Shang Xianwang’s fingertips trembled uncontrollably twice. “Don’t get drunk casually outside in the future, especially in places like bars where all sorts of people mingle.”
His expression appeared calm as he spoke. “When I went over last night, there was a man who saw you drunk and tried to touch your face.”
Shang Xueyan took a few seconds to process what his eldest brother was implying, then shuddered all over. “Ugh, that disgusting gay man.”
He took two sips of honey lemon water with distaste.
Shang Xianwang finished his breakfast and went to work at the company. Shang Xueyan went to the studio at noon for a team-building gathering with Wang Xiantao, Shen Mengkun, and the other colleagues at the studio, then returned home in the afternoon.
With nothing to do, and since Fengyun Bay had a basketball court in the neighborhood, Shang Xueyan grabbed a basketball and headed to the court to play. A thousand years ago, he had loved playing cuju and polo; a thousand years later, those sports no longer existed, so Shang Xueyan had taken a liking to basketball.
He lifted his hoodie to wipe the sweat from his forehead, glanced up at the setting sun slanting in the western sky, and said goodbye to the two guys he’d been playing with. “I’m done. I need to head home.”
“Come on, one more round, Yan-ge.”
Shang Xueyan turned his back to his two playing partners, holding the basketball with one hand while casually waving the other behind him, and strode off.
Back home, he took a shower and stepped out of the bathroom, only then noticing that his eldest brother had sent him several messages saying he wouldn’t be back for dinner tonight.
Shang Xueyan roughly towel-dried his hair and typed, [You have to work overtime?]
Shang Xianwang: [Grandfather asked me to come back to the estate tonight]
Shang Xueyan: [Alright]
In the resplendent dining hall of the Shang family’s old estate, the ceiling lights were ornate European crystal chandeliers. At the heavy, massive rectangular marble dining table, Shang Xianwang ate his dinner in silence.
But the dining room was not completely quiet aside from the crisp clinks of black-winged wood chopsticks against gold-embossed porcelain plates, there was also the cheerful chatter of his aunt’s family. Several of them were entertaining Shang Huaimin with conversation, presenting a scene of warm harmony.
Shang Huaimin burst into laughter twice at an amusing story told by his grandson Du Tian’an. He turned his head, and when he spoke to Shang Xianwang, there was a hint of kindly smile in his tone. “Don’t go back to Fengyun Bay tonight. Stay here at the estate.”
“Perfect timing your Uncle Chen is bringing his daughter over for a visit tomorrow. You should meet her. Even your younger cousin has found someone now; you need to resolve your personal matters sooner rather than later.”
Shang Xianwang set down his chopsticks, his voice steady. “I have no plans to get married right now.”
“You’re almost twenty-eight, and you still have no plans to marry? Don’t tell me you’re like that unfilial son of the Chen family, into men?” Shang Huaimin said angrily. “I’ve met Chen Yu’s daughter. She’s three years younger than you gentle, generous, intelligent, and virtuous. You’d better put on a good showing in front of that young lady tomorrow.”
“I said I have no plans to get married,” Shang Xianwang replied. “Grandfather, I’m heading back.”
Shang Xianwang stood up and pulled back his chair, preparing to leave.
Seeing this, Shang Murou immediately moved to soothe Shang Huaimin. “Dad, Xiao Wang is still young. Besides, with his personality, how could he ever follow our arrangements? He’s not someone we can control anyway.”
At these words, Shang Huaimin’s anger surged once more. Seeing that Shang Xianwang truly seemed about to leave without another word, he grabbed the soup bowl at hand and hurled it fiercely at Shang Xianwang, barking, “Unfilial son, you stop right there.”
Shang Xianwang sidestepped, deftly dodging the soup bowl that came flying at him. He turned his head and said calmly to Shang Huaimin, “If every time I come back it ends in an argument, I don’t think I need to return in the future.”
“Unfilial son!” Hearing this, the veins on Shang Huaimin’s aged forehead bulged visibly. He grabbed whatever was nearby and hurled it at Shang Xianwang’s face once more.
This time, Shang Xianwang tilted his head slightly but didn’t fully avoid it.
The housekeeper caught sight of the blood on Shang Xianwang’s forehead and couldn’t help letting out a startled cry.
Shang Xianwang acted as if he hadn’t heard, turned around, and strode away.
Back in the car, Shang Xianwang pulled out a few tissues, casually wiped at the blood on his forehead, started the engine, and drove toward Fengyun Bay.
An hour later, the Maybach pulled into the garage. Shang Xianwang killed the engine, turned on the interior light, and tilted his head up to look at himself in the rearview mirror. The blow from the dish on his forehead wasn’t light over the past hour, blood had seeped out intermittently and congealed on his brow.
He grabbed a tissue, wet it with bottled water, and was about to wipe away the dried blood when he looked up at the lights glowing in the white two-story building. Shang Xianwang tossed the tissue into the car’s trash bin, raised his hand, and with a blank expression, rubbed hard at his forehead.
Once the wound on his forehead looked even more severe, Shang Xianwang opened the car door, swung his long legs out, and left the driver’s seat without any change in expression.
Shang Xueyan sat cross-legged on the carpet, game controller in hand, playing a game. When he heard the door open, he paused the game, tossed the controller onto the sofa, and sprang up nimbly, heading toward the entryway. “Big brother, you’re back big brother, what happened to your forehead? Were you in a car accident?”
Hurrying over to Shang Xianwang’s side, Shang Xueyan checked his arms and legs no injuries anywhere, only the wound on his forehead. Shang Xueyan asked anxiously, “Big brother, what happened to the wound on your forehead?”
“Grandfather threw something at me.” Shang Xianwang lowered his eyes.
“Why would he throw something at you?”
“I sent Shang Bieze to prison. He’s been holding a grudge against me over that. Besides, he never really liked me much to begin with.”
“Shang Bieze tried to kill you he’s lucky he wasn’t executed.” Anger flared in Shang Xueyan’s chest. He’d been living with his big brother for over half a month now and had a clear picture of his current family situation. Shang Xueyan took a deep breath, suppressing the fury inside him, and looked at his brother’s forehead with concern. “Big brother, do you have a first-aid kit? Let me put some medicine on it.”
Shang Xianwang fetched the family first-aid kit.
The kit wasn’t particularly well-stocked, but it had the basics for disinfection alcohol and iodine.
Shang Xueyan first pulled out an alcohol-soaked disinfectant wipe, leaned down, and helped Shang Xianwang clean the dried blood around his forehead. After wiping the blood clean, he dipped a cotton swab in iodine, stood in front of Shang Xianwang, lowered his gaze, and applied the iodine to the wound and the swelling on his forehead. His movements weren’t skilled clearly unpracticed, but his touch was gentle, causing Shang Xianwang not the slightest bit of pain.
As he applied the medicine, Shang Xueyan couldn’t help asking, “Big brother, this isn’t the first time you’ve been hurt, is it? Has he been throwing things at you all these years?”
Shang Xianwang’s lashes lowered. “It wasn’t that many times.”
Shang Xueyan cursed under his breath. “Brother, you should really go back less often. If their family is capable of trying to run someone over with a car, what else wouldn’t they do?”
Shang Xianwang said, “I used his body, so I should be responsible for his family.”
“It’s not that I’m telling you not to be responsible,” Shang Xueyan said. “Handle things as they come. Also, from now on, you’re training with me to build up your strength. Next time, if something like this happens again, you have to dodge.”
“Okay.”
After the iodine was applied, Shang Xueyan noticed his brother furrow his brow slightly. Holding the ointment, he didn’t dare apply it carelessly and asked softly, “Does it hurt a bit?”
“It’s fine,” Shang Xianwang said.
“Is ‘fine’ hurt or not hurt?”
“A little bit.”
Shang Xueyan squeezed the ointment onto a clean cotton swab, his voice growing even gentler. “Then I’ll be lighter.”
“Mm.”
After applying the medicine to Shang Xianwang, Shang Xueyan packed up the first-aid kit.
Shang Xianwang was still in decent spirits and played a couple rounds of games with Shang Xueyan before heading upstairs to work overtime with the ointment still on his forehead.
The moment Shang Xianwang left the living room, Shang Xueyan lost all interest in gaming. He tossed the controller aside, listlessly picked up his phone, sat cross-legged, and sent a message to the group chat.
Shang Xueyan: [@everyone, how should a birthday be planned so that the person celebrating it feels happy, joyful, and cared for and valued by their family?]
Shen Mengkun: [Is your birthday coming up?]
Wang Xiantao: [Is your brother’s birthday coming up?]
Shang Xueyan: [Yeah, my brother’s birthday is coming up]
Shang Xueyan: [I’ve never celebrated anyone’s birthday in this world. Does any of you have experience?]
Shang Xueyan: [Red packet]
Shang Xueyan: [Red packet]
Shang Xueyan: [Red packet]
Shang Xueyan sent several red packets in the group in one go.
His heartache for his brother reached its peak tonight. He had never had a family in his life, but his brother’s blood relatives were worse than having none. Compared to harm from strangers, harm from family was often harder to accept.
But it didn’t matter he would make sure his brother knew he still had family who cared about him.
Shang Xueyan: [Red packet]
Shang Xueyan: [Red packet]
Wang Xiantao and Shen Mengkun had experience celebrating birthdays for their families, the usual thing of having a meal together at home, eating cake, and giving gifts they’d prepared themselves.
Their experience and advice clearly didn’t meet Shang Xueyan’s standards. After brainstorming all night, a flash of inspiration struck Shang Xueyan, and he went to find a well-reputed event planning company.
“You’re planning a birthday banquet for your elder brother?” the company’s staff member asked Shang Xueyan.
“Yes.”
“Any requirements?”
“It needs to be grand and magnificent, but preferably not too many people my brother doesn’t like crowds. It has to make my brother feel valued, feel happy, feel blessed.” Shang Xueyan stated his requirements.
The staff member took a deep breath. Thinking of the not-insignificant fee, she smiled and said, “Alright, we can draft a few proposals for you first.”
Shang Xianwang’s birthday in his previous life and this life fell on the same day, May 11th.
There were still about ten days until May 11th, so there was plenty of time.
Over the next few days, Shang Xueyan was exceptionally busy coordinating with the planning team on the birthday concept, staying up late to reject one draft after another, and finally settling on a plan. After that, he remained fully involved in every other detail, offering his own suggestions along the way.
That evening, after three full days of back-and-forth with the engineers, they finally produced a design he was reasonably satisfied with. He was at Wang Xiantao’s bachelor apartment, and with a twist of the screen, he played the video for him. “Take a look at this version do you think there’s anything else that needs changing?”
The video played a demonstration animation of a drone show. Wang Xiantao watched with rapt attention.
In the professional video playback software, over a thousand drones rose into the sky, converging into the image of a young man in ancient robes.
Wang Xiantao pointed at the display. “That’s your eldest brother’s likeness, isn’t it? Why is he in ancient costume?”
“Here’s the thing, I think we were brothers in our past life too!”
Wang Xiantao blinked in surprise, then couldn’t help glancing sideways at Shang Xueyan. Shang Xueyan reached out and turned his face back toward the screen. “Watch the screen.”
As he spoke, the ancient-robed figure dispersed and reformed into a young man in a formal suit, with the words “Happy Birthday” appearing beside him. Though it was a simple image, Shang Xueyan had communicated with the engineers countless times and made revision after revision the drone lighting, color scheme, and composition all came together in a harmonious, magnificent elegance.
The drone show lasted three minutes in total, ending with a small figure tightly embracing another small figure, accompanied by a line of text that, in Wang Xiantao’s view, was utterly cringe-worthy.
“So? I’m pretty pleased with this version of the show. It’s grand enough, magnificent enough, beautiful enough, and it really showcases my deep admiration for my eldest brother.”
Wang Xiantao was silent for two seconds before his mouth still couldn’t stay shut. “Shang Xueyan, you’re straight, right? Can you swear that your feelings for your eldest brother don’t go beyond brotherly affection?”