Shen Yu scratched his head. Although he did not understand why Shen Jun had said that, he thought of how clever the two brothers were and nodded as though it made perfect sense.
Shen Jun looked up and saw Shen Yu's expression change again and again before he finally nodded as if he had suddenly understood. He closed his eyes helplessly.
Fine. He should never have believed Shen Yu could figure anything out.
Although the stitches in his lower leg had been removed, it still needed time to recover. Even when walking normally, he had to keep his weight on his left foot to avoid another injury.
Han Rong entered the room with supplementary medication. Seeing the three brothers sitting in a row, Shen Jun and Shen Jin silent with their heads lowered and Shen Yu frowning in distress, he nodded in satisfaction.
Shen Jun's body tensed when Han Rong entered. He had more or less grown up reading people's expressions and understood the meaning behind Han Rong's words very well.
Shen Yu clearly had never encountered the sinister side of things. Whatever Han Rong intended, Shen Jun instinctively protected Shen Yu, not wanting the boy to be tainted by malice.
The boys were no longer as happy as they had been on arrival. Shen Jun visibly grew more weighed down, sending Shen Yu's imagination running wild.
[My little brother looks pale. Did having the stitches removed hurt a lot?]
[Why does Uncle Han seem to be looking at us strangely? Doesn't he know Little Jun and Little Jin are my younger brothers?]
[Hehe, Little Jun's leg will be better soon! We can finally play together!]
After skipping two steps ahead, Shen Yu realized his two younger brothers had not followed and backed up in confusion.
Shen Jun suppressed his urge to comfort Shen Yu and desperately focused all his attention on his leg, walking forward with uneven steps.
Han Rong watched the boys grow farther apart as they walked. The sharp contrast between Shen Yu's confusion and the two brothers' silence put him in a pleasant mood.
Because of what had felt wrong at the hospital, Shen Jun remained silent after getting into the car. Even his gaze toward the driver became wary, and his spirits visibly sank.
Shen Yu quietly pressed himself against the window. Three people in the back seat had originally made it cramped, but the silence made the space feel empty. Even several corny jokes from Shen Yu failed to cheer his younger brothers up.
The icy atmosphere lasted all the way home. Uncle Liu watched the two brothers enter one after the other, followed by a dejected Shen Yu, and stood with his spoon raised high, at a loss for words.
"Uncle Liu, it's just the three of us for lunch. You can make a few more spicy dishes." Glancing at Shen Yu's listless appearance out of the corner of his eye, Shen Jun took the initiative to offer the bewildered butler a suggestion.
"Yes, yes, of course!" At that, Uncle Liu brimmed with enthusiasm and went into the kitchen with a smile to work alongside Aunt Liu, still muttering, "As long as they haven't fallen out. They're all good boys."
Only Shen Yu ate spicy food in the household. Everyone else preferred mild flavors, so there were usually relatively few spicy dishes.
Shen Jun had volunteered to have more spicy dishes made today, clearly taking the picky Shen Yu into consideration. It seemed the brothers still had a very good relationship.
After telling Uncle Liu about lunch, Shen Jun turned and met Shen Yu's sparkling eyes. A little embarrassed, he looked elsewhere.
Although he had acknowledged Shen Yu as his older brother in front of Han Rong, in Shen Jun's heart, Shen Yu was like Shen Jin-a younger brother who needed looking after.
Unaware of Shen Jun's complicated train of thought, Shen Yu regained his confidence and instantly forgot his unhappiness in the car. He happily sat beside Shen Jun, not forgetting to compare the three of their heights.
"Little Jun is the same height as me, and Little Jin is a little taller!" Shen Yu gestured as he compared their heights, his voice still excited.
"Is that really something to be so happy about?" Although Shen Jin was pleased that he had grown taller, Shen Yu's excitement was even harder not to laugh at.
"I'm as tall as Little Jun, which means I haven't fallen behind!" Shen Yu had absolutely no concept of an older brother having to be taller than his younger brothers. He was even happy that he had not held them back.
After all, his younger brothers were on the level of overpowered protagonists. Being anywhere close to them was already very lucky.
"Big Brother hasn't exercised these past few days. He'll grow taller soon." Shen Jin was not worried about Shen Jun. Twin brothers' genes could not differ all that much, after all.
Shen Yu was also pleased with himself when he heard that. "Then I'll grow taller along with him. As long as I don't have to sit in the front row when school starts."
Hearing Shen Yu's unambitious goal, Shen Jun and Shen Jin sighed at the same time. There was nothing they could do. With such an unmotivated older brother, they had to work hard so they could protect him at school.
Although Shen Jun and Shen Jin felt there was something wrong with Han Rong, their parents' friend, they did not rashly point it out. Instead, they wanted to see what Shen Yu, who could foresee things, thought.
Unfortunately, the boy's head was filled with all sorts of strange ideas, yet none of them went in that direction.
When Shen Changgeng came home from work and saw two children collapsed on the sofa in exhaustion while the other blinked in confusion, he knew it had something to do with Shen Yu.
"Did having the stitches removed go smoothly today? What did your Uncle Han say?" Shen Changgeng set down his leather bag and patted his sons' heads one by one.
"It was all right."
"It was okay."
"It didn't go smoothly. I was very unhappy."
Among the three replies, Shen Yu drew out his unhappy words so long that even Shen Jun and Shen Jin could not resist turning to look. They saw the carefree boy pouting.
Shen Changgeng also heard his youngest son's indignant complaint. Compared with his twin sons' polite replies, Shen Yu practically wore all his feelings on his face as he huffily complained to his parent.
"Tell me, Little Yu. What made you unhappy?" Shen Changgeng sat down beside Shen Yu, clearly very interested in what had happened during the day.
"I was pretty happy at first, but after seeing the doctor, my little brothers were unhappy, so I was unhappy too." Shen Yu told the truth and did not forget to offer his own opinion.
"I think having the stitches removed must have hurt too much, but Little Jun wouldn't tell me, so I could only guess." At this point, Shen Yu felt a little wronged, and his gaze toward Shen Jun took on a reproachful look.
"So that's what happened." Shen Changgeng laughed at Shen Yu's complaining tone and turned to look at the composed Shen Jun, clearly not quite agreeing with Shen Yu's guess.
Based on Shen Changgeng's understanding of the brothers, if it had simply been pain in his leg, they probably would not have looked so cold. They would even have taken the initiative to tease the family's little ray of sunshine.
Even Shen Yu had realized the atmosphere was wrong, so something must have happened-something that had left even Shen Jun unable to spare any attention to comfort his older brother.
"Little Jun, how's your lower leg? Does it still hurt when you walk?" Shen Changgeng looked at Shen Jun, who remained as steady as a mountain through wind and rain, his eyes full of pride.
"It's a little sore and swollen. I can walk normally, but it doesn't look very good." Shen Jun answered truthfully without mentioning that the pain in his leg occasionally returned.
"You still need to rest and recover properly." Looking at the restless Shen Yu beside him, Shen Changgeng remarked with a smile, "Once you're better, you probably won't have any free time."
Shen Yu was not quiet or well-behaved by nature. Once he was bouncing around, Shen Jun would inevitably become his victim.
Shen Jun also caught the implication in Shen Changgeng's words and instinctively looked at Shen Yu. Sure enough, someone had already been unable to resist picking at the sofa's seams.
"We just replaced the sofa. Your mother really likes this set." Shen Changgeng warned the child who was preparing to tear the house apart, not forgetting to signal Shen Jin to keep watch over Shen Yu, who was itching for trouble.
Ignoring Shen Yu's indignant little look, Shen Changgeng took Shen Jun by the hand. Father and son slowly walked toward the study, his broad back making Shen Jun look especially small.
"Little Jun, were you treated unfairly at the hospital?" After sitting down, Shen Changgeng's first concern was Shen Jun.
"No." Shen Jun curled his fingers. Thinking of Shen Yu's bewildered gaze at the hospital, he could not help lifting his head to ask a question in return.
"Dad, how did you meet Doctor Han?"