In the latter half of January, students from most majors had already finished their final exams and left for home.

On the vast B University campus, only pitiful students like Fang Ji, who had extra classes during the winter break, a small number of students who stubbornly stayed on campus for the holidays, and an even smaller number of “hand-picked brothers and sisters” who were “forced” to stay to accompany a certain famous younger brother, remained.

During such a time of extremely low foot traffic on campus, it should have been difficult for any gossip, scandals, or other interpersonal accidents to occur.

However, an accident is an accident precisely because, like a sixty-million-dollar windfall, you never know when it will fall on your head.

“Crash!”

In the dorm room, empty except for one person, Fang Ji couldn’t suppress his anger and slammed another glass cup onto the floor.

“…What the hell!”

He cursed, dragged the contact he had just finished talking to into his blacklist, and then dialed the next voice call.

“Beep—”

“Beep—”

“Beep—”

The senior, who was usually on standby 24/7, replying to messages and answering calls in seconds, for some reason let this call ring for a full ten seconds without picking up.

Fang Ji was expressionless, the bells on his body no longer jingling.

Just then, the call was finally connected.

“Huff… huff… Aiya, Xiao Ji! Why did you suddenly call me?”

The senior’s voice was as cheerful as ever.

But the corners of Fang Ji’s lips had been pulled completely flat, even slightly turning down.

He heard it—

The deliberately suppressed panting after a run.

The faint sound of car horns and the whistling wind in the background.

He was outside.

He had just run outside!

Fang Ji’s fingernails dug into his thigh. He asked in a pleasant tone, “Senior, what are you doing?”

The senior chuckled twice and said, “I… I… My mom called me out to buy some things, to get some New Year’s goods in advance. What’s up, Xiao Ji, is something wrong?”

“Oh, getting New Year’s goods.”

Fang Ji’s words were warm, but his expression in front of the screen was extremely cold, like a suppressed active volcano that could erupt at any moment.

He said, “What kind of New Year’s goods did you buy, senior? Turn on your camera and let me see.”

The senior’s voice caught in his throat.

“This… Xiao Ji, wait a moment. I’m outside right now, it’s not convenient to video call. Wait for me for ten minutes, I’ve already bought the things and I’m almost home. I’ll video call you back when I get home, okay?”

Fang Ji fiercely ground his molars, his eyes growing dark with anger.

Fang Ji: “But I want to see you now, senior. Let me see you for a moment, and I’ll take you to pick out a car tomorrow, how about that?”

On the other end of the phone, even though the sound had been deliberately lowered, Fang Ji could still hear the sharp intake of breath.

After almost half a second of silence, the senior’s words were squeezed out like toothpaste: “Xiao Ji, but my mom is with me right now, I can’t…”

“Crash!”

Another wine glass was slammed heavily onto the floor.

The glass shattered into countless pieces, and for a moment in the air, they pieced together a broken and enraged face.

Fang Ji had had enough of these clumsy and foolish lies!

His tone became as cold as an ice cellar: “Lu Jiaren. So, you’re at the lecture hall of the Capital North Road No. 32 Grand Hotel right now. Are you?”

The sound of breathing on the other end came to an abrupt halt.

Without even looking, Fang Ji could imagine the stiff expression on the other person’s face.

The senior suddenly panicked.

The senior: “No… Xiao Ji, it’s not what you think! I-I’m just here… here… Teacher Chengyu is just giving a trial lecture…”

Fang Ji let out a mocking sneer, waves of anger repeatedly crashing against his brain and heart.

Teacher Chengyu.

Teacher Chengyu.

It was Teacher Chengyu again!

Yes, he should have noticed something was wrong long ago.

He should have been on guard a few days ago when, during an outing, one of his “brothers” or “sisters,” in a moment that should have been dedicated to showing him brotherly/sisterly care, couldn’t help but gossip to him about “a new teacher with a very special temperament who just joined the school.”

Even if he didn’t notice then, he should have noticed something was wrong later when he realized that his brothers and sisters, who usually had a ninety-nine percent attendance rate, started turning down his invitations every few days, using all sorts of vague excuses to avoid his questions!

Even if he missed it the first two times, if he had just paid a little attention to the school’s confession wall, he would have long seen several of his brothers and sisters using extremely familiar phrases to deeply confess their feelings for this Teacher Chengyu!

But he trusted them. He trusted them all. He trusted his brothers and sisters. He trusted his money magic!

And so, things had dragged on to this point—all these brothers and sisters had been so mesmerized by that “Teacher Chengyu,” who had popped out of God knows where, that they didn’t even know whose money they were spending. Only then did he finally come to his senses!

Fang Ji was so angry his vision blurred.

He decisively hung up on the senior’s call. Without even looking at the various excuses the other party was hastily sending in the chat, he directly blacklisted and deleted him.

Yes.

They weren’t in a relationship, they were just playing at being siblings.

But they had taken so much money from him, so many gifts. Was it so hard to focus all their love on him, at least within his sight?!

Huh?!

Fang Ji simply couldn’t believe that out of the dozen or so brothers and sisters he had hand-picked to stay and accompany him at school for the winter break, there wasn’t a single one who could honestly wait for him at school now!

He expressionlessly dialed down his contact list.

One answered but didn’t dare to turn on the video.

One didn’t dare to answer the voice call.

One answered, and was even so damn stupid as to not have changed locations. He could clearly hear the gentle, unfamiliar voice amplified by a speaker in the background saying, “The above cases…”!

“Crash!”

“Crash!”

“Crash!” “Crash!” “Crash!”…

All the precious glass wine goblets in his dorm room were smashed to smithereens on the floor by Fang Ji!

Fang Ji’s gaze was gloomy, his anger rampant. The jewelry and bells on his body clashed, creating an almost piercingly noisy sound, stirring his mood into even greater agitation.

He didn’t understand.

He really didn’t understand!

What kind of fox spirit could have descended from the heavens to, in just two short weeks, completely, utterly, steal the hearts of this batch of premium brothers and sisters he had kept at school, to the point that even his car-buying strategy was ineffective?!

Huh?!

Fang Ji’s teeth chattered with rage.

He couldn’t stand them continuing to exist in his contact list, and he certainly couldn’t stand such an almost humiliating betrayal!

“Teacher Chengyu”?

Fine, fine, fine!

Very good!

Since the other party was being so rude, then he had to go and see just who dared to treat him like this…!

“Ring-ring—Ring-ring—”

A simple, special ringtone sounded at just that moment.

Fang Ji froze. He had just grabbed his bag and was about to leave when he stopped dead at the dormitory door.

…Father?

Why was his father calling again? Didn’t he just call a few days ago? Had there been a lot of complaints recently? But he clearly hadn’t…

Fang Ji took a deep breath and nervously answered the phone: “Dad…?”

On the other end of the line, a middle-aged man spoke rapidly: “Tonight your mom, and your brother and sister, are all coming home. Pack up your things quickly and come back for a meal.”

Fang Ji: ??!!

Fang Ji’s eyes widened in an instant, and the bells and jewelry on his body made a loud “clang.”

Heaven knows that his real brother and sister, his real father and mother, were flying all over the world for at least three hundred and sixty days out of the year.

And that three-hundred-and-sixty-day figure was just an average from over the years!

How could they suddenly come back?

And suddenly come back as a whole family?!

What was going on? Was the world ending tomorrow?

Heaven knows how long it had been since their whole family had gathered together!

Fang Ji’s head went blank, stunned by this unbelievable news.

But his emotions were a step ahead of his thoughts, and he became joyful: “You-you’re all coming home today? Why didn’t you tell me beforehand? Okay, Dad, I’m coming back right now, wait for me!”

Fang Ji rushed, not delaying for a single moment, and quickly arrived home.

However, as he excitedly burst through the door, just as he was about to open his mouth to call for his parents—

On the living room sofa, the unfamiliar figure of a person with gentle, long, black curly hair came into view.

They were large, loose curls, and the hair color wasn’t pure black. Just like his father’s and sister’s hair, it was a light black, a deep gray. When they stood in the sunlight, bathed in the bright sun, their hair would even be illuminated to show a silver sheen.

The figure’s body was a bit thin, and the pure white cashmere sweater he wore seemed a little too large.

But even so, when this stranger moved, the extremely special, elegant, and gentle temperament in every gesture was crystal clear, even from the distant doorway.

And his father, mother, brother, and sister—who, even on New Year’s Day, preferred to meet via video call from all over the world to discuss the family’s business plans for the new year—were now surprisingly, enthusiastically gathered around this person.

His brother handed him hot tea, his sister leaned in close, listening intently to what he was saying, and his mother sat opposite him, her surprised eyes staring at him without blinking.

…Who was that person?

Why was there a guest in the house at this time?

Why were his father, mother, brother, and sister, who had always only cared about their careers, sitting so intimately around this stranger?

His chaotic and slow brain finally crashed completely when his father’s joyful voice reached his ears.

“…Chengyu, ah, if you have any difficulties in the future, just contact Xiao Lian and Xiao Qi, whether it’s in life or at work…”

“…For all these years you were taken away, although you lived well, you must have missed home. Now that you’re back in the Fang family…”

Fang Ji’s steps came to a complete halt at the doorway.

His smile froze on his face, and for a moment, what he heard in his ears felt unreal.

…What did his father just call him?

cheng yu?

The “Chengyu” from “Teacher Chengyu”?

What did “taken away” mean?

What did “returned to the Fang family” mean?!

The jingle at the door attracted the attention of the people in the living room.

The unfamiliar long-haired figure turned his head, and that overly gentle gaze made Fang Ji’s spine tingle from bottom to top.

The gentle and soft voice he had just heard in the background of the phone call sounded in the living room. Not too high, not too low, just within the range that Fang Ji could hear clearly.

With a faint smile, the person said to him, “Hello, Xiao Ji. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Fang Chengyu.”