An Elder Brother Is Like a Father

Bai Yunsheng himself did not know how he had followed Meng Shangzhi out of the principal's office. He had not expected Meng Shangzhi to come so quickly, nor had he expected Meng Shangzhi to stand up for him like this.

He had thought Meng Shangzhi would only take him away.

"Mr. Meng, I..." Bai Yunsheng did not know what to say, so he changed his words. "Was what you said in the principal's office true?"

Meng Shangzhi said, "You want to let them off."

Bai Yunsheng hurriedly shook his head.

Meng Shangzhi said, "Then it's true."

Bai Yunsheng's pupils trembled. He pressed his lips together. "Thank you, Mr. Meng, thank you so much. In that situation, aside from you, I couldn't find anyone else."

"I didn't expect you to come, much less come so quickly."

Meng Shangzhi said, "You always seem to be thanking me."

Bai Yunsheng said, "Because you're always helping me."

"Mr. Meng, why? We've clearly never even met before. Why are you helping me so much?"

Mr. Meng's gaze fell on Bai Yunsheng's slightly reddened ears. His eyes flickered, and he quickly looked away into the distance. "Didn't I tell you? Because you're good-looking. I like your face."

Bai Yunsheng froze where he stood, his eyes widening slightly. He looked a little adorable, yet far too beautiful. The corners of his eyes stretched subtly with the motion, and his upturned lashes were thick and black, like an ink-colored butterfly.

Qi Baishi's ink butterflies were just as beautiful.

Meng Shangzhi turned his face away. "I'll take you home."

Even after getting into the car, Bai Yunsheng remained dazed, a state he never showed in front of others.

The car was spacious and carried a faint medicinal scent. The two sat some distance apart.

Meng Shangzhi glanced at Bai Yunsheng and reminded him, "Put on your seat belt."

Bai Yunsheng withdrew his gaze from the window and obediently fastened his seat belt.

Sunlight outside appeared and vanished like severed fragments as the car sped past the greenery.

Suddenly, Bai Yunsheng spoke in the silent car. "Since my mother died, no one has ever helped me like this." As he spoke, his voice began to choke up. "Mr. Meng, you're a very good person."

Meng Shangzhi did not answer, but a voice involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

"Brother, you're a very good person."

The child wore clothes utterly out of place at the banquet, standing gloomily in a corner. Someone had splashed something on him, leaving him drenched, pitiful, and helpless.

Meng Shangzhi's gaze was thin and even cold. When he looked at the child, he found him utterly laughable. He had not actually done anything; he had merely found the noise irritating and spoken up. Though Meng Shangzhi was an illegitimate son and unwelcome in the Meng Household, he was notorious for his ruthlessness and disregard for his own life. Those people lost interest in having fun and left.

Yet in this person's eyes, such a trivial thing had somehow made him a good person.

A good person.

Did he even know what a good person was?

Meng Shangzhi's vile thoughts surfaced. He stepped forward. Wearing a mask, he revealed only a pair of aggressive eyes. "A good person?" Just as he raised a hand to grab the child's wrist, the child suddenly reached up and yanked him aside. The same filthy water splashed over, except this time it was poured onto Meng Shangzhi.

A shrill voice rang out irritably. "Who told you to pull him away?!"

The child fearfully shrank back. Everyone wore masks, while only his face was exposed beneath the dazzling lights. Though he was clearly terrified and his voice choked with sobs, he said, "Because he's a good person. You're bad people."

Bad people, just like his second brother.

As soon as the child's voice fell, another voice rang out. "Don't you know? This person is the Feng Household's illegitimate son from outside."

Then came a cold laugh. "No wonder he's hanging around with the mistress's son. Do illegitimate sons form teams with other illegitimate sons? How disgusting."

Eleven-year-old Bai Yunsheng and eighteen-year-old Meng Shangzhi met each other like this, amid one insult after another about illegitimate sons.

They did not even know each other's names.

The memory was interrupted by Bai Yunsheng's breath as he leaned closer.

Pulled from his broken train of thought, Meng Shangzhi looked at Bai Yunsheng. At some point, Bai Yunsheng had unfastened his seat belt and moved close to him.

Bai Yunsheng said, "Mr. Meng, I'm here. Goodbye." After speaking, he leaned back a little and got out of the car.

Meng Shangzhi's hand resting on his knee slowly clenched into a fist. Instinctively, he looked out the window. Bai Yunsheng had not gone inside. Instead, he stood there smiling, as though waiting for Meng Shangzhi to leave. For some reason, Meng Shangzhi felt that Bai Yunsheng's smile was somewhat fake, as if someone had tugged the corners of his lips upward.

It did not come from his heart.

"Drive."

Upon receiving the order, the driver stepped on the gas.

As the car disappeared, Bai Yunsheng's smile gradually faded as well.

He lowered his eyes to look at the tiny stones accidentally scattered across the road.

He knew he was despicable.

Otherwise, he would not have used Meng Shangzhi's affection.

But he had no choice. There was no one by his side. He had neither power nor money, yet he wanted to avenge his dead self. He had to use Meng Shangzhi.

A trace of guilt flashed through his heart, but it quickly vanished beneath his increasingly gloomy gaze.

When he returned to the Feng Household, the suffocating feeling that rushed at him wormed into every part of Bai Yunsheng's body. He paused until the heavy sensation of falling left him, then stepped through the door of "home." His clothes still bore traces of the fight, dirty and uncomfortable. Bai Yunsheng planned to change into another set. But when he opened his bedroom door, he saw Feng Zhiyou sitting at the desk. An ordinary chair somehow seemed far more valuable beneath him.

Bai Yunsheng naturally knew why Feng Zhiyou had come.

Bai Yunsheng said, "Big Brother?"

Feng Zhiyou said, "Since when were you so familiar with Meng Shangzhi?"

It was too strange. Ever since Meng Shangzhi had agreed to attend the Feng Household's banquet, everything had become too strange.

Without changing expression, Bai Yunsheng answered honestly, "We've only just met."

Feng Zhiyou naturally did not believe him. They had only just met? Yet Meng Shangzhi could go this far for him? Meng Shangzhi was not an easygoing person.

Feng Zhiyou said, "You're still lying."

Bai Yunsheng said, "I'm not."

Feng Zhiyou still wanted to speak, but Bai Yunsheng interrupted him. "I'd like to ask Big Brother instead: when you clearly didn't know what happened, why did you decide it was my fault?"

"If Mr. Meng hadn't appeared, what would have happened to me? Would I have had to apologize to those arrogant people, then get expelled?"

"Big Brother?"

Feng Zhiyou said, "Bai Yunsheng, you've changed." Rather than respond to Bai Yunsheng's questioning, he said something entirely unrelated to the matter at hand.

Bai Yunsheng did not answer.

With utter indifference, Feng Zhiyou said, "Bai Yunsheng, no matter how much you change, you are insignificant before me. What you should be doing now is explaining your relationship with Meng Shangzhi, not questioning me." After saying that, he clapped his hands. Someone had apparently been waiting outside all along, entering with a whip in hand.

Bai Yunsheng's gaze tightened. "You're not Father. You have no right..." Before he could finish, someone forced him to his knees.

Feng Zhiyou slowly rose to his feet, held out a hand, and the whip landed in it. Then he coughed several times. "An elder brother is like a father. Do you think I have the right?"