On the way back to the Lu family home, Father Lu received a video call from Lu Shenyuan.
Since he had not been sure whether Lu Yao would return to the Lu family, Father Lu had not told Lu Shenyuan that they had found Lu Yao. But once Lu Yao agreed to come home, Father Lu naturally shared the good news with Lu Shenyuan and Second Uncle Lu.
Lu Yao happened to be sitting beside Father Lu, so he was also caught on camera while Father Lu spoke with Lu Shenyuan.
Before Father Lu and Lu Shenyuan had exchanged more than a few words, Lu Shenyuan bluntly said, "Big Brother, I didn't call you to chat. I called to say hello to my little nephew."
Lu Shenyuan was currently abroad, and there was a time difference. It was nighttime in China, but noon where he was. Lu Shenyuan had waited all morning just to call Lu Yao after they got off the plane.
Father Lu turned toward Lu Yao beside him and asked, "Want to chat with your uncle for a bit?"
Lu Yao took the phone from Father Lu.
On the other end of the video call, Lu Shenyuan wore his club's black-and-gold uniform. The moment he saw Lu Yao, he smiled and said, "My little nephew is really handsome. He got those looks from me."
Lu Yao: "..."
Lu Yao naturally recognized Lu Shenyuan, but was the legendary aloof God Lu really like this in private?
Lu Shenyuan said, "I heard you play Heroes Glory too? Once I finish my matches and return home, we can play a few rounds together. Oh, right, your brother Lu Qi is such a noob, so let's not invite him onto our team."
Lu Yao: "..."
Lu Qi was in the car as well, so naturally he heard Lu Shenyuan's words. He protested indignantly, "That's not fair! Uncle, what right do you have to decide for Lu Yao? Maybe he likes playing with me!"
Lu Shenyuan gave a disdainful snort and was just about to fire back at Lu Qi when a shout suddenly came from behind him. "Captain, the practice match starts in five minutes!"
Lu Shenyuan turned around and cursed furiously toward the source of the voice, "Hurry, hurry, hurry my ass. Hurry your big head!"
I don't even have time to make a phone call to my own nephew. This life is simply unbearable.
After being yelled at by Lu Shenyuan, Bai Mao muttered aggrievedly under his breath, "I knew I'd be the unlucky one. I said I didn't want to come call the captain, but those bastards shoved me out here anyway." This club was impossible to stay in.
Lu Shenyuan's teammates all knew he had been waiting for a very important call today, but the practice match was indeed about to begin. Bai Mao had lost at rock-paper-scissors, so the coach and the other three teammates pushed him out to urge their demon king of a captain along.
Lu Shenyuan turned back around and seemed to change faces instantly, smiling as he said, "Xiao Yao, is there anything you want? When Uncle comes back to China, I'll bring you a welcome gift."
Lu Yao said, "Anything is fine."
Lu Shenyuan scratched his head. "Then I'll get you something related to Heroes Glory. You like the game too, after all."
Seeing that Lu Shenyuan had things to do, Father Lu said, "Go handle your work first. We'll have a proper chat when you're back in the country."
Lu Shenyuan could only hang up reluctantly.
By the time Father Lu and the others returned to the Lu family home, it was already late.
"Xiao Yao, this is your room. If you don't like this style of decor, tell Mom, and Mom will change it to something you like." Ms. Li pushed open the bedroom door as she spoke to Lu Yao over her shoulder.
Lu Yao said, "This is already fine."
Hearing that Lu Yao had no objections, Ms. Li smiled. "That's good. Get some rest first, then. Mom won't disturb you. Good night."
Lu Yao opened his mouth, yet he still could not easily say the word "Mom." He could only awkwardly reply, "Good night."
Seeing Lu Yao's slight helplessness, Ms. Li's eyes were full of tenderness. She patted Lu Yao on the shoulder. "It's okay. There's no rush."
Though she desperately wanted to hear him call her "Mom" with her own ears, she did not want to put pressure on Lu Yao. Perhaps because of the bond between mother and son, Ms. Li could sense the complicated feelings this child held toward them.
Ms. Li thoughtfully closed the door for Lu Yao.
Lu Yao looked around the room. It was spacious, with a private bathroom, walk-in closet, and separate balcony. Beyond the balcony lay a beautiful view of the lake.
Lu Yao walked onto the balcony and called Grandpa Bai.
"Hello, Grandpa Bai. I'm here."
Lu Qi's room was right next to Lu Yao's, and it had a balcony as well. Therefore, Lu Qi could hear Lu Yao's phone call outside on the balcony perfectly clearly from his own room.
Hearing the gentle tone Lu Yao used with Grandpa Bai on the phone, Lu Qi knew the old man was an elder who had watched Lu Yao grow up, but he still could not help feeling a little sour and jealous. Hmph, Lu Yao was gentler and more considerate toward an outsider than toward his own older brother.
Lu Yao had no idea that Lu Qi was wrestling with such complicated emotions in the next room. After finishing his call with Grandpa Bai and assuring him that he was safe, Lu Yao took clothes from his suitcase and went to wash up.
After washing up, Lu Yao opened his suitcase and planned to put away his clothes.
After hanging all his clothes in the walk-in closet, Lu Yao lay down on the bed to rest. Once he turned off the lights, he noticed that the box in the bottom compartment of the bedside table was fluorescent and especially eye-catching in the darkness.
Lu Yao turned the lights back on and pulled the box out from below.
On the outside of the box were several crooked words: "Message Box for the Baby." So these were messages they had left for his younger self?
Filled with curiosity, Lu Yao reached into the cardboard box and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.
He unfolded it and saw a crooked line of writing: "I hope the baby grows up soon. I want to go to kindergarten with the baby."
Lu Yao did not even need to guess. This crumpled note must have been stuffed in there by Lu Qi when he was in kindergarten. Combined with the handwriting on the box, it seemed this was something Lu Qi had come up with.
"Today, that old witch of a Chinese teacher made us write an essay. The topic was 'My ___,' so I wrote 'My Little Brother.' That old witch actually said I was lying and that I didn't have a little brother. I'm so mad. Once I have money, I'm going to buy this elementary school and tell that old witch I wasn't lying."
"The sky was especially beautiful today. The clouds were as white as cotton candy."
Just when Lu Yao thought the next note he pulled out would still contain Lu Qi's childish words, he saw Ms. Li's handwriting.
"Today, I changed the wallpaper in your room. Mom thought that now that you're fifteen, you might find the previous style too childish, so I changed it to this starry-sky theme. I don't know whether you'll like it."
Lu Yao looked around the room. It was obvious at a glance that every part of it had been carefully designed and considered. Lu Yao could not imagine what Ms. Li had been feeling as she designed this room for him without knowing whether he was alive or dead.
"Today is your birthday. Did you eat cake? Mom bought a slice of cake today, but the more she ate, the more it felt so sweet it turned bitter. Mom won't buy cake from that shop ever again."
This cardboard box seemed to have become a secret tree hollow for the three of them. Perhaps because they thought they would never receive a response, they had cast aside their disguises and burdens within it.
"Though that child wasn't you, when Dad saw him today, he suddenly wondered whether you might have grown as tall as him by now. That brat Lu Qi will probably be taller than me in another year or two."
"There's news from Mountain City, so Dad is going there to take a look today. Though the chances are slim, Dad always feels that you might be somewhere out there, waiting for us to take you home..."
Because of everything that had happened recently, Father Lu and Ms. Li had forgotten about the cardboard box in Lu Yao's room, leaving it behind there.
In the pitch-black room, Lu Yao lay on the bed with his eyes open, staring heavily at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought.
***
The next morning, sunlight streaming through the window woke Lu Yao.
After washing up, Lu Yao went downstairs.
Ms. Li was already seated at the dining table, holding Lu Yao's little kitten in her arms and feeding it the carefully prepared cat food that the household aunt had made for it, her face full of affection.
The moment she saw Lu Yao, Ms. Li could not help smiling. In a gentle voice, she said, "Good morning, Yao Yao. Did you sleep well last night?"
Although Father Lu and Ms. Li had originally named Lu Yao Lu Yang, he had used the name Lu Yao for so many years. His adoptive father also happened to be surnamed Lu, and the character "Yao" carried the meaning of sunlight, so Lu Yao kept using the name.
Hearing Ms. Li call his name so intimately, Lu Yao froze for a moment. The tips of his ears, hidden beneath his black hair, instantly turned red.
He pressed his lips together. Remembering what he had read the previous night, he lowered his voice and said somewhat awkwardly, "Good morning... Mom."
Lu Yao deliberately kept that "Mom" very quiet, even blurring the sound of it, but to Ms. Li, it struck like thunder.
Her expression dazed for a moment. Seeing Lu Yao's shyness, she quickly concealed the overwhelming complexity of her emotions.
She knew that if her reaction was too obvious, it would only make the child more uncomfortable. Thus, Ms. Li merely smiled and nodded, pretending to be calm as she said, "Sit down and have breakfast. Your father had work at the company today, so he already ate and went in." Though it was National Day, Father Lu had accumulated too much work recently and had to spend time dealing with it.
Lu Yao took the seat beside Ms. Li, lifted the glass of Milk at his place setting, and took a sip to moisten his dry throat.
Lu Yao lowered his gaze to the glass in his hand. Strawberry-flavored milk?
As if he had developed a taste for it, he took another sip.
Ms. Li played with the little kitten in her arms as she watched Lu Yao eat breakfast with a smile in her eyes, chatting with him casually.
It was not until Lu Yao was almost done with breakfast that Lu Qi finally appeared at the dining table.
After greeting Ms. Li and Lu Yao, Lu Qi sat down at the table.
The moment he saw the milk in the glass on the table, Lu Qi curled his lips in disdain. "Why did Auntie prepare strawberry milk again? We're not elementary school kids anymore. Who even likes something as childish as strawberry milk?!"
Elementary school kid? Childish?
Lu Yao lowered his eyes and looked at the now-empty glass before him.
Hearing Lu Qi complain, Ms. Li directly said, "Since it's already poured, you have to finish it. Don't waste it."
After grumbling unhappily for a while, Lu Qi still pinched his nose, picked up the glass, and gulped the milk down. His expression was as disgusted as if he were drinking traditional medicine.
What a waste of good things.
Lu Yao lowered his eyes slightly, thinking of that phrase.
After Lu Yao called her Mom earlier, Ms. Li could not resist secretly showing off to Lu Qi and Father Lu through her phone.
Father Lu's reaction was still unknown, but when Lu Qi found out after waking up, he immediately became jealous. This brat had not even called him "Brother" once.
As Lu Qi ate breakfast, he pretended to converse casually with Ms. Li. From time to time, he deliberately made little noises to attract Lu Yao's attention. Yet even after he dawdled through breakfast, he still failed to hear Lu Yao call him Brother.
Seeing Lu Yao stand up, Lu Qi still clung to a bit of hope and secretly looked at him from the corner of his eye. But Lu Yao failed to notice his expectant gaze and simply left the dining table.
Ms. Li was sharp-eyed enough to see through Lu Qi's little scheme. Smiling, she patted him on the shoulder and walked away as well, leaving Lu Qi sitting alone at the dining table.
He was furious. He was the older brother, and he was two years older than Lu Yao! Just wait. Sooner or later, he would make this brat willingly call him Brother.