At exactly 10 p.m., Jiang Yi lay on his father’s shoulder in the living room of the Lu residence, his eyes red and swollen. He sniffled occasionally, his cheeks still wet with tear stains, and whimpered, “Dad, I want to go home…”

He looked utterly pitiful, his black eyelashes damp with tears, and his voice choked with sobs, sounding both sad and subdued. Jiang’s father gently patted his back, his heart aching as he repeatedly reassured his son.

Lu Ting personally escorted Jiang’s father and Jiang Yi to the door, apologizing with a hint of helplessness in his voice. “I’m sorry, Lao Jiang. I’ll have Arno apologize properly to Xiao Yi tomorrow…”

Jiang’s father quickly waved his hand, not daring to accept such an offer. The Lu family was at the top of the social hierarchy, and many people would bend over backward to curry favor with them. Even though his heart ached for his son being scared to tears, he would never dare to actually ask the young master of the Lu family to apologize to his own child.

As Jiang Yi lay on his father’s shoulder, his tears gradually subsided. His nose was red, his black hair stuck to his pale cheeks, and he sniffled while politely but sorrowfully saying through his tears, “Goodbye, Uncle.”

Lu Ting’s heart softened. He thought to himself that if his own son would obediently say something like this to him, he would not hesitate to pull down the stars or even the moon to give to him. Unfortunately, Arno always greeted him with nothing but a scowl.

By the time Jiang’s father returned home with Jiang Yi, it was nearly 10:30 p.m. Jiang Yi had fallen asleep on his father’s shoulder, his eyelashes still wet with tears.

After preparing the bath, Jiang’s father gently woke Jiang Yi up and helped him bathe. As he washed Jiang Yi’s hair, he asked if Arno had pushed him or done anything else to bully him.

Jiang Yi sat quietly in the bathtub, playing with a rubber duck, and honestly replied, “No.”

Jiang’s father was puzzled. In his memory, Jiang Yi had always been a well-behaved child who rarely cried or fussed. If there was no bullying, why had he cried so much earlier?

Jiang Yi squeezed water out of the rubber duck, looking glum as he muttered, “He wouldn’t let me go home.”

Feeling a bit aggrieved, Jiang Yi continued in a small voice, “The kindergarten teacher said we shouldn’t argue and should reason things out. I tried to reason with him, but he ignored me.”

Jiang’s father couldn’t help but chuckle. “Arno doesn’t understand Chinese. No matter how much you tried to reason with him, he wouldn’t know what you were talking about.”

Jiang Yi blinked in confusion, staring at the rubber duck floating on the water. “Oh, right.”

Realizing the reason behind the crying, Jiang’s father breathed a sigh of relief. Jiang Yi had been born prematurely, weighing just over three pounds at birth. He had hovered at death’s door in the early days, narrowly escaping death several times.

Because his health had always been fragile, Jiang Yi rarely went outside and had few playmates his age. He wasn’t very familiar with the outside world, and Jiang’s father worried that Jiang Yi might not be able to tell the difference between bullying and playing, potentially leaving him with emotional scars without even realizing it.

But now that he understood what had happened, Jiang’s father felt much more at ease. He quickly finished washing Jiang Yi and dried his hair.

Meanwhile, back at the Lu residence, on the second floor, a boy in pajamas stood on the spiral staircase, gripping the railing tightly, his lips pressed together in a frown. He looked rather dejected.

Lu Ting had told Arno, who was upstairs, that Jiang Yi had already left with his father. Arno stood there for a long time before finally coming downstairs to ask in a low voice, “Dad, will he come again tomorrow?”

Lu Ting paused for a moment before replying in English, “Maybe he will, maybe he won’t.”

“But if you’re willing to apologize to him, I think he won’t be mad anymore, and he might come back.”

Lu Ting then added, with a feigned regret, “But I remember you don’t know how to speak Chinese.”

“Arno, your friend won’t understand your apology. How can he forgive you? What a pity.”

“But don’t worry. Your friend is so cute, he’ll probably have many other Chinese friends who like him. You don’t need to worry about him being lonely without you.”

Arno’s face changed instantly. He widened his blue eyes and firmly said, “No.”

Lu Ting watched as Arno, dressed in his pajamas and hugging a pillow, looked both angry and frustrated.

Smiling, Lu Ting said in English, “Alright, go to bed now. I think Jiang Yi will come back tomorrow. Whether he forgives you or not depends on you, Arno.”

Arno sulked as he went upstairs.

Lu Ting waved to the butler, instructing him to place a simple Chinese vocabulary book with a reading pen in Arno’s room.

The butler was puzzled. He knew that, in an effort to get Arno to learn Chinese, there were many such vocabulary books with reading pens available. However, Arno had never bothered to even open one. He usually just tossed them aside, not bothering to pay them any attention.

But seeing Lu Ting’s expression, the butler followed orders.

At 11:30 p.m., the Lu residence was quiet.

On the second floor, Arno’s bedroom was dark with the lights off.

Inside the room, after confirming that the butler wasn’t outside the door, Arno cautiously turned on his bedside lamp, tiptoed to the coffee table, and started searching for something.

After a few minutes, his eyes lit up as he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a book from the coffee table, hugged it tightly, and tiptoed back to his bed.

Under the covers, with the blanket over his head, Arno used a small flashlight to illuminate the pages as he flipped through the simple Chinese vocabulary book, using the reading pen to point at the Chinese words next to the English translations.

“Ni hao, Hello.”

“Xie xie, Thank you.”

“Zai jian, Goodbye.”

Frowning, Arno skipped word after word until he finally found the one he wanted on the third page.

“Sorry, Dui bu qi.”

His eyes sparkled as he repeatedly used the reading pen to tap on the word, memorizing it by heart. After practicing several times, he was finally satisfied and secretly put the book back in its place.

The next day, Jiang’s father assumed that Lu Ting’s comment about having Arno apologize to Jiang Yi was just a polite formality.

He continued to think so until he arrived at work.

It wasn’t until he heard Lu Ting personally tell him that he hoped Jiang Yi could visit the Lu residence again so that Arno could apologize properly that Jiang’s father was completely taken aback.

Soon after, he quickly declined, saying that what happened yesterday was just a normal part of children’s play. There was no need for the young master to apologize.

But Lu Ting was surprisingly insistent. Not only had he prepared a thank-you gift for yesterday, but he also had a compensation gift ready for today. He even sent the butler to personally bring Jiang Yi over.

After hesitating for a while, Jiang’s father finally agreed. Meanwhile, back at the Lu residence, the butler had already brought Jiang Yi to the second floor, where he had heard “sorry” repeated more than thirty times.

Sitting on the carpet, Jiang Yi was bewildered, starting to wonder if he had gone too far yesterday, causing Arno to repeatedly and enthusiastically apologize to him in Chinese over thirty times.

In his understanding, “sorry” was a word used to express significant regret. It was typically used when someone had done something really bad, like fighting or causing trouble at kindergarten, and the teacher would make both parties say “sorry.”

For Arno to keep saying “sorry” to him, Jiang Yi thought there must be something wrong with his own behavior.

When he wanted to go to the bathroom, Arno would seriously say “sorry,” so Jiang Yi felt too embarrassed and held it in.

When he wanted to drink water, Arno would say “sorry” again, so Jiang Yi silently decided not to drink anymore.

For a full hour, every time Jiang Yi stood up or showed any sign of wanting to leave, Arno would immediately say “sorry.”

Jiang Yi was feeling overwhelmed.

But Arno was quite happy.

He believed he had found the perfect way to communicate with Jiang Yi. The Chinese language was so rich, and with just one word, “sorry,” he could convey so many different meanings.

He thought there was no need to learn any more Chinese. With just one word, he could communicate well with Jiang Yi.

If he didn’t want Jiang Yi to go home, he just needed to say “sorry.”

Now it seemed that “sorry” was indeed an excellent Chinese phrase.

Arno’s eyes sparkled as he said, “I’ll get another chessboard. Wait for me.”

To make sure Jiang Yi understood better, Arno even added “sorry” at the end.

Jiang Yi, with a trembling lower lip, reluctantly put his leg back down after hearing that word.

Delighted, Arno ran to another room to fetch a new chessboard.

Downstairs, a teenage boy in a tracksuit was on the phone. As he climbed the stairs, he said into the phone, “I’m here, I’m here. Don’t worry. I’m Arno’s cousin, after all. Of course, I

will take good care of him.”

Lu Xiao, a middle school student, hung up the phone as he casually followed the butler up to the second floor. He still had his school bag slung over one shoulder. His parents had asked him to visit the Lu residence right after school to spend time with his cousin, who had just returned from abroad.

Apparently, this little cousin had been causing quite a bit of trouble because he wasn’t adjusting well to life in the country. The Lu family believed that it would be good for their younger relatives to spend more time with him.

When he reached the door of the second-floor bedroom, Lu Xiao quickly adjusted his expression, putting on a friendly smile as he prepared to meet his cousin for the first time.

The butler opened the door, and the first thing Lu Xiao saw was a small, black-haired child sitting on the carpet, looking especially cute and well-behaved. The child turned his big, watery eyes to look at him.

In an instant, Lu Xiao’s heart melted. He rushed over, scooped the child into his arms, and gave him a big, affectionate kiss.

“Arno! Do you remember your big brother?”

The butler was stunned.

Jiang Yi was stunned.Standing at the doorway with a new chessboard in his hand, Arno’s blue eyes widened in shock, and he bristled with anger.