☆ Chapter 3

Hearing what He Yuteng said and seeing this man’s such fake gentle demeanor, Ling Shaoze felt utterly disgusted. His stomach churned, and he nearly vomited the nutrient solution he’d just drunk.

However, although he was merely the son of a nouveau riche family with mining assets, He Yuteng was a direct descendant of the prestigious He family—one of the top elite aristocratic clans in the Imperial Capital. While Ling Shaoze didn’t intend to continue entangling himself with He Yuteng, he also couldn’t afford to fall out with him openly or become his enemy.

After all, he was still on the He family’s turf.

Last night, after drinking some spiked alcohol, he had provoked a very formidable “Brother Y.” From the way that man had interrogated him about his name and personal details, and had insisted on exchanging communication numbers…

Ling Shaoze had every reason to believe that Brother Y didn’t just want a one-night stand—he wanted an N-night stand.

That was absolutely not going to happen. No way in hell.

That man was way too dominant—physically and mentally. Ling Shaoze had been completely overwhelmed. Once was more than enough—he had no desire to get tangled up with someone like that again!

Ling Shaoze had a strong gut feeling—he must leave the He family, and leave the Imperial Capital Star, as soon as possible!

Before long, the elevator reached the ground floor.

Ling Shaoze was the first to step out. Wearing a fake polite smile, he glanced back at He Yuteng and said, “Ah, so sorry. I just had a nutrient solution—I really can’t eat anything more.”

He Yuteng followed him out, raising his eyebrows slightly in surprise. In the past, if Ling Shaoze had heard him invite him for a meal, he would’ve accepted with delight—even if he wasn’t hungry, he’d still go just to accompany him.

With an exaggeratedly regretful tone, He Yuteng said, “That’s a pity. Let’s do it another day then.”

Ling Shaoze responded perfunctorily, “Mm-hmm.”

Inner Thought: Another time my ass. Even if I were bored out of my mind, I still wouldn’t have a meal with you.

Seeing that Ling Shaoze looked like he was about to walk away, He Yuteng quickly called out, “A-Ze, wait a moment. It’s summer break right now. I remember you said you hadn’t made any plans yet. Why not come have some fun at the new entertainment company I just opened?”

The original Ling Shaoze had, of course, said yes—throwing himself at He Yuteng, volunteering as free labor for his company, and even naively joining a reality show with Song Qinghe. Using his own arrogance and ignorance, he served as a contrast to make the protagonist shou, Song Qinghe, seem all the more gentle and intelligent.

As a result, He Yuteng became more and more annoyed with the original Ling Shaoze, whom he had already won over, and became even more obsessed with Song Qinghe, his unattainable “white moonlight.”

Ling Shaoze hit him with a triple rejection: “No, no need. I already have plans. Thanks!”

As Ling Shaoze spoke, he noticed a maid not far away tidying the flowers and plants in the corner of the banquet hall. He casually waved at He Yuteng and said, “Bye-bye, senior!”

Then he quickly walked over to the maid and asked, “Miss, could you please tell me how to get to the parking lot? Would you mind taking me there?”

The maid recognized this young master as one of the guests who had stayed at the manor last night, and she also knew he was acquainted with their Fourth Young Master. Smiling warmly, she replied, “It’s over there. Of course, I’d be happy to take you. Please follow me.”

He Yuteng, who had been planning to chat with Ling Shaoze a bit longer: “…”

What’s up with Ling Shaoze today? He seemed unusually distant, almost like he was trying to avoid him—cold and slightly disdainful. He’d rather ask a maid for directions to the parking lot than asking him directly?

Still, since Ling Shaoze had already said his goodbyes, He Yuteng wasn’t the kind of person to force a conversation with someone who was giving him the cold shoulder. He figured Ling Shaoze probably had something important going on and didn’t even have time to try to flatter him like he usually did.

Hmph. Next time, he would wait until Ling Shaoze came crawling back, apologizing and trying to please him—then maybe he’d give him the time of day!

Fortunately, Ling Shaoze had no idea what He Yuteng was thinking. Otherwise, he definitely would’ve snapped: What kind of delusional crap are you imagining?!

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With the maid leading the way, Ling Shaoze soon arrived at the parking lot. He got into his own hover car and successfully left the He family estate.

Fortunately, in this interstellar era, hover cars could be driven autonomously.

He selected “apartment” as his destination. It was a two-bedroom, two-living room unit near the university, bought by the original body’s father to make his college life more comfortable.

Ling Shaoze hadn’t inherited very detailed memories from the original body. He could recall general information about important or frequently encountered people, but had little to no impression of less significant ones.

Even for past experiences, only the ones from the last month or two were relatively clear—earlier ones were mostly a blur, except for the important events that left faint impressions.

By piecing together the original owner’s memories and information from the book, Ling Shaoze managed to get a general grasp of his current identity.

The original was a third-year student at Annuo University, the best comprehensive university in the Cangnuo Empire. He was 20 years old, majoring in Ancient Chinese Literature, and currently on summer break.

However, the original hadn’t gotten into Annuo University on his own merit—it was thanks to his father’s generous donation of a large batch of energy ores.

The original wasn’t really interested in Ancient Chinese Literature and didn’t study it seriously. Before each exam, he would pay high prices for study guides compiled by top students and barely passed. Even that was due to the instructors showing favor because his father continued to donate small batches of energy ores every year.

He had a personal assistant named Xiao Tao, arranged by his father. Xiao Tao was always on call, and handled everything from his daily life to academic needs.

The reason the original was sent to Annuo University, aside from having a nice degree to show off, had another key purpose—arranged marriage.

After all, other than the Canghe Military Academy, Annuo University had the highest concentration of heirs from powerful and elite aristocratic families.

The Ling family had gotten lucky. Decades ago, they had bought an abandoned planet for cheap, which later turned out to be rich in new energy resources. They’d suddenly become rich in the past 30 to 40 years. They weren’t lacking in money, but they certainly lacked heritage and refinement which came from deep foundations—earning them the label of “nouveau riche.”

The Ling family still lacked a strong and powerful backer to truly break into the upper echelons of the Cangnuo Empire, and marriage alliances were a fast track to social climbing.

The original Ling Shaoze had chosen He Yuteng not just because he liked his face and his gentle, and considerate nature, or his ability to flirt—but more so because of the power and influence behind the He family.

Fortunately, Ling Shaoze wasn’t the only tool the Ling family had for forming alliances. His grandfather was the patriarch of the Ling family, and his father had four brothers and three sisters. In Ling Shaoze’s generation, there were more than a dozen cousins, both paternal and maternal.

And because Ling Shaoze was the only son of Ling Changyao—the third oldest—who was the most business-savvy among the four brothers and currently managed most of the Ling family’s business empire—and also because his late mother had a special background—the family wouldn’t force him into a marriage alliance if he didn’t want it.

After all, none of his older cousins had succeeded in marrying up either.

Plus, there were still plenty of younger siblings in the family to pin their hopes on.

The Ling family certainly had ambitions to climb higher, but their mindset was relatively open—they wouldn’t force their younger generation to sell out their marriages.

The original host’s obsession with He Yuteng wasn’t just love. It was more about the mindset of the Ling family’s spoiled Eighth Young Master—whatever he wanted, he had to get.

After thinking all of this through, Ling Shaoze felt a bit relieved. He used his light brain to contact his personal assistant, Xiao Tao, and told him his upcoming plans and requests.

Xiao Tao was a fair-skinned and capable young man. His voice was filled with surprise: “Young Master Eight (Master Xiaoba), are you sure you want to transfer schools? And not just that—you’re thinking of going to the outer border region, far from the Central Star District where Imperial Capital Star is located?”

Ling Shaoze replied, “I’m sure. Help me look into which schools are suitable, and also gather information about the planets where those schools are—like the environment, lifestyle habits, that sort of thing.”

Xiao Tao said, “Understood. I’ll start compiling it right away. But regarding the school transfer, you should probably talk to your father first.”

Ling Shaoze said confidently, “My dad will agree.”

As someone who had suffered from severe heart disease in his previous life, Ling Shaoze was skilled in persuading parents and elders when he wanted something or had a goal in mind.

Of course, what they agreed to always had to be things that didn’t harm his health.

But now that he was healthy, all those past restrictions were gone.

He wasn’t happy staying on Imperial Capital Star. If he stayed longer, he’d only get caught in the messy love web of the main protagonist group and might even end up in mortal danger. So, the sooner he left—and the farther he went—the better.

This was his first time contacting the father of his current identity, and Ling Shaoze was a little nervous.

The profile photo in his contact list showed a man who looked about 70–80% similar to his father from his past life.

But unlike his past-life father, who was a good dad but not a great husband, the father in this life had remained deeply devoted to Ling Shaoze’s late mother, never remarrying or taking any lovers.

Ling Shaoze mentally rehearsed what he wanted to say, then finally dialed “Dad’s” communication number.

After a long while with no response, the call didn’t go through—the system notified him that the recipient was busy.

Ling Shaoze had no choice but to send a text message instead, mimicking the original host’s straightforward tone:
“Got something to talk about. Dad, reply when you’re free.”

Back at the apartment, Ling Shaoze immediately booked a seven-day group tour from the Central Star District to the neighboring Violet Star District, which was set to depart at 6 p.m. that evening. He then began packing his luggage.

Whether the school transfer would go through quickly or not didn’t matter—he was on summer break anyway, and there was no reason he couldn’t leave Imperial Capital Star in the meantime.

In the interstellar era, personal ID and bank account were merged into a single chip implanted in the wrist at birth, so he didn’t have to worry about losing them.

This place wasn’t where the original host had grown up; it was just a temporary residence he’d used for the past two years while attending university. So there wasn’t much to pack—just some clothes, daily necessities, and a bookshelf full of paper books related to his Ancient Chinese Literature.

The books had mostly been collected by the original host to show off; he barely read them, especially since most coursework was now digital.

But to Ling Shaoze, these books full of square-shaped Chinese characters felt warm and familiar. He actually liked them and wanted to bring them all along.

Fortunately, the interstellar era came with sci-fi-level gadgets—storage devices. Though extremely expensive, the nouveau-riche original host had three or four of them: a silver earring with a 10-cubic-meter capacity, a silver ring with 100 cubic meters, and even a space button that contained a B-class combat mecha for self-defense.

Ling Shaoze had his household robot, Xiao R, help him pack, and it didn’t take long to finish. He even powered off Xiao R and stored it in the space ring.

Just as he finished packing, a call came in from Ling Changyao.

In the holographic projection, the man looked refined and scholarly, appearing only in his early thirties. He got straight to the point:
“I just finished a meeting. I saw the report Xiao Tao sent—so you want to transfer to a school in a border star district? Can I ask why?”

Out of sight of Ling Changyao, Ling Shaoze gave his own thigh a hard pinch. In the next moment, his beautiful peach blossom eyes turned red at the rims, glistening with unshed tears, looking like he was about to cry but forcing himself to stay strong:
“Dad… can I not say? This place… it’s full of bad memories. I just want to leave…”

Don’t ask—because I wouldn’t know how to explain it anyway!

Too many details would only make it easier to slip up. Better to let his dad fill in the blanks himself.

Although Ling Changyao was very busy with work and didn’t communicate with his son Ling Shaoze all that often, he was well-informed about his son’s life, studies, and love affairs through his assistant, Xiao Tao. The only recent exception was the high-profile banquet last night, which Ling Shaoze had attended at the He family’s invitation. Xiao Tao hadn’t been allowed in, so he had no idea what had happened there.

Ling Changyao was a practical man who had never thought much of a frivolous playboy like He Yuteng. Still, he couldn’t stop his son from liking him. No matter what he said, Ling Shaoze wouldn’t listen and even developed a rebellious attitude about it. So he had let him go his own way, figuring that once he got hurt, he’d eventually come to his senses.

And now, looking at his son’s current state, there was no need to ask—clearly, something unpleasant had happened at the He family’s estate.

So Ling Changyao didn’t ask anything more and simply said:
“Alright. I’ll have Xiao Tao handle the school transfer for you. We’ll find a school that suits you and helps you unwind.”

After all, the children of the Ling family didn’t need prestigious degrees to land good jobs. What mattered most was that his son was happy.

As for marrying into a top-tier family? That would be great if it happened—if not, no big deal.

Ling Changyao continued:
“Do you have enough money? I’ll transfer some pocket money just in case.”

Ling Shaoze didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Suddenly, he felt much closer to this father in this lifetime. His temperament was just like his dad from his previous life—not good at expressing affection, but clearly very caring underneath.

As long as Ling Shaoze’s requests were reasonable and didn’t harm his well-being, his father would try his best to fulfill them. Then he’d just give him a bunch of money to let him shop to his heart’s content.

Ling Shaoze genuinely and warmly called out, “Dad,” and cheerfully added,
“When do you have time? I’ll come visit you.”

Ling Changyao grumbled in distaste:
“Busy. No time for you. Come home for New Year, you’ll see me then. Hanging up.”

Ling Shaoze: …
All that touching emotion—gone with the wind.

Just then, his light brain beeped with a deposit notification. Ling Shaoze glanced down:
“8,000,000.00 star coins have been deposited into your account. Please confirm…”

Ling Shaoze was moved all over again:
Truly my dad! Even richer than the one from my past life!

Now with money and free time, he could finally live his best life—traveling here, splurging there, floating through life like a carefree wave.

…But while the dream was beautiful, reality hit hard. His first experience traveling between stars on a spaceship was not quite what Little Ling had imagined.

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T/n: New Chapter is up🤩🎊 And our XiaoBa’s Adventure has begun😆🫣🤣 Stay tuned❤️ You can support the original author here. If you’re enjoying what I’m doing, you can buy me a Ko-fi. Happy Reading 🎉😀.