Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Cheng Nan Yi's bed was truly comfortable.

Even without the sheets and duvet, the fabric on the mattress was more comfortable than the shabby ones at his school, and the quilt was soft and skin-friendly without shifting. He hadn't slept in such a comfortable bed since he left the Cheng family.

Yuan Ting slept soundly until daylight, waking up naturally.

Then he just lay on the bed, not wanting to get up.

He hadn’t planned on whether to go home or not, mainly because it was close by and he wasn't particularly homesick, so it didn’t matter much to him.

After being tormented for a month, he now found the world incredibly beautiful.

Which was worse, the military training or being confined by Cheng Nan Yi?

Was that confinement? That was the ultimate luxury.

Yuan Ting lazily reached for his phone and turned it on, oh wow, Cheng Nan Yi had called him several times.

Yuan Ting called back, and then…

Hm??

It sounded like he heard music?

As Yuan Ting turned his head, he saw the bedroom door being pushed open and, amidst the melodious music, found himself face-to-face with Cheng Nan Yi, who was supposed to be abroad.

Even though it was October, the weather was still hot. Yuan Ting hadn't turned on the air conditioner at night. He had rolled up the quilt and was pressing it under him, hugging it, in such a posture when he met Cheng Nan Yi.

Cheng Nan Yi clearly hadn’t expected someone, let alone a stark naked person, to be in his bedroom.

The sheets and duvet were messily strewn on the floor, clothes and trousers scattered here and there, with a black pair of underwear conspicuously noticeable against the sky-blue bedsheet.

Cheng Nan Yi’s face turned extremely sour in an instant.

This was obviously a scene post-event.

He instinctively turned his head to look towards the direction of the bathroom.

The bathroom door was half-open, and it didn’t look like anyone was inside.

Cheng Nan Yi clenched his hand, asking in a deep voice, "Did you bring someone back?"

Bring someone back?

Who would he bring back?

Yuan Ting finally realized, grabbing the quilt to wrap around his waist in alarm. Damn it, why was he stark naked?

Who undressed him?

Oh, right, he did it himself.

"When did you get back?" Yuan Ting sat up, excitedly saying, "Why didn’t you tell me in advance? I could have come to pick you up."

"Who did you bring back?" Cheng Nan Yi fixed a piercing gaze on him, his eyes almost shooting sparks.

"Who did I bring back?" Yuan Ting frowned. "Who would I have brought back? I came alone. Without your permission, how could I possibly bring someone here?" He knew his cleanliness-obsessed partner would freak out.

Cheng Nan Yi's expression slightly softened, but it was still stern. "What’s all this?" He pointed to the mess on the floor.

Yuan Ting touched his nose guiltily: "Well, I came over last night, and the bed was dusty. How could I sleep like that? So, I stripped it down, and also…"

Yuan Ting coughed lightly, confessing honestly, "I didn’t take a shower... but!!!"

Yuan Ting raised his hand earnestly: "Although I didn’t shower before getting in your bed, I took off all the clothes I wore during the day. I didn’t wear anything on your bed. I was clean, really. Bro, wasn’t I respectful of you?"

Cheng Nan Yi: "..."

Seeing Cheng Nan Yi’s expression change from "no one’s getting out alive" to "speechless," Yuan Ting knew he had narrowly passed the test.

He had no idea he would be caught red-handed like this. Nowadays, honest and trustworthy people like him were rare.

If it were Mo Yikai, he definitely wouldn’t have taken off all his clothes just because he hadn’t showered before getting into bed.

Wrapped in the bedsheet and about to get out of bed, Yuan Ting heard someone call out, “Brother…”

Brother?

Yuan Ting sat back down.

“Brother…”

The voice called again.

It wasn’t a hallucination.

“Just sit here for a moment,” Cheng Nan Yi said, turning back.

Footsteps approached quickly, and through the half-open door, Yuan Ting saw a boy in his teens.

The boy peeked in, trying to look into the bedroom, but Cheng Nan Yi had already walked out and closed the bedroom door.

Yuan Ting: “???”

Wrapping himself in the quilt, Yuan Ting jumped out of bed, huffing, opened the door, and found himself face-to-face with the young boy in the living room.

“Brother, who is he?”

“Brother, who is he?”

Two voices sounded simultaneously.

Yuan Ting stared at the young boy, as if he had seen him somewhere before.

The young boy sensed danger and glared fiercely at Yuan Ting. "Who are you? This is my brother."

"Brother, who is this? How did he come out of your bedroom?"

Yuan Ting remembered. That winter, he was watching over Yuan Qingguang's junk shop, and across the street was a bookstore. This young boy had slipped and fallen out of the bookstore, and Cheng Nanyi had helped him up, holding his hand as they walked away.

Yuan Ting had remembered him all this time. It was this young boy. Back then, he was only six or seven years old, and his appearance hadn't changed much.

New grudges and old grievances. Yuan Ting reached out and grabbed Cheng Nanyi's arm, pulling him over. "This is my brother."

The young boy furrowed his brow. "My brother, he's my brother."

"My brother, my brother, my brother, my brother, my brother..."

"Brother..." The young boy glared at Cheng Nanyi with anger.

Yuan Ting also turned to stare at Cheng Nanyi, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Who is he?"

Cheng Nanyi replied calmly, "His name is Lu Zihang. He's my mom's child from her remarriage. I met his dad this time abroad, and since his dad couldn't come back, he asked me to bring him to my mom and have him return to China for school."

During the years Yuan Ting lived in the Cheng family, he had never met Cheng Nanyi's mother. In his previous life, he had met her a few times but had never seen her son. She had never brought her son to the Cheng family, and Grandpa Cheng and Cheng Shaolin rarely mentioned her in front of Cheng Nanyi.

Moreover, before going abroad in his previous life, Yuan Ting and Cheng Nanyi were not close, so he knew even less about these matters.

Yuan Ting felt uncomfortable. One reason was that Cheng Nanyi's mother had another child, and the other reason was that the child in front of him was Cheng Nanyi's real brother.

"Brother." Lu Zihang came over and pulled Cheng Nanyi's arm, trying to pull him away from Yuan Ting.

Yuan Ting held onto Cheng Nanyi's arm and didn't let go.

Yuan Ting was naked, wrapped only in a blanket, so when he held Cheng Nanyi like this, Cheng Nanyi's arm brushed against his chest.

Cheng Nanyi pushed him away with his hand.

Yuan Ting: "...So, with a new little brother, the old one isn't as appealing anymore, huh?"

"My brother, this is my brother... You are a psycho..." Lu Zihang was so flustered that he started speaking in English.

"He says I'm crazy, do you care?"

Before Cheng Nanyi could respond, Yuan Ting started rambling in English, leaving Lu Zihang utterly confused. This made Yuan Ting so frustrated that he stomped his foot and said, "Brother, kick him out!"

"I won't. This is my brother..." Yuan Ting shook his head at him and muttered some foul words, not realizing that Cheng Nanyi had actually learned some English in his past life.

"Both of you, shut up!" Cheng Nanyi had a splitting headache. He pointed at Lu Zihang and said, "You, go sit on the sofa and don't move. You..." Cheng Nanyi then turned to Yuan Ting, who was still wrapped in a blanket, and ordered, "Take a shower first, and then get dressed."

Yuan Ting glared at him resentfully before turning and heading to the bathroom.

While showering, Yuan Ting could still hear the little kid chattering away with "big brother this, big brother that."

Argh, how irritating.

After his shower, Yuan Ting angrily shouted from the bathroom, "Cheng Nanyi, get me some clothes."

Cheng Nanyi brought the clothes and tried to open the bathroom door, but Yuan Ting blocked it from inside, only sticking an arm out.

"What, are you afraid to look?"

"Hmph." Yuan Ting forcefully closed the door, saying, "Mind your own business and go take care of your own little brother."

Yuan Ting changed into his clothes, dried his hair, and even used a small hair tie to put his long hair into a stylish bun at the back of his head, thinking he looked quite dashing.

Lu Zihang on the sofa gave him a disdainful look and muttered, "Charcoal face."

“……”

Oh my, Yuan Ting exploded, "Who are you calling a charcoal face?"

Yuan Ting was about to charge at Lu Zihang, but Cheng Nanyi stopped him by hugging him around the waist.

"This kid called me a charcoal face? Didn't you hear him? He said it to me!" Yuan Ting glared at Cheng Nanyi in anger.

"Well, you are dark. Look at how dark you are. My brother is so fair-skinned, that's why I'm his real little brother," Lu Zihang said proudly, tilting his head.

Cheng Nanyi glanced at Yuan Ting's face and couldn't help but curl his lips slightly.

After a month of military training, Yuan Ting was exceptionally tanned. Just now, when he entered the bedroom and turned his head, there was a stark contrast between the color of his face and his body – a mix of white and black.

Irritated, Yuan Ting shook off Cheng Nanyi's hand: "Fine, you two are brothers. I'll leave, I'll leave, alright?" he said, huffing as he walked out.

Cheng Nanyi grabbed him by the back of his neck and dragged him to the balcony: "You stand here and don't move."

"You sit there and don't move," Cheng Nanyi then instructed Luzi Hang.

Cheng Nanyi took out a cloth and mop and began to clean.

Yuan Ting, unable to contain his anger: "Why does he get to sit while I have to stand?" Such blatant favoritism.

"Brother, brother, go be his brother then."

He doesn't care.

"I won't touch him, so it doesn't matter if he's a bit dirty," Cheng Nanyi glanced at him, "As for you, just stand there honestly. If you get dirty, believe it or not, I'll scrub you with a shoe brush."

Yuan Ting: "..."

"Charcoal monster."

"Brat."

"Charcoal monster."

"Brat."

Luzi Hang, puffing with anger, asked Cheng Nanyi: "Brother, who is he really? Send him away, I don't like him."

Cheng Nanyi glanced at him and said indifferently, "If you don't like him, you have the option to leave."

Luzi Hang was momentarily stunned, his eyes quickly reddening: "Why should I? I'm your brother. Why should I be the one to leave?"

"Better not cry. If your snot drips on the sofa, you'll have to take the sofa with you when you leave."

Luzi Hang sniffled and swallowed it back.

Yuan Ting stepped back, feeling disgusted...

He finally had a firsthand understanding of his own past behavior.

Luzi Hang, somewhat intimidated by Cheng Nanyi, knew he couldn't drive Yuan Ting away and didn’t dare to continue his antics, just glaring at Yuan Ting.

Yuan Ting made a face at him: "Blah blah blah blah..."

"Brother, look at him..."

Cheng Nanyi, having finished vacuuming and now mopping the floor, responded coolly, "Then you should make some allowances for him."

"Why should I make allowances for him? I'm the child here. Adults should be accommodating towards children."

"Lift your foot."

Luzi Hang lifted his foot, looking pitifully at Cheng Nanyi: "Brother..."

"Here, you have to make room for him, or else you have the choice to leave."

"Why?" Luzi Hang frowned, his eyebrows and mouth scrunching up.

"Because this is my house, and what I say goes."

Luzi Hang: "..."

Yuan Ting: "..." Ah, that feels better.

Author's note:

A big thank you to the angels who supported me with King's tickets and nutrient solutions from 2023-09-26 20:56:28 to 2023-09-27 12:44:51~

Thank you to the angels who irrigated with nutrient solutions: Happy Heart, Qian Qian 10 bottles; Boss Mi 3 bottles; Bitter Bro Sweet, 404 Ghost Heads 1 bottle;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!