Jealousy

In an apartment in Beijing.

Lu Siwei's family was about to have dinner. Watching the same old health supplement commercial on TV, Lu Siwei complained, "I don't want to watch this channel. The commercials go on for half an hour. I can recite the slogans backward by now."

"Change it yourself if you want something else. The remote's on the coffee table."

At her mother's words, Lu Siwei quickly switched the TV to the variety show A Day to See All the Flowers.

Everyone in her class said it was good. She wanted to watch it too!

Just then, the show was playing the part where Yu Lin spun the wheel. Lu Siwei held her bowl of rice and forgot to eat, her eyes fixed on the television.

Lu Siwei's mother frowned, about to lecture her, but then she said nothing.

Forget it. Her daughter only came home once a week. She could let her finish this show today.

"Peaches, peaches! I want peaches!"

Yu Lin prayed to heaven and earth. At last, the arrow stopped, pointing at the dragon pattern.

"Oh my god! Do you even realize what you've done?!"

Yu Lin's eyes widened on the screen. Post-production even added a bolt-from-the-blue effect, with the two gilded words "Unlucky Fool" hanging over his head.

"Pfft, why is Yu Lin so funny? I knew he wouldn't get it."

Lu Siwei laughed, then turned to discuss the show with her mother.

Lu Siwei's mother laughed too. Even the speed at which she picked up food slowed as the show captured her attention.

"Who's that male celebrity? The Sugar Painting he made looks pretty decent," Lu Siwei's mother asked.

"His name is Li Yu! I hadn't heard of him before either. Maybe he only got popular recently?" Lu Siwei said.

"Look how capable he is. He knows how to do so many things at nineteen."

"Mom! If you're watching TV, just focus on the TV!"

Knowing her mother was about to compare her with someone else again, Lu Siwei hurriedly redirected her attention to the show.

The guests on TV then went to the Scent-Seeking Flower Hairpin Shop for Flower Adornment styling. The moment Liang Meichen came out, Lu Siwei's mother's eyes lit up.

"Oh my, that styling looks wonderful!"

"I think so too! But I'm sure you'd look great in that style too, Mom. How about we go there during winter break?" Lu Siwei said.

Lu Siwei's mother thought about it, then said, "Sure. Once you and your dad are on break, we'll go as a family!"

"Yay!"

Lu Siwei was so excited that she jumped right to her feet. Who would have thought that watching TV would make her mother decide to take the whole family on a winter vacation?

Then Li Yu came out after finishing his styling. The TV even played a sound effect of startled gasps, finally pulling Lu Siwei back to her senses.

"Holy—!"

The elegant phrase slipped right out of Lu Siwei's mouth. Realizing her mother was beside her, she only got out half of it before swallowing the rest back down her throat.

She glanced sideways and found her mother fully absorbed in the show, immediately letting out a sigh of relief.

"Oh my god, he's so good-looking!" Lu Siwei said excitedly, slapping her thigh.

"That boy really is quite handsome," Lu Siwei's mother agreed.

After that, the eight guests boarded a painted boat and listened to a Pingtan performance on the Canglang River.

Lu Siwei's mother usually loved this sort of thing. When she saw this part, she stopped eating altogether, set her bowl down on the table, and focused completely on the show.

Lu Siwei: ...Wasn't she the one who had wanted to watch the show in the first place? How was her mother even more engrossed than she was?

Li Shuhe was also watching A Day to See All the Flowers.

Normally, he would have been at his computer by now, hammering away at the keyboard and galloping through the gaming world. But today, he just had to see what kind of variety show Li Yu had joined.

Then, the more he watched, the angrier he got—was Chi Yan's gaze glued to Li Yu or something? He could not bear to look away even once!

And Yu Lin—why was he blushing? There was definitely something suspicious going on!

And Zhou Yanqing, asking all those weird questions—he was a hypocrite too!

And Shu Menglan, always throwing an arm around Li Yu's shoulders—she was even more trouble!

Most outrageous of all were those people in the bullet comments. They would say anything! Li Shuhe's face turned red just from reading them.

This, this, this! What kind of indecency was this?!

At that moment, Li Shuhe felt like the entire world was trying to steal his brother from him.

Li Yu being popular with others was good. Other people were bad!

Li Shuhe sulked to himself. At home, he had never seen Li Yu smile at him like that! Yet Li Yu went out and smiled so sweetly at everyone!

Li Shuhe was fiercely jealous.

He patiently kept watching, but his focus was utterly bizarre—completely unlike any normal person's.

He watched the two-hour variety show straight through without pausing once.

Hearing movement at the front door downstairs, Li Shuhe knew Li Yu had returned.

He put on his shoes and thundered downstairs, practically crackling with sparks and lightning. But just as he was about to reach the door, his steps suddenly slowed, and he pretended he just happened to be passing by.

Li Shuhe spoke "casually," "Why are you back so late?"

Li Yu made a vague sound and did not directly answer his question. Instead, he asked, "Why are you standing in the yard so late?"

"I..." Li Shuhe gritted his teeth, his hackles rising at once. "I came down for a walk after dinner!"

"Oh~" Li Yu seemed to believe him. "That's nice, that's nice. I never knew you had a hobby of taking walks."

"If you don't have work, can't you come home earlier? What kind of older brother are you? You spend all day outside until you practically forget your own surname." Li Shuhe planted his hands on his hips, finally regaining a little ground.

Li Yu looked Li Shuhe over for two seconds, then smiled. "Are you bored at home by yourself?"

It was the first time Li Shuhe had seen Li Yu smile in front of him. In his memory, Li Yu did not like him as a younger brother.

When he had been little, he did not understand why his older brother did not like playing with him and only ran next door every day.

Later, when he got a little older, he understood. Putting himself in Li Yu's shoes, if his mother had died and his father brought home a younger brother around his own age, he would feel resistant too.

He knew he had been naughty as a child and often made Li Yu angry. After that, Li Yu barely paid attention to him anymore. He felt awkward about it and would not take the initiative to approach Li Yu either.

Later, he really could not stand it anymore. To make his presence known in front of Li Yu, he often lashed out at him verbally. Unexpectedly, Li Yu only came to dislike him more and more.

And today, Li Yu had actually smiled at him...

Did that mean Li Yu did not hate him quite so much anymore?

For a moment, Li Shuhe did not know what to say. His gaze guiltily flicked to the side. "I... I watched your show today."

Li Yu raised his brows. He had not expected Li Shuhe, someone who "heard nothing beyond the window and only cared about hammering away at his keyboard," to pay attention to news about him.

"What did you think?"

After thinking it over, Li Shuhe finally decided to swallow his countless complaints and merely said, "It was pretty good."