Qi Xiuyi’s footsteps froze on the spot as he stared blankly at the long-haired figure not far ahead.

An unfamiliar face.

An unfamiliar voice.

An unfamiliar gentleness.

But…

How strange.

Why did he feel…

He felt…

So familiar.

So close.

He… he really wanted to walk to his side.

Qi Xiuyi didn’t know if he was in reality or had drifted into another dream.

He dazedly lifted his foot.

Step by step, he walked forward.

His pace was slow, each step seeming somewhat hesitant, yet he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

He walked up to the long-haired figure, lowered his head, and met the man’s gentle and patient, light brown eyes.

“Sit,” the long-haired figure said.

Qi Xiuyi hesitated for a moment before carefully sitting down beside him.

But he didn’t dare to look at the man’s eyes, which bore a slight resemblance to Qi Wendong’s. So he lowered his head and replied dejectedly, “…Hello.”

The long-haired figure said, “You look very sad.”

Qi Xiuyi pressed his lips together tightly and said in a low voice, “The one who passed away was my older brother.”

The long-haired figure said, “But you didn’t cry.”

Qi Xiuyi’s voice was extremely low. “If I cried, my brother would laugh at me.”

The long-haired figure tilted his head slightly and let out a soft laugh, his already gentle voice becoming even softer.

“It’s okay. You can cry if you want to. He can’t hear you.”

He said, “And even if he could, so what? … You just want to convey your feelings and longing to him. He will understand.”

A light breeze seemed to answer, rustling the tree branches in all directions.

It was as if the slumbering souls in the cemetery had suddenly opened their eyes and gently embraced the grieving person from behind.

Qi Xiuyi looked up in a daze at the gentle stranger beside him.

The man’s high ponytail had slipped from the back of his head to the side, and the slightly curly strands of his hair swayed gently in the wind at the edge of his vision.

Looking at this stranger, Qi Xiuyi was inexplicably reminded of Qi Wendong.

Perhaps it was because Qi Wendong’s hair was also like that.

Slightly curly, fine, and soft to the touch. If you could grab a handful, it would feel incredibly comfortable.

As soon as he thought of this, Qi Xiuyi couldn’t help but recall when Qi Wendong was lying silently in the emergency room, his hair scattered across the pale gurney, dry and lusterless.

Just like him… lying there silently, devoid of life.

Qi Xiuyi’s nose suddenly began to sting.

He said with a sob, “But-but he would definitely prefer to see me being amazing. If I did poorly on an exam, if I lost face, Qi Wendong, he… he would definitely mock me!”

The long-haired figure, however, stroked his head and said gently and slowly, “You are already amazing. I’ve heard your name at B University. They say you only took one year to make up for over ten subjects you previously failed, and you even became first in your major for the new semester. Not only that, I heard you also successfully organized a national exhibition.”

“If your brother could see all this, he would surely approve of you—I believe he was always looking forward to you becoming a better person, and you’ve achieved that now, haven’t you?”

This voice was far too gentle, like the spring sun—bright and warm, but not blinding. It gave one no time to feel any sense of alarm or suspicion before subconsciously accepting the warmth it offered.

Qi Xiuyi had thought he had no tears left.

But it was only now, as tears suddenly welled up in his eyes, that he realized he hadn’t wanted to not cry.

Once the floodgates opened, the tears could no longer be stopped.

He suddenly burst into loud sobs, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably, crying until he was out of breath.

The birds on the branches were startled by the sound of his crying and flew away in a flurry.

The long-haired figure sighed, took a white handkerchief from his pocket, turned to the side, and gently wiped his tears.

He said, “It’s okay, cry. You’ll feel better after you cry it out.”

Qi Xiuyi cried as he spoke, “I won’t feel better! My brother won’t come back even after I cry! … What’s the use of becoming better, can Qi Wendong come back to see me?!”

The long-haired figure said with certainty, “He will. He will always be watching you.”

Qi Xiuyi sniffled and asked pitifully, “Really?”

The long-haired figure’s eyes curved into a smile. “Really.”

…

Only after discovering Fang Chengyu was missing did Fang Ji abruptly realize that from last night until now, he hadn’t added any of Fang Chengyu’s contact information.

Fang Chengyu was, after all, now considered part of their Fang family.

To lose a family member while attending someone else’s funeral—how much of an embarrassment would that be for the Fang family!

Fortunately, the family butler was reliable.

He contacted the butler, who then contacted Fang Chengyu. When he learned that the man was already on his way to the banquet hall, he managed to stop himself from dialing 110.

Fang Ji stood at the entrance of the banquet hall with his arms crossed and a deadpan expression.

As long as Fang Chengyu didn’t arrive, he couldn’t be bothered to go in and socialize.

He could already imagine the scenario: he would have just finished a round of greetings with his friends from various families, and then Fang Chengyu would arrive, and they would all curiously come back for another round of greetings with him.

But just waiting around wasn’t a solution.

Fang Ji simply found a place to sit at the entrance of the banquet hall, rested his head on his hands, and started counting the number of people he would need to greet inside.

Among the people attending this funeral banquet, besides those like him who came alone to represent their families, many families had sent more than one person. Elders bringing the young, older brothers bringing younger brothers—such pairings were all too common.

Fang Ji counted the heads, and as he counted, his gaze involuntarily fell on the fathers and sons, and the brothers, walking side by side.

…Do their parents, brothers, and sisters not need to work?

Fang Ji thought about this with a sour feeling.

His parents, brother, and sister were almost always abroad, so he almost always attended various social events in the capital alone.

Fortunately, he had an outgoing personality, and his sense of style was often well-liked, which allowed him to make waves of friends at social gatherings through his own efforts.

He, Xiao Dingdang, was never short of friends.

But just as the thought of doing two rounds of greetings made him feel lazy…

No matter how many people you knew at social events, no matter how many friends you had…

When the purpose of maintaining a relationship was more about benefits than emotions, it became a burden.

Fang Ji was not in a good mood today.

He wasn’t wearing his nice jewelry today, which he could have fidgeted with to change his mood.

He also wasn’t wearing his bells, which he could have shaken when he felt down to distract himself.

So when he realized he was sitting here all alone and didn’t feel like actively seeking out any friends, he subconsciously took out his phone, wanting to find a brother or sister to chat with him for a bit.

But he unlocked his phone and scrolled through his contacts.

Where was the name of his favorite brother from this month?

Oh, right. Yesterday, that person had chosen Fang Chengyu, so he had been blocked and deleted by him.

…Damn it.

The moment Fang Chengyu’s name popped up, the fire in his initially low mood was rekindled.

If “Teacher Chengyu” didn’t have the surname Fang, he would have had a thousand ways to retaliate for the grievances he suffered yesterday.

No matter what, he had been navigating the circles of the capital for many years; he was not that easy to bully!

But…

Teacher Chengyu… Fang Chengyu… Damn Fang Chengyu!

Why did he have to be his blood-related brother?

If “Teacher Chengyu” and the new big brother were two different people, he wouldn’t be sitting here gritting his teeth, unable to think of a way to vent his anger!

Fang Ji mulled over this problem again and again, and his mood soured repeatedly.

He had too many emotions that needed relief, so he irritably went back to scrolling through the remaining brothers and sisters in his contact list.

He scrolled back and forth, tapping on names one by one, only to exit without doing anything, his frustration growing more severe.

He looked at these familiar yet strange names, and he could almost smell the scent of banknotes.

It made him feel sick for a moment.

Normally, he could still deceive himself:

His money was just to help his brothers and sisters live better lives.

If he treated them with sincerity, they would surely return his sincerity.

But what was the result?

…Heh, he had no idea how Fang Chengyu had convinced them.

With more money than him?

By offering better terms than him?

It couldn’t be that Fang Chengyu just batted his eyes or crooked his finger, and the brothers and sisters he thought he had carefully selected all ran to his side like happy puppies, right?!

Fang Ji got more and more lost in these unpleasant questions, until a friend’s surprised voice suddenly sounded in his ear, startling him back to reality.

“Hey, Xiao Dingdang, what are you doing here? I just saw Brother Chengyu looking for you.”

Fang Ji: “??”

Fang Ji thought he had misheard. “Who was looking for me?”

“Fang Chengyu? When did he get here? I didn’t see him? Haven’t I been guarding the main entrance this whole time? And when did you get to know Fang Chengyu, that you’re calling him ‘brother’?”

The friend: “Oh, Brother Chengyu has been here for a while, look—”

Fang Ji followed his friend’s finger and looked deeper into the banquet hall.

Fang Chengyu’s figure was very conspicuous in the crowd; after all, he was the only one in the entire venue with the combination of a men’s suit and a high ponytail.

Qi Xiuyi was by his side at that moment, leading Fang Chengyu through the crowd of guests with a clear purpose.

Fang Ji could tell with just one glance.

Just like the situation where other families attended with multiple members—elders with the young, older brothers with younger brothers—the newly reinstated heir of the Qi family was actually introducing the long-lost older brother of their Fang family to the various family members of the capital!

Fang Ji: ??!

Wait a minute, what right does Qi Xiuyi have?

This is a person from their Fang family, not his Qi family.

Even if someone had to introduce Fang Chengyu to everyone, that should be his job. What right did Qi Xiuyi have to do it for him?!

Fang Ji’s lips pressed into a thin, tight line, and he shot up from his chair.

The friend sighed in admiration, “I have to say, Xiao Dingdang, your luck is something else. To have such a good-tempered and handsome new brother like Brother Chengyu, oh man, I bet all those brothers and sisters of yours are going to be collectively unemployed… Hey? Dingdang? … Fang Ji??”