Chapter 005: The Substitute x Overbearing CEO x White Moonlight (5)

Chapter 005: The Substitute x Overbearing CEO x White Moonlight (5)

System: "You slipped up."

Keding: "It's no big deal."

The modeling industry's pursuit of an overly pale and skinny aesthetic had gradually caused Shen Xi to develop digestive issues.

Diversifying his diet is reasonable.

Manager Sun was still reading the PPT script word by word, while Shen Xi opened the food delivery app to find a restaurant that suited his taste.

Cheng Chenyu leaned over his older brother and tugged at Shen Xi's sleeve: "I want some too."

His older brother asked coldly, "Are you very close with him?"

"Just met a new friend, we hit it off." Cheng Chenyu thought his brother found him rude and felt a bit wronged: "I'll transfer the money via WeChat."

Before Cheng Junfeng could stop them, Shen Xi shook his head.

"There are no roasted sweet potatoes here; we need to go somewhere else."

For the next twenty minutes, he kept his gaze level, neither paying attention to the meeting content nor caring about what the Cheng brothers were discussing.

System: "Are you in a trance?"

"No," Keding's eyes were vacant: "That's how college students wait for their meals."

Bored from waiting, the System asked: "Why does this little Cheng only chat with you?"

Keding said: "He has a clear kind of stupidity, and it's obvious he hasn't graduated from college yet."

"This room is full of highly educated elites who practically have 'top-notch talent' tattooed on their foreheads."

"Shen Xi looks good and speaks down-to-earth; it's hard not to like him."

System: "…Your self-awareness is quite clear."

By the time the meeting ended, it was past the end of the workday. Shen Xi briefly greeted the crowd, closed his laptop, and went straight downstairs.

The elevator closed and then opened again, with Cheng Junfeng expressionlessly squeezing in, followed by his tail-wagging younger brother Cheng Chenyu.

Shen Xi, squeezed into the corner of the elevator, was lost in thought and didn't notice them.

Not until the elevator reached the ground floor did he habitually step out, only to have his wrist grabbed by Cheng Junfeng.

"Ride in my car."

Shen Xi said: "Thanks, but I have a subway card."

"Come on, let's go buy roasted sweet potatoes together." Cheng Chenyu said happily: "My brother will treat us! Want to play Monster Hunter after eating?"

Before the young man could react, the elevator reached the basement level, and he was forcibly led to the back seat of a Porsche by Cheng Junfeng, who pushed him inside.

The brothers sat in the front, looking for the nearest roasted sweet potato vendor on the map.

Keding wanted to remind them that the closest stalls were usually near subway entrances, but instead, he yawned silently.

He was too tired and would fall asleep instantly if given a pillow.

The System whispered: "Sleep a bit; it can help you relax in reality too."

"Wake me up when we're almost there." Keding said half-asleep: "Sleeping in dreams seems more efficient; time flows differently."

Even if he slept for ten hours in the book, only ten minutes would pass in reality.

"Yes, it's a secret bug," the System hushed: "Just know it."

Shen Xi fell asleep quietly in the backseat, his breathing becoming longer and deeper.

Cheng Junfeng glanced at him through the rearview mirror, driving silently with his nerves taut.

Even during the engagement party, he hadn't allowed his younger brother to attend, for a simple reason.

Cheng Chenyu was the only one who knew about his deep love for Yan Chun.

The brothers were only three years apart and had always been close, sharing everything.

On the night Yan Chun left for abroad, Cheng Junfeng drank himself to a stomach hemorrhage, and it was Cheng Chenyu who secretly took him to the hospital, keeping the news from the family.

From the beginning, Cheng Junfeng knew his relationship with Shen Xi was destined to be a betrayal and exploitation.

He knew it was purely selfish compensation; he loved Shen Xi, but more for his resemblance to Yan Chun's profile and their similar gentle personalities.

This deception might continue until the engagement, even marriage, until he grew completely tired of it.

But Yan Chun returned, changing everything.

Thus, two people in the story remained in the dark and must never meet.

His younger brother, and the substitute he loved.

Seeing the traffic congestion, Cheng Chenyu lowered his voice and whispered: "Brother, Pure Brother called me after returning home. He said you've made up."

Cheng Junfeng gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Congratulations," his brother sincerely rejoiced: "I never thought this day would come."

"By the way, you seem to know Brother Shen as well, maybe even better than I do." He asked again, "Did you meet through company business?"

Cheng Junfeng fell into silence.

I dated Shen Xi for three years and almost got engaged last month.

We took exams together, graduated together, and planned many futures together.

He is not just a colleague or an ordinary friend.

He was almost your sister-in-law.

Shen Xi had already fallen deeply asleep, lost in his dreams.

The traffic was jammed, not moving an inch.

Although he had given Shen Xi half a million yuan and said they would be strangers, after a long silence, Cheng Junfeng, tormented by guilt, admitted,

"I just broke up with him."

His brother, who had been smiling just moments ago, froze on the spot.

Too much information!

Brother, you, you're abandoning him after having your fun!

You broke up with him and still had the nerve to drag him along to buy roasted sweet potatoes!

Shen Xi woke up when the car stopped, with a red mark on his face from where it had been pressed, his eyes still drowsy and not fully awake.

Cheng Junfeng left him and his brother in the car while he went to buy three roasted sweet potatoes and brought them back.

The young man ate a few bites in a daze before being dropped off at the entrance of his neighborhood.

The CEO played the role of the driver throughout, indifferent to the smell of sweet potatoes in his Porsche.

His brother, who had inadvertently learned this big secret, wanted to say a lot but held back.

Don't ask! Don't ask anything! Just eat!

Cheng Junfeng asked, "Are you very busy with work now?"

"Not really," Shen Xi said, "Thank you. Goodbye."

He walked a few steps away and was called back.

"Shen Xi."

The man's gaze was dark, and after a long pause, he said, "I'm sorry, I never told you about Yan Chun."

I'm sorry, for the past three years, I had ulterior motives.

Shen Xi waved the half-eaten sweet potato in his hand and turned to leave.

The system asked, "Do you mean eating sweet potatoes can erase all grievances?"

"No," Keding said, "My point is, he's nothing."

The subsequent events were not pleasant.

After the engagement party, Yan Chun and Cheng Junfeng fell deeply in love. Shen Xi learned the whole truth from Cheng's younger brother but still managed to deliver the engagement gift to his ex-lover.

In front of Yan Chun, Cheng Junfeng took out the ring he had previously made and placed it on Yan Chun's ring finger.

From the beginning, he only remembered his ex-lover's ring size, and even the letters engraved inside the ring were their surnames.

After that, Shen Xi, as a supporting character, became merely a witness to their romantic love story, driven by the plot towards a shattered life.

Keding had returned all the gifts he had ordered, though there were some handling fees, it was still a partial refund.

But the engagement gift could not be returned and was still sitting on his living room coffee table.

It was a custom-made small blue crystal piano, engraved with their surnames, marking the start of their relationship.

This gift looked tacky, but every line in the design was drawn by Shen Xi himself, filled with affection.

Shen Xi couldn't afford a real crystal piano, so he used most of his savings to have this small ornament made, hoping it would sit on Cheng Junfeng's desk and keep him company day and night.

Keding had fiddled with this little piano several times by the coffee table, unsure what to do with it.

While he was pondering, the system quickly gathered information on Cheng Chenyu.

"Cheng Chenyu, male, 21 years old, studying at Tongji University Medical School, aspiring to be a clinical surgeon, but his family intends to groom him to share his brother's—"

"Tongji? Medicine?"

The system paused, "Yes?"

Keding immediately pulled out his phone and quickly contacted Cheng's younger brother.

Forget love and relationships!! His thesis wasn't even finished!!

Midterm exams were coming up, and he still had many concepts to understand. Wait a moment, oh great scholar!

On the way home, Cheng Chenyu hadn't quite figured out his older brother's feelings toward these two men when his phone vibrated. It was Shen Xi reaching out with a question.

[Xiao Cheng]: Huh?

[Shen Xi]: This is how it is, I want to take the postgraduate entrance exam in a different field.

[Xiao Cheng]: You want to switch majors and study medicine?

[Xiao Cheng]: Don't do it. Most med students end up crazy. Hahaha.

Keding chatted on for a while before suddenly remembering something: "System, if my personality is noticeably different from the original, will it trigger a warning?"

"At least not in this world," the system replied. "Cheng Junfeng has an extremely narcissistic personality. Even with Yan Chun, he doesn’t truly care or pay attention."

Romantic dates and extravagant gifts are just casual gestures for someone wealthy; they don’t put much thought into them.

Keding: "That’s good. Love isn’t worth a thing compared to grades."

Cheng Junfeng drove silently, his peripheral vision constantly on his brother.

The latter was laughing wildly at their WeChat conversation, his mouth almost splitting wide open.

The older brother's cool demeanor couldn’t hold.

"Who are you chatting with?"

Cheng Chenyu blurted out, "Brother Shen."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it, covering his mouth but unable to take it back.

"What are you talking about?"

"… Studying."

Cheng Junfeng said expressionlessly: "That’s a very stupid lie."

Just as they reached a traffic light, Cheng Chenyu held his phone up to him: "I’m not lying. Brother Shen asked me why there’s complete blindness in the affected eye after optic nerve damage."

Cheng Junfeng said he didn’t care, but his eyes glanced over.

Cheng Chenyu scrolled up the conversation, saying: "Look, he’s asking about the clinical diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease symptoms."

Cheng Junfeng forcibly suppressed his curiosity, snorted, and looked away.

But over the next week, he saw his brother constantly on his phone, chatting more frequently.

Even their mother teased that Chen Yu must finally be getting interested in dating.

"No! Mom—I’m studying!"

"Oh, come on, if you’re dating, just admit it. Don’t use studying as an excuse!"

Cheng Junfeng watched all this, and eventually chose a day to talk privately with his younger brother.

"Don’t get too close to Shen Xi."

"Chen Yu, this person is cunning and knows how to play the pity card. Be careful."

Cheng Chenyu exclaimed, "Brother, is he a bad guy?"

Could it be!! Shen Xi is actually stepping out on five people, including my brother!!

Brother Shen, are you that kind of person!

Cheng Junfeng frowned slightly, feeling a lump in his throat.

Actually, I’m the bad one.

After the engagement party, he had no contact with Shen Xi. Seeing Cheng Chenyu chatting happily with Shen Xi now was unsettling.

But the more distant they were, the more he recalled Shen Xi’s past tenderness and charm.

Every time Shen Xi came back from modeling gigs, he would pretend he had been at exhibitions or shopping, but he’d fall asleep in the back seat, looking both tired and soft.

Many such scenes flashed through Cheng Junfeng’s mind, making it hard for him to say anything bad about Shen Xi.

He hadn’t done anything wrong either.

After a moment of silence, Cheng Junfeng said: "He’s good."

His brother tried to understand what was happening, repeating: "So, Brother Shen is good."

"Not at all! Not at all!" Cheng Junfeng suddenly lost his temper, shouting: "In any case, you can’t keep interacting with him, understand!!"

He’s mine! He’s a replacement I discarded! No matter what, you can’t touch him!!

Without waiting for a response, the man stormed off, slamming the door loudly.

Cheng Chenyu blinked, still not quite understanding.

Meanwhile, Keding was studying in Shen Xi’s study room.

The time difference between worlds is definitely a golden finger for a slacker like him to review!

The anatomy professor always sets impossibly difficult questions. If I don’t practice more, I’ll fail for sure!

The system suddenly beeped, saying: "Cheng Junfeng’s defense value increased by ten."

"Huh?"

Keding lifted his head from the thick anatomy book, rubbing his eyes: "Is this some kind of good luck?"

Isn’t your detection mechanism broken?