Chapter 15 The True Young Master.

Chapter 15: The True Young Master

Han Xiaoli was an anti-fan of Yu Xin.

However, her animosity wasn't deeply personal; like many netizens, she simply joined the trend of ridiculing the useless imposter who had usurped another's place.

She inherently disdained people like Yu Xin. Not only had he occupied the identity of a wealthy family's young master for eighteen years, but he showed neither remorse nor gratitude. After the true young master returned, Yu Xin even had the audacity to constantly target him and create obstacles, though his methods were laughably foolish.

This was what Han Xiaoli found most contemptible about Yu Xin. Despite having lived as a young master for nearly eighteen years and enjoying resources most people could only dream of, he possessed no redeeming qualities whatsoever—he was nothing but a shallow, worthless individual.

In his teenage years, Yu Xin might have been described as a "pretty face with no substance" due to his looks. But later, for some unknown reason, his aesthetic sense took a bizarre turn, completely obscuring his good looks. Over time, people forgot he even had a handsome face.

In stark contrast, the true young master, despite growing up in the slums, remained pure and kind-hearted. Moreover, he was highly capable and performed exceptionally well after enrolling in the Imperial Star First Academy. He was the complete antithesis of Yu Xin.

Upon returning to his wealthy family, the true young master opened a social media account, occasionally sharing glimpses of his serene, privileged life. Unlike other affluent second-generation heirs who flaunted their latest luxury aircraft or private planet vacations, he cultivated an image of diligence and positivity. He frequently shared charity-related content, and his kindness and hard work made him stand out. He quickly amassed a considerable following.

Han Xiaoli had followed him for a while. As a high school student with a strong sense of justice, she detested ungrateful individuals like Yu Xin and felt deep affection and sympathy for the true young master, who, despite being deprived of eighteen years of his rightful life, still pleaded on Yu Xin's behalf.

When school let out early for the day, Han Xiaoli went straight home and immersed herself in her gaming pod, playing for hours on end.

When she finally emerged, she noticed her best friend had sent her a flood of messages:

"Xiaoli!! Have you seen this?!"

"OMG, I never expected Yu Xin to be like this!!"

Attached was a long link. Just as Han Xiaoli was about to click it, her mother called her for dinner. Assuming it was just another story about Yu Xin doing something stupid, she wasn't particularly interested. She closed her terminal and went to eat.

After dinner, however, she found her friend's messages had completely taken over her screen:

"You have to watch this!! It's mind-blowing!"

"How can someone change so much? Or has Yu Xin been hiding his true self all along?"

"Have you finished watching? Why aren't you saying anything?"

"Hello? Han Xiaoli?"

"Are you too shocked to speak...?"

"Are you okay?"

Han Xiaoli was baffled. Her friend had always disliked Yu Xin as much as she did, and the two often mocked his ridiculous antics. Why had her friend's attitude changed so drastically?

What had happened?

She scrolled up and clicked the link her friend had sent. A holographic projection unfolded before her, showing a wilderness setting...

Han Xiaoli was glued to the screen for over an hour.

Even after the video ended, she was too stunned to snap out of it. Now she understood why her friend was so excited.

She had so much to say, but all her thoughts condensed into a single, universal phrase in the message box: "Holy crap!!"

Was the person in the video really the Yu Xin she knew?

That confident, calm, and effortlessly capable young man was nothing like the useless, shallow person she remembered!

Moreover, his ability to subtly shut down critics while remaining unassuming was exactly the kind of character archetype that appealed to Han Xiaoli, a deep-seated fantasy enthusiast who admired strength and resilience.

Overwhelmed with excitement and mixed emotions, Han Xiaoli and her friend exchanged a barrage of excited messages. This was like a dramatic comeback straight out of a comic book—no, even better, because it was happening in real life!

After chatting for a while, her friend suddenly said solemnly, "Xiaoli, I might have to betray our alliance."

"From today on, I'm a dedicated fan of Yu Xin. You can keep criticizing him in front of me, but I'll defend him to the end."

Han Xiaoli: ...

After today, she wouldn't be mocking Yu Xin either!

After ending the conversation with her friend, Han Xiaoli couldn't resist searching for Yu Xin's solo clips from *Wilderness Adventure* and watching them from the beginning. The more she watched, the more captivated she became. It was late at night when her mother finally urged her to sleep, but even in bed, Yu Xin's every smile and expression lingered in her mind.

Ugh! What kind of spell had this man cast on her? It seemed she had become a fan of Yu Xin too!

****

As the night passed, the buzz around Yu Xin and *Wilderness Adventure* didn't die down—instead, it grew even stronger.

The sudden turn of events was utterly unexpected, making it the most dramatic reversal of the year, even more thrilling than many TV shows.

Although there were still many seemingly illogical aspects—such as why Yu Xin, who had lived as a young master for so long, possessed such advanced wilderness survival skills and culinary expertise—imaginative netizens had already concocted their own explanations.

On a certain forum on the Star Network:

Title: Am I the only one who finds this situation with Yu Xin strange?

The original post read: *I didn't think much of it at first, but when I saw how skilled Yu Xin was at cooking, it felt off. I'm from an ordinary family on a peripheral planet, and as someone with siblings, I've never even stepped into a kitchen. Yu Xin lived a life of luxury for eighteen years—how is he such a good cook?*

The topic of Yu Xin was trending everywhere, and this post quickly garnered numerous replies:

1L: *I feel the same way. Unless your family is so poor you can't even afford a household robot, who cooks these days?*

2L: *Yikes, I was too busy admiring Yu Xin's cooking to think about it, but now that you mention it, it is weird.*

3L: *Let's not get conspiratorial... Maybe cooking is just his hobby?*

4L: *Cooking could be a hobby, but that's not the only strange thing. After Yu Xin was kicked out of the Yu family, they seemed to completely cut ties with him...*

5L: *Well, he was a fake young master, and he did try to harm the true young master. Isn't it normal for the Yu family to distance themselves? Even though I have a soft spot for Yu Xin now, we shouldn't be blindly biased in his favor.*

6L: *I don't think it's normal. Imagine raising a child for eighteen years—from infancy to adulthood—even if they're not biologically related, wouldn't you still have feelings for them? The Yu family's attitude is indeed questionable.*

7L: *And although Yu Xin did some questionable things, none of them actually caused real harm to the true young master. Not saying he's innocent, just stating the facts.*

8L: *I have some insider info: I heard the Yu family revoked Yu Xin's identity ID after kicking him out. He lost his status as an official resident of the Imperial Star, and even his student records were erased. After leaving the Yu family, he had to rent a place and work illegally—he was in a really bad situation. That's probably why he agreed to join Wilderness Adventure.*

9L: *Wait, is that true??*

10L: *If it is, the Yu family went too far. Were they determined to force him out of the Imperial Star??*

11L: *I doubt it. What would the Yu family gain from that? They raised him as their own for so long—they couldn't be that heartless.*

12L: *Exactly. There's no evidence for these claims—anyone could make them up.*

13L: *I'm the one who posted #8. I heard it from someone else, and I swear I'm not making it up. Whether you believe it or not is up to you.*

14L: *I heard the Yu family gave him a large sum of money when he left. They couldn't have been that ruthless, right?*

15L: *That's naive. First, we don't know how much money it was. Second, for a family like the Yus, money is the least of their concerns. Throwing a small amount of money to silence critics and burnish their reputation is a smart move. Why wouldn't they?*

16L: *If the Yu family really did this, aren't they afraid Yu Xin would expose everything on the StarNet?*

17L: *Heh, with the image Yu Xin used to have, if he hadn't turned things around on the variety show, who would believe him even if he spoke up? Everyone would just think he was spouting nonsense to smear the Yu family.*

18L: *Yikes, thinking about it this way is really unsettling… the more you think about it, the creepier it gets.*

19L: *But why would the Yu family do this? No one hates Yu Xin, it doesn’t make sense.*

20L: *Well, who says no one hates him? I think someone probably isn’t as magnanimous as they appear…*

21L: *Someone?? You can’t mean the real young master Yu Ning, can you? He’s so kind—how could he hate Yu Xin? Didn’t they say he even pleaded for Yu Xin?*

22L: *Exactly, can we not drag Yu Ning into this? Spreading rumors is illegal, you know!!*

23L: *LOL, kind? You mean the kind where he just pays lip service by pleading for Yu Xin without it actually helping? If he were truly kind, why hasn’t he actually done anything for Yu Xin?*

24L: *Upstairs, if you were in Yu Ning’s position, could you be that magnanimous? That would be called being a saint. Yu Ning has already done pretty well, okay?*

25L: *Not forcing Yu Ning to forgive him, just can’t stand him using this to flaunt how kind he is, thank you.*

……

Yu Ning’s fans were incredibly combative, and the supporters of Yu Xin among the casual viewers weren’t willing to back down either. The two sides went back and forth, arguing, and the post quickly became hot.

However, it wasn’t long before the post could no longer be replied to.

"Moderator Notice: This post has been banned by the website."

All posts on the StarNet forum were under real-name registration, and to report or delete a post, one had to verify their identity. Soon, a bunch of new posts popped up:

"?? Who just used their verified ID to delete the post?"

"LOL, I won’t say who, but do they really think we can’t guess?"

"Tch, now I believe there's definitely something fishy. Why delete the post if you’re not guilty?"

At the same time, in the Yu family mansion on the Imperial Star.

In a large, sun-facing bedroom on the second floor, a young man around twenty years old x-ed out the successfully reported submission interface.

He was somewhat delicate-looking, falling into the category of good-looking, and the well-tailored, expensive clothes he wore added to his appeal.

But his fair, petite face was slightly twisted at the moment, ruining his original beauty. This expression was out of place with his innocent, delicate appearance, giving him an indescribably strange vibe.

This person was the "cuckoo" that Yu Xin had displaced—the true young master of the Yu family who had been lost for over a decade, Yu Ning.

But at this moment, he wasn’t as serene as the rumors suggested. Instead, he was pacing anxiously around his bedroom while his personal terminal rapidly scrolled through various messages, all of them about Yu Xin.

Yu Ning couldn’t stop himself from looking at those messages. He saw netizens praising Yu Xin in creative ways, and though there were occasionally a few critical comments, they were quickly rebutted by others.

The more he read, the more twisted his expression became. In the end, he even picked up a water glass nearby and hurled it fiercely at the projection.

Yu Xin!!

Why does he always haunt me? Clearly, he’s been suppressed to this extent, yet he can still make a comeback!

When did he learn all those things? How much has he been hiding!

Does he know…

The glass passed through the virtual projection and smashed onto the floor with a loud crash, splashing water everywhere.

Someone outside happened to hear it and, thinking something had happened, came over to knock on the door and ask: "Xiao Ning? What’s going on in there?"

Yu Ning recognized it as Mrs. Yu’s voice. He quickly cleared his throat and switched to his most obedient tone: "It’s nothing, Mom. I accidentally broke a glass."

The woman’s voice sounded slightly displeased: "You should be more careful. Don’t be so clumsy. If you act like this outside, people will laugh at our family."

Yu Ning’s expression shifted slightly, his pinky trembling subtly, but his voice remained utterly obedient: "I know, Mom. I’ll be careful."

The woman’s footsteps faded away, and Yu Ning took a moment to calm himself again before sitting on the bed and turning off the projection that had been so grating to him.

But the unease of things slipping out of his control continued to torment him, refusing to settle for a long time.

Author's Note:

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I’ve been really busy these past few days, sorry everyone.