Lin Chen felt that something was very strange about Cheng Huanzhen today.

For example, right now, clearly he was the one who was displeased, clearly he was the one coaxing the other, and yet Cheng Huanzhen suddenly changed his expression, his face so tense it was as if Lin Chen had done something terrible to him.

He had just lowered his foot when he saw Cheng Huanzhen swiftly grab his jacket from the side. The jacket drew a half-arc through the air, and by the time it fell back down over his body, Cheng Huanzhen had already gotten off the bed.

The jacket covered everything above his knees completely. The young man’s lips were pressed into a tight line as he hurriedly said, “Sorry, Little Uncle, I suddenly remembered something. I won’t stay for dinner.”

Lin Chen: “Huh? Wait, A’Shao and the others…”

Before he finished, Cheng Huanzhen’s figure had already rushed in big strides toward the bedroom door.

Hearing Lin Chen’s voice, his figure suddenly screeched to a halt. His body had just moved past the doorframe—only the back half of his head was still visible and had not yet disappeared from sight.

He froze where he was, turning his head just slightly so that only part of his profile showed.

His voice sounded a bit off and slightly hoarse: “You all go ahead and eat, Little Uncle. Keep the doctor here for you. Don’t ruin your health over work.”

Lin Chen carefully examined his expression, trying to find a reason in it.

But Cheng Huanzhen clearly didn’t want to be examined this way.

He turned his face away, expression blank.

He drew his head fully back behind the wall and, in a low and hurried mumble, said, “…If Wen Shaozhuo doesn’t take good care of you, tell me, Little Uncle. I’ll head back first. Next time… next time I’ll come see you again.”

Lin Chen watched helplessly as Cheng Huanzhen ran off.

Puzzled, he asked the system, “What’s he running for? It’s not like I really kicked him that hard.”

The system eagerly volunteered: “Host, I can throw the camera out to keep an eye on him! Whatever sneaky little thing he wants to do, I can keep a perfect watch on it for you!”

Lin Chen was amazed. “Do you have some kind of stalking fetish? Or do I? Since neither of us do, how exactly did you come up with that idea?”

The system burst into wronged sobs: “Host! I was clearly… clearly trying my best to help you come up with a plan!”

Lin Chen laughed. “Forget it, just lie quietly in my head.”

Cheng Huanzhen practically fled back to the car.

On the way over he had sat in the front passenger seat, with the doctor in the back. But now, he went and sat in the rear.

The driver was a bit confused. After greeting the young master, he couldn’t help sneaking a couple of looks at the rearview mirror.

The April weather in the capital was still chilly, so the seat warmers in the car were still on, and of course the heater was running as well.

But after Young Master Huanzhen got in, he still had his coat wrapped tightly around him, looking as if he didn’t feel hot at all, with no intention of taking it off.

The driver was extremely curious. “Young Master, aren’t you hot?”

“…”

Cheng Huanzhen shot him a blank look and replied, “No. Drive, we’re going back first.”

The driver said, “Huh? And the doctor…”

Cheng Huanzhen cut him off quickly: “He’ll go back later. Go!”

Driver: “…Oh, oh, alright, Young Master.”

Not daring to ask more, he answered twice, then started the car.

Cheng Huanzhen was breathing slightly hard.

Ever since seeing Little Uncle, his heart had been pounding, and only now was it finally beginning to calm down a bit.

His “fever” symptoms also returned to normal only after he left Little Uncle’s bedroom and Little Uncle’s villa.

His body temperature was normal again. His heartbeat was normal again. His brain was normal again. All his senses—sight, hearing, smell—were all normal.

The only proof that something abnormal had just happened was the mark left three minutes ago.

That awful, sticky sensation was still there.

No matter how he shifted his posture, he felt unbearably uncomfortable.

…What was going on?

He clearly… clearly had never been like this before.

In the past, whenever he saw Little Uncle, even when he hugged Little Uncle, he had never become like this, like this…

The car finally started moving.

With his elbow resting on the window, those complicated, unfamiliar emotions churned his mind into a mess.

Just as the car drove out of the underground garage and began leaving the complex, a young man with the same face as Little Uncle suddenly entered his field of vision.

At that moment, his mind was blankly circling his own questions, but when his gaze fell on the young man, his eyes unconsciously shifted to follow him.

When his eyes finally settled and he caught the youth’s childish, anxious and uneasy expression, he suddenly remembered—it was not that the other looked like Little Uncle, but that Little Uncle had chosen his face.

That hidden, sharp gaze was like a cold knife. In the brief instant when the person and the car passed by each other, it quietly dissected the young man’s face into countless fragments.

Every fragment was compared to Little Uncle’s.

The conclusion came quickly: the original was not as good-looking as Little Uncle.

Those beautiful eyes and brows, that beautiful smile, that beautiful… arch of the foot—indeed, only when they belonged to Little Uncle did they look that good.

But if they landed on the original?

Cheng Huanzhen lowered his eyes to the car window, where his own reflection faintly appeared.

He studied the figure reflected in the glass carefully, tilting his head slightly left and right, inspecting his whole face.

His features were on the lighter side. His expression was on the colder side. His outfit was a bit too formal.

Other than that, everything seemed… not bad.

…Better than Wen Shaozhuo. Stronger than Wen Shaozhuo. Little Uncle ought to take a good look, make a proper comparison.

Having finally reached this conclusion, he awarded himself a 4:0 victory in his mind and slumped back against the back seat.

The competition temporarily laid down its flags and drums.

Reason and composure returned to their places.

Only then did he belatedly recall Little Uncle’s last words—spoken with a hint of irritation and a touch of displeasure: “If you don’t want to renew, then don’t.”

…Ah, he wanted to hug Little Uncle again.

Thirty million. Thirty million.

Why couldn’t it just be ninety million…

…

The Cheng family’s young doctor was forced to stay in the Wen brothers’ villa for half a day.

In the two days that followed, for reasons like meals with friends, buying medicine, and “scheduled overtime,” he frequently passed by the Wen brothers’ villa and went in to give free checkups.

Wen Shaozhuo was extremely grateful to this doctor.

This doctor had a kind heart and a healer’s compassion. If one day in the future he managed to save up enough money that he no longer had to worry about food and shelter, he would definitely repay this doctor’s timely help properly.

His brother’s fever subsided quickly, and his brother regained his health.

Classes, drawing, and going with his brother to work at the strawberry hot pot shop once again became their daily routine.

But this time, because his commission account had already received its first order, his brother no longer needed to work every single day without daring to take even one day off.

On average, his account now received one order every three days. Each order started at two hundred. At this rate of earning commission fees, Wen Shaozhuo finally had enough confidence to persuade his brother to give himself one or two days off every week.

As a result, his brother’s work schedule changed from only one day off a month to alternating long and short weeks, and Brother A’Heng’s energy level at work visibly became much better!

“A’Shao, what are you looking at? Come on, look over here—yes, good, just like that!”

“Click.”

Holding his phone horizontally, Brother A’Heng quickly tapped the shutter several times before Wen Shaozhuo could react, and the phone let out a series of rapid clicks.

Once again, before he could even register what was happening, Wen Shaozhuo had been captured and saved as a photo by Brother A’Heng.

Softly, Wen Shaozhuo said, “Brother A’Heng, next time you want to take a picture of me, you can tell me first. I… I’ll try to pose and smile.”

Wen Siheng raised his brows. “That won’t do. If you know ahead of time, you’ll get nervous.”

He excitedly opened his gallery to show him. “You have to be caught off guard to get the best results. If you don’t believe it, look!”

When Wen Shaozhuo looked, he saw that his brother had actually created a separate album on his phone named “Cutest Little Brother in the World!” and that it was filled entirely with solo shots of him.

He instantly felt incredibly shy. “Brother! How could you take so many pictures of me secretly without telling me?”

Wen Siheng gave a mysterious “hehe” laugh and deliberately drew out his voice. “Can’t tell A’Shao that yet!”

After saying this, he left Wen Shaozhuo in the living room to draw and, putting his phone away, found an excuse to hurry back to the bedroom.

The soundproofing in the bedroom was excellent.

He sat casually on the edge of the bed, picked up another phone, transferred the photos over, and sent them to Wen Yifeng and Wen Qingtai.

This was not the first time they had received photo updates from Wen Siheng.

In fact, ever since he had taken their biological son and left home with him, he had been sending them daily photos of their son’s everyday life.

At first, their son’s face only occasionally showed a smile; most of the time, his expression was still full of worry and unease.

But gradually, the smile became the main expression on his face.

Whether facing the camera or in profile, whether or not he realized he was being photographed, their son’s expression always looked relaxed and joyful.

It was as if time had flowed backwards in his body, and their son had returned to being the most lovable child he had been in early childhood.

Wen Yifeng and Wen Qingtai went from initially suspecting that the person in the photos was actually Wen Siheng in disguise, to gradually confirming that the young man in the pictures really was their son, and that their son’s mental state truly had improved greatly under Wen Siheng’s guidance.

Wen Yifeng had to admit: “…This substitute-family team really has some skill.”

Wen Qingtai, however, was a bit worried. “How exactly did they do it? Don’t tell me they just indulged Shaozhuo to get this effect?”

After thinking for a moment, Wen Yifeng answered, “Probably not. I heard from his counselor at school that Shaozhuo has been very diligent in class lately and hasn’t skipped a single lesson.”

Only then did Wen Qingtai finally relax a little and, full of enthusiasm, began typing out a message to Wen Siheng.

First came a long block of businesslike flattery, praising how skillful and effective Siheng’s methods were. Then came a detailed discussion of educational approaches and viewpoints for Shaozhuo. Only at the very end did he tactfully reveal the true purpose behind all these words:

“[Since Shaozhuo’s condition has improved so noticeably, how exactly was this achieved? Is there anything that needs to be arranged or prepared at home?]”