Only then did Bai Huan obediently sit cross-legged on the sofa, voluntarily rolling his trouser leg up to his knee so Bai Mingzhen could examine it.
"It's red. You'll probably have a bruise tomorrow," Bai Mingzhen said. "Do they have any medicine at home?"
Bai Huan didn't think much of it. "Probably. If they don't, I can just tell them, and they'll go buy some."
Bai Mingzhen caught the smugness in his tone and glanced at him. "They're not well-off. Stop making trouble for them."
"Didn't you say they weren't dirt poor?" Bai Huan retorted, raising the corners of his eyes.
"They can afford to feed themselves, but both of them also have to give their parents money for living expenses. They just don't have much to spare." Bai Mingzhen told Bai Huan to stay seated, then got up and began searching through the Chen family's television cabinet and cupboards.
Bai Huan rested his chin on his knees and watched him from behind without blinking.
The sight of his brother's back reminded him of when he'd had chickenpox as a child. Bai Mingzhen had been in his second year of high school then. Upon hearing that his younger brother was sick and hospitalized, he'd hurriedly requested leave and rushed to the hospital. He'd searched through the medical records in the ward in much the same way.
Bai Mingzhen was an extremely important heir to the Bai family. His appearance at the hospital had startled everyone. Later, when he insisted on staying in the ward to look after Bai Huan, nobody could persuade him to leave.
And Bai Mingzhen hadn't been the sort of young master who merely sat in the hospital room supervising others. He personally took care of everything concerning Bai Huan.
Bai Huan kept running fevers, and every time his temperature dropped, he'd break out in a sweat. Bai Mingzhen wiped his body clean.
Someone with a fever needed to drink plenty of water, so Bai Huan frequently needed the bathroom. Before Bai Mingzhen arrived, he'd always gone by himself. Even at that age, his sense of shame and self-respect had already begun to develop. But after Bai Mingzhen arrived, he insisted on accompanying Bai Huan to the bathroom every single time.
Bai Huan had never been able to win an argument against his older brother. Furious and aggrieved, he'd shed tears from his eyes while peeing down below.
A Xiu, the young maid, said that the first word he'd spoken after learning to talk was "Brother." During his first-birthday object-selection ceremony, he hadn't grabbed a book or money. Instead, he'd seized the tie from his older brother's school uniform and refused to let go.
Therefore, when Bai Mingzhen appeared here today carrying the dog, Bai Huan wasn't overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.
In this world, he loved his eldest brother the most, and naturally, his eldest brother ought to love him the most as well.
Bai Mingzhen found a bottle of safflower oil beneath the television cabinet. He returned to the sofa, unscrewed the cap, poured some medicinal oil into his palm, and warmed it between his hands before rubbing it onto Bai Huan's calf.
"Smells awful," Bai Huan muttered.
Bai Mingzhen ignored his deliberate fault-finding and continued rubbing until Bai Huan cried out repeatedly in pain.
Tears gathered in Bai Huan's eyes. Trying to distract himself, he said, "The other day, I went out to eat with the Chen family. They have so many relatives. Mr. Chen is the third child, and his circumstances don't seem as good as the others'. Why does he still have to give his parents money?"
"Mr. Chen's eldest sister and her husband are a doctor and a nurse. Their salaries aren't bad, but their eldest son has high expenses studying in America."
"Mr. Chen's second brother spends money recklessly. He can barely support himself."
"Mr. Chen's youngest sister helps take care of the two elderly parents, so she refuses to contribute money."
The more Bai Huan listened, the tighter his brows knitted.
These children had come up with all sorts of excuses, but they could all be summed up in one sentence: "We have our own difficulties."
Bai Mingzhen said, "Do you think the elderly parents don't know whether their children are really struggling? It's just that, in their eyes, those with fewer difficulties should help those with greater difficulties. That's what they consider a harmonious family."
Bai Huan rolled his eyes.
"After Mr. Chen gets home from work in the afternoon, he takes on another job writing scripts. He gets paid by the episode. Last night, I saw Mom putting eye drops in his eyes. He's going to work himself blind. Mom's the same. She's still teaching people in the art studio. Half of Lanshuitang's GDP must depend on those two."
"Half your family's annual income has to be handed over," Bai Mingzhen said.
Bai Huan froze for a moment, then said unhappily, "It's not our family. It's their family."
"Then whose family do you belong to?" Bai Mingzhen asked.
Bai Huan thought about it.
"Yours."
"Not the Bai family's?" Bai Mingzhen asked, amused.
Bai Huan gave a sarcastic smile.
"I don't share Dad's surname anymore. I share yours. Even though we're both surnamed Bai, it's different."
The boy could turn against someone faster than turning a page in a book, and getting him to change his mind afterward was harder still.
Ordinary people would remember past affection before falling out with someone and find themselves unable to be too ruthless.
He was different.
The deeper the past affection, the faster and more thoroughly he turned against someone.
Bai Mingzhen cursed him as a little brat again, but there was pleasure in his eyes. Clearly, he was satisfied with Bai Huan's answer.
"Go tell Mr. Chen that from now on, he should only give them a thousand yuan a month. Not a cent more." Bai Huan spoke with all the authority of someone who considered himself the head of the household.
Bai Mingzhen was speechless.
"Even interfering in your affairs is overstepping my bounds. What business would I have deciding whether Mr. Chen gives his father money for living expenses?"
Then he asked, "That day, Bai Xing added Bai Chen to the group chat. Have you contacted him again since?"
Bai Huan curled his lip.
"I blocked his phone number and WeChat."
Bai Mingzhen said nothing. He got up and went into the bathroom to wash his hands.
As he washed, he examined the bathroom furnishings.
All the bottles and jars he'd asked Bell to prepare for Bai Huan were arranged together on the same shelf. Everywhere, including the corners, was reasonably clean.
If not for all the troublesome affairs involving parents and relatives, this would have been a perfectly suitable family in which to raise a child.
Someone knocked at the door.
Bai Mingzhen was the first to step out. He opened the door, and He Youxiang, standing outside, asked in confusion, "Who are you?"
Ordinarily, that was the sort of question someone inside the door asked the person outside.
"He Youxiang, that's my eldest brother. Hurry up and come in!" Bai Huan commanded from his seat on the sofa.
He Youxiang entered carrying a case of bottled water.
Bai Huan then instructed him to fetch a disposable bowl from the kitchen. He opened a bottle of water and poured some into the bowl for the dog.
Xiao He gulped down more than half the bowl.
Bai Huan looked at Bai Mingzhen in delight.
"See? He really can't live without me."
Bai Huan explained who the visitor was and told Bai Mingzhen about their previous encounters.
"I added him on WeChat a couple of days ago. He's very enthusiastic and always comes over to play with me. Whenever I need something bought, I ask him to pick it up on his way here."
Even Bai Mingzhen hadn't expected that the first friend Bai Huan made after moving to Lanshuitang would be a simple-minded man old enough to be his father.
"Can't he drink the purified water from the water dispenser?" Bai Mingzhen asked.
"Xiao He's never drunk that kind of water before. I'm afraid it might upset his stomach." Bai Huan stroked the dog's head. "Could you have someone deliver a few cases of the canned food and freeze-dried food Xiao He usually eats? They don't have his food here."
Bai Mingzhen lowered his eyes.
"Take care of yourself first."
Bai Huan said dejectedly, "How am I supposed to do that? I can't do anything."
For a moment, Bai Mingzhen couldn't tell whether the boy was putting on an act or had genuinely become upset again.
So he said, "If there's anything else you need, tell Bell and have her buy it for you."
"Money!" Bai Huan's eyes immediately lit up.
Bai Mingzhen's brows drew together slightly.
The boy immediately behaved himself, neither making a fuss nor acting up.
He put Xiao He down to let him drink more water, climbed off the sofa, and began counting on his fingers as he listed everything he still needed.
He wanted a CD player so he could listen to CDs.
He didn't like Prada's new seasonal collection. Bell had terrible taste, and the clothes she'd chosen made him look like a rich young playboy. Wearing them in Lanshuitang was far too conspicuous. He wanted Burberry and D&G instead.
He also needed several more pairs of calf-length socks from different brands. Vivienne Westwood's minimalist ones, Miu Miu's flashy ones—he wanted every style.
He Youxiang sat on a stool, providing enthusiastic responses like a comic sidekick.
"Meow, meow."
Bai Mingzhen frowned.
"Why would a boy wear calf-length socks? Dressing up like a girl. No one will want to date you in the future."
The boy ignored him.
He didn't even notice when He Youxiang left and continued rattling off his demands.
He wanted jewelry. Far too much to list. Bell could go to the Bai residence and buy another complete set based on his old collection.
He wanted a full set of living supplies for Xiao He.
Bai Mingzhen crossed his legs and asked casually, "Who's paying?"
The boy stopped in front of him.
His voice was both timid and bold.
"You are. I don't have any money."
"You've got no money, yet you make such outrageous demands."
Bai Mingzhen lightly nudged Bai Huan's calf with the tip of his shoe, the gesture carrying a hint of indulgence.
In the past, Bai Huan certainly wouldn't have cared.
But things were different now.
He was a hidden dragon trapped in the depths, a tiger fallen onto the plains.
His chest tightened, and his pride was wounded.
So he said, "Then I might as well go sell myself and die afterward."
The warm, harmonious afternoon between the brothers instantly turned gloomy and cold as Bai Mingzhen's expression darkened.
Bai Huan's reflexes were quick. His first instinct was to run.
But before he could react, Bai Mingzhen had already grabbed a cushion and struck his legs with it.
The cushion was soft, yet the blow still made Bai Huan stagger. He nearly fell face-first onto the coffee table.
Now he was angry too.
It had been more than half a month since he'd learned the truth about his identity, and more than a week since he'd moved to Lanshuitang.
He'd forced himself to get used to living among a bunch of lowly ordinary people.
He considered himself intelligent and knew perfectly well how to make use of that intelligence. Even in a dark, filthy gutter, he could adapt and thrive like a fish in water.
But that didn't mean he'd accepted this boring, impoverished existence from the bottom of his heart.
Every minute and every second was torment.
And now, in front of the only person he trusted with his entire heart, he exploded once again.
He straightened up and punched Bai Mingzhen in the face.
His glasses went flying.
The boy had been an excellent volleyball player at his former school. The force behind his punch was not to be underestimated.
And so, twenty-eight-year-old Bai Mingzhen and eighteen-year-old Bai Huan began fighting around the sofa and coffee table.
Ever since Bai Huan had grown old enough to understand things, Bai Mingzhen had rarely given him a proper beating.
Once children became sensible, they started holding grudges.
But Bai Huan had developed memories unusually early. He could clearly remember things that had happened when he was only two years old.
Eventually, Bai Mingzhen had concluded that the first thing the child must have said upon crawling out of his mother's womb was probably, "You wronged me in your previous life."
After reaching that conclusion, he'd stopped worrying about it.
If the brat deserved a beating, he'd give him one.
However, Bai Mingzhen usually only struck the child's bottom or palms. He never hit his face, not even after hearing him threaten to sell himself and die.
Bai Huan had no such reservations.
He used both his hands and feet, punching at his brother's face and kicking his thighs. He struck hard, too.
Unfortunately, once he lost his temper, he could no longer think calmly. He was also smaller than Bai Mingzhen.
After several exchanges, Bai Mingzhen restrained his arms and pinned him down on the sofa.
Bai Huan had lost the fight.
He buried his face in the sofa and said nothing.
Bai Mingzhen released him and patted the back of his head.
"Get up."
Bai Huan's muffled voice emerged from the cushions.
"Are you buying them or not?"
Bai Mingzhen forcibly hauled him upright.
"Make a list of everything you want and send it to Bell. I'll have Bell arrange for someone to buy it all for you."
The boy turned to look at Bai Mingzhen, his face covered in tears.
"Why isn't Bell buying them for me herself?"
"You're so demanding that I'm assigning someone specifically to take care of your needs, and you're still not satisfied?"
Bai Mingzhen pulled a tissue from the table. He rubbed it between his fingers, found it too rough, and put it back.
Instead, he used the hem of his T-shirt to wipe his younger brother's face.
All his clothes were custom-made from soft, high-quality fabrics.
"I want a man," Bai Huan demanded.
Bai Mingzhen paused slightly and studied him.
"Reason?"
"We're both men, so it's more convenient to get things done. What are you thinking? That I'm gay? You're imagining too much."
"Good, as long as you're not."
Bai Mingzhen rubbed Bai Huan's head.
"I have to go."
"Not seeing you out."
Bai Mingzhen was an extremely busy man.
Bai Huan knew what his brother was working and fighting so desperately for.
Children who weren't powerful enough had absolutely no say within the Bai family. They could only follow the standardized life plans laid out by their elders.
Being born into the Bai family was something others could only dream of, even if it meant living as a puppet.
That was the belief instilled in Bai Huan when he was little.
So when Bai Huan was only four or five years old, sitting on his brother's lap and listening to him talk about how people ought to control their own lives, he'd lectured his older brother instead.
"Don't be so ungrateful."
Later, the sensible and grateful Bai Huan found himself surrounded by top instructors from prestigious schools all over the world.
One night, he curled into his brother's arms while they were sleeping.
"Eldest Brother, people really should control their own lives."
In the Bai family, where the weak were prey to the strong and only the fittest survived, Bai Mingzhen was the first member of the younger generation to gain a voice in family affairs.
And so, under his older brother's protection, Bai Huan had enjoyed a relatively happy and free childhood.
Despite saying he wouldn't see his brother out, Bai Huan ran to the balcony and leaned over the railing.
He stayed there until he saw Bai Mingzhen emerge from the building.
The molten-gold light of the setting sun spilled over him.
As he walked farther and farther away, his figure grew smaller and smaller, just like the rapidly sinking sun.
Bai Huan's heart ached.
Diamonds from North America, pearls from South Australia—none of those things mattered most.
Bai Mingzhen mattered most.
For the remaining part of the day, Bai Huan worked on a scrapbook with He Youxiang.
Later, He Youxiang's son, He Chu, came to take his father home and brought Bai Huan some rice soaked in broth along the way.
That evening, Chen Yuanyuan and Wang Caiyi returned home with the meat and shrimp Bai Huan had requested and cooked them for Xiao He.
After learning exactly how Xiao He had come to be there, Chen Yuanyuan suggested finding a rope and tying him up in the corridor.
That way, he could guard the house too.
Wang Caiyi was startled.
"A dog worth three hundred thousand yuan? You could practically keep him in a safe! Put him in the corridor, and someone might steal him."
So Chen Yuanyuan took a sweater from the wardrobe and spread it in a corner of the living room to serve as Xiao He's temporary bed.
Xiao He was happy too.
He was in much better spirits than when he'd arrived that afternoon.
He ran several laps around the little apartment, bumping into the wall and then the corner of a table, yet remained perfectly delighted.
In the end, he didn't sleep on the sweater.
Bai Huan secretly carried him onto his own bed.
A few days later, the older female cousin who'd missed the previous Chen family dinner because she had to care for her boyfriend's mother, who had suffered a fracture, arrived in Lanshuitang carrying mooncakes.
Bai Huan opened the door and welcomed her inside.
She showed him two cups of mint water she'd bought downstairs.
One was strawberry mint, and the other was peppermint.
Bai Huan wasn't interested in the mooncakes, but because she'd brought him mint water he liked, his impression of her immediately improved.
"I asked your youngest aunt-in-law, and she said all she knew was that you always liked buying mint-flavored drinks. When I got here, I happened to see a newly opened juice shop downstairs. They had so many different kinds of mint water on the menu, so I immediately bought you two cups. Oh, right, my name's Chen Jinxiao. You're Bai Huan, right?"
Bai Huan greeted her, and they exchanged a few pleasantries.
Chen Jinxiao stayed for dinner, during which she delighted Chen Yuanyuan and Wang Caiyi with her conversation.
When she left, Chen Yuanyuan gave her two thousand yuan.
Bai Huan did some calculations.
Throughout the entire time he'd been here, the money they'd given him hadn't even amounted to what they'd just given Chen Jinxiao.
Once the guest had left, Bai Huan sat cross-legged on the sofa with the dog in his arms and began his interrogation.
"Why did you give her money?"
The husband and wife obediently sat opposite him.
After exchanging a glance, Wang Caiyi spoke first, her voice gentle.
"Didn't she buy you your favorite mint water when she came? When someone gives you something, you ought to return the favor."
"We're all family. She'd probably have been embarrassed to come empty-handed anyway."
Chen Yuanyuan added, "She's dating someone. She has a lot of expenses."
Bai Huan frowned.
"What does that have to do with you?"
Chen Yuanyuan seemed never to have considered that question before.
A brief look of confusion crossed his face.
Bai Huan continued attacking the deeply ingrained belief that kept his father toiling away like a donkey at a mill.
"At that dinner, Eldest Aunt was wearing a Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet. Second Uncle was smoking Tianye cigarettes, which cost more than a hundred yuan a pack. Youngest Aunt drives a BMW. Even Chen Jinming wears a Longines watch. Dad, what do you and Mom have? What do I have?"
Wang Caiyi looked surprised.
"Taimi, how do you know so much? What was that jewelry brand? And you even know about cigarettes..."
Bai Huan didn't answer.
He lowered his eyes, holding the unfinished mint water with ice cubes still floating inside.
By rights, accepting someone's gifts meant owing them a favor, and eating someone's food meant being obliged to speak kindly of them.
But Bai Huan didn't subscribe to that principle.
If they were going to talk about affection, they shouldn't drag unrelated matters into it.
If they were going to conduct business, then the exchange had to be of equal value.
He didn't believe in other people's flattery, and trading something valuable for something worth much less was even more unacceptable.
He'd grown up in the Bai family and learned something from everyone there, especially Cheng Yueqing's ability to feign ignorance while remaining genuinely shrewd.
"Taimi."
After thinking for a long time, Chen Yuanyuan finally spoke earnestly.
"You don't understand our family's circumstances. Your grandfather is an old-fashioned man. On the surface, it looks as though we've all moved out and established separate households, but in reality, the family has never been formally divided. Since we're all one family, your grandfather naturally believes we should support one another. We can't have one person eating meat while everyone else can only stand around watching and swallowing their saliva."
"So Dad lets our family stand around swallowing our saliva while everyone else eats meat?" Bai Huan asked.
Chen Yuanyuan smiled awkwardly and removed his glasses.
Wang Caiyi hurriedly intervened.
"Taimi, we're all family. Don't be so calculating."
Bai Huan sneered.
"A bunch of fallen aristocrats who'd rather die than lose face."
"Bai Huan!" Chen Yuanyuan snapped.
Deep down, he knew the child was telling the truth.
That only made him feel more humiliated, and the hurt was too much to bear.
He got up, returned to the bedroom, and didn't come out again.
After he left the living room, Wang Caiyi cautiously approached Bai Huan and sat beside him.
"Taimi, family affairs are complicated. The more you try to untangle them, the more tangled they become. You can't deal with family members the same way you deal with opponents."
"I've never encountered an opponent who insisted I spend money on him," Bai Huan said indifferently.
Wang Caiyi's lips trembled.
"But what do you expect your father and me to do? Your aunt worked to pay for my education. How could I possibly abandon her? And your father has been beaten into submission by your grandfather since he was little. He's frightened just hearing your grandfather raise his voice. You want us to stop taking care of them, but we genuinely don't know how to do that all of a sudden."
Bai Huan watched tears spill from Wang Caiyi's eyes and run straight down her cheeks.
Her previous crying hadn't stirred much emotion in him, but this time he was moved.
Yet most of that emotion came from irritation and contempt.
Because he simply didn't want to know about anyone else's misfortunes.
If his relationship with these two people were a little closer, he would have told them without hesitation that they deserved it.
Every one of those greedy beasts filling that house had been raised and fed by them.
As the saying went, spoil a child and he'll become unfilial; spoil a pig and it'll climb onto the stove.
The same principle applied between brothers and sisters.
The most capable person in a family ought to be the one steering the ship, not the one serving tea and pouring water on deck.
Bai Huan decided not to discuss the matter any further.
After all, no matter how much hardship heaven and earth brought upon them, it wouldn't fall on him.
He had Bai Mingzhen.
But there was still another matter that urgently needed resolving.
One that concerned his personal honor.
"Mom, I don't want to change my name."
Wang Caiyi stopped crying.
"Taimi, your grandfather decided that your name should be changed. He's the one who chose the new name too. All children of the Chen family must have the surname Chen. The middle character is Jin, the generational character, and the final character is Gen, meaning 'root.' It signifies that you're a root of the Chen family. Isn't that a good thing?"
Bai Huan turned his head.
His gaze was dark and chilling, and he wore a smile that wasn't quite a smile.
"Mom, then why aren't you called Wang Caigen?"
Wang Caiyi couldn't comfort the child anymore.
She could only tell him the truth.
"Actually, your father and I would also prefer you to keep the name Bai Huan. We know you've always identified more strongly with the Bai family, and you're used to that name. It's not as though you're only two or three years old. Besides, we've noticed that you don't seem to keep in touch with the other members of the Bai family very much, but you really like the eldest Bai son, don't you? He treats you well too. So there's something we've been worried about regarding your name change."
"Worried about what?" Bai Huan asked.
Wang Caiyi looked embarrassed.
"If you change your surname to Chen, will he stop acknowledging you as his younger brother?"
Bai Huan froze.
He had never considered that possibility.
Still less had he ever wondered whether Bai Mingzhen treated him well because he still bore the surname Bai.