Translator: translationraven
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“Bloody f*cking hell…” Xu Muzhi was ablaze with anger after receiving an inter-company call from the front desk informing him that the investigating police had arrived. He reluctantly ordered his subordinate, “Go. Think of a way to manipulate public opinion again. Don’t talk about anything else — ask him where Song Yucheng’s money came from all these years. And about Song Hui and his family seizing Song Qingzhi’s assets… How did Song Yucheng get the house that he’s living in now, then?! Next, get me a lawyer to chase those policemen away!”
They had been together for five years. Song Yucheng was being too naive! Xu Muzhi wondered if he should use some violent methods.
If it wasn’t for that troublesome young Godfather of his still staying in China… Xu Muzhi got more frustrated as he thought about it; his inner beast could not be free no matter how it rammed against its cage.
The young man who had saved Song Yucheng received a notice immediately, right after Xu Muzhi gave the order to his subordinate.
“Well, it isn’t easy to be this much of a moron.” The young man was almost amused by Xu Muzhi’s decision. He also had a slight suspicion that Xu Muzhi had amnesia.
Song Yucheng had been with Xu Muzhi for five years, but Xu Muzhi had not given Song Yucheng a single cent outside of the various useless lessons he had wasted his time on. It had been quite the opposite — Xu Muzhi had spent Song Yucheng’s money. Those gifts from Song Yucheng, and those meals he’d ordered, were all expensive picks. He claimed that Song Yucheng was his kept pet, but it seemed more like it was the other way round.
Well, that wasn’t quite right. The young man abruptly recalled what Song Yucheng looked like when he was teasing Chu Rong; he seemed like an old hand at it. Maybe he couldn’t let Xu Muzhi go because he was too much of an idiot to be left alone. That man had been a company president for years but he was still an idiot who didn’t know how to win a bitch fight. Still, he could keep him by his side and have some daily amusement just watching him.
This really was amusing! A rare smile appeared in the corners of the young man’s mouth when he envisioned the imminent face-slapping Xu Muzhi was going to get from Song Yucheng. He stretched out a hand and gestured for his subordinate to come over, then said softly, “Clean up the loose ends. Those people have actually admitted that Xu Muzhi paid them to slander Song Yucheng, so make sure that they stick to it.”
“Understood, sir. Should Master Song Yucheng be informed?”
“No need for that. Just keep an eye on Xu Muzhi and don’t let him get out too easily. Keep it quiet on Song Hui’s end too. Don’t let him and his family hear of this no matter how much uproar there is. Also, get the data on those youngsters from the Xu family. Xu Muzhi’s generation are definitely all useless trash, but the next generation might have a good one!”
“Yes, sir.” The aide went straight to work. He couldn’t help the pang of sympathy in his heart for Xu Muzhi.
In the aide’s eyes, Xu Muzhi was just too terribly unfortunate. It was already a tragedy that he lacked in the brains department, but he’d even been cheated on by the substitute he’d groomed, and the one the substitute had cheated with was the object of his desire. What was even more tragic was that his Godfather was now also planning on abandoning him. The aide thought of how his boss tormented his godsons without hesitation every single time, and felt that Xu Muzhi was really unfortunate.
The young man was just done with cleaning up loose ends when Song Yucheng made his last big move.
Xu Muzhi had not had time to release the material he had prepared when he got called out — Song Yucheng was on Weibo.
Song Yucheng had not posted anything on Weibo previously, whether he had had dirt thrown on him, was praised, was insulted, or was admired. He had not even made a peep in response when Chu Rong had confessed to him. This time, however, he had written a long post on Weibo. Attached to his post was a file with a long, long list of business turnover numbers and an account book.
The fans, who had been excited over Song Yucheng finally being active on Weibo, clicked on the details of his post, and were immediately thunderstruck.
They had never in a million years imagined that Song Yucheng’s life was way worse than they’d thought.
Having a house did not mean that he was free of burdens. To Song Yucheng, this house that his parents had left him was his biggest burden. The high annual maintenance fees, heating costs and property expenses were enough to bend his back under their weight. His age at that time also meant that he had not much wiggle room when it came to finding work. He would have had no way of properly growing up, and have his present life, if it had not been for his exquisite craftsmanship, not to mention keeping his one and only house safe.
“I’ve heard of Ink-dyeing Handicrafts. That online shop has been around for four, five years. If we match the timelines, the shop owner did delay the production time for orders at around the times when students had their exams weeks. The shop owner also received orders and pushed new products during the school holidays. Ink-dyeing Handicrafts also had a temporary suspension of business during the time that “Swapping Lives” was being filmed.”
“I believed it when I watched the livestream yesterday. My heart hurts the more I think about it. Songsong was only 13 when he started working in the crafting circles! I remember I ordered a jade hairpin from Ink-dyeing Handicrafts, like two years or three years ago, and I really really wanted it ASAP. The shop owner worked on it for an entire night for me. Now that I think about it, Songsong should have been 15 or 16 back then.”
“Song Hui’s daughter is having a good life though… She’s overseas right now. What a louse!”
These fans, hearts hurting for Song Yucheng, couldn’t help teaming up and going to Song Hui’s son and daughter’s Weibo pages to seek justice for Song Yucheng.
All this activity and development on the internet, however, went unnoticed by Song Hui and his family. They had fled overseas to let things tide over when their collaboration with the internet celebrity had failed. They were returning to China now because Xu Muzhi had called them back, saying that he had a way to get rid of Song Yucheng once and for all.
But, they were being pointed at the moment they got on the plane. They had no one to blame but themselves — Song Hui’s son and daughter had flaunted too much of their wealth. Their Weibo pages were full of pictures and posts of them showing off their money, and they had not hidden their family’s faces in these posts.
This was how people had recognised them, after their ugly faces had been revealed.
Song Hui and his family were completely unaware of the situation. Song Hui had been afraid of his son and daughter ruining things so he had not allowed them to go on Weibo in case they posted something they should not have and end up incriminating them. What he’d done had come back to bite him in the ass. He would have found out about the changes in the situation if he had let them play about on Weibo.
He was hit by the result of his actions after he got off the plane.
Song Hui looked at the police officers who had suddenly appeared to take him away, and his legs grew weak. He paled when he heard the reasons for his arrest.
He had two charges: embezzlement and violation of assets.
“It’s not like that! Please, listen to me! There was a will!” Song Hui tried to make a final struggle.
The police officer took out a arrest warrant from his briefcase. “The lawyer who forged the will back then has pleaded guilty.”
His best chess piece, gone. Song Hui’s limbs went cold and he was wooden as the police officers took him away. This scene was swiftly recorded and posted on the internet.
Retribution for his evil deeds! Hahaha!
Song Yucheng smiled too, when he saw that report.
The only thing left to do was to wait for the verdict. He was 18 now, and an adult. He did not need any guardian to inherit his estate. If things went as planned, the seized assets of parents would be returned to him. This could be a consolation of sorts to the souls of the old Song Yucheng’s parents, and a show of sincerity from him to the old Song Yucheng.
Song Yucheng visited the cemetery once in the following days to see the old Song Yucheng’s parents. He had stood silently before their tombstone for a long while, then placed the flowers he held on their grave before he left. Chu Rong had accompanied him.
Chu Rong had no coquettishness about him this time; he was sombre. He looked like he had a lot of things weighing on his mind, and he left on his own after sending Song Yucheng safely home.
Chu Rong did not tell Song Yucheng that he was actually going to leave the entertainment industry and return home to take up his responsibilities as heir to his family business. Chu Rong felt that he, right now, had not enough power to protect Song Yucheng. Xu Muzhi was just trash, but he could skip right past him not just once, but twice, and lay his hands on Song Yucheng. What if a more powerful person appeared in the future?
Chu Rong felt an instinctive panic. For some reason, he kept hearing a voice from the darkness telling him not to worry, and that Song Yucheng would definitely be his in the end.
Whatever the case, accumulating power always came first! Chu Rong decided that he was going to learn how to manage the family business from his cousin from that day on. His Songsong would be his to protect in the future, and no one else would be able to touch him!
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While Chu Rong was all fired up, Song Yucheng, who had just arrived home from the cemetery visit, received a very special surprise visitor.
He looked at the young man outside his door. He was a blessing to his eyes, a perfect fit for his sense of aesthetics, but Song Yucheng felt not one shred of appreciation of his good looks.
This young man was none other than the man he had approached with a proposition to get himself away from the club when he’d been drugged by Xu Muzhi. Song Yucheng had been worrying over meeting the man and explaining things to him after things had settled down. He’d never imagined that he had actually brought a great trouble unto himself.
Song Yucheng felt a headache coming on as he watched the young man in front of him, looking all poised and elegant while holding a teacup.
He had only just found out this young man’s identity. Ludwig, the last of the noblemen of Country Y. His family name was representative of power, and wealth.
More importantly, the heads of the family which Ludwig belonged to were all famous for being Puritans.
Puritans, as the name suggested, were only intimate with their own partners. Song Yucheng abruptly recalled the teasing and seductive vibe between himself and Ludwig that day. Oh crap.
Ludwig had now come knocking at his door and was expressing an interest in getting to know him.
They were both adults. Ludwig’s implicit way of phrasing it, if interpreted more liberally, was the same as him saying that he’d like to date Song Yucheng with marriage in mind.
Well, this was… awkward.
He had not even managed to shake off Kitty Chu Rong, and now this Puritan had come knocking. More importantly, Song Yucheng was confused because, that day, for a moment, Ludwig had looked like a more mature Chu Rong to him. But right now, seeing his facial features, his poise and the overall feeling he got, it was quite obvious that they were different.
Song Yucheng wracked his brain over the “setting” of Puritans in this world and found that he had no way of escaping this situation he had with Ludwig.
He abandoned his morals for a bit, and had this self-destructive impulse. Song Yucheng nearly blurted out the question, “Do you think it’s okay to be married but have separate lives?”