Fang Chengyu, however, was not concerned about this.

He smiled and said to the butler, “Xiao Ji is still young, it’s normal for him to be a bit playful. It’s a rare winter break, and I also want to spend more time playing with him.”

The butler was very worried. “But I’ve noticed you haven’t been sleeping well recently. Is your health okay?”

Fang Chengyu said, “Don’t worry, Uncle Li, I will pay attention myself.”

Since Fang Chengyu had said so, the butler naturally couldn’t say anything more.

He poured a glass of warm water for the eldest young master, reminded him to take his medicine on time, rest early, and be sure to take care of his health.

The winter break passed in a flash, and it was soon time for Fang Ji to start school.

Of course, he wasn’t the only one starting school; so was Fang Chengyu.

After a whole vacation of playing, Fang Ji had almost forgotten that Fang Chengyu was a new teacher at B University!

He suddenly became excited. On the way to school on the first day, he stuck to Fang Chengyu’s side, chirping “Teacher Chengyu,” and asked in detail about the courses Teacher Chengyu was responsible for.

Only then did he learn that Fang Chengyu would be teaching an elective course in the new semester, and this course happened to be open to Fang Ji’s college.

Fang Ji immediately said, “Brother, don’t worry, I will definitely do everything I can to get into your class!”

Fang Chengyu patted Fang Ji’s head and said gently, “It’s okay if you don’t get in. If Xiao Ji wants to listen, I can teach you when we get home.”

Fang Ji happily enjoyed his brother’s special affection, saying, “No, I must get into brother’s class. When brother is teaching, I want to be the class representative, help brother collect homework, and get the highest score in brother’s class at the end of the semester!”

Fang Chengyu couldn’t help but laugh. “How can an elective course have a class representative? If Xiao Ji gets into the class and is late or dozes off, I’ll still catch you.”

Fang Ji raised his eyebrows and shook his bells, looking smug. “I’m not the kind of person who fools around in class. Don’t underestimate me, brother!”

Fang Ji made his promise. On the night of course selection, he prepared three mobile phones and three computers early on, and hired five people to help him. They staked out the spots on campus with the best internet speeds, ready to grab the class.

However, Fang Chengyu’s fame had already spread throughout the school during the holiday through the confession wall.

Although this new teacher had never officially appeared on campus, the students all knew that a very handsome elective course teacher was coming this semester.

As a result, less than a second after the course selection began, the page refreshed, and under the course taught by Fang Chengyu, the “remaining spots” instantly became 0!

Fang Ji stared blankly at the “System is busy, please try again later” prompt on the page for a long while, and then became furious.

How could this be? This was his brother’s class!

Anyone could fail to get it, but how could he not get it!

Fang Ji immediately released all his former brothers and sisters from his blacklist and sent out a group message asking who had managed to get into “Teacher Chengyu’s” elective course. He was willing to pay a high price to buy the spot!

After waiting for half a day, a lucky person who had successfully gotten into his brother’s class actually messaged him.

Fang Ji did not go back on his word. He immediately used his money magic to buy the spot at a high price. He set an alarm for 4:30 in the morning, climbed out of bed, and coordinated with the other person over a call to drop the course while he refreshed the page at lightning speed to grab it.

…Damn it, how come there was someone else like him, camping out to grab a course in the dead of night?

Fang Ji was annoyed. Unwilling to give up, he worked hard to find two or three more lucky people from his list and the confession wall who had gotten the course. He once again used his money magic, arranged for the three of them to drop the course together, and this time, he finally managed to grab it.

Fang Ji was overjoyed and ran to report to his brother.

Fang Ji: “Brother, look, I got into your class! Haha, I told you, there’s nothing I, Fang Ji, can’t do!”

How would Fang Chengyu know how Fang Ji had gotten the class?

Of course, he would only praise his younger brother: “Wow, Xiao Ji is so amazing, you’re even amazing at grabbing classes.”

Fang Ji chuckled smugly, put his hands on his hips, and tilted his little head up.

Fang Ji’s own grades were good, and he was quite serious in class. After getting into his brother’s class, he became even more proactive.

He would set an alarm for his brother’s class and run to the classroom early to occupy the seat in the center of the front row, the one closest to his brother.

Then, he would casually chat with his brother for a few minutes before class started. When the other students arrived one after another, under their puzzled and envious gazes, he would lift his chin and tell them with reservation and pride, “Yes, Teacher Chengyu is my brother—my real brother, the kind that lives with me~”

As it turned out, if Teacher Chengyu had the ability to build up his reputation during the winter break, his fame couldn’t possibly be bad after the classes started.

After the first class, various discussions about Teacher Chengyu once again dominated the entire B University confession wall. As a result, in the following weeks, the classroom became more and more crowded. At times, it was so excessive that even the corridor outside was filled with heads craning to see the “pretty teacher.”

One time, Fang Ji almost failed to get his exclusive throne, which made him furious. On impulse, he directly hired a classmate to save his seat for him one class period in advance, completely eliminating any possibility of his throne being snatched away again!

But this act was quickly discovered by his brother.

His brother threw a piece of chalk directly at his head, saying, “Don’t use your money on such meaningless things, Xiao Ji. I can see you no matter where you sit.”

Fang Ji rubbed his head, pouted, and replied with great grievance, “Xiao Ji just wants to sit closest to brother! …Ugh, okay, whatever Teacher Chengyu says, goes.”

Only then did he dismiss the person and go back to saving the seat himself.

However, the joy of the new semester only lasted for a short while.

Soon, Fang Ji found himself reminiscing about the winter break.

The reason was simple. During the winter break, his brother could live and play with him every day. But what about now?

His brother lived in the faculty dormitory. They could no longer wake up together, eat together, or leave for school together. At night, he couldn’t have his brother help him take off his bells, and he couldn’t listen to his brother coax him to sleep anymore.

Fang Ji became unhappy. He ran to the staff dormitory to pester his brother: “Brother, don’t live here anymore. The school isn’t far from our house. Let’s go home to live, okay?”

“Or… or we can buy or rent an apartment near the school. It doesn’t even cost that much!”

His brother had always doted on him and would never refuse any of his reasonable requests.

Fang Chengyu smiled helplessly. While tying Fang Ji’s hair into a small upward-facing pigtail with a hair tie that had a bell on it, he said, “Does Xiao Ji want to live with brother that much? Alright, I’ll do as Xiao Ji wishes. Whenever you have time, look around for a house you like, tell brother, and we’ll move there together.”

Fang Ji jumped up in delight, only to be pressed back into the chair by Fang Chengyu.

Fang Chengyu gently untied his little hair tie and added, “No need to buy, just find a place you like and rent it.”

Fang Ji wasn’t too keen on it, but he listened to his brother: “Oh.”

Fang Ji was a man of action. He immediately called a friend and rented a small villa that the friend had bought near the school during their student days.

He then called the butler and, while Fang Chengyu was at work, moved everything over in a flurry. That very night, he happily moved into the new home with Fang Chengyu.

But after living there for just two days, he was unhappy again.

His brother was usually too busy!

During the day, his brother needed to be at school or in his office. When he got home at night, his brother still had to prepare for lessons, grade homework, or even deal with other school matters.

Even though they were living together again, his brother couldn’t be with him every day like during the winter break.

Take today, for example.

His brother had collected last week’s homework. Since it was an elective course and the class wasn’t very large, the school hadn’t assigned a teaching assistant. After collecting the homework, his brother needed to find time to grade and record it himself.

Fang Ji had originally planned to watch a movie with his brother tonight.

But he waited from the time he got home from class until eight o’clock at night, and his brother still hadn’t finished grading the homework!

Fang Ji couldn’t wait any longer.

He anxiously jumped around his brother, his jewelry clanging out a noisy and cheerful tune in the air.

Fang Ji: “Bro—ther—this homework isn’t urgent, you can grade it tomorrow—”

Fang Chengyu had just finished seriously reading one assignment, writing comments on the back with his elegant handwriting. He turned his head and saw his younger brother’s anxious look.

He smiled, pulled Fang Ji to sit beside him, and held his hand gently, saying, “I have other work to do tomorrow. If Xiao Ji has nothing to do, why don’t you help brother record the grades? Here, this stack is the graded homework. Fill their scores into the spreadsheet, and then brother can finish sooner to spend time with Xiao Ji, okay?”

Fang Ji wanted his brother’s company but ended up being pulled along to work with him instead. What could Fang Ji say?

With his cheeks puffed out, Fang Ji curled up next to his brother with a laptop and seriously entered each student’s score into the computer, quickly catching up to his brother’s progress.

He turned his head and saw his brother seriously looking at a student’s homework.

The student’s handwriting was a wild scrawl; calling it “ugly” ten times over would not be an exaggeration. Fang Ji secretly peeked a couple of times but couldn’t decipher what was written on it at all.

Fang Ji’s eyes were about to go blind from looking.

He couldn’t help but secretly think to himself, the family clearly wasn’t short on money, so why did his brother have to do this kind of low-paying job? The salary for this job wasn’t even a fraction of the monthly allowance the family gave him!

But before he could say it out loud, Fang Ji subconsciously started thinking about the question of “what if brother didn’t do this dead-end job and instead followed the example of their parents and siblings, joining the family business to make big money”—

No, no, absolutely not!

Brother must not become like their parents and siblings, the kind of person whose life is only about work and making money!

Brother must not be like their parents and siblings, ruthlessly leaving him at home alone without a care!

The more Fang Ji thought, the more alarmed and anxious he became.

He wanted to be more clingy with his brother while he was around.

He wanted his brother to also enjoy the feeling of living with him.

He wanted his brother to be reluctant to coldly leave him at home alone in the future, like their parents and siblings did.

He immediately hugged one of Fang Chengyu’s free arms and called out sweetly and softly, “Brother, is there anything you want to eat? Xiao Ji will go make it or buy it for you~ Does brother have any favorite singers? Xiao Ji will go get their contact information for you and invite them to our house to play with you~ Brother—brother—”

Fang Chengyu was halfway through the assignment when his train of thought was interrupted by Fang Ji’s continuous calls of “brother.”

He helplessly put down the homework, picked up a cherry tomato from the table, and popped it into Fang Ji’s mouth. Then he picked up walnuts, pear slices, milk… and fed various snacks to Fang Ji.

Fang Ji ate and ate, drank and drank, and finally quieted down a bit.

Fang Chengyu looked at him, his eyes crinkling with a smile. “Xiao Ji, have some snacks for a while. Brother will finish grading the homework very soon.”

Fang Ji was not satisfied. He wanted to pout, but his mouth was stuffed with food, so he couldn’t.

Fang Ji chewed for a long time and finally finished the food in his mouth.

But the best window to continue the topic had also passed.

Fang Ji sulked, thinking about how Fang Chengyu didn’t seem to like anything, leaving him with no idea where to even spend his money!

Fang Ji could only say, “If brother thinks of anything you want, you must remember to tell Xiao Ji!”

Fang Chengyu smiled. “Okay.”

The butler was very happy to see the youngest young master getting along well with the newly arrived eldest young master.

However, the butler was still very worried about the problem he had warned the eldest young master about before.

It was fine when they lived at home; the soundproofing of the Fang family mansion was quite good.

But the soundproofing of this villa was clearly just average.

The butler tested it once when the two young masters were not at home. Even with the door closed in the eldest young master’s room, he could hear the sound of bells from the villa entrance.

…How could this be!

When the eldest young master had first returned home, the family had specifically instructed him that the eldest young master had a weak heart and poor sleep, and was easily woken by a little noise, so he needed to pay more attention.

But what about now? With this kind of soundproofing, the constant jangling sound from the youngest young master every day, how torturous must it be for the eldest young master!

But the butler’s job was not easy either.

He needed to cater to the temperaments of every young master in the family, especially when he planned to point out a problem like this; he had to be extremely cautious.

Therefore, before telling the youngest young master about the situation, the butler took a few days to carefully observe the eldest young master’s condition to confirm his worries.

Soon, the butler confirmed his thoughts.

The youngest young master stuck to the eldest young master from morning to night and always liked to pester him to play until very late. But the eldest young master needed to get up early in the morning to go to school and couldn’t sleep in.

Not only that, the eldest young master would often wake up in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep through, so the butler had no idea how much sleep the eldest young master was actually lacking.

Sometimes when the butler went into the eldest young master’s room to tidy up, he would pay special attention to the remaining number of pills of the eldest young master’s heart medication.

He roughly calculated and found that the amount of medicine that had decreased was more than the eldest young master’s normal daily consumption.

The butler confirmed his thoughts and planned to talk to the youngest young master about this problem that very day.

The eldest young master doted on the youngest young master too much; he couldn’t be persuaded. He could only start with the youngest young master.

However, before he could wait for the young masters to come home, an accident happened.

Fang Chengyu had a class that morning.

But halfway through the class, Teacher Chengyu’s face suddenly turned pale. He stumbled a step and almost fell on the podium. He clutched his chest in pain, his eyes glazed over, and he gasped for breath in short, low pants.

Fang Ji’s face changed in terror on the spot.

He didn’t have the patience to wait for the students on either side to make way. He scrambled over the tables, stepping on chairs, and along with a few other concerned and kind-hearted students who came forward, helped Teacher Chengyu to a chair to sit down.

Fang Ji, trembling, called the butler. Following the butler’s instructions, he found the medicine from the inner pocket of his brother’s bag and fed it to him. He almost frantically dialed 120, but luckily Fang Chengyu was quick enough to stop him, and the call didn’t go through.

After taking the pill, Fang Chengyu quickly recovered from his state.

But Fang Ji was so scared he could barely speak properly. He held onto Fang Chengyu, refusing to let him continue teaching, and pleaded in a small voice, “Brother! What’s the point of teaching at a time like this? Let’s go to the hospital for a check-up first! It’s just an elective course anyway, the students won’t mind missing half a class.”

Fang Chengyu coaxed Fang Ji and gently pulled his hand out of his grasp.

Fang Chengyu smiled. “Don’t worry, Xiao Ji, I’m fine now. It’s okay to finish the remaining half of the class. If Xiao Ji is really worried, I’ll go to the hospital with you right after class, okay?”

Fang Ji was very angry, Fang Ji was not willing, Fang Ji was very insistent.

Fang Ji pulled Fang Chengyu hard. “No! This is a heart problem, it can’t be delayed!”

But how could Fang Chengyu not know his own condition?

He gently coaxed Fang Ji, put him back in his seat, and insisted on finishing the second half of the class.

As soon as the bell rang, Fang Ji, who couldn’t wait another moment, dragged him to the Capital Hospital for a full check-up.

The results showed some minor issues, but nothing serious.

But Fang Ji was not happy at all, extremely nervous. “What have you been doing recently, brother? Why did your heart problem suddenly act up today? If you hadn’t had an attack in the classroom today, but in some other place where no one was around, then-then how terrifying would that be!”

Fang Chengyu’s eyes curved into a smile. He tapped Fang Ji’s nose and said, “Don’t worry, Xiao Ji, this is just an old problem. It’s always been like this, it’s nothing serious.”

The butler was also there at this time.

Seeing the eldest young master still doting on the youngest young master even after having an attack, he was furious.

So he soon found an opportunity, pulled Fang Ji to a corner, and said to the youngest young master in a low voice, “Youngest Master, you can’t keep sticking to the Eldest Young Master like this!”

He told Fang Ji about the problems he had discovered and sighed, “I’ve already reminded the Eldest Young Master many times to pay more attention to his rest, but he won’t listen to me. He insists on spending more time with you. I have no choice but to tell you directly.”

Only now did Fang Ji truly understand what the butler had meant a few months ago when his brother first came home and he was told “the eldest young master has a weak heart.”

So, that night, after Fang Chengyu and Fang Ji returned home together, he first worked for a while as usual.

But unlike usual, it was very quiet while he worked today, with no interruptions. When Fang Chengyu finished his work and looked back, he found that Fang Ji had secretly sat down behind him at some point, sitting cross-legged quietly, propping his head up with a melancholic and contemplative look as he watched him.

Fang Chengyu tentatively asked, “Xiao Ji?”

Fang Ji came back to his senses. “Brother!”

Fang Chengyu pulled him to his side. “What are you thinking about?”

He glanced at Fang Ji’s attire and was a bit surprised. “You took off your bells and jewelry so early today?”

Fang Ji’s lips flattened, and he lowered his head, saying in a low voice, “Because… because wearing them will disturb brother, it will affect brother’s work and rest.”

After speaking, Fang Ji fell silent. He fiddled with the corner of his clothes, thinking about what the butler had told him during the day.

So it was because he stuck to his brother every day, and often wore his bells in the morning and evening, making noise that disturbed his brother, that his brother would end up like this due to lack of rest and overwork.

He couldn’t be clingy with his brother.

—He could certainly do that.

For so many years, he had long learned how not to be clingy with his parents and siblings.

…Although that was more because his parents and siblings didn’t like him being clingy.

But… but his brother was different.

His brother could play with him, was willing to play with him.

It was just that his brother’s health was not good, so he couldn’t really play with him all the time.

So should he control the distance between him and his brother, just like he controlled the distance between himself and his parents and siblings?

And his brother… would his brother dislike him for being too clingy?

Would his brother, like his parents and siblings, also want to push him aside so he wouldn’t interfere with his work, life, and rest?

Fang Ji didn’t know.

Fang Ji hung his head low, his mood uneasy and dejected. It felt as if layers of dark clouds were pressing down on his head, making it hard for him to breathe.

As a result, he sat behind Fang Chengyu the whole night, not daring to leave, not daring to make a sound, just like that, accompanying Fang Chengyu, quietly spending the entire evening’s work time.

But what next?

…Fang Ji didn’t know what to do next either.

A warm palm suddenly caressed his cheek.

Fang Chengyu chuckled softly, “I’m done with my work. Xiao Ji can put his bells back on. What does Xiao Ji want to do tonight? Brother will accompany you.”

Fang Ji’s head was lifted up just like that.

Fang Ji looked at his brother, his mind working slowly, his heart sad and full of self-blame. “But brother needs to rest early, you can’t play with Xiao Ji!”

Fang Chengyu said, “It’s still early. As long as we don’t play until midnight, it’s fine. Hmm… how about ten o’clock? I’ll play with Xiao Ji until ten, and then we’ll wash up and go to sleep.”

If this were before, even if Fang Ji had agreed, given his energetic nature, it would have been very difficult for him to restrain his clinginess and playfulness at ten o’clock sharp.

But it was different now.

He seriously set an alarm for ten o’clock. Fearing he wouldn’t be able to hold back, he even set several more alarms in advance, one every ten minutes starting from nine-thirty, all the way to ten o’clock at night, resolutely implementing the decision to take his brother to wash up and go to sleep at ten o’clock sharp!

It wasn’t that Fang Ji couldn’t be restrained.

If his brother didn’t like it, he could be as restrained as he usually was with his parents and siblings.

But…

But his brother liked him too!

So his brother would tell him that he could play, as long as he remembered to pay attention to the time.

He would tell him that outside of work and rest, he was allowed to wear his little bells.

This was the first time Fang Ji had tried such limited restraint.

When his brother wanted to rest or work, he would obediently take off his little bells and quietly accompany him.

When his brother finished resting or working and turned to extend a hand to him, he would happily put on his little bells and happily jingle and cling to his brother.

Fang Ji suddenly felt that the sky was bright again!

It was just that Fang Ji’s energy was, after all, boundless.

After sitting so quietly for three or five days, he became a little restless.

His brother had always been lenient.

Seeing that he couldn’t sit still, he let him go out to play.

He estimated the time his brother would finish work, set an alarm, and planned to run out to find other brothers and sisters to kill some time in between.

However, when he took out his phone and looked through his contact list, he suddenly fell into a bewildered silence.

He suddenly realized—

He had been having too much fun, too much joy playing with his brother during this period, so much so that he hadn’t sent any messages to his parents and siblings for a long time.

Or rather… he hadn’t bothered his parents and siblings with those boring messages for a long time.

But it was clear that his parents and siblings hadn’t noticed this.

Their chat windows, and the family group that they hadn’t yet added Brother Chengyu to, had all become so cold and quiet.

As for the group of brothers and sisters he had made friends with outside before?

…He had almost completely forgotten about them!

When he looked through his contact list, even though he had just contacted the newest brother a few months ago, when he looked at their names again now, he found that these names were all familiar, yet all strange.

He vaguely recognized that a few of the brothers and sisters had once captured his affection for a period of time.

But thinking back now, he still couldn’t clearly remember who was who, what each of them liked, or what they had done for him respectively.

…Perhaps he could remember some things.

For example, when he couldn’t find anyone in the world to accompany him, a brother had run out in the pouring rain to find him, bringing him flowers and hot tea.

But recalling it in detail now, Fang Ji realized that running in the rain was not of his own volition, nor was it out of concern for him. It was simply that after he made a request and promised a reward, the brother had come running for the reward.

And his brother?

His brother didn’t want anything from him.

Usually, when he wanted to bring some food to his brother’s office, his brother wouldn’t even accept it.

His brother sought nothing from him, yet he would seriously remember every word he said.

His brother would remember where he said he wanted to go, what he wanted to do, and then on some later day when he was free, he would suddenly bring it up and take him to play or do it together.

His brother would seriously remember all his tastes. When taking him out to eat, he would proactively pick out the cilantro and carrots from his soup.

His brother would also knit him a hat by hand, help him put on his jewelry and bells, and seriously give him a goodnight hug every night before bed…

His brother would also… his brother would also…

The more Fang Ji thought, the more he remembered.

The more he recalled, the more he wanted to go back to his brother’s room next door and sit there.

Even just accompanying his brother, watching him work, turned out to be happiness.

His brother was a little surprised, a little puzzled by his return, but he didn’t ask much. He just patted his head, casually fed him a milk candy, told him about how much longer he needed to finish his work, and then turned back to continue working.

He secretly fiddled with his phone behind his brother’s back, scrolling through his contact list.

He looked at those familiar yet strange names one by one and suddenly felt they were extremely bland and tasteless.

It was like looking at pre-made meals from small workshops after having had a truly delicious meal. Just the thought of “will I go back to eating them in the future” was enough to make him lose his appetite.

…What was the use of them?

He only needed one brother!

Oh, no, he had two brothers. It was just that the other brother was like a star in the sky; he never knew which country his second brother was having a meeting in today.

Thinking this, Fang Ji, while Fang Chengyu was working, also quietly began his own “work” behind his back.

He seriously sent messages to his outside brothers and sisters one by one to terminate their brotherly/sisterly relationships, and then deleted them.