YMH CH 70

The Young Master: Real and Fake

Xie Guilan was taken aback, his thin lips pressing together tightly. He didn’t know why Cen’s father and mother had come, and initially thought it was because his relationship with Cen Wu had been discovered—no wonder she hadn’t replied to his messages.

However, before he could speak, Guan Xingxue turned to look at him, her eyes suddenly reddening.

That morning, Guan Xingxue had woken up planning to go to the company with Cen Junshan. Before leaving, she spotted a document folder on his study desk. Thinking it was a contract, she opened it and was immediately stunned.

Inside were several paternity test reports.

The one on top was the paternity test between Xie Guilan and herself, conveniently flipped open to the page showing the test results—the probability of a biological relationship was 99.9999637%.

It confirmed she was the biological mother.

A buzzing filled Guan Xingxue’s ears, her mind going blank for a moment. She continued flipping through the reports: paternity tests between Cen Junshan, Cen Xiao, and Xie Guilan, confirming they were the father and brother.

Meanwhile, Song Lingwei and Xie Guilan were completely excluded from any biological relationship. The last report was the paternity test between Cen Wu and Song Lingwei, confirming they were biological mother and son.

“Cen Junshan…” Guan Xingxue held the paternity test reports, her voice trembling slightly as she went to find her husband.

Cen Junshan, suddenly addressed by his full name, felt a surge of panic and hurried over with an apologetic smile. “What’s wrong?”

Guan Xingxue handed him the paternity test reports. Cen Junshan’s expression darkened as well. They didn’t act rashly but first investigated Song Lingwei and Xie Guilan.

They discovered that Guan Xingxue and Song Lingwei had given birth on the same night, in the same hospital, in a mountainous area.

Guan Xingxue had a difficult labor and was unconscious for a long time. By the time she woke up, Song Lingwei had already left with her child. Guan Xingxue had never seen Song Lingwei; otherwise, she would have recognized her.

It was entirely possible that the babies had been switched.

Guan Xingxue’s eyes reddened, and she suddenly understood why Cen Wu had often urged her to meet Xie Guilan recently and had even asked her to buy a pair of shoes for him.

On that stormy, rain-lashed night, she had seen Xie Guilan—the boy wore only a pair of old, frayed shoes, his clothes thin and inadequate. Song Lingwei had not taken good care of him.

This paternity test must have been provided to them by Cen Wu.

Cen Wu was still in class, so Cen Junshan and Guan Xingxue didn’t rush to question him. They first verified all the facts, then braved the snow late at night to go to the hospital, intending to confront Song Lingwei first.

Back then, in the chaotic hospital during the mountain rainstorm, it was possible the switch had been accidental. Guan Xingxue wasn’t sure whether Song Lingwei was aware of the truth.

Song Lingwei had just taken her medicine and was about to sleep when she heard a knock on the hospital room door. She asked the caregiver to answer it. The caregiver was also surprised and walked toward the door, muttering, “Who could it be at this hour?”

When the door opened, Song Lingwei’s face turned pale. She had often had nightmares about Guan Xingxue suddenly finding her, screaming and demanding to know why she had stolen her child.

Perhaps because she had dreamed it so many times, when she actually saw Guan Xingxue, Song Lingwei remained eerily calm.

Eighteen years had passed. Both she and Guan Xingxue were no longer young. Yet here she was, lying on a hospital bed with a somewhat deformed belly, clinging to life, while Guan Xingxhe looked almost unchanged from all those years ago.

In truth, she had already had a premonition. Her intuitions were always accurate. Back when she gave birth, she had desperately wanted to go home. It was in the mountainous area that she encountered Guan Xingxue, a meeting that would alter her child’s destiny.

These past few days, that longing for home had returned. She felt that the snow falling in Huaijin carried a heavy weight, unsettling her heart.

And sure enough, Guan Xingxue had found her.

But then it occurred to Song Lingwei if she simply denied it, if she refused to admit the truth, they could treat it as an accidental switch. What evidence did Guan Xingxue have to prove she had stolen the child?

Guan Xingxue handed her the paternity test reports. Song Lingwei, who wasn’t well-educated, skimmed through them hastily. She didn’t fully understand what she was reading, and she didn’t dare look too closely.

“…What do you mean by this?” Song Lingwei tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her lips pale and her voice trembling as she preemptively accused, “Xie Guilan isn’t my child? Then where is my child?! Give me back my child!”

She thought her clumsy acting could fool Guan Xingxue.

Guan Xingxue looked at her, her eyes reddening again. She closed them for a moment, and when she opened them, tears instantly streamed down her face. With certainty, she said, “You did it on purpose.”

Song Lingwei refused to admit it, even unto death. Just as they were arguing, Xie Guilan suddenly pushed open the hospital room door.

Guan Xingxue’s heart clenched, tears flowing uncontrollably. She couldn’t even spare the energy to hate Song Lingwei.

From the moment Xie Guilan was born until now, a full eighteen years, she had hardly ever seen her own child. She didn’t know if he was well, how much suffering he had endured, and she had never been able to care for him.

She was already fifty-four this year, and Cen Junshan would soon be sixty. How many more eighteen-year stretches did they have left in their lives?

Cen Xiao was also there. He was more familiar with the Xie family than Guan Xingxue and the others. He knew that Xie Guilan was treated worse than a servant in the Xie household.

Whenever Xie Shangjing was in a bad mood, even at three in the morning, he would use a horsewhip to lash Xie Guilan, have people pin him to the ground, and then ruthlessly kick him without regard, anyone could slap him, step on him, and humiliate him.

He had witnessed it many times at social clubs—Xie Shangjing making Xie Guilan kneel to the side, then suddenly flying into a rage and slapping him.

The boy’s peach blossom eyes, so similar to his mother’s, were dark and icy. His head snapped to the side from the slap, but he showed no reaction.

It wasn’t just Xie Shangjing; even Chu Zijian and the others could lay hands on him whenever they wanted. A group of them would yank Xie Guilan’s hair, slap him, and laughingly take videos of his swollen, bleeding face.

Cen Xiao would pass by, too lazy to even glance his way. He hadn’t known that was his brother.

Cen Wu had always been frail; he couldn’t even win fights against other kids at school. Every time he came crying to Cen Xiao, it was Cen Xiao who avenged him. He had promised Guan Xingxue that as his older brother, he would protect him for life.

Cen Xiao’s throat tightened. He raised a hand and rubbed his reddening eyes. In the end, he had failed to keep that promise.

Xie Guilan still didn’t know what was happening. The hospital room was silent and tense until footsteps suddenly echoed in the corridor.

Cen Junshan had informed Xie Mingcheng, hoping he would come to the hospital. After hanging up the phone, a flash of ferocity crossed Xie Mingcheng’s eyes. He called his secretary and headed to the hospital.

Xie Mingcheng’s face was dark. He never imagined Song Lingwei would cause such a huge problem for him. Then again, Xie Guilan didn’t resemble Song Lingwei at all—Cen Wu was the one who looked like her.

Both were useless beauties.

The reason he had acknowledged Xie Guilan back then was to use him and Song Lingwei to humiliate Zhou Li. That’s why he hadn’t done a paternity test initially; he didn’t care whether Xie Guilan was his son or not.

But Xie Guilan’s academic results were excellent, even better than Xie Shangjing’s. Xie Mingcheng had always been arrogant; someone as outstanding as Xie Guilan had to be his son. He never doubted it.

What need was there for a paternity test?

Who knew Song Lingwei would be so bold as to steal the Cen family’s child? She had even brought this child and deceived him for over a decade. He had truly underestimated this woman.

His relationship with Cen Junshan had always been superficial, but he wasn’t yet confident he could take down the Cen Group in one strike. He needed that superficial friendship, but now he had thoroughly offended the Cen family.

Once the Cen family learned how poorly Xie Guilan had been treated in the Xie household, they would surely hold him accountable.

Rage simmered in Xie Mingcheng’s chest. He strode into the hospital room and, without even bothering to speak first, walked straight to the hospital bed, raising his hand to deliver an furious slap to Song Lingwei.

But Xie Guilan firmly caught his wrist.

Xie Guilan was slightly taller than him. His dark, cold peach blossom eyes looked down at him with indifference.

Song Lingwei’s face was pale. She hadn’t been crying, but as she stared blankly at Xie Guilan’s back, tears suddenly fell.

When Xie Guilan was three or four years old, he would already stand in front of her to stop Chen Weiguo from hitting her. But back then, Xie Guilan was so small, his thin little frame easily knocked aside by a single slap from Chen Weiguo.

Now Xie Guilan had grown up. The young man’s back was tall and straight, all the shelter and redemption she had in this life.

She had raised Xie Guilan, held him all night when he was sick, taught him to say “Mom.” They had depended on each other for so many years. In this world, Xie Guilan loved her most.

“Fool,” Xie Mingcheng sneered, shaking off Xie Guilan’s hand. A sarcastic smile twisted his lips as he pointed at Xie Guilan. “I told you long ago, not just anyone can be called ‘mother.’ Didn’t you ever realize you weren’t her biological son?!”

“Xie Mingcheng!” Cen Junshan frowned, his voice sharp.

Xie Mingcheng turned his head, spreading his hands in an exaggerated, almost manic gesture. “What is it, Chairman Cen? Any brilliant insights?”

Xie Guilan frowned. Only then did he notice the paternity test reports on the hospital bed. Guan Xingxue had even sent someone to the hospital where she gave birth years ago and obtained copies of signed receipts from her and Song Lingwei, proving they had given birth on the same night.

Xie Guilan turned to look at Song Lingwei. Her tears kept falling, and she lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes.

“Xiao Lan…” Guan Xingxue’s eyes were red-rimmed. Her voice was hoarse, unsure how to address Xie Guilan.

Xie Guilan’s dark, cold eyes lifted. He crumpled the paternity test report in his hand, suddenly threw it onto the hospital bed, and strode out of the room.

Guan Xingxue panicked and wanted to follow, but her emotions were overwhelming, and she was unsteady on her feet. Cen Junshan had been supporting her all along. Cen Xiao stopped her, saying, “I’ll go after him.”

Then he hurriedly followed Xie Guilan out of the room.

Only then did Song Lingwei belatedly begin to feel afraid. Xie Mingcheng wanted her dead, and the Cen family surely hated her. What would she do, left alone here?

“Xie Guilan…” Song Lingwei’s voice trembled. Panicked, she cried out toward the hospital room door, “Xie Guilan! Xie Guilan!!!”

Xie Guilan did not look back.

This time, there was no one left to protect her.

Song Lingwei strained her voice, still screaming hysterically and weeping without end. Suddenly, Guan Xingxue could bear it no longer. Her eyes red, she raised her hand and slapped Song Lingwei hard across the face.

Song Lingwei’s hair was disheveled from the slap. Her crying ceased abruptly, but her tears flowed even more fiercely, streaming silently down her face.

Xie Guilan heard Song Lingwei’s cries, but he ignored them. He sent another message to Cen Wu. When there was no reply, he directly called him.

But all he got was the busy signal of a switched-off phone.

Cen Xiao caught up with Xie Guilan in the main hall on the first floor of the hospital. He stopped him. Though they were biological brothers, they had never lived together for eighteen years.

Facing Xie Guilan, he didn’t know how to begin.

“I know it’s hard to accept all at once,” Cen Xiao paused, speaking carefully, “Let’s go home first…”

Xie Guilan’s voice was hoarse as he interrupted, “He’s gone.”

Cen Xiao was taken aback, then realized he meant Cen Wu. He tried to reassure him, “He hasn’t gone. He’s at school, in class. I drove him there this morning.”

Only now did he understand why Cen Wu had been so good to Xie Guilan, yet denied being in a relationship with him. Cen Wu had known all along that he wasn’t the Cens’ biological son. He felt he had stolen Xie Guilan’s parents and was trying to compensate him out of guilt.

Cen Wu hadn’t been overly intimate with Xie Guilan either; it was probably Xie Guilan who loved Cen Wu and was pursuing him.

But they weren’t together.

“He’s gone.” Xie Guilan’s face was pale, sharp, and callous. His voice rasped as he stared fixedly at Cen Xiao, stubbornly repeating, “He’s gone.”

Cen Xiao had no choice but to call the school. Only then did he learn that Cen Wu had asked Meng Liangping for sick leave halfway through morning self-study and had left the school.

Xie Guilan pushed past him and walked out of the hospital. The snow was heavy that night, the gloomy red sky devoid of moonlight. He sent messages to Cen Wu, unwilling to give up.

【Where are you?】

【I’m back. Aren’t you coming to get me?】

【It’s too cold. Don’t come out. Just tell me where you are, and I’ll come find you, okay?】

He tapped the little cat profile picture” again. This time, no one saw it, and no one told him, “I’ll always be here.”

Cen Wu hadn’t lied to him. Cen Wu truly didn’t love him; his kindness was just an apology.

Xie Guilan clutched his phone, his knuckles red from the icy night wind. Ignoring the cold, he hailed a taxi to the airport.

He searched along the departure gates, checked every international flight that day, but Cen Wu wasn’t at the airport either.

He went to the school, the bars, even that internet cafe called Whale Sea, stopped people on the street to ask, searched every place he and Cen Wu had been to together. He found nothing.

Finally, he went to Lu Wang’s house. It was already past 3 a.m. Lu Wang was startled when he saw him.

Xie Guilan’s shoulders were covered in a thick layer of snow, his boots filled with it. His knuckles were red and swollen from the cold, his eyes rimmed with red. He looked utterly wretched, grabbing Lu Wang and asking if Cen Wu was there.

“You… what’s wrong with you?” Lu Wang was so startled he began to stutter, quickly shaking his head. “He’s not here.”

Xie Guilan released him and turned back into the snow.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Wang thought he was acting too strangely and reached out to stop him, saying anxiously, “Did you two have a fight?”

Xie Guilan suddenly stopped. His lips trembled from the cold as he said to Lu Wang, “Do you have Cen Xiao’s number?”

Lu Wang hurriedly handed him his phone.

Xie Guilan called Cen Xiao and told him to get Xie Shangjing under control. If Xie Shangjing found out he had fallen in love with his own brother, he might fly into a humiliated rage and seek revenge on Cen Wu.

It didn’t matter if he couldn’t find Cen Wu. Cen Wu must have hidden himself away safely. But he was afraid Xie Shangjing would find Cen Wu before he did.

“Okay,” Cen Xiao responded, “I understand. I’ve already sent people to watch the Xie family. You…”

Before he could finish, Xie Guilan hung up.

Xie Mingcheng knew his relationship with the Cen family was doomed, so he decided to act recklessly. He even dared to curse Xie Guilan in front of Cen Junshan. The talks fell through that night, and Guan Xingxue and Cen Junshan returned home first.

After receiving Xie Guilan’s call from Lu Wang’s phone, Cen Xiao drove to pick him up. He drove along the road from Lu Wang’s house and finally spotted Xie Guilan near the entrance of Yizhong High School.

Xie Guilan’s phone was almost frozen and out of battery. He sat on the steps at the school gate, calling Cen Wu. Cen Wu didn’t answer a single one. On the last call, his phone suddenly vibrated.

Snow dusted Xie Guilan’s eyelashes. He thought Cen Wu had finally answered. He knew Cen Wu wouldn’t abandon him. His frozen lips moved, and he spoke in a hoarse voice, “…Hello?”

But no one spoke on the other end. He wondered if his ears were too frozen to hear. He pressed the phone closer to his ear, but still heard nothing from Cen Wu.

When he pulled it away, he saw the screen had already gone black. The vibration just now was the phone shutting down from lack of battery.

Cen Xiao waited until he finished his calls before reaching out to pull him up, his own eyes red-rimmed. “I’ve sent people to look for him. Let’s go home first. Maybe by the time we get there, he’ll be back.”

Xie Guilan clutched his phone and sat for a few more minutes before standing up. His lips were dark and purple from the cold, his ears bright red. He had fallen in the snow, the back of his hand was bleeding, and his legs were so stiff he could barely lift them.

He staggered, the accumulated snow on him falling away. Cen Xiao reached out to steady him, supporting him as they walked.

As soon as Guan Xingxue and the others arrived home, they rushed to Cen Wu’s room. They discovered Cen Wu had taken nothing with him—no bank cards, not even a single piece of clothing. He had taken nothing.

He had left on his own.

“He has no money on him,” Guan Xingxue wiped her tears, saying to Cen Junshan, “Where could he go?”

Her mind was a mess. Cen Junshan told her to get some sleep, but she couldn’t. Closing her eyes only led to wild, anxious thoughts.

One moment, she seemed to see Cen Wu without any money, in this freezing winter with snow still falling, hiding in some dark place, his hands red with cold. She cautiously approached him, saying, “Let Mom see,” but before she could take his hand, Cen Wu ran away again. The next moment, she thought of Xie Guilan, who still hadn’t come home, and wondered if Cen Xiao had found him.

The temperature that night was nearly minus thirty degrees Celsius. Xie Guilan had been outside for over six hours. By the time Cen Xiao drove him home, he was already running a high fever. Cen Junshan quickly called for a doctor.

Guan Xingxue asked Cen Xiao to take Xie Guilan to her room to sleep.

Xie Guilan was a light sleeper and wasn’t used to having people nearby. After the doctor inserted the IV needle, Guan Xingxue noticed he was sleeping restlessly. She sat on a sofa farther away to keep him company.

Exhausted from the long night, she propped her head up and nearly dozed off, only to jolt awake suddenly. She then discovered Xie Guilan was not in the bed.

Her heart instantly seized with panic. She went out to look for him. Cen Xiao steadied her and pointed towards Cen Wu’s bedroom.

Walking over, Guan Xingxue found Xie Guilan lying on Cen Wu’s bed. He was curled up, clutching the little bear from Cen Wu’s bed in his arms, covered by Cen Wu’s quilt, sunk in a deep, heavy sleep.

Xie Guilan was dreaming. He dreamed of his first meeting with Cen Wu at the equestrian club, then of Cen Wu bringing him home. Late at night, they sat together in the car. He was pretending to sleep, but Cen Wu, thinking he was truly asleep, quietly leaned closer to look at the wound on his face.

He couldn’t help but frown in disgust. Cen Wu, mistaking it for pain causing his restless sleep, gently patted the back of his hand where the driver couldn’t see. Soothing him like a child, he whispered, “Doesn’t hurt, doesn’t hurt.”

Then he dreamed of making those gloves for Cen Wu, and how Cen Wu treasured them,舍不得 wearing them, carefully putting them away instead.

His mind was foggy and heavy. He dreamed he had been walking on an extremely dark road, without any light, without anything. He walked alone for a long time, and then suddenly, a hand took hold of his.

He didn’t know whose hand it was, but just the act of holding it made him feel like crying, an overwhelming desire to follow this person.

So he turned and let the other lead him, retracing his steps all the way back. Gradually, moonlight appeared overhead, and beneath his feet was clean, white snow. He looked up; the young man’s eyes curved into a smile directed at him, and finally released his wrist.

Xie Guilan grabbed his hand again, his voice hoarse as he asked, “Why won’t you take me with you? I want to go with you too.”

“What are you talking about?” Cen Wu seemed not to understand his words, but his gaze remained very gentle. He waved his hand in farewell, saying, “Xie Guilan, don’t be unhappy.”

Xie Guilan’s face was pale. In his sleep, he curled his body tighter, holding Cen Wu’s little bear firmly.

Guan Xingxue’s eyes reddened. She pulled the quilt up a little higher for him, then reached out to touch his burning forehead.

Xie Guilan stood alone on the moonlit path. Cen Wu had disappeared at some point, but a pair of warm hands took hold of his. He thought it was Cen Wu.

So he followed them forward a few steps. He didn’t want to go home. By this person’s side, his very soul found peace.

Guan Xingxue waited until Xie Guilan was completely asleep before leaving. Xie Guilan rarely got sick, but when he did, it was severe. He ran a high fever on and off for three days. He stayed in Cen Wu’s bedroom, holding that little bear, and didn’t speak a single word to Guan Xingxue or the others.

He kept his phone nearby, afraid Cen Wu might try to contact him. Cen Wu was very timid, afraid of the dark and of ghosts. He didn’t know how Cen Wu was managing alone, afraid that he wouldn’t be there when Cen Wu felt scared.

He knitted a pair of tiny gloves for the little bear and put them on it, then held it in his arms again, sending messages to Cen Wu.

【I miss you so much.】

【Have you abandoned me?】

Finally, on the evening of the third day, Cen Xiao managed to find out that Cen Wu hadn’t left Huaijin. He had secretly rented a place. Cen Wu was very good at hiding; the fact that he hadn’t left the country, or even the city, made him harder to track. If he had bought a ticket, Cen Xiao could have located him immediately.

Cen Xiao brought the address to Xie Guilan. Xie Guilan’s gaze fixed on it, stunned for a moment. He let go of the little bear. He had lost a lot of weight these past few days, looking somewhat haggard and gaunt. He put on his down jacket and headed straight out.

But after only a few steps, he turned back to get his scarf. Cen Wu had told him to take good care of himself. He needed to listen to him.

Cen Xiao initially wanted to go with him, but Xie Guilan was very resistant to their presence. Since it was clear Xie Guilan was going to find Cen Wu, Cen Xiao didn’t insist, just left him his own phone number.

Xie Guilan arrived at the building where Cen Wu was staying a little after 8 p.m. It was still snowing heavily. He looked up and saw the light on in Cen Wu’s apartment.

He didn’t go up. He waited downstairs.

Cen Wu had bought some groceries in advance. He hadn’t gone out these past few days. Before, he always followed Xie Guilan, worried something might happen to him, forcing himself to go out even when he didn’t want to.

Now, without that compelling reason to go out, he had started to retreat again, growing tense even at the sound of footsteps in the stairwell.

He wondered how Xie Guilan was doing.

In the original story, Xie Guilan had been silent for only a few seconds before accepting the fact that the babies had been switched. He decisively abandoned Song Lingwei and returned to the Cen family with Cen Junshan and Guan Xingxue.

Of course, Xie Guilan had no feelings for Cen Junshan and the others; he only wanted to use the Cen family’s power for revenge.

He didn’t even seem emotionally affected. Half a month later, he still took first place in the province in the college entrance exams. He always managed to pick himself up, time and again, as if nothing could truly break him.

Cen Wu thought that in this life, since Xie Guilan was more familiar with Guan Xingxue and the others, it should be easier for him to accept.

But he still wasn’t entirely at ease. He didn’t dare go too far, afraid Xie Guilan might get bullied. Xie Guilan would surely be unhappy again. With him gone, he didn’t know if anyone would comfort him.

This feeling was terrible, like abandoning his own puppy. But he truly couldn’t stay with the Cen family anymore.

Cen Wu cooked and ate a packet of instant noodles. Then he waited until after 3 a.m., when there should be hardly anyone outside, before pulling up his hood, gathering his courage, and going downstairs to take out the trash.

In the deep cold of the winter night, the wind and snow were fierce. As he looked up, he caught sight of a dark, shadowy figure not far away.

Cen Wu was startled, almost turning on his heel to flee.

However, as the light, blurred by the snow, fell upon the figure, he realized it was Xie Guilan. He froze for a moment. Xie Guilan was covered in snow, and it was impossible to tell how long he had been waiting there.

Xie Guilan’s face was deathly pale, his eyes rimmed with red. He looked up and met Cen Wu’s gaze, and suddenly, tears began to fall.