Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Previously, Su Ximu knew about the videotape incident, but it didn't weigh heavily on his mind.

But now...

He stared blankly at the wall ahead, lost in thought. A sudden, overwhelming sense of morality began to press down on him, slowly bending the back he had just straightened in a moment of clarity.

Just then, a knock came at his bedroom door.

“Xiao Xi, can Big Brother come in? You haven’t eaten lunch yet.” Su Xuanxiao’s voice came from outside the door, indicating that he wasn't going back on his word, even though it hadn't been long before he came to 'bother' his clearly troubled younger brother.

Su Ximu got up and opened the door.

He saw Big Brother standing there, followed by Uncle Li, the butler, who was holding a tray with neatly arranged, delicious-looking food.

Just as he was about to thank them, Big Brother handed him a phone.

Seeing Xiao Xi’s puzzled expression, Su Xuanxiao explained, “It’s your second brother on the line. He wants to talk to you.”

Second brother?!

The creditor of the 536,227,253 debt?

Su Ximu sucked in a breath but knew that avoiding the issue wouldn’t solve anything.

Clenching his fists, the young man closed his eyes and bravely took the phone from his Big Brother.

In the past month since arriving, he had never actually seen or spoken to his second brother.

As for the memories from before, although his second brother appeared in them, Su Ximu had only glanced at those memories during his first few days here and hadn’t revisited them since.

Now, trying to recall them again, he realized that even though the memories were clear, his impression of his second brother was strangely vague.

The same went for his Big Brother and Third Brother.

It still felt as though he had merely watched an exceptionally clear, feature-length film—without any real sense of immersion.

But he wisely decided not to mention this to his Big Brother or Third Brother, worried it might hurt their feelings.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Su Ximu pressed the phone to his ear, ready to greet his second brother. But before he could speak, a voice came from the other end.

“Xiao Xi?”

“Here!” The morality-burdened young man answered automatically.

Then, he heard a soft chuckle from the other end of the line.

It was just a light laugh, as if Su Juzi on the other end didn’t want to make him anxious for too long.

He said, “Xiao Xi, Big Brother told me about what happened today, and Third Brother also mentioned the videotape incident.”

“It has nothing to do with you.”

“It has nothing to do with me?” Almost before Su Ximu’s anxiety could spike, he heard his second brother’s words.

“Mm. What I had at home was a backup of the videotape, and it wasn’t you who damaged the backup. I checked the surveillance footage—Jiang Lou had been drinking that night too. He was the one who damaged the backup, but he thought it was you.”

Su Xuanxiao, standing nearby, nodded and added, “That night, he also damaged some of my collectibles. But because he sobered up quickly and didn’t remember what happened after he got drunk, he pinned the blame on you, Xiao Xi.”

Initially, they had crafted a drunken script for him, making him the scapegoat for everything.

Now, it was time for Jiang Lou to take the blame himself.

After hearing the explanations from his Big Brother and second brother, Su Ximu first felt relieved for himself, then reacted by worrying for his Third Brother.

If Second Brother’s videotape was worth over 500 million, Big Brother’s collectibles probably cost a lot too.

Could Third Brother really handle such a massive debt?

“He can.” Su Xuanxiao’s tone carried the finality of a patriarch in a powerful family.

In that moment, Su Ximu realized something new about his Third Brother’s personal wealth.

The implication was that even if he had really damaged the videotape, it wouldn’t have mattered.

Su Ximu felt that Second Brother’s voice had a familiar, comforting warmth to it—one that made him want to draw closer and trust him.

It was also exceptionally pleasant to listen to, carrying a gentle, indulgent tone he had never encountered in his first seventeen years, along with an alluring and captivating quality that made his ears tingle slightly.

Of course, it might also be because that voice had just absolved him of a 536,227,253 debt.

Perhaps this was what people meant by “music to the ears.”

Su Ximu thought to himself.

***

Su Juzi had learned from past experiences and acted quickly this time.

Freed from the heavy burden of morality, Su Ximu turned his attention to the meal before him. Though he still felt somewhat unsure about how to interact with his family, at least he wasn’t weighed down by an enormous debt, and he could eat without losing his appetite.

The food Uncle Li had brought consisted of all his favorites, including large red-braised prawns that looked bigger than his palm.

The drink was freshly squeezed orange juice, with a small flower clipped to the rim of the glass as a garnish.

Two large prawns, some vegetables, a small bowl of rice, and a few sips of juice—with no one else around, the young man contentedly closed his eyes.

After a while, he got up and took the tray downstairs.

He had intended to wash the dishes himself, but Uncle Li, who happened to be downstairs, immediately took the tray from him.

When Su Ximu insisted that he could wash the dishes himself, the butler’s expression looked as though he had suffered a great blow.

He had no choice but to hand the tray back to Uncle Li.

After returning to his bedroom, Su Ximu sat on the spacious sofa, his clear eyes gradually growing moist.

When he was younger, whenever he encountered emotions that were hard to handle, he would choose to sleep.

For him, sleeping had always felt like a safe space.

His emotions would gradually sort themselves out during long stretches of sleep.

But as he grew older, he stopped relying on this method.

After all, sleeping too much wasn’t healthy.

This time, however, perhaps because the emotional impact had been particularly strong, or maybe because he was sleepy after the meal, he decided to curl up on the sofa with a cushion and drift off to sleep—still in his regular clothes, since he hadn’t yet showered or changed into pajamas.

He fell asleep almost the moment he closed his eyes.

In the deep, sweet slumber, his world began to transform gradually.

Su Ximu clearly knew that he must be dreaming again.

This time, it was a new type of dream he'd never had before.

He dreamed that he had become a very young child again, holding a stone and earnestly writing characters on the gray ground.

After writing for a while, he finally finished two characters and said to an older child with an unclear face squatting beside him, "This is 'Xuan'."

Then, pointing with his slightly dirty little finger, he added, "This is 'Xiao'."

The older child beside him nodded seriously, staring at the two characters on the ground with such focus as if trying to etch them into his mind.

"This is 'Ju' and 'Zi'."

"This is 'Jiang' and 'Lou'."

...

By the time night had fallen, Su Ximu, who had slept for a full seven or eight hours, even missed dinner.

When the teenager on the sofa opened his eyes, his first reaction was to find paper and a pen from the drawer and start writing on the blank sheet.

After a while, the teenager, with a trace of sleepiness still in his eyes, raised the paper in his hand with mixed emotions.

Xuan Xiao

Ju Zi

Jiang Lou

What a bunch of scribbles.

Xuan Xiao is Xuan?

Ju Zi is??

Jiang Lou is? Mi

Why was his younger self in the dream so confident while writing? He even taught other children how to write.

Indeed, as people grow up, sometimes they can no longer empathize with their younger selves.

Just then, knock, knock, knock—the door sounded.

This time, it was Third Brother’s voice calling him for dinner.

Su Ximu casually put down the paper, got up, and went to open the door.

Su Jianglou felt that after an afternoon of reflection, he could probably control his emotions for a while.

So this time, he not only brought dinner for Xi Bao but also brought his own portion, planning to eat with Xi Bao.

Over the past few days, due to his emotional control issues, Su Jianglou felt he hadn’t been attentive enough to Xi Bao.

Xi Bao, unaware of the reason, might even think Third Brother didn’t care about him.

After Su Ximu opened the door and saw the large tray in Third Brother’s hands, he immediately stepped aside to let him into the bedroom.

Then he quickly walked over to the coffee table and pushed the clutter on it to the other side.

Su Jianglou set down the tray in his hands. Su Ximu glanced at it and noticed that almost every item was something he loved eating at the employee cafeteria in the Tourism Park.

In an instant, Su Ximu felt as if he had figured something out.

He asked, "Third Brother, when I worked at the Tourism Park, did you prepare the employee boxed meals for me?"

Su Jianglou paused for a moment before remembering, "Oh, the employees at the Tourism Park have pretty particular tastes. I was afraid you wouldn’t be used to their food. Was it tasty?"

At that moment, Su Jianglou also had a realization.

He had thought Xiao Mu was just Xiao Mu, yet he couldn't help but treat him well.

Lately, for some reason, he felt like his emotions had become much more intense.

Su Ximu blinked, holding back the warm feeling in his eyes, and said in a slightly louder voice, "Yeah! It was the best boxed meal I’ve ever had!"

Su Jianglou, however, pulled him into a hug. "I won’t let Xi Bao eat boxed meals anymore."

Why?

He thought the boxed meal was delicious.

At the Wang family mansion, he never missed a single meal.

Su Ximu was puzzled.

Just then, Su Jianglou’s line of sight was no longer blocked, and he noticed something else on the coffee table.

He released the boy in his arms, stretched out his long arm, and picked up the paper with writing on it.

Rather than characters, it looked more like the scribbles of a child who had just started learning to write, with missing strokes and crooked lines.

But Su Jianglou’s eyes grew warm as he looked at it. Had Xi Bao remembered something?

He traced the two "characters" that should be read as "Jiang Lou" over and over again.

Until he was startled by a voice beside his ear.

"Third Brother, are you wearing colored contacts?"

Dark golden—very beautiful.

Su Jianglou snapped back to reality upon hearing this, listening to the sound of blood rushing in his ears. He finally realized he couldn’t afford to indulge in this moment with Xi Bao any longer.

His time to enter the instance had to be moved up.

Fearing he might lose control and scare his long-lost precious younger brother, Su Jianglou’s actions became hurried.

"Xi Bao, something urgent just came up on my end. Rest well tonight."

"Oh, and can I have this piece of paper?"

After receiving an affirmative answer, Su Jianglou stood up and left in a hurry.

Su Ximu watched him go, feeling puzzled. Was Third Brother... having diarrhea?

***

Almost the moment he stepped into his room, Su Jianglou covered his face, wisps of black mist seeping out from between his fingers.

Realizing he was losing his mind, he figured there was no time like the present. He pulled an ancient bronze key from his pocket and gripped it tightly.

His second brother's instance was heavily guarded; no one had ever sneaked in. The instance key he had taken could only be used once.

The black mist enveloped the key, and as the mist corroded it, Su Jianglou finally got his wish and vanished from the spot.

In another bedroom

After seeing his third brother off, Su Ximu, who had sat back down to eat, picked up his spoon and opened his mouth.

The next second, with a clatter, the spoon fell to the floor, and he too vanished from the room.