ye qiuxue rubbed her temples, her tasks finally completed.she glanced at her phone; still no reply from that person. her weariness deepened, accompanied by a sense of helplessness.
her phone contained few personal contacts, mostly work-related groups. habitually, she muted those groups once their discussions were resolved.
lately, she hadnât paid much attention to the happenings at school. she reasoned that if huming returned, he would definitely reach out to her!
this assumption, however, caused her to miss out on much without realizing it.
leaning back in her chair, a sudden thought crossed her mindâwasnât today the schoolâs cultural festival?
in fact, she had memorized the schoolâs calendar long before arriving here.
opening her class group chat for the first time in ages, she was met with a video posted by a classmate.
following the video were messages, all discussing huming.
seeing that familiar name, ye qiuxue froze in place.
she clicked on the video, and there he wasâa boy playing guitar and singing. that familiar face left her utterly stunned.
it was unmistakably huming!
but why? why had he returned but not contacted her?
ye qiuxue frowned deeply, her mind swirling with confusion.
â¦
han yunxi had never seen huming shine so brightly. then again, according to him, they hadnât met before.
even so, the person on stage radiated brilliance, completely overshadowing han shuyi.
it was obvious to everyone that han shuyiâs championship win was questionable. in terms of stage presence or vocal technique, huming clearly deserved the victory.
so why had the champion gone to han shuyi?
han yunxi couldnât understand. but if han shuyi did anything to disgrace the han family, she wouldnât let it slide!
this situation wasnât like han humingâs past minor anticsâit involved the familyâs reputation. if han shuyi had truly bribed the judges, she would lose all respect for him.
yet, as she watched xia xiaoxi stand confidently by humingâs side, a pang of jealousy surfaced in her heart. the fact that xia xiaoxi was her idol didn't shield her feelings.
â¦
the video spread quickly, making huming the talk of many.
meanwhile, in a distant manor in jingdu, a young man sat on a sofa, watching the video. his narrowed eyes locked onto huming on the screen, dark flickers of light glinting within.
soon, a knock came at the door.
âcome in.â
a man in a suit entered and bowed respectfully.
âyoung master gu, after our investigation, weâve confirmed that the boy is indeed han huming. his recent disappearance was to fabricate his identity.â
âhe managed that?â the young man asked, incredulous at humingâs actions.
the man shook his head, adding, âi donât believe he acted alone. moreover, we uncovered something significant.â
âwhat is it?â
âhumingâs fabricated identity lists a relativeâyour long-missing second granduncle.â
the young man, initially composed, now sat upright, his expression no longer calm.
he had thought this was just one of humingâs petty tricks. but to think his second granduncle was involvedâthis changed everything.
âsecond granduncle was expelled from the gu family years ago. though grandfather always missed him, he could never find him. now, humingâs connection to granduncle raises serious doubts.â
the young man stroked his chin, piecing the situation together.
the man suddenly asked, âyoung master gu, should we continue searching for the midwife we couldnât locate earlier?â
âno, leave that for now. focus all efforts on investigating what second granduncle did after leaving the family. this matter is crucial to what happens next.â
âunderstood. iâll take my leave.â seará´h the novelÆire(.)ne*t website on google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
the man bowed again before exiting.
outside the room, he glanced back at the closed door.
âshaken by something so trivial? as expected of a fake.â
gu zhaochuan stood, walked to his desk, and picked up a framed photo.
it was a picture of him and his parents. yet, he had known since childhood he wasnât their biological child. his role was to replace the rightful heir and become them.
initially, he resisted. but after experiencing life here, he changed his mind.
he had met his biological parentsâa greedy, selfish pair.
their actions evoked no pity, only disdain.
this mindset fueled his resolve to eliminate huming.
three families had their children swapped. he would use han shuyi to get rid of huming, ensuring his permanent disappearance.
he had assumed huming was dead. but months later, he resurfaced, unsettling gu zhaochuan.
still, he wasnât overly concerned. no matter how outstanding huming was, he couldnât be tied to the gu family.
but the shadow of the second granduncle behind huming blindsided him.
a once-estranged figure reappearing could only bring chaos to the family.
gu zhaochuan justified his actions as protecting the familyâs peace.
he picked up the phone and dialed a number.
âhan shuyi is unreliable. handle huming personally. i donât want to hear his name again.â
âunderstood.â
the call ended. gu zhaochuan didnât stop.
if han shuyi couldnât help, then han shuyi would pay for his deceit.
in the mirror, gu zhaochuanâs lips curled into a sinister smileâdangerous and chilling.
â¦
âhan shuyi, what were you thinking? using the han familyâs promise to fund a new school building in exchange for that so-called champion?â han litian was livid.
in his eyes, han shuyi was supposed to be an obedient child.
now, he seemed like a different person, bartering the familyâs resources for a meaningless title.
and what was the result?
everyone knew who the real champion was that night.
and han shuyi? he was accused of rigging, winning only because of the han familyâs backing.
han litian couldnât understand the point of it all.
he glared at han shuyi, who hung his head, silent.
suddenly, han litianâs cold voice broke the silence.
âdo you see huming as him?â