“Song Song, how do you do this problem? Teach me, please.”
“Song~ I don’t get this one either.”
During the two self-study periods this morning, Song was working through problems while Tingsi Shen and Jingchu Xie kept pestering him with questions. He didn’t mind the noise much, but he noticed the look in Bei-huai Lu’s eyes was a bit off.
After explaining the problems to the other two, he proactively leaned toward Lu and whispered, “Bei-huai, is there anything you’re stuck on?”
Lu was already annoyed by the other two constantly turning around, which interfered with his work. Seeing that Song didn’t seem the least bit impatient with them made him even more irritable.
Then Song leaned in close.
He looked at the pretty, well-behaved face right in front of him. Song’s eyes were clear and full of inquiry, as if he truly hoped Lu would ask him something. Lu silently shifted his gaze and looked down; the nib of his pen paused on the paper, letting a small blot of ink soak in.
“No need, Young Master. I won’t waste your time; those two haven’t even looked at their books.”
Shen and Xie, who were suddenly called out: “…”
“Well, if you need anything, just ask. I can help.” Seeing that Lu’s mood seemed low again, Song leaned in closer and whispered out of concern: “Don’t be shy. If it’s too much here, I can teach you at home.”
The whispered words fell on Lu’s ear like a soft feather, brushing against his heart and causing a faint numbness. It created a strange, inexplicable conflict with the hatred he had stored up for years.
Lu’s hand tightened abruptly around his pen.
“Oh, this is so heavy! Can anyone help me?”
Song saw a female classmate at the door wobbling under a stack of books. He stood up immediately. Seeing Lu start to get up too, Song said, “Your hand is injured, don’t move,” and walked over quickly to help her catch the books before they hit the floor.
“Thank you, Young Master Song.” The girl was a bit surprised that Song would lend a hand.
Song helped her place the books on a nearby cabinet. Hearing her thanks, he smiled gently. “Don’t mention it. We’re classmates; it’s normal to help each other out.”
The girl blushed at Song’s smile, thinking about the rumors she had been following lately.
Song: “?”
The girl said nothing more and went back to her seat, whispering with the girl next to her. The two of them began giggling behind their hands.
Song was confused, but his eyes accidentally met a pair of dark, brooding eyes.
It was Lu.
Song suddenly felt a chill down his spine. What? What now! Why is he staring at me like that? I was just being helpful!!
After sitting back down, he felt a poke on his arm. It was Shen.
“Song Song, why have you been smiling so much lately?” Shen was sitting sideways with his long legs in the aisle, leaning forward toward Song. His gaze lingered on Song’s face. “You used to hate smiling.”
Song’s heart skipped a beat. Darn, did he notice something? He didn’t think he was smiling that much. He instinctively glanced at Lu, only to find Lu was also watching him.
“…”
He cleared his throat nervously. “So… is that good or bad?”
What kind of weirdo counts how many times someone smiles in a day?
“Good, of course.” Xie, sitting in the front row, also turned around. He propped his arm on Song’s desk and leaned in slightly, grinning. “You look really cute when you smile. Ming Zhou took the day off today, so he’s missing out. His loss.”
“Are you thinking about dating?” Shen asked.
Song: “…Haven’t you heard? A smile makes you ten years younger.”
Xie and Shen looked at each other and couldn’t help laughing, both saying something along the lines of “Why are you so cute?”
Song felt a gaze like a needle from the side. He carefully looked over and found Lu staring at him gloomily, his expression like a lonely, abandoned dog in a village.
A chill ran down his back. He secretly poked Lu’s finger and leaned in quickly to say: “You’re cute too.”
Lu was caught off guard: “…”
After saying that, Song tapped Shen with his pen cap: “You’re cute.” Then he looked at Xie: “You’re cute too if you talk a bit quieter.”
One bowl of water kept level. This should be right, right?
Seeing this scene, the girls in the back giggled again, their “auntie smiles” reaching their temples. They tried to hold it in but couldn’t, so they just pinched each other’s arms.
Everyone was smiling except for one person whose heart was heavy. The marks Lu left on his scratch paper were messy and chaotic.
Smile? What’s there to smile about?
He smiles like that at everyone.
After the afternoon Calculus class, Song was called to the teachers’ office by Mr. Zhang. When he finally came out, he found Lu standing in a nearby corner, his back to the office, making a phone call.
His tall silhouette looked lonely and despondent, his aura heavy. It was unclear what was wrong.
“Okay, I will pay the fees as soon as possible.” Lu hung up the phone. When he turned around and saw Song staring at him anxiously, he froze for a moment, and the gloom in his eyes instantly vanished.
“Are you unhappy?”
Song sensed that Lu’s mood wasn’t right; he had been very down these past few days. He had just heard something about “paying fees as soon as possible.” Could it be his hospitalized father?
“I need to take the afternoon off to go to the hospital,” Lu said tonelessly, showing no emotion. “To see my father.”
“I’ll go with you.” Song reached out and grabbed Lu’s arm.
He thought to himself: He’s finally willing to talk about it. He had been worried that prying into Lu’s privacy would make him uncomfortable. Right now, the most important thing was to get “Qie Song” to recognize his own father and get Lu to return to his real family.
That was the only way to stop Lu from suffering more.
No matter how much he tried to make up for the original “Qie Song’s” bullying, honestly, it would remain a lifelong shadow for Lu. Bullying is a terrible thing; it’s a psychological trauma that isn’t easily healed by “compensation.”
Lu met Song’s serious, worried gaze. He was silent for a moment before speaking. “Why have you been so good to me lately?”
“Because I was bad to you before, and I want to make it up to you,” Song answered honestly.
A ripple of emotion appeared in Lu’s eyes. “Just for that reason?”
Song blinked. Why else? “Well, I also want to care about you more. Is that not allowed?”
“Thank you,” Lu nodded.
Song: “…” What a half-hearted thank you.
So, in order to accompany Lu to the hospital, Song pretended to go to the bathroom. Sitting on the toilet, he called his father, briefly explained the situation, and requested help with Lu’s father’s medical bills.
“Dad, I promise you, I’ll get into at least one Ivy League university. Can you please help Bei-huai Lu’s father?”
He knew that if this were the part of the story after the identity swap was revealed, the biological father of “Qie Song” would likely be facing prison time. Swapping children of rich and poor families was a serious crime.
But right now, he had to help.
The other end of the line was silent for a while. “Son, I respect your ambition, but how are you going to convince me?”
Song brainstormed. He had heard so many crazy plots from his sister’s novels; he had to have one idea he could use. He thought of a way.
This was a massive gamble.
“Dad, if you help Bei-huai Lu and I still don’t get into an Ivy League, then you can just arrange a marriage for me.”
Silence again. Then: “Son, why are you suddenly so concerned about Bei-huai? Did you find your conscience?”
Song: “…” Ouch, too real. “Dad, don’t worry about that. Do we have a bet or not?”
“Do you even know what illness Bei-huai’s father has or how much the treatment costs?”
Song frowned at his father’s tone. How would he know? He didn’t dare ask Lu. Lu was like a ghost after school and usually came home very late.
“Bei-huai’s father has leukemia. Because of complications like intracranial hemorrhage and heart failure, he has been in the ICU for a month. It costs nearly 20,000 a day, not including the cost of finding a bone marrow match, chemotherapy, radiation, blood transfusions, or other immunotherapy. Son, I know your heart has softened for Bei-huai, but this bill could run into the millions.”
Song’s heart skipped a beat. What…
Leukemia?
Oh no.
“Bei-huai borrowed 200,000 from me, but I think he’s probably used most of it by now. His father’s condition developed very quickly, and because of his age, there are many complications. It’s not that we can’t afford the money, but we have to handle it properly.”
“I only agreed to lend it because Bei-huai promised me he would continue to take good care of you as part of the agreement. I’m not charging him interest; he can pay it back whenever he’s able. Under these circumstances, the fact that he only borrowed 200,000 shows he knows his limits and only borrowed what he thinks he can repay in the future. If we just give him the money, would he even accept it?”
“You should know, he is very proud. Even if we offer, he might not take it. Not everyone wants to accept charity.”
Song’s head was spinning. Lu had already borrowed 200,000?!
Then what on earth was he doing for his part-time job at night.
What could a high schooler who just turned eighteen do to raise such a massive amount of money?
After the call ended, he stayed in the bathroom for a long time. The more he thought, the more his heart ached.
In this story, Lu suffered the most. He was the true young master, yet his identity was stolen. He was bullied by the fake master since childhood, and in the end, he had to go into massive debt to the perpetrator to treat his father—only to find out later that the man wasn’t even his real father.
He shouldn’t have had to endure any of this.
What should he do?
In the corridor of the Intensive Care Unit, a lonely figure stood by the glass window.
Through the glass, a middle-aged man lay on the bed, hooked up to various machines. His hair was gray, his eyes tightly closed, and his face pale. Nurses moved back and forth around the bed.
The tall boy watched his father in silence, a heavy aura surrounding him. His muscles were tight with tension. He couldn’t help it—his bandaged hand gripped his pant leg tightly.
His knuckles were white from the force; his emotions were pushed to the absolute limit.
Just then, a fair hand grabbed his trembling, tensed arm.
“I’ll give your father a bone marrow transplant.”
Lu’s gaze froze. He looked up, his eyes meeting a pair of eyes as warm as jade.
Song looked up at him, his brow relaxing as he gave a small, gentle smile. “Don’t worry.”