Yue Zhishi stood behind Song Yu, unable to say a single word.

During holidays and festivals, he always went along to visit relatives. Everyone was always very enthusiastic, asking about his life and studies. He had never heard such sharp, grating words before. Hearing them so suddenly, he felt extremely uncomfortable.

Only after all this time did Yue Zhishi realize that everyone's friendliness was just an act. In their hearts, he was just a parasite.

He had been protected too well, so well that he truly thought of himself as Song Yu's biological younger brother, to the point of completely forgetting the fact that he was living under someone else's roof.

"What do you mean, an outsider?" The eldest aunt's face darkened. "Your sister-in-law was also thinking of you all. You child, you have the same disposition as your father, always doing things for others' benefit, raising other people's children. Do you think this money just fell from the sky?"

Song Yu calmly replied: "This money came from Uncle Le giving my dad all his savings to take a gamble."

After speaking, he looked at this eldest aunt, his gaze sharp. "Maybe I was too young and don't remember things clearly, but I'd like to ask, back when my dad was starting his business and couldn't make ends meet with his capital, did Eldest Uncle ever help him?"

The eldest aunt was immediately at a loss for words, the expression on her face turning ugly. Finally, she could only manage to say, "Well... our family's situation wasn't good back then either."

"Mm." Song Yu nodded, like an interrogator who had gotten the answer he wanted.

"Since you didn't participate, it has nothing to do with you."

"You!" The eldest aunt stood up in anger. The new cousin-in-law patted her mother-in-law's back to soothe her, looking at Song Yu with considerable displeasure. "Cousin, we are the ones who are family. This is too hurtful to your family..."

Song Yu suddenly let out a laugh. The other party apparently hadn't expected this reaction; her words trailed off, and she couldn't continue. But when Yue Zhishi looked at Song Yu, the expression on his face had grown even colder.

"The word 'family,' coming from your mouths, sounds so cheap."

This was the first time in his life that Yue Zhishi had seen such a sharp side of Song Yu. His wrist was grabbed, and he was led away from there.

This didn't match Yue Zhishi's expectations. He thought Song Yu would be like he was in the past, walking ahead on his own and letting him follow behind.

Perhaps he guessed that Yue Zhishi was a little unable to move, unable to extricate himself from such an awkward scene.

They didn't say a word on the way. Yue Zhishi didn't feel much like talking. The unwashed apple felt exceptionally heavy in his hand. After entering the room, Song Yu gave a pre-planned excuse, telling his grandpa that the bathroom outside was also under maintenance and couldn't be used.

Grandpa was engrossed in his manga and had no intention of eating fruit anyway, so he didn't doubt the truth of this lie in the slightest. His reading glasses slid down his nose. He waved Yue Zhishi over to his side. "Come quickly, watch with me. This is really interesting."

Yue Zhishi nodded and went to sit by the hospital bed. Later, he rested his arms on the edge of the bed, accompanying the old man in reading the manga. In the past, he would have enthusiastically introduced the characters' personalities and abilities to his grandpa, but now he couldn't muster much interest, answering questions one at a time, like squeezing toothpaste from a tube.

Ten-odd minutes later, the eldest aunt and the new cousin-in-law, having sat outside long enough, also came in. The two acted as if nothing had happened, smiling and chatting with the old man. "Xiao Yu is here too. Why don't you have dinner with us tonight? There's a pretty good restaurant nearby."

"Your parents are coming in a bit too." The eldest aunt deliberately glanced at Yue Zhishi, the corners of her mouth pulled high, her cheeks bunching up. "Lele, right? You should come too. What do you like to eat? How about hot pot?"

Yue Zhishi's throat felt as if it were sealed by something. He stared at the eldest aunt's face, his eyelashes trembling slightly.

"He's not going." Song Yu's tone was decisive, even bordering on cold. "He can't eat food from outside."

The old man had taken care of Yue Zhishi for a while and knew about his allergies. "Right, Lele needs to be careful about what he eats." He patted Yue Zhishi's head. "When Grandpa's arm is better, I'll make you braised ribs. Didn't you used to love the ribs I made?"

"Mhm." Yue Zhishi tilted his face up and smiled at him.

Many times, Yue Zhishi couldn't understand the world of adults.

Just like right now, he didn't understand. Not long ago, Song Yu had just torn apart their private facade, making things so ugly, yet now they could pretend nothing had happened, still maintaining a harmonious family relationship, chatting as if there were no hard feelings at all.

His chin rested on the pure white quilt of the hospital bed, his large, beautiful eyes watching the eldest aunt who was chatting up a storm, and the new cousin-in-law who looked so respectful and gentle. Finally, probably because his eyes grew tired, he closed them for a moment. When he opened them again, he met Song Yu's gaze.

Yue Zhishi couldn't describe Song Yu's expression at that moment. His brows were furrowed, as if with a hint of indiscernible sadness, but it was a bit more complicated than that. He tilted his head, his expression unchanged, looking a bit like he was acting cute towards Song Yu.

Thankfully, Song Yu was here, covering him like a suit of armor.

Only then could Yue Zhishi hide away as if it were the most natural thing to do.

He had always hoped to be brave, to face any difficulty like the protagonist of a manga, but sometimes, he also needed a place to hide.

"Grandpa." Song Yu stood up from the sofa. "I'm taking Lele home."

Hearing this form of address, which wasn't his full name, Yue Zhishi lifted his head, a little surprised.

"Going back so early?" The old man was a little unhappy. He reached out to pat the top of Yue Zhishi's head. "Lele, won't you stay and play a little longer?"

"I..."

Song Yu told a second lie without batting an eye. "He has a tutoring class." He added, "The high school entrance exams are coming up."

Only then did the old man not insist they stay. He gave a few instructions—studying was important, but health was too—and told them to come visit him more often when they were free.

Yue Zhishi just nodded, not saying much. He didn't want to seem too conspicuous in front of the eldest aunt, as if deliberately showing off his achievement of a cuckoo occupying the magpie's nest.

As expected, the eldest aunt also said many proper, polite things and saw them out. All the way to the elevator, she put on a complete act, not showing a single trace of her causticity.

After leaving the hospital, Yue Zhishi remembered that the others hadn't known he was around the corner, nor that he had heard everything. Song Yu had stopped him from going out, it turned out, to preserve his last shred of dignity.

In the taxi, Song Yu didn't speak either. He seemed very unhappy.

Yue Zhishi possessed a wondrous perceptive ability that no one else had—he could see through to Song Yu's mood. This was difficult, because Song Yu's expressions rarely changed and he didn't talk much. It was the 'hard mode' of emotional recognition, but Yue Zhishi could always detect it from subtle feelings.

It was probably the atmosphere.

Early spring. The city's spring was exceptionally lush and green. Song Yu's side profile was reflected amidst the verdant scenery outside the car window. He stared at the front windshield, but what he was thinking of was the sight of Yue Zhishi leaning against the hospital bed, his face pale, his eyes filled with helplessness.

Growing up, Yue Zhishi had never encountered overly complicated people or situations. He was sometimes so simple that he seemed out of place in this world, asking questions, expressing himself, and showing his emotions directly. But this kind of "directness" was harmless, like a fluffy flame, its light and heat both soft.

Song Yu wanted to say something.

He felt he ought to say something.

Yue Zhishi squeezed a little closer to Song Yu's side. His arm pressed against his, and the back of his hand brushed past him accidentally.

Normally, Song Yu would have said, "Why are you so close to me?" or turned to glance at him, or done nothing at all and continued to look out the window.

But this time was different. Song Yu, who looked very angry in Yue Zhishi's eyes, enveloped Yue Zhishi's hand that had accidentally brushed against his. He didn't speak, didn't turn his head.

The warmth of his palm said it all.

Suddenly, Yue Zhishi thought of Cotton Candy.

He regretted going to that winter camp. He wanted to see for himself if the scene of Song Yu finding Cotton Candy was also like this. Saying nothing, just taking its paw in his hand.

And then Cotton Candy went with him.

......

After returning, Yue Zhishi did his homework and reviewed, working until 9:50 PM before finishing, so tired that he couldn't get distracted. The two of them had made dinner for themselves at home. Yue Zhishi hadn't eaten much and was a little hungry again now. He wanted to go downstairs to find something to eat. The house might not have other things, but it was never short on food.

Arriving in the kitchen, before opening the fridge, Yue Zhishi saw a sticky note Lin Rong had put up. It read: [Cinnamon rolls in the oven, heat them up before eating]

So he gave up on the fridge and walked to the oven. But he was too lazy to heat it, so he just pulled open the door and took out a gluten-free cinnamon roll.

It was actually warm. 'Did Brother heat it up?'

The frosting on the cinnamon roll was very fragrant. Yue Zhishi stood by the kitchen counter, eating slowly and methodically. Although it was a semi-open kitchen, he was tucked into a corner, completely hidden by the refrigerator.

After finishing one, Yue Zhishi wasn't satisfied, so he took out another. Just as he took a bite, he heard the sound of the door opening. Lin Rong and Song Jin were home.

He was just about to come out, but Lin Rong seemed to be very angry. "I'm telling you, I've been holding this in for a long time. In the future, if you want to go to your brother's house, you go. I'm not going anymore. That meal made me so furious."

Song Jin's tone was a bit helpless. "Calm down, your face is all red from anger."

"That's blush!" Lin Rong threw her bag onto the sofa. "Dad fell, and they wouldn't even go to a better hospital. They insisted on waiting for you to send the money before they'd sign the surgery forms. What are their intentions? Don't they feel bad at all that something happened to Dad? At his age, a fall is no small matter. It makes me so mad."

"And Sister-in-law, every time I hear her talk, I get a stomach full of rage. All she talks about, day in and day out, is money, as if we owe them millions."

Song Jin kneaded her shoulders. "That's just her temperament. Don't bother arguing with her."

Yue Zhishi didn't know why he didn't go out either. Maybe because he had already experienced something like this during the day, he subconsciously shrank back behind the refrigerator.

"And that new daughter-in-law of theirs, the things she said during dinner..."

Song Yu heard the commotion and came downstairs. He saw his mother was furious and didn't ask much, not expecting a huge pot to fall from the sky and land squarely on his head.

"Song Yu!"

Hearing his mother call his name, Song Yu stopped in his tracks, standing halfway down the stairs to look at her.

"Let me tell you, if you bring home a daughter-in-law like that, I'll break your legs."

Song Yu had no particular reaction to this rare, vicious remark and continued down the stairs. Lin Rong went on, "Luckily they didn't say it in front of Lele, otherwise I really would have lost my temper right then and there."

'I pretty much heard it all, though,' Yue Zhishi thought.

Her voice lowered again, becoming a little sad. "When I heard them talking about Lele, I felt really terrible. What do they mean, 'be careful not to raise an ungrateful brat'? Are those words a human should say? After all these years, I've long considered him my own son. Just think, he came to me when he was so tiny, and it wasn't easy raising him to be this big."

"Isn't that the truth?" Song Jin sighed. "You cry every time he gets sick."

"I just feel so awful today. And hearing what they said made me think about what if one day, when Lele grows up, he leaves me. I feel terrible just thinking about that scene." After speaking, Lin Rong looked at Song Jin again. "When he was little, he wanted to call me 'Mom' himself. I was so happy." She hit Song Jin a few times. "It's all your fault for insisting he not call me that."

Song Jin smiled and grabbed her hand. "You got a good deal, picking up a little treasure for free, and you still insisted he call you 'Mom'. Have you ever considered your son's and Olivia's feelings?"

Song Yu, who was passing by, wore an 'I-don't-want-to-get-involved' expression and was about to find some water to drink. Cotton Candy darted out from somewhere, weaving around his legs and hopping up and down as if wanting to be held.

Lin Rong sighed. "It's such a pity. Why didn't Le Yi give us a daughter? It would be great if Lele were a girl. So obedient and pretty. Where could you find such a good girl nowadays? We could just have her marry into our family, wouldn't that be a hundred times better than the one we had dinner with today?" Joking without missing a beat, Lin Rong turned to Song Yu. "Right, Xiao Yu?"

With his back to them, Song Yu tossed out a cool reply, "As long as you're happy."

He ambled over to the refrigerator, pulled the door open, took out a bottle of iced soda water, and closed the door again. He never expected to see Yue Zhishi, holding half a cinnamon roll, huddled in the corner by the counter, staring at him with wide eyes. Looking slightly awkward, he gave him a somewhat silly smile.

Song Yu hadn't even taken a sip of water before he choked violently.

The author has something to say:

Lele: What do you mean by 'As long as you're happy'?

Xiao Yu: ...