Yan Zhengang shook his head, looking dejected. "The eldest, third, and fourth brothers are all gone. There's no young person left in the family. It's only a matter of time before Yan Sheng moves out."
Xu Jingshu hummed in agreement.
"Tell me, why don't they want to live with us anymore?" Yan Zhengang stroked the solid wood bed he had personally chosen, his face full of melancholy. "When I was a child, my family was poor, and my younger siblings were adopted by other families. Back then, my biggest dream was to build a big house so that my family could be together. Later, I really did build a big house, and I have so many children, but why... why is it that in the end, it's still just the two of us?"
As the head of the family, he rarely showed such vulnerability. Xu Jingshu was also somewhat surprised; the room was quiet, and no one spoke for a moment.
A moment later, Xu Jingshu removed the face mask and threw it into the trash can, saying slowly, "Forget it, the children have all grown up and need to have their own lives."
“I know, I didn’t make them stop living,” Yan Zhengang said confidently. “I’ve even planned where my eldest son will live after he gets married. After he has a child, the small building on the west side will be given to them. The three of them can live together comfortably and have their own space. We’ll just have a meal together occasionally, so we won’t disturb them too much.”
"Well……"
“No young couple wants to live with their parents after they get married,” Xu Jingshu said, lifting the covers and lying down on the bed, too lazy to indulge in his sentimentality. “If you really miss them, try to control your temper in the future. If they like you, they will naturally be more willing to come back and visit more often.”
Yan Zhengang stared at the ceiling in silence for a long time. That night, he, who usually snored loudly, suffered from insomnia, which was rare for him.
He lay awake in the darkness, his mind both bewildered and clear, realizing that this time, the children were truly leaving.
...
The next day, Yan Shenyu happily took the keys and went to see the apartment.
Although he didn't think Yan Zhengang's house would perfectly match his aesthetic, it was, after all, a mid-to-high-end residential community, so it shouldn't be too bad.
When he saw the house in person, he was completely dumbfounded.
The house, which is about 200 square meters, is covered with yellow floor tiles and gold wallpaper. Even the bathroom is covered with gold tiles. The furniture is exquisite and luxurious, making it look like a KTV from the last century.
Yan Shenyu: "..."
I instantly lost the idea of moving in.
Forget it, he should just buy one himself.
During this summer vacation, Yan Shenyu was looking for a house while taking on some custom jewelry orders for her studio, and occasionally posting photos on Weibo.
Yan Sheng was quite busy. His family reunion with a wealthy family had caused quite a stir, and a week later, a variety show called "The Diary of a Wealthy Family" came knocking on his door.
As expected of the protagonist in the novel, his resources are truly excellent. After escaping the rubbish Yu Chun Media, Yan Sheng signed with Yi Yi Media, which he later collaborated with.
As the company under the protagonist's agency, Yiyi Media doesn't have many problems, and the agent is reliable. This show, "Diary of a Rich Family Observer," is the first resource that Yiyi Media gave him.
A week later, the filming crew of "Diary of a Rich Family" entered the gate of the Yan family villa.
Yan Zhengang initially disliked having his home filmed, but he felt guilty towards Yan Sheng, and the production team repeatedly assured him that no one else in the family would be filmed except Yan Sheng herself, and that any footage would be edited out or blurred in post-production to fully protect his family's privacy. Only then did Yan Zhengang finally agree.
On the first day the production crew arrived, Yan Shenyu had just returned from a run. After more than a month of training, his physical condition had initially recovered to the level he had in his previous life.
Overall, he exudes a youthful and cheerful charm, yet he isn't overly thin. Standing at the entrance of the Yan family's gate, his well-proportioned muscles are visible through his sportswear, and his young skin glows with a healthy rosy hue, giving him an unadorned beauty.
Seeing this, all eight staff members of "The Diary of the Rich and Powerful" were stunned.
"Are you from the production crew?" Yan Shenyu stopped. "Why are you standing at the door? Didn't anyone open the door for you?"
After he finished speaking, he stood at the door and performed a facial recognition scan. The door slowly opened, revealing an exquisite and grand modern Chinese-style courtyard inside.
This villa was a labor of love for Yan Zhengang, and it has a three-entrance layout. Behind the main gate is a large garden, and further in is a water feature with babbling brooks and swirling mist. Only after that is the Yan family's reception room.
Yan Shenyu led the people into the reception room and asked Aunt Chen to entertain them first. He then went upstairs to call Yan Sheng, who had not yet come down.
"Yan Sheng, the production crew has arrived."
There was no response the first two times, but when Yan Shenyu threatened, "If you don't answer, I'll take the key and go straight in," Yan Sheng finally opened the door and came out.
His face was covered in mosquito bites.
Yan Shenyu: "..."
It was hard to describe what he was seeing. Yan Sheng's originally fair and jade-like skin was covered with large and small red and swollen bumps, like the special effects makeup in a nonsensical movie. For a moment, people didn't know whether to pity him or laugh at him.
Yan Shenyu stared at it for a full half minute before confirming that she was not mistaken; it really was a mosquito bite.
He asked incredulously, "What happened to you? Did you disturb the mosquitoes' nest?"
"Uh..." Yan Sheng was also frustrated: "I just forgot to close the window when I went to sleep last night." Yan Shenyu was speechless: "I told you that day that you must remember to close the window when you go to sleep, and now you've been bitten like this."
"I...I didn't mean to." Yan Sheng turned her face away, a blush creeping up her fair cheeks. "It got colder last night, I thought I could enjoy the natural breeze..."
And ultimately, it's all Yan Shenyu's fault!
If Yan Shenyu hadn't shouted out the window last night that the temperature had finally dropped, would he have opened the window and forgotten to close it after letting the wind blow through?
Yan Sheng thought angrily, but the bite mark on his face was incredibly itchy, as if reminding him of his idiocy the night before. Enraged, Yan Sheng raised his hand to scratch it.
However, he was stopped before he could even touch her face.
"Don't scratch," Yan Shenyu said, grabbing his hand with a serious look in her eyes, all traces of her earlier teasing. "If you scratch it and it gets infected, you'll have to go to the hospital."
"It's not that exaggerated." Yan Sheng didn't want to be lectured by him. Besides, he was the older brother. Why should he be bossed around by this younger brother?
Rebellious thoughts flared up, and Yan Sheng tried to grab with her other hand, but ended up having both hands grabbed by Yan Shenyu.
The boy's arms weren't particularly strong, but you could already see obvious muscle lines. Because of the force he exerted, he was even more powerful, and for a moment he couldn't break free from the other person's grip.
Yan Sheng was stunned for a moment when she saw the muscle marks on the other person's arm.
When did Yan Shenyu become like this?
In Yan Sheng's memory, Yan Shenyu in her previous life was like an angry rooster. She looked thin and small, but her temper was sharp and aggressive. She was very annoying, always being aggressive like a rooster.
But now Yan Shenyu gives people a completely different feeling. After spending these days together, he found that Yan Shenyu has a very self-consistent personality. He doesn't need other people's affirmation or denial, nor does he need to criticize or ridicule others. In this way, he can find his own value.
He is who he is, and he doesn't change for anyone else.
Yan Sheng remembers one thing very clearly: not long after he moved back, Yan Zhengang saw something strange somewhere, and one day after returning from the company, he insisted that he didn't have enough clothes and wanted to buy him some.
In his past life, Yan Shenyu had been making sarcastic remarks about him for a long time because of the issue of buying clothes. He said that his father had never cared about what he wore for 22 years, but as soon as his second brother came back, he started worrying about his clothes.
Not wanting things to repeat themselves, Yan Sheng declined, saying she had enough clothes.
Yan Zhengang insisted on giving it to them, and just as they were at an impasse, Yan Shenyu came downstairs.
Recalling the conflicts of her previous life, Yan Sheng's breathing quickened for a moment.
"Why are you all standing here? Waiting to greet me?" Yan Shenyu stopped on the stairs and spoke lazily.
He was wearing an oversized black T-shirt and equally oversized black shorts, his long hair was loosely tied over one shoulder, and with his soft voice, he looked like he had just woken up.
Yan Zhengang's temper flared up again: "What time is it and you're still sleeping?"
"Taking a nap."
"You took a nap until 5 p.m.?"
"Do you know why we all want to move out?" Yan Shenyu yawned and said helplessly, "Because you control us too much, Dad. No adult wants to be scolded by their parents just for sleeping until 5 o'clock in the afternoon."
These words struck a nerve with Yan Zhengang, causing him to fall silent briefly. But soon, he found new points to criticize about Yan Shenyu.
"Why are you still wearing that shabby T-shirt? You're a grown man, aren't you ashamed to wear clothes that cost 50 yuan?"
"Why are you embarrassed?" Yan Shenyu looked down and asked, puzzled. "Dad, don't you have any common sense? Don't you know that loungewear is more comfortable the older it is? Besides, this piece of clothing of mine costs more than 50 yuan."
Yan Zhengang was stunned for a moment, thinking he had remembered it wrong.
Yan Shenyu thought for a moment and said seriously, "The clothes were originally priced at 98, but after the discount they are only 49."
Yan Zhengang: "..."
It's not even 50 yuan yet!
Yan Zhengang almost had a stroke from anger. He hadn't thought much of it at first, but he had recently attended an old friend's birthday party. Everyone else's children were dressed in suits and ties, looking like social elites. But Yan Shenyu was always in a T-shirt and shorts, looking sloppy and disheveled.
It made it seem like he was abusing someone. Yan Zhengang couldn't stand it anymore, so he transferred another sum of money to Yan Shenyu's account and gave him an ultimatum: "Take your brother to the mall and don't come home until you buy ten sets of clothes!"
"Please, have mercy on me," Yan Shenyu said, his face instantly contorted with pain. "Do I look like someone who enjoys shopping for clothes?"
No matter how Yan Zhengang threatened or bribed him, Yan Shenyu remained unmoved. In the end, he even transferred the money to him and recommended the WeChat accounts of several saleswomen, letting him decide what clothes to buy.
Looking at the extra balance in her bank card, Yan Sheng felt a mix of emotions.
Only then did he realize that what Yan Shenyu once cared about most was now something Yan Shenyu truly didn't care about.
He's happy living in a mansion and driving a luxury car, but he's also happy eating takeout and wearing a 50-yuan T-shirt.
Yan Sheng even felt that even though Yan Shenyu seemed lazy, he wouldn't be intimidated by going to high-end places or the star-studded entertainment industry where she herself had lived in her previous life.
In the parallel world, Yan Shenyu continues to do things his own way, but beneath his seemingly inappropriate behavior lies a very accurate grasp of the boundaries in his interactions with others.
Take Yan Zhengang for example. Although he makes trouble for Yan Shenyu every day, he has never actually been truly angry with Yan Shenyu.
Even more so, if Yan Zhengang didn't scold Yan Shenyu on any given day, he would feel a little less energetic.
Yan Sheng didn't know what was going on with Yan Shenyu, but he clearly sensed that he and the people around him were being drawn to him.
This realization left Yan Sheng somewhat at a loss. With mixed feelings, he withdrew his hands from Yan Shenyu's grasp and said in a deliberately indifferent tone, "It's none of your business."
"Stop messing around," Yan Shenyu pressed down on his hand, her tone becoming somewhat forceful. "The news about the man who developed sepsis from a mosquito bite and ended up in the ICU is still trending. If you don't want to be disfigured, you'd better stay put."
His attitude was firm, but it didn't make people feel uncomfortable. Instead, it made people feel the care behind his strength.
Yan Sheng had never been taken care of like this before, and it was almost instinctive for her to comply.
However, he quickly realized that this was just Yan Shenyu's trick, yet he was almost about to believe it.
Yan Sheng began to loathe her own weakness and struggled violently.
“So what if I’m disfigured?” he said, bristling with barbs, though his eyes were faintly red. “I don’t need your pretense.”
"Huh? Pretending?" Yan Shenyu looked completely bewildered. "How did I pretend?"
Yan Sheng looked up at him, almost in despair, and said, "Don't you hate me?"
"When did I ever say I hated you?" Yan Shenyu blinked, even more confused.
Even at a time like this, she was still pretending to be stupid. Yan Sheng's eyes were red as she gritted her teeth and reminded her, "When you came back yesterday, I heard you say it with my own ears. You said you didn't like me..."
yesterday?
Does he not like Yan Sheng?
—I get it, it's really heartbreaking when your crush turns into a brother.
—You don't know anything. Use your brain and think about it. What kind of relationship do I have with Yan Sheng? How could I possibly like him?
He just came downstairs with something, saying he wanted to give you a gift.
—They probably didn't see me go back.