Jiang Zhuo had learned a few moves from his uncle, and Ye Heng was no pushover either. The two of them immediately got into a full-on brawl.
At first, it looked halfway decent, almost like they were sparring. But later they rolled onto the ground and started clawing at each other, each with only one thought in mind, beating the other into submission. By the time they were exhausted and out of strength, they both went limp, sprawled on the scorching concrete.
The first one to get up was Ye Heng. After throwing out a vicious threat, he left. 「Next time you see me, get the hell out of my way. I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop myself from beating you crippled, you S*B.」
Jiang Zhuo refused to back down. He raised an arm and flipped Ye Heng the middle finger. 「Who the hell’s scared of who!」
Outside, he still looked fierce, like some big-shot thug who’d just won a turf war. But the moment he neared home, Bold Jiang visibly turned into Coward Jiang. He glanced up at the window. No one there.
He quickened his pace, ready to sneak in through the door. At this hour everyone was busy, so Jiang Zhuo slipped inside in a flash and darted straight back to his room.
He went to the bathroom to wash up. Looking at himself in the mirror, he had to admit they had at least shown some sense, he hadn’t hit Ye Heng in the face, and Ye Heng hadn’t hit him in the face either.
Jiang Zhuo used tissues to dry the water from his wounds to keep them from getting inflamed, and he still didn’t forget to curse Ye Heng out a couple times. 「Let me run into him next time, I’ll beat him till he calls me Daddy.」
On Ye Heng’s side, he did pretty much the same thing Jiang Zhuo had. After his shower, he came out still cursing under his breath, and the more he thought about it, the madder he got.
Ye Heng: 「Tomorrow I’m taking bodyguards with me. If I run into him once, I’ll beat him once.」
As soon as the Ye family’s eldest young master, Ye Chen, got home, he heard the housekeeper who cooked for them say that Ye Heng had quite the appetite tonight.
Ye Chen found that pretty surprising. Usually, only after he got home and called for dinner would Ye Heng come downstairs. Sometimes one call wasn’t even enough to get him down.
At the dining table, Ye Heng really did look like he’d been starving all day, holding his bowl and eating seriously. The huge mouthfuls he was taking were enough to make Ye Chen want to laugh.
The cook had been working in this household for years, so if anything unusual happened, she naturally had to mention it. 「That’s his second bowl. When the young master came back, it looked like he’d gotten into a fight with someone.」
Ye Chen frowned. Ye Heng was the youngest in the family, and everyone doted on him. Ye Chen was no exception. But that didn’t mean indulging him without limits. Unless someone had truly crossed his line and provoked him, Ye Heng wouldn’t go around hitting people, and he definitely wasn’t the type to throw his weight around and bully the weak.
After showering, Ye Heng had changed into a long shirt with long sleeves, covering his injuries. From where Ye Chen was sitting, he couldn’t see anything at all. 「Did the young master come back crying or making a fuss?」
The cook replied, 「No. The young master took the medicine box and went upstairs. I was in the kitchen, so I didn’t get a close look. When I went upstairs later and knocked on his door, he said he wanted to sleep for a while and told me to remember to call him for dinner.」
No crying, no fussing. Ye Chen guessed that the young master had gotten into a spat with a friend and taken a hit to his pride, then turned his grief and indignation into appetite.
Ye Chen: 「Xiao Heng.」
Ye Heng: 「Big Brother, you’re back. Hurry up and eat, I’m about to finish everything.」
Ye Chen pulled out a chair and sat down, thinking that it wouldn’t matter even if Ye Heng really did finish everything.
Ye Heng was a picky eater, so it was rare for him to have such a good appetite. Ye Chen wasn’t picky at all. He could eat plain rice even without side dishes. Back when he was in the rainforest, he’d even eaten scorpions raw.
Ye Heng saw that Ye Chen hadn’t picked up his chopsticks. The chicken drumstick he was about to put in his own bowl took a turn halfway and landed in Ye Chen’s bowl instead.
Ye Chen felt gratified. He hadn’t doted on this little brother for nothing.
Ye Chen: 「Auntie said someone bullied you today, and you ran home crying.」
The moment Ye Heng heard that, he bristled. This concerned his dignity. 「Who said that? Who could bully me? If anyone’s doing the bullying, it’d be me bullying someone else.」
Ye Chen gave a meaningful little 「Oh」. It was the first time he’d seen Ye Heng frustrated. Strangely, he didn’t feel angry. Instead, he found himself looking forward to finding out who had fought with his brother, to see just who it was that had left his brother so obsessed that he was still thinking about getting revenge.