Yu Wanlai cleared his throat. “Alright, alright, I apologize. Is that good enough? I had a bad attitude earlier… you…”

Yu Qingyue’s ears twitched, and he immediately turned his head to look at Yu Wanlai. “Then tell me.”

Yu Wanlai rolled his eyes, looked at the ceiling in exasperation, and after a while, lowered his gaze back to the person in front of him, deciding to ignore what he had just said. “…Here, have some oranges.”

Yu Qingyue didn’t get a clear answer and, frustrated, slammed his hand on the bedframe. He didn’t use too much force, afraid of aggravating the wound on his back, but it still diminished his momentum. In fact, the pain in his wound had already started to flare up after the anesthesia wore off. By now, he had almost gotten used to it. Despite being the only child in the family, Yu’s father had a strict educational philosophy that greatly disliked boys who cried or acted too spoiled. When he was young, even if he fell, his parents wouldn’t rush to help him. He had to pick himself up, so over time, he learned not to complain. His parents had also not spent much time with him as he grew up, so he never had the habit of calling out when in pain, as long as it was within what he could bear.

To Yu Wanlai, his actions now didn’t seem like anger but more like childish whining.

Yu Wanlai: …Was he blind?

Yu Qingyue glared at Yu Wanlai. “Oranges, oranges. You only care about food.”

Yu Wanlai retracted his hand, pouting, “Fine, don’t eat it. If you don’t want it, I’ll eat it myself.”

Yu Qingyue stretched a hand out from the blanket, motionless, and stared at Yu Wanlai.

Yu Wanlai blinked in confusion, trying to hand him the lunchbox, but Yu Qingyue moved away. “…What does this mean? What do you want?”

Yu Qingyue sighed deeply. “A fork. Didn’t you say I had to eat the oranges? Am I supposed to use my hands?”

Yu Wanlai immediately understood and placed the lunchbox on the table, then went to grab a chopstick from the counter. “Alright, I’ll get it for you.”

Once he returned with the chopstick, he asked, “Here, use this for now. Or you could use a spoon?”

Yu Qingyue thought for a moment. A spoon would be easier, he figured. “A spoon, then.”

Yu Wanlai handed him the spoon, but as soon as Yu Qingyue reached for it, Yu Wanlai pulled it back. “What are you doing? Are you going to give it or not?”

Yu Wanlai hesitated, then glanced at Yu Qingyue. “How about I feed you? I just remembered…”

Yu Qingyue rolled his eyes at him and stretched out his arm to grab the spoon. “I can… I don’t need you to feed me.”

Yu Wanlai watched as Yu Qingyue stuffed the oranges into his cheeks. He seemed to have no problem with it. Yu Wanlai sighed with relief and placed the lunchbox beside Yu Qingyue, then started playing with the small toy that had been thrown aside.

As he was enjoying himself, he happened to glance over and saw Yu Qingyue trying to get out of bed again. Yu Wanlai clicked his tongue. What was going on? Was this person really so disobedient?

“What are you doing now? Just tell me if you can’t do something.”

Yu Qingyue froze for a second, then started struggling again. Yu Wanlai quickly rushed over to stop him from moving. “Tsk, I told you not to move.”

Yu Qingyue gritted his teeth. “Let me go quickly! I need to go to the bathroom! I’ve been eating nothing but watery stuff all night!”

Yu Wanlai, awkward, scratched his nose. “Oh…” He then bent down and pulled out a plastic bucket from under the bed, placing it in front of Yu Qingyue’s view. “Alright, pull down your pants. I’ll help you…”

Yu Qingyue immediately clutched the blanket tightly, his body tensing up, and in a slightly trembling voice, he said, “…Take it away! I don’t want this!”

Yu Wanlai quietly grinned, holding back laughter. “Don’t be shy. If I have it, so do you. Hurry up, it’s getting late, you should sleep.”

Yu Qingyue took a few deep breaths and turned his head away. “I suddenly don’t want to go to the bathroom…” Before he could finish, he felt a hand suddenly reach over from under the blanket.

Unable to make any large movements, he grabbed his pants tightly, his voice trembling as if he was about to cry. “Go away! I’m not going anymore!”

Yu Wanlai felt guilty for a moment, thinking he might have gone too far with teasing.

He cleared his throat lightly, looking at the back of Yu Qingyue’s head, and patiently spoke, “Your wound hasn’t healed yet, so you really can’t get out of bed. If you want, I’ll turn around and not look at you… Is that alright?”

Yu Qingyue remained silent, caught in a dilemma between wetting the bed or going to the bathroom in front of Yu Wanlai. He didn’t want to choose either, but there was no third option. The room was quiet, and after a long while, Yu Qingyue finally couldn’t hold it in anymore. He reluctantly spoke in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, but Yu Wanlai still heard him. “Then… then you can bring it over.”

Yu Wanlai: …Is his little brother feeling insecure? Haha. However, this thought only lasted two seconds before he dismissed it and felt a bit ashamed of having such an idea.

With a resigned sigh, Yu Wanlai walked to the other side of the bed, carrying the item. Yu Qingyue didn’t let him help, so Yu Wanlai could only watch as his brother struggled for nearly 10 minutes to finish. When Yu Wanlai came back from handling things in the bathroom, Yu Qingyue’s ears were still as red as if they would bleed.

Yu Wanlai glanced at him. He was sacrificing a lot himself—he had never taken care of anyone like this. He just hoped that his little brother would remember his kindness and be lenient with him in case something unexpected happened in the future.

As Yu Wanlai walked toward the door, preparing to turn off the light, Yu Qingyue suddenly spoke again. “Wait, I still want to wash my hands.”

Yu Wanlai: “…I forgot about that.”

Two minutes later, he brought a small basin of water from the bathroom to Yu Qingyue to wash his hands, and also wiped his face. After turning off the light, the room was quiet, with only the occasional soft footsteps and murmurs of people passing by outside.

Yu Wanlai lay on the hospital-provided caregiver’s bed, tossing and turning restlessly. He suddenly thought about his situation in the original world. If this body was really his, did that mean the original him had completely disappeared? He would never be able to go back…

He turned his gaze to the hospital bed. The environment was dim, and he could only make out the vague silhouette of Yu Qingyue. After a while, hearing no movement, he figured his brother had probably fallen asleep. He raised his head slightly and called out, “Brother? Yu Qingyue? Yue Yue? Are you asleep?”

In the darkness, Yu Qingyue rolled his eyes in silence. Just as he was about to fall asleep, Yu Wanlai had to wake him up. He gritted his teeth, his voice sounding cold, “What? You want to talk about that thing now?”

Yu Wanlai: … He turned around, facing the other way, and within a few minutes, even breathing could be heard coming from him.

Yu Qingyue glared at him angrily. This guy! Wakes him up without saying a word, and now he was asleep himself! If only he could move freely, Yu Wanlai wouldn’t see the light of day tomorrow.

In his sleep, Yu Wanlai felt a chill on his back, and pulled the blanket tightly around himself.

The next day, Yu Cheng stayed for most of the day before he had to leave. The company’s affairs were too busy for anyone to be absent. “…Son, Dad is leaving now. I’ll come back if I have time over the weekend.” With that, he waved at Yu Wanlai and walked out the door.

Yu Wanlai could only get up and follow him out of the room. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

Yu Cheng turned around. “Come back with me. For now, stay with me and head to the headquarters. When…”

Yu Wanlai thought he had misheard, rubbing his ears in confusion, and immediately interrupted Yu Cheng. “I… go to the headquarters?”

Yu Cheng nodded. He had thought it through yesterday and discussed it with Qin Shuang. They were getting older, and although he hadn’t been fond of Yu Wanlai’s minor background before, lately his behavior had been reliable. In the future, the company would have to be handed over to them. Since Yu Qingyue had been injured and wouldn’t recover quickly, and because he had to temporarily manage the company’s headquarters, this was the perfect opportunity. He would personally take Yu Wanlai under his wing and help him grow up quickly. For the sake of family harmony, it wouldn’t be right to have one person doing all the work while the other does nothing. Such an imbalance would eventually cause problems.

“Yes, stay with me for now, and then try to take on the responsibilities at the headquarters…”

Yu Wanlai felt a chill run down his spine and couldn’t help but interrupt Yu Cheng again, “I’ll be responsible for the headquarters? What about Yu Qingyue?”

Yu Cheng exhaled, his patience clearly running thin from being interrupted repeatedly. “Your brother will take a rest for now. Later, he can manage the other subsidiaries. He’s growing quickly, and it won’t be a problem for him to go anywhere.”

Yu Wanlai almost couldn’t catch his breath, staring at Yu Cheng as if he were looking at a living demon. He shook his head like a rattle drum, “I don’t want to go back yet, and I have no interest in the company…”

Before he could finish his sentence, Yu Cheng’s expression darkened to the point that it seemed like it couldn’t get any darker. “I say one thing, and you have ten things to say back. There are doctors and nurses here. What are you staying here for, if you’re not going back to do something? Are you trying to cause trouble again?”

Yu Wanlai: … This level of distrust, and yet he still wants him to manage the company? He must be out of his mind.

“I’m naturally here to take care of my brother! Didn’t you say that I should learn from him? I’m watching over him 24 hours a day, so I should learn quickly,” Yu Wanlai said, trying to explain himself.

Yu Cheng waved his hand dismissively, his patience completely exhausted. “But right now, we don’t need you here. I said go back, so go back. Don’t bring this up again.”

Yu Wanlai: Oh, so you’re the domineering CEO in this romance novel, huh!

—

In the hospital room, the caregiver had already arrived, and Qin Shuang sat by the bed, occasionally asking about the condition of Yu Qingyue’s wounds. The room wasn’t very soundproof, and since Yu Wanlai wasn’t intentionally lowering his voice outside, Yu Qingyue could hear bits and pieces of their conversation and piece together the general meaning.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t disappointed. He had put in real effort for the company, and now it was all going to someone else, without even a word of prior discussion with him. He…