Just as Shen Huaiyun closed the front door behind him, he heard rapid footsteps approaching, followed by being scooped up and lifted by a pair of hands with thick calluses.
“Huaiyun, Mom’s home!”
His ears flushed red as he gently pushed against his mother Shen Yue’an’s shoulder. “I know, Mom. Put me down already.”
He was carrying a backpack full of books it was heavy.
His father, Yuan Qing’an, had just finished setting the dishes on the table, still wearing his apron. He walked over to help both brothers take off their backpacks and tossed them onto the sofa, smiling warmly. “Go wash your hands and eat.”
Shen Yue’an finally put her younger son down and tried to pick up her elder son in the same way, but Shen Tangmo politely declined. Left with no other option, she clung to her husband like a sloth, pretending to cry about being rejected by her sons while sneakily feeling his chest muscles.
Yuan Qing’an blushed furiously, grabbing her hand to stop her. He turned her toward the dining table and whispered, “Not in front of the kids… tonight…”
The two brothers exchanged a glance, their expressions a mix of helplessness and amusement, their lips curling into smiles.
Both Shen Tangmo and Shen Huaiyun had coincidentally undergone physical fitness tests that day and had burned a lot of energy. They wolfed down the scrambled eggs with tomatoes and soy sauce-glazed pork with their rice.
Yuan Qing’an wasn’t in a hurry to eat. Instead, he quietly peeled shrimp for Shen Yue’an, placing them one by one into her bowl. Shen Yue’an was animatedly recounting amusing incidents she’d encountered at the watchtower, and he occasionally tapped her bowl to remind her to eat.
But she would put down her chopsticks again after just a few bites, prompting Yuan Qing’an to tap her bowl or elbow once more.
“Oh, by the way, do you guys want to adopt a cat? I found one on my way home yesterday and took it to get neutered right away.”
Shen Huaiyun, who had just returned from putting his bowl in the kitchen, was speechless.
How did the topic jump from “that idiot in the watchtower leadership finally got fired” to adopting a cat?
Shen Tangmo didn’t answer immediately, turning instead to look at his younger brother. “Do you want to keep it?”
Shen Yue’an pulled out her phone and showed them a photo of the kitten. “It’s a tabby mackerel cat. The vet said it’s about five months old, quite well-behaved doesn’t scratch or bite.”
In the photo, she was holding the kitten by the scruff of its neck, and the little tabby with a black tuft of fur under its nose stared blankly at her, looking somewhat clueless.
“Hmm.” Shen Huaiyun hesitated, taking two steps closer to his brother. “I think the dorm doesn’t allow pets. Do you want to keep it, Bro?”
That sounded like he didn’t intend to adopt it.
Shen Tangmo spoke up. “Our dorm really doesn’t have much space, and we don’t have much free time either. It’d be better to find a suitable adopter for the kitten.”
“Alright then, I’ll let the pet hospital know. They’ve been running adoption events regularly.”
After dinner, Shen Yue’an dragged Yuan Qing’an out for a walk. The brothers, who rarely got to come home, exchanged a glance and wordlessly headed to their room to boot up the computer for an intense round of card battles.
“It’s been so long since I played, I’m a bit rusty Wait, when did you get that new card back?!” Shen Huaiyun’s sharp eyes caught the shimmering coral card back as his opponent, [Eat Poisoned Pills], drew a card. He immediately pressed Tab to open the event interface what? The event had already ended, with only the exchange shop still open?
Fine.
[Peddle Pills] regretfully conceded.
Shen Tangmo placed his hand over his brother’s, moving the mouse to open his card library. “I got it for you. You’re welcome.”
The younger boy perked up instantly.
[Peddle Pills] was revived by [Eat Poisoned Pills] after watching a 30-second ad!
With his new card back, Shen Huaiyun was brimming with confidence. “Come on, draw!”
Eighteen minutes later, [Selling Pills] struggled in vain, and the game ended.
“Again! Start!”
Fifteen minutes later, [Selling Pills] narrowly lost but quickly started the next round.
Then came the fourth round the fifth round.
Twenty-one minutes into the eighth round, [Selling Pills] regretfully left the game.
He truly left with regret. Shen Huaiyun pushed away from the computer desk and headed toward the door, planning to fetch a glass of ice water from the kitchen to cool his frustration.
Shen Tangmo also released the mouse and stood up. A few mental tentacles slipped from his sleeves, gently poking his younger brother’s slightly flushed cheeks from different directions.
The cool, soft, and peculiar sensation made Shen Huaiyun a bit ticklish, but the gentle infusion of the guide’s mental energy brought him comfort. He stood still, grabbed one of the tentacles, and rubbed it against his cheek.
The originally translucent, bluish-purple tentacle darkened in color. After a brief pause, it affectionately nudged him back before retracting into its owner’s sleeve.
Shen Huaiyun continued toward the kitchen, while Shen Tangmo remained motionless for a moment. His fingers trembled slightly as he glanced at his mental tentacles with confusion, withdrawing them entirely into his mental energy before following.
In the master bedroom, Yuan Qing’an waited until he heard their footsteps stop in the kitchen before removing his hand from Shen Yue’an’s mouth. She still wore a shocked expression, muttering something like, “A younger brother should remain a younger brother. a younger brother can’t become a wife.”
Her lover sighed helplessly. “What strange things have you been reading again?”
His mental tentacles extended from behind, wrapping around her in an embrace. “Xiao Yun is only twelve. He doesn’t understand these things.”
“But Tangmo is already sixteen. He should understand, right?” The soothing mental energy from her guide, her lover, washed over her, and Shen Yue’an relaxed slightly, though worry lingered. “Huaiyun is only twelve. It can’t be Does Tangmo have such preferences? Did we fail to teach him properly somewhere?”
Pinkish-red mental tentacles coiled around her limbs as Yuan Qing’an’s mental energy gently attempted to untangle the knots in her thoughts. “Don’t get trapped in your own assumptions. Just because we often use mental tentacles for intimacy doesn’t mean they’re doing the same. From what I see, neither of them is thinking in that direction. They’re just close.”
Shen Yue’an peeked out from the doorway and saw the two children walking back to their room, each holding a glass of water, chatting and laughing about deck strategies and luck in drawing cards. She withdrew, rubbing her temples. “I was projecting my own thoughts onto them. They probably haven’t even learned about the uses of mental tentacles yet.”
“Your emotions have been fluctuating a lot lately. Is your period approaching?”
“Seems like it.”
“Overthinking will harm your health.” Yuan Qing’an thought of something, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks as he took her hand. “Well, didn’t you want to touch them earlier? Here, you can.”
Even after years of marriage, his occasional method of distraction remained as effective as it was during their passionate early days.
Back in their room, the brothers played a few more rounds of the game. Perhaps the ice water had cooled his mind, allowing Shen Huaiyun’s clever intellect to reclaim its dominance. In these rounds, he managed to turn the tables even when at a disadvantage and even dominated one game when the momentum was in his favor.
Satisfied, he stretched lazily, shut down the computer, and headed to the bathroom to wash up.
Shen Tangmo also closed the game and saw a DingTalk message from his mentor pop up in the bottom right corner of the screen: “Have you watched the online class?”
“…”
He actually wanted to pretend he hadn’t seen it, but when he picked up his phone, he noticed that the Zhidao app had also sent him a notification:
“Course progress is falling behind! 【Guide General Studies Course】
Student Shen Tangmo, your learning progress for the Guide General Studies Course has fallen behind. Procrastination may lead to failing the course, so please catch up! Teacher Lin Ziyan”
“…”
I’ve already watched one unit of the course. Who exactly am I being compared to? Didn’t I just start the course a day ago?
Shen Tangmo sighed and reluctantly opened the Zhidao app, clicking on the online video for the Guide General Studies Course.
“I’ll just let it play for now and rewatch it later… Huh?”
The title of the first lesson in the second unit was “The Application of Psychic Tentacles in Intimate Relationships.”
This one’s worth watching. Shen Tangmo put on a serious face.
“In intimate relationships, most guides unconsciously use their psychic tentacles to touch the other person. During contact, the psychic tentacles may change color, tremble, or temporarily fail to retract normally all of which are normal phenomena…”
Shen Huaiyun, having changed into his pajamas, heard the murmuring voice and walked over to look at his brother’s phone screen: “What are you watching, bro? What phenomena?”
The phone instantly went silent. Shen Tangmo forced a stiff smile: “Online class. My mentor is pushing me to watch it. You should go to sleep first.”
Hearing it was an online class, the boy instantly lost interest. He turned and threw himself onto the soft bed, wrapping himself in the blanket: “The bed at home is still the most comfortable!”
Meanwhile, Shen Tangmo stared at his wrist, recalling the earlier reaction of his psychic tentacles, and felt utterly unsettled.
Brothers count as an intimate relationship, right… No, wait, the class must be referring to intimate relationships like lovers or spouses! Maybe I’m mixing things up. After all, the closest person to me has always been Huaiyun… But that can’t be right. How could it be Huaiyun? He hasn’t even celebrated his thirteenth birthday yet. He’s so young, how could it be Huaiyun?
Do I have that kind of preference? I don’t! This isn’t right, is it?
Wait, does that mean I like men?
He sat blankly at the desk. The online class on his phone had long finished playing and automatically skipped to the next lesson. Behind him, the breathing of the boy on the bed gradually softened, but Shen Tangmo remained lost in his own mental turmoil.
This was probably the most discomposed night Shen Tangmo had experienced since being adopted.
The online class on his phone had paused halfway through the second lesson due to a pop-up quiz, but over an hour had already passed since he’d fallen into his spiral of self-doubt.
He turned off the desk lamp, quietly slipped out of the room, and hurried to the master bedroom door. Not noticing the slippers on the floor, he stepped on one, slipped, and landed with a solid “thud” on his knees.
Yuan Qing’an, alerted by the noise, sat up vigilantly. Shen Yue’an, who had been lazily wrapped in a bathrobe leaning against his chest while scrolling through his phone, also sat up. The sentinel’s mental energy swept through the house, detecting no unfamiliar psychic presence. He got out of bed and opened the door, only to find his eldest son kneeling in a strange posture outside their room.
“Are you practicing sliding tackles?” Shen Yue’an looked at him, puzzled.
Shen Tangmo’s face flushed red. Without a word, he opened the online class, found the relevant section, and played it for them. His psychic tentacles trembled as they peeked out from his sleeve.
Yuan Qing’an reached out to help him up: “Be careful, or your knees will bruise. Whatever it is, take your time and tell us.”
They watched the online course teacher ramble on for a long stretch, and seeing their eldest son unusually anxious, they immediately understood his thoughts after all, they had just discussed it not long ago. They handed the phone back to him, patting him reassuringly: “Don’t overthink it. You two have a good relationship, and you’re in a sensitive period right after differentiation. It’s nothing unusual to have similar reactions.”
“Is that so?” Shen Tangmo’s psychic tentacles were still anxiously tying themselves into knots, but his expression softened slightly.
Shen Yue’an: “You don’t have any desires toward him, right?”
He didn’t answer, but his instinctively shocked and disdainful expression conveyed the answer: Who in their right mind would have desires for a twelve-year-old?!
“I told you our family wouldn’t raise someone like that,” Shen Yue’an said with a satisfied smile.
Seeing their “no big deal” attitude, Shen Tangmo also relaxed a bit: “So it really isn’t a problem?”
“Of course not. It’s just a state of being when you’re together no need to be overly cautious.”
He visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
But recalling what that guy with the tumor between his ears had said in the infirmary earlier, he frowned slightly again: “Still, when I come of age, let’s separate my household registration.”
“Some people always use me to attack Huaiyun. I don’t want him to harbor any resentment in the future, thinking that I, an outsider, took something from him.”
“Huaiyun would never think that way,” Yuan Qing’an said with certainty.
“I trust him, of course, but let’s just separate it anyway,” Shen Tangmo insisted.
After some discussion, his parents agreed to his request. However, he didn’t tell them that deep down, he had always harbored some vague, unspoken emotions that prevented him from fully integrating into the family: after all, he wasn’t related to them by blood.
But he didn’t want future conflicts with Shen Huaiyun over issues like inheritance, nor did he want their relationship to crack under the influence of outsiders’ opinions.
Even if the worst-case scenario were to happen someday, at least this independent household registration would stand as proof of his sincerity.
After Shen Tangmo left the master bedroom, Yuan Qing’an turned to his wife and asked, “Has Huaiyun shown any signs of mental instability recently?”
She unlocked her phone and pulled up the chat records forwarded by the liaison officer: “Teacher Ning says his condition in class has improved a lot over the past six months no signs of stress reactions or delirium. Tangmo also mentioned that his mental state has been steadily improving over the last two years, and he rarely confuses dreams with reality anymore.”
“That’s good. In a few more years, when we step back from the front lines, we can come back and spend more time with him.”