Third brother, Gu Shuoyan

Zhao Wanling took Gu Zhiyue upstairs to see his room. It had been cleaned until it was spotless, and the windows were open, letting sunlight spill in and warm the entire room.

"Sweetheart, the bathroom is over here. It has all the toiletries you need. If you don't like them, I'll have someone buy new ones later. And this is the walk-in closet. I didn't know what styles you liked, so I only asked for your size and bought a few outfits for now."

Looking at the clothes hanging neatly in the packed wardrobe, Gu Zhiyue nearly lost control of his expression.

"These are great. Um... thank you."

Zhao Wanling smiled. "I wish you didn't feel you had to be so polite with me."

Zhao Wanling led Gu Zhiyue over to the gaming desk and chair. "Your second and third brothers both like gaming. I didn't know whether you did, so I got you a setup too. If you don't like it, we can replace it tomorrow."

Gu Zhiyue nodded with a soft chuckle. "I like it."

"Is there anything else you need? I'll have someone get it ready right away."

"Everything's already here. This is more than enough."

Zhao Wanling nodded. "Good, as long as you have everything. Your brothers should be back soon. Let's go downstairs."

Gu Zhiyue nodded and went downstairs with Zhao Wanling. Aunt Sun, the housekeeper, brought out the chilled drinks she had prepared to beat the heat. "Young master, have some watermelon juice to cool down."

"Okay, thank you."

"Is there anything you can't eat, young master? What flavors do you prefer?"

"I can't eat lamb, and I don't like cilantro. Anything else is fine. I like spicy and sour food."

Aunt Sun bowed slightly. "All right, I'll remember that." Then she went off to get on with her work.

Gu Zhiyue took a few sips of watermelon juice, easing much of the sweltering heat he felt.

Zhao Wanling's eyes were full of heartache. "You were only three or four when we entrusted you to Qinglan and her husband. I don't even know what you like to eat or what you can't eat..."

Gu Jiangfeng said, "He's back now. We can get to know him slowly. We have plenty of time."

"You're right. Now that he's back, our family can live well together from now on."

Gu Zhiyue set down his half-finished glass. "What are my three older brothers' names?"

Zhao Wanling said gently, "Your eldest brother is Gu Tingchuan. He's twenty-six this year. Your second brother, Gu Shen Ci, is twenty-three, and your third brother, Gu Shuoyan, is twenty-one. Your eldest brother started his own company after graduating from university. It's outside the province, a long way from home, so he rarely comes back except for holidays and special occasions."

"Your second brother is a popular actor in the entertainment industry. He's filming at the moment, so your third brother might be the only one coming home today."

Gu Jiangfeng picked up the conversation. "Your third brother is in his third year of university, with one year left before graduation. I heard from Brother Lin that you took your university entrance exams this year too?"

Gu Zhiyue nodded. "I start at Jinghong College in September."

Zhao Wanling was delighted. "Jinghong? Your third brother goes there too! That's wonderful. I'll feel much more at ease with him there."

The sound of the front door opening and closing came from the entryway. "Mom, at ease about what?"

Gu Zhiyue looked toward the voice. A young man with red highlights and a side-parted hairstyle was walking over, wearing a black leather jacket and a men's black-and-gold necklace.

The young man was handsome, but his facial contours were on the softer side, giving his face a touch of fresh, youthful charm.

The young man walked up to Gu Yunshu and greeted him with easy familiarity. "You must be my little brother, right? I'm your third brother, Gu Shuoyan."

Gu Zhiyue dipped his head in greeting. "Hello, third brother. My name is Gu Zhiyue."

Gu Shuoyan sat down beside Gu Zhiyue, draped one arm around his shoulders, and opened his personal assets on his phone with his other hand. "I don't have much. My only hobby is sports cars. How about I give you one as a welcome gift? Would two be enough?"

Gu Zhiyue waved his hands. "I don't need one, third brother. I don't have a driver's license yet."

"Huh? Why not?"

"I only turned eighteen today. I haven't had time to take the test yet."

Understanding dawned on Gu Shuoyan. "Oh! What does that matter? You can drive once you get your license, right? We'll transfer the cars into your name first, and you can use them as soon as you get it."

"Well... okay. Thank you, third brother."

"What are you thanking me for? I'll take you out for a drive tomorrow. There's only half a month before school starts. We have to cherish our last days of freedom."

Qian the Butler came in from outside, followed by several workers in uniform.

"Young master, these are welcome gifts from the eldest young master. He said he was too busy to make it back this time, so he's sending his gifts first. He'll be sure to find time to come home in the next few days."

Gu Shuoyan sprang to his feet and pulled Gu Zhiyue over. "Come on, let's see what good stuff our eldest brother sent."

Qian the Butler had the wooden crates opened. The largest was only about as tall as an adult and half a meter wide, with two smaller wooden crates beside it.

"What exactly is in here?"

"The eldest young master said he didn't know what you liked, so he bought one of each of this year's limited-edition models and games."

The largest wooden crate was opened, revealing a model airplane with a cool white body and black edges, along with a motor. A remote control lay quietly inside the crate.

Gu Shuoyan's mouth formed an O in surprise. "Only ten of these model planes were sold worldwide! That's our eldest brother for you. He even managed to get one of these."

Gu Zhiyue drew in a sharp breath. "This must be expensive, right?"

Gu Jiangfeng smiled. "Your eldest brother can spare that much. Just accept it. Think of it as a little toy he bought you."

Zhao Wanling agreed. "Yes, it's a token of your eldest brother's affection. Accept it. There are still two smaller crates. Let's look at those too."

After they had looked through everything, Qian the Butler instructed the servants to carry it all up to Gu Zhiyue's bedroom for storage. The empty glass cabinet received its first model.

Gu Shuoyan draped an arm over Gu Zhiyue's shoulders. "This plane can actually fly. In a couple of days, I'll take you to our family's private mountain land for a test flight."

"We have mountain land too? Just how rich is our family?"

"Not very. We each only have one or two estates and a few villas in our names. There are five tracts of mountain land, four islands with exclusive rights to the surrounding waters, and more shops under our family's name than we can count."

Gu Zhiyue's eyes widened in surprise. "No wonder they had to send you abroad to lie low back then. Who wouldn't be jealous of all this?"

Zhao Wanling smiled. "We didn't have this much before. Your father, your eldest brother, and I earned it all through hard work afterward."

Gu Shuoyan nodded in agreement and hooked an arm around Gu Zhiyue's neck. "Dad said the more money we make, the more options we'll have in the future. The richer we are, the more power we'll have, and fewer and fewer people will dare bully us. Maybe someday, everyone who sees us will have to show us some respect."

Gu Zhiyue clicked his tongue. "That's how big you're going?"

"Isn't the whole point of working our asses off to make money now so we can show off big-time every day later?"

Zhao Wanling shook her head helplessly. "Keep those twisted ideas to yourself. Don't lead your little brother astray."

"I won't. Don't worry, Mom."

Aunt Sun took some people out to buy ingredients, then returned and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner. An hour later, the dishes were on the table, ready to eat.

Zhao Wanling kept putting food into Gu Zhiyue's bowl until the rice was buried out of sight beneath a little mound of food.

Gu Jiangfeng stopped Zhao Wanling from adding more. "Wait until Xiao Yue finishes before giving him more."

Only then did Zhao Wanling stop. "I'm just too excited. It's all right, eat as much as you can. It doesn't matter if you can't finish it. Don't force yourself."

Gu Zhiyue nodded and picked up a slice of meat. As soon as he put it into his mouth, it tasted so good that a hint of a smile reached his eyes.

Zhao Wanling urged the other two to eat. "You two, dig in too. Xiao Yan, have a crab. It's your favorite. And you, don't you like sea cucumber?"