There was no use being frightened. He had heard plenty about household infighting in his past life. Though his practical experience was practically zero, he was not completely clueless.
About an hour later, the car entered a beautiful evergreen estate. Several villas stood deep within the grounds. Add a few bats against a full moon, and it would have quite the vampire atmosphere.
"Do you like it?"
"It's all right."
Ji Wangchen had not even expected this ill-tempered younger brother to say anything excited.
Xie Zhuzhou was arrogant and headstrong, unwilling to bow to anyone. Though timid, he was not easy to manipulate, much less someone who would let others push him around. That was Ji Wangchen's first impression of this younger brother from the wild.
He could be considered satisfied.
Members of the Ji Family had every right to be overbearing.
Xie Zhuzhou could not be bothered to guess what Ji Wangchen was thinking. It was noon, and he really was sleepy. He could not help yawning.
"Have lunch before you sleep."
"Oh."
Xie Zhuzhou nodded, as though completely accustomed to having others arrange his life.
After getting out of the car, Xie Zhuzhou went into the villa with Ji Wangchen. Several people sat in the living room. Clearly, this was a simple welcoming gathering.
"You're back."
Xie Zhuzhou swept his gaze over the three people sitting there, one by one, and soon found the father the original owner had yearned for, Ji Wuqiu.
The refined middle-aged man, whose hair had a few strands of white, was looking at him too.
His steps halted, and he went no farther.
The aching bitterness deep inside surged into his chest, and he forcibly pressed it down little by little. These were the original owner's emotions. His vision grew somewhat hazy.
Then a sharp ringing filled his ears. Everything before him gradually went black, and his consciousness seemed to sink underwater as his body slowly lost all feeling.
"Zhouzhou!" Ji Wuqiu's pupils contracted, and his heart clenched. He watched Xie Zhuzhou collapse, but fortunately, Ji Wangchen caught him quickly.
The dim scene appeared once again.
For a moment, Xie Zhuzhou could not remember who he was. He found himself standing before a stretch of ruins, somewhat bewildered. The boy who looked exactly like him stood before him, his lips curving into a smile as he said, "Thank you for helping me fulfill my wish."
"My wish..." Xie Zhuzhou murmured.
"Yes. You helped me see my father. It's also thanks to you that I managed to hold on until today.
Now it's time for me to go. The rest of this life is yours. Live it well!"
"No, I'm not... confident." Xie Zhuzhou wanted to reach out, but feared the boy would suddenly disappear as he had last time.
"You can do it."
"If you just leave like this, what about all those people you like?"
"Don't worry about them. Just be yourself!"
"Wait!"
Xie Zhuzhou tried to grab him, but his feet would not move, and he could summon no strength. Only when the boy had vanished completely did he break free of his restraints and jolt awake from the dream, lying on the bed with his eyes wide open.
"Big Brother, you didn't poison him on the way here, did you?"
"Do you think I'm you?" Ji Wangchen was speechless.
"He actually fainted from low blood sugar. Dad, have you not been feeding him?"
Ji Wuqiu: ...
Xie Zhuzhou frowned and slowly opened his eyes. Looking at Ji Wangyun, who was chattering as though possessed by a hundred larks, he said, "Shut up."
Luckily, he had low blood sugar as a cover.
But he still could not return to ancient times.
Xie Zhuzhou's heart sank completely. The original owner was gone. He really would be taking over the boy's body for good.
"You're awake?"
"Yes, Father." Xie Zhuzhou saw his somewhat guilty-looking father sitting beside the bed. He probably never could have imagined that his son would have low blood sugar.
"Do you feel unwell anywhere?" Ji Wuqiu's tone could hardly be called gentle. Instead, it was a little stiff. He clearly did not know how to show concern.
Despite having so many sons, Ji Wuqiu had never properly been a father.
Other than solving everything with money, he had no experience being a dad at all.
With that youthful face, people would even believe him to be Xie Zhuzhou's older brother.
"No. Thank you for your concern, Father."
"Hello, little brother. We meet again~" Ji Wangyun leaned over, unable to resist reaching out to rub his youngest brother's tender face, but Ji Wangchen slapped his hand away before he could touch it.
Seeing Ji Wangyun's gleeful expression, Xie Zhuzhou really wanted to punch him.
"Can you act like an older brother?"
After a glare from his eldest brother, Ji Wangyun withdrew his hand regretfully.
"You've met before?"
Under his eldest brother's questioning gaze, Ji Wangyun finally had no choice but to explain how he had met Xie Zhuzhou.
"Haven't I been investigating all this time? I happened to have pretty much traced it to our youngest brother. I knew his surname, and he looks so much like me. How could I mistake him?
Even if I did, Aolai wouldn't."
"Woof!"
Aolai wagged his tail proudly.
Xie Zhuzhou: ...
Ji Wuqiu's face betrayed nothing now. He stood, said he had something else to attend to, and left.
Everything before Xie Zhuzhou felt somewhat hazy and unreal as he stared blankly at the spacious, luxuriously elegant room.
"Do you like this room? The view outside is nice, and it's close to the elevator. There are a few other rooms, of course, but they're all a little out of the way..." Ji Wangchen looked at his slightly pale face.
Xie Zhuzhou nodded. "This one will do."
His body was not tired, but his heart was a little weary.
After learning that there was no hope at all of going back, he was utterly disappointed.
"Are you unhappy?"
"No."
Ji Wangchen found his blank expression rather cute and could not resist reaching out to stroke his head.
Startled by the gesture, Xie Zhuzhou froze. His ears slowly reddened, though his expression remained deeply awkward.
This was the first time an older brother had patted his head...
In his past life, it was not as though he had never hoped for it as a child, but he could only watch from afar as his legitimate-born elder brother treated their other siblings well.
"Come down to eat in a little while. Aolai will show you the way."
Ji Wangchen withdrew his hand. Only after seeing his thoroughly red ears did he realize that his youngest brother actually got embarrassed easily.
"Got it."
Once the room was empty of other people, Xie Zhuzhou looked at the little butler Aolai and suddenly could not help laughing.
"The Ji Family really are capitalists. Do they even have to enslave the dog?"
He reached out and ruffled Aolai's head. His fur was fluffy and very smooth.
"Woof!"
"Why were you near that residential complex that day? Was it all a coincidence?" Xie Zhuzhou stroked the dog's ears too, indulging in the fluffy fur.
"Woof!"
Every question received an answer. Though he had no idea what those answers meant, Xie Zhuzhou's mood improved a little.
The Ji Family did not seem as frightening as he had imagined. He had actually been anxious the entire way here, imagining all sorts of bad outcomes.
But he had not expected this family to be surprisingly... ordinary?
Of course, appearances revealed little.
Other than Ji Wangyun being a little noisy, there was nothing different about them.
"Woof!"
Aolai reminded him to hurry downstairs to eat.
When Xie Zhuzhou followed Aolai to the dining room, everyone was already waiting for him. An indescribable awkwardness rose within him again.
The empty seat was on his father's left. Xie Zhuzhou slowly sat down. Looking at the dazzling array of delicacies before him, he suddenly did not feel so hungry anymore.
"Let's eat."
Ji Wuqiu did not even make any opening remarks. Clearly, this family did not stand on ceremony.
Xie Zhuzhou was quiet too. He merely nodded and picked up the chopsticks beside his bowl, preparing to quietly enjoy this long-awaited lunch.
Everyone else at the table was actually studying him.
The dishes before him were also all his recent favorites.
"..."
There really was no need to be this thorough.
There it was, there it was! That overwhelming feeling of having no privacy was back!
Of course he wanted to protest, but faced with Father Ji's deep, gentle eyes, he could not get the words out.
Forget it. I'll protest to Big Brother in private.
He feels like the only one who might listen.