A Supernatural Live Stream: The Real Young Master is Trending Again - Chapter 12

Inside the Ji family manor.

[I’ve had a bit of a cold lately. I’ll come home to see you in a while.]

Ji Mengxue let out a cold snort as she glanced at the message from Shi Jingning. She closed her phone casually and rubbed her temples irritably, her icy gaze sweeping over the family portrait on the wall.

She was perfectly aware of his unusual behavior lately. To think he would end up in such a state just from personally severing that “sinful bond.” How could the bloodline of her Ji family be so cowardly?

“Mom.” A gentle male voice sounded from behind her.

Ji Mengxue turned her head. The owner of the voice came into view—dressed in a black suit, his features were aggressive and sharp, which should have created distance. However, the trace of illness between his brows softened that edge, and the smile on his lips made people subconsciously feel a sense of goodwill toward him.

Ji Mengxue’s expression softened slightly as she looked at him, her brow clearing as she smiled. “Xiao Nian, are you finished with your work?”

Shi Nian nodded slightly, walked to the sofa, sat down, and took a sip from the water glass on the coffee table. Ji Mengxue said nothing, simply watching him with a smile.

After finishing half the glass, Shi Nian looked up. The hesitation in his eyes, however, could not be hidden from his mother.

Ji Mengxue arched an eyebrow and teased, “Does Xiao Nian have a little secret from Mom? Just say whatever is on your mind.”

At this, Shi Nian finally spoke hesitantly: “Mom… Liu Yunyan has passed away.”

Hearing the news of the woman’s death, Ji Mengxue didn’t have much of a reaction. The smile in her eyes didn’t even fade. It seemed she had known about this for a long time; she simply gave a faint “Mm.”

Seeing this, Shi Nian realized his mother was indeed already aware.

“About Si Ye…”

Shi Nian spoke halfway, tentatively checking his mother’s expression. Finding no strong reaction, he continued: “Si Ye didn’t really do anything wrong. Besides, it’s been so many years. Let those things… let him go, Mom.”

Having said his piece, Shi Nian quickly shifted his gaze to the teacup in his hand, waiting for a reply with a complex expression.

While he also disliked Liu Yunyan for destroying his family and hadn’t liked the “illegitimate son” Si Ye at first, he had generally turned a blind eye to his mother’s actions against the boy. He only spoke up to her occasionally when things went too far.

But he could never forget that summer. During the final exam, Si Ye had sent him a message for help. Shi Nian wanted to take him to the hospital, but Si Ye had just gripped his hand tightly and begged him to get him to the exam hall.

He didn’t know how Si Ye managed to finish that final exam, but he could never forget the resentment and determination he saw in Si Ye’s eyes that day.

It was then he suddenly realized that Si Ye had no one to rely on. This “illegitimate brother” hadn’t actually taken anything from him. Liu Yunyan was kept under the Shi family’s watch with almost no freedom—her “treatment” was nothing more than keeping her alive to prolong her suffering—and Si Ye wasn’t allowed to live a life of his own.

One could say Si Ye was simply a punching bag sent by Shi Hai to appease his mother, allowing her to vent her anger on someone who had no power to resist.

He suddenly felt it was all so tragic—for his mother, for himself, and for Si Ye. For the first time, he felt the urge to protect the boy.

However, having spent many years abroad for medical treatment and having only recently started handling group affairs after returning, he had no way to defy his mother.

He didn’t know where that absurd idea came from. Perhaps it was that inexplicable, annoying sense of bloodline intimacy he felt from the first day they met. Or perhaps it was the resentment and tenacious vitality he saw in the boy’s eyes, mixed with a fragility that made him feel pity.

Si Ye was fragile, powerless, tragic, pitiful—even innocent.

He is just like me.

That was what he had always believed.

Until later, when those reports and investigations caught his mother and the Ji family off guard, and he saw the sheer coldness in Si Ye’s eyes as he looked at them.

Only then did he realize he had been dead wrong.

But…

Crash!