Chapter 88

Chapter 88

Luo Ye hugged his backpack, looking up at Ji Mian without calling him "brother."

The two of them, one tall and one short, stared at each other in silence.

Luo Zhishu felt a little awkward. Although she had anticipated that the two brothers might not warm up to each other quickly, she hadn’t expected the situation to be like this.

The atmosphere remained tense until Auntie Lin, who had just called Ji Mian and then returned to the kitchen to continue her work, came out and announced, "Sir, Madam, dinner is ready!"

Xiang Yanming seized the moment to ease the tension, "Let’s eat first."

He placed a comforting hand on Luo Zhishu’s shoulder and gave it a gentle pat, "It’s just their first meeting; no need to rush."

Luo Zhishu nodded slowly, "Okay."

...

During dinner, Ji Mian kept a cold expression the whole time, playing his role as the villainous supporting character.

After dinner, Xiang Yanming led Luo Zhishu and her son upstairs to their rooms.

There were six rooms on the second floor: one study, one master bedroom, three guest rooms, one of which was reserved as a guest room, and another was Xiang Nian’s painting studio.

Xiang Nian’s arrogance wasn’t just due to his wealthy family background but also his own talents. He was gifted in both painting and music, excelling with minimal effort. However, his academic performance was rather dismal.

So, no one could have guessed that such an outstanding young man would treat his younger brother and stepmother with such a harsh demeanor.

Ji Mian had entered this world early to maintain his character, putting in considerable effort to excel in painting.

If it were just painting, it would have been manageable, but Ji Mian was tone-deaf. Not only could he not find the right pitch when singing, but he also struggled with musical notes and rhythms when playing instruments, despite learning for a long time.

He just redirected Xiang Nian’s musical talents to academics.

Earlier, the system warned Ji Mian not to do anything unnecessary in this small world, fearing that knowing he was in a virtual world might make him act recklessly, causing the plot to collapse and making it troublesome to fix the virtual world’s glitches later.

The system figured that as long as Ji Mian didn’t mess up major plot points, it would let him be, since these minor details were unrelated to the subsequent plot developments.

The six rooms were split into two sections by the staircase. On the right were Xiang Nian’s painting studio, bedroom, and Luo Ye’s bedroom. Their rooms were right next to each other, a deliberate arrangement by Xiang Yanming, who thought it would be more convenient for the brothers to live close together.

The remaining three rooms were on the other side.

Ji Mian went straight upstairs, ignoring the other three, and went into his room, slamming the door shut with a "bang."

Xiang Yanming was so mad he almost lost it.

That kid...

"This kid..." He turned to Luo Zhishu with a somewhat apologetic expression.

Luo Zhishu shook her head, "It’s okay. Boys this age might not adjust right away."

Ji Mian’s bedroom was in the middle, flanked by the painting studio and Luo Ye’s bedroom on either side.

Xiang Yanming took Luo Ye to his room and turned on the light. It was clear that the room had been carefully renovated. The bookshelf, cabinets, and various decorations had different colors and styles compared to the rest of the house.

The only drawback was that it was a bit too childish.

Xiang Yanming bent down and gently asked Luo Ye, "Do you like it, Luo Ye? If anything’s not to your liking, just let Dad know."

Luo Ye looked at the giant teddy bear on the bed and nodded reluctantly.

Xiang Yanming showed Luo Ye how to use the switches in the bathroom and the positions of the bedside lamps, still worried that Luo Ye wouldn’t know how to operate them.

His concern was unnecessary. Luo Ye was quite independent.

Luo Zhishu had an unfortunate marriage; her previous husband cheated on her just a few years into their marriage.

After their divorce, Luo Ye lived with his mother.

At that time, Luo Ye was only four or five years old but already very sensible. He knew that Luo Zhishu had to work late to support them both, so he often came home from school, grabbed a stool for the kitchen, and whipped up simple meals for himself and his mother. On weekends, he also handled some of the housework.

To ensure Luo Ye knew how to use the shower, Xiang Yanming and Luo Zhishu stayed in his room, waiting until Luo Ye had finished bathing, got dressed, and dried his hair by himself before they headed back to their bedroom to rest.

"Yanming, you head on ahead. I’ll have a little chat with Xiao Ye."

Xiang Yanming glanced at his wife and left accordingly.

Luo Ye sat on the edge of the bed, ready for bed, looking at his mother, waiting for her to speak.

"Xiao Ye." Luo Zhishu pressed her lips together and sat down beside Luo Ye. "Why don’t you go say goodnight to your brother?"

Luo Ye looked up and said slowly, "Mom, we don’t really do that in our family."

"..." Luo Zhishu was at a loss for words, taken aback by her child’s reply.

"Just go and say hi. You’ve only just met him today, and you haven’t even called him 'brother' yet. Xiang Nian might feel hurt..."

In Luo Zhishu’s view, Xiang Nian was not her child after all, and she had no right to discipline him. All she could do was ensure that Luo Ye acted like a good little brother.

Luo Ye retorted, "But I don’t think he likes me."

"Xiao Ye is so good, how could your brother not like you?" Luo Zhishu ran her fingers through Luo Ye’s soft hair. "Come on, Xiao Ye, be a good boy. Go and say hello to your brother."

Luo Ye’s fine brows knitted together, unable to understand his mother’s insistence on him approaching that person.

That person didn’t like him, so why should he go up and call him "brother"?

Under his mother’s expectant gaze, he pursed his lips and got up, slipping on his sandals.

*

Knock knock.

When Ji Mian’s door was knocked, he had already changed into his pajamas and was ready to sleep.

He got up from the bed and opened the door.

At the door, Luo Ye, who only reached his waist, was wearing little sandals, his slightly long pajama pants dragging on the floor.

Luo Ye looked up, expressionless: "Brother."

His eyelashes were thick and long but not curled, and when he looked up, he resembled a weary koala.

As soon as Ji Mian opened the door, he felt his heart struck by an overwhelming cuteness.

The tips of his ears instantly turned a bit red, "My brother is so cute!"

System: "..."

So now he’s your brother?

"Luo Zhishu sent him over," she said.

Ji Mian was taken aback.

Luo Ye was still staring at him.

Ji Mian suppressed his thoughts and frowned, speaking coldly, "What is it?"

"...Mom told me to say goodnight," Luo Ye said, hiding his reluctance.

"..."

Ji Mian remained silent.

Ji Mian didn’t hold much of an opinion about Luo Zhishu; in many ways, she was a good person.

But he remembered that in the plot, when Luo Ye was bullied by Xiang Nian and sent out a plea for help, Luo Zhishu’s solution was to tell Luo Ye to endure it.

It was precisely this kind of submissive tolerance that allowed Xiang Nian to grow even more aggressive.

Today, her sending Luo Ye over was enough to show some indication of this.

There is a type of person in this world who is naturally kind, and sacrifice comes naturally to them—not only sacrificing themselves but also their children after marriage.

Ji Mian couldn’t quite say what was wrong with this behavior. Luo Zhishu was a kind person, but as a mother, it would be tough on Luo Ye.

This is a virtual world... Ji Mian thought to himself.

"Goodnight, brother," Luo Ye said.

The boy in front of him didn’t respond, instead fixing him with a heavy stare for a few seconds before slamming the door.

Luo Ye was speechless.

Ji Mian ignored him, but Luo Ye wasn’t upset. Why be upset about being ignored by someone he didn’t like?

He turned and went back to his bedroom.

Luo Zhishu was waiting in his room.

"I did it," Luo Ye said.

"What about your brother?"

"He ignored me."

"..."

"Mom, do I have to call him ‘brother’ from now on?"

Luo Zhishu paused for a moment and replied, "Of course."

"But I don’t like him."

"Is it because you think your brother dislikes you?" Luo Zhishu didn’t know how to explain this to a ten-year-old, and her words sounded hollow. "...You’ve only just met. When your brother sees how good you are, he’ll come to like you."

Luo Ye quietly observed his mother.

At times, he struggled to communicate with his mom. She clearly got what he was saying, but she always played dumb.

After a pause, he changed the subject and said, “I’m tired, Mom.”

“Alright,” Luo Zhishu gave him a quick hug, got up, and left the room, flicking off the light for Luo Ye before shutting the door.

The room was dimly lit by a small bedside lamp, which Luo Ye switched off after a moment.

He lay there, staring at the dark ceiling, thinking about his old, tiny home. He wasn’t nostalgic, just thought it was a bit better than now—at least there wasn’t that annoying brother next door.

But his mom liked the new dad and seemed to like this place too.

His teachers often called him mature for his age, but Luo Ye thought they were just clueless. Kids pretended to get stuff they didn’t, and adults pretended not to get stuff they did. To him, both were just plain weird.

After zoning out for a while, Luo Ye realized he was thirsty. He flicked on the bedside lamp and sat up slowly.

He’d rushed back today, so it was no surprise he’d missed some things. Xiang Yanming hadn’t mentioned where to get water. Luo Ye figured there probably wasn’t any on the second floor.

Maybe there was some downstairs.

With that thought, he got up, opened the door, and stepped out.

It was a summer night, and the bedroom window was open. Before Luo Ye could shut the door, a gust of wind from the window slammed it closed.

In the dead silence, the noise was jarring, and even Luo Ye jumped.

He instinctively looked toward Ji Mian’s room. The guy was impossible to deal with.

After a few seconds of silence, he turned back to hunt for water.

It was pitch black outside, with just a faint glow from somewhere lighting the way.

Luo Ye groped around the wall but couldn’t find the stairway light switch.

He gave up and was about to feel his way down—

Click!

The place lit up in an instant. The stairway lights flicked on one by one, lighting up the winding steps, blinding him for a second.

Luo Ye’s body stiffened.

He turned around and saw the tall, thin teenager who had somehow come out of the room, standing not far behind him, his finger pressing the switch on the wall. His red hair was particularly striking under the light.

“…”

Luo Ye thought that Ji Mian had been woken up by the sound of the door closing and had come out to pick a fight with him.

He wasn’t afraid of being scolded, but he didn’t want to be scolded either.

Luo Ye clutched his cup, keeping his cool as he looked at Ji Mian.

However, the annoying brother didn’t even bother to look at him.

Ji Mian walked past Luo Ye, not even giving him a glance, and went down the stairs alone.