Yu Qingyue glared at Yu Wanlai through gritted teeth: “You’re up this early, planning to go out?”

Yu Wanlai, who was drinking porridge with his head lowered, was confused. What kind of question was this? “?? Don’t I have to go to work?”

Yu Qingyue was instantly speechless. It wasn’t that Yu Wanlai was used to lying—his brain was just broken. “…Fine, then go ahead.”

There are always fools, but how come he never noticed that this person was so foolish before?

Yu Wanlai swallowed the porridge in his mouth and blinked at Yu Qingyue. “What about you?”

Yu Qingyue, having finished his last bite of fried egg, stood up and went upstairs. He wasn’t planning to talk to Yu Wanlai anymore—he was really too stupid.

After finishing breakfast, Yu Wanlai sat in the downstairs living room, waiting for a long time. Since he had returned with Yu Qingyue yesterday, his car was still at the company. But he waited and waited, and no one came downstairs. He raised his head to look at the second floor, which was still silent.

He took out his phone to check the time, only to realize the lock screen clearly displayed “Saturday.”

Yu Wanlai: So that’s why… no wonder his dear little brother had such a subtle expression earlier—he had been treating him like an idiot all along.

Yu Wanlai stood up and quickly ran upstairs to find him. “Knock knock—” A series of knocks sounded on the door. Inside, Yu Qingyue was unbuttoning his pajamas to change clothes. Hearing the sound, he turned irritably and glared at the door, as if trying to burn a hole through it.

He walked over, yanked the door open, grabbed the doorframe with one hand, and looked impatient. “What now?”

Seeing Yu Qingyue standing behind the door with his collar half open, Yu Wanlai awkwardly withdrew his hand, smiling and saying, “Ah, you’re getting dressed, huh? Where are you going? Isn’t today Saturday…?”

Yu Qingyue rolled his eyes at him: Did he finally realize he didn’t have to work today? With an expression as if to say “Your mom raised you this big, it couldn’t have been easy,” Yu Wanlai felt his scalp tingle under the look.

The silence stretched in the air. Yu Wanlai spoke again, “How about taking your brother with you? Are you going out to have fun?” He had thought about it, and figured the best cure for his troubled dreams was to see the ‘normal’ version of Yu Qingyue a few more times to suppress that menacing figure in his dreams, otherwise he’d lose his mind.

Yu Qingyue admitted that maybe he had some biases against Yu Wanlai. Perhaps he had misunderstood him in the past, and maybe he had changed, but no matter what, he didn’t think they were at the point where they could go out for a leisurely stroll and chat over coffee together. His entire expression said “no,” and his tone was cold and emotionless. “Not taking you. You’re an adult, figure it out yourself.”

Sure enough, he was rejected. Yu Wanlai fought back, pulling out his trump card. “I won’t bother you. You misunderstood me before, and I got hit by Dad because of you, but I didn’t hold it against you, so just take me with you?”

Yu Qingyue, who was in the wrong on this matter, stayed silent for a while, then lifted his head to look at Yu Wanlai. Ignoring the expectation in his eyes, he spoke coldly, “It was Dad who hit you, so you can ask him to take you out.”

Without giving Yu Wanlai a chance to rebut, Yu Qingyue slammed the door shut with a “bang.”

Yu Wanlai touched his nose and dejectedly returned to his room. Well, he had already known that the male lead was hard to get along with, but this was a bit much, right? How could his guilt disappear so quickly?

Back in his room, Yu Wanlai saw the guitar on the balcony and suddenly his eyes lit up. He’d been so busy lately that he hadn’t played in a long time. He used to play regularly at a bar, but after months of not touching it, he wasn’t sure if his skills had regressed.

He went downstairs again and asked Wang Ma if there was a music room or any instruments at home. Surprised by the question, Wang Ma looked at him, then out the window to confirm that the sun was still up, before answering, “Yes, there’s one. It’s at the end of the hallway on the left side of the basement—piano, violin, and some other miscellaneous instruments. Young Master used to learn them when he was little, but they haven’t been used in a long time.”

Yu Wanlai: …If he had known, he would have just asked about this when he first arrived. His guitar seemed like a waste now. He had only used it for a few days, and since he bought it himself, it couldn’t compare to the quality of the instruments the Young Master of the Yu family had.

So, he spent most of the weekend in the music room. He planned to continue working on the sheet music and songs he had created in his previous world. Although his situation seemed to have improved, in case he couldn’t return to his original world, he wanted to have something to rely on. Unlike the original person, who was smart enough to compete with the male lead for the family fortune, once he had cleared his name, he planned to move out and completely distance himself from these people.

Yu Qingyue enjoyed a couple of quiet days. One afternoon, Bai Yi came to visit, and as they were talking, they suddenly heard the sound of a violin playing in the distance. It was autumn, and winter was approaching, so the basement, with no sunlight, was cold and gloomy. Yu Wanlai had taken the violin to the small pavilion in the backyard to play.

Compared to loud, energetic rock music, he preferred the elegant and refined sound of the violin or piano. In the afternoon, the sun was just right, and the pavilion was surrounded by yellow-green vines. The thick leaves blocked most of the sunlight, with just a few rays piercing through the gaps, gently lighting up the wooden chairs. It wasn’t too glaring, but warm and comforting.

Yu Wanlai closed his eyes, immersing himself completely in the music. Bai Yi opened the window, stepped onto the balcony, and bent over to look down. He was shocked and widened his eyes. He waved desperately at Yu Qingyue to come over.

Yu Qingyue had a speechless expression, looking at Yu Wanlai as if he had seen a ghost during the day. Following Bai Yi’s line of sight, Yu Qingyue was also surprised by the scene in front of him. However, he was much calmer than Bai Yi because he had seen Yu Wanlai playing the violin before.

At that time, the surrounding environment wasn’t as peaceful as now, and he wasn’t close either. Now that he listened carefully in the quiet, he realized Yu Wanlai played quite well.

Bai Yi’s face was filled with disbelief. “Wow, that black-hearted illegitimate child of your family can even play the violin?!”

Yu Qingyue frowned. Was he always speaking like this? Why did it sound so unpleasant? He snorted lightly. “Tsk, why are you suddenly speaking so loudly? Or do you want to go downstairs and ask him in person?”

He glanced down at Yu Wanlai.

Yu Wanlai, hearing the rustling noise above, looked up towards the sound and saw Yu Qingyue and the annoying person from last time. He lightly waved his violin bow in a small gesture, greeting Yu Qingyue.

Yu Qingyue’s ears turned red at that moment. He wasn’t sure why he felt guilty when Bai Yi spoke badly of him. He turned and went back inside, trying hard to ignore the violin music that began again shortly after.

“Can you close the window?” Yu Qingyue said impatiently to the person on the balcony.

Bai Yi pouted, closed the window, and went back inside. The sound of the violin became much quieter.

“I’m just shocked. I didn’t even know he could play the violin. I can’t even play… and he looks pretty decent while doing it,” Bai Yi said. When he was a kid, his fingers were callused from practicing, but his father once told him he looked like he was slaughtering pigs. Since then, he never touched an instrument again.

Then Bai Yi suddenly looked at Yu Qingyue. Yu Qingyue felt uncomfortable under his gaze and stepped back. Bai Yi spoke, “I remember you learned an instrument for quite some time when you were younger. How about it? Do you think you can beat him? You’re the legitimate young master of the Yu family. How could you lose to an illegitimate child?”

The way Bai Yi looked at him was as if all the hopes of life were on him. Yu Qingyue suddenly felt burdened and, after a moment, got defensive, “Whether or not I’m the Yu family’s young master, what does that have to do with playing the violin? Stop setting me up like that!”

Yu Qingyue continued, “And why does your speech sound so unpleasant now? Calling him an illegitimate child all the time… I remember your precious little sister is also…”

Realizing he said the wrong thing, Yu Qingyue stopped mid-sentence, glanced at Bai Yi’s face, and seeing he wasn’t offended, felt relieved.

Bai Yi looked at him with a betrayed expression, his eyes wide open. “Didn’t you always say that? And my sister is soft and obedient. How could she be compared to him?” Though he hadn’t seen his sister for a long time.

Yu Qingyue lightly coughed. “Anyway, don’t say that in the future. It’s awkward living together every day…”

Bai Yi clutched his heart dramatically. “Yue Yue, you’ve changed. I’m no longer your favorite little treasure!”

Yu Qingyue retreated a few steps in disgust and pushed Bai Yi away. “You’re so disgusting.”

After waking up, Yu Wanlai, as usual, opened the curtains, and immediately the cold air from outside rushed in, making him shiver. When he looked outside, he saw that the ground and flowerbeds were covered with a thick layer of snow.

He opened the window to breathe in some fresh air and stretched lazily. Then, when he turned his head, he found Yu Qingyue standing on the nearby balcony. He raised his hand, squinting, and said, “Hi, good morning, brother~.”

Yu Qingyue glanced at him, dressed in only a thin shirt and pants, smiling foolishly. He furrowed his brows. Why did this person seem… more and more…

Yu Qingyue didn’t want to look at him anymore. He quickly averted his gaze and said, “Don’t think you can pretend to be sick and not go to work! You’re acting like an idiot.”

He slammed the window shut and went back to his room.

Yu Wanlai pouted. “Why is he scolding me so early?”

In the dining room, Yu Qingyue glanced at Qin Shuang for the third time that morning. He had subtly hinted to his father several times, but Yu Cheng hadn’t responded.

After thinking for a while, Yu Qingyue slowly asked, “Mom, did you not sleep well last night? Did you have another argument with Dad? Your face looks really bad, and…” He paused. “You also have dark circles under your eyes.”

Yu Wanlai, sitting across, was startled and accidentally dropped his spoon, making a loud clink as it hit the bowl. It interrupted what Yu Qingyue was about to say.

Yu Qingyue was distracted by the noise and looked at Yu Wanlai with a questioning expression. Yu Wanlai gave an awkward smile.

He felt guilty because of his PTSD, but fortunately, Yu Qingyue didn’t immediately question him, asking if he had done something wrong or “warning” him.