Save the Young Master’s Love-Brain!
It was an ordinary Saturday.
In the Games Department of the E.V. Group, a low-profile, pitch-black Porsche sat parked in a corner of the CEO’s reserved parking area. Compared to President Shen’s private collection of limited-edition luxury cars, this one appeared quite modest.
However, the executives had been paying close attention lately. Every time they saw that car, they knew Xi Zhiyu was there for serious business. It was rumored that President Shen wanted to gift a multi-million dollar luxury car to his only son who had recently obtained his driver’s license but the young master, being thrifty, had only requested an old sports car that had been gathering dust.
The Omega young master was currently balancing his studies with the family business. Recently, he had independently formed a team to take charge of a high-tech chip holographic game project. Because his father had granted him full authority, Xi Zhiyu acted as if he were at home whenever he visited the company, taking the private elevator and communicating remotely with project employees.
Only the robot with zero emotional intelligence insisted on making its presence known.
At the interactive workstation, Xi Zhiyu was distracted for the umpteenth time by Sesame hovering back and forth, forcing him to look away from the curved display screen.
Yet, the youth remained patient: “Is something wrong?”
The robot, equipped with a high-level chip rare in the world, said nothing. It slid in front of the screen and hijacked its little master’s WeChat. Then, it clicked on the profile picture of a strikingly handsome boy and began typing a line of text in the chat interface.
Xi Zhiyu: “…!”
His expression changed instantly. He lunged forward to press the pause button. If he had been half a second slower, Sesame would have successfully sent the reply for him.
[Yuan-zai: Brother. Are you home yet?]
Scanning the message, Xi Zhiyu’s eyelashes fluttered. His tone was helpless: “Why did you do that?”
The little robot remained silent, merely dodging his gaze as if experiencing a glitch. But Xi Zhiyu knew he couldn’t blame anyone else.
Half a month ago, sensing a problem with his own body and fearing the high-intelligence robot would report back to his parents, Xi Zhiyu had secretly implemented a remedy. Using his self-taught coding skills, he hacked into the system and modified the permissions. Since then, the already taciturn Sesame had stopped snitching, but it had grown increasingly strange like right now, insisting on replying to messages for him.
“Don’t do that again, okay?”
Xi Zhiyu used a tone as if coaxing a child, but the robot turned a deaf ear. Bubble-like gurgling sounds popped up on its electronic screen to express its protest.
Xi Zhiyu: “…”
He sighed. Having finished researching the game data, he planned to take Sesame home to repair the program.
On the way back, he happened to miss a call invitation from his Alpha father. Fortunately, his father and “Papa” knew his habits and didn’t want to disturb him, leaving a voice message instead. They were busy with a project at an overseas branch; their relationship was as inseparable as glue. They expressed concern for their son and informed him they would return to the country next month.
“I heard our baby’s little childhood sweetheart has also transferred to South No. 1 High School?”
Without warning, the smiling voice of the Omega President of the top-tier conglomerate came through. He was the kind of cheerful parent who loved to tease his son. In a joking tone, he mentioned the “arranged marriage” set between him and Jin Yanlin back when the two little ones were in the island hospital.
Xi Zhiyu had just stopped the car. It felt as if a butterfly had been born beneath his ribs, fluttering its wings and slamming into his heart. He and Sesame sat upright, listening at that moment, it was hard to tell which one was the robot.
His father, Xi Yan, who was of a more reserved temperament and understood that a teenager might be thin-skinned, added that he and Xie Su had privately regarded the agreement as a joke and hadn’t taken it seriously.
Shen Jiyu countered: “How can it not be real?” “Fine,” Xi Yan said dotingly. “We should still listen to the children’s opinions.”
The subsequent voice messages turned into sweet, casual chatter between the parents.
Xi Zhiyu listened quietly, his eyes inadvertently catching sight of the white mailbox in the yard he had seen on the surveillance footage. In that instant, he seemed to see two versions of Xie : the mischievous, chubby little boy from childhood and the tall Alpha youth he had become.
Does he really like me?
Since he was old enough to understand, Xi Zhiyu had known about this arranged marriage. He knew even better that his nickname “Sesame Bun” came first, and only then was Xie called “Little Peanut.” Little Xie used to follow behind him, chin tucked, calling himself a “Little Knight” protecting him.
Does he really like me? Or is he just confusing his feelings because of the elders’ jokes? And… did he really activate the ‘Partner Protection’ special feature for me?
Xi Zhiyu felt like a kite with a broken string. Staring at the new bracelet on his wrist, a tide of unceasing questions flooded his mind. In the clearing sky after the rain, sunlight poured through the car window, seemingly scalding the tips of his ears red. His heartbeat was deafening.
Tangled in a million questions, Xi Zhiyu wasn’t unwilling to reply; he truly just didn’t know how to respond.
Since the day of the physical exam.
Due to a business magazine shoot, Xie had been busy all weekend. It wasn’t until a weekday evening, after shaking off two waves of sasaeng fans on the way back from the airport, that he finally returned home.
As he changed his shoes at the entrance, he looked up to see a robot dressed up like a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling) sliding toward him to welcome him.
“Young Master, thank you for your hard work~”
Usually, when harassed by sasaengs, Xie would just have a sour face and never pay attention to the robot’s outfits. But now, he paused and gave a rare compliment: “New skin looks good.”
Peanut’s electronic eyes lit up. It stood tall and proud: “Thank you, Young Master! You have great taste!”
After spinning twice in place, it continued: “By the way, Young Master, Aaron sent a video call half an hour ago. Probably asking about saving that new drama again. Should I call him back?”
A few days ago, the third male lead in the drama Aaron was filming had to drop out due to health reasons, causing production to stall. The director’s team wanted to recast, but that actor was a high-traffic idol whose fans were notoriously aggressive, insisting their “oppa” was a victim of capital interests.
A wave of negative public opinion hit the web, causing an overwhelming impact on this S+-tier immortal cultivation (xianxia) drama. No actor was willing to touch this “hot potato.”
Strangely, rumors began circulating online: The director of Legend of the Returning Crane was secretly contacting Aaron’s friend, Xie!
The reason was simple. The previous Weibo misunderstanding between Xie and Fei Bo’an had led many to believe they were laying the groundwork for a joint project. Logically, given Xie’s status and career path, he had nothing to do with a show like Returning Crane. But he was famously straightforward and loyal, and he never followed the rules when picking scripts.
If he chose to step in as a “savior,” the idol’s fans wouldn’t dare provoke him, and it would naturally repair the reputation of Aaron’s new show. But no one knew the most attractive reason for Xie was that the media narrative of him “saving the day” would effectively kill the rumors of a scandal between him and Fei Bo’an.
Because he took so long to answer, the robot kept spinning and making strange “oi oi” noises. It asked dizzily, “Is the Young Master not going to reply to Aaron?”
“I will.” Xie took off his coat, hanging it casually on the European-style floor rack, a smirk playing on his lips. “I’ll talk work after I’ve eaten.”
That night.
The robot even hand-fed him so that Xie could sit at the table and seriously study the script for the xianxia drama.
He eventually got on the phone with Aaron: “The script is okay. I can help out.”
The little zongzi robot’s body tilted as Fei Bo’an’s excited voice came through: “Great! Then come to Haishi to find me tomorrow, let’s talk in person?”
Xie: “Fine.”
Fei Bo’an: “…” “Wait, you agreed way too fast, didn’t you?”
Ever since transferring back to Nancheng, Xie wanted nothing more than to stay at school and see his beloved “Brother” every day. As Xie’s best friend, Fei Bo’an knew he had been busy with shoots and online classes. He thought that once Xie finally had free time, the Omega brother would be his first priority.
Xie lowered his head and twirled an electronic pen, his eyes fixed on the screen, though he could no longer process the lines: “There’s a bit of a snag between me and my brother.”
Fei Bo’an: “?”
Xie leaned back and looked at the ceiling, letting out a breath: “I think he knows I like him.”
Fei Bo’an: “?!!”
The two had different acting paths. Fei Bo’an was the type who looked careless but was actually sensitive, playing the “pretty boy” romantic roles; he had some credibility in judging emotional matters. Xie, on the other hand, was a hardcore action star and, in reality, a total “Bronze-tier” novice when it came to romance.
Therefore, when facing an emotional dilemma, Xie didn’t hesitate to consult his “military strategist,” mentioning that his brother hadn’t replied to his messages.
“Is he avoiding me?” Xie’s rare sensitivity was entirely invested in this secret crush. He poked the tip of his pen as if carving words into his heart. “Maybe I made it too obvious and he hates me now.”
Fei Bo’an was shocked: “How can your brain jump to such conclusions the moment it concerns feelings?”
Xie: “Did I?”
Fei Bo’an couldn’t quite say, but offered an idea: “Why don’t you try inviting him to Haishi for a couple of days? I’ll check out the vibe between you two on-site.”
Xie was silent for a moment, then flatly refused: “No.”
He took the gender distinctions of Alpha and Omega very seriously, almost pathologically so. How could a teenage “lonely Alpha” invite a “solitary Omega” on a long-distance trip? Moreover, Haishi was too high-profile; he was terrified of exposing his childhood sweetheart to the media.
Fei Bo’an thought for a moment and came up with a better opportunity. “How about I let my cousin try?”
That Alpha girl had recently celebrated her birthday. Her billionaire mother had gifted her a luxury yacht and an island hotel. She was planning a group trip during the upcoming long weekend.
The environment and atmosphere sounded good, but because it involved a group of strangers, Xie’s instinct was to decline. However, Fei Bo’an mentioned the island was still in a “closed” state and not open to outside tourists making it a perfect “dating sanctuary” for a top teen star and his crush.
Not only that. There was a forest-themed “Oxygen Bar” park on the island, the design of which was based on the national-level game they all played as children, Forest Party. It was rumored that a team from E.V. Group’s game department was researching a spin-off game; Xi Zhiyu might be very interested.
Fei Bo’an: “Didn’t you and that brother both play Forest Party? Even elementary schoolers don’t play that anymore, yet you, a famous actor, go online to wander around whenever you’re free.”
This was Xie’s little secret. Being called out on it made him feel inexplicably embarrassed. He muttered, “My brother’s little wooden house was getting dusty. It needed cleaning.”
Fei Bo’an couldn’t even be bothered to point out that he did much more than “clean the house” he often soaked in the game, sending “Good morning,” “Good afternoon,” and “Good night, Brother Zhiyu” to the little character on the screen.
“Then I’ll really have my cousin ask,” Fei Bo’an said, knowing the plan was set. He snapped his fingers. “I’ll get back to you as soon as there’s news.”
Xie replied coldly, “Mm. Thanks.”
The Alpha youth didn’t hold much hope in his heart. After all, his crush preferred solitude and studying. But there was an exception to everything; if he could just get his brother to go on a trip, a confession would follow naturally.
He buried his head on the desk, rolling it back and forth, making strange little whimpering sounds like a puppy.
Peanut, lurking nearby: “?”
The robot was up to no good either. It secretly recorded a video and sent it to its robot friend, Sesame.
It added a caption: [Sesame, if your young master doesn’t hurry up and agree to be with ours, our young master is going to lose his mind from ‘Love-Brain’!]