Chapter 6: Even if the News of Being Switched at Birth Was Exposed, No One Would Believe It
The livestream was still ongoing.
Many viewers heard Chi Xiasheng’s words and let out a collective “Ooh,” wishing they could take a magnifying glass to the expressions of the two people inside the car.
Su Chimian lowered his head, his mouth slightly parted. His round, almond-shaped eyes looked pitifully at Chi Xiasheng, his eyebrows drooping as if Chi Xiasheng’s words had just broken his heart.
“I don’t know what I did wrong,” he said. “Besides ‘brother,’ I don’t know what else to call you…”
Chi Xiasheng was truly getting tired of it and cut him off.
Before he knew Su Chimian’s true identity, Chi Xiasheng had just thought he was an affectionate person who liked to say cute, silly things. But now, forced to be in the same car with him, he felt the air was thick with the cloying scent of a white lotus.¹
[¹Translator’s Note: “White lotus” is a popular Chinese internet slang term for a person (usually female, but can be male) who acts pure, innocent, and harmless on the surface but is actually manipulative, scheming, and two-faced underneath.]
“Su Chimian, from now on, please call me by my full name. Just think about our surnames, and you should understand the nature of our relationship.”
Hearing this, Su Chimian’s eyes flew wide open.
This was Chi Xiasheng’s warning to him: he was surnamed Chi, taking the surname of the orphanage director, while Su Chimian was surnamed Su—clearly a member of the Su family.
When Chi Xiasheng first returned, Su Chimian had been incredibly reluctant to accept him. It was only through his pouting and pleading that he had convinced Mother and Father Su not to change Chi Xiasheng’s surname.
At the time, Mother Su had said, “Xiaosheng’s official registration is tied to his university, so it’s a bit complicated to handle. Let’s not change his name for now. Besides, as long as our hearts are together, we’re a family. We don’t need to care about such superficial things.”
Chi Xiasheng had grown up in an orphanage, and his household registration had been transferred to his university when he enrolled. Hearing Mother Su’s explanation, he had agreed it sounded troublesome. He wasn’t someone who cared much about formalities anyway. He was already grateful enough to have found his birth parents and naturally wouldn’t make any demands.
Thinking back now, Chi Xiasheng realized that the Su family’s reluctance to accept him had probably been obvious from the very beginning. After all, with the Su family’s resources, a small matter like transferring a household registration was hardly a “trouble.” They just didn’t want to upset Su Chimian for his sake.
The viewers in the livestream also began to voice their questions.
[Yeah, why do the two brothers have different surnames?]
[Maybe one took the mother’s surname?]
[Su Chimian’s mother’s surname is Bai, but Chi Xiasheng’s is Chi. And look at the way Chi Xiasheng is gritting his teeth, he really seems to dislike Su Chimian.]
[Our Mianmian is cute and generous, and his acting is great. Chi Xiasheng must be jealous!]
The audience buzzed with discussion, marveling at how complicated the relationships between brothers in wealthy families could be.
For the rest of the car ride, Su Chimian was indeed much quieter.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of Chi Xiasheng. Even if Chi Xiasheng revealed the truth about them being switched at birth, Su Chimian wouldn’t be scared, not with the Su family protecting him. Since his parents had chosen to cover for him, they must have already made thorough preparations.
Chi Xiasheng’s words carried little weight. Even if he exposed the truth, who would believe him?! They could even turn it against him, claiming he was just jealous of Su Chimian being more favored in the family.
Chi Xiasheng naturally understood the stakes, but he still stood his ground and refused to be friendly with Su Chimian. The gossip about their bad blood drew in even more curious netizens to watch the show.
The vehicle drove into a small village.
The village was nestled against a mountain. From a distance, one could see black-tiled roofs and white walls against a backdrop of dark green mountains. A stream, like a ribbon of silver silk, wound around the base of the mountain, with steam rising from its surface under the scorching sun.
Green mountains, clear water, and fresh air.
Watching the beautiful scenery unfold on screen, the viewers felt the drama of the morning—the scheming, the arguments, the brotherly strife—instantly wash away. Their eyes followed the camera, and they couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
[I feel like I’ve ascended. A person, a field, a dog, and a beautiful sunset. This is the life I love!]
[When I get old, I’m going to build a house here and settle down!]
The slow-life reality show was finally starting to feel like a slow-life reality show.
Carrying their luggage, the guests followed the director to a two-story residential building.
“This is where you’ll be living for the next two weeks. You can choose your own rooms, but from now on, you’ll have to cook all your own meals.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the girl with the straight black hair, Rongrong, cried out, “No way! I can’t cook. Does anyone know how?”
The other female guest, Qiu Li, a cool and steady girl, also shook her head and said she couldn’t cook.
Qiao Ning, whose reputation had just taken a hit, quickly stepped forward. “I can cook a few dishes. Leave things like starting a fire and cooking to us guys.”
Rongrong was blunt, and she was still angry about being deceived by Qiao Ning earlier. She shot back, “I wouldn’t dare eat it. What if I get food poisoning?”
She stopped just short of saying Qiao Ning had bad character and might poison the food. This industry was complicated, and a petty schemer like Qiao Ning would naturally be treated with caution by everyone.
Qiao Ning’s expression turned a bit awkward, but he had a thick skin. He quickly busied himself helping everyone with their luggage and unpacking, trying to project an image of being enthusiastic and hardworking.
The two female guests decided to share a room. They announced they were going to rest, ignoring Qiao Ning’s attentiveness and shutting the door with a loud thud.
Qiao Ning rubbed his nose and tried to save face. “Well, let’s the three of us divide the rooms then. We should get some rest. The director might have other tasks for us this afternoon.”
After the women chose their room, there were two rooms left for the three men, meaning one of them would have to room alone.
Logically, since Su Chimian and Chi Xiasheng were “brothers,” it would be most appropriate for them to share a room. But both of them loathed the thought of rooming with the other.
At this moment, Su Chimian began to regret cultivating his “warm-hearted” image. Unlike Chi Xiasheng, he couldn’t just tear off the facade. He still had to pretend to be enthusiastic, grabbing Chi Xiasheng’s arm.
“Let’s share a room, Bro—Chi Xiasheng.”
Chi Xiasheng couldn’t stand Su Chimian’s clingy and pretentious tone any longer. He shook off his hand and walked to the door of the other room with his eyes half-closed.
“I’ll take this one.”
The rejection was crystal clear.
Qiao Ning couldn’t bear to see Su Chimian look so hurt. He frowned and rushed forward. “Xiasheng, can’t you be a little nicer to Mianmian? Even I, an outsider, can’t stand to watch this. Mianmian is your brother.”
Chi Xiasheng let out a cool “Oh,” his tone laced with sarcasm. “Since you know you’re an outsider, why are you speaking up for Su Chimian?”
Having been contradicted by Chi Xiasheng all morning, Qiao Ning’s face had already turned livid. He was losing his temper and wanted to fire back a sarcastic retort.
“None of your business! Can’t I just have a good relationship with Mianmian?”
Chi Xiasheng clicked his tongue and pushed open the door. “‘Mianmian’? Isn’t that Su Chimian’s nickname? Even I don’t call him that intimately.”
As he spoke, Su Chimian quickly pulled Qiao Ning back. Qiao Ning’s attitude towards him was indeed overly enthusiastic, easily leading people to suspect there was something romantic between them. There was a difference between a deliberately curated “CP” and a relationship that was accidentally exposed; the latter was more likely to make fans feel that something was off. Although Su Chimian wanted to gain fans by “shipping” himself with someone, he had no intention of being tied to Qiao Ning. He explained politely, “I acted in a drama with Brother Qiao Ning once. He asked for my nickname and thought it was interesting, so he started calling me that.”
Qiao Ning also sensed Su Chimian’s sudden distance. He stiffened slightly, a look of disappointment in his eyes.
“Oh. Whatever you guys want.”
Chi Xiasheng adopted a “none of my business” attitude, closed the door, and went to rest.
At this point, no matter how much Su Chimian tried to pretend, he could no longer hide the fact that their relationship was completely broken.
Online, forums were already exploding with arguments, with people trying to dig up the real reason why their relationship had plummeted to freezing point. Both of them were well-known celebrities from a wealthy family like the Su clan, which perfectly satisfied the netizens’ craving for gossip. They flooded the forums with their opinions:
[What other reason could there be for a rich family? It’s about inheritance and shares, obviously. It looks like the fight for power has already begun.]
[I agree. Chi Xiasheng gives Su Chimian no face at all. I bet the Su parents are leaving more money to Su Chimian!]
[Can you not be so disgusting? Who could possibly like that paralyzed-face Chi Xiasheng? He’s just a person of bad character, jealous that our Mianmian is beautiful and kind. Get lost, hater!]
[Has anyone dug into the reason for Chi Xiasheng’s surname? I think there’s something very fishy there! And objectively speaking, Su Chimian is always mentioning Chi Xiasheng in interviews. It really seems like he’s just using him as a foil.]
The arguments raged on with no conclusion, but most netizens disapproved of Chi Xiasheng’s attitude towards his brother. After all, he was his younger brother. To show him no respect on a live broadcast was either a sign of low emotional intelligence or a deliberate attempt to attract hate.
The director was very satisfied with this result. Although Chi Xiasheng’s cold attitude was a bit baffling, it didn’t stop the production team from using him to generate buzz. Su Chimian’s agent had called earlier, asking the team to favor Su Chimian. The director would naturally not refuse a request from his financial backer and instructed the staff to delete any comments that were unfavorable to Su Chimian.
Now, the online sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of Su Chimian, with people feeling sorry for him and saying that having a brother like Chi Xiasheng was worse than having no brother at all. He treated Su Chimian terribly, called him by his full name, and his tone was filled with unconcealed coldness. The key was that Su Chimian’s consistent public image was one of protecting Chi Xiasheng. The contrast between the two made the difference in their character obvious.
Su Chimian didn’t take a nap that afternoon. After receiving a call from his agent, he immediately went down to the kitchen. The situation was perfect. He might as well solidify the narrative that Chi Xiasheng was mistreating his younger brother and win the audience’s sympathy.
People always have a soft spot for the underdog. And Su Chimian had used this contrast between the strong and the weak to crush Chi Xiasheng many times before, winning a landslide victory every single time.
