Originally, what had been a well-discussed matter ended up developing a disagreement because of this.
Jiang Ruoyan felt a headache coming on. “You’re already this old, why are you still so clingy to your little brother?”
Shen Shi kept a straight face, sitting on the sofa and arguing his case logically: “An older brother and a younger brother are supposed to be together in the first place.”
“That also depends on the situation,” she said. It was a good thing that the two children had a close relationship, she and Chen Wan would only ever have Shen Shi and Ye Ran as their only sons, and they also hoped the two would stay close and support each other as they grew up but it wasn’t supposed to be like this. “Shen Little Shi, you and your brother need to have independent space. You can’t take your brother with you everywhere for the rest of your life.”
“Why not?” On Shen Shi’s face, which was already beginning to show a hint of heroic handsomeness, there was confusion, very pure, very calm confusion. He lifted his head and looked straight at his mother. “Ranran and I are meant to always be together.”
Jiang Ruoyan was left speechless. She sighed and simply dialed Chen Wan for a video call.
Shen Shi was just too infuriating, she needed to absorb some Ye Ran baby energy to replenish herself.
The video connected, and Chen Wan’s face appeared, a headband on her head, a mud mask on her face, her voice sounding muffled. “What’s up, Ruoyan?”
“Where’s Ranran?” Jiang Ruoyan asked.
“He’s taking a bath.” Chen Wan glanced at the video and smiled. “Oh? Why does our Little Shi look like an angry little pufferfish? Come, let Auntie have a look.”
Shen Shi was always obedient in front of Chen Wan. A few years ago, Jiang Ruoyan had insisted on acknowledging Ye Ran as her godson. Ye Huaishan didn’t have much objection, but Chen Wan’s expression had been strange. After thinking it over for a week, she still refused.
This dealt Jiang Ruoyan quite a blow. She asked Chen Wan why, but Chen Wan couldn’t really explain it either. She only said that the process of acknowledging a godson was too complicated. Ranran could call her godmother, but everyone would address things separately; Shen Shi would still call her Auntie.
“Auntie Chen,” Shen Shi took the phone, his voice clear and pleasant, not yet at the age of voice change, but carrying a bit of an innate coolness. “Is Ranran asleep?”
“He’s asleep. Tomorrow morning I’ll let Ranran go find you to play.”
Shen Shi’s mood, which had been irritated for the entire evening, was instantly soothed. He didn’t show it on his face, calmly holding the phone and nodding. “I’ll go find Ranran instead. Let Ranran sleep a bit more.”
No wonder Chen Wan liked Shen Shi, this child was really considerate and thoughtful.
As soon as he said that, Chen Wan couldn’t help laughing, sparing no praise at all. “Little Shi really is a good big brother.”
Even though both children were already ten years old, Chen Wan still used the same old routine she’d used on them when they were three.
Jiang Ruoyan hesitated to speak. Thinking about how Shen Shi had just been acting like a contrarian, and then looking at how obedient and steady he was now, she felt like she was going bald.
She figured she’d talk some heart-to-heart things with Chen Wan in a bit, so Chen Wan could have some psychological preparation in advance. No matter what, she couldn’t let Shen Shi mess around this time, she couldn’t have Ye Ran following him all over the country every time Shen Shi had a competition in the future.
This had to be cut off at the source!
She got absorbed in her thoughts, her agitation gradually settling. Shen Shi held the phone, and from the corner of his eye saw Jiang Ruoyan’s face gradually calm down. Out of the blue, he spoke directly: “Auntie Chen, I have a competition on October thirteenth. Can you let Ranran come with me?”
Jiang Ruoyan: “?”
Jiang Ruoyan: “???”
Her breath caught. Before she could speak, Chen Wan on the other end had already lowered her head in delight and agreed without a second thought: “Of course you can! Little Shi is going to compete, that’s so cool! Ruoyan, why didn’t you tell me earlier? Little Shi’s first competition, of course we all have to go cheer him on!”
“Shen Little Shi…” Jiang Ruoyan snatched the phone from Shen Shi with a lack of good humor and shot him a glare. “Alright, it’s so late, hurry up and go to sleep.”
Shen Shi didn’t move. He looked up at her.
Seeing the unease in his eyes, the anger in Jiang Ruoyan’s heart dissipated helplessly. She patted Shen Shi’s head. “Mom still needs to think about this matter. Be good and go to sleep. Let me chat with your Auntie Chen for a bit.”
“Mm.” This time Shen Shi didn’t make trouble again. After all, he was only ten years old, no matter how many ideas he had, he still needed to listen to his guardian. “I’m going to sleep. Mom, good night.”
Jiang Ruoyan: “Good night.”
After Shen Shi left, Chen Wan, who had long sensed that something was off and hadn’t spoken, finally spoke up in the video call: “What’s going on?”
“What else could it be? He’s gotten clingy with Ranran again.” Jiang Ruoyan only ever vented like this in front of Chen Wan. “This time he’s insisting on having Ranran accompany him to the competition. I’m just worried. If he gets a taste of sweetness this time, he’ll cling to Ranran for everything he does in the future.”
It wasn’t without precedent. In the first-grade class placement exam, Shen Shi went to Class One, Ye Ran went to Class Two. Little Ye Ran was innocent and carefree, understood nothing, and didn’t cling to his older brother, instead, he adapted just fine.
After suppressing himself for a week, little Shen Shi finally exploded, turning the entire Shen household upside down. He even started skipping classes to attend Class Two. Shen Hanqing was furious enough to want to use family discipline, but she stopped him. In the end, they used connections to stuff Shen Shi into Class Two.
From then on, the third-grade class placement, fourth-grade class placement, fifth-grade class placement—all of them were arranged by Shen Hanqing through connections to put the two children together.
Now Jiang Ruoyan was afraid of history repeating itself, which was why she wanted to firmly refuse Shen Shi’s request.
But after listening, Chen Wan laughed instead and comforted her: “You, you’re just thinking too much. How old are the two kids now, barely over ten. They haven’t even reached puberty yet. If they can cling for a while, then let them cling. When they grow up it’ll be different. Sooner or later they’ll have their own circles, their minds will mature too. By then, even if you want them to stick together, they might get shy instead.”
Jiang Ruoyan felt that Chen Wan was far too optimistic.
She silently looked at Chen Wan’s carefree smile in the video frame and suddenly felt extremely tired. She knew Shen Shi’s temperament all too well, once he decided on a belief, unless his entire worldview was rebuilt, it would never change for his whole life.
Right now, she could only choose to believe Chen Wan’s words and try to think about things in a positive direction. “What you say makes sense… I’m overthinking it. They’re just kids.”
“Exactly,” Chen Wan said. “Look at you, worrying every day, your face doesn’t even have any glow left. This mask of mine is really good. It’s a new product from my friend’s company, priced at over three thousand a bottle. I got four boxes, tomorrow I’ll bring two boxes over to you.”
“Seriously? My face has no glow?” Jiang Ruoyan, who hadn’t budged even when Shen Shi made her explode with anger, couldn’t sit still anymore. She hurriedly grabbed a mirror and examined her face. “Now that you mention it, it really is true. Raising kids really makes you age. No, I’m coming over to your place right now, save the face masks for me.”
“Hahahahaha,” Chen Wan burst out laughing. “Come, come, we just bought a new projector screen. Stay over tonight, we’ll watch a movie together.”
……
That night, the matter of accompanying Shen Shi to the competition still wasn’t discussed to a clear conclusion, but everyone tacitly defaulted to one thing, little Shen Shi’s first competition in life required everyone to be present.
The next morning.
The sky was just beginning to lighten. The villa area had very good greenery; sparrows and small birds perched on the branches, chirping crisply.
In the warmly arranged children’s bedroom of the Shen family, Shen Shi, dressed in pajamas, jolted awake from a nightmare. His dark eyes were gloomy, his whole body drenched in sweat, restless and uncomfortable. He had never shown such emotions in front of others, this was something that did not belong to a ten-year-old boy, a feeling bordering on self-loathing.
Unable to fall back asleep, Shen Shi got up to wash up.
Jiang Ruoyan and Shen Hanqing were still asleep. After changing clothes, his bangs slightly damp, he went downstairs. Chen Ma, who was already up making breakfast, saw him. “Young Master, why are you up so early?”
Shen Shi: “I’m going to find Ranran.”
“Is Young Master Ran awake?”
Shen Shi looked listless, with no real desire to talk, but still forced himself to respond. “Probably.”
Chen Ma looked at him a couple more times. Shen Shi stood in the shadow at the turn of the staircase; his youthful yet heroic face wasn’t very clear, but his height was already developing, enough to hint at his future advantages.
She didn’t think much of it. “Then go ahead. When Madam wakes up, I’ll tell them.”
It was too early. Aside from Ye Huaishan, who taught senior year students and was already awake, the entire Ye household was steeped in silence.
Shen Shi had the Ye family’s key and password, and smoothly pushed open the foyer door and went inside.
Just then Ye Huaishan was putting on his shoes. The one big and one small calmly met each other’s gaze, neither changing expression. Ye Huaishan said, “Little Shi, why are you here so early?”
“Uncle Ye, I came to find Ranran.”
“Mhm, go on then. Remember to let Ranran eat breakfast. Don’t let him sleep too long.”
Shen Shi nodded seriously. “I understand.”
Morning self-study was about to start, so Ye Huaishan didn’t say much more. He picked up his briefcase and hurried out.
The spacious living room fell back into silence.
The Ye family’s floor-to-ceiling windows had not been drawn shut. The faint morning light pierced through the thin mist, streaming in along the windows and slanting across the wooden floor.
Shen Shi changed his shoes and quietly went up to the second floor.
He pushed open the bedroom door at the end of the second floor, and a cool morning breeze blew straight at him.
Greedy for cool air last night, Ye Ran hadn’t closed the window. The curtains fluttered noisily in the wind. On the large bed pushed against the wall, Ye Ran hugged the blanket, his soft cheeks faintly flushed, his long, delicate little phoenix eyes thinly lidded and tinged with pale pink. His breathing was very light, one arm warm and stretched out from under the blanket, like a clump of snow.
Smelling the familiar scent in the air, Shen Shi’s tightly wound, restless nerves from the entire morning finally relaxed. He lowered his head to look at Ye Ran on the bed, silently climbed onto the bed, and wrapped his arms around Ye Ran’s waist. His body felt as though it had sunk into a ball of cotton that carried a milky fragrance, comfortable and light.
The feeling of holding his little brother was too good. Shen Shi grew sleepy again.
Yesterday’s amount of exercise had been huge; logically speaking, he could have slept until nine today.
“…Big Brother Little Shi?” Just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard Ye Ran’s drowsy question.
Ye Ran couldn’t open his eyes, sleepily scooting back a bit to make space for Shen Shi. He and Shen Shi had slept together until the age of seven. After seven, in order to train Shen Shi’s independence, Jiang Ruoyan had ruthlessly set a rule forbidding him from staying over.
But even so, Ye Ran had long since grown used to Shen Shi’s scent. The two little boys shared a big pillow. Shen Shi’s mind was a muddle, sleepiness crashing down like an overwhelming tide. Holding his little brother, he vaguely heard his brother ask something again, but before he could make it out, he sank into deep sleep.
When he woke again, it was already eight thirty in the morning.
Ye Ran was lying on the bed reading a comic book. Seeing him awake, he leaned over worriedly and carefully rubbed his temples. “Big Brother Little Shi, why did you wake up so early today?”
Shen Shi’s voice was hoarse. Just awake, his reactions were a bit slow. After a long while, he finally hugged Ye Ran and rubbed against him, breathing in the pleasant scent on him. “…I don’t know. I suddenly couldn’t sleep this morning.”
Saying he didn’t know was a lie.
From a very young age, Shen Shi had known that he was overly dependent on his little brother Ye Ran. He had never denied this.
Just like how, when he was little, he wanted milk whenever he felt anxious. After he was weaned, whenever he felt anxious or vexed, all he wanted to do was hug his little brother, kiss his little brother. After being sternly warned several times by Jiang Ruoyan, he became like an injured little cat, only allowed to hug his brother, no longer allowed to kiss him.
In first grade, upon learning that he and Ye Ran had not been placed in the same class, for an entire week he couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, looked sickly and miserable, and would always secretly cry under the covers.
Only after his father sent him to his little brother Ye Ran’s side did that inexplicable separation anxiety finally disappear. As he grew older, he no longer naively thought of himself as a clingy pest, but at the thought of going to play matches and having to leave Ye Ran for nearly half a month, he felt miserable.
His heart ached with a dull pain.
This morning, it was also because he felt he was too useless that he got angry with himself and grew sick of himself.
But after sleeping contentedly beside his little brother, that feeling vanished again. He subconsciously hugged his brother tighter, as if holding a treasure that belonged solely to him, feeling his brother’s full concern and care for him, so happy he almost laughed out loud.
Ye Ran rubbed his temples for him. Seeing a smile appear on Shen Shi’s face, he relaxed as well, spread the comic book open, and let Shen Shi read together with him.
The comic book was Dragon Ball.
Shen Shi had always scoffed at comic books, showing a bit of interest only in Dragon Ball. He read with focus, even helping Ye Ran review the plot, afraid Ye Ran might forget what the previous volume had talked about.
The two sat shoulder to shoulder, lying on the bed. Today the temperature in Haicheng broke past the 35° mark, it was unbearably hot. As soon as the sun came out, the light was extremely glaring.
The air conditioner was on indoors. Shen Shi pulled the AC blanket over Ye Ran a bit more, making sure Ye Ran wouldn’t catch a chill, and only then read the comic book together with him.
The two little ones spent a leisurely morning.
At nine o’clock on the dot, they were called downstairs by Chen Wan to eat breakfast.
Breakfast was lavish. Both Ye Ran and Shen Shi liked seafood, and today it was seafood congee. Chen Wan chatted with them at the dining table. Watching Shen Shi skillfully peel a tea egg for Ye Ran, she found it amusing and peeled one for Shen Shi as well.
After breakfast, Chen Wan didn’t let the two leave. Instead, she asked them, “Ranran, Big Brother Little Shi is about to go compete. Do you want to go with your big brother?”
Ye Ran froze, his eyes opening wide. “Big Brother is going to compete?”
“Yes, a very impressive competition, the ‘Zheng Jie Cup.’”
Ye Ran didn’t know what the Zheng Jie Cup was, but that didn’t affect his excitement. “I want to go! I want to go! Mom, aren’t you going? This is Big Brother Little Shi’s first competition!”
Chen Wan smiled warmly. “Of course Mom is going. We’ll all go cheer for Little Shi together.”
Shen Shi listened quietly, happy on one hand, uneasy on the other. Thinking about his tennis skills, his former arrogance and self-satisfaction instantly dissipated under his little brother’s unconditional support.
He felt like he wasn’t actually that amazing. What if he didn’t win the championship? What if someone even better than him appeared on the competition field? Would Ye Ran be disappointed in him?
At the thought of this, he couldn’t sit still, wishing he could train thirty-six hours a day.
Deep in his bones, Shen Shi carried his own pride and steadfastness. He believed that if one was going to do something, it had to be done to the best possible degree. From the moment he decided to participate in the competition, his goal had been nothing but the championship.
That afternoon, Shen Shi rarely stopped delaying time just to accompany his little brother, and instead arrived at the Youth Palace a full half hour early.
The Youth Palace’s tennis training courts had already been rented by Shen Hanqing. He was wealthy and extravagant, and even toyed with the idea of building one for Shen Shi himself, only to be ruthlessly vetoed by Jiang Ruoyan.
Coach Zhang, a former professional tennis player from the national team, was satisfied with everything about Shen Shi except his procrastination.
Shen Shi was the most gifted student he had ever seen: steady-minded, resilient, nothing like a child of only ten years old. No matter how heavy the training load, he could endure it. He was also smart, extremely smart, proactively analyzing his opponents’ playing styles and habits, then finding countermeasures.
Teaching such a student was immensely fulfilling. And yet, such an outstanding student had procrastination, like adding Yakult to red wine or putting white sugar into egg fried rice… it just felt jarringly out of place, utterly unbelievable.
For a full three years, Shen Shi’s procrastination had never improved.
Coach Zhang swallowed his anger and was nearly ready to give up correcting this point. And then today, Shen Shi not only arrived early, he even started warming up in advance, his expression serious, his gaze focused.
Coach Zhang questioned his life for quite a while, then suppressed his excitement and asked him why.
Shen Shi glanced at him and said calmly, “I want to win the championship.”
“Good job!” Coach Zhang didn’t think he was bragging in the slightest. Shen Shi had that level of ability. He unconsciously started clapping and said “good” three times in a row. “After winning the championship, then what do you want to do?”
His face was full of anticipation.
Quick, say you’ll continue training hard, strive to enter the provincial team, the national team, and become an internationally renowned tennis player!
Quick, say it, say it.
Shen Shi was panting from exhaustion. He wiped the sweat from his cheek. His hair was damp, his eyes dark. He said with determination, “Give the medal to my little brother.”
Coach Zhang: “?”
Shen Shi gripped his racket and executed a perfectly formed swing. “My little brother will definitely be very happy!”
Coach Zhang: “???”
The points go to you, the medal goes to him.
Then what about me?
Is there really nothing you want to say to me at all???
Author’s note: Later—
Coach: D*mn it, love-brained idiots get out of the national team
(A joke; Brother Zhouzi won’t be entering the national team.)
You should be able to see Brother Zhouzi’s ghostly preconditions by now. He’s really extremely clingy, so clingy that he’s developed separation anxiety.
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