Chapter 34 Not A Deep Thinker

As they drove further away, Li Tian dropped the act and finally let out a loud moan.

"HAAAAAAAAH! That was so fucking ANNOYING!" the complaint was loud enough for the entire street to hear it. He reached out to the back and grabbed a cap to cover up his infamous messy hair, and a pair of sunglasses for his eyes.

"W-what?" Rai squeaked nervously.

Li Tian glimpsed at the timid boy beside him and countless emotions passed through his mind. He finally got the kid out. Although it wasn't permanent, it was still a start.

Having to keep his temper down in that damnable house took everything in him but that was the promise he made to Uncle Xinya for this to be possible. He couldn't attack the Zhou Clan so suddenly no matter how much he resented their actions. They were still a respectable clan with immense authority.

The old bat Zhou Liuxian also proved himself to be a cunning and patient man. Unfortunately, he wasn't someone Li Tian could touch right now. The most he could do was annoy him.

He retracted his gaze from the small boy and focused on the road; their next destination being the Li Corporation North Branch.

He freed one of his hands from the steering wheel and rubbed the kid's head again encouragingly, causing him to jerk in his seat. "You did good, Ra-Leixue."

Breaking himself out of his stupor, Rai lifted his head under the hand and looked at the owner's face. Any sort of arrogance or despotic demeanor from before was gone and all that was left was a face of pure relief.

Rubbing his head so affectionately... Rai couldn't help but reminisce about his gentle teacher, Big Brother Lang.

"T-thank you, Mr. Li Xiao Tian," he mustered up the courage to say.

"Too dull. Call me Big Brother Tian instead," Li Tian insisted and released his hand to sit more comfortably. "You'll be working with me closely from now on. Don't bother being so formal."

He could finally act like his normal self in front of this kid!

He could now be a proper big brother and won't have to ignore such embarrassing misunderstandings again.

However, according to the agreement he made with Meilin and Uncle Xinya, the kid was not to know of his Xiaolang identity no matter what, as it would also breach the agreement he made with his mother.

So according to this script, this was supposed to be their first time being acquainted with one another.

Seeing the usually talkative boy be so nervous around him now made him feel a little dejected. It's not like he was taking him away to be tortured. He wanted his little brother to be at least a little happy at his presence!

𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶!

He was unused to lifting up someone else's spirits. At this point, the best he could do was just to get him talking.

"Don't be so tense. We're still a while away from arriving. Take this time to tell me about yourself," he spoke casually.

Startled by the sudden 'order', Rai thought of what to say and fumbled his words, "I-I'm ten years old this year. I can clean very well and run very fast if you ever need me... Oh, I can also do maths really quick if you don't have a calculator-"

"Stop selling yourself to me."

Rai choked on his next words after hearing Li Tian's response. Wasn't he supposed to show his good side to help the other as an assistant?

Seeing his obvious confusion, the star shook his head, "I already chose you, so you no longer need to act so meekly. Just speak normally and tell me about yourself properly. Your life, your likes or dislikes, and what you want to do in the future. You can be open with me."

He kept his eyes on the road while glancing at the boy from time to time to make sure everything was okay.

"Oh... Umm. Okay..." the small boy took a little while to gather his thoughts before continuing. "I don't know if you know this, but I actually live in the South."

"Oh?" Li Tian acted surprised. "Why's that?"

Hearing the immediate response, Rai gained a little more confidence. "I... I'm not wanted by my family..."

The Li heir's eyebrows knit together in a frown. "Because your mother isn't the Clan Head's wife?"

"Yes..." Rai looked at him in surprise. "How did you know that?"

"It's not that hard to tell."

It really wasn't.

"I-I guess you're right," Rai unconsciously pulled on his bangs. "Although school life is dull... It's not as stressful as being in the North."

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥... Li Tian quietly thought. 𝘐'𝘥 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥. 𝘖𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺.

"Something tells me you managed to answer my riddle because of your experience in the South," the star stated amusedly. In truth, he asked such a riddle because he knew most Southerners would get it. The only one that lived there long enough amongst them to get the gist of it was Rai.

Rai didn't have any suspicions in mind and answered truthfully, "Well... it's because the North represents ice while the South represents fire. And knowing that even your official fan club name is called Pyros..." he peeked at the singer from time to time, "i-it wasn't too difficult to guess."

"Hahahahaha!" Li Tian let out a satisfied laugh. "As expected."

In his joy, he suddenly remembered, 𝘖𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵! 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬!

"Since you lived in the South and with what you've just said, you must know quite a bit about me, I assume," he asked with a shameless face.

"Ah... I-I guess..." Rai's voice trailed off.

"Well?"

"W-well what?"

"Well, what do you think of me?" Li Tian made himself clear with surprising patience. His curiosity to know what his little brother thought of the true him overpowered the small boy's incompetence. "Your first impressions and whatnot."

"W-what do I think of you?" Rai felt as if a knife was hanging against his throat. Was this a trick question? Should he be open and honest with his answer?

After a while of fiddling with his front hair, he let out his thoughts, "Because of my family situation, I'm usually not allowed to state my opinions on the Li Clan unless it's a negative one... So I hope you understand my lack of knowledge on you and your Clan."

"Not an issue. As I said, just speak your mind when with me."

"Okay," Rai arranged his next words, "I don't know much about the rivalry between Clans so I won't talk about it. What I do know is what I've seen and experienced with my own eyes. Even though I always hear bad things about Big Brother Tian... I still think you are amazing."

"Oh?" a happy smirk broke onto Li Tian's lips. "Even after hearing bad things? Why do you think so?"

"I think it's because you don't follow the norm of what you're expected to be... You turn away from your position as a member of a big clan and don't fight for the Head Clan seat. Instead, you chose to become a singer and became independent of what your family expects you to be."

"Hahahahaha! Those are some big words for a ten-year-old. You got all of that just from the news you heard about me?" Li Tian felt extremely amused by this side of his little brother. He would have never known this opinion of his as Xiaolang.

"Y-yes. Am I wrong?"

"You're not wrong... But you're not a hundred percent right either," the singer kept the smile playing on his lips and thought on whether it was alright to speak up about himself. "I've never told anyone before but since it's you... I guess I can explain a bit."

"Since it's me?" Rai asked in surprise.

"Heh. You'll understand at a different time," Li Tian chuckled and reminisced on his background. "Contrary to what people might assume, my siblings and I have a great relationship. Being the youngest, I'm doted on a lot."

Rai felt like he was becoming privy to some amazing Li Clan insight and was bewildered at how the Li Clan heir was being so open with him. Wasn't he supposed to be from a rival clan? Was it really okay for him to hear this?

"My older brother, Li Jianyu, is a very capable person, that it was never an issue on whether he could hold up to the family name, only when. Fighting against him for Clan Head isn't even in anyone's mind. My sisters are extremely passionate too and excelled really fast in their own way. As for me... I guess I was just rebelling at one point..."

"Rebelling?"

"Yeah. It's not easy being a perfect child. So I went off doing something else completely out of my Clan's business scope. I was lost at one moment, but someone helped me realize what's important," Li Tian looked at his oblivious little brother with a warm smile. "Now I have to take my job a little more seriously and beat the so-called number one most beloved singer, Yingxue."

"W-what?" Rai was confused as to how it all came down to that conclusion. Big Brother Tian mustn't be someone who thought too much... But he would keep that to himself.

Who knew the infamous Li Clan heir was so different than what he originally imagined. Where was the haughtiness he saw in the beginning?

"We've arrived," the young man in question announced, breaking Rai's thoughts.

The little boy looked ahead of him and lightly gasped.

The North Branch Li Corporation looked as monstrous as they said. With the sheer size dwarfing the competition around them, even without the words written atop it, anyone would think it worthy of the Li Clan name. They went past security and through a tunnel leading up to a private area where Li Tian parked the car and motioned for him to follow.

"You're with me now so no one should even think about barring you from ever entering. I'll have an identity card made just in case," the Li heir stated as he walked through the entrance with superiority.

Rai nodded absentmindedly, as he took in the sights around him. Even if he was the son of a prestigious clan, he was never brought up as part of one, making him clueless to the world of it. This view opened up an entirely new perspective in him.

The area they walked through was completely private and had almost no one there, so they made their way without any problems. The few people they did bump into had looks of complete awe and respect the moment they saw Li Tian pass by and quickly bowed to greet him. They didn't forget to smile at the small boy walking behind him either.

It made Rai feel a little giddy inside.

Is this what being respected felt like?

But in the end, it wasn't actually him that was being respected.

He looked up at the amazing young man in front of him. The respect people showed hardly even fazed him as he continued to walk ahead with nonchalance.

Would he ever be an heir as acknowledged as he was?

With Rai's head filled with many thoughts, the long journey ended up feeling short as they arrived at a glass door on the top floor.

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴?

"Uncle Xinya, I've come back with him," Li Tian spoke into the inter-phone by the door.

𝘜-𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘟𝘪𝘯𝘺𝘢? 𝘐𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘥!?

Rai wasn't allowed to think any further as the door had opened and he had to quickly follow inside.

He expected an office, but what was revealed to him was an entire floor built like a ten-star hotel suite. If he hadn't gone through the pathway here, he would have thought that he walked into someone's vacation home.

With a grand sofa set complete with a mounted tv and stereo system to the left of him, an entire game room surrounding a pool table to the right, and a giant high rise chandelier dwarfing them right above, he felt a renewed sense of awe. He could somewhat understand when his father mentioned how particular the owner's personality was.

Rather than calling it a Vice CEO's office, wouldn't it be more accurate to call it a rich bachelor's pad?

His own father would never decorate his office in such a way.

Li Tian thought nothing of it and brought him to the dining area.

A pleasant aroma grew stronger and stronger until they were faced with two people just about to have lunch.

"Xiao Tian, you arrived just in time for lunch," a middle-aged man with a kind smile said to Li Tian. He then looked at the timid boy standing behind him with amusement. "So this is the young lad you've chosen. He's quite young."

"Yes, this is Leixue. Thank you for your cooperation, Uncle Xinya," the young heir answered him politely. "Leixue, greet your uncle."

The request took Rai completely off guard as he stuttered, "P-pleased to meet you. I will do my best."

It was only after he spoke that he realized something.

𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵... 𝘔𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦?

Li Tian called this man his uncle so naturally, he didn't notice it immediately. He glanced at the heir confusedly but the young man continued to converse with the other party as if nothing happened.

As he thought, Li Tian must not have thought too much into it when he said it, affirming his theory of the heir not being a deep thinker.

He also noticed how completely different Li Tian interacted with the Li Branch Head in comparison to Rai's own father. Hierarchy wise, wouldn't Clan Heads be higher than Branch Heads?

There was also a young woman at the table who sometimes spoke, but every time she did, Li Tian would speak back in annoyance. She must have a significantly lower authority than the Branch Head but high enough for them to bicker with each other freely.

"Alright then, why don't you two join us for lunch? You must be starving," Li Xinya smiled at the small Rai.

As if on cue, Rai's tummy began to grumble, causing himself to blush in embarrassment.

"Hahahahaha!" the Branch head laughed. "The boy you've chosen is quite honest."

Li Tian chuckled at the small boy beside him and responded, "He really is. But I'm sorry Uncle, I would first like to bring him to the Clan Doctor if he's in."

"Oh?" the branch head raised an eyebrow. "You're in luck. Dr. Kairyuu just arrived from the South this morning. I'll get my lovely assistant to notify him of your arrival. Lunch will be ready for you two when you get back."

"Thank you uncle," Li Tian bowed the second time today, causing the woman nearby to scrunch her eyebrows and the Branch Head to smile strangely.

On the side, Rai was even more stunned by such a profoundly respectful gesture.

This didn't seem like the Li Tian he'd heard about at all; an heir that was spoilt and rebellious against his clan.

Maybe rumors were just rumors after all.

"Come on, Leixue," Li Tian ushered him to follow.

Rai also bowed politely to the two people having lunch and trailed after him.

.....