Translated by Eve

Edited by Kara

The pa.s.sage of time and Song Xuanhe's unwillingness to talk about it caused everyone's interest in RE, the newest black horse, to gradually decline. Except for Song Guohua, who had refused to give up and would occasionally contact Song Xuanhe to ask him to act as a go-between, Song Xuanhe almost never heard anyone ask him about Xiao Yuanmu again.

In the end, even Song Guohua gave up after hearing about what Song Jiabao had done to Xiao Yuanmu. Everything before, he had been able to minimize by calling them little scuffles. However, he had heard about the matter with Sun Jinren before. Initially, he had thought that what had happened to Sun Jinren had been his own problem. Therefore, when Sun Jinren's company had changed hands, he hadn't thought much about it. Now that he heard that his son had been involved, he couldn't help but s.h.i.+ver.

Even though it didn't seem like the company that had acquired Sun Jinren's company had anything to do with RE, he still felt like Xiao Yuanmu must have had something to do with it.

For a while, not only did he stop trying to get Song Xuanhe to mediate between them, but “Xiao Yuanmu” himself had also become a taboo topic for him.

If the person behind the acquisition of Sun Jinren's company had really been Xiao Yuanmu, then that just proved that the other could use vicious methods and would not even think twice in employing them. As such, Song Guohua didn't even have to think to know that there was no way Xiao Yuanmu would form a partners.h.i.+p with him. And because Song Jiabao had been involved in the matter with Sun Jinren, Xiao Yuanmu might even take revenge on his company.

The only thing Song Guohua could rejoice in had been the fact that, although Xiao Yuanmu was currently a bit successful in America, his reach would unlikely be able to reach China. Furthermore, he had a powerful backer behind him. The Song Group also would back him up. Although he was wary of Xiao Yuanmu, he hadn't thought that the other would dare to act against him.

It was just that Song Guohua's confidence didn't last very long. All of a sudden, a particular piece of news smashed against his head, causing him to feel so dizzy that he felt like he was seeing stars.

“Xiao Yuanmu is a member of the Xiao Family?!”

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The moment he had agreed to Zhou Nan's invitation to go drinking, Song Xuanhe knew that there would be no avoiding this question.

Yesterday, the Xiao Family had announced that they had found their long-lost eldest son all of a sudden. Song Xuanhe had just managed to get his peace back. When the news had come out though, the people looking for him to ask about Xiao Yuanmu were even more frenzied than they had been when the news that Xiao Yuanmu was the president of RE had come out. Not only did Song Xuanhe have to keep his phone turned off, but he also couldn't even return to his apartment. He had no choice but to stay at a hotel for a few days to avoid all those people, who would use any means to get to him.

Song Xuanhe felt like this was the plot's revenge for him and Xiao Yuanmu not following the storyline of mutual torment. Even though Xiao Yuanmu wasn't next to him, he was unable to free himself of him.

“F*ck, isn't this too fantastical?” Zhou Nan looked incredulous. “I had just turned off my phone and stayed at the hospital for two days. As soon as I came out, I heard about this. I had thought that I was being pranked. Song

Xiao Er,

is this for real?”

Song Xuanhe didn't look up. “Yes.”

“It's really real?” Zhou Nan was astonished. “I had never expected that Xiao Yuanmu would suddenly be related to

Xiao

Ranyun. Ranyun seemed to like him a lot. She had been saddened by your breakup for a long time. I had never expected that they'd share such a connection.”

“But Song

Er

, you really lost out.” Zhou Nan had been stifled these last two days. As soon as he had been freed, he couldn't stop talking. He sighed and patted Song Xuanhe on the shoulder, a sad look on his face. “Your ex's career soared after you two broke up. Those tabloids are going to mock you for being as blind as a bat. The poor boy suddenly transformed into the successor of a financial group. Those reporters are probably ecstatic right now, thinking about how they should go about talking c.r.a.p about you. I, myself, can't even think of what to say.”

When he didn't hear Song Xuanhe reply, Zhou Nan b.u.mped him with his shoulder. “Xiao Yuanmu's company was founded in September. Did you really not know about it?”

“I didn't.”

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“Alright. That fellow even hid this from you. It wouldn't have made a difference if you had stayed together.” Zhou Nan clicked his tongue and then sighed. “In the past, I had believed in the rumours about how twisted the start of your relations.h.i.+p had been. But when I had seen you dive into the water without any regard for your own life to save him that time, I knew that the rumours were fake. It's good enough that the two of you broke off on good terms. He's in America, and you're in China. And, who knows where the Xiao Family is situated? It's unlikely that you'll see each other again. Don't worry about this, bro.”

Song Xuanhe took a sip of his drink and quietly said, “That's not necessarily true.”

Zhou Nan hadn't heard what he had said clearly. He was taken back for a second before he s.h.i.+fted closer. “What's not necessarily true?”

Song Xuanhe didn't feel like responding. He clinked his gla.s.s of vodka against Zhou Nan's gla.s.s that was currently sitting on the table. The melodious ring diverted Zhou Nan's attention. Zhou Nan lifted his gla.s.s up and sipped it. “If you're unhappy, drink more.

Ge

will drink with you.”

“Planning on taking advantage of me?” Song Xuanhe raised a brow.

Zhou Nan b.u.mped gla.s.ses with him and then changed the topic. “I heard that Xiao Baicong of the Xiao Family is pretty impressive. Xiao Baicong probably won't be able to accept Xiao Yuanmu suddenly entering the family, even if they're biological brothers. Oh, but RE's in hot demand right now. The Xiao Family has a lot of investments in the energy industry. His company will probably help him in the contest for the Xiao Family's successor position.”

Song Xuanhe thought it over. Zhou Nan was right, if he were to look at the original plot. In the original story, Xiao Yuanmu had indeed relied on his company to stabilize his footing in the Xiao Family. But, the thing was Xiao Yuanmu's company in the original plot had only been an investment company. It had nothing to do with new energy source research before. Although in the book, he had started to invest in it, the research hadn't come into fruition until the late stage of the plot. It had also been because this new energy source had appeared that Xiao Yuanmu had been able to finally stabilize his position as the Xiao Family head.

Before this, Song Xuanhe had been too busy with his work to pay attention to the discrepancies between Xiao Yuanmu's current progress and the plot. Furthermore, he wasn't too clear about the specifics of the latter portion of the story either. He had only flipped through the plot again after recently hearing the system say that Xiao Yuanmu had been taking too long to get noticed by the Xiao Family and that this would affect the mission completion rate.

After flipping through the text, he had realized that Xiao Yuanmu's current progress had deviated greatly from the plot. The nature of his company was completely different. For a moment, Song Xuanhe had been unable to find where things had gone wrong. Although Xiao Yuanmu hadn't gone to work for other investment firms, he had still won the lottery as ordained by the plot. He had thought that these little differences would only cause slight deviations from the story.

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After Xiao Yuanmu had left, because Song Xuanhe knew that the other had still ended up going to America, and he subconsciously didn't want to hear about the other, combined with how busy he had been with the studio, he hadn't paid much attention to Xiao Yuanmu. He hadn't expected for such a huge change to appear during this time. He had only realized this when it came time for Xiao Yuanmu to be acknowledged by the Xiao Family.

When Song Xuanhe realized that he had overlooked this, he had also realized that something was fishy. The slight deviations in the beginning may have been coincidental, but there was no way he wouldn't start to get suspicious over the bigger and bigger deviations that were now occurring.

The System had once said that the major events in the plot could not be changed. Reality had indeed proved this. Although many accidents had happened, the general direction of the plot had never changed. Although Xiao Yuanmu's company type and the new energy source research weren't considered a major part of the plot, these deviations would very likely influence the general direction of the plot.

However, the news that the Xiao Family had found their long-lost eldest son had suppressed Song Xuanhe's suspicions. The timing of the Xiao Family's announcement coincided with when Xiao Yuanmu was supposed to meet the Xiao Family. There was no difference at all.

It was just that Song Xuanhe didn't know why, but he still felt like something was fishy. But even when he pondered over it, he couldn't figure out just what was wrong. The only thing he could do was conclude that, although his appearance had disrupted the main plot line, the consequences were not serious.

After having discussed it with the System, the System could only tell him: 【I have not detected any signs of the plot collapsing. However, there is indeed a huge discrepancy between Xiao Yuanmu's actions and what was written in the plot. I've already reported this to the main System.】

The main System replied very quickly. There were only three words:

No abnormalities detected.

Upon getting this response, Song Xuanhe stopped thinking about this. Just like the System had said, Song Xuanhe already had nothing to do with the plot. All he had to do now was go through the last scene where Xiao Yuanmu would hear from someone else about him being at a certain auction he would need to attend before his death. After that, he would just have to leave this world at an appropriate time.

His date of departure was getting closer and closer. Looking at the dates now, he could see that there was less than a year until then.

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Song Xuanhe took another sip of his drink. He could feel the burn in his throat as he clutched the gla.s.s tighter in his hand.

“But, it does look like a win-win situation for Xiao Yuanmu and the Xiao Family to find each other now. Xiao Yuanmu currently needs a backer if he wants to protect the new energy source in his hands. Furthermore, the new energy source will rake in huge profit for the Xiao Family. Thinking about it like this…maybe it's the Xiao Family that actually benefits the most. Not only did they find their long-lost son, but they also got a company that has a bright future ahead of it. What do you think, Song

Er

, do you think Xiao Yuanmu will merge his company with the Xiao Group?”

After finis.h.i.+ng his winding speech, Zhou Nan glanced at Song Xuanhe through his peripheral vision. When he saw the other with his eyes downcast, he frowned in concern. He pretended to not notice anything and changed the topic. “Right, have I told you about my progress with Yu Yan? I went to his clinic, because I had a cough. As expected, after staying in the hospital for two days, things have changed. He's being nicer to me these days….”

“No.”

Zhou Nan was taken aback. “What?”

Song Xuanhe had also been startled by the word he had blurted out. When he had heard Zhou Nan's voice, however, he repeated himself. “He won't merge his company with the Xiao Group.”

After saying this, Song Xuanhe's eyelashes quivered. In the plot, Xiao Yuanmu's company had merged with the Xiao Group. But for some reason, he was certain that the other wouldn't do the same this time.

Was it because the company type was different?

Song Xuanhe mulled over this. An investment company that could be handed over at any time was obviously different from a new energy source research company that enjoyed a monopoly over said energy source. It wasn't that he understood Xiao Yuanmu; it was that he knew just how shrewd the other was. With that in mind, there was no way the other would hand such an easy money-maker over to the Xiao Family.

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Zhou Nan nodded hesitantly. He then tried to sound Song Xuanhe out. “Now that you've said that, I also don't think that it's likely that Xiao Yuanmu will hand his company over to the Xiao Family. But you know, you really understand Xiao Yuanmu. You two….”

“He and I, there's no 'you two.'” Song Xuanhe felt like he had probably drank a bit too much. He suddenly felt distracted like his thoughts were a mess. He stood up and said, “Drink on your own. I'm going to head back.”

Staring after Song Xuanhe as he disappeared into the crowd, Zhou Nan shook his head. Perplexed, he said, “It can't be that my words came true….”

The author has something to say:

Zhou Nan: An “I only realized I loved you after losing you” play is actually unfolding before my eyes!