As they neared their destination, Shen Yu pressed his head against the window and gazed eagerly outside, completely forgetting how he had worried last night about whether his eldest brother would be angry. Now, all he wanted was to teleport home.
The airport was packed, but fortunately, children traveling alone had a dedicated passage. Following the flight attendant out through the exit, Shen Yu spotted the two people waiting for him and called out happily from far away.
"Big brother, Little Jin, I'm back!"
"You've gotten tanned." Shen Xubai took his youngest brother's bulging backpack and made sure to hold the bouncing Shen Yu's hand with his other hand, afraid the little fellow might bounce off and get lost.
"No, I haven't!" Remembering how he had spent these past few days wandering around outside, Shen Yu rubbed his face guiltily, then turned his gaze to Shen Jin, who stood quietly beside them.
"Little Jin, your clothes are too small." Looking at Shen Jin, whom he had not seen for a while, Shen Yu tilted his head and offered his fair assessment.
Shen Jin looked utterly exasperated. After a moment of hesitation, he could not resist stopping in front of Shen Yu and explaining with a stern little face, "I've been exercising regularly, so I've filled out my clothes."
The two brothers used to have barely any flesh on their bones, and even a T-shirt hung loosely on them. Now that their quality of life had improved, and with Shen Jin sticking to his exercise routine, faint muscle definition had begun to show.
"Oh!" Shen Yu tilted his head, pursed his lips, and nodded vigorously, but his eyes showed no sign of believing him.
Shen Jin gritted his teeth in anger, his composed expression cracking again. Yet there was nothing he could do about Shen Yu, so he could only stride away to put some distance between them.
Watching his younger brother storm ahead, Shen Yu found something inexplicably funny and shook with giggles. Shen Xubai paused in his steps, seriously suspecting that his younger brother had gone silly while away having fun.
"Big brother, why aren't you at work? You could've just had Uncle Liu pick me up." Noticing that the driver was absent, Shen Yu snuggled up beside Shen Jin, smiling with narrowed eyes like a little fox while pretending he had not just gotten exactly what he wanted.
"Well, we were worried our Little Yu might secretly wipe away his tears!" Watching his youngest brother grin cheekily in the rearview mirror, Shen Xubai imitated Shen Yu's tone and slyly prodded the carefree little fellow.
Sure enough, Shen Yu's eyes widened. He looked doubtfully at his eldest brother, then scrutinized Shen Jin through narrowed eyes, seemingly considering whether his tearful episode yesterday had been exposed.
If it had, his second brother's tally book would gain another entry.
The little fellow's frowning, thoughtful expression was so funny that much of Shen Jin's earlier discomfort eased. He could not resist pinching Shen Yu's cheek. "You've gotten fat."
"Are you... getting back at me?" With his little mouth pinched out of shape, Shen Yu flapped his arms and mumbled, "Is it because I said your clothes were too small?"
At that, Shen Jin silently reached out with his other hand, attacking from both sides and pinching Shen Yu until he could no longer speak.
The boy's memory always came into play in unexpected places. His clothes being too small, for instance-he simply would not let that joke go.
"No roughhousing in the car. Little Jun has a follow-up examination in a couple of days. You can all go shopping for clothes together then." Seeing how Shen Yu had pestered Shen Jin into utter despair, Shen Xingshuo shook his head helplessly.
Their youngest brother really was a little too lively, and the atmosphere visibly grew more cheerful.
Chattering all along the way, Shen Yu single-handedly ensured that not a single moment of the thirty-plus-minute drive was quiet.
Shen Changgeng and Lin Yujing had a social engagement. Shen Jun made a rare departure from the study and waited with a smile for the three of them to come home.
"Little Jun, I missed you so much!" The enthusiastic Shen Yu immediately swept him into a bear hug, not forgetting to pinch Shen Jun's arm as he remarked, "You need to eat more. You're the skinniest one in the family now."
That was indeed true. Shen Jin had grown much sturdier, and even Shen Yu's cheeks had filled out. Only Shen Jun remained thin and frail, looking like a paper cutout.
Deeply worried, Shen Yu inspected him from every angle, wishing he could immediately feed his younger brother until he was plump and fair.
"I know." Shen Jun smiled in surrender. Since his legs had not recovered yet, he was in no hurry to build up his health. Shen Yu, on the other hand, was frantic, wishing he himself could run and jump immediately.
Watching the two brothers be so affectionate, Shen Xubai pushed Shen Jin, who was imagining a scene of competing for affection, over to them as well. "I need to go to the office. Be good and stay home."
"Yes, sir!" Shen Yu turned and saluted, his face taut with complete conviction.
"You... behave." Shen Xubai fell silent. Now Shen Yu was not only scatterbrained, but possessed by his inner drama queen too.
Back in his familiar home, Shen Yu clearly found everything novel. He raced about for two hours before finally bouncing into the study out of boredom, where he found the two brothers studying as usual.
"What? You've started reading middle school books!" Glimpsing the materials on the desk, Shen Yu rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
They had still been doing third-grade test papers before he left. How had those turned into seventh-grade math?
Watching Shen Yu make such a fuss, Shen Jin looked slightly smug. He and his brother were naturally gifted too, and having suffered from being unable to attend school, they naturally wanted to give this path their all.
Seeing Shen Yu clutch the desk, so shocked that even his cowlick stood up, Shen Jun could not resist reaching out to ruffle his older brother's fluffy, tousled hair. "We've only just started. You can study with us."
"Maybe not." The lines in the textbook made Shen Yu dizzy just looking at them. Remembering that he would still have to face the college entrance exam in the future, he instantly sank into despair.
"Brother, we haven't finished our tasks yet." Seeing how Shen Jun was gentle to his very core, Shen Jin could not help reminding his brother, who was soothing Shen Yu, his tone unconsciously taking on a hint of jealousy.
"You two study. I'll just look and won't say anything." At that, Shen Yu immediately zipped his mouth shut, his wide eyes full of innocence.
A teacher had guided them through remedial lessons in elementary school fundamentals, but the two brothers found them simple, and the teacher's pace did not match what they had imagined. That was why they had asked to study middle school material on their own.
Watching his two younger brothers quickly skim through the textbook's key concepts, then pick up their pens to practice before reviewing and summarizing, with hardly any pauses in between and even identifying the key and difficult points, Shen Yu was so astonished that his mouth hung open.
[Those are my little brothers for you, future super academic stars! I'll fly the flag for my brothers as they sweep first place in every exam.]
[Sigh, my brothers are so smart. Will that make me look stupid?]
[Nothing I can do. Who told me not to like studying? Serves me right! I'll take it one step at a time. If all else fails, I'll die halfway there.]
The two brothers had just settled into their work when they heard Shen Yu muttering as he propped his face in his hands and stared into space, occasionally revealing a silly smile.
When he first heard Shen Yu worrying that he was not smart, Shen Jun had yet to think of how to comfort him before he heard that bold declaration about "dying halfway there." His pen-holding hand could not help trembling.
"I'll ask Uncle Liu to bring you some fruit." Shen Jin looked around and, finding no snacks in the study to plug Shen Yu's mouth, desperately asked the butler for fruit.
"Yes, please! I was worried eating might disturb you!" Shen Yu happily bobbed his head. Seeing his younger brother looking at him, he cheerfully made a circuit of the study.
Shen Jin: I should have kept my mouth shut.
Watching his younger brother grow dizzy with anger, Shen Jun laughed aloud for the first time. "Little Jin, plugging his mouth won't help either."
After all, Shen Yu could not only chatter with his mouth; his head was also full of all sorts of fanciful ideas.