He even flashed what could be considered a delighted smile right at the boy's terrified, contorted face.
This incident terrified the kindergarten teachers.
After the storm passed, his parents finally realized that he was unsuited for group environments.
Shen Xun continued his life as a shut-in at home.
If it weren't for Shen Yi going to school, he wouldn't have ever come to a boring place like kindergarten again.
"What a freak."
"Why is Shen Yi's older brother so weird?"
"He doesn't even speak, like a mute."
"Why is Shen Yi always following him around like a shadow? He treats her so badly!"
Occasionally, Shen Yi could hear the other children gossiping in hushed voices.
But this didn't affect anything.
The siblings still stuck together almost every day, inseparable.
After spending so much time together, Shen Yi gradually discovered the personality flaws of her fourth brother.
For example, if a child accidentally bumped into him while playing, he would unceremoniously push them to the ground, wearing a cold "don't touch me" expression.
Once, a remote-controlled car brought by a boy ran under his feet.
Just as the little boy bent down to pick it up, he mercilessly stomped it to pieces.
As the boy cried his heart out, Shen Xun's eyes curved into a rare smile.
Shen Yi gradually began to question life.
Her brother wasn't really a fake human, but just a pure menace, right?
With him being so obnoxious, the only reason he wasn't bullied at school was because the rich kids had good manners!
"Brother," Shen Yi filled his water cup and pushed it in front of him, feeling the need to offer a few words of advice.
The little girl sat up straight. "Can you restrain yourself a bit? I feel like the teachers are really mad at us right now."
Shen Yi didn't say "mad at you" but instead used the word "us".
In reality, the teachers all adored her, but she still didn't want to distance herself from him, so she used "us" as if they were accomplices.
Shen Xun subtly caught onto this, which put him in a decent mood, and he replied, "I am already trying hard to restrain myself."
"This is the result of my restraint."
Shen Yi: "...Then I don't even dare to imagine what you'd be like if you didn't restrain yourself."
Her sarcastic tone was so strong that even a fake human like Shen Xun could understand it. He tilted his head and pinched her cheek in confusion. "Are you mad at me because of them?"
Shen Yi's face was pinched out of shape. Unable to bear it any longer, she slapped his hand away. "I am not."
She left her seat, feeling a little angry.
Seeing this, a little girl who usually played well with her quickly pulled her aside and whispered, "Yiyi, can you stop playing with your brother all the time? I feel like he... he's really weird, a bit scary."
Shen Yi: "Is he?"
She didn't find him scary; after all, Shen Xun's fake human personality wasn't anything new.
"It's true." Li Shuya got a bit anxious. "Everyone is talking about staying away from him now, and the teachers are planning to separate your seats."
Shen Xun's unrestrainedly atrocious personality made the teachers realize something was wrong.
The children attending Yili all came from exceptionally privileged families. Every single one of them was the apple of their family's eye. If an accident really happened, it would mostly be the teachers who would have to bear the responsibility.
Encouraging everyone to isolate Shen Xun was the best way to handle it.
She blinked. "But I don't want to change seats."
"Why?" Li Shuya completely failed to understand Shen Yi's thoughts. In a child's logic, it was definitely correct to stay away from the bad guy together.
Shen Yi felt she couldn't explain it, so she smiled playfully and waved her hand. "I know, Xiaoya, I'm going to go talk to my brother first."
She turned and ran back to her seat, repeating what was just said about the teachers wanting to change their seats to Shen Xun.
After hearing this, Shen Xun didn't express any opinion.
Instead, he stared straight at Shen Yi. "Do you want to sit with other people?"
Of course Shen Yi wanted to!
She didn't have many friends yet. In her eyes, changing seats didn't really matter anyway, since they saw each other all the time at home.
Seeing the girl hesitate and say nothing, Shen Xun's temperatureless eyes instantly darkened. "I understand."
After saying that, he ignored her, turning around with extreme coldness to give her his back.
Shen Yi was dumbfounded.
No way, was this guy some kind of sensitive teenage girl?
She had only hesitated for two seconds and failed to show her loyalty, and he immediately turned around, got angry, and had a meltdown?
Shen Yi reached out and poked him. "Fourth Brother?"
"..."
"Are you really mad?"
Shen Yi's face was full of the bewilderment of "I'm a clueless straight girl, I don't understand you little boys."
Shen Xun got angry just seeing her expression. He held up a book to block the space between them, refusing to communicate with her.
Unsurprisingly, the siblings were separated by the teacher. Shen Yi also tried to make peace with him, but Shen Xun continued to give her the cold shoulder.
Shen Yi had no interest in coaxing a child. Anyway, they saw each other every day at home, so sitting apart didn't affect anything.
After trying to coax him a few times to no avail, Shen Yi heartlessly turned her head and quickly hit it off with her new circle of friends.
Without Shen Xun acting as a human barrier, Shen Yi easily exchanged gifts with the children sitting around her.
During class, they completed handicrafts, drew pictures, and engaged in a series of group activities together.
Shen Yi even thought, so happy she forgot about her brother, that being separated was actually quite nice. For her, it was a vast new world full of possibilities.
However, when Shen Yi occasionally looked back, she would catch Shen Xun quietly gazing at her.
There was no anger or grievance in his eyes, only a hint of a cold glare.
Using the word "glare" on Shen Xun, a little stoic who wore the same expression all year round, was actually a bit strange.
But paired with his overly pretty face, Shen Yi felt that it was actually... uniquely cute.
Like a curly-haired cat sulking secretly because it was being ignored.
...
After school, Shen Yi still didn't go to coax him. She wasn't his lackey, so there was no need to cater to his emotions all day.
The siblings fell into an inexplicable cold war, and Wen Ya, as their mother, was the one who could feel it most directly.
Shen Yi still happily talked about the interesting things that happened at kindergarten, but Shen Xun spoke even less, not even bothering to give an "mm."
But no matter how unhappy Shen Xun was, he would still finish her share of the homework with a cold face.
As for this whole doing-homework-with-a-cold-face routine/.
Seeing his awkward and sulky appearance, Shen Yi covered her mouth, almost laughing out loud.
That night, Wen Ya brought a glass of milk to Shen Xun's room. The boy was in his room, fiddling with various books in his hands.
"Xiao Xun," she set down the milk and sat on the edge of the bed. "Have you been unhappy at kindergarten lately because you're fighting with Xiao Yi?"
Shen Xun didn't answer immediately, but just turned his head and looked at Wen Ya.
In those emotionless eyes, a rare look of confusion and frustration was revealed.
"The teacher changed our seats. She ignored me and found other people to play with."
Even though Shen Xun's verbal expression skills were comparable to a fully grown banana, Wen Ya still easily grasped the source of her son's confusion.
"They are all stupid," Shen Xun continued to mutter.
While he was very smart.
"But she chose someone else."
Shen Xun couldn't understand why she would abandon him in favor of hanging out with a bunch of brainless, single-celled organisms.
"But being smart isn't everything, baby," she said, lovingly embracing her younger son with a smile. "Being liked by your sister is what really matters."
"Being so controlling will only make your sister resent you." Wen Ya gently patted her son's head. "As for whether Xiao Yi makes friends, that's her own freedom. Wouldn't it be better to be an understanding older brother?"
No, it wouldn't.
He had noticed that Shen Yi could always effortlessly win over a lot of people.
Shen Xun, on the other hand, was a freak.
It was a label he had been branded with ever since his very first interaction with a crowd.
He didn't know how to communicate with others and had a peculiar way of thinking. Even his flawless, delicate face did nothing to help his case.
Kindergarteners cared the least about appearances.
Often, a child's personality determined their social standing at school. Fortunately, Shen Xun was the vindictive type; whoever upset him, he would make sure their entire family suffered the consequences.
With such a vicious personality...
If it weren't for his family always cleaning up his messes, her son would absolutely end up in prison one day.
"You've got one thing wrong." Wen Ya stroked her younger son's head, her tone calm and gentle. "You need to tell Xiao Yi exactly what you want. If you want her to sit with you, you have to say it out loud."
Shen Yi was a very considerate girl, but being considerate didn't mean she was obligated to coddle him.
Shen Xun spoke as if in a trance, murmuring his final verdict: "She isn't smart."
"Which is exactly why you have to tell her," Wen Ya replied. "What is it that you want?"
She repeated the question.
"I want Shen Yi," he muttered awkwardly under his breath. "I want Xiao Yi to only hang out with me."
Shen Xun hated everyone at school.
As a pure hater of the world, he couldn't even begin to understand Shen Yi's desire to make friends.
"Then you need to take action, son." She blinked playfully. "If you just sit around waiting, your sister is going to be snatched away."
Wen Ya's little psychological counseling session proved highly effective.
The very day after their little spat, Shen Xun took the initiative to seek her out and make amends.
In fact, Shen Xun even became a little clingy.
Shen Yi looked at her fourth brother's drastic change in attitude and scratched her head, completely baffled by his hot-and-cold behavior.
Maybe boys just have those few days every month too.
...
During the half-month that Shen Sixing was away, the family's life was unexpectedly peaceful. There was none of the unprovoked malice she had endured in her past life, no random people showing up just to mock her, and certainly none of the humiliating comparisons meant to drag her down.
Shen Yi sincerely hoped that the rest of her days would remain just as tranquil.
But God just loved to play jokes on her.
The more you wanted something, the more the heavens would deny you.
A week later, Wen Ya brought home her third brother, who was supposedly weak and sickly.
Shen Yi was in the middle of playing with building blocks with Shen Xun. Hearing the front door open in the entryway, she immediately dropped her blocks and excitedly ran over to greet them.
"Mom..." Her cheerful call came to an abrupt halt the very next second when she saw a strange boy standing there.
