Though he resisted studying, Shen Yu had no choice but to keep pace with his two younger brothers, sighing and grumbling as he began reviewing elementary school material.
Shen Jin was indeed just as the teacher had praised him: not only could he adapt readily, but he could also guide Shen Jun, who was unfamiliar with the textbooks.
Propping his cheek on his left hand, Shen Yu gazed gloomily at the two loving brothers, his pen unconsciously drawing circles.
After all, he had attended high school; he could hardly have forgotten all his elementary school knowledge. Besides, Shen Yu had no intention of buckling down and stunning everyone with his achievements. Living off others was the young boy's current ideal.
Seeing the boys' exceptional talent, Teacher Zhang adjusted his teaching pace, finishing the first volume in just three days and even thoughtfully preparing an upgraded final assessment for the little ones.
Shen Yu peered through half-closed eyes, his sleepy little head bobbing, yet he still forced himself to stay alert enough to look at Shen Jun's tense face and comfort him. "Don't worry, little brother. The teacher definitely won't give us hard questions."
A flicker of helplessness crossed Shen Jun's tense expression at Shen Yu's earnest reassurance. He wasn't afraid; he was simply a little excited to take an exam again after so many years.
Still, Shen Yu's joking around did calm Shen Jun down. Even Shen Jin sneaked a glance at Shen Yu, immediately turning away when Shen Yu looked back and pretending nothing had happened.
Shen Yu, however, grinned happily and openly gave Shen Jin a thumbs-up, encouraging his two timid younger brothers to do their best.
Once the exam began, Shen Yu watched the two brothers diligently working on their questions, feeling as though he were watching his own children grow up. Then he received a knuckle rap on the head.
Forced to uncross his smugly crossed legs, Shen Yu met the smiling teacher's eyes in pain, then bit his pen in aggrievement a moment later.
Teacher Zhang looked helplessly at Shen Yu, who had taken it to heart. Over the past two days, he had come to see that the twins loved studying, while Shen Yu was very bright but far too careless and distracted.
In less than twenty-odd minutes, the three handed in their papers amid a rustle; Shen Yu craned his neck and eagerly waited for the teacher to grade them, caring far more about his two younger brothers' scores than his own.
"Shen Jin got everything right. Well done."
"Shen Jun also did very well, though his methods for two questions were rather roundabout. Still, getting the answers is a good thing."
"As for Shen Yu, your ideas were excellent, and some of your thinking even involved middle school material, but you made a mistake in the simplest calculation."
Shen Yu's eyes widened. Before he could even feel guilty about using middle school knowledge, he was shocked that he had miscalculated.
He, a high school student, had gotten an elementary school question wrong?
The teacher handed back the papers, and Shen Yu stared incredulously at his calculations... He really had gotten it wrong. He had mixed up his multiplication tables.
"Tsk, tsk. Got your sums wrong?" As soon as the teacher left, the restless Shen Xingshuo darted into the study to stir up trouble, spotting Shen Yu's paper at a glance.
"Let me just say, my speaking might not be fluent, but in math, I'm aiming for full marks no matter what. You're not up to scratch, Little Yu!"
Seeing Shen Yu hopping mad from the teasing, Shen Xingshuo felt immensely pleased and even shook his head as he lectured, "Failure is the mother of success."
"But..." Second Shen added with an obnoxious grin, "if you transfer me 200 right now, you'll have successfully made a payment."
"You deserve it, second brother!" Shen Yu stood up in a huff, raising his voice as he prepared to tell on him. "I'll have our eldest brother dock all your allowance!"
"You haven't done your homework yet. Do you want to rush through it again tomorrow before class, howling the whole time?"
Shen Jun caught Shen Yu, who was like a horse that had slipped its reins, feeling quite helpless about the boy's boisterous nature.
He had originally thought Shen Yu hadn't done his homework last night because he had other plans. He hadn't expected that Shen Yu had simply been procrastinating and only hurried to finish it this morning.
Lectured by his younger brother, Shen Yu lowered his head in aggrievement. Half an hour was plenty for him to finish his homework, but since his younger brother was showing concern for once, the magnanimous Shen Xiaoyu decided not to hold it against his troublemaking second brother.
With an indignant huff, Shen Yu flipped Shen Xingshuo the middle finger. Just as he was about to ignore his second brother, he heard Shen Xingshuo announce, "I'm going to join the talent competition tomorrow. See you in three months."
The words in Shen Yu's throat caught. He looked incredulously at his shameless second brother. "If I remember correctly, it's three months from the competition to debut, right?"
"Yeah. What about it?" Shen Xingshuo raised his eyebrows confidently.
"You're not even considering getting eliminated in the first round?" Thinking of Second Shen's awful plotline, Shen Yu's face scrunched up. "Besides..."
A few days earlier, Shen Xingshuo had debated with their father over joining the talent competition. The topic was "Can participating in a talent competition fulfill one's personal worth?" and both sides had stuck to their own views.
In the end, however, Shen Xingshuo had won a resounding victory with, "I don't know how to do anything anyway. Otherwise, I'd just be freeloading, so I might as well go out and give it a shot. At worst, I won't use the Shen Family name, so I won't embarrass you."
Seeing his second son's hair-trigger temper and recalling Shen Yu's complaints about Shen Xingshuo's future notoriety, Shen Changgeng could only tell Shen Xubai to look out for him behind the scenes.
Of course, all of this was kept from Second Shen, or the adolescent boy would start shouting again that they looked down on him.
Shen Yu's increasingly round face was full of worry. Second Shen would meet the protagonist during the talent competition. What if...
"All right, put away that gloomy little look. I know what I'm doing." Shen Xingshuo pinched Shen Yu's tender cheeks hard, only reluctantly leaving once they had turned red.
He wasn't someone who avoided things, nor could he wait for Shen Yu to come up with a solution to everything. Besides, the plot could be changed. At least his biological younger brother had already been found ahead of time.
Shen Jun looked at the gloomy young boy. Over the past two days, he had also pieced together some guesses about the Shen Family's future, but now he, too, patted Shen Yu's head.
"One more time?" Shen Yu turned and looked pitifully at Shen Jun.
"Hm?" Shen Jun was puzzled. One more time what?
"Pat me again!" Shen Yu nodded emphatically, telling Shen Jun with his eyes that he was a gloomy little fellow in urgent need of comfort.
His second brother wouldn't listen. Though his stitches had been removed, he was advised not to run around for a week, so he could only wait anxiously at home.
After Shen Xingshuo left, the once-noisy house became... just as full of chatter as ever.
Shen Yu pouted, looking at his two younger brothers in incomprehension. Aside from their daily lessons, the two had practically become obsessed with reading.
Recalling his own years as a penniless little fellow, Shen Yu scratched his head in bewilderment. So this was the fabled "studying is my hobby."
The gloomy Shen Yu muttered away, and even Shen Xubai, home from work, realized that the two younger brothers were too immersed in studying. It was time to arrange extracurricular activities.
"Are there any hobbies you'd like to learn?" Shen Xubai respected his younger brothers' choices rather than holding the young boys to the standards of a wealthy family.
"Shooting, nunchucks." Shen Yu had plenty to say on the matter and eagerly suggested, "Let's learn something that takes an enemy down in one move."
Shen Xubai & Shen Jun & Shen Jin: ...
"Little Yu." Shen Xubai pressed down the tuft of hair that had sprung up in Shen Yu's excitement, his eyes full of helplessness. "We live in a society governed by law."
"All right." Shen Yu drew back his eager arms and cupped his face in both hands as he suggested, "Then let's learn sanda or boxing. The kind where you send someone flying with one punch!"
It always came back to learning how to fight. Shen Xubai had intended to say that he would send people to protect them, but when he saw Shen Jin nodding in agreement beside them, he changed what he was about to say.
"Of course you can. What do Little Jun and Little Jin think?"
"I think... that's fine too." Shen Jin still couldn't bring himself to call Shen Yu his older brother, so he could only awkwardly agree. "Mainly to get some exercise."
"All right." Shen Xubai pretended not to notice the boy's little thoughts. Catching sight of Shen Yu smiling after his suggestion had been accepted, he couldn't help asking in amusement, "What about you, my violent little young master?"
Embarrassed at being singled out and teased by his eldest brother, Shen Yu covered his face with a cushion, leaving his eyes exposed to meet Shen Xubai's gaze, and made a startling declaration. "I want to freeload until I die."
The corner of Shen Xubai's mouth twitched. It was hard to imagine a child in his early teens having such an outlook. Seeing Shen Yu's big, expectant eyes fixed on him, he decisively looked away.
"What about Little Jun?"
Ignoring his exasperating little brother, Shen Xubai bent down to pick up a pen from the floor. "Though you can't do strenuous exercise, you can take up other hobbies."
Hobbies? Shen Jun looked bewildered. He was just about to say he had none when he met Shen Yu's bright, intent eyes and immediately swallowed his words.
If he didn't find something to do, wouldn't he have to spend every waking moment with this little airhead?