It's rare to find an eighteen-year-old boy like him with such a quiet and composed demeanor.
From a young age, his father and mother were rarely around Chen Xiao. It seemed that both his parents were engaged in some kind of scientific research work... It was hard to imagine how his father, who always had a serious and cold face, like a mad scientist from a comic book, managed to win over his beautiful mother.
Due to their work, Chen Xiao's parents frequently traveled between the local area and abroad. In particular, when Chen Xiao was three years old, her parents joined a research institution in North America as key researchers on an unknown project.
Ultimately, perhaps due to their exceptional abilities, they simply became shareholders in the research institution, becoming partners. Going from employees to business owners, the couple's time became even more precious; how could two workaholics possibly have time to care for their children?
Therefore, Chen Xiao attended boarding schools from a young age. In order to preserve the "traditional Chinese values" of their child, his parents left him in China instead of taking him to North America and hired a nanny to take care of his daily life. As a result, Chen Xiao was used to independent living from a young age—he could cook fried rice and make tomato and egg soup by himself when he was nine years old.
Chen Xiao's parents seemed to be very wealthy, and the North American research institution they worked for seemed to offer very generous compensation, so she never lacked money growing up. However, her two workaholic parents were someone she rarely saw throughout the year.
After careful calculation, starting from the age of four, out of more than 360 days a year, Chen Xiao could only see his parents less than four times. This situation continued until Chen Xiao was sixteen years old.
He was at school that day when he saw the aunt who took care of him at home come to the school with red and swollen eyes and take him back home.
He then received devastating news: a major research accident had occurred at the research institution where his parents worked, and both his parents had died in the accident in the laboratory.
After investigation, it was determined to be an accident. The research institution also dissolved as a result of the accident, reportedly going bankrupt and disappearing. The parents had invested all their savings in the institution, and with their deaths and the institution's bankruptcy, their entire fortune was lost. Poor Chen Xiao, a mere sixteen-year-old, only received a sum of compensation.
Then debt collectors came to the family's door. They took away all of Chen Xiao's family's private cars, villas, and mansions. Later, Chen Xiao learned that his parents had disagreed with the partners of that research institution about their research direction. They insisted on continuing their research and spared no expense, mortgaging their house and cars to the bank for that research funding.
The once wealthy young man became poor overnight. Fortunately, his parents had registered the old house they lived in before they became rich under Chen Xiao's name, so it wasn't seized by the bank.
After using the compensation money to pay for his parents' funerals, Chen Xiao moved back to his impoverished old house without saying a word.
At that age, most teenagers would have collapsed after receiving such devastating news and blows. But Chen Xiao, who had been used to independent living since childhood, had an exceptionally strong ability to cope and managed to pull through on his own.
But later he became increasingly silent and stopped talking.
At a young age, he had already experienced the harsh realities of life—when his family was well-off, all his relatives were very close to him, but after he fell on hard times, they seemed to avoid him like the plague. Uncles and other relatives disappeared after the funeral.
Chen Xiao never intended to rely on these people—he was already sixteen years old back then, which was legally considered an adult, and he had been alone all these years, so he couldn't be bothered to care about the attitudes of his relatives.
The only thing that moved Chen Xiao was the aunt who had always taken care of her. A kind and gentle woman in her forties, who had worked as a part-time housekeeper in her home for many years, the aunt couldn't bear to part with Chen Xiao after her family fell on hard times. She even considered adopting Chen Xiao. She and Chen Xiao were not related by blood at all. She was a housekeeper with a meager income and her own children to support and educate, yet she had this kindness, which was enough to move Chen Xiao.
Compared to his relatives, Chen Xiao regarded this aunt as the only person he was truly close to. However, Chen Xiao resolutely refused to go home with her and insisted on returning to the old house alone.
To make a living, Chen Xiao, who had lost her source of income, started working odd jobs to earn money.
He was originally from a wealthy family. His parents were extremely well-off when they were alive, living in a villa, owning luxury cars, and wearing international designer brands. He was exceptionally intelligent from a young age, probably inheriting his parents' mad scientist genes. He played the piano well from childhood, dared to drive a sports car at 200 km/h on the highway at the age of fourteen, and hacked a foreign portal website at the age of fifteen. Before the tragic news of his parents' death came when he was sixteen, he had already started learning karate and was preparing to take the advanced rank exam.
It's hard to imagine how a rich boy who had never lacked food or clothing since childhood managed to survive under such circumstances. Perhaps it was the indomitable spirit of a mad scientist inherited from his parents.
He went to school during the day and found work at night. He worked as a repairman in a computer company, played the piano in a hotel, and even worked as a packer in a supermarket. Although he was young and it was difficult for him to find work, he was quick-witted and honest—plus, he was handsome and likable—so he gradually managed to support himself.
For example, this fast food restaurant, ever since he started working there, has attracted female students from several nearby schools to dine there, making the manager secretly chuckle countless times. Chen Xiao even vaguely knew that many of his backstory stories were deliberately leaked to these female students by that unscrupulous manager to create gossip.
As a result, the fast food restaurant's business boomed, and the manager naturally made a fortune.
Even in the most difficult times, Chen Xiao never did anything wrong: In fact, an acquaintance who had hacked other people's websites with him once wanted to recruit him to do some "business": counterfeiting and cracking credit cards.
He only had a week's living expenses in his pocket at the time, but he resolutely refused such a temptation.
Because when he was young, his father told him: "In this world, one must act uprightly and walk straight! If you do something bad, even if you are not caught by others, you cannot escape your own conscience."
Although his parents and Chen Xiao didn't have a very deep relationship, he remembered that.
Without his luxury sports car, Chen Xiao rode a bicycle to school and worked. Without his mansion or villa, he was content living in an apartment. Without the opportunity to frequent high-end hotels, Chen Xiao enjoyed his meals at roadside stalls just as much.
Fortunately, before her death, her parents had paid all the tuition fees for Chen Xiao's expensive and prestigious school for several years in one lump sum.
Otherwise, with the tuition fees of this most expensive and prestigious private school in the city, Chen Xiao couldn't possibly afford it by working part-time.
...
"Wow, it's him... a rich kid who's fallen on hard times!"
"...Yeah, so handsome and stylish..."
"Wow, look at him! He's looking this way!"
The little girls at the table had stars in their eyes.
Chen Xiao raised an eyebrow, turned around, and walked into the backstage area, leaving behind a group of disappointed girls.
At noon, Chen Xiao finished work, changed back into her casual clothes, said goodbye to the manager, and was about to leave.
"Chen Xiao." The lovely female shop assistant called out to him, standing behind the counter looking at Chen Xiao with a sweet smile and her eyes narrowed—her eyes weren't big, but they curved slightly when she smiled, adding to her cuteness and charm: "Hey, is today your birthday?" Then, she lowered her voice: "I peeked into the employee register."
Chen Xiao was taken aback. The girl glanced at the manager, who didn't seem to care, and quietly took out a box wrapped in gift paper from her pocket, handed it to him, and smiled with narrowed eyes, saying, "Happy birthday."
"...Thank you." Chen Xiao's expression was somewhat unnatural.
The gift box in my hand wasn't very big, but the wrapping paper was wrapped rather awkwardly, clearly not by a gift company, but by my colleague himself.
He thought for a moment, and out of courtesy, opened the box in front of him. Inside was a new, small MP4 player.
He paused for a moment, then glanced at the girl in front of him.
The girl blinked: "You said you liked this one last time. My memory is very good!" Seeing Chen Xiao's expression, she quickly added: "Don't say no! I was late this morning because I forgot to bring it when I left home, so I had to turn back to get it."
After saying that, she said softly, "If you're too shy... it's my birthday in a few days, so you can give me something then."
Hearing this, Chen Xiao didn't refuse. After thinking for a moment, she nodded and accepted it with a sincere smile: "Thank you."
Looking at the girl's slightly shy expression, after being stared at by so many young girls in the store for months, how could he not know what his colleague was thinking?
He sighed inwardly, but ultimately didn't have the heart to tell the girl his original plan: he intended to quit his job at the fast food restaurant at the end of the month. He had just found a new job as a tutor, which was better than working there every day while being stared at by a bunch of young girls.