Wen Shaozhuo waited on the sofa for Brother A’Heng for a long time. Without realizing it, he fell asleep.

Perhaps it was because of his sleeping position, but he had a nightmare again that night. The nightmare began in the third grade when his parents started filling his school-night evenings and weekends with all sorts of classes. When he said he didn’t like them and didn’t want to go, they would call him into the study and take turns reasoning with him.

They told him that all these classes were for his own good. They told him he couldn’t betray their painstaking efforts. They told him that as the sole heir of the Wen family, he couldn’t be worse than the children of other families.

He didn’t understand and didn’t want to listen, so they would strike his palms fiercely with a ruler. His palms would turn red, and the slightest bend would send pain shooting to the bone. He didn’t like pain; he really didn’t like pain. So he tearfully apologized to his parents and forced himself to attend the classes he didn’t want to take.

He tried his best to listen. But the thought, “I don’t want to attend,” was like a curse, tightly gripping his mind. The more he didn’t want to be there, the worse his mood became during class. The worse his mood, the less he could absorb the content. When he couldn’t absorb the content, he would be scolded by the teacher, who would then complain to his parents. Then, his parents would take him into the study again to talk to him, scold him, hit him, and get angry with him.

His poor mental state and terrible mood left him with no energy for anything else. Hang out with friends? But he had class. Go outside to play ball? But he had class. Socialize more with classmates at school? But the classmates he got along with were from ordinary families, and his parents didn’t like him associating with them. They hoped he would befriend people who were “worthy” of him. If he made “bad” friends, they would take him into the study and lecture him all night.

So, by the time he entered middle school, he no longer wanted much to do with his classmates. This went unnoticed at first. He just managed to get by, barely surviving three years of middle school amidst countless lessons. But when he entered high school and his parents began taking him to various banquets in the capital, he suddenly realized that after so many years, he had completely forgotten what it felt like to make friends with others. Not only that, but he even resisted being in the company of others, resisting the need to put on a smiling face and make small talk with people he didn’t know just to expand his network.

His parents were very dissatisfied with his performance. They started making him take social etiquette classes and frequently took him to major banquets. His life felt like it was shattered into countless pieces. This piece was labeled “School,” that one “Homework,” the next “Banquets and Socializing”… Looking across all these fragments, not a single one belonged to him.

He tried hard to please his parents. But among these fragments that didn’t belong to him, even breathing gradually became difficult. His schoolwork was mediocre, failing to meet his parents’ standards of excellence. His social performance was always poor, embarrassing his parents in public. He also liked to do things behind their backs that they disapproved of—drawing useless pictures, carving useless seals, raising useless little plants, and keeping ant farms no one cared about.

His parents were angry and disappointed. They tried everything they could to bring him back to the “right path.” But his mind was like a stubborn, foolish donkey that couldn’t turn the corner; he just couldn’t do it well, and he just didn’t like it. He began to realize how terrible he was, how much his parents disliked him, how his existence brought them no joy, and that his existence was a mistake, a burden.

Maybe… he should just leave? Since his parents didn’t like him, he shouldn’t be an eyesore under their noses. But his parents mocked him. If he couldn’t even handle a simple banquet, how could he face the dangers of society alone? If he couldn’t even learn such simple schoolwork, how could he have the ability to earn money and support himself?

His parents also accused him, saying they had invested so much time and money in him, poured so much of their heart into him, yet he didn’t cherish or appreciate it. They called him disloyal, unfilial, and an ungrateful wolf. It was the first time he knew he was so terrible. He started to cry uncontrollably. He began to seek pain, to create pain, using something that could momentarily dominate all his attention to cover up and annihilate the colors of the world.

But… it was so strange. The more he did this, the darker the world’s colors became. The air grew more stagnant, and breathing became more difficult. It was so annoying, so awful, so hateful. He wanted to disappear, to sleep forever. That way, no one would embarrass his parents anymore, and no one would make them angry…

“…If you love these boring classes so much, you can take them yourselves!” A familiar voice exploded in his ear. The soul, numbly drifting in the dream, was startled by this shout. The soul looked around in a panic but saw no new figure. But if there was no one, who made that sound?

“…I’ll make friends if I want to and won’t if I don’t. You like friends so much, go make them yourselves!” The soul found the source of the voice. It turned out that this vibrant, brave, rebellious, and fearless voice was coming from “his” own body!

The soul, shocked and helpless, watched as “his” body began to move uncontrollably. In the study, it knocked away the hard ruler; in the private lessons, it ran away covering its ears; at the banquet, it flipped a table and stormed out the door, then smashed open the room door, smashed open the front door, and ran out laughing and free!

The soul was too terrified to move. He asked “him” if he wasn’t afraid of not being able to earn money after leaving home, of starving, freezing, or being trafficked and abused to death. “He” raised his eyebrows high and let out a laugh of freedom. With bright eyes and resounding words, “he” fearlessly said to him: “So what? At least I will have truly lived for myself, at least I will have truly seen the world’s colors, at least I won’t die of suffocation!”

The soul stared blankly at “him.” “He” seemed to truly possess the appearance a “person” should have—”he” was self-respecting, self-confident, had a sense of self, and dared to be independent. “His” life was also composed of countless fragments, but all of these fragments belonged to “him.”

But… it was so strange. Who was this? This couldn’t be him; he couldn’t possibly be this… brave and strong.

The moment this thought landed, “his” appearance began to subtly change. “His” hair grew a little longer and was tied into a small bun at the back of his head. The clothes “he” wore changed from the expensive attire from home to an old-fashioned style from one or two decades ago, with different colored square patches sewn on the cuffs and knees. But “his” expression was more joyful than his, and “his” smile was happier than his.

“He” took a step, a solid step, and walked up to him. “He” extended his hand, took his, and then their fingers intertwined, their blood connecting. “He” smiled brightly and said to him: “A’Shao, let’s go. They won’t support us, so we’ll support ourselves!”

“We can survive. Trust me, A’Shao, we are twin brothers, our fates are closely linked, I could never deceive you.”

“Let’s go!” “Support ourselves!” “We can do it!”

From somewhere, countless voices of him and “him” rose and fell. These sounds formed a wave, moving from far to near, and the terrifying sound wave instantly shattered the “home” behind him! In this fiery and excited tide, his heart beat faster and stronger. “He” smiled joyfully and pulled him to his side. “He” said: “Come on, A’Shao. Let’s go!”

Wen Shaozhuo’s eyes shot open, and he sprang up from the bed! His heart was pounding, and the sound of his heartbeat was extremely loud in his ears. He gasped for breath silently, the scenes from the dream still seeming to linger on his retinas.

After an unknown amount of time, his consciousness slowly and dazedly returned to reality. He saw the unfamiliar bedroom, the clock showing a time far past his usual waking hour, the firmly closed door… Ah… right. Yesterday, Brother A’Heng took him away from home, and they rented a villa from Brother Cheng’s family. So they were… not at home now.

Outside the door, there were no parents, no scolding, no terrifying, sharp voices. Outside the door, there was only Brother A’Heng. Realizing this, Wen Shaozhuo suddenly felt a rare willingness to get out of bed and go out. He wanted to find Brother A’Heng, to share the dream he just had!

The villa they rented was not large, with only two floors. He and Brother A’Heng lived on the second floor, their rooms facing each other, with a large living room in between. Just as Wen Shaozhuo opened his door, he saw Brother A’Heng in the second-floor living room. Brother A’Heng was dressed strangely. His upper body was in a very formal white shirt and tie, while his lower body was in very casual pajama pants, and he wore slippers. A phone was propped up on the table in front of him, and Brother A’Heng was speaking into it in a formal tone: “Thank you for your time and guidance. Regardless of the final outcome, today’s conversation has been very beneficial for me. I look forward to the opportunity to work with an excellent team like your company…”

Wen Shaozhuo’s “Brother A’Heng” got stuck in his throat, unable to come out. It was only when Brother A’Heng raised his hand to operate the phone and his whole body relaxed that the words were finally released: “…Brother A’Heng!”

Brother A’Heng turned his head in pleasant surprise: “A’Shao, you’re awake!”

Wen Shaozhuo had been so eager to see his brother, and his brother’s reaction upon seeing him perfectly matched his expectations. A strange and unfamiliar feeling of contentment rose in his heart. Wen Shaozhuo carefully tucked it away and couldn’t help but trot over to Brother A’Heng’s side.

Brother A’Heng smiled and stood up to catch him: “Come, a good morning hug—why is A’Shao so happy right after waking up?”

Wen Shaozhuo tightly gripped his brother’s hand and said nervously in a small voice: “Brother A’Heng, I… I just dreamed about you!”

Wen Shaozhuo paused, carefully picking out the presentable parts of the dream to tell Brother A’Heng. He particularly described the brave, strong, and bright “him” that appeared at the end of the story, describing how “he” created the sound wave that shattered the house behind him…

Listening, Brother A’Heng slowly blinked: “Am I that amazing? How did A’Shao recognize me?”

Wen Shaozhuo said shyly: “Because the things ‘he’ said were the things Brother A’Heng has said.” Wen Shaozhuo looked at his brother with slightly brightened eyes. A question had been lingering in his mind since he woke up. He asked nervously in a small voice: “Brother A’Heng, I want to grow my hair long too, to have the same hairstyle as you, is that okay?”

Wen Siheng was surprised: “Why does A’Shao suddenly have this idea?”

Wen Shaozhuo lowered his head. After a long while, he spoke softly: “Because… I also want to become a person like Brother A’Heng.”