Though it was already May, long past late winter, the weather was still somewhat cold once the sun set and the curtain of night approached.
Not long after getting into the car, Shen Shuangjian took off Shen Sixian's overly crisp jacket. He curled his legs up and leaned against the door, his body tilting naturally to the right.
He covered himself with the soft, long-pile blanket, loosely clutching it when he pulled it up to his chest, as though he felt insecure.
The heat was on in Shen Sixian's car, and he was not driving fast. The outrageously expensive luxury car traveled along the smooth road, and even with his head resting against the window, Shen Shuangjian could not feel the slightest vibration.
At a normal speed, even the best car would inevitably take around eight hours to cover a thousand kilometers.
Shen Shuangjian had already slept fitfully for several hours after first getting into the car. He had slept far too much since last night, and his already groggy head felt even muddier now, with a faint, swollen ache.
"Are you curling up in that pitiful pose to complain that I'm bullying you?" Shen Sixian was driving, so he kept his eyes straight ahead as he spoke.
From yesterday until now, Shen Sixian had gone nearly two days and a night without sleep. Apart from briefly dozing against the sofa during the day, he had spent most of his time traveling back and forth along this familiar road.
Fatigue inevitably lowered his voice a little, drawing out the chill inherent in its tone.
Shen Shuangjian did not lift his head at his "interrogation." He merely lowered his eyes and pressed his lips together, then gently shook his head after a moment.
"No."
Half of Shen Shuangjian's face was buried in the blanket, and his voice was faint, making him sound particularly muffled.
"We'll be back soon. I've had someone prepare ointment for bruises and knocks. After a few more days of rest, the bruises should fade."
As Shen Sixian spoke, he glanced in the rearview mirror. Seeing Shen Shuangjian curled up listlessly, he thought he was still angry with him for carrying him away over his shoulder.
So Shen Sixian fell silent as well. He slowly drove into the Shen Residence, continuing all the way to the courtyard outside the main building before finally switching off the engine.
"Get out."
Shen Sixian's voice was a little cold and hard. He first unfastened Shen Shuangjian's seat belt, then got out of the driver's seat himself.
Shen Shuangjian had thought he would stride inside on his own. Instead, he had barely opened the car door from within when Shen Sixian appeared before him.
"..."
Shen Shuangjian suddenly stopped moving. Looking at his faintly wary, distancing posture, Shen Sixian gradually felt a wave of impatience rise within him.
"Do you want me to carry you in my arms, or over my shoulder?"
"..."
Shen Shuangjian pressed his lips together, instinctively wanting to refuse. "I can actually walk..."
But before he could finish, Shen Sixian had already pulled him closer by the arm. With one arm around his waist, Shen Sixian hoisted Shen Shuangjian onto his shoulder with apparent ease.
To avoid pressing against Shen Shuangjian's stomach and making him uncomfortable, however, Shen Sixian held him around the thighs with only one arm.
There was a considerable difference in their heights, so it was mostly Shen Shuangjian's chest that rested against Shen Sixian's shoulder. Though the position was not uncomfortable, it was also the hardest one to struggle out of.
"Mr. Shen. Young Master."
Having estimated Shen Sixian's arrival time in advance, the servants had prepared everything he had instructed. Seeing their employers return, they merely greeted them with lowered eyes and deferential expressions.
By the time he was set lightly on the sofa, Shen Shuangjian felt a little more dissatisfied. He was beginning to resist the pressure exerted by this nominal older brother of his, yet he did not know where to begin.
"Hold out your hand."
Under Shen Sixian's almost commanding tone, Shen Shuangjian frowned and held out his hand. He watched Shen Sixian dip a cotton swab into the ointment and attempt to apply it to his bruises.
The pressure might have been very light, but when it actually touched him, Shen Shuangjian still could not help trembling twice.
Shen Sixian had applied medicine to him before and knew how Shen Shuangjian instinctively reacted to pain, so he had already tightened his grip slightly before Shen Shuangjian could pull away.
Making conversation as he applied the medicine, Shen Sixian lowered his eyes and said, "You've finished filming this episode. Don't go to the next one."
His fingertips inevitably trembled for an instant. Shen Shuangjian's gaze shifted slightly, and he slowly shook his head.
"I can't. If I withdraw, I'll have to pay three million in damages for breaking the contract."
At that instant, one end of the cotton swab snapped between Shen Sixian's fingers. He lifted his eyes to Shen Shuangjian's face, his tone inevitably turning a little cold.
"I told you, don't use the penalty fee as an excuse."
Shen Sixian tied the gauze gently and slowly.
"I, Shen Sixian, am hardly short of three million. Never mind three million-even if it were three hundred million, I could afford it."
He stated the facts in an offhand tone, even managing to lift Shen Shuangjian's lower leg and slowly push up the loose trouser leg as he did so.
"Look at yourself. It's only been a few days, and look at the state you've gotten yourself into."
Shen Shuangjian had slender, straight legs, smooth as snow and fine as jade. Yet the more perfect they were, the more the bruises from his falls stung Shen Sixian's eyes.
"I'll pay the penalty fee for you. From now on, I'll also have someone report your expenses and every item on your schedule directly to me. I'll take charge of them myself."
Shen Sixian slowly raised his eyes, a hint of a sigh in his voice. "Will that do? If you're satisfied, can you start doing as you're told now?"
In truth, Shen Sixian did not know how to get along with Shen Shuangjian, because until he was eighteen, he had always been the family's only child.
He had no siblings, so throughout his childhood, his parents had taken pride in him alone, striving to raise him into the finest possible successor.
Shen Sixian had only just turned twenty-two when he first met Shen Shuangjian. He considered himself mature, but when Shen Shuangjian truly stood before him with his head lowered, Shen Sixian found it difficult to face him calmly.
He seemed unable to quickly accept the fact of his father's infidelity. He thought he ought to feel resentment-toward that shameless woman, toward this unclean product.
And the person he ought to resent most was his father, who had been unfaithful to his marriage.
So for nearly three months after Shen Shuangjian returned to the Shen Family, he followed his mother's example and ignored Shen Shuangjian completely.
Before he could work out how to express his hidden dissatisfaction and resentment, both his parents died. His guilt toward his mother and resentment toward his father turned together into a handful of earth, buried deep underground.
He harbored resentment with nowhere to vent it. He hated his father and that woman, yet he also knew that Shen Shuangjian's birth had been determined by his parents' genes.
That frail, thin boy in his teens was, in essence, just as innocent as he was.
So Shen Sixian did not drive him into a corner. He left some room, keeping them as distant as possible, each ignoring the other.
What exactly did it feel like to be an older brother, and why could genes and blood ties be so domineering that a brief time together and one undeniable address of "older brother" could bind the long life of Shen Sixian?
Shen Sixian had not yet figured it out, but before he could, he had actually begun to hope that Shen Shuangjian would stay quietly and obediently at home, as he had before.
Nothing more.