Aunt Bai had once mentioned that when Li Weidu’s parents got married, it was during the lush green days of June.
And this year, during that same season, that woman once again donned a pure white wedding dress, becoming a “beautiful bride of June” once more.
The remarriage of a real estate tycoon and his long-separated wife instantly became front-page news across various media outlets.
To prove his sincerity, the old man, Li Changji, even went as far as legally transferring half of his assets to his wife. The headlines exploded with romanticized narratives like, “After twenty years of twists and turns, the first wife is still the best” and “From a wealthy young wife to a legendary business queen.” All kinds of chicken soup[mfn]encouragement/comfort stories[/mfn] articles became the major topic for a while.
The extravagant and dreamy wedding was reportedly orchestrated by the most expensive wedding planning company in S City, with four months of meticulous preparation.
They booked an entire luxury hotel on a private beach, hosting an opulent ceremony. To top it off, the old Li patriarch named a three-story yacht after his beloved wife, and at night, they launched a world-class fireworks display over the dark sea—so dazzling that half of S City looked up to watch.
As the eldest son, Li Weidu did not attend.
In the days leading up to the wedding, the overwhelming news coverage, the countless curious eyes, and the reporters who brazenly barged into Prosperity Corporation trying to dig up exclusive details all made Young Master Li noticeably irritable.
Of course, that was only his public face.
At home, he was still the ever-doting, virtuous boyfriend, staring at Ji Kai with those pure, lovestruck eyes, and continuing his daily routine of competing with the hedgehog, Guo Maomao, for attention.
Life remained sweet.
But Ji Kai, still shaken from the “suicide attempt” incident, secretly worried that his little puppet was just forcing himself to smile. He feared that at any moment, his emotions might spiral again. So, these days, as soon as he finished his classes, he would immediately grab a cab to Prosperity, slipping into the luxurious, all-wood executive office of a certain CEO.
While Li Weidu worked, Ji Kai quietly read, occasionally playing the role of a diligent little secretary—brewing tea or making coffee in that ridiculously cute bear-shaped mug of Li Weidu’s.
A few potted succulents on the desk, some greenery in the corners. Sunlight streamed through the glass, offering a stunning view of the city skyline. Time flowed peacefully.
But after frequenting the company for a while, Ji Kai began to notice a new side of his dear Weidu.
Or rather… perhaps it wasn’t entirely new.
……
“Tell me the truth—is it that I’m not good-looking enough? Or is my voice not soft and sweet enough?”
As it turned out, normal people really… can’t have casual conversations in restrooms. Even if the doors were closed and no one was eavesdropping on purpose, anyone passing by would instinctively stop to listen.
Ji Kai immediately recognized the voice.
Prosperity had a wildly popular VR live show tied to its gaming division “Boom”, and every season, they negotiated new celebrity collaborations. Once an agreement was in place, Li Weidu—ever the responsible boss—would personally review the candidates.
Apparently, this particular flirtatious starlet had misunderstood, thinking that getting a “review” was a euphemism for an unspoken rule. He had clearly come prepared to climb the bed in the name of career advancement.
Earlier in the office, right in front of Professor Ji—the “President’s spouse,” mind you—he had been shamelessly batting his lashes and making seductive gestures at someone else’s man. Then, huffing in frustration after being ignored, he had stormed out, only to mistake Ji Kai, who was making Earl Grey tea outside, for an assistant.
“Hey, you—pour me a cup too!”
After finishing his tea, he dragged her assistant into the restroom and immediately started venting about whether or not Li Weidu was actually sexually frigid.
His assistant hesitated. “No way, right? A-Anyway, don’t overthink it. From what I’ve heard, Mr. Li already has someone. His heart belongs to someone else! It’s definitely not a problem with your charm.”
“Hah, someone? Who doesn’t have someone nowadays? That’s a terrible excuse! How could anyone not get tired of seeing the same face every day? I’m practically gifting him a new flavor for free, and he still won’t take it?”
The assistant forced an awkward laugh. “Heh… hehe…”
“Seriously, is he blind or just brain-dead? I met him at a gala before—smiled at him, and he didn’t even react. I told him my hands were cold, and he had the audacity to say, ‘It’s summer—if you’re cold in this weather, maybe you should see a doctor.'”
The assistant: “…”
“And just now—ugh, you weren’t there, but it pissed me off! I asked him to take me home, and he sent a driver instead! Then I asked if he wanted to hang out tonight, and he said he was too busy making dinner for his pet hedgehog and his ‘baby bear’?!?”
The assistant blinked. “Wait… Mr. Li owns a bear?”
“He must—I mean, what else could that mean?! No wonder rich people are so impossible to deal with. They’re all weird, clueless, and completely waste their good looks!”
Ji Kai struggled to hold back his laughter.
It was a complete misunderstanding, but when he thought about it—was it really surprising?
After all, his first impression of Li Weidu wasn’t exactly great either. Back then, hadn’t he also thought: arrogant, unlikeable, self-absorbed lunatic, doomed-to-be-single psycho CEO?
What a stroke of luck.
Clearly, he had a great figure, a refined temperament, and a soft, sincere personality. He was the ultimate domestic treasure—delicious, useful, and essential. And yet, he somehow exuded an aura of “off-putting to both humans and dogs upon first impression,” which meant… no one even bothered trying to compete for him.
It was like striking gold in silence, unknown to the world. Professor Ji sat with his book, grinning to himself like an infatuated fool.
“Ah, that person who just left forgot their sunglasses.”
Li Weidu picked up the sunglasses by the temple arms with his long, slender fingers. His fair fingertips looked almost translucent under the sunlight—beautiful, enticing, making one want to touch them.
“Weidu, what do you think of that person’s looks?”
“They should be alright, I didn’t look too closely. Celebrities are rarely ugly, anyway. But our Prosperity VR live streams require extremely high gaming skills, so instead of appearances, I mainly assess their intelligence—”
“Weidu,” Ji Kai interrupted. “My hands are cold.”
Li Weidu froze for a moment. The next second, both of his hands wrapped tightly around Ji Kai’s.
…See? This was quick thinking.
He didn’t even argue about “It’s summer!”
A couple of seconds later, Li Weidu mumbled awkwardly, “M-My hands might actually be colder than yours…”
“No, no, not at all. Don’t let go, don’t let go—you’re very warm.”
Pfft. So he was still a little silly after all.
Just as Ji Kai was thinking this, the flirtatious celebrity suddenly returned, “Sorry, Mr. Li, I forgot my sungla—uh.”
Just now, the CEO had been an emotionless slab of stone—cold, hard, impossible to approach.
But now, he was sitting there, holding hands with his tall, handsome assistant, his expression soft and overflowing with tenderness.
The little star stood frozen, gulped, snatched his sunglasses, and fled. As he closed the door behind him, he heard a completely different, velvety voice ask:
“What do you want to eat today? I’ll cook for you.”
Ohhh, no wonder he wasn’t interested—turns out he’s the childhood sweetheart of a hotshot beauty!
I’m out. Not touching that.
……
Recently, Ji Kai had become increasingly at ease about his socially awkward, people-repelling CEO boyfriend.
Meanwhile, Li Weidu had become more and more on edge.
“Brother Kai is just so approachable…”
“Right? And whenever he’s here, the boss is way more gentle and kind to us. I really wish Brother Kai could come by every day~”
It had only been a few days, yet Li Weidu discovered that half the company had fallen under Ji Kai’s spell. Everywhere he went, people gazed at him with starry-eyed admiration.
The entire world was made up of rivals in love.
……
In the days leading up to the wedding, Li Weidu’s father resorted to relentless phone bombardment in an attempt to force his son to attend.
One moment, it was “A harmonious family reunion of three”. The next, it was “The media will gossip if you don’t show up.” Excuse after excuse, Li Weidu had enough. He simply blocked the number. So, his father started calling Ji Kai instead.
In the political world, there was a survival philosophy known as “Be enthusiastic and polite, but claim to know nothing.”
Since Ji Kai couldn’t directly offend Li Weidu’s family, he simply followed this principle—he was warm, respectful, but always emphasized, “I can’t make decisions for him.” Occasionally, he threw in some rational arguments.
“Uncle, please don’t pressure him anymore. The last time he returned from your place, he fell seriously ill. Honestly, even I can’t understand what you and Auntie are doing, let alone expect him to accept it.”
On the other end of the call, Li Father sighed.
“Professor Ji, you’re a good kid, so I’ll be honest with you.”
“When I was young, I was a scoundrel, I was arrogant, and I did let them down. But now, I genuinely want to make amends. Luo Rui has already forgiven me. So why does our son still resent me so much? You should talk to him more—after all, no parent in this world is ever truly wrong…”
Ji Kai smiled bitterly.
Li Weidu often said that his father and Zhu Ling were “very similar.”
But aside from their habit of compulsive lying, Ji Kai had never really noticed many similarities between them—
Li Changji was a shrewd, cunning businessman.
Zhu Ling, on the other hand, was childish and clueless.
They didn’t seem alike at all.
Until now.
Until this very moment—faced with Li Father’s innocent victim act, his deflections, his shameless passing of blame—Ji Kai was hit with a nauseating, unmistakable sense of déjà vu.
Yes. They were alike.
Very alike.
“Uncle, can I discuss a case study with you?”
“…Go ahead.”
“Let’s say there’s a man—completely deranged—who one day straps explosives to himself in the middle of the city, turning himself into a human bomb.”
“He kills many people, and also injures himself in the explosion. Later, in court, his defense is that it’s not his fault—he only pulled the trigger because other people provoked him. And since he was injured too, he’s also a victim, so no one should blame him for all the innocent lives lost.”
“Uncle, do you think that’s a reasonable defense? Would you consider that person innocent? Or, if he genuinely repents someday, should he be set free?”
Li Father, an experienced businessman, was no match for a law professor in a debate.
But Ji Kai never expected that, just a few days later, he would be called in for a meeting with someone of significant status.
Professor Li Changming from R University—one of the most distinguished scholars in the legal field.
One of the key figures involved in drafting a major law.
In fact, Ji Kai’s own university textbooks, as well as the ones he currently taught from, were authored by this very professor.
And Li Changming… was Li Weidu’s uncle.
Ji Kai should have made the connection sooner—the similarity in names wasn’t a coincidence.
The professor was actually Li Changji’s older brother.
And Li Weidu’s great and revered uncle!
Ji Kai had only ever heard Aunt Bai mention that the Li family brothers were both giants in their respective fields—politics and business.
Li Weidu’s father, despite being a businessman with nothing but money, worshiped his accomplished, well-educated older brother.
As a child, Li Weidu had grown up with a photo of his uncle shaking hands with a former national leader—permanently displayed above his bed. It was meant to be an inspiration and motivation for him, a constant reminder to strive harder.
Ji Kai desperately wished he could time-travel back to the past—
And snatch his baby Weidu right out of that hellhole.
What kind of insane parents put that kind of photo over their kid’s bed?!
And later, they had relentlessly pressured Li Weidu to study law, pushing him to inherit his uncle’s legacy.
But Li Weidu had refused.
Even though he was wildly successful in his own right, they still nagged at him—calling him useless, rebellious, unfilial.
Having a family like that was nothing short of torment.
Translator: Lynn
Translations are not 100% correct. Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.
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