"Go on, tell me more."
Sang Lu instantly switched to gossip mode.
Feng Yi was momentarily taken aback by her expression. Then, as if possessed, he too fell into the rhythm. His voice carried a hint of melancholy as he began:
"That guy’s been a little ingrate since he was just a tiny kid..."
"Tiny kid? Ingrate?" Sang Lu interrupted, puzzled. "How tiny?"
Feng Yi replied, "Kindergarten."
Sang Lu’s expression shifted slightly.
Huh?
This opening sounded awfully familiar...
It was almost identical to the first words Feng Bai had used when recalling their past grievances.
Feng Yi gritted his teeth.
"Sis-in-law, to be honest, I’ve been tattled on by that brat my whole life. Half the beatings I got from the old man—" He paused. "From Grandpa’s cane, or from Big Bro, were because of him."
Sang Lu gasped. "What?"
Feng Yi’s gaze drifted into the distance as he reminisced:
"In kindergarten, I saw a caterpillar on his desk. Knowing he was scared of bugs, I kindly got rid of it for him. And what thanks did I get? He ran off to snitch, saying I messed with his stuff. He started bawling before he could even string a sentence together—I didn’t even get a chance to explain."
"Sis-in-law, be honest—doesn’t that make him a total snake?"
Sang Lu’s face stiffened as a thought occurred to her. She asked,
"How exactly did you ‘get rid of’ the caterpillar?"
"How else? I squashed it, of course." Feng Yi raised an eyebrow, confused.
Sang Lu pressed, "Just the caterpillar?"
Feng Yi shrugged. "There might’ve been some random leaves too. The caterpillar wasn’t stupid—it burrowed into them, so of course I had to chase it down."
Sang Lu inhaled sharply. "..."
Alright.
Now she understood.
To Feng Bai, Feng Yi had destroyed his leaf collection.
To Feng Yi, he’d just been helping by killing a bug—only to be falsely accused.
Sang Lu: "..."
This... was such a tiny misunderstanding!
Judging by this pattern, the other two incidents Feng Bai had held grudges over were probably just as...
Before she could ask, a faint sound interrupted her thoughts.
Feng Yi, hands in his pockets, kicked a pebble in frustration.
His voice dripped with resentment as he continued:
"That little snitch didn’t improve in elementary school—he got worse."
Sang Lu sensed another misunderstanding brewing. "Do tell..."
"He had a pet rabbit. The cage door wasn’t latched properly, and it got out, ate something it shouldn’t have, and died."
"Not wanting to deal with his whining, I buried it for him before he got home from school."
"But of course, he came back early that day. So I tried to comfort him, and what does he do? Accuses me of plotting to kill his rabbit!"
Sang Lu asked, "How did you ‘comfort’ him?"
Feng Yi glanced upward, thinking.
"Probably something like, ‘It’s just a rabbit, you can get another one.’ Can’t remember exactly. But he didn’t even let me finish before running off to tattle again."
"There are at least a dozen incidents like this."
Feng Yi scoffed, tapping his temple as he turned to her.
"Sis-in-law, tell me honestly—doesn’t he have a few screws loose?"
"..." Sang Lu was momentarily speechless.
Feng Yi kicked another pebble, harder this time, and drawled:
"But whatever. I didn’t bother with an idiot like him. Who knew he’d only get worse—even his hearing went bad."
Sang Lu blinked. "Feng Bai’s deaf?"
"Started wearing those stupid headphones in middle school, acting all moody. Listened to that death rap nonsense until his brain turned to mush—and his ears stopped working."
"Once, I saw something dirty on his head and tried to tell him. He only half-took off his headphones and asked what I said. I said, ‘You’ve got sand on your head,’ and he immediately scowled, claiming I called him a dumbass."
Feng Yi’s deadpan delivery almost made Sang Lu believe Feng Bai genuinely had hearing problems.
Turns out it was just a misheard phrase...
"Was I gonna take that?" Feng Yi arched a brow and snorted. "Hell no. After that, he stopped calling me ‘Second Brother,’ and I stopped acknowledging him."
Sang Lu: "..."
Mystery solved.
Bit by bit, the brothers’ past unfolded before her.
All the confusion she’d felt earlier suddenly made sense.
A simple conversation could’ve cleared up every misunderstanding.
But neither of them ever spoke up.
The misunderstandings snowballed.
The resentment festered.
One became an irredeemable, born villain.
The other, a backstabbing, tattletale ingrate.
Nearby, Feng Yi was still kicking pebbles.
Unnoticed, their conversation had led them deep into the backyard lawn.
Sang Lu’s gaze flickered to a massive silhouette.
She looked up, startled.
A helicopter stood about ten meters away.
She’d seen it during her first visit to the family estate.
But when they’d gone fishing that afternoon, it hadn’t been there.
Why had it suddenly reappeared?
Distracted, Sang Lu forgot her earlier train of thought and asked,
"Huh? This helicopter wasn’t here this afternoon."
"Oh, that?" Feng Yi followed her gaze upward. "Uncle Yue mentioned at noon it was supposed to go for routine maintenance, but something came up. They brought it back and rescheduled..."
That explained its absence earlier.
Sang Lu nodded, studying the helicopter.
Night had fallen, and the dim glow of streetlights barely illuminated the colorful paint on its body.
"Honestly, this thing’s a relic. The paint job’s from when I was a kid—one-of-a-kind in the world..."
Now off the topic of Feng Bai, Feng Yi visibly relaxed.
He pointed toward the tail, explaining to Sang Lu:
"Sis-in-law, see that? Those are the birthday numbers I painted."
Sang Lu’s eyes followed his finger—
Then froze.
Her entire body stiffened.
Feng Yi’s voice continued, cheerful and oblivious.
"Looking back, I had some real artistic talent as a kid. Big, bold designs—clear as day."
"Too bad I never learned to fly this thing."
"Only Big Bro in the family has a helicopter license. He’s the only one who takes it out occasionally..."
The night air was chilly, wrapping around them.
Sang Lu’s hair fluttered slightly in the breeze.
She didn’t hear a single word.
Her eyes were locked on that painted text.
Those characters...
Were unmistakably the same as the ones on the wreckage from her dreams.
