As Shu Yu called out "Big Brother," Song Wenzhao pulled her into his arms. "Mm, Little Treasure, it's me, your big brother. I've come to find you."
In that moment, the adorable little dumpling from seventeen years ago seemed to grow up right in his embrace.
Shu Yu stayed still in Song Wenzhao's arms, quietly.
Little Treasure?
The name felt both unfamiliar and familiar.
A tear slipped silently from the corner of Shu Yu's eye.
She wiped it away, suddenly at a loss for words.
Spotting her chives as a conversation starter, Shu Yu tugged at Song Wenzhao's sleeve and stammered, "Big Brother, these, these are my vegetables, and that's Little Orange's cat grass."
"How come you pulled them all out?"
Just then, Si Yiheng let out a merciless taunt: "Big Brother sure is impressive, cutting down one batch of leeks after another without even recognizing them."
Iron Egg: [Baby, Si Yiheng is mocking you, saying you're a leek being harvested over and over by capital.]
Shu Yu: "..."
Shu Yu muttered softly, "Is it possible Si Yiheng was insulting my brother, calling him a shameless capitalist?"
Though when Shu Yu had planted chives, she had thought of how she herself was like a leek being harvested, there was no way she'd admit to being cut down time and again now.
Song Wenzhao: "..."
Song Wenzhao looked at Shu Yu. "I don't know them, Baby Yu. Can you teach your big brother?"
Teaching Song Wenzhao to identify plants was far simpler for Shu Yu than sorting through those tangled emotions.
Shu Yu obediently explained, "Just don't pull out the cat grass and chives. Pull everything else."
Song Wenzhao: "..."
So the only two wrong answers were the ones he had picked.
What terrible luck.
Si Yiheng must have deliberately set up this garden weeding activity to make him look bad in front of Baby Yu.
He should have taken an agricultural studies minor in college.
Shu Yu continued sharing her unreliable wisdom. "If you can, loosening the soil a bit would be even better."
Song Wenzhao perked up. Weeding might not be his strength, but he had plenty of strength. He had to show off in front of Baby Yu.
With one scoop of his shovel, he unearthed something else. Song Wenzhao frowned. "Baby Yu, what did Si Yiheng bury here? My shovel feels unclean."
There was no way his sweet sister had buried it; it had to be Si Yiheng.
Little Orange stared in shock.
Shu Yu: "..."
Si Yiheng: "..."
Shu Yu whispered, "It was Little Orange who buried it."
"Big Brother, with your luck, you should buy a lottery ticket. You might even win a few million."
Song Wenzhao had managed to dig up Little Orange’s cat poop with perfect precision.
Song Wenzhao scowled coldly and reburied the cat poop. "This family isn't poor enough to need a few million from the lottery."
Shu Yu: (ⓛωⓛ)
Okay, fair enough.
Song Wenzhao shot a glance at Si Yiheng and said coldly, "Si Yiheng, can you leave for a bit? Give us some space to talk?"
"Anyone would think you're a control freak, not even letting me spend time alone with my sister."
Shu Yu: "..."
How did he guess so accurately?
Si Yiheng: "..."
Si Yiheng ignored Song Wenzhao's nonsense and looked at Shu Yu. "Baby Yu, are you okay on your own?"
Shu Yu nodded firmly, gripping her gardening hoe. "I'm fine."
Only then did Si Yiheng get up, leaving the two some space.
From the moment he learned Song Wenzhao was coming yesterday, Si Yiheng had prepared himself to let Shu Yu and Song Wenzhao spend time alone.
They were family—family who had missed each other for seventeen years.
Shu Yu would both fear and look forward to it.
They should reconnect and draw closer to each other.
The more people who loved Shu Yu, the better.
His little Shu Yu deserved the best things in the world.
Si Yiheng had also thought about whether, when he wasn't by Shu Yu's side, Song Wenzhao might say things to slander him or push him into being a side piece.
He even feared Song Wenzhao might try to take Shu Yu away.
Song Wenzhao would make it so he could never see Shu Yu again for the rest of his life.
If he were in Song Wenzhao's shoes, he wouldn't allow his beloved sister to be with a man abandoned, disliked, and despised since childhood.
Who knew what kind of psychological issues such a person might have?
How normal was he, really? He knew perfectly well that he was cold and ungrateful by nature—he had even been willing to strike at his own parents.
It was only because Shu Yu cherished him and was kind to him that he managed to seem somewhat normal.
He would sheathe his claws again and again, yet still, when faced with the possibility of Shu Yu leaving, he couldn't help but let out a wild thought, baring his fangs, wanting to trap Shu Yu by his side forever.
What right did Song Wenzhao have to let his sister be with someone like him?
Si Yiheng entered his room. His mind in turmoil, he opened the bedside drawer to pull out a cigarette, hoping to calm himself down in the time it took for one to burn.
But his fingers touched something else. Si Yiheng's slender fingers hooked into the drawer and pulled out a box.
He read the words on the packaging.
Ultra-thin, strawberry flavor.
