In the end, Lu Shiyin stubbornly finished eating the snail rice noodles. After all, having an imposing man well over six feet tall standing by his side with a wronged expression, looking as though he had committed some unforgivable crime, was simply too much for anyone to handle.
“I am sorry, Xiaoyin. I thought you genuinely wanted to eat them, and I will definitely be more careful next time.”
Lu Shiyin was extremely careful, terrified that his little brother would feel disappointed by a perceived lack of care.
“It is fine. I was the one who said I wanted to eat them, so it is not your fault,” Lu Shiyin said after slurping down the final bite of noodles. “I am actually not picky at all. I can eat anything.”
Lu Shiyin remained silent and did not reply. Instead, he picked up the medical report nearby and began reviewing it, his brow furrowed deeply. Although he had mentally prepared himself for the possibility that his younger brother’s health might be somewhat poor due to years of neglect, he never expected that, aside from psychological issues, the physical problems would be this severe.
“Gastritis, malnutrition, anemia, low immunity.” Every single diagnosis felt like a hammer blow to Lu Shiyin’s heart. While he could effortlessly handle questioning from other corporate shareholders, he found himself terrified of facing reproaches from his younger brother.
Then came a wave of unstoppable fury. The culprits had harmed his brother using his family’s money behind his back, and even though a long time had passed and they had already received their punishment, his anger still refused to subside.
Just then, he caught sight of his younger brother lifting the blanket and preparing to get out of bed. Panicking, Lu Shiyin stood up and pressed down on his shoulders, treating him like a fragile porcelain doll. “Tell me whatever you want to do. Your current condition is not great, so do not get out of bed yet.”
“I need to use the restroom.” Lu Shiyin had not gone to the bathroom since waking up, and having consumed a large amount of soup earlier, he could no longer hold it in.
“I will help you over.”
“No, no,” Lu Shiyin sidestepped to avoid the outstretched hand. “My body is not that fragile.”
When he came back out after using the restroom, Lu Shiyin noticed Lu Shiyin making a phone call by the window, faintly catching words about coming up immediately. Could it be his second brother, Lu Shijian, whom he had not yet met?
After returning to bed and leaning back against the pillows, Lu Shiyin finished his call and walked over. “Your second brother has returned from abroad. His name is Lu Shijian. I already told him about your condition, and he is very worried. He is already on his way to the hospital. When I am not around, he can keep you company.”
Lu Shiyin felt rather awkward. Although they shared the same name, he was not the original owner, and nothing here was familiar to him. It gave him the unsettling sensation of living someone else’s life.
The fact that he had transmigrated into a book could not be revealed, so he supposed he would just have to fake amnesia. He had no idea whether the original owner would ever return, and if he did, would he himself simply vanish from this world?
As Lu Shiyin lost himself in thought, a sharp pain gradually began to grip his abdomen. The stinging sensation spread from his stomach across his entire body, and he could not help pressing both hands against his stomach. However, the pain did not subside. Instead, it intensified, cold sweat broke out across his forehead, and he felt a violent churning in his stomach.
“What is wrong? Where does it hurt, Xiaoyin?”
“Stomach… it hurts…”
Lu Shiyin answered with great difficulty. The severe irritation in his stomach finally forced him to turn onto his side and vomit into the trash can beside the bed.
A short while later, footsteps echoed in the hallway, and the room instantly became bustling as a doctor walked in. Dizzily submitting to the medical examination, he vaguely caught the sound of an unfamiliar voice asking, “What happened to him?”
After conducting a thorough physical examination and asking detailed questions, the doctor delivered the final diagnosis: the gastritis had been triggered by the snail rice noodles he ate earlier.
Nearby, Lu Shiyin was receiving a harsh reprimand from the doctor. “Can you not have a shred of common sense? Are snail rice noodles something a patient is allowed to eat? He already has severe gastritis, and even non-spicy snail rice noodles contain fried ingredients. Eating even a tiny bit of that will irritate his gastrointestinal tract and cause vomiting and nausea. Did you not understand when I said to keep his diet bland? Do I need to hold your hand and teach you what is bland and what is heavy in oil?”
“I am sorry.” Lu Shiyin humbly accepted the scolding. A flash of remorse crossed his face, but because he always wore a blank expression, it was hard to read.
Listening to the reprimand outside the door, Lu Shiyin found it quite novel. After all, with someone like Lu Shiyin being a domineering CEO type, who would normally ever dare curse at him like this?
An intravenous line had been set up in his hand. The recent ordeal had left him completely exhausted, and his stomach pain still lingered, occasionally flaring up with sharp stabs. This forced him to lie weakly in bed, making even speaking an effort.
A person sat down beside the bed, their bright blue hair instantly catching his eye. Their facial features were well-proportioned and flawless, and a crisp white shirt was neatly tucked into a pair of suit trousers with the cuffs slightly rolled up, giving off the gentle and refined aura of a jade-like young master.
That was, until he opened his mouth.
“Big brother, what is wrong with you that you cannot even take care of a child? Look at this: malnutrition, anemia, gastritis. Who would ever believe that a child from a wealthy family could suffer from malnutrition?”
It seemed this really was his second brother.
Lu Shijian raised his voice to yell at Lu Shiyin outside the room. “Stop coming to the hospital and go back to the company to make your money. You are completely useless when it comes to taking care of people. Look at how a perfectly fine person was just starting to get better only to be thrown right back into a stomach ache by you. He is already so small, do not go and get him killed.”
Without waiting for Lu Shiyin to reply, he turned back to look softly at Lu Shiyin. “You have amnesia, so I have not even introduced myself yet. I am your second brother, Lu Shijian. I have been studying in Country F for the past few years, which is why we rarely saw each other. Your big brother is always so cold and aloof, and he neglected to take care of you.”
“Of course, I share some responsibility for your current physical condition as well. It is our fault, and I will do everything in my power to restore your health. As for those people…”
A cold flash crossed the depths of Lu Shijian’s eyes before he smiled warmly at Lu Shiyin again. “Rest assured, Xiaoyin, I will make them pay the price. Just get some good rest these next few days, and do not worry about school for now. Once you are better, I will take you out to have some fun for a few days.”
Due to their parents’ strict upbringing, Lu Shijian had been sent abroad at a very young age to study because of his immense musical talent. He only ever returned for family reunions during the Lunar New Year, and consequently, he did not hold deep emotional attachments toward his parents or his brothers.
The only exception was the period immediately after their parents passed away, when Lu Shiyin had just inherited the company, surrounded by circling vultures waiting to strike while also trying to uncover the truth behind their parents’ accident. Lu Shiyin had been stretched too thin, so Lu Shijian stayed behind to help handle things until every issue was fully resolved, after which he returned to Country F.
He had rushed back to China precisely because he harbored doubts about whether a workaholic like Lu Shiyin could be trusted to take proper care of their younger brother. Sure enough, on his very first day back, he witnessed Lu Shiyin nursing the boy right into a severe bout of gastritis.
Lu Shiyin was still largely in the dark about his current circumstances. He only knew that he was a sickly invalid with zero recollection of his past. Why he was in the hospital, what the bandages on his wrists meant, and who those people were—he had not the slightest clue about any of it.
Brushing aside the pain in his abdomen, Lu Shiyin asked Lu Shijian, “I cannot remember why I ended up in the hospital, and what is going on with the bandages on my arm? How did I get hurt?”