Suffocation, darkness, a harsh buzzing in his ears, shrill men’s and women’s shouts—

That was Wen Shaozhuo’s world at this moment.

The left wrist he had slit a few days ago and that had already begun to heal now throbbed faintly with pain.

But the pain was far from enough.

The cut had more or less closed. Even when he dug his fingers into it to force pain out, it still wasn’t nearly enough to distract him.

…Why couldn’t he have been a little more decisive today on top of the teaching building?

If he’d just been a bit more decisive then, would he not have made his parents this angry now?

He was pathetic.

He couldn’t do anything.

He had no achievements at all.

Everything he liked was meaningless.

Wen Shaozhuo listened to each line falling into his ears, numb beyond belief.

He had no idea how many years these words had already filled his life.

He seemed forever unable to satisfy his parents, forever unable to do well even at things that looked very simple to them.

He was like some redundant animal being kept at home, providing no value at all, only endlessly consuming the family’s money and resources, and constantly making his parents unhappy.

Numbly, Wen Shaozhuo cried.

He didn’t know what he should do, or what he could do. He could only tremble and cower in fear, desperately trying to get farther and farther away from those two voices…

Suddenly, that piercing sound exploded in his ears, growing even louder.

Perhaps it was abuse, perhaps rage. He didn’t know. It all felt like something he deserved.

But just then, in the blur, a figure stepped in between him and those voices.

The harsh noise was cut off outside, receding farther and farther until it finally disappeared altogether.

A warm palm came down over his brows and eyes. The tears spilling from his eyes soaked the center of that palm through.

“Ding-dong~”

A distinctive bell chime rang suddenly by his ear. Wen Shaozhuo blinked slowly and blankly, the tips of his lashes brushing the palm resting on his face.

The hazy blockage in his senses seemed to thin a little with that bell.

The sounds around him gradually became clearer. He heard a voice calling to him softly: “A’Shao… A’Shao!”

…Such a familiar voice, such a gentle one.

The hand slid aside, wiping away a patch of his blurred vision.

Wen Shaozhuo lifted his eyes in a daze, tears still streaming uncontrollably down his face. And he saw a face exactly the same as his own.

His twin brother was looking at him, filled with worry. Brother used his fingers to gently wipe away all the tears around his eyes, then pressed his palm lightly against Wen Shaozhuo’s back and drew him into his arms.

A broad, warm embrace wrapped around him, his forehead sinking into the other’s warm shoulder hollow.

“It’s okay now, A’Shao. I’ve kicked them all out of the bedroom. It’s just the two of us in here now, don’t be afraid, A’Shao.”

His brother’s voice was steady and gentle, as if softly massaging his heart. The spasmodic convulsions of his mind finally began to ease a little.

“…A’Heng… Brother?”

Wen Shaozhuo finally managed to make a sound.

His voice was hoarse and weak, so light it seemed it might drift away from this world at any moment.

But Brother A’Heng’s voice gently pulled him back down to the ground, trying to piece together his shattered will to live.

Brother A’Heng coaxed in a low voice: “Don’t be afraid, A’Shao. Brother is here. Brother won’t let them come in again.”

“Your bedroom can’t be locked, can it? Then, A’Shao, we’ll secretly switch rooms. You go sleep in my room. Sleep safely and soundly for one night, and tomorrow morning I’ll take you out. If it’s uncomfortable at home, then we just won’t stay at home, okay?”

Wen Shaozhuo’s emotional state was extremely bad at the moment. Exhaustion, numbness, and despair made him want to smash his own head apart.

He hadn’t really heard what his brother was saying at all.

He only vaguely felt that his brother was gentle, caring, kind—and… would not hurt him.

He was like a drowning man who, even without conscious thought, was still fighting with everything he had to get to that floating board, to cling to it tightly and never let go.

He hugged his brother back as tightly as he could, his body and voice shaking. He said, “Okay, brother. Okay.”

…

Lin Chen took Wen Shaozhuo to his own room. After a simple tidy-up, he coaxed him into bed.

Then he carried his few personal belongings into Wen Shaozhuo’s bedroom.

When he closed the door, he deliberately bent down to study the bedroom lock. After seeing clear signs of deliberate damage, he let out a quiet, derisive laugh.

The system watched this entire scene and couldn’t help cursing, “Host, these Wen parents are way too much! If you ask me, sending Wen Shaozhuo to an orphanage to be raised would’ve produced a better state than what they’ve done!”

“Host, when are you planning to properly teach Dad and Mom Wen a lesson? Just like you changed Old Master Cheng before—make them understand what they’ve actually been doing all these years!”

But Lin Chen shook his head and said, “The reason Old Master Cheng could be changed is that, in his heart, his evaluation standard was clear and singular—he only cared about the child’s business performance.”

“So as long as I could make Cheng Huanzhen’s business performance better in my hands than it was in his, he’d willingly submit to me. Essentially, he didn’t change; he just accepted that my approach to education was more effective.”

“But these Wen parents? I’m afraid even they don’t know what kind of child they actually want.”

“Their standards are neither clear nor unified. If A’Shao does well in one respect, they fixate on what he didn’t do well at. In their eyes, as long as A’Shao isn’t a perfectly balanced, all-rounder ‘hexagon warrior’, he’ll never be good enough.”

Listening to this, the system got even angrier. “Useless, demanding, and greedy!”

“So what do we do, Host? Why don’t we really do what you threatened earlier—just take Wen Shaozhuo and run far, far away! Once he’s away from Dad and Mom Wen, what’s there to worry about? Of course the kid will get better!”

Lin Chen said calmly, “Leave, of course we’ll leave. A person’s state is eighty percent determined by their environment. To completely reset their state, the fastest and simplest method is to directly change the environment.”

“But obviously, we can’t stay away long-term. When I’m here, I can take him to live outside. But after I leave?”

The system stammered, “R-right, what about after you leave?”

“So whether we take him away or keep him at home, the first priority is to pull him out of the quagmire, let his mind stand on its own, his abilities stand on their own, and give him the confidence to live independently of anyone,” Lin Chen said softly. “Only then can we talk about anything else.”

…

Wen Shaozhuo slept in a daze through the night.

When he finally opened his eyes in the early morning, he stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, then turned his head to look at the equally unfamiliar room beside him, stunned for a long time.

This… wasn’t his room.

The exhaustion brought on by last night’s breakdown hadn’t fully dissipated. It was still piled on his body, pinning his limbs firmly to the bed.

Just then, the faint sound of an argument drifted in from outside the room.

Harsh words were being tossed back and forth, but Wen Shaozhuo didn’t take in a single one.

What he did hear was the voice identical to his own, speaking loudly and breezily: “…My legs are on my own body; I’ll go wherever I want. A’Shao’s legs are on his own body too. If he’s willing to come with me, it’s none of your business!”

Ah… it was Brother A’Heng.

Fragments of last night’s memories flashed through his mind.

Wen Shaozhuo finally remembered: last night, Brother A’Heng had stepped between him and his parents, driven them away, then hugged and comforted him, and traded rooms with him.

So this… was Brother A’Heng’s room.

A bedroom with a lock that wasn’t broken.

So… safe.

Wen Shaozhuo stared blankly at the ceiling.

He really wanted to just lock himself in here like this and never open the door for anyone—that had once been his ideal life.

Or, to use this chance to harden his heart and make some choice in this room.

But his brother… Brother A’Heng…

Brother A’Heng trusted him. Brother A’Heng was waiting for him. Brother A’Heng was still arguing with their parents on his behalf.

Just thinking about it filled Wen Shaozhuo with guilt.

At the same time, the thought of his brother gave his limbs back a little strength—just enough for him to push himself up from the bed.

He struggled to sit up, folded Brother A’Heng’s quilt neatly, then staggered over to the bedroom door.

He stood there, hesitating and thinking for a long time, then finally mustered his courage, pressed down on the handle, and gently opened the door.

Just then, Brother A’Heng happened to be pounding up the stairs from below.

Climbing as he talked, he was shouting, “Missing a day or two of class won’t kill anyone!”

“Besides, A’Shao doesn’t even want to go. You two love class that much, then go yourselves! If A’Shao doesn’t want to go out, you let him talk to me. What you say doesn’t count… Ah, A’Shao, you’re awake!”

Behind Brother A’Heng, a man and a woman’s grating voices kept closing in.

But all those voices were completely blocked out by the brilliant smile that bloomed on Brother A’Heng’s face when he saw him.

Brother A’Heng took the last few steps two at a time and jumped in front of him.

The little sprout of hair tied up at the back of his head swung wildly with the jump.

“…Wen Siheng! You @#￥%…”

“…Shaozhuo! Don’t you follow your brother @#￥%…”

His parents were raging about something.

Just hearing them from a distance made Wen Shaozhuo feel as if countless needles were drilling into his ears.

But Brother A’Heng never seemed affected by his parents’ attitude or words. He was still smiling, taking Wen Shaozhuo’s hand.

“Good morning, A’Shao.”

Brother A’Heng led him out of the room and into the bathroom, his tone light and cheerful. “Come on, A’Shao, wash up and get changed. Brother’s taking you out in a bit!”

From the very first moment Wen Shaozhuo saw Brother A’Heng, the other boy had been this free and unrestrained, overflowing with his own power.

Whatever he wanted to do, whatever he decided to do, it seemed no one could ever shake him.

Wen Shaozhuo thought in a daze that if he could become like Brother A’Heng, maybe… maybe it wouldn’t hurt this much anymore?

He lowered his eyes, quietly hiding the envy in them.

Then he asked softly, “Brother A’Heng, will we… come back?”

Brother A’Heng froze for a second, then laughed. “So you heard last night, A’Shao.”

He leaned close to Wen Shaozhuo’s ear and whispered, “If A’Shao doesn’t want to come back—then we just won’t come back.”