Yan Xianjue Pulled a Puppy-Dog Face

Mother Yan looked worriedly at Yan Ci, who lay pale-faced on the sofa.

She and Father Yan exchanged glances, both feeling as though the phantom of an enormous black pot had appeared behind him.

Yan Yi'an stopped Yan Xianjue, who was fanning the flames nearby.

He felt that if Yan Xianjue kept thinking, Yan Ci would be angered to death ahead of schedule.

"Go upstairs and rest for a while," Yan Yi'an said, casually making up an excuse. "I saw you fall asleep on the sofa just now."

Yan Xianjue figured his eldest brother probably had something to discuss with their parents, something inconvenient for a high school student like him to hear.

He nodded with an expression that said he understood. "I didn't take a nap today, so I'm a little sleepy. I'll go upstairs and sleep for a bit."

He just did not know why, but he felt as though his parents had let out long sighs of relief.

*

Everyone in the Yan Household underwent regular physical examinations.

The family doctor concluded that Yan Ci had only fainted because he had been temporarily overcome with anger.

Father and Mother Yan relaxed, then turned to their eldest son.

"Yi'an, what do you think?"

After watching Yan Ci get put on a glucose drip and seeing the doctor out, Yan Yi'an sat back down on the sofa.

His fingertips tapped casually a few times. "Yan Ci's new team member can't stay."

"Club matters should still be left for Yan Ci to handle himself," Father Yan said disapprovingly.

Mother Yan nodded in agreement. "It was because Xiao Ci entered the esports industry at too young an age, and the family worried he would be deceived, that we kept such a close eye on him."

"Now it seems that all that protection has made him a little too naïve."

Father Yan echoed his wife's words. "If he had Xian Jue's temperament, being a little naïve would not be a problem."

After saying that, he shook his head. Raising too many children was quite troublesome sometimes.

Every child had a different personality, and experience with the first model was basically useless for the later models.

Yan Ci slowly came to and heard those words.

He struggled into a sitting position on the sofa. "I'll get to the bottom of this."

Yan Yi'an nodded casually.

Letting Yan Ci investigate did not mean he would not investigate as well.

He did not believe the person behind this had gone to such lengths merely to set Yan Ci up.

He had always believed that every action was driven by powerful interests.

He merely pointed out calmly to Yan Ci, "Solid-State Electrolyte Lithium Battery Technology."

"What?" Yan Ci froze for a moment.

It was the reaction he had expected. Yan Yi'an curled his lips into a faint, mocking smile. "Yan Corporation's most important investment project in recent years."

"Who did you have investigate this stuff? After they investigated it, did you verify it yourself?"

"If you used the brain in your head, you should have known that the small company listed here was a subsidiary Yan Corporation established specifically for this technology."

Yan Ci looked toward his parents seated to one side, his expression questioning.

Father Yan nodded. "That's right. When this project was first proposed, the board was not very optimistic about it. The subsidiary was used as a trial operation, with Yi'an given full responsibility."

He sighed. "Xiao Ci, you were too impulsive this time."

He had said similar things so many times throughout Yan Ci's upbringing that he had lost count.

Yan Ci pressed his lips together and stubbornly said, "Once I find out the truth, I'll give you all an explanation."

*

He asked through gritted teeth, "So what is going on with Yan Xianjue?"

"As you can see, Dad, Mom, you, and I can all hear Xian Jue's thoughts," Yan Yi'an said.

"It looks like he also knows things that we don't."

Yan Ci and Yan Xianjue were close in age.

The club operated under closed management, so when he was bored, he sometimes read novels to pass the time.

So there were the terms Yan Xianjue had mentioned: "male lead," and those so-called "plotlines."

At the mention of plotlines, Yan Ci wore an expression as disgusted as if he had swallowed a fly.

After thinking it over, Yan Ci proposed a guess. "In Yan Xianjue's mind, our world is a novel, and he knows how the later plot develops."

"Then our family's fate must be terrible," Yan Yi'an said coldly.

He still remembered Yan Xianjue's summary about making a wedding dress for the male lead.

Yan Yi'an said, "We still need to find conclusive evidence."

Mother Yan recalled, "Didn't Xian Jue say before that he wanted to visit the club and see how professional players trained?"

Yan Xianjue had indeed mentioned it before, but she had refused on the grounds that the Gaokao was only two months away, and he could go after it was over.

"Xiao Ci, why don't you arrange a time to take him to meet that new member of your team?"

Yan Ci considered it and did not refuse. "I'll find an excuse to temporarily keep him from participating in official matches or showing his face."

"As soon as possible," Yan Yi'an said succinctly. "You haven't forgotten what Xian Jue said about the entire team being banned, have you?"

"Esports is joining the Olympic Games, and the entire industry is facing strict rectification. If I'm not mistaken, you were made an example of."

With the Yan Household's protection and influence, for the entire team to still be banned for a year after pulling strings meant this was absolutely no minor matter.

"Tomorrow after school, then," Mother Yan declared decisively. "Yi'an can go directly to the school and pick up Xian Jue after work."

Yan Yi'an nodded in agreement.

To avoid further complications, Yan Ci did not refuse either.

After retiring, Father Yan had nothing but free time. "Your mother and I will go too."

He wanted to see what kind of person could fool his son so completely.

*

Saying he was going to sleep had not been an excuse. After returning to his bedroom, Yan Xianjue flopped onto the bed and fell asleep.

In his dreams, he sorted through his chaotic memories.

And replayed the novel's plot in his mind.

Although he did not know why his second brother had suddenly fainted.

Fainting was good, though. If he fainted, he would not say that line that opened Pandora's box.

Considering how poor Second Brother's health is, Dad won't let him work at Yan Corporation, right?

The Yan family downstairs: "..."

Yan Yi'an shrugged. "A brand-new piece of intelligence. These thoughts have no distance limit."

Yan Ci stared blankly ahead, his eyes hollow and his voice grief-stricken. "Can't Yan Xianjue pick someone else to torment?!!!"

Father Yan patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Look on the bright side. At least the next time your mother tutors Xian Jue in physics, she can tell from his thoughts whether he really understands it."

Mother Yan let out a cold laugh.

Yan Ci shuddered as well, chilled by that cold joke.

When Yan Xianjue came downstairs with his phone, he happened to witness Yan Yi'an removing Yan Ci's IV needle.

But Yan Ci looked less like he had had a needle removed and more like Yan Yi'an had stabbed him in the heart.

Second Brother looks like he's about to lose all his color!

The Yan family in the living room: Whose fault was that?

Yan Ci took a deep breath and decided not to argue with him for the time being, at least until he had evidence.

Yan Xianjue was quite used to his second brother looking like this.

Could it be that Second Brother finally knows Eldest Brother is actually our eldest cousin?

Yan Ci's Adam's apple bobbed rapidly twice.

I get it!

Yan Yi'an felt a chill down his back.

Mom must have told Second Brother! Eldest Brother couldn't squeeze a fart out even with eight sticks, so he couldn't be bothered explaining it to Second Brother at all.

Yan Xianjue also wondered whether merely awakening his memories could really create such an enormous butterfly effect on the plot.

But the outcome was good. At the very least, his second brother had not yet unilaterally broken with his eldest brother.

Then, under the instigation of someone with ulterior motives, brought a wolf into the house.

This family really can't do without Mom!

Mother Yan raised her chin, looking proud.

Although the entire process was wrong, the result was right.

And the eldest brother who supposedly could not squeeze a fart out with eight sticks slowly revealed a very kind smile.

"Xian Jue," Yan Yi'an said, "about that thing you mentioned before, where you wanted me to donate a few teaching buildings—"

Yan Xianjue immediately forgot about his second brother and looked eagerly at his eldest brother.

In this life, he still loved reading novels, especially the scenes in domineering CEO stories where the male lead casually waved a hand and arranged for the female lead to attend some prestigious university.

Those scenes made Yan Xianjue, tormented to the point of wishing for death by physics homework, yearn for them intensely.

Yan Yi'an looked kindly at his younger brother, whose abacus beads were practically flying into his face.

"Of course—"

Yan Xianjue's eyes lit up.

"—not happening!"

Yan Xianjue pulled a puppy-dog face.