The system hid in Lin Chen’s mind and whispered, “Arrange what? The system sees that as long as there are no people in this house, everything will be fine!”

Lin Chen let the system bounce around in his mind. He sat cross-legged on the bed, patiently waiting for new messages to refresh on Green Letter.

Wen Qingtai: [Shaozhuo has been living outside for a while now, when will he come back?]
Wen Qingtai: [I see that Shaozhuo’s condition has recovered quite well, it’s time to bring him home. Whatever needs to be arranged at home can be arranged, as long as it helps Shaozhuo maintain his current state, money is not a worry.]

But it was never about money.

Lin Chen replied: [Please rest assured, Ms. Wen, when it is suitable to bring Shaozhuo home, I will bring him back.]

Wen Qingtai was somewhat dissatisfied: [What is it that must be done outside and cannot be done at home? Is there any condition at home that is not better than outside?]

Seeing this righteous tone, the system was furious, inciting the host: “Host, tell her that the best condition outside is that the two of them are not there!”

Lin Chen shook his head and said, “For people like them who care about face and are arrogant, any reasoning is useless before they realize the problem themselves. It will only make them more determined in their original thoughts.”

The system said aggrievedly: “But Host, seeing them so self-righteous, the system is almost suffocating from frustration!”

Lin Chen was extremely surprised: “Has your emotional module finally upgraded? You even learned such a high-level emotion as frustration?”

The system wailed: “Host! You said you wouldn’t laugh at the system anymore!”

Listening to the system cry, Lin Chen felt good. So he patiently perfunctorily said: “Mm-hmm, not laughing, not laughing.”

Lin Chen did not reply to Wen Qingtai directly. He answered ambiguously: [If you really want to see A’Shao so much, I will ask him about his thoughts in a while.]

Seeing this answer, Wen Yifeng frowned: “What do you mean by asking Shaozhuo’s thoughts? Shouldn’t the decision to bring Shaozhuo home depend on their studio’s plan arrangement?”

Wen Qingtai felt the same. However, after thinking about it, she said: “It’s good to ask Shaozhuo’s thoughts. Siheng has been taking Shaozhuo to work and earn money outside during this time. Apart from living conditions being okay, I don’t know how hard other conditions are.”

“We are usually stricter with Shaozhuo, but the conditions at home are after all not comparable to outside. Shaozhuo is used to such material conditions. How long can he endure such a poor life outside?”

Wen Yifeng put himself in his shoes and thought, if he had to bow and scrape to people outside just to prove a point, doing service work, being a receptionist, earning a salary less than the cleaner of his own company… Come on, forget about self-made people. How could a child like Shaozhuo, born with a golden spoon in his mouth, endure this for a long time?

The two soon relaxed about this matter again, thinking that it shouldn’t take long before their son came back.

Wen Qingtai hadn’t seen her son smiling with her own eyes for a long time. After so many years, she rarely had expectations about seeing her son.

But the more important thing was: “Fortunately, Shaozhuo only missed about a month of home tutoring classes, which is not much. As long as his state is adjusted to normal and efficiency is improved, catching up with classes will definitely be fast.”

Wen Yifeng nodded heavily: “Shaozhuo was already lagging behind his peers by a bit. We can’t really waste more than a month going backwards!”

…

“…Brother?!” Hearing his brother’s question, Wen Shaozhuo was so scared that his face instantly turned pale.

“Go home?! No, brother, aren’t we living well outside? Next month’s living expenses are already covered, and we have saved more than a thousand for the month after next. Why… why suddenly ask about going home?”

Wen Shaozhuo put down the paintbrush almost in panic and held his brother’s hand tightly: “Brother, don’t you want to live outside anymore? Or… or did Mom and Dad say something to you? Did they threaten you?”

“No, no, no, A’Shao.”

Wen Siheng pulled his younger brother to sit down beside him and pressed his hands on his brother’s slightly trembling shoulders.

He sighed and said: “I was just thinking, it was clearly my impulse to quarrel with Mom and Dad at that time, but it implicated you to leave home with me and live such a hard life.”

Wen Siheng said distressedly: “It doesn’t matter to me. I lived in the orphanage for so long. Any kind of life now is better than the material life at that time. But A’Shao is different…”

Wen Shaozhuo’s panic eased slightly, but his voice remained tight: “There is nothing different, brother!”

He said anxiously and imploringly to his brother: “I can get used to it, brother. The life during this period is the happiest life I have ever lived! I don’t want to go back, brother…”

“A’Shao, don’t worry.”

Wen Siheng comforted his younger brother: “If A’Shao really doesn’t want to go home, then we won’t go home! But A’Shao hasn’t seen Mom and Dad for a long time… Will you miss going back to see them?”

Wen Siheng said apologetically: “Sorry, A’Shao, you know, I haven’t had much experience getting along with family since I was a child, and I don’t know what the normal contact frequency is like. I’m afraid A’Shao will miss them and miss home, but dare not tell brother…”

Wen Siheng explained the reason for his question, and Wen Shaozhuo’s panic completely relaxed.

He lowered his eyes and said softly: “It doesn’t matter, brother. I know you are considering me. But I…”

He opened his mouth with difficulty, hesitated for a few seconds, and closed it again. But after closing it, he was a little unwilling and opened his mouth again.

After several times back and forth, Wen Siheng couldn’t help encouraging: “Just say whatever you want to say, A’Shao! We are the closest twin brothers in the world. No matter what thoughts A’Shao has, brother will definitely support you!”

Wen Shaozhuo smiled with difficulty at his brother.

He finally said very softly: “…If possible, I don’t want to go home or see them in my life. So… Brother A’Heng, please don’t worry about me.”

Wen Siheng’s eyes widened instantly, exclaiming: “In this life…?!”

But before he finished speaking, he seemed to suddenly understand something: “But then again, if it were me…”

He hummed twice: “I couldn’t bear it until now, maybe I would have wanted to run away long ago!”

Wen Siheng changed the subject: “Just now A’Shao asked me if they threatened me. Why ask this? Did Mom and Dad do this to A’Shao before?”

Wen Shaozhuo immediately became uncomfortable. His voice became a little painful: “I… they didn’t, just…”

Since moving out of the house, Wen Shaozhuo hadn’t shown such anxiety and pain for a long time.

Wen Siheng immediately took out the old bell from his pocket and rang it “ding-dong~” “ding-dong~” in his brother’s ear, while holding his brother’s shoulder steadily with the other hand.

His voice was firm and steady, saying to Wen Shaozhuo: “Don’t be afraid, A’Shao. If you don’t want to mention it, we won’t mention it. Brother won’t ask.”

The sound of this bell was clearly nothing special. But inexplicably, as soon as Wen Shaozhuo heard its sound, his attention could be forcibly pulled back to reality.

…Brother A’Heng’s voice was also so gentle. Brother A’Heng never forced him on anything. Brother A’Heng always respected his wishes. Brother A’Heng asked him this just… just to understand him and help him. He knew.

Wen Shaozhuo clenched his fists tightly, his fingernails digging into his palms painfully. But under such slight pain, his emotions finally stabilized a little.

He didn’t want to disappoint his brother. He whispered: “It doesn’t matter, brother. If it’s Brother A’Heng… you can ask anything.”

He lowered his eyes and said softly: “When Mom and Dad first discovered my drawing, they once told me that if I refused to follow them to the banquet again, they would… tear up all my drawings. So I thought Brother A’Heng was also…”

Once this was said, Wen Shaozhuo suddenly found countless words blocking his throat. They struggled to rush out. They struggled to vent the emotions and moods he had held back for more than ten years.

But most of the time, no one was willing to listen to him. Those who were willing to listen to him were guys who would turn around and report the matter to his parents like claiming credit.

He hadn’t met someone like Brother A’Heng, who could listen to him and not stand on his parents’ side, for a long, long time.

The whole afternoon passed in the blink of an eye.

Wen Siheng listened patiently to Wen Shaozhuo for a long, long time, from elementary school to junior high school, then to high school, then to university, from the ant nest he raised being flooded with water, to the painting collection that was initially threatened being really completely torn up, to the gifts given by childhood friends being destroyed and discarded as punishment…

Wen Siheng jumped angrily by the sofa several times while listening, and gulped down several large glasses of water before barely suppressing his anger.

But only just.

Wen Siheng thought left and right, his cheeks flushed with anger, and covered the mouth of Wen Shaozhuo who was comforting him in turn.

Wen Siheng: “It’s all in the past? How can it be in the past! No, A’Shao, I can’t bear this—Here, I thought of a good way! A’Shao, listen to me…”

…

Wen Yifeng and Wen Qingtai were busy with work every day. But they had always been excellent and had always squeezed time like a sponge. So they could squeeze out time to educate their children seriously, and naturally, they could also squeeze out time to reply instantly to the words of 120 million.

…If these words were not so annoying to them.

The two came out of their respective studies, met together, and looked at the latest message from Wen Siheng: [Mr. Wen, Ms. Wen, it’s really not that I don’t want to take Shaozhuo home, it’s just Shaozhuo’s current situation… Alas, to tell you the truth, it’s Shaozhuo who doesn’t want to go home.]

Wen Yifeng, Wen Qingtai: “???”

Wen Yifeng frowned tightly, snatched the phone from Wen Qingtai’s hand, pressed the voice bar, and said aggressively: “What do you mean Shaozhuo himself doesn’t want to go home? Did you brainwash Shaozhuo with something?!”

One voice message was sent, and he was about to start recording the second one.

But Wen Siheng’s second message popped up 0.1 seconds faster than his first voice message.

Wen Siheng: [It’s hard for me, an outsider, to explain the reasons. You should listen to this recording yourself.]