Li Shuyun stared blankly at his brother. “…Move out?”

His brow furrowed with worry. “But Dad cut off your living expenses. Brother, you’ll need money for rent and food if you move out…”

Extremely worried, Li Shuyun asked softly, “Do you have enough money, brother? I saved up a lot of New Year’s money. Why don’t I give it all to you?”

The scales of Li Yunhui’s indecision, which had been wavering between leaving and staying, tipped slightly toward “staying at home with my brother.”

He smiled. “My friend is asking for my help, do you think he’d let me suffer when it comes to food and lodging? Besides, I knew Li Zhengshen would pull something like this one day. How could I not be prepared? Your brother has enough savings to last several lifetimes!”

Only then did Li Shuyun relax. He smiled, his eyes curving. “Brother, you’re so amazing.”

Li Yunhui became even more pleased with himself.

Li Shuyun looked worried again. “But, brother, if you move out, does that mean we can’t play together on the weekends?”

Li Yunhui’s smile froze.

He tried to find even a shred of reluctance to part with him in his brother’s eyes.

But as he searched, all he saw was a reluctance to part with extreme sports!

…No. This wouldn’t do.

He had only taken his brother out to play a few times, and he was already this addicted. If he didn’t move out, what would happen?!

With a crash, the scales slammed from “staying home” to “leaving home.”

After overcoming numerous psychological hurdles on his own, Li Yunhui called He Wenyan on Tuesday night.

Li Yunhui: “Bro, haven’t you always wanted me to come help you? I’ll be there tomorrow. Remember to clear a spot for me.”

He Wenyan: “?”

He Wenyan was utterly shocked. “Are you possessed?!”

Li Yunhui rolled his eyes, not bothering to answer.

On Wednesday morning, he picked up his luggage bag and, after a solemn farewell to his brother, once again prepared to leave home.

The butler was surprised that the eldest young master had accepted his “suggestion” so readily this time, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit wary.

The eldest young master was no stranger to being away from home but still finding other ways to trick the young master into meeting him!

So, behind Li Shuyun’s back, he said to Li Yunhui before he left, “Eldest Young Master, I am very pleased that we have reached a consensus on a matter for once. I hope your thoughts will align with your actions, and you won’t make things too difficult for me.”

Li Yunhui said expressionlessly, “Don’t flatter yourself. Me moving out has nothing to do with you, nor have I reached any consensus with you. Don’t presumptuously imagine my thoughts.”

The butler: …So annoying.

Still, it was a good thing that the eldest young master was gone.

After adding “Keep a close eye on the young masters’ weekend activities” to his memo, the butler turned back to take the young master to his classes.

The young master was not focused in class today.

He was often distracted, and the teacher had to remind him several times, both in the morning and afternoon.

The butler had a rough idea of the reason.

After dinner, the young master went for a walk near the entrance. The butler followed him and asked gently, “Young Master, you don’t seem to be in a very good mood. Do you miss the eldest young master?”

The young master was much more obedient than the eldest young master. He didn’t speak with sarcasm, didn’t deliberately provoke people, and didn’t have a rebellious attitude. He was a good child.

Noticing him, the young master naturally slowed his pace and answered with a hint of sorrow, “Don’t worry, Uncle Zhao, I’m just… not used to it.”

The butler nodded slightly. “I can understand. After all, you haven’t made many friends in the country yet, and you usually spend all your time with the eldest young master.”

“How about this, I’ll have the tea ceremony teacher bring his son over tomorrow. You’re the same age, you can become friends and hang out more often. If you want him to stay over and attend classes with you, I don’t think that would be a problem either.”

The young master was stunned for a moment, then his face flushed slightly as he waved his hands. “No, no, Uncle Zhao, how could I do that? It would be too much trouble for Teacher Cha and his family!”

The butler explained tactfully, “Their family used to own a teahouse, but they’ve been having a hard time since they went bankrupt a few years ago. So, I think they would probably be very willing to build a good relationship with you.”

But the young master didn’t seem to understand his underlying meaning. He just kept shaking his head, his face still red, afraid of causing them any “trouble.”

…Alright. What could he do? The young master was just naturally kind and soft-hearted.

So the butler thought of a new method.

On Friday night, the butler found the young master again after dinner.

He handed the young master a simple map of the capital. On the map, dozens of spots were circled and numbered. A second sheet of paper listed the detailed addresses for each location.

The butler said in a gentle voice, “Young Master, I’ve spent the last few days gathering some places in the capital that children your age generally like to visit. You can go check them out over the weekend and make some more friends your age. As long as you don’t do anything dangerous, you can go wherever you want.”

The young master’s mood had improved slightly over the past two days.

He took the map in surprise, his eyes curving into a smile, and said softly, “Thank you, Uncle Zhao. I’ll take a serious look at it.”

The butler nodded. “Mm. Do you need me to accompany you tomorrow?”

The young master blushed again with a bit of embarrassment. “Uncle Zhao, I’m not a child anymore. I can go out by myself!”

The butler nodded, respecting the young master’s “not a child” argument.

He asked, as if by chance, “But, don’t you need to go out with the eldest young master this weekend?”

The young master lowered his eyes and said dejectedly, “Brother is so busy now, he has no time to go out and play with me on the weekends.”

The young master’s expression didn’t seem fake, and the butler felt relieved.

He comforted the young master for a moment, then moved on from the topic, turning to discuss where the young master wanted to go first over the weekend.

However, the eldest young master’s actions were unpredictable.

To be safe, on Saturday morning, after the young master had changed his clothes and left with his small crossbody bag, the butler secretly sent a bodyguard in plain clothes to follow him. He watched the young master take a taxi by himself and enter the Capital Library by himself before he finally relaxed completely and recalled the bodyguard.

He knew it.

As long as the eldest young master wasn’t around, the young master was very well-behaved and didn’t need him to worry too much!

He waited contentedly for the young master to return home, asking about his day out. When he learned that the young master had made a new friend at the library and planned to meet up again tomorrow, he felt even more gratified.

This sense of relief lasted for a full three weeks.

The young master got along very well with his library friend, and they would meet up to play every weekend.

Every time he came home, he seemed very content.

However, the young master never brought this “friend” home, so the butler didn’t know what kind of person they were.

If they had a similar personality to the young master, that would be great. But if they were similar to the eldest young master, then…

The butler felt a little uneasy and planned to ask the young master about it properly when he got home.

However, the moment the young master returned, the butler’s attention was drawn to something else.

The butler strode forward quickly, frowning as he held the young master’s head and asked sternly, “How did you get that wound on your forehead?”

On the young master’s smooth forehead, a sterile gauze pad was starkly taped!

The young master’s eyes flashed with panic, and he stammered, “I wasn’t looking where I was going on the road today and ran into a utility pole… But don’t worry, Uncle Zhao, it’ll heal very, very quickly!”

The butler’s eyes narrowed into a slit as he sized up the young master with great suspicion.

The young master was not good at lying. His expression and tone were completely different when he was telling the truth versus when he was lying.

…Could it be that the young master secretly went somewhere he shouldn’t have today?

No. The young master shouldn’t have the guts. Then could it be… the eldest young master again?!

The butler did not reveal his thoughts.

After verbally calming the young master, he furiously went to find Li Yunhui.

…

To avoid his brother’s invitations to go out, Li Yunhui had gone to He Wenyan’s company, using his space to help him compete with the You family for a major project.

But he wasn’t a formal employee, just a helper who came and went as he pleased, so he didn’t need to work overtime.

Most of the time, Li Yunhui secretly focused his attention on his brother.

He was concerned about his brother’s classes, the content of his three meals a day, whether the butler was taking good care of him, whether his brother had been sick recently, whether he was having trouble adjusting to his absence, and whether he missed him very much.

His brother would seriously respond to his every concern, obediently and earnestly answering every one of his questions.

But Li Yunhui was still not completely at ease.

After all, words could be deceiving. Although his brother was always well-behaved, he was very good at reporting the good and hiding the bad.

So Li Yunhui would often wait until his brother finished class to video call him. Only by seeing his brother answer his questions with his own eyes, seeing that his expression was untroubled and his eyes were smiling, could he feel relieved.

His brother was also very concerned about his life.

But besides his life, his brother was always concerned about another issue—

Every time they video-chatted, his brother would use a very pitiful, very soft voice to ask him, “Brother, when are you coming back? When can we have time to go out and play together?”

Li Yunhui was always rendered speechless by this question.

…What was he supposed to say?

That he could actually go back at any time, but he was afraid that as soon as he went back, his heart would soften, so he was simply hiding outside?

For three whole weeks, he hadn’t even dared to engage in extreme sports himself.

He was afraid that the moment he stepped onto a racetrack, he would start to miss the feeling of taking his brother for a “joyride,” and the moment he arrived at a bungee jumping site, he would remember the adoring and envious look in his brother’s shining eyes.

And then his heart would soften, and then he would go home, and then he would once again lead his brother into an even deeper addiction!

So Li Yunhui would always find all sorts of excuses:

This weekend I have to go to XX province to negotiate a contract; next weekend I have a XXX meeting; the weekend after that I have to meet with some investors…

And then he would solemnly promise his brother, “As soon as I’m done with this busy period, I will definitely come home as soon as possible!”

His brother had a pure heart and would never doubt or question him. He would only smile bravely and diligently, wishing him success in his career and a speedy end to his busy schedule.

For this, Li Yunhui felt extremely guilty.

However, this guilt came to an abrupt end at the close of the third weekend.

Just ten minutes before he received the butler’s message, Li Yunhui received a message from a climbing buddy.

Climbing Buddy: [Hey, bro, I think I saw your brother today!]

Climbing Buddy: [But how come you weren’t with him?]