Dare to Take Me as a Stand-in? Are You Worthy?

The atmosphere of the visiting room of the prison was strange. Xie Qing leaned on his chair in a relaxed manner as he fiddled with the cuff on his right wrist. Following his silence, Yu Kaize gradually turned anxious however the meaning expressed in his eyes was completely different from what he meant.

Yu Kaize was testing him.

Testing whether Xie Qing actually knew Qi Huaiyu.

The truth was soon revealed as Xie Qing said in a calm voice, “You seem to have misunderstood something. I don’t know anyone named Qi Huaiyu. I can also tell you that I had no hand in the matter of your suicide instigation on Li Chuan. After all, you know I only have recordings. I don’t really have the ability to investigate your past.”

Yu Kaize’s back, which had been tense, completely relaxed at the moment and he slammed back on his chair.

The violent collision made the police outside the door couldn’t help but look around inside to see if anything went wrong. However, they soon walked back to their original positions after they noticed that nothing unusual happened.

Xie Qing asked, “Who is Qi Huaiyu?”

Probably because he was stimulated, Yu Kaize was unexpectedly easy to talk to at the moment. He stretched out his hands to cover his face and took a deep breath, “The young Prince of Beijing. If you don’t know him, then you must have heard of his grandfather’s name, Qi Guoguang.”

Yu Kaize didn’t pay attention to Xie Qing’s face and expression, he only had one thought in his head——

He was scammed by Li Youbai.

He should have known. What kind of person is Qi Huaiyu? How can such a high-ranked young master offer to help a celebrity? What’s more, if the other party really had this idea, why didn’t he just find him himself? But when all is said and done, he was the one who overestimated himself and underestimated Li Youbai’s character.

Never would he have expected that Li Youbai would step in and put him to death at this moment.

The man lowered his head and the hatred coming from his eyes couldn’t help but burst out. Xie Qing looked at him with a thoughtful look, thinking of the young man that he had met the night before. He chuckled silently.

After a while, he pushed away his chair and stood up. Looking at the desolate and dejected man, he said, “Good luck.”

After that, he turned away and left.

After Xie Qing left, when the prison guards entered the room to take Yu Kaize away, they heard him say, “I still want to see another person. His name is Xie Ling.”

Guards: ??

Was he trying to collect people like stamps?

Both are surnamed Xie.

…

Leaving the prison, Xie Qing boarded a bus. The location of the prison was quite remote, so there were only a few people on the bus. Xie Qing sat by the window as the bus wobbled the way back home. During this period, he dug out his phone to look at WeChat. He looked at the chat labelled ‘Qi Huaiyu’ and replied slowly, ‘Don’t be envious, you’ll find one too.’

Then he went to the browser and typed the three words ‘Qi Guoguang’ in the search bar.

Yu Kaize really overestimated him1. He had been away from this place for ten years. Those insignificant things have all long been turned into dust in his memories, scattered in different corners of his mind. But well, the internet was now well-developed. It was more than enough for him to find information about Qi Guoguang.

After reading the contents shown on the webpage, Xie Qing gave out a light snort.

Little liar.

There was not a word of truth that came out of his mouth.

An heir with real estate all over the country ran away from home because his family members wouldn’t let him keep a cat? Even huddling in an unoccupied corner in the rain. Rather than saying that he had no place to stay, it was better to say that he was waiting for him there.

But… why?

There must be a reason right?

Could it be that he was one of Xie Ling’s suitors that want him to be a substitute after failing to catch up with his sweetheart?

Thinking about it this way, Xie Qing felt that it was impossible. Between Qi Huaiyu and Xie Ling, the one that can’t catch up was probably Xie Ling.

Leaving the page, he opened the chat with Qi Huaiyu again and typed, ‘Come over for a meal if you have time. Berry probably misses you because the cat food wasn’t eaten much these days.’

The other party replied almost instantly, ‘I’ll go over there tonight.’

Xie Qing: ‘Not tonight. I want to go back to my parent’s place and have dinner with them.’

Qi Huaiyu immediately sent him a pitiful-looking emoji. It was a Shiba inu with its head drooping down with a few tears hanging from its big eyes. Xie Qing couldn’t help but imagine such an expression on Qi Huaiyu’s face when he saw it. Needless to say, it was really something.

Soon Xie Qing couldn’t talk with Qi Huaiyu anymore. He had to get off the bus and transfer to another one. It was already past three in the afternoon when he got home. Coincidentally, while standing in the lobby of his parent’s residence, he received a call from Wen Xu. The latter was near and had wanted to ask him if he wanted to pick him up. They had agreed to have dinner together with Gu Mingguo and his wife today.

After knowing that Xie Qing had arrived there, Wen Xu drove over without saying a word. It wasn’t far away from where he was and it wasn’t even commuting time, so there were not many cars on the road. It only took Wen Xu about five minutes to park his car beside a small flower bed. He then walked up with his arms around Xie Qing’s shoulders.

The two walked slowly towards the stairs and when they reached the third floor, Xie Qing’s ears moved slightly. As expected, he heard familiar muttering. Xie Qing raised his eyes and saw the old lady of the Gu family being supported by Gu Jinghao and his wife. Her face was dark and she seemed to be in a bad mood.

Gu Jinghao also felt complicated facing his mother. Seeing that she was angry, he could only comfort her in a low voice, “I’ve told you not to come over here early on. If Dad wants to come over, let him come here by himself. Mom, why do you need to come here just to lose your temper?”

“Let him come by himself? Are you stupid? Your dad only cares about Gu Mingguo in his heart right now. Do you still want them to spend time alone? Do you want to hand over this family to outsiders?”

“It’s not that exaggerated is it? Anyways, my ge doesn’t seem to have gotten that better.” Gu Jinghao whispered a few words. When the old lady was about to turn away, Gu Jinghao spotted the handsome young man standing at the entrance of the stairway on the 3rd floor and was startled for a moment. With embarrassment on his face, he immediately grabbed his mother, for fear that she would say something unpleasant.

Sometimes, although the two families obviously hated each other, they always looked good on the surface.

After the old lady noticed Xie Qing, the original topic wasn’t brought up anymore. But it would be difficult for Gu Jinghao to realize his wish2 as his mother glanced at Xie Qing with disgust and spat, “Little bastard.”

Wen Xu frowned upon hearing her vicious words.

Back then, when he was staying in the small village, Wen Xu would often hear the villagers calling him a little bastard. These three words were ugly which made Wen Xu, who had usually been good-tempered, quite angry. However, Xie Qing moved much faster than he did.

The young man had a smile on his face as if he wasn’t affected by these words at all. He even chuckled lightly, “Old yet not dead.”

Gu Jinghao, “…”

Wen Xu, “…”

Gu Jinghao’s eyes widened. He had thought that Xie Qing’s response last time was shocking enough, but he didn’t expect that he would be tit-for-tat about this. Last time his mother was angered to the extreme, would it be so again this time? Gu Jinghao really didn’t dare to delay leaving at all. He just took the old lady’s hand, wishing to bury his head on his chest and brought her away.

The old lady finally came to her senses and yelled angrily, “Why are you dragging me? Didn’t you hear that little bastard scold your mother!?”

Gu Jinghao responded with a few perfunctory words but walked even faster.

Gu Jinghao’s wife who was following them rolled her eyes.

Dead old woman, why don’t you think about how you scold other people?

Wanting to save face just because you’re old.

Seeing the three people leave, Xie Qing was in a good mood, as if nothing happened. He then said to Wen Xu, “Let’s go. Mom and Dad should be waiting for us.”

Wen Xu couldn’t help but give him two more looks.

“What? Are you shocked?”

Wen Xu smiled, “It’s not that shocking. It was just a bit surprising. I think the old lady’s face looked sour. It’s nothing much really.”

Speaking of this stuff, Xie Qing couldn’t help but be interested. He raised his eyebrows slightly and his narrow eyes were filled with a smile, “Why don’t I know that you’re still able to read people’s faces3, ge?”

“I can only do a little bit.” Wen Xu gestured lightly, showing Xie Qing how small that little point is, “I had gone to Jixi Temple a few years ago when I had nothing to do. I met a master and learnt some skills from him.”

“A Buddhist fortune teller?”

“He’s quite special. To be precise, he’s a Taoist studying Buddhism.” Not surprised by Xie Qing’s expression at all, Wen Xu deliberately made a gesture and waved his hand in front of his chest, saying in a steady and low voice, “Buddha is merciful4.”

Xie Qing smiled.

…

Zheng Jie had received a message from Xie Qing that he arrived long ago, so she stood at the door but no one arrived yet. Zheng Jie thought of the three from Gu Jinghao’s family who went downstairs not long ago and faint worry arose in her heart. Since the last time when Xie Qing had a tit-for-tat confrontation, the faces of the two families had been torn off. If this could happen, what else couldn’t happen too?

Just when Zheng Jie was about to go downstairs to find him, Xie Qing and Wen Xu appeared in front of her shoulder to shoulder.

It was the first time for her to see Wen Xu. Wen Xu was tall and handsome, a polite and well-behaved boy at first glance. When he noticed that an elder was looking at him, Wen Xu quickly smiled at her, “Hello, auntie. I am A-Qing’s friend. My name is Wen Xu.”

“Ai, Xiao Wen, hello.” Her eyes flashed as she noticed the gift box in Wen Xu’s hand. Zheng Jie couldn’t help but feel helpless, “What kind of gift do you need to bring coming home? You’re A-Qing’s friend, so treat us like family. There’s no need to spend money.”

“No money is spent. This is the ginseng I dug out myself along with some fruits and vegetables that I grew. Nothing that requires spending.”

Seeing Wen Xu and Zheng Jie exchange pleasantries and then refusing5 gifts, Xie Qing immediately stepped forward and hugged his mother, “Mom, don’t be too reserved with Wen Xu. I treat him as my ge. Oh yeah, I met Gu Jinghao’s family just now. They didn’t do anything to you, did they?”

Zheng Jie just gave him a look.

Immediately afterwards she said helplessly, “What can I do? At most, I can only listen to some bad words. I’ve been listening to them for ten years. This old lady doesn’t have any new words.”

Only Gu Mingguo lost his temper.

When Gu Jinghao, his wife and the old lady came, Gu Mingguo had been lying in bed pretending to be in a bad state. In Between the lines of Zheng Jie’s words to them, she had meant that Gu Mingguo’s health had improved, although he couldn’t return to being an ordinary person for the time being. But if he reluctantly had to interact with people, he could barely do it6.

Speaking of this, Zheng Jie laughed once more, “You didn’t see it before, but the old lady’s face fell and she lost her temper.”

“She just hopes that our family doesn’t live well.” Xie Qing also smiled. That Gu family and the old lady were no different from a joke to him. If it weren’t for worrying that he would leave a bad influence on Gu Mingguo and his wife, Xie Qing wouldn’t even bother to pay attention to her. He comforted Zheng Jie, “It’s almost time. In the future, the three of us will have to go to the old house to sit for a while and p*ss her off.”

Zheng Jie was completely amused by Xie Qing’s words. She patted him on the shoulder and realized that Wen Xu was still there. She quickly rolled her eyes at Xie Qing to signal him to not talk any nonsense.

Xie Qing didn’t care.

His ge had heard him scolding people anyways.

Does he still need to mind hearing a few more sentences?

…

Wen Xu and Xie Qing wanted to cook dinner together. When Zheng Jie heard of their plan, she opened her mouth to refuse. It was a pity that she couldn’t hold back the two young men. So she could only stand by the window to talk with Gu Mingguo.

When most of the dishes were ready, Xie Qing received a message from Qi Huaiyu, which was a picture.

The contents of the picture were simple. It was a simple egg-fried rice. The rice looked a bit burnt. It looked like the cook was unable to control the heat well.

Xie Qing didn’t believe that a chef from a wealthy family couldn’t even cook egg-fried rice. Additionally, he didn’t believe that a young master of a wealthy family could only eat egg-fried rice for dinner.

This little liar was acting pitiful once more.

Xie Qing leaned on the table, casually untying the apron around his waist. He bowed his head and typed a few words, ‘Did you make this yourself? It doesn’t look bad.’

Qi Huaiyu quickly replied to him, ‘But it’s burnt. Ge, what are you eating tonight?’

Xie Qing leisurely took photos of all the dishes and sent them to him. Every dish looked attractive.

“Are you chatting with someone?”

Wen Xu brought out the steamed chicken7 to the dining room and then went back into the kitchen. At a glance, he noticed that Xie Qing had an unexplainable smile on his lips. He typed with his fingers and seemed to be very happy.

Xie Qing nodded in response. He put away his phone and asked Wen Xu, “Ge, do you know Qi Huaiyu?”

Qi Huaiyu?

Wen Xu was stunned for a moment. The name hadn’t gone into his mind for a long time.

Wen Xu had also left this world for nearly thirty years and many of his memories were scattered. When he came back, he had either inquired about Xie Qing’s whereabouts or planted sprouts, fruits, vegetables and herbs in the fields. But even so, the name Qi Huaiyu was quickly dug out from his memory.

After all, Qi Huaiyu was really well-known.

“I’m acquainted with him. We encountered each other before.” Wen Xu turned his head to look at Xie Qing. Seeing the faint interest in the other person’s eyes, he opened his mouth to confess all the information that he knew, “The only son of the head of the Qi family. After the head of the Qi family unexpectedly died, Qi Huaiyu grew up with Qi Guoguang. I heard that he was a genius. But unfortunately, he suffered from a strange disease four years ago and hadn’t seen anyone for a long time. Recently, he seems to have appeared in the banquets of the rich second generations.”

After a pause, Wen Xu continued, “He has a bad temper, the kind that can’t be messed with.”

Xie Qing hummed. While he was looking down at his phone, Qi Huaiyu sent him another message.

The bad-tempered and unruly young man from Wen Xu’s mouth sent him a cute emoji and left a few words, ‘Ge, I want to eat too(〃’▽’〃).’

As if he was acting coquettish…. 

1

Xie Qing

2

his wish of hoping his mother wouldn’t say anything unpleasant

3

like reading their fates and stuff

4

it’s a saying. Buddha is merciful to everything, a gesture of pity to all living beings. BTW I was also a Buddhist back when I was a child… So I was baptized as a Catholic because I was born in the PH. Being full-blooded Chinese from a traditional family means I must follow Confucianism. But my school didn’t have Confucianism so I had to join a Buddhist class

5

more formality rather than rudeness

6

insinuating it would be hard to interact with them, implying they were hard to handle

7

bai qie ji, white cut chicken? Idk the skin of the chicken is actually yellow from the spices used. I hate it. My mom loves it