VGAB Chapter 45

The bodyguard dragged the man and woman down. Qi Heng had someone prepare a pot of nourishing soup for Qi Rui in the kitchen. After he finished drinking it, he heartlessly dispatched someone to send Qi Rui back to school.

As for returning to school on the same day, Qi Rui refused. Unfortunately, in Qi Heng’s eyes, skipping school was an unforgivable offense, except for extreme circumstances. He wouldn’t even consider it otherwise.

One day later, Qi Han returned.

As fast as he left for Africa, he returned just as swiftly. He was truly afraid that if he delayed for another day, his elder brother might actually start a coal mining company in Africa and make him work in the mines.

Would their dignified Third Master of the Qi family still have any face left?

Qi Heng didn’t care about his emotional journey; all that mattered was the result he desired. As soon as Qi Han stepped through the gates of the old Qi family mansion, Qi Heng promptly sent him off to the company.

A month later, Qi Heng invested in a research and development project related to artificial intelligence, completely delegating the matters at the headquarters to Qi Han.

From that point onwards, he dedicated almost all of his attention to it, even occasionally traveling to other places for learning purposes.

Sometimes, when Qi Han wanted to report the company’s situation to him, he couldn’t find him.

More than a decade later, it seemed that his elder brother’s enthusiasm for learning had erupted too much.

Qi Han, holding the documents to report the recent financial trends of the company, once again found himself at a loss, staring at the empty study, speechless.

At times, he felt it might have been better to stay in Africa and work in the coal mines.

Qi Han once again confirmed that, in his elder brother’s eyes, he was nothing more than a tool for managing the company.

He used to believe that his elder brother’s reluctance to relinquish power was a precaution against him using it to build his own influence within the company. Could he even plead with his brother to trust him now?

But Qi Han had no opportunity because Qi Heng had purchased an uninhabited island abroad, relocating all project-related personnel there.

He didn’t even come out himself, only making a symbolic phone call when Qi Rui was taking his college entrance exams.

After eight years of toiling like an ox, Qi Han, who was once a handsome young man, had turned into a middle-aged one, consumed by his daily resentment.

On a day when heavy snow was falling, Qi Heng returned to the Qi family mansion by car.

Upon receiving the news, Qi Han immediately drove back to the old mansion. As soon as he entered, he froze.

Sitting on the sofa, still as handsome as when he left eight years ago, it seemed as if time had left no mark on him.

The only difference was that, besides the Steward Sun Yi, Qi Heng had a young teenager with him, around fifteen or sixteen years old.

The young man raised his head, with clear, deep black eyes, smooth black hair, and a resemblance to Qi Rui by about sixty percent. However, he didn’t possess the same bold and defiant demeanor as the fifteen or sixteen-year-old Qi Rui from eight years ago. Instead, he stood obediently behind Qi Heng.

“Elder brother, who is this?” Qi Han had naturally heard of the drama that unfolded eight years ago. For a moment, he even wondered if his elder brother had found a stand-in.

Before Qi Han could even repent for his wild thoughts, he noticed something unusual about the young man. His expression remained completely still as if he were frozen in place.

Qi Heng waved to the robot behind him, “Come here, Qi Rui Number Two, greet your Third Uncle.”

With that sentence, it was like triggering some mechanism, and the young man suddenly appeared lively. He bowed to Qi Han and revealed an innocent and obedient smile, saying, “Hello, Third Uncle. I am Dad’s son, and my name is Qi Rui Number Two.”

Qi Rui Number Two…

A twitch ran across Qi Han’s lips. He was certain that if Qi Rui saw this young man, he would be deeply upset. Not only did he use his appearance, but he also used his name.

“Number Two, go outside and build a snowman,” Qi Heng spoke, and Qi Rui Number Two responded with an affectionate smile, “Sure, Dad.”

In the settings, he is a robot who enjoys building snowmen.

“Elder brother, he—”

“He is Number Two, the most perfect intelligent robot created in the laboratory. He has the ability to think, and this thinking ability is autonomous,” Qi Heng explained calmly.

“But, elder brother, why did you…” Qi Han found it hard to express his thoughts, “Why did you use Qi Rui’s appearance and name?”

Qi Heng furrowed his brow and sighed, “I had no choice; at the time, I only had Qi Rui’s photos on my phone, so I simulated based on that.”

Qi Han: “…”

Qi Rui probably never imagined that his robotic brother came into existence this way. It serves him right for secretly setting his elder brother’s lock screen to his own image.

Originally, Qi Han had no intention of informing Qi Rui about Qi Heng’s return so soon. However, after seeing Qi Rui Number Two, driven by a certain mischievous curiosity, Qi Han secretly sent a text message to Qi Rui.

Qi Rui had graduated from college and hadn’t joined the Qi family business. Instead, he had taken over the game company that Qi Heng had previously purchased. He had even developed several highly popular games, and the company’s prospects were on the rise. These days, he was busy preparing for the anniversary celebration of one of their games.

Qi Han’s message arrived at this moment. Initially, Qi Rui thought it was some kind of spam message, given that his phone had recently been infected with malware due to accidentally visiting certain unsavory websites, leading to receiving numerous random junk messages.

However, when he absentmindedly glanced at the screen of his phone lying on the nearby table, he dropped everything, grabbed his phone and keys, and rushed out.

“Hey? Boss, where are you going?”

Qi Rui’s heart raced as he sped to the garage, but considering that he couldn’t calm his emotions in the heat of the moment, he decided to make a phone call. He had the company driver pick him up and take him back to the Qi family mansion.

Qi Rui had never encountered as many red lights as he did today.

With a heart pounding in his chest, the car finally arrived at the Qi family mansion. Qi Rui hastily opened the car door and sprinted toward the mansion’s entrance.

Inside the gate, there was a young man holding a scarf and gesturing toward the snowman’s neck in front of him.

Qi Rui strangely felt a familiarity in the young man’s features and couldn’t help but make a speculative guess. Could this be his uncle’s illegitimate child from outside?

As he thought this, the young man seemed to sense someone behind him and slowly turned around.

“Hey? Are you Number Two’s brother?” The face was very familiar to Qi Rui. He took a step back, exclaiming, “Holy cow, I’m seeing a ghost in broad daylight!”

“I’m not a ghost,” Number Two looked a bit frustrated. “I am Number Two. The uncles in the lab said that Number Two’s brother looks a lot like Number Two, and you look just like me, so you must be my brother, right?”

“The lab?” Upon hearing this word, Qi Rui momentarily froze and looked more closely at the young man. Despite the striking resemblance, their auras and personalities were entirely different.

Could someone have used his genetics to clone him?

“Young Master?” The elderly steward with slightly graying hair emerged from the mansion’s entrance. “Why are you still standing outside? The Master said to let you in!”

Qi Rui finally remembered the matter at hand, but he was also quite curious about the young man who claimed to be Number Two. He pointed at Number Two and asked, “Is he brought back by my uncle?”

“Yes,” Steward Sun replied with kindness, glancing at Number Two, who was busy building a snowman. He couldn’t have imagined that one day, he would see the young master looking so obedient and well-behaved. Even though he was a robot, it was quite satisfying.

“Uncle Steward, did Dad say Number Two can come in?” Number Two blinked his eyes, looking expectant.

Steward Sun’s heart softened at being called ‘uncle’ and he smiled warmly, “The Master said you can build a bigger snowman.”

“Okay,” Number Two looked a bit dejected, sighing in a way that resembled the sixteen-year-old Qi Rui from the past.

Qi Rui and Steward Sun entered the hall, and just like Qi Han’s reaction, Qi Rui didn’t fare any better.

After eight years, the twenty-four-year-old Qi Rui, just like his teenage self, had teary eyes, and he spoke, “Uncle.”

Qi Rui initially wanted to ask why he hadn’t returned for so many years, but when he opened his mouth, it came out as, “Who is that person outside?”

The one who looked exactly like his teenage self.

“He’s called Qi Rui Number Two,” Qi Han, with a serious expression, let a small smile slip, “Isn’t he very obedient and likable? Even my elder brother wants to bring him along when coming home.”

“What!” The supposedly mature and composed Qi Rui exploded, “Qi Rui Number Two?”

Annoying, not only did he look exactly like him, but he also wanted to steal his name!

“He’s just a robot,” Qi Heng glanced at Qi Han with a hint of amusement, “You seem to have become a bit touchy lately. Is it because there’s not much to do at the company?”

“I was wrong,” Qi Han obediently kept quiet.

Qi Heng explained the origin of Number Two once again, “Since we used your photo, there was no need to change the name. So, we just named him Number Two.”

Qi Rui finally understood why his third uncle had suddenly informed him to come back. It turned out that he wanted to see him embarrassed.

Regretting his actions, Qi Rui wished he hadn’t set his uncle’s phone screensaver as his own photo to vie for attention back then.

“Dad, I’ve finished building the second snowman,” a head peeked in at the door, “Can I come in now? It’s a bit cold outside.”

Qi Heng nodded, “Come in.”

“Thank you, Dad,” Number Two happily stepped onto the porch, then quietly stood behind Qi Heng.

Hearing the address from Number Two, Qi Rui’s expression turned odd. He couldn’t help feeling a bit aggrieved, as, despite sharing his face and name, Number Two could still call his uncle “Dad.”

Qi Rui suddenly felt like an unwanted bystander, after all, a nephew could never compare to a real son.

“How many days will my elder brother stay this time?” Qi Han’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.

“Maybe three or four days,” Qi Heng replied casually, “I just came back to take a look.”

“What?” Qi Rui exclaimed, “Uncle, are you leaving again?”

Qi Heng cast a faint glance at him and said, “Whose fault is it, really?”

Who would have thought that his initial intention was merely to change Qi Rui’s fate as a supporting character, preventing him from harming those girls as in the original plot. However, he didn’t anticipate that Qi Rui would turn out to be exceptionally virtuous, not causing harm to anyone, and becoming honest and kind. He even quietly engaged in charity work, supporting children who couldn’t afford an education.

For all of this, Qi Heng unexpectedly accrued a considerable amount of merit.

Qi Heng didn’t want to leave this world so soon, but to avoid the past, where the world discovered his actions and cast him out, he had to willingly depart.

Four days later, the snow ceased, and the first light of morning broke through.

Taking advantage of Qi Han and Qi Rui both returning to work, Qi Heng changed the primary controller’s name for Qi Rui Number Two to Qi Rui’s name. After leaving a letter and the family heirloom, he departed from the Qi family on his own.

*

Tianyan Sect

“Excuse me, are you also here at the Tianyan Sect to seek a master?”

A familiar opening line, and as Qi Heng lifted his gaze, he indeed found the blind Tianyan’s Son from his memories, Xiao Mo.

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