Half an hour later, Yu Nian, Pei Zhao, and Yu Xinli were all sitting at the table having dinner.

There were only three of them, and they didn’t go to the long table in the living room. The servant set up a small round table on the balcony on the second floor. The autumn night wasn’t too cold, perfect for enjoying the moon.

At the round table, Yu Nian felt a bit uncomfortable.

Especially before he ran away from home, he had a big fight with Yu Xinli. In a fit of anger, they both said some hurtful things.

Now, neither of them bowed their heads to reconcile, pretending as if that incident didn’t exist, somewhat awkwardly.

Yu Xinli seemed natural enough. She wasn’t very talkative to begin with, and she didn’t talk much at the dinner table.

But Yu Nian still felt a bit uneasy. Normally, he was like a magpie, chirping all the time, but now he was silent and restrained, quietly sitting at the table eating.

Fortunately, there was Pei Zhao between the two of them. Since childhood, Pei Zhao had been the mediator between the two, being the gentlest and the oldest brother.

He kept sizing up Yu Nian. Like Yu Xinli, he felt that Yu Nian had lost weight. He picked up a piece of crispy duck and, in a roundabout way, asked Yu Nian, “Have you had any interesting experiences in the past two months outside? Are you getting along well with your colleagues at the restaurant? Actually, I happened to pass by your restaurant once, but you weren’t there. I just looked around outside.”

Yu Nian blinked.

He didn’t expect his brother to have specifically visited.

“It’s pretty good,” he swallowed the pumpkin in his mouth and wiped his mouth. “I’m younger over there, and my colleagues are more accommodating to me.”

He counted on his fingers, “The head chef is a tall sister who often helps me out and makes sweet potato roasted egg milk for me. The boss is also very nice, just a little absent-minded. There are also two staff members who are two years older than me, named Xiao Gu and Chu Hejun. The three of us often watch movies and play games together, and we order takeout together.”

“And there’s another person who I’m closest to, who happens to live next door to me, my neighbor…” When Yu Nian got to this point, the smile on his face inexplicably deepened a bit, but afraid that Yu Xinli and Pei Zhao would notice something, he immediately restrained himself and said vaguely, “He’s the coffee maker in our shop, makes delicious coffee, and often takes care of me in life.”

Pei Zhao and Yu Xinli exchanged a glance, not suspicious, but because they knew who Yu Nian was talking about.

Song Yunchun conscientiously reported to them regularly whether Yu Nian was happy or not. She mentioned arranging a staff member in the shop to look after him, who happened to live next door to Yu Nian and could lend a hand with anything in life.

Yu Xinli was quite satisfied with this.

Now hearing Yu Nian say this, she even felt that this employee was “the best friend,” and she felt a little more relieved.

But looking at Yu Nian’s innocent and ignorant face, she sighed inwardly.

It’s easy to deceive, she thought lightly, not knowing who she was referring to. Yu Nian said this neighbor was as easy going as Pei Zhao, but not as clear-headed as Pei Zhao.

Why did he come to take care of him? Just because he’s cute and likes to act cute, or is it because of the boss’s request?

But she shook her head and didn’t expose the matter.

Pei Zhao also smiled, his expression unchanged. He took a sip of soup, calmly saying, “Then I can rest assured. After all, you’re only eighteen years old, and you haven’t lived outside before. I always worry that you’ll be wronged outside and won’t tell us. As long as you’re happy, that’s good.”

Yu Nian felt a bit embarrassed by the mention of his runaway from home, after all, it was his own impulsiveness that led to it.

He kept his head down and drank his soup silently.

Fortunately, Pei Zhao didn’t intend to lecture him about it and smoothly changed the subject.

“I heard you got a part-time job as a piano tutor the other day. What age group are the kids you teach? And juggling two jobs, isn’t that exhausting?” Pei Zhao brought up another topic casually.

Yu Nian immediately perked up again and shook his head, “No, it’s not. I’m just accompanying them, not giving actual lessons, so there’s no pressure. The student I teach is just two years younger than me, and his uncle is often around when I’m there. They are all quite cultured, and we get along well.”

He thought for a moment, then took out his phone and showed Pei Zhao a photo. “Look, this is when we were practicing piano together, and his uncle took the photo.”

Pei Zhao leaned in with interest to take a look, even Yu Xinli turned her head to look at Yu Nian’s phone.

However, when Pei Zhao saw the photo, he couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows slightly.

The reason was simple. In the photo, sitting next to Yu Nian was Zhang Yunyao, who was also handsome and elegant, with a demeanor that could attract the attention of young girls at school.

Although Pei Zhao knew that Yu Nian liked boys, he didn’t know which side his brother belonged to. Seeing such a boy leaning against Yu Nian, he couldn’t help but speculate a bit more.

But he didn’t say anything and just smiled, “He does seem quite refined.”

“Yes,” Yu Nian obliviously put away his phone, happily saying, “I just went to accompany him to practice the piano. I thought he was a bit arrogant at first, but after spending some time together, I found out he just has a bit of a temper, but he’s actually kind-hearted.”

Pei Zhao nodded with interest, continuing to watch Yu Nian, but he made a mental note of this matter.

Yu Nian continued to share with Pei Zhao, chatting about their plans to organize a butler-themed coffee event in their shop.

Just then, the spoon in Yu Nian’s bowl lightly clinked.

He looked down and found that there was a crab in his bowl that he hadn’t noticed before, already neatly disassembled with the roe picked out and the legs separated.

Turning his head, he noticed his sister, who never did such things, was wiping her hands. Next to her was the crab disassembly tool, with a calm expression as if the extra crab in his bowl had nothing to do with her.

Yu Nian couldn’t help but stop talking, staring blankly at Yu Xinli.

Yu Xinli felt uncomfortable under his gaze and glanced at him, her tone indifferent, “What are you looking at.”

Yu Nian finally snapped out of it.

After so many years of being siblings, he also understood his sister. He knew this was Yu Xinli’s roundabout way of showing concern.

He smiled and picked up the crab from his bowl to eat.

The balcony door silently opened, and the maid quietly brought out dessert after dinner.

Yu Xinli uncovered the white lid on the bowl, blew on the hot steam, and scooped up a spoonful of tangerine peel red bean paste.

She said softly, “I don’t understand you. What’s good about being outside? When you’re outside, you have to rely on yourself for everything. Let’s see who will peel crabs for you.”

Though it sounded like scolding, there was more helplessness in her tone.

Yu Nian couldn’t help but chuckle.

He thought to himself, peel crabs? He barely had the chance to eat hairy crabs.

But he couldn’t say that. He was quite happy gnawing on grilled rice balls himself, but if his brother and sister knew, they would definitely feel sorry for him.

So he just obediently buried his head and ate the red bean paste, not saying a word.

Seeing his brother’s helplessness, Yu Xinli exchanged a glance with Pei Zhao.

Pei Zhao shook his head at her.

Yu Xinli didn’t bother to say more. Teaching Yu Nian was better left to Pei Zhao; she was done with it.

---

After dinner, Yu Nian, full and content, lay back in the chair to digest.

Naturally, he would spend the night in this small villa today, though he couldn’t help but think about Qi Wang. He wondered what he was doing tonight.

But he rarely came back home, and if he left after just one or two hours, his brother and sister would definitely wonder and might even think he still disliked being at home.

Yu Nian opened his phone, scrolled through his WeChat list, hesitating whether to send Qi Wang a message. Just as he was thinking, someone sat down on the chair next to him.

He turned his head and saw his brother sitting there with a tray, smiling at him. “Want some milk tea? It’s not too sweet.”

Yu Nian leaned over to take a look and saw rose and jasmine milk tea. He hesitated for a moment, then chose the bottle of rose milk tea.

It had more milk than tea inside, so it wouldn’t keep him up at night. Yu Nian could tell it was made by his brother.

It was strange. His brother was obviously from an aristocratic family with deep roots on his mother’s side. He should have been raised to be a gentleman proficient in the six arts.

Pei Zhao was indeed outstanding, knowledgeable, and cultured, but he strangely enjoyed cooking and gardening. His sister even built a glass greenhouse at home just for his hobbies.

Pei Zhao took a sip of the jasmine milk tea and asked Yu Nian, “Are you happy to come back today?”

Yu Nian was taken aback for a moment.

After hesitating for a while, he nodded honestly, “Yes, I am.”

Pei Zhao felt slightly relieved.

After that, he didn’t speak for a while, just gazing out into the courtyard through the window, lost in thought.

Yu Nian could tell that his brother wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with him but wasn’t sure what to talk about, so he just stayed quietly by his side.

After a while, he heard Pei Zhao put down the glass cup and softly asked him, “Yu Nian, you’ve been outside for over two months now. Have you ever thought about coming back?”

Yu Nian was startled and looked up at his brother.

Pei Zhao’s eyes were as clear as water. He didn’t resemble Yu Nian much, taking after his own mother, who was once a famous beauty. Pei Zhao inherited her delicate features and composed demeanor.

He looked at Yu Nian with a hint of melancholy, making it easy for people to soften their hearts and difficult to refuse him.

Yu Nian didn’t know how to respond to this.

Moving out of the house was his way of protesting against the family.

He had just come of age, and although he had a share of the Yu family inheritance, compared to Yu Xinli and Pei Zhao, he was practically powerless.

Apart from expressing his attitude in this way, he couldn’t do anything else.

Now, although he had been away for two months, if he just obediently moved back home at the family’s call, what would be the point of all the fuss? It would be nothing more than a joke.

So he could only remain silent.

But soon, he heard Pei Zhao say, “Yu Nian, I don’t mean to make you bow your head in apology. During the two months you’ve been away, I’ve talked a lot with your sister, and she’s come to understand a lot of things. Many things in the past were misunderstandings on our part, and we blamed you wrongly.”

Yu Nian was surprised and raised his head again.

Pei Zhao looked at him with a serious expression. “Before you moved out, we actually talked to your teachers and other classmates to understand the situation. Yu Nian, it was our fault for not caring for you properly, not taking care of you. We hastily transferred you to another school without knowing that you were being bullied there. I promise you, it will never happen again. I’ve also talked to the parents of those classmates, and they’ve come to apologize in person with their children. They wanted to apologize to you personally too, but I didn’t agree. It’s up to you to decide.”

As Pei Zhao spoke, there was a trace of bitterness in his voice. “Yu Nian, it’s our failure as your older siblings, and I’m truly sorry.”

---

Initially, they had shifted the focus of the conglomerate to Lu City, and in their plans, they wanted Yu Nian to directly apply to top foreign universities in his senior year of high school. So they arranged for him to transfer to an international school in Lu City.

Yu Nian was initially unwilling and protested a few times, but he was eventually persuaded and went through with the transfer procedures.

But they didn’t expect his transfer to be so difficult. Almost as soon as he transferred, he got into conflicts with a group of boys in his class and was bullied for a long time.

Because they were too busy, they didn’t pay attention, and Yu Nian, with his youthful pride, refused to come back and report the situation, so this situation persisted for almost half a year until Yu Nian couldn’t take it anymore and got into a fight with someone, and only then did they find out.

Unfortunately, Yu Nian was the one who started the fight, and it also brought out another explosive piece of news: Yu Nian, their youngest brother, had always liked boys and got into a fight because his advances were rejected.

They were unsure and suspicious, and although they had doubts, they couldn’t help but protect their brother without knowing the whole truth. They had Yu Nian confined to the house to reflect.

But unexpectedly, this stirred up a hornet’s nest.

Yu Nian, who had been obedient and sensible for so many years, was suddenly not trusted in this matter, and years of grievances erupted all at once.

Yu Nian caught Pei Zhao’s gaze, feeling like he had been burned, and immediately turned his head away.

He could hear the remorse in his brother’s voice, but he hadn’t figured out how to face it himself.

This was actually a misunderstanding.

His relationship with his classmates was not good, but before he got into a fight, it was nothing more than some physical conflicts and verbal teasing, nothing serious.

Later, if it weren’t for those idiots spreading rumors about him liking a guy, he might not have been so angry and would have been willing to apologize and reconcile.

“It’s not your fault either,” Yu Nian murmured, “I always felt embarrassed to report to the teacher even after I became a high school student. And I didn’t communicate well with you guys. It’s not your fault.”

He was so understanding, but Pei Zhao felt even more heartache.

He reached out and touched Yu Nian’s head. “You can’t say that. It’s our fault, and we have to admit it. There’s no excuse.”

Yu Nian could also understand his brother’s remorse.

He took a sip of his milk tea and smiled at his brother. “Okay, then I forgive you guys. There’s nothing I can do about it. I’m not one to hold grudges.”

Pei Zhao couldn’t help but chuckle.

The two brothers sat together, the atmosphere as peaceful and quiet as the autumn night outside.

Pei Zhao watched Yu Nian sipping his milk tea with his cheeks puffed out, a touch of tenderness flashing in his eyes.

He then brought up another matter, “Let’s set aside the conflicts with your classmates for now; it’s been resolved. Regarding your interest in studying fashion design, your sister and I have discussed it.”

Yu Nian immediately perked up.

He listened as Pei Zhao continued, “We’re not going to interfere with your choice anymore. You can study whatever major you want.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Nian’s eyes immediately lit up.

He sat up straight, somewhat incredulous. “Really?”

Pei Zhao nodded with a smile.

“Really. We don’t really want to interfere with you; it’s just…” he sighed, “it’s just as guardians, we always want to pave a smooth path for you, but we forgot to ask if you wanted to walk it.”

Yu Nian said softly, “I understand.”

His brother and sister did have good intentions; they always wanted him to enter the family business and have a place in the conglomerate in the future, rather than being just dependent on them.

Sometimes he felt a little sorry.

Now that his brother and sister had come to their senses and no longer demanded that he enter the conglomerate, it was really great.

Yu Nian became excited all at once.

“Thank you, brother,” he sincerely said, “I promise to study hard and make something of myself for you to see.”

Pei Zhao chuckled again.

“It doesn’t matter whether you make something of yourself or not. What’s most important is that you’re happy. It’s priceless to see you willing. Your sister and I have also come to understand this.”

They only had this one brother, and their family was big and their business vast. What was the point of pushing Yu Nian to stand out?

Anyway, he wouldn’t push anymore.

Rather than seeing Yu Nian grow up into an outstanding elite, he preferred Yu Nian to always be happy.

But seeing Yu Nian look so happily silly, as if he could fly with wings in the next second, Pei Zhao had to interrupt and say softly, “But you liking boys, your sister still can’t completely accept it for the time being.”

Yu Nian’s happiness came to an abrupt halt.

He frowned, transforming back into a little bitter melon.

He asked gloomily, “So, does she mean she hopes I can straighten myself out?”

But he couldn’t do that.

He was naturally inclined, born with this sexual orientation; there was no straightening to be done.

Pei Zhao chuckled, “That’s not exactly what she meant. She’s just having trouble accepting it for now. You’re still too young, just eighteen, and many things aren’t settled yet. But as long as you’re not indulging recklessly in pleasure, living a dissipated life, or getting deceived by someone, your sister doesn’t want to interfere. Wait a few years, until you’re more mature, more independent, have your own opinions, and then discuss this issue with her again, okay?”

Yu Nian looked surprised.

For Yu Xinli, this was like turning a blind eye, not exactly admitting it, but at least tacitly agreeing.

He was incredulous, even his lips slightly parted, shocked as he looked at Pei Zhao.

Pei Zhao remained gentle throughout. He flicked Yu Nian’s nose. “What, is that dumbfounding? Unexpected?”

“Of course,” Yu Nian murmured.

He secretly thought, with his sister’s firm and authoritarian personality, and being like a little overlord since childhood, it was almost unbelievable that she would take a step back like this.

He even couldn’t help but wonder, was running away from home really so effective?

Pei Zhao leisurely finished the last of his tea and said to Yu Nian, “That’s all I have to say. Your sister and I have made our positions clear and hope you’ll come back. I know you’re very independent out there, exceeding our expectations, not making a mess of things, and even finding a job on your own. That’s good, it shows that you’re actually an adult now. But for us, it still feels heartbreaking, and we don’t think it’s the environment you should be in.”

Pei Zhao paused, softening his tone. “I don’t mean anything else by this, and I’m not saying that the lives of your colleagues in the restaurant are bad. But Yu Nian, we’ve always provided you with the best environment and education since you were young. Are you really prepared to stay in a small restaurant as a pianist?”

“I hope you’ll think about it carefully and give me an answer tomorrow.”

With that, Pei Zhao stood up.

He left Yu Nian staring blankly at the lush greenery in the courtyard, lost in thought.