Chapter 7 A-07

Chapter 7 A-07

Yun Qian, who was visiting relatives with his parents in a neighboring city, was still unaware that his future snack stash had been unilaterally claimed by his younger brother.

He maintained a stern expression, not particularly keen on conversing with these cousins.

Large families are invariably rife with drama and power struggles.

Yun Qian never experienced this in the Yun family, but he felt it acutely within his mother’s side of the family.

Male Cousin A: "My aunt and uncle are misguided. Yun He has lived with Yun Xiu for so many years; he’s definitely on his side. You’d better watch out—he might try to trip you up."

Male Cousin B: "If Yun Xiu bullies you and Yun He doesn’t intervene, just let us know. We’re family—we’ll certainly stand up for you!"

Female Cousin C: "No wonder Yun Xiu never fit in with us. He doesn’t even look like he belongs to either family. Turns out he truly isn’t one of us!"

Hearing this, Yun Qian’s patience snapped. He suddenly sneered, "What’s the point of talking behind his back? If you have something to say, say it in front of my parents. Besides, Xiu Xiu has been very good to me, and our relationship is excellent. Stop spreading rumors!"

Everyone present was from the younger generation of Yun Qian’s maternal family. The elders had arranged for them to spend time together, hoping Yun Qian would first get acquainted with his peers.

Yun Qian had no objection. He was afraid of awkwardness if he had to chat with unfamiliar elders. Little did he expect that none of these peers were good people. Every single one, the better ones tried to sow discord between Yun Xiu and him, while the worse ones tried to alienate Yun He from him.

If Yun Qian hadn’t already spent time with his two brothers, he might have truly come to resent them. Bringing up such topics at this critical moment—these "relatives" were undeniably malicious.

Male Cousin A: "We’re just speculating. Why are you so agitated?"

Male Cousin B: "We offer kindness, and you treat it with contempt. Don’t blame us later for not warning you!"

Female Cousin C, fearing trouble, remained silent but quietly appraised this cousin, as if weighing something.

Outnumbered, Yun Qian knew he couldn’t win an argument against so many people, so he simply left in a huff.

Mrs. Yun was in the main hall exchanging pleasantries with others. Seeing Yun Qian approach, she asked with concern, "What’s wrong? Did your cousins bully you?"

Yun Qian’s uncle’s smile stiffened briefly but quickly recovered, forcing a smile. "Who bullied Xiao Qian? Tell your uncle—I’ll teach them a lesson!"

Another uncle chimed in, "Exactly. They’ve all been spoiled at home. If they said something wrong, I’ll make them apologize to you."

Yun Qian glanced at his two uncles, then swept his eyes over his aunt, who wore the same expression. He shook his head. "It’s nothing. I’ve been out for too long and I’m a bit tired. I want to go home."

Yun’s father could tell his son was holding back. Politely, he said to his brother-in-law, "Since Xiao Qian is tired, and it’s getting late, we won’t impose any longer."

Yun Qian glanced outside at the still-bright sky and suddenly realized that speaking is an art.

He should have stayed calmer earlier and not argued with them. It might have caused trouble for his parents. But judging by his uncle’s attitude, it seemed they wouldn’t easily burn bridges with his family.

The uncle’s jaw twitched, and he forced an enthusiastic smile. "Alright, I suppose the little tyke will get anxious if he doesn’t see you two soon. I won’t keep you overnight. Is the flight arranged?"

Yun’s father smiled and nodded. "I just had the flight time adjusted. We’ll depart in half an hour."

When Yun Qian was called back, he hadn’t seen Yun’s father send any messages on his phone. The "just adjusted" was clearly pre-planned—they had intended to return ever since landing in City C.

The message was clear.

They brought Yun Qian here just for show, not even wanting to engage in prolonged pleasantries.

Realizing this, the uncle’s smile turned slightly twisted, but he had no choice but to go along with Yun’s father’s words. "So soon? I’ll have the driver bring the car around right away."

As he spoke, he even tasted a hint of coppery blood.

After seeing the Yun family off, the uncle swallowed the metallic taste in his mouth, as if engraving the humiliation deep into his bones.

He stood up, and the ingratiating smile he had forced vanished in an instant. "Call them all out. I want to know who ruined my plans!"

…

Yun Xiu went to the hospital in the morning, came back for breakfast, and then went back to bed for a nap.

When he woke up, his parents and second brother were already in the living room having lunch. Surprised to see him coming downstairs, they exclaimed, "Xiao Zai is home? We thought you went to the company with your big brother to play!"

"I don’t like work," Yun Xiu shook his head, speaking matter-of-factly. "I’m not cut out for managing a company. It’s enough that Big Brother and Second Brother work hard. Isn’t there a saying that as long as rich kids don’t start businesses, they’ll have endless money to spend? I’m that rich kid now!"

Mrs. Yun was amused by his words, and even Yun’s father shook his head with a laugh.

They didn’t think their son lacked ambition. Their goal was for their children to live happy, fulfilling lives. Besides, they saw nothing wrong with Yun Xiu’s "rich second generation" declaration.

This was good—it meant the three brothers wouldn’t fight over the family fortune like in other families.

Yun Xiu glanced outside. "Big Brother isn’t back for lunch?"

Mrs. Yun chided, "Your big brother never comes home for lunch. He finds it troublesome. I wanted you to show Second Brother around the house, but it seems you didn’t even know that!"

Yun Xiu smiled with a blush, sweet dimples appearing on his cheeks.

He really hadn’t known. He thought Yun He ate quickly and always managed to sneak home for a quick lunch when he wasn’t paying attention.

"By the way," Yun’s father suddenly remembered something, "Did Yun He forget to tell you? Our family is going back to the old mansion tomorrow evening to stay for a while, and we’re holding a banquet to introduce Xiao Qian."

After receiving confirmation, Yun’s father complained, "How could Yun He handle things like this? He can’t even remember such a small matter. Back in my day, I managed every little detail of the company—"

Mrs. Yun elbowed him in the side, cutting him off. "Yun He is already exhausted. Stop saying he’s incompetent, and don’t bring up your old war stories. Don’t forget, you had ten executives helping you run the company."

Yun’s father: "Ten is a bit much, but Yun He keeping only two is too few!"

The couple started bickering again.

Yun Xiu was long used to his parents’ good-natured arguing. In less than two minutes, Yun’s father would inevitably cave and apologize.

His mind wandered as he waited for Yun’s father’s humble admission of defeat. By chance, his eyes met Yun Qian’s.

Yun Qian seemed to have been watching him for a while. With downturned eyes and an almond-eyed gaze that looked cold when expressionless, his eyes curved into a smile after their gaze met—like a big dog finally getting attention, wanting to approach but not quite daring to.

Yun Xiu actually thought his second brother seemed a bit shy.

A strange thought.

Yun He hadn’t forgotten Yun’s father’s instructions. He’d been in a hurry to get to work in the morning and planned to tell Yun Xiu the news after lunch. But since Yun’s father had already mentioned it, it saved him the trouble.

The Yun family’s old mansion was located on a mountainside in the suburbs of the same city. The architecture was classic and majestic—a grand residence built when the Yun family first rose to prominence.

The family elder usually lived there. Except for important events requiring banquets, he allowed no one to disturb his peace unless there was a special occasion.

Yun Qian’s return counted as an important event.

The original host hadn’t visited the old mansion often. By the time he was born, the patriarch had already retired from managing affairs and lived a mostly reclusive life. Finding children too noisy, he never insisted they visit frequently.

Yun Xiu looked out the car window at the ornate architecture, which matched his memories almost perfectly. He marveled at how the Yun family could afford to build such a house decades ago—a testament to their wealth.

As soon as he entered, an elder took Yun Xiu aside to talk.

"Oh! Poor kiddo, let me see if you've lost weight. I talked to your mom about moving you to my family registry, but she insisted it wasn't necessary. If I’d known you had your own independent household register, I would’ve pushed harder!"

The elder's warm hands were patting and rubbing his head and face. Yun Xiu stared at the woman’s face for a long moment before matching her with the image of his aunt.

With his cheeks pinched, Yun Xiu said muffledly, "Auntie, I haven’t lost weight. I’ve grown up—stop pinching me!"

The aunt laughed heartily and kept right on pinching anyway.

Fortunately, his uncle, familiar with his sister’s temperament, followed closely behind and managed to rescue the little one.

Compared to the aunt’s cheerful enthusiasm, the uncle appeared quite steady, merely patting Yun Xiu’s shoulder. Behind his glasses, his narrow eyes held a faint smile. "You’ve grown taller, but you still need to eat more. You’re too thin."

Yun Xiu had never experienced such effortless family intimacy before and felt momentarily at a loss, stammering, "Okay, thank you, Uncle."

Yun Qian took in the whole scene, meeting the aunt’s excited gaze. After a brief pause, he turned away and pretended not to notice.

At first, he felt a little envious of his younger brother, but after witnessing his ordeal, he decided such attention was better off without it.

The aunt’s love was a bit overwhelming.

There were no young children in the main hall. After chatting with his uncle for a while, Yun Xiu noticed how pitifully his second brother was being tormented by the aunt and led him to the side hall.

Good news: it was where the younger generation of the Yun family gathered.

Bad news: the Yun family patriarch was also there.

Here's some background on the Yun family’s relatives.

Most families get confused about who's who during family gatherings, but the Yun family’s relationships are much simpler. Sometimes, if someone is working overtime, the seats aren’t even fully occupied.

They seem to have a tendency toward devoted relationships—those recorded in the family tree either have only one lifelong partner, refusing to remarry after being widowed, or remain unmarried and live alone until old age.

As a result, the Yun family has always had a decent-sized but not huge family.

In the earlier generation, the eldest brother was devoted to academics, the second sister was obsessed with art, and Yun’s father never liked studying. The Yun family patriarch almost went gray-haired from worry when selecting an heir.

Unable to correct the two older ones, the patriarch had to make do with drilling Yun’s father. During his tenure, Yun’s father hired several professionals to assist with management, and the Yun family fortunately lasted until Yun He came along.

Having learned from the mistake of not personally teaching his children, the patriarch had Yun He brought to the old estate for lessons at the age of three.

Yun He’s cousins weren’t spared either. It wasn’t until Yun He demonstrated exceptional financial talent that the others’ course loads got a bit easier.

But lighter didn’t mean nonexistent. They had been attending the small classes for as long as they could remember, and reporting to the patriarch remained a source of anxiety for the younger generation of the Yun family.

Yun Xiu couldn’t recall how the original person had managed to skip the small classes—there were no related memories. As he led his second brother into the side hall and saw his eldest brother standing in front of the patriarch, speaking with a handsome and calm profile, he froze.

Just as the patriarch was about to glance their way, a hand pulled both of them into a corner, saving them from getting called up to report.

In the corner was a small round table with four chairs around it. A teapot on the table was steaming, the distinct aroma of black tea wafting through the air.

Yun Xiu recognized the person who pulled them as the eldest son of his uncle’s family—their eldest cousin.

The eldest cousin wasn't trying to act all dignified like an older brother should. He looked even more nervous than the others but didn’t forget to share his experience: "Why did you two just wander in like fools? Be careful, or Grandpa will call you over. Dinner isn’t far off—try to buy as much time as possible!"