Healing the Omega, I Became the Whole Clan's Darling

Before officially seeing Wen Yuzhi, Xi Heyan had not expected things to turn out like this.

He wore meticulously styled hair and an ironed, perfectly neat suit. Even his cuff links and tie clip had been changed to gemstones. Xi Heyan’s current outfit could be said to be enough for any banquet.

And yet now, he was sitting here, with a pile of account books waiting for him to organize placed before him.

Bright sunlight poured through the terrace like flowing ripples of water, slowly soaking into the room bit by bit. Combined with the lush spring scenery outside the window, no matter how one looked at it, today was exceptionally suitable weather for a date.

Whether walking along a shaded path, chatting about interesting things while bathed in the breeze.

Or sitting in the courtyard garden, slowly drinking afternoon tea together and tasting the cake he had brought amid the rich fragrance of flowers.

All of the above were things Xi Heyan had specifically looked up in date strategy guides before coming.

Supposedly, more than ninety-nine percent of young noble masters liked this kind of date.

Romantic and beautiful.

Under that slightly ambiguous, subtle atmosphere, as long as one party was willing to take the initiative, the relationship between two people could easily develop by leaps and bounds.

Xi Heyan’s original plan had also been to find a beautiful place and, following the instructions in the guide, add a little romantic atmosphere.

He had not expected Wen Yuzhi to understand his feelings in one go.

He only wanted to slowly cultivate their relationship with the young man.

At the very least, even if they were only friends, Xi Heyan wanted to be Wen Yuzhi’s closest friend.

Only...

Reality seemed rather far from what Xi Heyan had imagined.

Not only had they not gone to some garden or lakeside or any other place suitable for a date, the two of them were instead sitting here, each holding an account book, calculating the data inside.

Xi Heyan did not know whether he should feel disappointed or regretful about this.

When the young man had opened his mouth to him with flushed cheeks, even though Xi Heyan clearly knew in his heart that the other party very likely did not mean what he was thinking, deep in his heart, he still could not help a trace of secret expectation from surfacing.

For an instant, Xi Heyan had even wanted to throw caution to the wind and express his feelings first before Wen Yuzhi could speak.

Fortunately, at the final moment, reason still stopped him.

It also saved him from falling into an awkward situation in the very next moment.

Wen Yuzhi, however, had no idea that Xi Heyan had already undergone an intense struggle inside.

“Sorry to trouble you and °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° ask for your help. I’ve been working on this for a whole day and still haven’t finished. There’s only a little left. Could I trouble you to help me organize it?”

Just a little bit.

Wen Yuzhi blinked, and his tone softened somewhat.

Because he wanted to ask the other party for help, the young man’s body also leaned forward slightly, instantly shortening the already close distance between them even further.

Xi Heyan felt as if that fragrance had grown stronger.

He lowered his head with difficulty and said in a slightly hoarse voice, “...All right.”

He could not refuse.

Nor was he able to refuse.

To prevent the young man from noticing his little thoughts if this continued, Xi Heyan quickly took the initiative to pick up the account book in front of him.

But after only glancing at it a few times, Xi Heyan’s heart was immediately struck hard by the astronomical numbers inside the account book.

In that instant, all those indescribable emotions seemed to fade.

The only feeling left in Xi Heyan’s heart was one of having his eyes nearly blinded by money.

Those ores listed one after another in the account book were far more impactful than any luxury car or spacecraft.

Xi Heyan had once experienced the life of a wealthy person too.

Before anything happened to the Xi family, his aunt Xi Yuelin had been the empress, his father Xi Shixiao had been a legion commander holding great military power, and his mother Lena had been the heir of the Damian family as well as a very famous mech master in the Empire at the time.

Back then, the Xi family had been at the height of its power. Xi Heyan had even lived more prominently than the princes and princesses.

Because of this, Xi Heyan knew what the foundations of truly powerful nobles were like.

However, compared with Wen Yuzhi’s little treasury...

There seemed to be no comparison at all.

Just the ores listed here—only the Saint Clan could be so wealthy and extravagant as to leave them “idle” in a warehouse.

Xi Heyan also learned from Wen Yuzhi that this was only part of his allowance.

That was right.

Only part of it.

If they truly wanted to completely sort out Wen Yuzhi’s entire little treasury, then with the efficiency of the two of them, even without eating or drinking, it would probably take ten days and ten nights.

So Wen Yuzhi only planned to count out the ore portion.

As Xi Heyan calculated, he also gradually realized what Wen Yuzhi wanted to do.

“Are you planning to sell these ores?”

“Yes.”

Wen Yuzhi nodded.

“For now, I can’t think of anything I need to use these ores for. Leaving them in the warehouse all this time isn’t useful either. Rather than that...”

As he spoke, Wen Yuzhi explained his thoughts to Xi Heyan.

Xi Heyan thought about it and also felt it was feasible.

He even understood the outside world’s situation well enough to know how enormous a sensation it would cause throughout the interstellar world if the Saint Clan truly opened ore trading.

Energy would always be the scarcest resource.

For many races, what they lacked was not money, but stable channels through which they could buy and sell ores.

Most of the ore trade in the interstellar world today was controlled by the Alliance. They could extract a portion of profit from every transaction.

In order to control prices, the Alliance strictly regulated the quantity of ores available for sale on the market, using the nice-sounding excuse that energy was a strategic resource and required stricter supervision.

In reality, all the enormous profits in between had gone into the pockets of those Alliance officials.

Every race knew about these private dealings, but there was nothing they could do. Places capable of producing ores were ultimately few, and as everyone knew, the Ninth Star Region, richest in energy ores, was also Saint Clan territory.

The Saint Clan did not communicate or interact with the outside world, so they had no channel to purchase ores from the Ninth Star Region.

Now that Wen Yuzhi intended to have the Saint Clan open up ore trading, this was undoubtedly tremendous good news to the other races.

“I plan to use the ore from my allowance first and see how it works. What do you think of this pricing?”

Recognition from a good friend made Wen Yuzhi feel more confident about his plan. He excitedly took out the draft he had prepared and shared it with Xi Heyan.

After only one glance, Xi Heyan said firmly, “Too low.”

Perhaps because this was his first attempt, the price Wen Yuzhi had set was not high. With the quality of ores produced by the Saint Clan, this price could even be called dirt cheap. Even increasing it by another twenty percent would still be very cheap.

Wen Yuzhi had originally thought this price was already rather high. He had not expected Xi Heyan’s suggested price to exceed his imagination.

“...Wouldn’t this be too expensive?” Wen Yuzhi asked quietly.

Xi Heyan said, “This price is just right.”

Wen Yuzhi looked at the price above, which was nearly double his original pricing.

...Such an expensive price was actually just right?

Xi Heyan showed Wen Yuzhi the prices on the current market.

Wen Yuzhi instantly fell silent.

Even the extremely wealthy Saint Clan little highness had no choice but to complain, “So expensive.”

It was indeed very expensive.

And this was the result of the Alliance’s so-called strict supervision.

They had monopolized all the resources and firmly held them in their own hands. They could set prices however they wanted, which led to the price of ores rising year after year and remaining high.

And this still did not include the black market. Prices on the black market were even higher, while the quality varied wildly.

That was why Xi Heyan said Wen Yuzhi’s pricing was too low. High-quality ores like the Saint Clan’s could completely be sold at a high price.

However, Wen Yuzhi did not intend to sell them too expensively.

He was not truly short on money. His real purpose was to break the outside world’s stereotypes about the Saint Clan and, incidentally, cause some trouble for the Alliance.

Earning a little money for himself came second.

Hearing this, Xi Heyan did not say anything. He merely silently lit a candle in his heart for those people in the Alliance.

They had schemed so hard and caused such a mess, but in the end, they had instead provoked a powerful enemy for themselves.

Once news from the Saint Clan spread, with ores of higher quality and lower prices available, who would still be willing to buy from the Alliance?

Trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice used to lure it—perhaps that was the Alliance’s current situation.

However, this was something the Alliance should worry about. As for Xi Heyan, at this moment, he was still diligently working, like a helpful river snail boy, helping Wen Yuzhi count the ores in his little treasury.

Before he realized it, the sky gradually darkened.

When the sunset glow spilled in, Xi Heyan felt that he had already been sitting on the carpet for several hours. Just as his body was about to move, suddenly, his right shoulder abruptly sank.

Rustle.

It was the sound of papers slipping from someone’s fingers.

Accompanied by soft, shallow breathing, Xi Heyan finally discovered that the young man beside him had fallen asleep at some unknown point.

Earlier, when they were discussing pricing matters, in order to make discussion easier, they had changed from sitting face-to-face to sitting closely side by side.

Wen Yuzhi had accidentally fallen asleep now, and his head naturally rested against Xi Heyan’s shoulder.

Xi Heyan’s breathing paused, and even his body tensed, not daring to move carelessly anymore.

The vivid red sunset happened to shine on the young man’s side, as if even the heavens especially favored their most perfect creation, draping that molten-gold splendor of the setting sun over the young man’s body like a light veil.

His long, curled lashes and silver-white hair were all dyed with a hazy halo of light.

And with his eyes tightly closed, the young man sleeping beneath the light looked just like an angel from a painting.

Perhaps because he sensed Xi Heyan’s gaze, the young man in sleep trembled his lashes a few times. He mumbled something, but subconsciously leaned a little closer into Xi Heyan’s arms, his head fully resting on Xi Heyan’s shoulder.

Xi Heyan...

His attention at this moment could no longer return to the documents before him.

The weight on his shoulder was actually not heavy, but it seemed to fall directly into Xi Heyan’s heart, drawing all his focus there.

Xi Heyan could feel that the side pressing against his shoulder was very soft.

He thought of the conference, when the young man had propped his cheek on his hand in boredom, and under the pressure of his palm, the snow-white soft flesh of his cheek had puffed up slightly.

And now, that soft cheek was pressed against his shoulder.

Very soft, and very...

The sensation through the layer of his suit jacket was not very clear, but precisely because it was unclear, it left Xi Heyan with enough room for imagination, like an itch that could not be scratched through a boot.

He did not want to think about it.

And yet there were only the two of them in the room. Everything around them seemed so quiet in this moment, quiet enough that Xi Heyan could hear only the young man’s breathing and his own heartbeat.

The former was calm and regular.

The latter was chaotic beyond control.

Just like Xi Heyan’s mood at this moment.

He thought that perhaps this was also very good.

There was no romantic date, nor were there any sweet and sour scenarios mentioned in the guides. But sitting here quietly like this also seemed very good.

If possible, Xi Heyan hoped this dream could last a little longer.

But the sky still gradually sank into darkness, and the brilliant sunset glow was swallowed by night.

The door was opened again.

An elderly Saint Clan member appeared at the entrance.

His gaze first fell on Wen Yuzhi. After noticing that little highness was sleeping soundly, he looked again in Xi Heyan’s direction.

Strictly speaking, the other party’s gaze was not as cold and sharp as that of other Saint Clan members. Instead, it was relatively gentle and calm.

But from precisely such a calm gaze, Xi Heyan could feel an invisible and powerful pressure.

It was the strength of someone who had experienced the passage of time and settled all his sharp edges into steadiness.

The feeling this person gave him was even more frightening than the Saint Clan members he had met at the door earlier.

Just as the atmosphere in the room gradually solidified, Wen Yuzhi woke up.

“Mm...”

Wen Yuzhi let out a hazy murmur.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned as he sat up from Xi Heyan’s arms.

“Mond?”

Perhaps because he had caught sight of the figure standing at the doorway, Wen Yuzhi called out while still half-asleep.

Maybe because he had just woken up, the young man’s tone was soft, and the heavy nasal sound carried a faint hint of acting spoiled.

And he was indeed acting spoiled.

Acting spoiled before the family member most familiar and closest to him.

Xi Heyan could sense that after the Saint Clan member heard the young man’s voice, the aura around him softened instantly.

“Little highness, it is time for dinner.”

Mond’s voice was gentle as he spoke.

Wen Yuzhi asked, “Where’s Dad?”

“The king is already in the dining room.”

Wen Yuzhi nodded. Then he looked toward Xi Heyan beside him.

“Sorry... We agreed to organize things together, but I fell asleep just now...”

“It’s all right.”

Of course Xi Heyan would not mind.

Besides...

Deep in his heart, he actually hoped Wen Yuzhi could have slept a little longer.

That way... the time they spent together could also be a little longer.

Wen Yuzhi, however, did not know what Xi Heyan was thinking at this moment.

Seeing that the data documents on the table had already been organized, his guilt toward Xi Heyan deepened even further.

The other party had clearly worked hard to organize all the data.

And while he had been working, Wen Yuzhi had been sound asleep beside him.

Just thinking about it nearly drowned Wen Yuzhi in guilt.

Thus, with his eyes still misted with sleep, the young man looked at Xi Heyan full of apology and said, “It’s getting late. Why don’t you stay and have dinner with us?”

Wen Yuzhi decided that during dinner later, he would definitely share all of his favorite lulu meat and thornberries with him.

And the little cake too...

The other party had made him a little cake, so he also needed to make a little cake and give it back to him.

At this moment, Wen Yuzhi’s guilt value toward Xi Heyan had clearly already exceeded the limit.

Xi Heyan’s attention, however, landed on the words “have dinner with us.”

From the question the young man had just asked, he could infer that the other party’s father, that Saint Clan sovereign, was currently waiting in the dining room.

In other words...

If they ate together, he would be able to meet that Saint Clan sovereign.

Although he had already prepared himself mentally in advance, at this moment, Xi Heyan’s mood still suddenly became nervous.

Wen Yuzhi, however, did not think that much.

He had already wanted to introduce Xi Heyan to Dad for a long time.

There had just never been a chance before. Now that there was finally an opportunity, of course he wanted Dad to meet his friend.

The two of them arrived at the dining room together.

From quite a distance away, Xi Heyan saw the silver-haired sovereign’s figure.

Mansendis sat in the main seat of the dining room, while Alvin bowed slightly and was reporting something to him in a low voice.

Hearing footsteps from outside the dining room, the two Saint Clan members, ruler and subject, both raised their heads and looked over.

Seeing this, Wen Yuzhi also let go of Xi Heyan’s hand. His steps were light as he ran toward Mansendis.

“Dad!”

The young man directly hugged the silver-haired sovereign’s arm, like a cheerful little bird.

Mansendis gave an “Mm” and looked at the red mark on the cub’s cheek, as well as the messy hair behind him, knowing that the cub had likely only just woken from sleep.

Then, thinking of what Mond had mentioned to him—that the cub had been very focused on making the proposal—it was not hard to guess that the other party must have secretly stayed up late behind their backs last night.

“No staying up late again.”

Mansendis emphasized this once more.

Wen Yuzhi...

He nodded randomly, but his eyes showed a guilty flicker for an instant.

Clearly, he had not expected his secret late-night work to be discovered.

Seeing that Mansendis seemed about to say more, Wen Yuzhi hurriedly spoke up, trying to shift the topic away.

“Dad! Let me introduce you. This is Xi Heyan. He’s my best friend!”