Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The ceiling grew clearer in Gu Yubai's vision.

He squeezed his eyes shut. Though still heavy with sleep, he couldn't drift off. The face that had jolted him awake from his dream kept replaying in his mind.

Yu Li...

Why had he dreamed of Yu Li? It must have been because they had spent all of last night together; his subconscious had simply registered him, causing Yu Li to appear in his dream.

Gu Yubai convinced himself, then abruptly turned his head and buried his face in the pillow.

Forget it, stop thinking.

Gu Yubai rolled over and sat up, his gaze immediately falling on the table at the foot of the bed. There, a plush panda, half his height and encased in a transparent plastic bag, appeared before his eyes.

Gu Yubai froze.

He'd... almost forgotten.

Before going to bed last night, he had casually placed the panda by the head of the bed, ensuring he would see it the moment he opened his eyes and sat up.

And now, the sight of the panda instantly brought back his dream—and Yu Li in it.

Gu Yubai couldn't help but sigh, his face darkening. He covered his eyes with his hand, slumped back onto the bed, and lingered there for a while longer.

Just as he finally composed himself and was about to get up, his phone, tucked under his pillow, rang.

At this hour...

Gu Yubai lazily picked up the phone. Sure enough, it was his troublesome younger brother, Gu Yihong.

The moment the call connected, Gu Yihong’s excited voice burst through. Before Gu Yubai could even speak, Gu Yihong, unable to contain himself, began to babble.

"Big bro, have you checked your phone? My own account was banned by the Su family, so last night I used a friend’s account to go live and clarify all that nonsense about reconciling with them. Now clips of it are spreading everywhere online, hahaha! Everyone knows now—this true/fake young master drama wasn’t because of me... *cough* this so-called true young master being greedy and bullying the favored fake young master, but because the Su family themselves are inherently corrupt and cold-hearted."

"Hehe, the Su family completely lost face last night. I thought my live stream cutting ties with them would be explosive enough, but the Su family outdid themselves—they miraculously hired an actor to play the true young master at the family reunion banquet! Now everyone knows their true colors. I heard the Su Corporation’s stock price even dropped significantly. They can no longer act high and mighty and accuse... this true young master... of being bad."

Gu Yihong’s tone shifted from exhilaration to a fierce satisfaction, brimming with delight that the Su family’s true nature had been thoroughly exposed by netizens.

Just listening, Gu Yubai knew how happy Gu Yihong was—how... gleeful.

Gu Yubai chuckled, getting out of bed and slipping on his shoes before heading out of the bedroom. His gaze flickered toward Yu Li’s temporary room, only to find it empty.

His eyes subtly shifted as he responded to Gu Yihong’s words, seemingly oblivious to the occasional hesitations in his tone.

"Yeah, who knew the Su family could be so utterly despicable? Lucky you didn't actually go back to recognize them as family—who knows how they would have bullied you otherwise."

Gu Yihong hummed in satisfaction on the other end. "Yeah, yeah. A family like that—not only do I not like them and don't want to go back, but even you wouldn’t like them, right, big bro?"

Hearing the probing in Gu Yihong’s words, Gu Yubai silently curved his lips into a smile.

"Yeah, yeah. If it were me, I wouldn’t like birth parents like that either."

Gu Yubai’s tone was casual, as if he were merely agreeing with Gu Yihong, but his expression grew slightly complex.

He sighed, seemingly comforting Gu Yihong, yet also mocking his past self in a previous life.

"In this world, nothing is a given. Some parents and children share blood but not destiny, while others share no blood but are destined to be together. We don’t need to care too much about irrelevant people. Yihong, if the Su family doesn’t want you, Dad (Gu Mingliang) and I do. If they don’t cherish you, we will."

On the other end, Gu Yihong giggled several times.

"Me too! Big bro, remember what you just said to comfort me—don’t ever be sad over people or things that aren’t meant to be. Because you’ll always have the people who cherish you most in this world—me and our Sleeping Prince uncle! You’ll always be in our hearts."

"Big bro, you’ll always be the best brother in the world. Anyone who doesn’t like you is just a tasteless idiot!"

This time, Gu Yubai finally couldn’t hold back his laughter. He would always be moved by genuine affection.

"You’re also the best little brother in the world."

After Gu Yihong was reborn, why had he gone through all the trouble of impersonating Gu Yubai and returning to the Su family?

It was all to help Gu Yubai completely break free from the Su family’s entanglement in a justified way. After this, if the Su family had any shred of decency left, they wouldn’t dare harass the true young master again.

He had done far better than Gu Yubai ever expected.

By immersing himself in the situation and taking Gu Yubai’s place, he had exposed the Su family’s cold-blooded selfishness to the world.

Anyone else could criticize Gu Yihong’s actions, but Gu Yubai could not.

And he never would. In fact, no one understood Gu Yihong’s sincerity and care for him better than he did.

The two chatted casually for a while longer before Gu Yihong proudly promised to bring Gu Yubai a gift when he returned.

Gu Yubai then brought up transferring their adoptive father, Gu Mingliang, to a different hospital and reminded Gu Yihong to focus when he got back—he had already signed them both up for driving school. They needed to get their licenses before the semester started so the family car wouldn’t just collect dust in the garage.

After a while, a clear, cool voice called out from behind Gu Yihong.

Gu Yihong responded before quickly saying goodbye and hanging up.

-----

Gu Yubai’s day at the milk tea shop was somewhat busy, but thankfully, the customer rush finally died down by midday.

The new employee taking over his shift waved at him from the break room, urging him to hurry up and eat.

Lunch was shop-ordered takeout. As Gu Yubai checked his phone during the break, the new employee sitting across from him suddenly blurted out.

"Gu—Gu Gu, Gu Yubai! Is this you in this interview video of the college entrance exam top scorer? No way, you’re this amazing? You’re this year’s top science scorer!"

The new employee’s eyes widened, dark pupils filled with awe as he stared at Gu Yubai in disbelief, muttering to himself.

"Oh my god, the top scorer is right beside me—this is a miracle! A living, breathing top scorer! Gu Yubai, big bro, with skills like yours, why are you making milk tea with me? If I were the top scorer, I’d be raking it in tutoring high schoolers by now!"

Gu Yubai leaned over to look at his coworker’s phone, confirming it was indeed him. Hearing the new employee’s exclamations, he couldn’t help but laugh.

His tone was gentle, his expression calm and casual.

"The top scorer is just a regular person too—they still need to eat, drink, and buy milk tea. Don't make such a big deal."

As for the milk tea shop job, he had found it before his rebirth. After coming back, with nothing better to do, he just kept at it.

Though he had already told the manager he was quitting a few days ago during his time off—otherwise, they wouldn't have hired his replacement so fast.

But there was no need to mention that to others.

Gu Yubai lowered his head to eat, pulling up the interview video posted by official media on his phone. Satisfied, he saw the comments section was peaceful, free of the veiled insults, sarcasm, and character attacks from before. His mood instantly lifted.

Su Shengli probably was too busy dealing with her own problems right now.

----

Gu Yubai’s guess was correct—the Su household had been tense since early morning.

Last night, Zhou Jiarou was still sobbing dramatically in front of everyone, pleading to reunite with her son. But now, having secured satisfactory terms from the Su family, signed the contract, and cooperated in filming two 'damage control' videos for them, she left the Su household without so much as a look back.

Alone, and beaming.

She didn’t even mention her 'biological' son, Su Shengli, whom she had insisted on taking home the night before.

After Zhou Jiarou left, Su Linyuan and Su Shengli peered out from around the corner.

Su Linyuan looked incredulous: "She just left like that? Didn’t she even want to say a word to Shengli? Does she even remember she’s his biological mother?"

Su Wanlin, already stressed about how to salvage Su Group’s reputation, couldn’t help but massage his temples in frustration. He shot Su Linyuan a mocking glance.

His wife, Su Linyuan’s biological mother, Song Manman, had similarly ignored her own biological son, Gu Yihong. Why hadn’t Su Linyuan ever criticized Song Manman for that before?

For the first time, Su Wanlin realized how naive his presumed competent heir was.

He waved Su Linyuan closer and asked coldly, "Then what did you want her to do? Actually let her take Shengli away?"

Su Linyuan noticed the irritation in Su Wanlin’s expression and lowered his voice, though he still spoke up for Su Shengli.

"That’s not what I meant. It’s just... disheartening. Last night, she acted so sincere, but today, she took the money and left without even glancing at Shengli. I don’t think she deserves to be his mother."

Su Wanlin stood up leisurely, put on his coat, and told the housekeeper to call the car for his trip to the company.

His expression remained calm as he looked at Su Linyuan.

"So, what do you propose?"

"You don’t want her to take Shengli away, nor do you want her to keep slandering the Su family. Having her cooperate in filming two clarification videos before taking the money and leaving is already the best solution."

"Do you have a better idea?"

Su Wanlin looked at Su Linyuan with pointed meaning.

Su Linyuan immediately clammed up. A flicker of disappointment flashed in Su Wanlin’s eyes.

His voice turned stern: "I never taught you to be some paragon of business ethics! Weren’t you decisive enough when you went looking for Gu Yihong to invite him to the Recognition Banquet, only to give up on him completely when you couldn’t find him?"

Su Wanlin recalled everything that had happened at the Recognition Banquet, as well as the possibility of Gu Yihong seeking revenge against the Su family behind the scenes. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

His heir, though overly sentimental at the moment, was still capable and competent.

Comparing Su Linyuan to Gu Yihong, who had grown up in an ordinary family outside the Su household, was unfair to Su Linyuan—and a denial of the education Su Wanlin had provided him over the past two decades.

Su Linyuan was just too soft-hearted.

Su Wanlin glanced at Su Shengli, who had remained silent the whole time, and suddenly smiled.

His expression regained the stern-but-loving demeanor of a father.

"Fine. You’re just worried about Shengli. It’s good that you brothers are close—your mother and I are pleased."

"By the way, since you have so much free time, Linyuan, take Shengli to buy that car he likes. Consider it our gift for his adulthood. Su Group will be busy these days, so I won’t be back. You don’t need to come in either."

Su Wanlin turned and gave Su Linyuan a meaningful look before walking away, leaving Su Linyuan dumbfounded.

"But—"

Su Group had been embroiled in scandal over the real heir and supposed young master controversy, and its stock prices had plummeted. The coming days would undoubtedly be chaotic.

Su Linyuan had expected to be working overtime at Su Group, but Su Wanlin had flat-out ordered him to stay home. He couldn’t figure out what he’d done to upset Su Wanlin.

Su Shengli ventured timidly, "Big brother, is Dad... angry with me because of that Zhou—my biological mother? He didn’t say a word to me today. Is he also upset with you because you didn’t manage to invite Gu Yihong to the Recognition Banquet?"

Su Shengli’s face was pale, his eyes filled with worry.

Su Linyuan felt a pang of discomfort. He mussed Su Shengli’s hair reassuringly.

"No. Besides, the matter’s already resolved. Dad isn’t the type to hold grudges, and he’d never be angry with you. He and Mom dote on you. It’s probably just that Mom was called back by her family, and he’s worried you’ll get lonely alone at home, so he asked me to stay with you."

"Didn’t you already pick out a car as your birthday gift? Since I’m free this afternoon, let’s go test drive it at the dealership."

----

News of the Su family staging a fake reunion at the Recognition Banquet spread quickly. Within half a day, nearly all of China knew about it.

On top of that, rumors of Su Shengli’s biological mother causing a scene at the Recognition Banquet also circulated. Throughout the night and the following day, almost everyone mocked the Su family for their backfired plan.

Many swarmed Su Group’s social media to demand an explanation for pulling a fast one on the public.

Surprisingly, the Su family remained uncharacteristically patient this time. It wasn’t until around seven or eight in the evening that Su Group’s official account released two different videos.

Gu Yubai was outside waiting in line for a package when people around him started discussing the videos.

Regardless of their stance, the consensus was that the Su family treated the supposed young master, Su Shengli, extremely well—so well that despite the social media firestorm, Su Linyuan, the heir, remained unaffected and personally took Su Shengli on a car-buying trip that afternoon.

A bystander captured the scene and posted it online. Anyone could see how affectionate Su Linyuan was toward Su Shengli.

Gu Yubai also glanced at it. When he saw Su Shengli put on display in the public eye, a smirk of understanding crossed his face.

Su Wanlin... works quickly.