Duan Chunshui spent two days dozing off intermittently in the dormitory. By the third morning, just as dawn broke, he finally felt well-rested.

His phone was out of battery, so he plugged it in to charge. As soon as it powered on, a flood of messages popped up, most of them from Ji Chunhua.

[You get along so well with Gu Yongsheng, huh?]

[Oh, is he just your type of cousin?]

[I knew it. You’ve never liked me since we were kids.]

[Duan Chunshui, from now on, we’re no longer cousins!]

.…..

He didn’t reply. After getting up and tidying himself, he took a taxi back to the Ji family’s old estate.

At that hour, many young people were still asleep, but Ren Xi was already bringing him a bowl of warm porridge.

She gently placed a lightweight cashmere coat over Duan Chunshui, saying, “The temperature dropped today. Why are you only wearing a T-shirt this early in the morning?”

The freshly cooked porridge wafted its warm aroma to his face. His eyes seemed softened in the steam as he replied gently, “I’m warm-blooded, not cold.”

“You really need someone who knows how to care for you,” Ren Xi said, her maternal instincts kicking in. 

She sat down beside him and started peeling a boiled egg for him. “That incident was bizarre—imagine, we were fooled by that con artist into thinking he was our biological son.”

Duan Chunshui replied, “He was just an excellent liar.”

Then he asked, “Did Ji Chunhua nag you all again?”

Ren Xi chuckled. “Don’t even mention it. Thinking back, he must have been livid those few days. He’s never experienced such humiliation—it must’ve felt like the sky was falling for him!”

“But he’s fine now. His agent picked him up last night to take him to some variety show,” Ren Xi said. 

“It seems to involve kids, and they even asked if I could bring Zhu Zhu along.”

“It’s not a kids’ show,” Ji Chunshan said, coming down the stairs and joining the conversation. 

“It’s a family-oriented variety show where participants bring relatives. He even said Duan Chunshui would never accompany him, so I should clear my schedule to appear as his top-tier idol older brother.”

“No, it’s a dating show,” Ji Mingkun chimed in, poking his head out of the kitchen while holding a ladle. 

“It’s one of those shows where they pair up contestants for romance.”

The mention of these variety shows sounded vaguely familiar to Duan Chunshui—perhaps they were popular, and he’d overheard someone talking about them before. But since he wasn’t into watching variety shows, he didn’t have much to say and just gave a nonchalant “Hmm.”

Seeing Ji Mingkun trying to join their conversation from the kitchen, Ren Xi immediately put on her stern face. “Why are you out here? It’s already late, and breakfast isn’t ready yet. What will the kids eat before work if they don’t have a nutritious meal?”

The dutiful Ji Mingkun retreated back to the kitchen, mumbling in agreement to finish cooking.

“……”

Duan Chunshui’s expression stiffened momentarily. It was unclear what he was thinking, but two seconds later, he firmly resumed eating his porridge.

The Ji family’s chef, who had decades of experience, delivered breakfast with both speed and quality. After enjoying a nutritious and delicious meal, Duan Chunshui and Ji Chunshan headed out for work together.

Lazy to drive himself, Duan Chunshui hitched a ride with Ji Chunshan, as usual. This time, Ji Chunshan didn’t take the chauffeur-driven car to pick him up but personally drove a car from the garage. He first dropped Duan Chunshui at his workplace.

“I’ve heard about the novel invasion incident. Why didn’t anyone from your department come to talk to me about it?”

Ji Chunshan said while driving. “Your department should have a crisis management team, right? Otherwise, the novel invasion would’ve been all over the news by now.”

“I didn’t let them come,” Duan Chunshui replied. “You don’t need to get involved.”

Ji Chunshan smirked as he smoothly turned the steering wheel. The car moved steadily yet swiftly. His smile widened faster than the car’s speed as he glanced into the rearview mirror. “And why don’t I need to get involved?”

Duan Chunshui raised his eyes to glance at him, tapped a few times on his phone, and remained silent.

When Ji Chunshan didn’t get a response, he assumed it was Duan Chunshui’s way of expressing trust in him as an older brother. Thinking Duan Chunshui was too embarrassed to answer, Ji Chunshan was about to tease him when a familiar voice suddenly played from the phone.

“If you want to take the bus, I’ll just buy it for you so you won’t have to deal with other people.”

“I offered to buy you a private jet, and you wouldn’t take it. I bought you a Ferrari, and you…”

Ji Chunshan’s smile vanished instantly.

The voice from the phone continued. Ji Chunshan quickly interrupted, “Uh, Chunshui, your department’s salary is too low, isn’t it? It’s not enough for you. Let me transfer 10 million for pocket money.”

“And about the Lincoln and Rolls-Royce you drove to work the other night—since the cars are already bought, why not just use them for your department? You all seem to travel frequently for work. Consider them a sponsorship.”

Duan Chunshui lightly tapped his phone, and the playback stopped.

Ji Chunshan turned unusually obedient, serving as a responsible driver for his cousin all the way to the workplace.

Duan Chunshui thanked him upon getting out of the car, but before he could walk away, Ji Chunshan said wistfully, “When you were a kid, you used to hug my leg and call me ‘brother’ so sweetly.”

Duan Chunshui glanced back at his face, naturally exuding an aristocratic and aloof aura, and let out a sigh. “And just a few days ago, you made a fool of yourself in public just to make me laugh.”

“……”

The car quickly disappeared from sight. From the car’s speed and handling, it seemed Ji Chunshan could very well become a professional racer.

“He smiled! He actually smiled!”

“Damn it, looks like I won’t be scolded after all!”

“Sleep really works wonders. Someone make sure our Captain gets plenty more of it!”

At the second-floor railing of the Novel Crisis Management Bureau, members of Team Three looked down into the lobby and saw Duan Chunshui walk in, smiling.