Shu Yu always felt that Si Yiheng was acting a little off today.
He kept staring at her but said nothing.
In the end, Shu Yu couldn't hold it in anymore. She hooked her finger around his. "Brother, what's wrong?"
Si Yiheng: "Can we talk?"
Shu Yu was panicking internally. Did Si Yiheng find out she bought a backup phone?
How did he find out?
It couldn't be that he snuck into her bedroom at night and saw her face lit up by the phone screen, right?
Just picturing that scene gave her a fright.
No way, right?
It shouldn't be. Si Yiheng had always been a gentleman since they were young. Once she got a little older, he never entered her room.
He would knock before entering her bedroom, so he definitely wouldn't do something like peeking.
Shu Yu's brain spun wildly as she nodded stiffly. "Mm."
Si Yiheng: "Baby Yu, you're only sixteen. Falling in love now is too early. Love that comes at the wrong time won't bloom or bear fruit, and even if it does, it won't be a good outcome."
Shu Yu blinked slowly. Huh?
It won't bear good fruit?
Shu Yu shook her head. "Wait, brother, are you talking about me being in love?"
Shu Yu confirmed again, pointing at herself cautiously. "Are you saying I'm in a relationship?"
Looking down at Shu Yu, who was tilting her head up at him in disbelief, Si Yiheng's gaze was calm. "I'm talking about matters of the heart."
Shu Yu let out a soft "Oh" and lowered her head again.
But soon, she figured out why Si Yiheng would bring up such a topic.
Ningning said the rumor about Si Yiheng being her childhood groom had spread like wildfire, so it must have reached his ears too.
So Si Yiheng had misunderstood?
Shu Yu quickly opened her mouth to explain. "Brother, I don't like you. I don't think of you as a childhood groom."
"I only see you as a brother. You're just like Eldest Brother. I really wouldn't have those kinds of feelings for you."
Shu Yu was getting anxious, and the corners of her fair eyes flushed red with urgency.
She looked flustered and pitiful.
As if she was about to cry.
Si Yiheng reached out to touch the corner of her eye, but Shu Yu took a step back. "Really, brother."
That step she took back and the hand that fell empty made Si Yiheng's heart feel like it had gone hollow for a moment.
"Don't believe them."
Si Yiheng's cool voice faltered slightly. "Little Treasure, I don't believe them."
"I know. I'm just like Song Dabao. We're both your brothers."
Only when Shu Yu heard Si Yiheng say that did she keep nodding. Yes.
They grew up together. How could feelings like that ever develop?
That wouldn't be right.
Shu Yu stepped forward again. "Then why did you suddenly say this?"
Si Yiheng pulled out the love letter and handed it to Shu Yu. "I helped organize your backpack yesterday and found this love letter inside."
Only then did Shu Yu understand why Si Yiheng had said what he said.
Shu Yu pressed her lips together and glanced at the signature on the letter.
"I don't know him, and I don't like him."
Si Yiheng tousled Shu Yu's hair. "Mm, of course I know you don't like him."
"Little Treasure, if he comes looking for you again, remember to reject him, okay?"
Shu Yu nodded firmly.
That really scared her.
"If he keeps pestering you, you have to tell your brother."
"Brother will take care of everything for you."
Shu Yu: "Okay."
Si Yiheng's gaze deepened. "If any other boy confesses to you, you have to tell me too, whether you like him or not."
"You have to tell me."
"Brother will help you figure things out."
Shu Yu didn't notice anything off about Si Yiheng's words at all.
If Shu Yu had read a different novel ahead of time, she might have known that this was called possessiveness.
Wanting to know everything about her at all times, wanting to seep into every crack of her life, to fill her entire existence.
It was possessiveness disguised under the name of brotherhood.
A fierce impulse already showing before family affection had even soured into romance.
Shu Yu nodded. "Of course I'll tell you, brother!"
Only then did Si Yiheng seem satisfied, the corner of his lips curling up slightly. "What a good girl."
"You're brother's Baby."
Shu Yu was delighted by his praise, and such words from Si Yiheng had long filled her daily life.
Shu Yu smiled brightly. "Of course! I'm the good little sister of you and Eldest Brother, and the good daughter of Mom and Dad."
The summer cicadas were at their most fervent and clamorous, and the entire campus was steeped in a tense atmosphere.
There were only three days left before the college entrance exam started.
Si Yiheng didn't seem nervous, but Shu Yu was about to faint from anxiety.
At the dinner table, Shu Yu kept adding food to Si Yiheng's bowl. "Brother, eat more."
Si Yiheng: "Mm."
Ye Ning: "Baby Yu, you're worrying over nothing. Our brother always says he did 'okay,' and he always gets first place."
Ye Ning wanted to say—if Si Yiheng weren't her actual brother, she'd call him a shameless show-off.
Ye Ning: "Let's just think about where we should go to play while they're taking their exams."
Shu Yu's eyes lit up, immediately forgetting about Si Yiheng again.
"Anything works! If we ask for two more days off, we can even stay out a little longer."
Seeing the two girls chatting away happily, Si Yiheng pressed his lips together.
Soon, the day of Si Yiheng's exam arrived. Ji Fei and Song Xuyan both came back, except for Song Wenzhao, who had been sent abroad for work.
After graduating, Song Wenzhao realized that what Song Xuyan had said about him needing to "grow up fast" and "guard against Si Yiheng" was just a scam to make him slave away.
The moment he graduated, Song Wenzhao was shipped abroad, studying while taking over the family business.
Forget about backing up his sister—even his chances to see Shu Yu had drastically decreased.
It was only because Shu Yu still remembered him, calling him from time to time to check in on him.
After the exam came the results, and Si Yiheng was admitted to A University as the top scorer.
During the summer, Si Yiheng began going to the Si family to learn management matters under Grandpa Si.
None of this made Shu Yu feel like anything had changed.
Because Si Yiheng still woke her up in the morning, still walked her to school, and still picked her up in the evening.
On weekends, Si Yiheng would still paint with her.
It wasn't until Si Yiheng started university and she moved up to her second year of high school that Shu Yu noticed the difference.
A University was far from home.
Her and Si Yiheng's schedules started to clash.
Si Yiheng could no longer take her to school, and when she forgot her hair tie, no one was there to put one on her.
By the time she fell asleep, he would just be getting home.
At lunch, Shu Yu poked at her rice. "Si Yiheng is so busy with university."
When Song Zhaozhao went abroad, Shu Yu had also felt this way—lost and down for a long time.
Now that Si Yiheng was in university, Shu Yu's withdrawal was just as strong.
Ye Ning: "Whoever says university is easy is totally lying. Innovation projects, volunteer hours, competitions, social practices—they're all a huge pain."
"I heard from Xiao Jun that since their team started developing a new app, he hasn't gotten more than four hours of sleep in a single day."
Shu Yu: "!!!"
Forget it, forget it.
Si Yiheng should just not come home. He can't be allowed to die from exhaustion.
That evening,
Shu Yu was doing her homework in the study when she suddenly heard the sound of the door opening.
Shu Yu's eyes lit up. She dropped her homework and ran to open the door.
Si Yiheng stood tall at the entrance, carrying the chill of early autumn on him.
Shu Yu ran over and threw her arms around him. "Brother."
