The dimly lit living room was shrouded in darkness, and Shen Ji’s cold smile made his uncle’s spine tingle.

“There are no secrets that don’t come to light,” Shen Ji said icily, casting a final glance at him before turning to leave. “When the time comes, we’ll have no connection whatsoever.”

“But as long as you live under my roof, you’ll do as I say! I’m the head of this house!” his uncle yelled after him, but Shen Ji didn’t even bother to look back, his indifference cutting deeper than any insult.

It was as if his uncle’s fragile sense of authority hinged on Shen Ji’s acknowledgment, but Shen Ji refused to give him that satisfaction.

Watching Shen Ji’s thin, distant figure disappear into the shadows, his uncle felt an overwhelming sense of dread creeping through his limbs, gnawing at his very bones.

“Tch,” his uncle spat bitterly, trying to regain his composure. “Just a brat. What’s so special about him anyway?”

On the other side of town, little Yuanyuan had already drifted off to sleep. Her steady breathing filled the room as she slept soundly without dreams. But when she woke up the next morning, her sleepy head felt like it had one very clear thought.

There was still no new dream about brother Shen Ji!

Every time she managed to change something from her previous dreams, a new one would follow soon after. But up to this point, there had been no new dreams where brother Shen Ji and her father reconciled.

The little dumpling sat up in bed, her soft, plump body slumping over as she sighed. “Why hasn’t anything changed yet?”

Yawning, Yuanyuan went downstairs after washing up, where both of her brothers were already awake. The moment she appeared, they both looked up at her in unison but didn’t say a word.

Their father, sitting calmly at the breakfast table reading a magazine, spoke first. “After breakfast, you two will spend some time teaching Yuanyuan basic numbers, colors, and simple math.”

Yu Mingxi and Yu Yingze exchanged a glance that clearly asked, “Why don’t you teach her?”

Without even looking up from his magazine, Yu Jinxiao replied, “I have work to do in the study.”

Yu Yingze sighed inwardly: No, you just don’t want to deal with the frustration of teaching her, so you’re passing that responsibility onto us!

Back when Yu Mingxi and Yu Yingze were little, about to start kindergarten, their father didn’t worry about them at all. Both of them were smart, quick learners. Even though Yu Yingze struggled a bit more once he got to elementary school, his grades were still solid—teaching Yuanyuan wouldn’t be a problem for them.

But Yu Jinxiao had a growing concern. Without some basic preparation, Yuanyuan might be getting calls home from the kindergarten within days. For the first time, he felt the anxiety of sending a child to school.

He had worried too little in the past and missed out on many things. Now, all those concerns had landed squarely on Yuanyuan.

Meanwhile, Yuanyuan was happily munching her breakfast, her innocent eyes wide with curiosity. “Learn what? What are we learning?”

“You’re starting kindergarten tomorrow, and Dad just wants you to learn a few simple things. Later, your brothers will play with you while you learn, okay?” Yu Mingxi disguised the learning as play to make it more palatable for her.

The little dumpling, who had no clue, eagerly nodded her head, thinking it was all part of a fun game.

After breakfast, her tiny frame was escorted upstairs by her two brothers, one on either side.

Yu Jinxiao lifted his eyes briefly from his magazine and couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. Their backs looked almost heroic, as if they were heading off to a great battle.

No one knew what the world would look like after an hour in that room.

“We’ll start by learning numbers,” Yu Mingxi said, placing some magnetic numbers on the board. “This is one. You’ve seen this before, right?”

Yuanyuan stared at it for a while before hesitantly saying, “But the ‘1’ I saw before wasn’t this color—it was green like grass. Is this one also a ‘1’?”

Yu Yingze, who was prepping the next lesson, nearly choked. He wanted to buy a standing ticket and flee overnight.