Chapter 25

"……"

The livestream recording ended here, but the people in the livestream room remained silent for a long time.

Xie An’s words had such a huge impact on them. No one expected Xie An to defend Ke Xingzhou in such a resolute way—at the beginning, some people even thought that Xie An’s visit was just an act and that he didn’t really want to help Ke Xingzhou.

Now, not only had they been slapped in the face, but they were also moved to tears by Xie An.

This was a competition related to their dreams. The investors behind All Idol were all industry giants. As long as they secured a sponsorship from them, even if it was just for a small brand, it would be enough to pave the way for their future stardom.

It was like gaining another chance at success!

Xie An’s family was wealthy, so it didn’t matter to him whether he got the sponsorship or not. But in this livestream, where fans were so easily attracted, his own screen time was less than 10 minutes. The rest of the time was spent broadcasting Ke Xingzhou’s livestream.

This kid was too sincere!

The staff in the livestream room sniffed, wiped their teary eyes, and secretly glanced at Ke Xingzhou, hoping to see the same emotions on his face. But they all failed.

Ke Xingzhou’s expression was indifferent, as if what he had just witnessed wasn’t a heartfelt defense from a young, innocent person, but just another run-of-the-mill, pointless commercial.

They felt a bit dissatisfied.

Xie An was a contestant they had been watching closely, and he was always so well-behaved and thoughtful. His ability was outstanding, and he always worked hard during practice, never hiding anything, always teaching his group members what he had learned.

Even when members of other groups came to ask for advice, he didn’t hesitate to help.

A child like that was hard not to like. Besides, Xie An had a charming face, always smiling at people, and even the strictest mentors on the program couldn’t help but be a bit more tolerant when they saw him.

In comparison, Ke Xingzhou was almost the opposite of Xie An.

As for Ke Xingzhou’s professional skills, they hadn’t been displayed much since joining the show. It seemed like he wasn’t good at idol skills.

If it was just a matter of not being skilled, that would be fine. But he didn’t even try to learn. Every time he went to the practice room, he just slept or fed the kitten, turning their well-organized idol show into a kitten-raising show. The staff were helpless.

So, it wasn’t really surprising that people misunderstood Ke Xingzhou. If he hadn’t suddenly shown his abilities today, they wouldn’t have known that Ke Xingzhou actually had such a miraculous ability and had even saved Xie An’s life.

But even so, it didn’t change the fact that Ke Xingzhou saved Xie An. Xie An sacrificed his own livestream time to clarify things for him, but Ke Xingzhou remained indifferent. That was a bit too much!

Ke Xingzhou clearly felt the resentment from the staff and couldn’t help but feel puzzled.

Before he could ask, the door to the livestream room was knocked. Xie An’s voice came from outside, “Brother! Are you done with your livestream?”

Ke Xingzhou’s expression softened a little, and he went to open the door.The door outside was indeed Xie An.

The kid's eyes were still red, but he had already raised a bright smile and, as if seeking praise, said to Ke Xingzhou, “Brother, guess what? I explained everything to the people online, and now they all know you’re my lifesaver. My fans have promised they will help clear up the truth. From now on, no one will misunderstand you anymore!”

Ke Xingzhou nodded absently and changed the subject, “Did you get the sponsorship?”

“Sponsorship?” Xie An froze for a moment before remembering the task card he saw before the livestream.

Their livestream PK had originally been to compete for the sponsorship offer from the rumored investor!

Xie An had been so concerned about Ke Xingzhou's situation that he had completely forgotten about it. He raised his hand and lightly tapped his forehead.

However, he didn’t feel much regret. He was just a little annoyed for a moment before quickly putting on a smile again. “I don’t know. Brother, I see your stock sold out too. Shall we go check the results together?”

As he spoke, his eyes were sneaking glances at Ke Xingzhou, clearly not trusting him to go alone.

Asking to check the results was just an excuse. In reality, Xie An didn’t want Ke Xingzhou to be alone, worried that he might accidentally see some of the irrational comments online and get upset.

This kid’s thoughts were written all over his face. Even someone who didn’t understand fortune-telling could see it, let alone Ke Xingzhou.

He couldn’t help but smile and finally reached out to ruffle Xie An’s head. “Alright, I’ll do what you say.”

The two of them headed to the lounge together.

As they neared the lounge, they happened to pass by Assistant Liu. Liu’s gaze lingered on Ke Xingzhou’s face for a moment before nodding at them.

Ke Xingzhou remembered Assistant Liu, knowing that he was from Nie Chen’s side. He couldn’t help but glance at him again, his eyes lingering on Assistant Liu’s head for a moment. He instinctively frowned.

However, his attention was quickly diverted by the conversation in the lounge.

After all the contestants finished their livestreams, they had to gather here. When the two of them arrived, there were still many contestants whose livestreams hadn’t ended yet, so there weren’t many people in the lounge.

Ke Yuanbai and An Heguang both had fan bases, and their livestream stock sold out quickly. They had been resting here for a while, and a few other contestants who had gotten along well with them were also there.

They were talking about Ke Xingzhou trending on the hot search.

“Do you think this is real? Did Xie An and Ke Xingzhou coordinate with the production team to create this story, building a brotherly CP image?”

Another contestant shook his head. “I don’t think so. Didn’t you see that news about Xie An’s family? That car accident was so serious, how could it be fake? And even Xie An’s sister went to Ke Xingzhou’s livestream to get her fortune told. She’s the general manager of a big company. She wouldn’t joke with her company’s reputation.”

After saying this, the contestant suddenly remembered something and turned to Ke Yuanbai and An Heguang. “An Shao, Xiao Bai Ge, didn’t your group encounter something the other day? Did Ke Xingzhou tell your fortunes?”

Ke Yuanbai: "……"

He didn’t really want to bring up that incident.

It wasn’t because it was something terrible. After all, the ghost story was just about a male ghost who kept bothering him to teach him how to sing and dance the opening song. He hadn’t done anything wrong, so it wasn’t really a scandal.

But An Heguang had a terrible habit of joking about it, and had been teasing him about it for days.

What had clearly been a simple teacher-student relationship had, in his mouth, turned into some kind of scandal. Even the other group members had been looking at him strangely.

Ke Yuanbai really didn’t want to go through the “lost virginity” process again. With a cold expression, he replied, “No comment.”

An Heguang, however, had no such reservations and got a little excited when asked. “He did! Of course, he did! You wouldn’t know, but at that time, Ke Xingzhou pointed at me and said I’d be unlucky. I didn’t take it seriously, but then I ran into a glass door and fell on my butt—so embarrassing! There was also the time I almost fell into the elevator shaft...”Everyone was surprised to see him so excited.

After all, Xie An had only been upset with Ke Xingzhou initially, and his expression had been a little unpleasant. The rest of it was all speculation from fans, and it wasn’t really grounded in anything.

But this Young Master An was different.

His open disgust for Ke Xingzhou, the fake young master, was obvious. In fact, even before Ke Xingzhou showed up, he had said that he would make sure this interloper couldn’t survive.

With such clear hostility, everyone had expected him to vehemently deny the rumors, take the opportunity to expose Ke Xingzhou’s false persona, but to their surprise, just two or three days later, he had actually joined Ke Xingzhou’s side!

The mood of the crowd was quite subtle, and their gazes shifted to Ke Yuanbai’s face, where they saw his expression darken.

Two contestants who were standing farther away were browsing the trending topics and, upon noticing this, quietly leaned toward each other, typing on the screen to exchange thoughts: [No wonder Ke Yuanbai’s been looking so gloomy these past few days. I thought he just didn’t sleep well. Turns out one of his main generals defected to the enemy’s side.]

[Exactly, those two clearly didn’t get along. These past few days, when they were eating, Ke Yuanbai deliberately stayed away from An Heguang, clearly cutting ties. But Ke Xingzhou, after going to Xie An’s side, his popularity seems to have skyrocketed.]

[This fake young master sure has some tricks up his sleeve. An Heguang, who obviously hated this kind of person, actually got swayed by him.]

[But is it possible that Ke Xingzhou really can tell fortunes? An Heguang may be blunt, but he's not as naïve as Xie An. For Ke Xingzhou to convince him he can tell fortunes, he must have something up his sleeve.]

[Who knows!]

“If you’re really curious, you can go ask him to tell your fortune,” someone said.

“Ask for a fortune? Is it that easy? When you give your birthdate and time, it’s like giving someone the handle to control you...” The person suddenly paused mid-sentence, looked up sharply, and his expression changed. “Ke... Ke Xingzhou!”

Ke Xingzhou had no idea when he appeared next to them, or how long he had been watching. He wore a typical business smile, looking at them kindly.

“If you want to try, it’s 1000 per reading, no need for birthdate or time.” He glanced at the two people standing together and added, “If three people join, one gets a free reading. You can find someone to join you.”

The two of them: “…”

They were so embarrassed they almost wanted to dig a hole and hide in it.

Fortunately, Ke Xingzhou didn’t linger on them for long. After making his pitch, he heard An Heguang calling him over. “Big shot! Over here, I saved a spot just for you!”

Everyone’s expressions were varied, and they exchanged glances, both surprised.

So, they had made peace, but now he was even calling him ‘big shot’?

An Heguang’s family background was among the top in the group of contestants. Among the publicly acknowledged debutants, besides Ke Yuanbai, who had the most fans and was recognized by the Ke family, the other sure candidate was An Heguang.

As a result, many people had been trying to get close to him.

When they had come over earlier, there was an empty spot next to An Heguang. They had wondered whose seat it would be. Now it had ended up with the least likely person, Ke Xingzhou. The crowd almost couldn’t hold back their expressions.

What made it even harder to believe was that when Ke Xingzhou saw the seat An Heguang had saved for him, he didn’t immediately go over. Instead, he turned to Xie An and asked, “Do you want to sit with him?”

Xie An blinked, pointed to himself, and then glanced at An Heguang, who was eagerly waiting.

After a moment’s hesitation, he shook his head. “I want to sit by myself.”

Though he didn’t dislike An Heguang, the way An Heguang had treated Ke Xingzhou earlier made him feel a little uncomfortable.He didn’t like the people around An Heguang very much, always feeling like they measured who they were kind to and who they weren’t, as if they had a ruler for it. They were too shrewd, and it made interactions uncomfortable.

He kindly said, “You don’t have to worry about me, I’ll wait here for our group members.”

He thought this situation might be good for Ke Xingzhou, but to his surprise, after he said he wouldn’t go, Ke Xingzhou waved at An Heguang and directly sat with him in the corner.

“I’ll sit with you,” Ke Xingzhou said.

Xie An was immediately flattered, his eyes lighting up like a puppy’s. If he had a tail, it would probably be wagging happily by now.

Ke Xingzhou couldn’t help but laugh.

“What kind of person is this, really thinks they’re something important…” A contestant who had just entered saw this scene and subconsciously complained.

Another contestant, habitually agreeing, chimed in, “Exactly. Taking advantage of kindness without any shame, no wonder the Ke family abandoned him so decisively. Doesn’t even have any self-awareness.”

The two of them had often complained about Ke Xingzhou this way because An Heguang had openly expressed his dislike for him. So whenever they spoke ill of Ke Xingzhou, they usually received a lot of agreement. But this time, after they finished speaking, the room fell silent.

They belatedly realized something was off, and when they snapped back to reality, they found themselves staring into An Heguang’s cold eyes.

Both were startled, not understanding what had just happened. They looked at An Heguang, who shot them a glare, then quickly changed his expression and led a group of people over to the corner where Ke Xingzhou and Xie An were sitting.

“Big shot, squeeze over here,” An Heguang said with a grin, his expression completely lacking the usual arrogance he had when surrounded by his fans.

The two were confused about what had just occurred and looked at each other, wondering what had happened to An Heguang. Hadn’t he always hated Ke Xingzhou? Why was he acting like this today?

When they saw Ke Yuanbai standing alone nearby, it was like they had found a lifeline.

They hurried over, but before they could say anything, Ke Yuanbai looked over with a blank expression.

He wasn’t exactly angry, but his demeanor was even colder than usual. One look from him stopped them in their tracks, and he calmly stood up and sat at the outer edge of the group, writing a leave request.

The Ke family had told him there was some kind of banquet he needed to attend, so he would leave early.

The two contestants: “???”

They had only been streaming for two hours. What had happened outside?

The tasks in the livestream were gradually finishing. Once the two-hour mark passed, all the contestants, regardless of whether their inventory sold out, had to gather in the break room to await the results.

The break room quickly became lively, but no one knew that in the room next door, separated by a one-way mirror, a pair of gray-green eyes were fixated on this room.

More specifically, they were staring at Ke Xingzhou in the corner.

The break room had only one dim light, and Nie Chen’s face was shadowed, his eyes appearing deeper as he focused his gaze on Ke Xingzhou’s left palm.

It was the same hand that had just touched Xie An’s head.

Nie Chen replayed in his mind the scene he had just seen on the monitor—Ke Xingzhou had first placed both his palms on the sides of Xie An’s head, holding his head and gently shaking it. Then, habitually, he had left only his left hand, running his fingers through Xie An’s thick, stiff hair, messing it up and then simply smoothing it out.

When he withdrew his hand, Ke Xingzhou even pinched Xie An’s earlobe.

Of course, Nie Chen hadn’t seen that small gesture, but he had guessed it—this had once been a special gesture between the two of them.So he also knew that if there was no one else around, Ke Xingzhou might pull the other person’s collar, make them lean down, gently place a feather-light kiss on their lips, and then quickly pull away.

At that time, Ke Xingzhou would show a mischievous grin, his ink-like eyes curving, with his hair fluttering gently in the morning light.

That was… his youth.

Suddenly, the phone on the desk lit up. The assistant glanced at the note and quietly reminded, “It’s a call from the old house.”

His hand hanging by his side tightened abruptly. Nie Chen closed his eyes, taking a few slow, deep breaths, forcing himself to return to reality.

When he opened his eyes again, his restless emotions were pushed deep inside, only revealing a trace of painful struggle when his gaze landed on the young man.

He was all too familiar with the look in the young man’s eyes when he looked at Xie An. It was the true meaning of bringing someone into the “inner circle,” a circle that, in the past, had only included him.

The phone screen continued to flash rhythmically, and it was clear that the person on the other end was insistent.

Nie Chen eventually withdrew his gaze, turned around, grabbed the phone, and answered, striding toward the door. “Grandfather.”

He didn’t know what the person on the other end said, but as he stepped out of the room, Nie Chen squinted his eyes.

“I’ll be there soon.”

At the same time, Ke Xingzhou, feeling something, looked up and glanced at the mirror on the opposite wall, furrowing his brow slightly.

Nie Chen’s aura was so powerful that even through a wall, Ke Xingzhou could sense it. From the very beginning, he had known that someone was next door and could even feel Nie Chen’s gaze.

But what concerned him wasn’t that.

Ke Xingzhou remembered the thick aura of death surrounding the assistant he had seen next to Nie Chen earlier, an unsettling feeling that he couldn’t ignore.

After thinking for a moment, he still got up and followed.

As soon as Ke Xingzhou stood up, he met Ke Yuanbai’s gaze, who had also stood up.

Both of them froze.

Because of the relationship with the fake young master, even though they had gone through the ghostly incident together earlier, their relationship had always been awkward, and aside from unavoidable greetings, there was almost no interaction.

Now, suddenly making eye contact, Ke Yuanbai’s calm expression showed the slightest crack.

He wondered if it was inappropriate for him to stand up at this moment. But the leave request had already been approved, and the driver from the Ke family had messaged, saying they were waiting for him outside. Sitting back down now would seem too deliberate.

However, if he had to speak to Ke Xingzhou, he couldn’t think of anything to say.

The atmosphere became tense.

Ke Yuanbai wanted to escape, but Ke Xingzhou’s gaze landed on his face and paused at the sudden appearance of the deathly aura.

When he entered earlier, he had habitually scanned the room. At that time, aside from the dark circles under Ke Yuanbai’s eyes from staying up late, his face showed no signs of life-threatening conditions. In fact, due to reconnecting with his biological parents and the support of his fans, his complexion was rather rosy and full of vitality.

Now, the sudden change indicated that, during this time, Ke Yuanbai had made a decision capable of altering his short-term fortune, and that decision could very well threaten his life.The reason Ke Xingzhou looked sideways was that the deathly aura on Ke Yuanbai’s face was intricately connected to the aura Ke Xingzhou had sensed on Nie Chen’s assistant.

Just as he was about to approach, Ke Yuanbai’s future became unclear, and Ke Xingzhou’s own virtuous golden aura began to waver.

Ke Xingzhou stopped in his tracks.

This kind of situation often occurred, known as the “healer cannot heal themselves.” When he got involved in someone else’s fate and it could cause significant changes, the laws of heaven would restrict his abilities.

However, under normal circumstances, he could still glimpse some unaltered future outcomes.

In this situation, it only meant that his reckless involvement would cause the fates of too many people to change, and the laws of heaven were warning him in this way.

After thinking for a moment, he asked from a distance, “You going to the restroom too? Want to go together?”

Ke Yuanbai: “……”

He wanted to say no, but before he could speak, An He Guang and Xie An stood up. “I’ll go too! I’ll go too!”

“Take me with you!”

Ke Xingzhou turned to look at them, smiling. “No, you don’t want to go.”

Xie An blinked, his expression awkward. “But I can’t hold it anymore.”

“Then you two go to the restroom upstairs.” Ke Xingzhou pointed at An He Guang, then at himself and Ke Yuanbai, “We’ll stay in this one downstairs. Two pairs, perfect.”

Everyone: “……”

Ke Yuanbai: “……”

Even if he were slow, Ke Yuanbai understood now that Ke Xingzhou wanted to say something to him.

Ke Yuanbai had felt a bit awkward before. He used to think Ke Xingzhou was shameless for staying at the Ke family, and he had looked down on him somewhat. But now, realizing that Ke Xingzhou wasn’t the useless person the Ke family described and had even saved his life, he didn’t know how to face him.

He thought Ke Xingzhou probably didn’t want to see him either, so unless Ke Xingzhou took the initiative, he had tried not to approach him.

Now that Ke Xingzhou had taken the initiative, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

So, under the strange and ambiguous gazes of the other contestants, the four of them walked out like kindergarten children, then split up at the door, each heading in different directions to the restrooms.

Xie An, being the silly and sweet one, didn’t notice the strange atmosphere and still wanted to discuss with Ke Xingzhou about going to the same restroom. Thankfully, An He Guang quickly pulled him away, changing the topic and distracting him. “I heard your personal live stream was entirely used to broadcast Ke Dalao’s stream? Your manager even came to find me here. And you still have the nerve to go to the restroom with Ke Dalao? You better think about how you’re going to handle his wrath later!”

“Ah? No way! Didn’t I sell everything out?”

Ke Yuanbai: “……”

Watching the two of them walk away, Ke Yuanbai couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy as he glanced at Ke Xingzhou’s smile.

Not only did he have a carefree early life, but his luck in making friends was also much better than his own.

While he was still pondering this, Ke Xingzhou suddenly turned around and waved him over with a finger, leading him toward the restroom on this floor.

He kept a distance that was neither too far nor too close, making his attitude rather hard to read.

Ke Yuanbai hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and still lifted his foot to follow.On the way, Ke Yuanbai had been carefully guessing Ke Xingzhou's intentions, but after thinking it over, it seemed that aside from the matter regarding the Ke family, there was no other topic for them to discuss.

Speaking of which, they had never really talked properly about the matter concerning the Ke family.

Finally, they arrived at the restroom. Ke Xingzhou stopped at the spot where hot water was dispensed, lowered his head to rummage through his pockets, and suddenly seemed to remember something, turning back to look at him.

Ke Yuanbai thought, finally, this person who had occupied his identity for more than twenty years was about to say something to him—

Then he saw Ke Xingzhou frown. “Don’t you have anything to do? Come over here and watch the cat.”

Ke Yuanbai: “……”

He obediently took a few steps forward, his body tense as he picked up the little cat from the washbasin and placed it in his palm.

The little thing was so fragile that he was worried that one wrong move would kill it.

In his nervousness, beads of sweat slowly appeared on his forehead.

Ke Xingzhou observed his face for a moment. Seeing no significant changes, he silently relaxed his brow and eyes, then took the pet bottle and goat’s milk powder, skillfully filled the bottle with water, warmed it, and mixed the milk powder.

He tested the temperature on the back of his hand, deciding it was just right. Ke Xingzhou then instructed Ke Yuanbai to place the little kitten, which had been greedily sucking on his palm, back on the table, while he himself walked around Ke Yuanbai to take the cat back.

With a look of grievance from Ke Yuanbai, Ke Xingzhou squeezed a drop of goat’s milk onto the kitten’s lips, just below its fur.

At first, the little kitten wasn’t too happy, but when it smelled the milk, it immediately opened its mouth and latched onto the bottle, gripping it with all four paws and drinking eagerly.

Ke Yuanbai: “……”

He instinctively sniffed his own body, noticing there was no smell at all.

The familiar sense of humiliation washed over him, and his hands trembled slightly. He felt a bit dazed, wondering if Ke Xingzhou really despised him this much?

All the psychological preparations he had made on the way here now seemed especially absurd. For a moment, Ke Yuanbai almost lost control, his expression changing several times. “You… You called me over just for this?”

Ke Xingzhou, focusing intently on watching the kitten drink, lifted his gaze when he heard him, and pointed to the surface where he had just filled the water. “For you.”

Ke Yuanbai followed his gesture and saw the talisman that Ke Xingzhou had casually taken off the kitten while feeding it.

He picked it up and saw the drawing made with cinnabar on the paper, the handwriting wild and unruly, carrying a kind of aloofness that seemed detached from the world.

It reminded him of the Ke Xingzhou he had seen when he first arrived at the program.

Surprised, he lifted his eyes to look, only to find that Ke Xingzhou had already turned his gaze away and was focused on the kitten again.

Ke Xingzhou didn’t look up as he said, “I don’t know what you’re planning to do tonight, but you have a strong aura of death around you. There will be bloodshed tonight. Take this, it will save your life.”

Ke Yuanbai’s heart skipped a beat. “You called me over because you saw that I was in danger?”

He couldn’t help but think back to the last time when he encountered ghosts.

At that time, Ke Xingzhou had also been the first to notice and warn him. But back then, he didn’t recognize Ke Xingzhou’s true abilities, thinking he was just pretending to be supernatural, which led to the tragic situation he ended up in later.

He had grown up in an orphanage, where there were too many children without fathers or mothers. Even though, as a young child, he was given more attention by the headmistress, there were many others who needed extra care as well.Since he became capable of taking care of himself, no one had cared for him like this anymore.

Ke Yuanbai was momentarily moved. He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. He just felt his heart swell with a sour feeling, and there was a faint gleam in his eyes as he looked at Ke Xingzhou...

Then he heard Ke Xingzhou say again, “The talisman is on credit for you, pay next time.”

Ke Yuanbai: “……”

He fell silent for a moment and asked softly, “Then, should I tell the Ke family I’m not going?”

As he spoke, he carefully observed Ke Xingzhou’s expression, feeling a little regretful for being so cold to him earlier, and for making so many self-righteous decisions with prejudice.

If he hadn’t come back, this banquet would have probably been attended by the Ke family, with Ke Xingzhou going along. To put it more drastically, Ke Xingzhou’s online bullying today might also have something to do with him...

He hesitated for a while, thinking that not attending the banquet might be the best way to express himself to Ke Xingzhou.

To his surprise, just as he was thinking this, Ke Xingzhou suddenly lifted his head. “No!”

Ke Xingzhou spoke very quickly, and when he met Ke Yuanbai’s surprised gaze, he paused and explained, “If you avoid this time, there will be another time. If you’re really worried, you can bring your assistant along.”

“...Him?”

Ke Yuanbai pictured an unfamiliar face in his mind.

That was the person sent by the agency to take care of him after he was recognized by the Ke family. In reality, they hadn’t known each other for long, and their relationship wasn’t much better than his relationship with Ke Xingzhou.

He remembered the day Ke Xingzhou entered the program. He had asked his assistant to pick him up, and after the assistant came back, he had always seemed hesitant to speak.

He thought it was probably because the assistant wasn’t used to being around him, so he hadn’t proactively contacted him in the past few days.

But how familiar were Ke Xingzhou and his assistant with each other?

Ke Xingzhou gave a hum, and for some reason, he looked away, not noticing the strange look in Ke Yuanbai’s eyes.

“That person is very lucky. To put it simply, he has good fortune and always manages to turn bad situations around. If you bring him along, it’s like bringing a human-shaped amulet. You might even have unexpected gains.”

Ke Yuanbai was momentarily stunned. “Really? Then, okay... I’ll bring him along.”

Ke Xingzhou nodded.

After waiting a while, he glanced at him again. “You can go now.”

“……”

Ke Yuanbai, somewhat confused, obediently turned and walked a few steps, only to suddenly react, turning back to look at Ke Xingzhou and softly saying, “Thank you.”

Ke Xingzhou: “Mm.”

“...Also, I only found out about today’s events after I finished my live stream. Sorry I couldn’t be of help.”

Ke Xingzhou waved his hand, not particularly concerned about this.

However, Ke Yuanbai’s words reminded him of something. He suddenly added, “Tell your dad to stop cursing so much, it’ll bring bad luck.”

Ke Yuanbai: “……”His attitude made Ke Yuanbai feel a sense of regret, as though he had lost something. He hesitated for a moment, not knowing what to say, and suddenly blurted out, “How about I give you the money now?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he froze, wishing he could slap himself.

What had he just said?!

Sure enough, he saw Ke Xingzhou’s figure pause, and slowly turn around to look at him.

The emotions in his gaze were quite complicated, and for a moment, Ke Yuanbai couldn’t quite understand them. Fortunately, Ke Xingzhou didn’t mind his rashness, and simply said, “I’ll ask for the payment when it’s time,” before leaving with the kitten in his arms.

Ke Yuanbai wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but it seemed like he sensed a hint of urgency in Ke Xingzhou’s back as he walked away.

...Maybe he was just imagining it.

When he called his assistant and got into the car sent by the Ke family to pick him up, Ke Yuanbai’s mind was still on the matter. His expression inevitably became a bit downcast.

The driver, mistaking his mood for being upset about Ke Xingzhou trending online, tried to flatter the young master. He spoke to comfort him, “Don’t worry, Young Master. Mr. and Mrs. Ke won’t let that imposter trample over you. They care about you. They’re just letting him have his few days of glory. When the second episode airs, you won’t have to deal with him bothering you anymore.”

Ke Yuanbai felt that something was off and frowned. “What do Mr. and Mrs. Ke want to do?”

The driver hesitated for a moment, thinking to himself that he was just a chauffeur, and had only overheard a few things while driving. How could he know about the family’s affairs?

Not wanting to seem useless in front of the newly recognized young master, the driver forced a laugh and tried to analyze, “Young Master Xingzhou has never been fond of moving around, and he can’t sing or dance. He’s always embarrassed himself on shows. Mr. and Mrs. Ke care about their reputation, so of course, they don’t want him to keep embarrassing himself on the program.”

Ke Yuanbai instinctively felt that something was off. If they were really concerned about embarrassment, why did the Ke family insist on having Ke Xingzhou go on the show in the first place?

But since he wasn’t familiar with the family, he certainly didn’t know more than the driver, who had worked for the Ke family for years. He thought it over but couldn’t make sense of it, so reluctantly decided to put the matter aside for now.

The driver first dropped Ke Yuanbai off at the Ke family’s mansion.

The Ke family was putting a lot of importance on tonight’s banquet. In addition to sending someone to pick up their younger son, the elder son, Ke Chenyu, had also been called back early. A professional stylist was helping them pick out the right attire and accessories.

Since Ke Yuanbai had been recognized as part of the family, he hadn’t really been back to the Ke family’s house much. Including the time when the paternity test was done, this was only his second time at the mansion.

Standing in front of the Ke family’s grand entrance, his mood was still complicated. He didn’t know how to face the family members who had been absent from his life for over twenty years.

After adjusting his mood with some difficulty, just as he was about to push the door open, he heard Ke Zhengye’s furious roar from inside: “This unfilial son!! Always embarrassing me! And now he’s embarrassing me online! How could we have brought this thing back by mistake all those years ago?”

Ke Yuanbai’s hand froze on the doorknob.

The target of Ke Zhengye’s anger was obvious. He didn’t need to guess who he was referring to—Ke Xingzhou.

Ke Zhengye had previously belittled Ke Xingzhou in front of him, but back then, he had heard that Ke Xingzhou had known he wasn’t a true member of the Ke family yet still stayed with them for over twenty years, causing the Ke family to only find Ke Yuanbai now. He hadn’t thought much of Ke Zhengye’s actions at the time.

Now, with the talisman that Ke Xingzhou had given him still in his pocket, and hearing these words, he couldn’t help but feel a bit irritated.

His temper had never been particularly good, especially when it came to people he didn’t like.

Previously, due to his prejudice against Ke Xingzhou, he had repeatedly pointed out his “mistakes” in front of others. Naturally, he wasn’t about to ignore Ke Zhengye’s insults either.

He pushed the door open and scanned the room. His gaze quickly landed on Ke Zhengye, who was spitting out insults at his phone while sitting on the sofa.

When Mrs. Ke noticed him coming in, she was overjoyed and hurriedly set down the dress she was holding to welcome him. “Yuanbai, you’re finally back! Why are you so late? Did you get stuck in traffic?”She pulled Ke Yuanbai towards the living room, where several rows of high-end custom dresses just delivered by the brand were displayed. She had specially picked out a few for him, wanting him to try them on.

She reached out to take Ke Yuanbai’s arm, but to her surprise, when she tugged, Ke Yuanbai didn’t move.

Confused, she turned around and saw Ke Yuanbai glaring disapprovingly at his biological father, who was sitting on the sofa. He coldly said, “You know it was a mistake when I was swapped at birth. Both he and I were just babies at the time, there’s no way we had the ability to intentionally swap ourselves.”

At first, Ke Zhengye didn’t realize he was being spoken to. After a moment of confusion, he finally turned around, his face instantly turning red, furious to the point of boiling over. “You brat! What do you mean by that? I raised him with great difficulty for over twenty years, and now he’s tarnishing the family’s reputation online. I can’t even curse him for that?”

As he scolded, he thought of Ke Xingzhou. He had never really interacted much with either of his sons. One had been absent for over ten years, and the other had been completely unknown to him for over twenty years.

Previously, he thought of Ke Xingzhou as rebellious and disobedient, but now, even the newly recognized son had started talking back. He was utterly enraged, clutching his chest and collapsing onto the sofa.

Mrs. Ke was startled and rushed over to support him. She looked at their youngest son in confusion, “What’s going on today? Why is everyone getting so angry?”

She hadn’t finished speaking when Ke Zhengye immediately remembered. Earlier today, at a wine gathering, he had been chatting happily with his business partner. Suddenly, his partner had smiled and told him that his son had made it to the trending list again.

At first, Ke Zhengye thought it was Ke Yuanbai. He thought that this son had truly been worth recognizing, as he had contributed a lot to the company’s publicity and boosted their sales.

However, when he saw the trending topic, he nearly died of anger— it was actually Ke Xingzhou!

This son hadn’t done anything good since he was five, and in Ke Zhengye’s mind, he had often brought bad luck to the family. Ke Zhengye didn’t even bother looking into what the trending topic was about; he just cursed Ke Xingzhou in his mind and continued to seethe with anger.

Thinking of Ke Xingzhou, and seeing Ke Yuanbai’s rebellious expression, exactly like Ke Xingzhou’s, Ke Zhengye suddenly had an epiphany: “Isn’t it that little bastard Ke Xingzhou?”

Ke Yuanbai frowned, “What?”

What does this have to do with Ke Xingzhou?

However, he suddenly remembered that Ke Xingzhou had asked him to pass a message, so he turned to Ke Zhengye and sincerely relayed, “Ke Xingzhou said for you to stop cursing, it will bring bad luck.”

Ke Zhengye’s eyebrows shot up, enraged, and he cursed loudly, “I knew it! It was that damn kid who corrupted you! No one who gets close to him ends up well. Your older brother was the same—he used to be so well-behaved, but after hanging around with that kid, now he’s only interested in work and doesn’t even care about us! It’s true, ‘a person is known by the company he keeps.’ That little bastard is a damn troublemaker!”

Before he could finish his rant, the chandelier above him suddenly swayed. A pendant, unable to bear the weight, detached from the fixture and, with perfect precision, struck Ke Zhengye’s head.

A large bump immediately appeared on the increasingly thinning top of his head, and he fainted, his eyes rolling back.

“Old Ke!! Old Ke, how did you faint again? Butler, call the doctor right now!”

Mrs. Ke rushed over, looking at her husband’s bloodied face, but then suddenly froze, a strange feeling of déjà vu washing over her.

Ke Zhengye: “…………”