The real young master thought he was hated by everyone - Chapter 95

Gu Mingyue’s suggestion was simple: find an excuse to go to the amusement park with Xie Duzhi on a weekend.

“It’s easy… I mean, if your friend isn’t sure whether the other person has feelings for him, just create an opportunity to observe that extra affection.”

In the voice message, Gu Mingyue’s words were somewhat unclear, with the sound of crunching chips in the background. He was eating takeout, fries and fried chicken, and after finishing the meal, he continued working on his unfinished project.

“You and your friend can go to the amusement park alone on the weekend. Your friend can invite the person he likes under some excuse and try some couple activities.”

“For example?” Li Heng asked, clearly curious.

“Carousel, Ferris wheel, haunted house…”

Gu Mingyue didn’t hesitate, listing the ideas without pause. “Afterward, you can find a touching romantic movie, sit together in the theater, and see if he’ll hold his hand—or at least sneak a glance at him.”

When people are embarrassed, they often use a non-existent “friend” to refer to themselves. Gu Mingyue understood this perfectly and cooperated without directly pointing it out.

He thought for a while, but no matter how he looked at it, it seemed incredibly unbelievable that Li Heng would fall for Xie Duzhi.

Xie Duzhi was certainly outstanding—though he was real, he wouldn’t seem out of place even in exaggerated CEO romance novels.

However, Gu Mingyue still couldn’t picture Xie Duzhi’s character being all that fun or easy to get along with. Wouldn’t their daily life, their dates, just end up being like a routine at work?

But, thinking about how Xie Duzhi indulged his younger brother, he decided to hold off on any judgments for now. After all, there are always exceptions.

As for why he guessed Xie Duzhi rather than anyone else, it was simple: he was the only one who fit the description of “outstanding, serious, handsome, and seemingly aloof but actually very gentle,” as described by Li Heng.

Of course, Gu Mingyue was also skeptical about the “gentle” side of Xie Duzhi’s personality.

Even now, whenever he brought up Li Heng’s older brother, André would involuntarily shudder a few times, showing just how deep of a psychological scar Xie Duzhi had left on him.

“Oh, and there’s another very easily overlooked detail in relationships,” Gu Mingyue added after finishing his chips.

He glanced at the webpage he had just opened before continuing.

By the end of the day, Li Heng’s notebook was filled with notes, full of details and various plans for different scenarios.

He felt he had learned a lot and thanked Gu Mingyue by ordering his favorite steak from the restaurant for a whole week.

Gu Mingyue also felt he had done a great service, filled with the joy of helping and having extra meals.

After considering all possible scenarios and ensuring that his plans were flawless, Li Heng began to think about how he should invite Xie Duzhi out alone.

Although he felt a little guilty toward Xie Sizhi—ever since he found out that he had nearly been kidnapped, his second older brother had been overly protective, giving him everything under the sun, even reducing the number of arguments they had—Li Heng knew that this was a serious occasion that required no extra company.

He messaged a few of Xie Sizhi’s friends to hint that he had been quite free recently and could easily be invited out for something, feeling a little guilty about it.

…Well, if he ever had the chance to go to the amusement park again, he would definitely invite his second brother too. Probably.

However, when it came to messaging Xie Duzhi, he ran into a bit of difficulty.

The problem lay in choosing the right words. Should he say, “Go with me” or “Accompany me”? Was “Do you have time?” better, or would “It’s a good opportunity to relax on the weekend” sound better?

By the time he finished editing the message, he found that the excuse wasn’t convincing enough. Should he come up with another reason, something more reasonable and harder to reject?

His first idea was to say that he wanted to go to the amusement park to practice his photography skills, as there was going to be a photography competition at school during the New Year, where students could earn extra credits.

But he realized that no matter how awkward the excuse might be, Xie Duzhi would never reject him.

Xie Duzhi wasn’t working or looking through the books he often re-read. He sat staring at his phone’s screen, the “typing” indicator flashing as he waited for Li Heng’s message.

When he spaced out, he didn’t even know what he was thinking. He felt that rather than spacing out, his state was closer to being on standby, which, to him, was a form of relaxation.

Still, the flashing “typing” icon on his phone kept distracting him like an intrusive system notification.

He wasn’t sure whether he should ignore it and wait for the message, or just message Li Heng directly to ask if something had happened.

In the end, he didn’t ask.

He hadn’t yet gotten any information from Bai Ruan about what had been said at the hotel that day. Until he found that out, he wouldn’t make any moves.

He silently waited.

Li Heng had edited the message but hesitated for over half an hour before finally sending it.

In the middle, he couldn’t help but switch windows and send the message to his computer, then take a screenshot and send it to Gu Mingyue, pretending that it was his “friend” who was unsure. He asked Gu Mingyue whether the message looked fine.

Gu Mingyue assured him to send it confidently, even swearing that if the invitation didn’t work, he’d let Li Heng slam his head against the classroom door the next day.

Gu Mingyue also reminded him to make sure to drag his “friend” into the haunted house, acting a little scared and trying to snuggle into the person he likes, constantly rubbing against them.

If the other person doesn’t show any awkwardness or stiffness, it’s probably a good sign.

This method is almost always effective, with only one reported failure, and that was because the guy’s reflexes were too slow, and his nerves weren’t quite right.

Li Heng sent a series of “OK” hand gestures and then simplified the message a little, removing what he thought were unnecessary parts, before hitting send with a certain resolve, as if he was facing an inevitable fate.

Then, he quickly turned off his phone.

He had never realized that sending a message to Xie Duzhi, inviting him to do something, could be… this difficult.

It wasn’t Xie Duzhi’s problem—it was his. His intentions weren’t pure, and his thoughts weren’t pure either.

He felt his heart rate slowing down just a little before he dared to reopen his phone to check if Xie Duzhi had replied.

Xie Duzhi had sent a single “Okay,” asking what time he wanted to leave in the morning.

Li Heng didn’t know that if he had also opened the chat window on his computer and checked the precise timestamps of the messages, he would have noticed that Xie Duzhi had almost immediately replied with “Okay” as soon as Li Heng had sent his message. It was so fast, it was as if there had been no need for any thought.

Xie Duzhi had simply seen the message, rolled around on his bed, buried his face in the pillow to hide his silly smile, and tried to compose himself.

In any case, whether Xie Duzhi had feelings for him or not wasn’t something he could predict. Instead of worrying about the outcome of the Saturday date right now, it was better to focus on the date itself.

He thought this one would actually count as a date, unlike the previous times.

Though they had been alone at the amusement park before, there had been other people with them, so the atmosphere was different from when the two of them would go out alone and return together.

Of course, what if Xie Duzhi really didn’t feel anything beyond brotherly affection for him? Li Heng had thought about this too.

His conclusion was simple: no matter whether Xie Duzhi liked him or not, his feelings for him were already a fact. If there was a response, then it was between the two of them. If there wasn’t, then it was just his business.

Since it was his business, he felt justified in acting on it without asking Xie Duzhi for permission, because he certainly wouldn’t cause any trouble for him just because of his feelings.

At least for him, a casual, thoughtless love that didn’t consider the other person’s feelings could never be called love.

Before he had time to feel too happy, he found himself worrying about what to wear for the trip to the amusement park.

Xie Duzhi’s clothes were relatively plain, so he wanted to pick something that was similar in style and tone—perhaps a long coat with a classic gray or plaid cashmere scarf.

That way, when he walked next to Xie Duzhi, others might mistake them for a couple.

However, that kind of style wasn’t something he usually wore, and some of those outfits still had their tags on.

He was worried that if he dressed that way and went out, it might come off as too intentional in front of Xie Duzhi.

Xie Duzhi was so perceptive that he would definitely pick up on it, and start eliminating possibilities one by one, eventually coming to the correct conclusion.

In the end, he chose a combination he usually wore and reviewed Gu Mingyue’s tips repeatedly, taking pictures of them and saving them in his photo album.

That night, his dream was of him and Xie Duzhi on the Ferris wheel, where he was about to kiss him.

In the dream, as he went to kiss Xie Duzhi, fireworks suddenly went off in the sky above the castle.

Xie Duzhi’s eyes seemed to have stars in them.