Chapter 56: One Secret for Another…
In Nie Ying’s heart, Mrs. Nie had always been a complicated figure.
That woman was extraordinarily cold, as if her heart were already dead. She remained indifferent to his achievements, and when he made mistakes, she merely watched with cold eyes—casting him a restrained, mocking glance before calmly cleaning up all his messes.
She fulfilled the duties of a mother, yet never gave him even a shred of maternal love.
Occasionally, when she felt like it, she would put on a show of concern, asking after him perfunctorily. Under such hot-and-cold treatment, he had nearly been trained into a dog.
In the past, he had deceived himself, suppressing his pride and telling himself this was normal.
But once the truth was exposed, he finally understood the attitude with which Mrs. Nie had watched him struggle all these years. Perhaps she had even taken it as revenge, amusing herself by watching his humiliation.
At that thought, intense shame and anger surged through him, gradually overlapping Mrs. Nie’s figure with that of Gu Yang before him.
No wonder.
From the very first moment he saw Gu Yang, he had felt uncomfortable.
Nie Ying let out a cold laugh through clenched teeth.
Right now, his eyes were filled only with Gu Yang. He couldn’t care less about anyone else.
Seeing his hostile expression as he was about to charge forward, Lu Ji moved to block him head-on. Nie Ying’s eyes were bloodshot; the successive blows had pushed his reason to the brink.
He threw a punch straight at Lu Ji’s face, but Lu Ji reacted quickly and blocked it.
In terms of real fighting experience, Nie Ying—who usually only instigated others to cause trouble—was no match for Lu Ji, who had clawed his way up through real scuffles.
After a few exchanges, Lu Ji had a clear grasp of Nie Ying’s ability. The matter of him hiring people to beat him up hadn’t even been settled yet. Old and new grudges combined—he decided to settle it on the spot.
After taking a punch from Lu Ji, Nie Ying slowly straightened his head from where it had been knocked aside. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his face dark as soot.
He realized he couldn’t beat Lu Ji.
Sure enough, anyone who mixed with Gu Yang brought him no comfort.
“Gu Yang, seeing me in such a sorry state—are you happy inside?” It was unclear whether he was questioning Gu Yang or, through him, questioning the ever-cold Mrs. Nie.
“But what about you? Are you any better than me?” Nie Ying’s face was full of mockery, malice practically spilling out. “Your mom’s long been gone too, hasn’t she?”
“I heard it was suicide, right? She just left you behind like that. Doesn’t that mean she didn’t want you?”
Lu Ji’s expression shifted slightly—clearly this was the first time he had heard of it. He subconsciously glanced at Gu Yang.
Gu Yang’s face didn’t change at all. He was still steadily holding the little girl in his arms, awkward yet gentle as he patted her back to soothe her breathing.
Thinking he had struck Gu Yang’s sorest spot—and regained some ground for his own humiliation—Nie Ying finally felt he had recovered a little face.
But Gu Yang lifted his eyelids and gave him a casual glance.
“Are you really that bothered about being the nanny’s son?”
Nie Ying: “……”
Damn it. Was this going to be dragged out forever?
He instinctively wanted to smash something again, but there was nothing left around him to throw. He could only rage uselessly in place.
“That’s still better than not having one at all—”
“Enough!”
Unexpectedly, the one who finally exploded and stopped the argument was the quiet, seemingly gentle woman.
Hu Xian looked at the young man before her with heartache.
Her impression of Nie Ying had always remained on the day she gave birth to him—a wrinkled baby covered in a white membrane, weakly crying out his first sound in this world.
From that moment, she had known the bond between mother and son could never be severed.
The Nie family held only dark memories for her, but that child had been her only light.
During their years apart, she had imagined countless times what kind of person he would grow up to be.
But never had she imagined it would be someone like this.
Recklessly stabbing at others’ scars, feeling no shame—rather, pride.
“It’s late. You should go back. I don’t want to see you anymore right now.”
“You’re driving me away?” Nie Ying stared at her in disbelief.
He remembered clearly how eagerly this woman had wanted to talk to him before. Since when had her tone become so firm?
Was she standing up for Gu Yang?
Hu Xian wiped away the tears that had fallen, then gently took her child back from Gu Yang. In a soft, apologetic voice, she said she was truly sorry.
She was apologizing on Nie Ying’s behalf—and her own.
Even though she was already completely disappointed.
Seeing his biological mother stand on Gu Yang’s side, Nie Ying was furious. Just as he was about to lash out, his phone rang.
The ringtone was specially set.
His grandfather.
The current chairman of the Nie Group.
Nie Ying dared ignore anyone’s call—but not this one.
In his fluster, he accidentally hit the speaker button.
An aged, steady voice came through. “Your cousin told me today that you’re not studying properly at school. You’re forming cliques, relying on your family background to bully others.”
“Some students were even forced to transfer schools because of you.”
“Grandpa, I—”
“That’s enough. Your father is here with me. Come over immediately. Think carefully on the way about what you want to say.”
The call ended, leaving only the beeping tone.
Nie Ying frowned at his phone. Those few brief sentences had exerted more psychological pressure on him than Nie Runhua’s shouting ever could.
He had to rush over immediately. There was no way he could stay here any longer.
Suppressing all the anger in his heart, he shot Gu Yang a vicious glare before hurrying away.
After Nie Ying left, Hu Xian finally relaxed her tense body, still shaken.
Lu Ji was still thinking about what had just happened. He softly said to Gu Yang, “Don’t take that idiot’s words to heart. Someone like him isn’t worth it.”
He paused.
That was assuming Nie Ying had spoken casually—but Lu Ji could sense that wasn’t the case.
He observed Gu Yang’s expression, but Gu Yang appeared calm, without the slightest abnormality.
“What’s there to take to heart?”
He said it lightly.
—
Song Yinxing tightened his grip on his pen, then slowly loosened it.
He couldn’t think about it anymore.
Having been reborn, he indeed wanted to take revenge on those who had hurt him—but he couldn’t let that overshadow the most important thing: his studies.
He pushed aside distracting thoughts, finished the last big problem, and pulled out a new test paper.
Just then, Gu Yang came to find him.
Song Yinxing put down his pen and walked out.
After so much time, their interactions had grown much more natural. The initial restraint was gone.
Gu Yang stood by the railing in the corridor, looking at Song Yinxing with interest.
“Did… something happen?” Song Yinxing had grown used to Gu Yang’s fluctuating moods, but his heart still stirred.
“Nie Ying was called back to the old residence by his grandfather last night. I heard he was scolded badly—for bullying classmates at school.”
Gu Yang spoke slowly, a hint of schadenfreude in his expression. “Nie Runhua also suffered. Old Master Nie thinks that if he can’t even manage his own child, how can he manage such a big company? He directly stripped him of his position.”
It worked.
Song Yinxing thought to himself.
In his previous life, he had handed the evidence to the school. The news had leaked midway, allowing Nie Ying to find out and leaving him with painful scars.
Back then, he had been too naïve. In this life, though he hadn’t experienced it again, he still gathered evidence from students who had been bullied.
But this time, he handed it to Nie Ying’s cousin, Nie Siyu.
The Nie family wasn’t as united as he once thought. Beneath Nie Ying’s father was a younger brother, with two cousins eyeing power hungrily.
In his previous life, Nie Ying hadn’t made any major mistakes. Thus, control of the group had remained firmly in Nie Runhua’s hands and was later gradually transferred to Nie Ying. The second branch of the family had been suppressed.
After Old Master Nie passed away, they had been neatly packed off to Africa.
The winner became king; the loser, bandit.
Song Yinxing now wondered—if this time the loser was Nie Ying, what fate would await them?
“Is that so?” Song Yinxing replied.
“Was it you?” Gu Yang asked directly and curiously. His gray eyes reflected the other’s figure, like a small animal acting purely on instinct.
A long silence filled the air.
Song Yinxing didn’t speak. It wasn’t that he doubted Gu Yang—but this involved the secret of his rebirth. He didn’t know how to explain something so supernatural without frightening him.
But then he remembered that he had once suspected Gu Yang might also have been reborn.
“Yes, I did it.”
A hazy idea slowly took shape in his mind.
“I found people Nie Ying had bullied before. After organizing everything, I gave it to Nie Siyu. I knew he would maximize its impact—and might even embellish it a bit.”
Gu Yang blinked.
He had only gone to Song Yinxing out of boredom, casually asking. He hadn’t expected such a detailed confession.
He teased, “You’re just telling me like that? You’ve caused Nie Ying huge trouble. Aren’t you afraid I might suddenly get interested and tell him?”
“It’s fine. I can tell you all of this. I have nothing I want to hide from you.”
Song Yinxing looked into Gu Yang’s eyes, speaking word by word with sincerity.
Yet under that calm, unwavering gaze, though he had been the one to initiate, Gu Yang subconsciously wanted to look away.
But Song Yinxing didn’t give him the chance.
“Gu Yang, let’s exchange secrets.”
“One secret for another. How about it?”
