Shen Wenta: "?"
After yelling at him loudly, Shen Yi pulled Chen Jiaojiao back to the classroom to pack their bags and get ready to go home.
It was already time for school to be out.
They had been dawdling in the office for ages; if they didn't head back soon, her mom would start to worry.
Pei Wanyan was dumbfounded. She couldn't help but let out a dry laugh, turning to the quiet Shen Xun and saying, "I never would have thought... your brother could be so lively around you?"
He had never shown such vitality in front of her.
Sometimes, Pei Wanyan was quite afraid of her boyfriend.
Even though he acted very gentle around her.
But it felt too fake.
Like a dreamy bubble, ready to pop at the slightest touch.
This flustered and exasperated side of him, however, was unexpectedly reassuring.
The siblings started arguing right outside the office door. Curious classmates passing by peeked over and saw Shen Yi shouting and making a scene with an exceptionally good-looking young man.
After parting on bad terms, Shen Yi returned to the classroom. Someone immediately asked, "Isn't that the Shen family heir?"
"What's he to you? How can you yell at him like that?"
"Of course he's Xiao Yi's brother," Chen Jiaojiao pushed him aside. "Move."
"Haha, him? Shen Yi's brother??" The boy continued with a cheeky grin. "I don't believe it. You guys really love to lie."
Shen Yi immediately turned fierce: "Looking for a beating?"
"Sorry!" The boy was startled by her sudden change in expression.
Afraid she might actually punch him, he turned tail and ran off in a flash.
After quickly finishing packing her bag, Chen Jiaojiao walked over to Shen Yi's seat and asked eagerly, "Xiao Yi, can I come over to your house to play for a day?"
The teacher had just called her mom.
She was definitely going to get scolded when she got home.
Avoidance might be shameful, but it works.
Chen Jiaojiao planned to not go home tonight. Anyway, her mom was very busy with work; maybe she'd forget all about it after a day.
"Sure!" Shen Yi agreed happily, also feeling a bit excited. "My mom and dad are both home. We can even sleep together tonight!"
She had never had the experience of sleeping over with a friend.
The few times she had slept beside someone else, it wasn't with a girl.
Aside from Shen Xun, it was mostly Song Sijun.
That kid Song Sijun had a clingy personality, always sticking to her and spouting nonsense about feeling insecure or something.
But whether it was an older brother or a younger brother,
it definitely couldn't compare to getting cozy with a girl.
Just hearing Chen Jiaojiao's suggestion, Shen Yi was already looking forward to their girls' night.
"Do you have pajamas at your house? If not, I can have the driver bring some over."
Shen Yi: "Yes, yes, my mom bought me lots."
Whether it was dresses or pajamas, she had plenty.
Sometimes she suspected the reason her family often seemed strapped for cash was because her mom spent most of the household budget on dressing her up.
The two brothers were thus successfully forgotten, left behind at the end.
Shen Wenta: "You're disliked, aren't you."
Shen Xun: "I am not."
"Only you are disliked."
Shen Wenta was like a tool; Shen Yi used him and then turned away, ignoring him.
Instantly, Shen Wenta felt a sting. He pursed his lips, extremely displeased.
Taking two or three steps at a time, he caught up to the two little girls holding hands and said in a low, lingering tone, "Shen Yi, why in the office did you only think of Shen Xun? Am I not your brother too?"
She almost never called him 'brother'.
She even refused to acknowledge that she was his sister.
Shen Wenta had never met a kid so difficult to handle.
"Uh." Shen Yi also fell silent. "Because Fourth Brother is good."
After thinking for a long while, the girl only managed to say this.
"So what? I'm bad?" Shen Wenta grew even angrier. "Then why don't you let him clean up your messes?"
All day long, it's Shen Xun this, Shen Xun that.
She never gives a single thought to her useful older brother here.
Shen Yi was baffled: "...Are you some kind of highly flammable, explosive personality type? Why do you always seem to be losing your composure in front of me?"
In front of Pei Wanyan, he was all graceful and gentlemanly, practically human-shaped.
But around her, he kept turning into a werewolf at the drop of a hat, flying into a rage at the slightest provocation.
What's wrong with him?
Shen Wenta was, once again, thoroughly stumped.
...
After arriving home, Shen Yi changed her shoes and found a new pair of her own slippers for Chen Jiaojiao. Then she called out, "Mom, I brought a friend over to play!"
Her daughter's hair was a bit messy, and she was holding hands with another little girl, her amber eyes brimming with excitement and joy.
Wenya was delighted—this was the first time her daughter had brought a friend home. Her expression softened. "Welcome, sweetie. Mom will go get you some snacks first."
With that, Wenya hurried off to rummage through the snack cabinet.
Shen Yi seized the chance to quickly pull out her report card.
She needed her dad to sign it.
After all, Shen Sixing was lazy and laid-back; he didn't seem like the type of parent who would care about his child's grades.
Shen Xun also rummaged through his backpack and handed his report card to his father, pointing at a spot: "Sign here."
If it weren't for needing a parent's signature, he wouldn't have shown it to Shen Sixing.
Shen Sixing's gaze lightly swept over Chen Jiaojiao.
Chen Jiaojiao instinctively straightened her back under his look and said cautiously, "Hello, Uncle?"
Shen Sixing: "Hello."
Then, he first picked up his son's report card on top, looking it over and over.
"Hmm. You did indeed do quite well, perfect scores across the board," Shen Sixing said, slowly drawing out his words. "But—"
"Don't get cocky."
The sudden turn of phrase almost choked someone.
Shen Xun: "?" Who's getting cocky?
He looked at his father speechlessly.
Shen Sixing didn't care about his son's inner thoughts. He then picked up Shen Yi's report card, also looked it over and over, and fell into a long silence.
Shen Yi couldn't help but nudge him. "Why aren't you saying anything?"
His sudden silence in front of her friend made Shen Yi feel uncomfortable too.
Shen Sixing snapped out of it and looked at her seriously. "It's okay. Being a little silly is already cute enough."
Anyway, she was never that bright to begin with.
Tenth place is fine, tenth place it is.
Shen Yi grabbed a handful of his hair. "I am not silly!"
She actually hadn't answered the questions very seriously. With the advantage of her past life, she could easily get high scores in elementary and middle school.
But what about later?
To stage the fall of a genius?
Better to just get average grades from the start, so there'd be no pressure later on.
Shen Yi felt she truly had no talent for academics.
He: "Didn't we agree you wouldn't pull my hair anymore? You've really let me down. Going back on your word. Apologize to your dad right now."
Shen Yi looked at his increasingly thinning hair, felt a pang of guilt, and quickly let go.
Rubbing the spot where his hair had been pulled, Shen Sixing still couldn't believe it. He looked over her test papers again and again, muttering as if questioning his very existence:
"Xiao Yi is intellectually disabled."
He could score better than tenth place with his eyes closed.
Shen Yi, abruptly diagnosed as intellectually disabled: "?"
She immediately raised her voice and shouted, "Mom!! Dad says I have an intellectually disabled personality!!"
"Shen Sixing. If you dare slander my daughter again, I'll beat you into an intellectually disabled state today."
Wenya angrily smacked his head down like a volleyball, then picked up the report card to study it closely. "Tenth place?"
"That's wonderful!"
She was overjoyed. "Mom always failed and was often dead last in school. I never thought our Xiao Yi would be so impressive on your very first exam."
"By the way, Xiao Yi, do you know where the students ranked above you live?"
"Or perhaps you could invite them all over to our house as guests," Wenya said in a gentle, smiling tone that held a faint, inexplicable hint of danger. "I'll go to the kitchen and get them something special."
Something special?
Why would Mom suddenly want to give the students ranked above her something special?
Shen Yi felt a little confused.
