"You can come to teach me anytime! My house is just outside Lunar City!" Rai exclaimed enthusiastically at Big Brother Lang walking beside him.
After getting off the aircraft, all the passengers quickly made way to get their documents checked out at customs. Apparently, Li Tian's disguise was flawless. He had barely gotten a sideglance from the customs officer who had lazily stamped his passport the moment he received it.
The two had spent the majority of the flight studying calculus and had made great gains from the session.
Li Tian, in particular, was in a great mood after realizing the kid wasn't as slow as he had first thought. Rai was a quick learner and corrected his primitive mistakes as soon as they were pointed out.
It wasn't often Li Tian felt appreciative of a normal person and that person just so happened to be his newly accepted younger brother. Seeing the innocent boy react so animatedly from getting to learn from him also gave him a subtle sense of responsibility to entertain it.
Rai had given his contact details to him readily but he, on the other hand, originally still had his reservations on giving away his private information. After all, he wasn't actually the normal person he disguised himself to be.
However, after much thought, he did accept the kid as his underling, and as long as Rai didn't know who he truly was, there should be no harm in giving it to him. At any rate, he couldn't convey his feelings properly through words even as an established big brother. It was the least he could do to show his sincerity.
Thus, he agreed to give out his private phone number, something that many young men and women would kill to obtain.
They walked together as they headed towards baggage pick-up, as Rai happily took it upon himself to act as his new teacher's guide. He wasn't going to let his teacher appear as a novice before the masses. He would do everything first, acting as if he wasn't actually showing his big brother on what to do next.
Li Tian also thought himself cunning as he let the little kid prance around before him so that he could imitate the next steps after getting off a plane. If he were to take the family jet in his real identity, none of the many menial security measures were even necessary, not to mention retrieving his own luggage.
He didn't want to appear too clueless in front of his new little bro.
For the time being, it was very likely their unknowingly awkward relationship would continue for a long while.
Li Tian managed to understand his little brother a little more from the many enthusiastic one-sided conversations. Getting off the plane to reaching the arrival gates took way longer than he thought it would. Although he wouldn't say it out loud, he felt it quite fortunate the young lad was there to entertain his mundane new persona. Not being able to talk properly or express himself much was beginning to be a drag. But it was good that he was getting the experience in it.
That way he would get used to it faster.
"Big Brother Lang?" Rai grabbed his attention. "Seeing how you're a Southerner, is this your first time in the North?"
According to Rai, all the signs pointed to it being Big Brother Lang's first time. But he wanted to be absolutely sure lest he embarrasses himself again.
๐๐ฐ. Li Tian pursed his lips and answered mildly. "Yes."
The boy smiled to himself at his 'correct' assumption. "Then there are many things you don't know about the North. I can tell you all about it! Speaking of which, how long are you going to be staying here?"
"... Five months," Li Tian scowled to himself while answering.
The young boy's eyes widened in delight. "That's a long time! I'll help you as much as I can! It's the least I can do for your teachings."
Li Tian just let the kid do and assume what he wanted. He didn't think much of a kid's so-called 'help', but Rai's was just a slightly more mature yet naive little kid. Although in the beginning, it did quite bother him having to listen to a child's ramblings, he had reached a point where it didn't matter that much anymore. The kid was now his little brother, thus his surprising growing patience towards him. He couldn't say the same for any other child though.
"It can get really cold here very suddenly so many Northerners carry gloves or scarfs with them. However, most of us can get by due to being used to it," Rai mentioned. He peeked at the big brother but didn't get any response. So it must mean that it was information that didn't bother him.
Usually Southerners preferred the sun and the heat, hence their tan skin in comparison to Northerners. As a result, many were susceptible to cold weather. While it wasn't rare for Southerners to visit the North and vise versa, both sides would usually choose to stay in environments they were more comfortable in.
This was the main reason Rai had thought to mention that bit of information first. How could he have known that the big brother's average body temperature was higher than a normal person, keeping him more impervious to cold than others. It was also not his first time in the North either.
Rai continued explaining the North's culture and things he found interesting during their walk. The older of the pair just listening with a nod or two in response.
Soon, their bags arrived, and both of them unhurriedly placed them on their own trolleys, with Li Tian immediately getting it right this time around.
As they pushed their trolleys towards the exit, Li Tian started to notice the increasing number of ads around him. Immediately, he felt a sudden pressure befall upon his originally carefree mood.
The place was covered in Yingxue ads.
'Yingxue, the Northern Siren!"
"The face of North Huaxia!"
"Don't miss out on Goddess Yingxue's Summer Tour!"
"Yingxue's Tour Sold Out!"
Not only that, many of the shops even had her face plastered on as a spokesperson. How can one girl be the spokesperson of so many businesses!?
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ค๐ฌ??
This was just too overwhelming! How big of a gap between them was there!?
Rai started to notice his teacher becoming agitated and caught on that maybe he was having a culture shock. The Big Brother was clearly looking around everywhere for another picture of Goddess Yingxue. Speaking of which, he hadn't mentioned her to him yet, had he.
"Is it a surprise to see so much of Yingxue?" Rai asked curiously.
Li Tian held back his banter by biting his lips and slowly nodded. He knew even without asking, Rai would supply him with the details.
"Well, Goddess Yingxue is the face of the North," Rai stated gratifyingly. "I don't know too much since I'm usually in the South but I do know that up North, everyone loves her. Even if they don't, they at least appreciate her. My siblings say she's very... charismatic? But I'm sure my brothers just think she's pretty."
Charismatic. Li Tian snorted. How charismatic can one girl be? He was also charismatic. Why wasn't he being called God Tian in the South? Heck, if you looked at it a different way, his name literally meant Heaven!
Feeling a negative energy shrouding Big Brother Lang, Rai asked carefully, "Big Brother Lang... doesn't like her?"
There should be no harm in admitting this right? "No."
"Oh..." Rai thought to himself for a while. "Well you are from the South, and Southerners usually don't understand us Northerners' passion towards her."
๐๐ด? ๐๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ช ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ ๐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ต?
Unknowingly it hurt a big chunk of Li Tian's pride finding out his little brother was a Yingxue fan. What about what Rai thought about himself? As Li Tian?
"Li Tian," he said calmly.
"Li Tian?" Rai stopped his trolley for half a second before continuing to push it as if nothing happened. He looked up at the big brother peculiarly. "The Southern Singer... You like him, Big Brother?"
๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ถ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ!
Li Tian cocked his head proudly.
Contrary to his expectations, Rai reacted somewhat mildly.
๐๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข ๐ง๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ญ๐บ.
He stared at the kid only to see him fidget uncomfortably. What was wrong with him? "You ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ'๐ต?"
Unsurprised by the question, Rai quickly gave his thought out answer. "Well... I don't ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ him. I've never met the guy... besides it's like how Southerners are with Yingxue. You don't know enough to be a fan, while it's the same with Northerners towards Li Tian..."
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐จ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ... Li Tian's eyes narrowed. He was told a bit on why Rai flew back and forth between the regions. He was sent away for school, although he never actually mentioned why be sent so far away just for studying. It wasn't like the school he went to was particularly outstanding. Regardless, he was in the South long enough to hear a lot about the notorious Southern singer.
Li Tian was slow. But he came to understand Rai's personality enough to know something didn't add up.
"And..." Rai added carelessly, "he isn't as popular in the South as Yingxue is in the North."
Li Tian's mouth twitched.
๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต๐ญ๐ฆ...
"Young Master Leixue," a voice called out from a crowd of people.
They had finally reached the arrival gate, where many were waiting for the appearance of either family or friends.
Li Tian's chain of thought was utterly broken by the voice. Both he and Rai turned to look to see a young woman dressed in a clean grey suit with her hair tied up in a bun. She clearly just had a recent nose job and had it covered up with a little too much makeup.
Not to mention, she hardly looked happy to be there.
"Ah..." Rai spoke softly to the big brother. "She's here to pick me up. Come over anytime, Big Brother Lang."
Li Tian nodded understandingly. But somehow, he felt like his little brother was very reluctant to go.
After some hesitation, Rai added, "And maybe you should call first though... Just in case."
Raising an eyebrow, he answered a soft, "Okay."
Rai smiled at him happily and headed towards the cross-looking lady, who later started berating him for wasting her time.
Li Tian knew Rai was from a somewhat wealthy family, but seeing how a servant could treat him in such a way made his anger rise.
As a little brother of Li Tian, how could a person of lower status dare to treat him in such a way. As the master-servant pair was on his path out, he walked up closer to them, enough to hear a little on their conversation.
"No matter how unwanted you are by the old master, you are still a member of the Zhou Family. Stop acquainting yourself with such trash," the young woman spouted.
Evidently incensed by the insult towards his teacher, Rai retaliated, "He's not trash! Take it back unless you want father to know of why you ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ don't want to be here."
The servant's face seethed in anger but ultimately the threat from the ten-year-old got to her. "Fine! I'll take it back. But don't go wasting any more of my time if you know what's good for you."
She began to walk away, refusing to help Rai at all with his stuff. Holding in his frustrations, Rai unclenched his small hands and pushed his trolley close behind her.
As he walked away depressed, he chose to look back in hopes of seeing Big Brother Lang. He got what he wanted as he saw the big brother facing towards him. Immediately, his mood lifted up as he waved goodbye to him animatedly. Being quite the distance away, he couldn't have noticed the expression big brother had on at that moment.
But it didn't matter, as the big brother slowly waved back, which was enough for him. He would be coming home in a way better mood than when he first started the journey.
However, if he were a little closer, he would see that his kind Big Brother Lang had the biggest and most complicated frown plastered on his face.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ก๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ... ๐๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ก๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ'๐ด ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ... Li Tian's face continued to twist and contort along with his shifting emotions. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐บ...
The Zhou Family. If there was any simple way to describe the Zhou Clan and Family it would be: the most renowned family in the entire North Huaxia.
And... the Li Clan's rival.
.....
"Did you have a nice flight, Xiaolang?"
'Xiaolang' grunted at the clearly sarcastic question. She was always the most snarky when in the car together.
However, contrary to Meilin's prediction, her little cousin ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ have a better flight than he thought he would. It was all thanks to the little boy he had met.
As a Li, the kid was a family rival, some might even say a business enemy. Whenever Li's and Zhou's had any partnership with each other, it was done with a gun pointed at each other under the table.
But Li Tian was not here at the moment. He had taken the identity of Li Xiaolang.
While also having the surname Li, his new identity separated him from the main clan line. He was no longer of Li Family lineage, but just an offhand outside branch Li Clan member. His status as a Li was practically nonexistent.
So it shouldn't matter to him who Rai really was.
But it did explain the reaction towards the name Li Tian. Even if the kid did like him as a singer, his family must have instilled the Li Clan hate train in him, causing the subconscious rejection.
With his phone getting its internet connection back, he immediately looked up the Zhou Family lineage. However, no matter what he searched, he couldn't find any article pertaining to the name Zhou Leixue in any of the main branch's family tree.
Recalling how Rai had said he was half Asahin, he tried finding the connection between family members and Asahin women. It wasn't long before he dug up a scandal article from around ten years ago.
The previous Clan Head's firstborn son was caught having illicit relations with an Asahin young woman during her vacation in North Huaxia.
In spite of this, there were no mentionings in the article of there being a baby involved. Nonetheless, it wasn't too difficult to make a deduction.
Rai, also known as Leixue, was an illegitimate heir to North Huaxia's notorious Zhou Clan.
"Xiaolang," Meilin snapped her fingers in his face. "I know you're not used to being called that yet but please try paying attention more."
Xiaolang calmly put down his phone and tried to put aside what he had just read. If anything, he could just get Levi to look into it later.
"I'm listening."
Seeing him suddenly cooperating took her completely off guard, but she took to it quickly. "Well... I'd first like to applaud you for getting past a big hurdle to get here. I know you must feel incredibly bitter having to get on a commercial plane but it was what Aunt Yelan intended. You had to successfully make it here with no clan help and without getting into any trouble. If you couldn't even pass that..."
Xiaolang rolled his eyes. Of course he could get through it. He wasn't the same guy who ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต got found out during the first time he went out. Even now he was still maintaining his undercover persona.
She looked at him slightly impressed by his continuous composure. "I'm sure you've noticed the moment you got here. Yingxue has a significantly wider audience in the North than you do in the South."
He clicked his tongue at Meilin. Way to bring his mood down even more.
"It's going to be a busy week. We have a lot to do before you finally enroll in school. You were originally meant to enroll in around five days but it might be delayed due to some family circumstances," she said while checking their situation on her tablet. "That's why in the meantime, you will be spending most of the time working and getting to know the neighborhood."
"Mmm..."
"You will also be meeting Yingxue within the next two weeks."
"What!?"
Meilin smirked at him. "Finally broke character, I see."
"Why do I have to meet ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ."
"Don't be stupid, Xiao ๐๐ช๐ข๐ฏ. Of course you have to meet her. How long did you think you could have hold this off?"
"Well... Tsk. Long enough!"
"Heh. Like it or not, she ๐ช๐ด your Northern counterpart."
.....