Volume One, Chapter 39: Has My Brother Fallen Victim to a Romance Scam?

The third branch of the Xiao family was headed by Xiao Peiyu, a notorious playboy. His three children—Xiao Rui, Xiao Yu, and Xiao Ming—each had a different mother. Ordinarily, one would expect the relationship among the siblings to be strained, but because Xiao Peiyu was such a scoundrel and their grandmother was preoccupied with her business, seldom tending to family affairs, the three children, though raised in material luxury, grew up relying on one another emotionally. Their bond, unexpectedly, was strong.

This time, Xiao Yu and Xiao Ming had tied up Xiao Rui because he was engaged in an online romance and intended to meet his virtual girlfriend in person. Sensing that something was amiss, they decided to restrain him, preventing him from leaving the house.

“It’s not that we’re narrow-minded,” Xiao Yu explained, “We don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with online relationships. But our brother’s situation is just too odd. They’ve only known each other for a little over a month, and he’s already spending money like water—more than he did in the whole of last year.”

“We suspect he’s fallen prey to a romance scam,” added Xiao Ming.

Listening to his younger siblings speak ill of his beloved, Xiao Rui grew so agitated that his eyes turned red, and he shouted incessantly, still chewing his steamed bun.

Chi Xingwan, growing impatient with the commotion, stepped forward and pretended to press on him a few times. In truth, she placed a sleep charm on him. “I know a little traditional medicine. He’ll sleep for a couple of hours and wake up feeling fine,” she said.

Seeing Xiao Rui’s breathing even and calm, Xiao Yu and Xiao Ming finally relaxed, reassured that he was merely asleep.

“What are you planning to do next?” Chi Xingwan asked. “You both have school, and so does he, doesn’t he?”

Xiao Rui and Xiao Jin were the same age—both freshmen in college. However, Xiao Rui didn’t attend Yanjing University. Xiao Yu was still in high school, and Xiao Ming was even younger, just in middle school.

Tomorrow was Monday, which meant all three of them should be at school. But if they let Xiao Rui go, he would undoubtedly try to meet his online girlfriend.

“We’ve already figured it out,” Xiao Yu replied. “We’ve contacted a private hospital and hired bodyguards and caregivers to look after our brother. We’ll tell everyone he was in a car accident and needs to be hospitalized. That should buy us a week. We’ll think of something else for next week.”

Xiao Ming added, “We’ve already arranged for his leave at school. As for grandma, as long as nobody’s dead or crippled, she generally doesn’t concern herself.”

Chi Xingwan found this amusing—these two really did understand their grandmother well. Indeed, she seemed rather indifferent to family matters.

“So, Sister Xingwan, will you keep this a secret for us?” Xiao Yu and Xiao Ming looked up at her with hopeful eyes.

Chi Xingwan rose to her feet. “As long as you don’t cause any trouble, I’ll pretend I saw nothing today.”

Xiao Yu and Xiao Ming hurriedly thanked her. Chi Xingwan waved to Daidai, “Let’s go.”

That evening, Chi Xingwan returned to school. At the dorm entrance, she found Xu Mingyue and Wen Jing standing in the corridor, absorbed in their phones.

“Why are you all outside?” Chi Xingwan asked.

Xu Mingyue replied, “Yu Dongli is in the dorm crying after a fight with her boyfriend. She’s too proud to let anyone see, so we thought we’d give her some space and let her cry it out.”

Recalling Yu Dongli’s temper, Chi Xingwan had no desire to go in either. “Why don’t we go sit in the café for a while?” she suggested.

“Great idea.”

The three of them spent over an hour in the campus café before returning to the dorm. As expected, Yu Dongli had cried herself out and was now asleep, bundled up in her blanket.

The three tiptoed through their nighttime routines before climbing into bed. Daidai, as always, nestled beside Chi Xingwan.

Back at the Xiao family’s villa, Xiao Yue awoke. He sat up, glanced at the clock out of habit, and suddenly froze.

It was eleven o’clock—an hour earlier than usual.

He lifted his right hand, staring at the jade ring on his thumb, his suspicions growing ever stronger.

Rising from bed, he immediately called Yu Huan.

“Yu Huan, have you found anything about my mother’s background?”

On the other end, Yu Huan sounded surprised. “Hey, it’s not midnight yet. Is your illness cured?”

“No, just a bit better,” Xiao Yue replied.

Yu Huan didn’t press further. “I’ve only discovered that, before entering the orphanage, your mother was once adopted. I’m still investigating the adoptive parents.”

Xiao Yue knew that such matters couldn’t be rushed, so he didn’t push. After a few polite exchanges, he hung up.

After washing up, Xiao Yue went to the study. Both his grandmother and Secretary He were startled to see him. His grandmother asked in delight, “Ah Yue, are you well now?”

Xiao Yue shook his head. “I just woke up an hour earlier than usual. I don’t know yet if it’s just an earlier awakening or if my lucid period is extending.”

His grandmother and Secretary He grew tense. During that first hour, neither could concentrate on their work. When midnight came and Xiao Yue remained awake, their joy was palpable.

“This is wonderful,” his grandmother exclaimed. “No matter what, you’ve been lucid for over an hour. That’s a good sign.”

Secretary He smiled in agreement. “A very good omen. Ah Yue is bound to get better and better.”

Xiao Yue smiled along with them, though a trace of bitterness lingered in his heart.

He dared not share his fears with his grandmother. If she knew that he might have only a few years left to live, she would be devastated.

At one o’clock, Xiao Yue fell into his usual deep sleep. Although his grandmother had been prepared, disappointment still washed over her.

Secretary He patted her shoulder. “Take it slow, Madam Xiao. If Ah Yue recovered all at once, it might be even more worrying.”

“You’re right,” she nodded. “One step at a time. Today is a good sign. When Chi Xingwan arrives later, I’ll ask her opinion.”

…

At school, Chi Xingwan’s role had shifted. Previously, she lectured the students. At first, the other teachers were pleased, but soon felt her talents were being wasted. They could teach the students themselves; it would be better if Chi Xingwan freed up her time to instruct the teachers instead.

Thus, Chi Xingwan became the teacher of the teachers.

With the material growing more advanced, she now had to prepare lecture slides. But this was a trivial task for her and caused her no trouble.

One day, while she was alone in the dorm preparing slides, the door suddenly burst open with a bang, startling her.

Yu Dongli stormed in, slammed her books on the floor, with Xu Mingyue and Wen Jing trailing behind.

Xu Mingyue, visibly angry, finally lost her patience. “So you think a breakup makes you special? The experiment failed because of you, and none of us got mad at you. What right do you have to take it out on us?”

Yu Dongli retorted, “Was it just my fault the experiment failed? If you’d checked everything again, none of this would have happened.”

“Why should we? We’d divided up the work beforehand—everyone was responsible for their own part. You should have checked your own, not expect us to clean up after you.”

Wen Jing, caught in the middle, tried to mediate, “Enough. Let’s all calm down. If the experiment failed, we’ll just redo it. There’s no need to ruin our friendship over this.”

Chi Xingwan, unaware of the details, kept silent. Yet as she glanced at Yu Dongli, she noticed a faint, dark aura clouding her face.