded.

“They’re polite and courteous,” Xie Shenzhi recalled, “Whenever they see me, they call me ‘Big Brother.'”

Xie Sizhi: …

He realized where the problem was. The problem was that his friends were all “inside spies,” overly enthusiastic.

He decided that next year, he would anonymously send himself dozens of birthday gifts to make sure he didn’t fall behind his older brother.

After all, they shared the same birthday, and there couldn’t be such a clear comparison, right? That would be so embarrassing!

Especially after seeing that his cake was noticeably smaller than everyone else’s, Xie Sizhi became even more upset.

“Brother, is it that hard to cut the cake into six equal pieces?”

“Mom said I should give you the smallest piece.”

Xie Duzhi replied without even looking up.

When cutting the cake, he wasn’t thinking much about it. He just wanted to give the biggest piece to the person he liked, the one with more cream and less bitter taste.

He was equally respectful of their parents and older brother, so half of the cake was cut evenly, with no bias.

The other half was different.

He was thinking about how to make sure the piece with more cream and white chocolate decorations ended up on his plate, so he cut a small piece for himself, and reduced the portion that was supposed to go to Xie Sizhi.

He felt no guilt about it.

In fact, he felt it was completely justified.

 He hadn’t forgotten about Xie Sizhi teaching people bad habits, and he was still holding a grudge.

“Duzhi loves his younger brother, so why not cut a little more for the little one?”

Mrs. Xie couldn’t bear to watch anymore, “If you don’t have enough, just go out and buy more tomorrow. Buy as much as you want, no one will fight you for it.”

In her eyes, the birthday cake was just a symbol. As long as you ate some, it didn’t matter how much or how little you got.

“…I didn’t mean it like that.” As soon as it involved his younger brother, Xie Sizhi’s anger vanished. “I was just saying he can’t cut the cake properly.”

“Good boy, Second Brother will give you his piece—”

“Thanks, Second Brother, but I can’t finish it.” Li Heng pointed to his own plate. “I still have a lot left.”

“Want me to help you finish it?” Xie Sizhi raised an eyebrow, thinking he found an opportunity. “Otherwise, you won’t be able to eat it all tonight.”

“No, I’ll take some digestive pills,” Li Heng moved his cake plate closer to himself, clearly taking a “protective” stance.

He didn’t want to share the piece Xie Duzhi had specially cut for him.

Plus, when it was his birthday, he ate the entire large piece of cream cake that Xie Duzhi had given him.

Xie Sizhi felt like he was being deliberately excluded today.

This feeling had peaked when he was helping Xie Duzhi unwrap gifts.

Gifts from family and several friends had been singled out and placed aside for Xie Duzhi to open by himself.

After all these years, Xie Sizhi could guess without thinking what his parents and older brother would give. So, when Xie Duzhi was unwrapping them, he didn’t really care.

They were always the same few items, exchanged every year.

Until Xie Duzhi opened a gift box that was noticeably larger than the others.

Inside, a bunch of shiny paper cranes and little hearts spilled out.

There were also tie clips, cufflinks… and a pocket-sized book that clearly looked like it had been around for some years.

From the paper cranes, which were not very neat and even had some rounded, crooked edges, Xie Sizhi was 100% sure these were handmade by his younger brother.

He had seen paper cranes like this on his desk when he helped Xie Duzhi move in for the school year.

It looked like several hundred had been folded.

He felt a strange sensation, as though he’d just been handed a lemon without any tequila or salt.

However, before he could look at them more closely, everything, along with the filler items, was quickly packed back into the box by Xie Duzhi.

“I like paper cranes,” he said seriously, his gaze focused, and no one could tell he was lying.

He only liked paper cranes from specific people. If the paper cranes were replaced with other things, like stars or frogs made from paper, that would work just as well.

It wasn’t the item that mattered, it was the person who gave it.

“I figured it out,” Li Heng’s unease immediately vanished after hearing Xie Duzhi’s words.

The young man unknowingly curved his eyes, “When I went to your room last time, I saw the paper cranes on your bookshelf.”

The cranes were made from candy wrappers, and they seemed to be from the start of the school year.

Li Heng had already come up with a rough idea of what to give Xie Duzhi for his birthday.

Xie Duzhi didn’t lack anything, and he couldn’t send gifts like he did for him, which were both thoughtful and casual.

Of course, this casualness was in the sense that he could afford whatever he wanted to give.

Li Heng, on the other hand, had limited assets.

To be honest, although he often heard Xie Sizhi and Mrs. Xie talk about auctions and various items at auctions, he had never attended one.

Most auctions were held in the evening, but he had classes during the day and evening self-study sessions. Sometimes, the self-study session even turned into class.

So, when it came to practical items like cufflinks and tie clips, he bought finished products from luxury brand websites, not hand-crafted or custom-made ones.

“The cufflinks are a nice color. Just the right match for the ones the cat chewed up last time. Now I can use these,” Xie Duzhi said calmly.

Xie Sizhi vaguely felt something was off.

No matter how you looked at it, he didn’t seem like the kind of person who lacked cufflinks. If the cat chewed them up, just get a new pair.

Why did it sound like he was suddenly missing that exact pair of cufflinks?

Xie Sizhi’s instinct told him something wasn’t right, and it prompted him to intervene in the conversation, “—Good boy, you folded so many things third brother. You can’t be partial next year for my birthday, right?”

“I want paper cranes too.”

Xie Sizhi thought for a moment, “How about folding 520 for me? It’s a great symbol, I love you.”

“Don’t,” Li Heng said without blinking, “You don’t like paper cranes.”

“I do now.”

Xie Sizhi confidently declared, already planning out the use of those paper cranes, “What if Second Brother hangs up all the paper cranes you gave him in the studio?”

Li Heng thought about it for a moment and decided it wouldn’t look great, though he was too embarrassed to say it out loud.

…And since he had already given Xie Duzhi paper cranes, why not give Xie Sizhi some too? After all, they were just filler items.

“Second Brother, let me think about it,” he said slowly, deciding to ask the other people in the dorm to help fold a few as well.

After all, since the elder brothers shared the same birthday, he couldn’t just fold them for Xie Sizhi.

He completely forgot that when he folded paper cranes for Xie Duzhi before, several people had offered to help, but he refused because he wanted to fold them himself to make it more meaningful.

“What are you guys talking about?” Mrs. Xie returned after finishing a phone call and saw

the three of them sitting on the sofa like neatly arranged radishes.

She spoke with a smile, her brows full of joy, clearly in a good mood.

“Mom, we’re helping third brother open his gifts,” Li Heng answered obediently.

So Mrs. Xie sat down, “Do you want me to call Dad and Shenzhi to help too? It’ll go faster.”

Mr. Xie and Xie Shenzhi had gone back to their study after dinner. In the past, Xie Duzhi would’ve been one of them.

“By the way, I have some good news to announce,” Mrs. Xie suddenly remembered and cleared her throat. “…I’m going to be a grandmother.”

Li Heng almost slipped and dropped one of Xie Duzhi’s glass art pieces.

Xie Sizhi let out an exclamation that would usually get him scolded by Mrs. Xie.

“What’s wrong with your brain?”

Mrs. Xie gave her second son a glare. “It’s Wu Ayi’s son… didn’t he just get married last year? This morning, they went for a regular check-up, and they found out she’s pregnant.”

“Oh, oh—yeah, you should be called Grandma, after all, you’ve been getting along quite well with Aunt Wu.”

“Did you make it official as godparents yet?”

Xie Sizhi almost choked on his own spit.

Just now, his mind had run through every possible scenario.

For example, the eldest brother getting drunk and accidentally having a one-night affair.

Or the third brother… the third brother being drunk is unlikely, so he imagined that he might have been tricked by the other side, given some drink with certain “enhancing” substances, and had a one-night affair with a “little rabbit” who mistook the room. The “little rabbit” then ended up pregnant and running away with the baby.

As for him—though he races cars, parties, and occasionally gets into fights, he is undoubtedly still a pure virgin with his chastity intact.

The little brother was even less likely.

“Not yet, I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl,” Mrs. Xie said. “I’m thinking, if it’s a girl, I’ll just adopt one.”

“A girl would definitely take after her mother, Xiaohu is so good-looking.”

She couldn’t help but speak up, “Her eyes are big and sparkling. If the little girl inherits those eyes, she’d be absolutely adorable.”

Xie Sizhi suddenly had a bad feeling, stood up, and prepared to slip away. “Mom, I just remembered—”

“Sit down.” Mrs. Xie gave him a cold glance. “I’m talking about you.”

“The eldest is busy, the third is also busy, so I won’t mention them. But look at you, you still haven’t made any friends, you can’t rely on me and your dad forever, can you?”

“Even if your dad doesn’t mind, I will. You’re too noisy, don’t make me lose my sanity.”

“Look at Aunt Wu’s son. He’s only 23, a year younger than you, and already has a kid.”

Xie Sizhi: “…”

Well, it’s not like he can do anything if he can’t win over the person he likes, right?

“Mom, I think it’s fine as it is, really,” he said sincerely, a tone he had never used before. “And I can understand how you feel.”

“I know you’re not in a rush for grandchildren, you just like cute kids.”

Raising a younger brother for a thousand days, using him for a moment, Xie Sizhi knew this wasn’t ideal, but he really couldn’t help it.

If he didn’t change the topic, he felt his mother would nag him for the whole afternoon.

“Look at us, we’re good, obedient, and cute, just like you, such a pretty little kid.”

Li Heng, suddenly named, was surprised.

He looked at Xie Sizhi with disbelief, feeling that the other was being a bit shameless—just moments ago, Xie Sizhi had politely asked him to fold paper cranes to be used as gifts.

“What’s the point of dragging your brother into this?” Mrs. Xie was also somewhat speechless.

“I know he’s obedient and pretty, but he’s all grown up now, I can’t treat him like I did when he was little.”

She didn’t mean that her youngest son wasn’t cute anymore; in her heart, he would always be the most obedient, understanding, and cute one.

But after that chat during the summer vacation, it was hard for her to protect him like she used to, treating him as if he knew nothing.

He had grown taller, his features were more defined than before, still soft, but now showing some angles.

He was still growing, but he had also grown up.

“I get it, you’ve grown tired of him.” Xie Sizhi straightforwardly misinterpreted her words, and shouted loudly, “Hey, did you hear that? Mom just—”

Before he could finish, Mrs. Xie kicked him.

“Alright, get lost,” she said.

Xie Sizhi, as if pardoned, immediately stopped pretending, grinning as he went upstairs. “I’m going now, don’t call me down later, I’ll go to the kitchen when I’m hungry.”

“Don’t mind your second brother.”

Mrs. Xie sat beside her youngest son, holding his hand, her words carrying clear disdain. “With his obnoxious personality, it’s a miracle he can win the heart of someone he likes.”

For a moment, Li Heng almost wanted to tell her about Xie Sizhi’s failed attempts at pursuing his crush.

Mrs. Xie really had sharp insight.

“What kind of girl does Duzhi like?”

Mrs. Xie’s thoughts had barely stopped when they flared up again. “I just heard Aunt Wu say that Zhang Tai’s daughter is coming back to the country after finishing school. She’s supposed to be really nice, and also a top student.”

“I don’t have any thoughts of dating anyone right now.” Xie Duzhi was straightforward, refusing, “There are still a lot of plans I haven’t completed.”

Mrs. Xie sighed. “You two are both so troublesome… No matter what kind of person you like, girl or boy, you should try dating, right?”

What if you meet true love?

“Mom, you’re so open-minded.” Li Heng couldn’t help but say.

In his impression, most parents avoid any mention of same-sex relationships, treating them like a taboo.

Although, during their flight, Xie Shenzhi had mentioned that his mother once spoke to him during his adolescence when he didn’t understand things,she was the type who supported early relationships.

Hearing it firsthand felt different.

“Hm?” Mrs. Xie didn’t understand why he suddenly said that.

After learning the reason, she smiled helplessly. “The idea of passing on the family line is too outdated, we don’t have a throne to inherit.”

“People are going to die eventually,” she continued. “Life is so short, so you should do what you want to do, like the people you want to like.”

“Mom thinks your roommate is very brave.”

At the end, Mrs. Xie offered this assessment and reminded him that he could help, but not to interfere with Lin Mo’s decisions.

After all, not all relationships go smoothly, and when first getting into love, it’s not always about meeting “the one.”

“I know, Mom.” Li Heng nodded. “I think Mo Mo is really brave too.”

Mrs. Xie chatted with him a bit more and reminded him to bring his friends home to play when he had time, before grabbing her bag and leaving.

Li Heng continued to help Xie Duzhi open gifts and sort them.

He was actually a bit curious and wanted to ask him what kind of person he liked, he had never said anything about it.

But for some reason, he didn’t really want the other person to answer that question.

He couldn’t quite imagine him dating a girlfriend or a boyfriend.

“Third brother.”

He called Xie Duzhi’s name, but then didn’t know how to continue. It felt like no matter what he asked, it wouldn’t be right.

“What’s up?”

Xie Duzhi looked at him, confused.

“Nothing… I was just thinking… wondering if I saw something wrong.”

Li Heng wracked his brain, “When Mom was talking to me earlier, I think I saw you throw an unwrapped gift into the trash.”

Xie Duzhi had indeed done that just now, but how to handle the gift was his own business, and it could’ve been something he’d already opened. Li Heng just didn’t know what else to say, so he asked.

“You didn’t see wrong.”

Xie Duzhi gave a slight smile, shaking his head, “I did throw away a gift.”

For some reason, he felt a bit pleased, maybe because he had been noticed, or maybe because of the question earlier, or for some other reason.

“It was from Bai Ruan,” Xie Duzhi added, not wanting any misunderstandings. “No need to open it.”

“Bai Ruan?” Li Heng thought he had misheard.

He instinctively sat further away from the trash can, afraid that the gift might contain radioactive material.

“Probably a provocation,” Xie Duzhi wasn’t bothered by it.

When he saw the name on the gift, he was just puzzled. It was the first time in years that Bai Ruan had sent him a gift.

Once he realized it was a provocation, what was inside that little box didn’t matter anymore.

“…Oh, then it really doesn’t matter.” Li Heng nodded and helped him open another gift, clearly one that had been shipped from overseas.

Since Xie Duzhu had said so, he wouldn’t continue to wonder what was inside the box. As long as he knew it was an intentional provocation, a rather annoying one, that was enough.

What he didn’t know was that the box didn’t contain what he thought might be radioactive materials, nor any ominous items.

Inside the box was just a forged identity card.

An identity card with the name “Xie Duzhi.”

On Sunday morning, Li Heng hurriedly went back to school.

He hadn’t looked at his phone much the day before, but at night, he noticed messages from Lin Mo in their dorm group chat, and a private message from Wei Zhuowei.

Lin Mo hadn’t returned to school on Saturday night. He said he was going to an amusement park at night with his boyfriend.

The messages Wei Zhuowei had sent him, along with links, were mostly about college students being scammed, having their ID cards stolen, and getting into debt or even falling into bad situations because of it. This made it hard for him not to worry.

He didn’t want to think badly of people, but what if?

Lin Mo came from a single-parent family. His parents had divorced when he was very young, and he lived with his mother now.

He had made a video call to his mother in the dorm, wanting to reassure her that he was doing well, and even had Wei Zhuowei in the frame.

She looked very aged.

What if something really happened to Lin Mo? What would his mom do?

The more Li Heng thought about it, the more worried he became.

He rushed into the dorm, and Lin Mo was already back. Wei Zhuowei was talking to him, laughing and joking, and the atmosphere in the room was light and easy, with none of the tension he had expected.

Recalling the messages Wei Zhuowei had sent him the previous day, he couldn’t help but call out his name.

“Brother Heng, you’re back?”

After he spoke, Wei Zhuowei finally snapped out of his excited state, regaining some composure.

“I have to tell you, I almost had a heart attack yesterday. Mo Mo wasn’t answering my messages…”

At this point, Wei Zhuowei let out a long breath, almost patting his chest. “Turns out, there were too many people at the amusement park. His phone was stolen and he didn’t notice.”

“Sorry for making you worry about me…”

Lin Mo looked particularly apologetic. “I borrowed his phone yesterday to call you guys and let you know I was safe, but I realized all your numbers were on my SIM card. The signal in the park was bad, and I couldn’t log into my account no matter what.”

“Later, when I found a place with good signal, I messaged Wei Zhuowei to explain.”

By then, it was already very late, and Wei Zhuowei had long since fallen asleep, full of worry.

“It’s fine, I’m just relieved you’re okay.”

Li Heng let out a sigh of relief, giving Lin Mo a thorough once-over, making sure he was perfectly fine before feeling completely reassured. “Did you report the stolen phone?”

It was all Wei Zhuowei’s fault for sending him those things that made him overthink.

“…This morning, he took me to buy a new one, got a new SIM card, and said it was a gift for meeting us.”

When Lin Mo mentioned his boyfriend, his voice dropped, and he looked especially shy. “He said it was his fault my phone got stolen.”

They hadn’t returned to the dorm last night, and the hotel room had been booked by Wei Zhuowei, with separate rooms, directly across the hall from each other, so they could see each other as soon as the door opened.

“I think Mo Mo’s boyfriend is really considerate and really likes him.”

Wei Zhuowei, following behind, added, completely sold, “He found out what we like from Mo Mo and brought us gifts.”

A brand-new flagship phone, a limited-edition figurine worth thousands of dollars—how could a scammer possibly spend this kind of money?

“He just thought you guys usually take care of me, so he wanted to thank you.”

Lin Mo, very shy, spoke highly of his boyfriend.

His face showed the kind of expression Li Heng could immediately recognize as happiness.

“He also said he wants to treat you guys to dinner, if you’re free tonight.”