Yu Wanlai twisted his wrist and grabbed Yu Qingyue’s hand. “Hey, don’t take it off, your face is all red from the wind. Just wear it, don’t worry, it’s ‘new’.”

Yu Qingyue: …He didn’t even say he was disgusted, so why emphasize it like that?

When Qin Shuang and Yu Cheng arrived at the car, they realized the two of them hadn’t come over yet. Yu Cheng had already gotten into the car, so Qin Shuang turned around to look and saw the two of them standing still at a distance, not sure when they’d stopped walking.

Yu Wanlai cupped his hands on Yu Qingyue’s face, and Yu Qingyue grabbed Yu Wanlai’s hand, looking up at him. From afar, it looked like they were embracing each other.

Qin Shuang found it a bit odd. “You two, hurry up, talk in the car,” she called out to them.

Yu Qingyue snapped back to reality, his heart racing, and took a step back, quickly walking towards them.

Yu Wanlai suddenly felt empty in his hands, as though his heart also felt empty. He responded to Qin Shuang and quickly caught up with Yu Qingyue in two or three steps, throwing his arm around him and tilting his head to speak to him. “Wow, so heartless, use me and throw me away, huh.”

Yu Qingyue felt his face burning with embarrassment. How could this person speak so indecently? He shrugged his shoulders and tried to shake off Yu Wanlai’s arm, but it immediately came back around.

Yu Qingyue couldn’t help but glance up at Qin Shuang ahead, but Qin Shuang was already gone, so he felt a little more at ease.

The two of them arrived at the car, and Yu Qingyue rolled his eyes at Yu Wanlai before stepping into the car. As usual, Yu Wanlai couldn’t be bothered to open the door again, so he waited for Yu Qingyue to get in before following him into the car.

Qin Shuang was sitting in the passenger seat. She glanced at the rearview mirror and then realized that Yu Qingyue was wearing a black mask, which she figured must have been put on by Yu Wanlai earlier.

“Qingyue, why the sudden need to wear a mask? Didn’t you used to think it was ugly and never wore one?”

Yu Wanlai leaned forward, and before Yu Qingyue could respond, he answered for him, “I put it on for him. His face was as red as an apple, it was really funny, haha.”

“…I just remembered I had one, so I put it on for him.”

Qin Shuang glanced again, noticing that after Yu Qingyue got into the car, he immediately took off the mask, and his face was still red. She smiled and said, “See how much your brother cares about you? Hurry up and thank him.”

Yu Qingyue secretly reached out and pinched Yu Wanlai’s thigh, thinking, ‘You talk too much! You look like an apple! Your whole family looks like apples!‘

He tugged at his lip, his voice gritting through his teeth, “Oh, thanks, brother—.”

Yu Wanlai grabbed Yu Qingyue’s hand and held it tightly, stopping him from causing trouble. He continued talking to Qin Shuang, “Haha, so you didn’t want to wear the mask because you were afraid it was ugly?”

He pulled the mask away from Yu Qingyue’s hand again, intending to put it back on his face. “Want to put another one on? I want to see how ugly it is!”

Yu Qingyue was busy trying to pull his hand back. Even though they’d been in the car for a while now, his ears were still red, and it was unclear whether it was from anger or embarrassment.

Qin Shuang: ……….

Her strange feeling in her heart immediately disappeared without a trace.

Yu Qingyue slapped away the hand that was in front of his face, making a “slap” sound. “You’re the ugly one. I just don’t like you controlling me!” Yu Wanlai was about to speak when Yu Cheng opened his mouth. “Really noisy. Wanlai, stop always bullying your younger brother.”

Yu Wanlai: ………. When did he bully him? Can this person even be bullied by him? Shouldn’t you open your eyes and see if his thigh is covered in bruises?

Yu Qingyue curled his lips and smiled smugly. “Exactly, stop always bullying me.”

Yu Wanlai’s gaze shifted to Yu Qingyue. Seeing his smug little expression, he ground his teeth. “Heh.”

When they got home, Yu Wanlai saw the little cat and dog fighting in the living room and suddenly slapped his forehead. He wondered why he kept feeling like he forgot something important.

Yu Cheng followed his gaze. “Really, raising a cat and dog and doing it secretly. Do you think I would stop you? They’d starve to death locked in your room. If it weren’t for Xiao Shuang remembering, your room would probably smell by now.”

“Always acting recklessly, not responsible at all.”

Yu Wanlai: ………. He turned to Qin Shuang. “Thank you, Auntie.”

Qin Shuang smiled indifferently. “No problem. Actually, it was Qingyue who reminded me.”

Yu Wanlai then walked over to Yu Qingyue, took the coat that Yu Qingyue had just taken off, and hung it up. “Thank you, little brother~”

Yu Qingyue glared at him. “Who’s your little brother!”

Yu Wanlai: ………. Why isn’t he?!

Suddenly remembering what Yu Qingyue had said, Yu Wanlai pouted unhappily. Calling him little brother sounds so nice.

When he saw Yu Qingyue walking away, he quickly caught up in a few steps, leaned close to Yu Qingyue’s ear, and spoke clearly, “Then thank you, Yueyue~.”

Yu Qingyue reached up to touch his ear, causing it to tremble as he moved. Yu Wanlai, seeing Yu Qingyue’s movement, also reached out to touch his ear.

Yu Qingyue’s ear tip was soft, unlike Yu Wanlai’s, which was harder. Under the sunlight that streamed into the living room in the afternoon, one could see the fine hairs on his ear.

Yu Wanlai then rubbed along the ear’s contour, moving toward Yu Qingyue’s earlobe.

Yu Qingyue’s body stiffened, and his heart began to pound loudly, as though it was going to burst out of his chest. His eyes slowly became misty, and he unconsciously held his breath, standing still, not moving, letting Yu Wanlai continue his actions.

Yu Wanlai swallowed, feeling a bit of admiration in his heart. His younger brother’s ears… really soft. His gaze drifted down, seeing Yu Qingyue’s slender neck with a blue vein, his protruding Adam’s apple, and… the slightly open collar, revealing half of his collarbone.

Yu Wanlai instinctively softened his breath, as though afraid of disturbing something.

Meanwhile, Yu Cheng was going upstairs with Qin Shuang, muttering, “Xiao Shuang, why didn’t he thank me? I also helped feed them.”

Qin Shuang rolled her eyes. These two oblivious straight men were truly hopeless; all they did all day was argue.

Yu Wanlai, feeling the stiffness in Yu Qingyue’s body, poked his waist with a finger, watching as Yu Qingyue jerked like a little shrimp and immediately leaned against his shoulder, turning his head with a light laugh.

Yu Qingyue, upon hearing this, snapped back to reality and turned his head to glare at Yu Wanlai angrily, his hair standing on end. “…Laugh at your mother!” He shoved Yu Wanlai away and stomped upstairs, clearly furious.

Yu Wanlai, left standing there, stared wide-eyed at Yu Qingyue’s back, watching as Yu Qingyue almost tripped on the stairs but quickly regained his balance. He stayed frozen in place.

He poked his ear. His younger brother can curse? Wait—curse with bad words?

A hint of interest flashed in his eyes. Although he had been scolded, he felt like he actually wanted to hear more insults.

Yu Wanlai frowned, and with his other hand, he suddenly raised it to touch his chest. Strange, really strange. Why was his heart racing again? This time, he even felt like his breathing was a little uneven.

Yu Qingyue straightened up and continued running upstairs, almost as if something dirty was chasing him. Not long after, Yu Wanlai heard a loud “bang” from the second floor as a door slammed shut.

He reached up and touched his nose. He really wasn’t trying to laugh at him.

Upstairs, as soon as Yu Qingyue returned to his room, his phone rang. He glanced at the screen—it was Bai Yi. He didn’t really want to answer, as this person had been asking him strange questions since last night. Just as he was about to throw the phone on the bed and go to the bathroom to shower, his hand slipped, and the call was unexpectedly answered.

Yu Qingyue: ………

He calmed his breathing and raised the phone to his ear, only to hear Bai Yi’s loud voice coming through.

“Yue Yue, do you remember Bai Yi by the Daming Lake? That year, the apricot blossoms in the light rain… we…”

Yu Qingyue bared his teeth. This person was so disgusting. He interrupted Bai Yi, “If you have something to say, say it. If not, hang up!”

Bai Yi glanced at Bai Jian, who was sitting beside him, full of curiosity. He fell silent. He felt that his little sister was definitely playing a prank on him. From the impatient tone, it sounded like this person could probably come through the internet cable and beat him up at any moment.

He cautiously spoke up, “What have you been up to lately? You don’t reply to WeChat or pick up calls…”

Yu Qingyue put the phone on speaker and threw it on the bed, taking out clothes from the closet to change. He closed the wardrobe with one hand. “Do you have something to say? If not, I’m going to take a shower.”

Bai Yi glanced at the sky outside. Showering this early?

“How about we go out tonight? I’ll treat you. We haven’t gathered in a while.”

Yu Qingyue was speechless for a moment. “…I’m not going. Hanging up.”

Bai Yi quickly stopped him. “Hey, hey, hey, don’t hang up. We finally have some free time. Come out…”

Seeing that Yu Qingyue was still indifferent, Bai Yi closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, finally speaking, “Or you can bring Yu Wanlai along. How about we go to the hot spring? There’s a new hot spring resort in Nanshan. I’ve got some free tickets from friends. I hear the environment is pretty good.”

Yu Qingyue tightened his grip on the phone. He admitted he was tempted.

“Let’s just consider it a thank-you to Yu Wanlai for helping us.”

Yu Qingyue pressed his lips together. “Alright, when do we leave? Send me the address. But…”

Bai Yi immediately responded, “But what?”

Yu Qingyue: “You didn’t pay for these tickets, so you can’t use that to trick Yu Wanlai. You need to prepare other gifts.”

Bai Yi: “…”

“You’ve changed!” Bai Yi complained.

Yu Qingyue ignored his complaint. “At the end of the day, it’s your family’s fault for not providing enough protection. If it were anyone else, you’d just brush it off and move on.”

He probably would’ve gone to apologize by now.

Bai Yi: “…”

He glanced at Bai Jian, wondering if this girl had actually been right. He cautiously asked, “Why are you suddenly… defending that guy so much? Could it be that…”

Yu Qingyue retorted, “…None of your business. He’s my brother. What’s wrong with me defending him? Remember to prepare a gift!”

Yu Wanlai, sitting downstairs petting the cat and dog, eventually went upstairs. He thought maybe he should find some time to go to the hospital and check his heart. He still felt something wasn’t quite right.

Meanwhile, after Yu Qingyue finished his shower, he received the information about the hot spring resort from Bai Yi. He opened it and saw that the introduction indeed looked good.

“Ping-dong, ping-dong,” a few notification sounds came from his phone. Just as he exited the promotional screen, Bai Yi sent several images—watches, rings, leather shoes, and a bunch of random things.

Yu Qingyue: “?”

Bai Yi: “Didn’t you ask me to prepare a gift for that guy? Take a look, see which one is suitable.”

Yu Qingyue curled the corner of his lips, surprised by how quick this person was. He slid his finger across the screen for a moment and finally chose a mechanical watch with a deep blue dial.

When Bai Yi received the forwarded picture, he fell silent for a few seconds before replying, “You really know how to choose! Always picking the most expensive one!”

Yu Qingyue didn’t consider the price; he simply remembered that Yu Wanlai’s wrist was always empty. The watch’s design was nice, so he picked it. Yu Qingyue checked the price on the company’s official website—it was over one hundred sixty thousand. It wasn’t too expensive in the world of luxury watches, but he only intended for Bai Yi to give a hint. He didn’t want Yu Wanlai to be left with a loss. He thought Bai Yi would just handle it casually, but was surprised at how generous he was.

Yu Qingyue tapped a few times on the screen and transferred one million to Bai Yi.

When Bai Yi received the transfer notification, he was momentarily stunned, then immediately became ecstatic. He sent a series of messages to Yu Qingyue, “Hahaha, a fool just transferred me one million, so now I only need to pay sixty thousand for the watch!”

Yu Qingyue gritted his teeth and typed back, “That was the money I sent you!”

Bai Yi: “…”

Yu Qingyue: “Why did you transfer me money?”

Bai Yi: “I’m so happy!”

Yu Qingyue: … He couldn’t seriously think he could keep money from an unknown source, right?

Yu Qingyue: “You don’t need to buy such an expensive gift. Around sixty thousand is fine.”

Bai Yi: “Looks like you want to end up crying in prison.”

Yu Qingyue frowned and rejected, “No, just that watch. It looks good!”

It felt perfect for Yu Wanlai.

Bai Yi: “…”

Yu Qingyue: “Then I’ll return it. Who do you think you’re looking down on? Buying a watch, and now splitting the bill?”

Yu Qingyue: “If that guy finds out, he’ll think I’m poor.”

Bai Yi: “… Do whatever you want!”