“Stop fussing around in there. Come out. I have something to tell you.” Lu Mingyu tilted his chin toward the kitchen.
Ye Manyu turned off the faucet and came out, shaking the droplets of water from her hands. There was still flour clinging to her apron. “I just learned how to make a new dish. What is it?”
“Shi Ying just told me that he wants to raise Xiao Ci himself and doesn’t want us to interfere. I was originally planning to go through the adoption procedures but that child doesn’t even acknowledge us now. Do you want to stay here in the country and take care of Xiao Ci, or go with our son?”
Ye Manyu barely hesitated. “Let Shi Ying raise him. Back when we brought Xiao Ci home, it was originally because we wanted to give Shi Ying some company, to give him a younger brother. He was happy about it too. Since he’s the one who brought it up himself, then let’s leave him to it. I trust him.”
Lu Mingyu nodded. “All right.”
That was the first New Year Jiang Ci and Lu Shiying spent together. Steam rose from the dishes spread across the dining table, while the television played the countdown to the Spring Festival Gala. From that day onward, this family finally settled into its true shape.
And from that day onward, the string in Lu Shiying’s heart was pulled taut around Jiang Ci.
The first thing that gave him something to worry about was the child’s teeth.
At seven, just after starting elementary school, Jiang Ci lost both of his front teeth one after another. The little boy burst into tears when he looked at himself in the mirror. He covered his mouth and refused to leave the house no matter what, insisting that his classmates would make fun of him for talking with a gap in his teeth.
Lu Shiying never found it troublesome. Every morning, he coaxed the boy into going to school. Whenever he caught the children who laughed at him, he would haul them over one by one and sternly lecture them. He even went to see the homeroom teacher and ordered coldly, “Move their seats apart.”
As the days passed, Jiang Ci began to understand more and more.
When he was eight, the word “death” truly struck him for the first time. So his parents’ plane hadn’t flown toward the stars after all. It had crashed.
That night, the child stood in front of Lu Shiying, his pale little face tilted upward. “Brother, if I ever bleed to death one day, will you find someone else to be your little brother?”
Lu Shiying crouched down and placed both hands on his shoulders, looking straight into his eyes. “No. You won’t die either. When you’re a little older and your body is stronger, I’ll take you abroad for treatment.”
Jiang Ci tightly gripped his brother’s fingers, squeezing them hard. In that moment, he realized with absolute clarity that aside from his grandfather, his brother was the only family he had left in this world.
When Jiang Ci was nine, Lu Shiying was eighteen.
An eighteen year old doctoral prodigy who was proficient in all kinds of business and finance. The first of his kind in the entire country. Newspapers, television and the internet were filled everywhere with that young, indifferent face.
After the Beginning of Winter, Jiangcheng suddenly grew colder, the temperature dropping with almost no warning. Fine strands of rain slanted down outside the window, casting the entire campus beneath a gloomy, overcast veil.
Jiang Ci was dressed in the black blazer style uniform of his prestigious school, sitting in a seat by the window. A gust of cold air slipped through the crack in the window, making him draw in his neck and shiver.
He raised his wrist and the screen of his electronic watch lit up. Among the news notifications was the announcement that Lu Shiying had officially taken over Zhuoyu Group that day, becoming its president.
On the screen, the young man wore a white suit, his tie fastened neatly in place. There was already a hint of the restrained composure of someone accustomed to being in a position of power between his brows.
Jiang Ci’s gaze lingered on that familiar face for a moment. Then his fingertip touched the screen and gently brushed across it.
“Brother hasn’t come home for two days. Those bad people at the company… could they be giving him a hard time?”
The bell signaling the end of class rang. Jiang Ci was just about to lie down on his desk and rest for a while when the hallway outside suddenly erupted into commotion.
A large crowd of people poured out into the corridor. Jiang Ci followed them to his feet and rose onto his tiptoes to look downstairs. The principal and the director of academic affairs were hurrying toward the main entrance one after another, their waists bent noticeably lower than usual.
Just as he was wondering what was going on, the two black clad bodyguards who had been following him slipped out through the side entrance of the teaching building. They stopped at the bottom of the steps and, in perfect unison, bowed deeply.
Then that familiar figure appeared.
Lu Shiying had already grown to well over six feet tall. With broad shoulders and a narrow waist, he looked strikingly composed beneath his black overcoat. A down jacket and scarf were draped over the crook of his arm and his footsteps were neither hurried nor slow, carrying the steady, polished air of a gentleman.
Jiang Ci’s eyes immediately lit up.
He spun around and rushed toward the staircase.
“My brother is here!”
A wave of whispers rose behind him. The entire grade knew who Jiang Ci’s older brother was but few people had the opportunity to see Lu Shiying in person. Even fewer had ever seen him personally walk into the teaching building.
Lu Shiying had just reached the second floor when a dark blur suddenly shot out from around the corner.
His brows drew together slightly. He reached out and caught the flying figure securely in his arms. There was a considerable difference in their heights; the top of the little boy’s head barely reached his chest and Jiang Ci immediately began rubbing his head wildly against his chest, practically burrowing into his embrace.
“How many times have I told you? You’re not allowed to run.” Lu Shiying’s voice dropped into a stern tone as he pulled the boy more securely into his arms. “What if you fell?”
“I was just excited.” Jiang Ci’s voice was soft and muffled, the end of his words carrying a faintly spoiled, coquettish note. “You haven’t come home for two whole days. You didn’t miss me at all.”
“I did.”
Lu Shiying shook open the down jacket and wrapped it around him before carefully winding the scarf around his neck. His brows were still furrowed. “You went outside without checking the weather forecast? Your hands are this cold and where did the clothes you were supposed to be wearing go?”
“It was too thick… I got hot wearing it…” Jiang Ci mumbled. “Weren’t you in a meeting? I just saw the news…”
“That was a replay,” Lu Shiying said.
The principal came hurrying after them, slightly out of breath. He bent at the waist with an ingratiating smile. “Young Master Lu, ah, look at me. I should be calling you President Lu now. Why didn’t you let us know you were coming? Is there something at the school that, ”
“I came to bring my brother some clothes.”
The principal choked for a moment.
That was it… just to bring him some clothes?
Couldn’t he have simply called the driver and had them delivered? Did he really need to make the trip personally?
“No… no other business?”
“No.”
Lu Shiying was sparing with his words, unwilling to say even a single unnecessary sentence.
The principal secretly wiped away a bead of sweat.
This school had been built with an investment of five hundred million yuan from the Lu family, with the Lu family holding the majority stake yet on ordinary days, Lu Shiying would not even step through the school gates.
And today, he had actually made a personal trip all the way here just to bring his younger brother a piece of clothing.
One only had to weigh it for a moment to understand just how much that younger brother meant to him.
Since he was already here, Lu Shiying naturally intended to go upstairs and take a look at Jiang Ci’s classroom.
The two of them walked into the classroom one after the other. For a brief moment, the entire room fell silent. Then, almost immediately, whispers surged through the classroom like a rising tide. Every gaze was glued to that tall, slender figure.
Jiang Ci’s deskmate, Shi Wu, shot to his feet with a sudden “whoosh,” nearly overturning his desk in the process. He slapped both hands against the tabletop, his face flushed with excitement. “P President Lu, hello! I’m Xiao Ci’s best friend… You’re my idol. I just wanted to ask you something, how did you manage to graduate when you were only eighteen? That’s seriously amazing!”
Lu Shiying did not even lift his eyelids. His gaze first swept over Jiang Ci’s seat.
“Your friend?” he asked his younger brother.
Jiang Ci smiled brightly and wrapped both arms around his brother’s arm, practically hanging off him. “Mm! His name is Shi Wu. He studies art too and he takes really good care of me normally. He’s a year older than me, so I always call him Brother Wu. He’s always admired you. He talks about you to me every single day.”
Brother Wu.
Only then did Lu Shiying finally turn his head and glance at Shi Wu.
Shi Wu suddenly felt a chill run down the back of his neck.
That gaze was as cold and sharp as the edge of an icy blade. The gentleness Lu Shiying had shown when looking at his younger brother had vanished without a trace, replaced by an almost scrutinizing pressure that made him feel as though he were being examined from head to toe. There was even something in those eyes that looked frighteningly close to murderous intent.
Instinctively, Shi Wu took a step backward. His knee struck the leg of the desk and he stumbled as his words came out in a disorganized rush. “S Sorry…”
Then he turned around and ran.
He genuinely thought he had somehow offended this important figure.
Jiang Ci froze in bewilderment. He looked up at his brother, only to find that Lu Shiying had already withdrawn his gaze. He was looking down at Jiang Ci now, the corners of his eyes curved gently and a faint smile resting at the corners of his lips. The tenderness in his expression was almost absurdly soft.
Why was his deskmate running away? That was so rude.
Jiang Ci awkwardly tried to explain, “Brother, don’t take it personally. He’s not usually like this…”
The class bell rang.
Lu Shiying patted the back of Jiang Ci’s head and told him that he would come to pick him up that evening before turning around and walking out of the classroom.
When he reached the end of the corridor, he stopped and found Jiang Ci’s homeroom teacher. In a cold voice, he said, “Xiao Ci’s seat doesn’t give him a clear view of the blackboard. He’s nearsighted. Move his seat tomorrow.”
The homeroom teacher nodded repeatedly.
“And also…” Lu Shiying paused for a moment. “The parent teacher meeting at the end of the month. Send me the time.”
“Of course, of course.”
From the first grade until now, every single parent teacher meeting Jiang Ci had ever attended had always been attended by Lu Shiying.
Lu Shiying had bought his school uniforms. He was the one who signed his homework. Lunch was prepared at home and delivered by the bodyguards right on schedule. Sometimes Auntie Chen brought it herself but every dish on the menu was decided by Lu Shiying.
Lu Shiying had raised Jiang Ci until he was fair skinned and well fed, his cheeks and body carrying the healthy softness of a well cared for child but as he grew older, the round, plump little glutinous rice ball of his childhood gradually began to grow thinner.
Yet the moment Jiang Ci heard the words “parent teacher meeting,” his heart immediately began to pound uneasily.
Over the past two years, his grades had been steadily sliding downhill, with mathematics being particularly disastrous. If his brother saw that test paper this time…
Before long, the final days of the month arrived. A few days before the parent teacher meeting, Jiang Ci had even entertained a crooked little idea and thought about calling his grandfather over to attend it in Lu Shiying’s place.
As it turned out, his grandfather’s voice came through the phone loud and full of energy. He said he was busy playing chess and had no time.
It was strange, really. His grandfather had always been frail and sickly in the past but over these last two years, he seemed to have become more energetic the older he got, his complexion glowing with health and vitality.
The parent teacher meeting began right on schedule.
Lu Shiying sat in Jiang Ci’s seat, flipping through the thick stack of monthly examination papers spread across the desk. There were six subjects: Chinese, mathematics, English, Ethics and the Rule of Law, science and physical education. At least the handwriting on the answer sheets was neat and clean.
Chinese: 94.
English: 92.
Those two scores were certainly presentable and the other subjects had all managed to pass as well.
Then he turned to the mathematics paper.
32 points.
The large red number was unmistakable.
Lu Shiying stared at that number, his fist slowly tightening.
Was this the child he had personally raised? The child he had taught?
He did not hear a single word of what was said during the parent teacher meeting. There was only one thought left in his mind: He had been far too busy this year and had failed to keep an eye on the child’s mathematics. He had actually allowed him to become this severely one sided in his studies.
The bell signaling the end of the meeting rang.
Jiang Ci stood at the corner of the corridor, hunching his neck as he waited for his brother to come out. When he saw Lu Shiying emerge with the six examination papers rolled into a cylinder and clenched in his hand, his brows were tightly furrowed and his expression looked exceptionally grim.
“Brother…”
Lu Shiying did not answer.
He suddenly remembered how the child had recently been constantly holding his phone and poking at the screen. The display was filled with all sorts of bright, colorful images, with a bunch of little figures running around and chasing one another. What was it called again… Wang something Yao.
It hurt his eyes and made absolutely no sense. Lu Shiying could not understand it at all. What was even so entertaining about it?
He lowered his head and glanced at Jiang Ci. He did not scold him. He simply put the examination papers into his briefcase and said, “We’ll talk about it when we get home.”
His tone was completely even.
But Jiang Ci knew.
He was done for.
The Lu family estate was very quiet and after all these years, there had been almost no changes to the place.
Lu Shiying lifted Jiang Ci out of the car as though he were picking up a little chick. Before the boy’s feet had even touched the ground, he had already been carried into the living room and deposited onto the sofa. A slap immediately landed on him and even through two layers of pants, the impact left the roots of his thighs tingling with numbness.
“Ahhh, Brother!!”
Jiang Ci was completely stunned.
In all the years he had lived at the Lu residence, Lu Shiying had always indulged him in every possible way, treating him like the most precious thing in the world and pampering him in the palm of his hand. He had never even spoken a harsh word to him.
And this was the first time he had ever been spanked.
His thermal underwear and school uniform provided an extra layer between him and the blows but Lu Shiying’s hand was simply too strong. Even so, every slap still hurt a little.
Jiang Ci was already a grown boy now and he absolutely did not want to have his butt spanked. He struggled desperately, kicking and shaking his legs but he could not move even an inch. In front of Lu Shiying, he was still far too small to put up any real resistance.
Jiang Ci lay there and gradually felt the force of the slaps becoming lighter. In the end, he simply gave up struggling.
After all, his brother had not pulled down his pants to hit him.
Clearly, he still could not bear to be too harsh with him.
………
Author’s Note:
Lu Shiying: “Your brother here was the top ranked scholar in the entire country and somehow I ended up teaching a little brother who scored 32 in mathematics. Exactly where did things go wrong?”
Xiao Ci: “Waaah, my brother even hits people now. (So scary.) (Huh… it doesn’t actually hurt that much. I give up struggling.)”
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ COFFEE OFFERING
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Even He, an outsider, couldn’t stand itChapter 2 · DaddyChapter 3 · Thank you for the gift!Chapter 4 · Do You want to sleep with your brother?Chapter 5 · Smart BabyChapter 6 · Life in a Wealthy FamilyChapter 7 · Genius BrotherChapter 8 · Brother’s giftChapter 9 · Xiao Ci was injured.Chapter 10 · ThoughtfulChapter 11 · Treat as treasureChapter 12 · Only recognized oneChapter 13 · Lu family coupleChapter 14 · A closed heartChapter 15 · Understanding my brotherChapter 16 · Reluctant to hitChapter 17 · UneasyChapter 18 · PossessiveChapter 19 · Teenage RebelChapter 20 Part 1 · The car accidentChapter 20 Part 2 · The car accidentChapter 20 Part 3 · The car accidentChapter 21 · My heart is racingChapter 22 · Physiological Knowledge