The next morning, at eight-thirty.
Murong Huan sat in the main seat, curiously asking, "Where are Quan Le and Shen Yujing?"
Quan Le limped in from the doorway, "I'm here. Shen Yujing caught a cold, so I had the housekeeper send him medicine and breakfast."
Song Yi sipped her milk in front of her, waiting for breakfast. She couldn't be bothered to lift her head but felt the silence was a bit unusual.
Recalling how cold it was last night and how thinly Shen Yujing was dressed while standing outside in the cold wind for nearly an hour, it was no wonder he caught a cold.
Murong Huan asked Quan Le again, "And what happened to your leg?"
Quan Le also felt a bit wronged, saying, "I saw he was sick, right? I thought it was a rare opportunity, so I wanted to tease him a bit. Then I climbed into his bed, and he kicked me out, which twisted my ankle."
Jiang Yiheng glanced at him and only said three words, "You deserved it."
Song Yi: "Well said."
Quan Le: "..."
"That's still one short..." Murong Huan muttered, then asked, "Where's Hang Feng?"
A servant replied, "At one-thirty in the morning, Young Master Hang Feng asked us to send him some wine. He ordered quite a bit, so he's probably still asleep."
Song Yi frowned curiously, "Why would he drink alone at night?"
"I'll go check," Xu Che said, clearly worried, and got up to leave.
As Xu Che passed by Song Yi, he noticed the crystal necklace she wore on her collarbone and paused for a moment before continuing out.
Looking at the various dishes in front of her, Song Yi hesitated and then forked a piece of Shen Yujing's favorite pancakes onto the empty plate beside her, as if he were still sitting there chattering away.
Meanwhile, in Hang Feng's room.
As the door opened, the strong smell of alcohol hit Xu Che, making him take a step back.
After getting used to the smell, he walked in and opened the windows and door to air out the room.
Having done that, Xu Che was about to wake Hang Feng, but he froze when he saw the tiredness in his sleeping face and the dark circles under his eyes.
As a brother, Xu Che hesitated but decided not to wake Hang Feng, instead tucking him in and letting him rest.
The room was in a mess, with a shattered bottle on the floor and many bottles strewn across the table.
But besides that, there was something on the table that surprised him greatly.
A piece of paper, filled with Song Yi's name.
Each character was sharp, as if hiding too many emotions between the lines.
And besides that, there were... bloodstains on the paper.
Xu Che immediately turned around, bent down to check Hang Feng's forehead for any possible wounds.
"What are you doing..."
An impatient voice sounded, and Hang Feng's arm lifted to push Xu Che's hand away, revealing the wounds on his wrist.
The blood on his arm had dried, and the skin and flesh around the wrist wounds had slightly peeled outward, looking quite gruesome.
"Hang Feng," Xu Che's voice carried anger, "What are you doing?"
The black-haired boy on the bed wearily opened his eyes and looked at Xu Che, "Does sleeping in bother you?"
Xu Che's voice grew colder, "You know what I'm referring to."
"You mean this," Hang Feng lifted his wrist to take a look, then shrugged indifferently, "I accidentally broke a bottle and got scratched."
"Can that excuse fool even yourself?"
"Don't worry, I'm not planning to commit suicide." Hang Feng pulled back his hand and sat up with the help of the bed.
Actually, he had thought about it.
Last night, after realizing that day, he asked himself, if he had died in real life, would all that not have happened?
So under the influence of alcohol, he had a moment of absurd and impulsive decision.
But when the bottle cut his wrist, he immediately woke up.
If he died like that, his grandmother would be heartbroken, and Xu Che would probably be too.
He thought of his birthday when the snow fell on his shoulders, on her eyelashes, and Song Yi smiled gently at him, then raised her hand to wipe his tears.
Everyone was comforting him not to be sad, but only she found him first and accompanied him.
She held a small cake and wished him a happy birthday, giving him birthday blessings. Her concern and care for him were obvious, not fake, and certainly not because she was afraid to please him.
No... no, it wasn't like that.
There was also fear.
Before he made that ridiculous promise to her, although she always took the initiative to approach him, she still seemed a bit timid at that time, just trying to suppress it.
So, after he made the promise to her, she believed him.
She started to treat him as a real friend, brought him into her social circle, and then met these people.
Although noisy, they all cared for and accompanied him.
These were definitely not fake; the sincerity between people cannot be faked. They were all friends.
Such extreme methods should not be used to end it.
This thought turned into a resistance, stopping the bottle fragment in Hang Feng's hand from sliding down, turning into a sigh, and passing through the long night.
He wanted to live, he wanted to continue such a life, even if she stood beside someone else.
As long as she lived happily, what did it matter?
"Get up," Xu Che's voice was still cold, "Go find the housekeeper to bandage your wounds now, or I'll call Song Yi in to see how you're trying to die for her."
"What did you say?" Hang Feng looked up at him, his eyes filled with astonishment.
"If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it. That piece of paper on the table should be thrown away."
After saying that, Xu Che turned and left, slamming the door shut.
The door closed, bringing in a gust of wind, fresh air.
For a moment, it seemed to blow away the alcohol smell in the room, but it was soon reoccupied.
Having experienced fresh air, the alcohol smell in the room became even more suffocating.
Hang Feng got up, crumpled the piece of paper filled with Song Yi's name into a ball, and threw it into a glass of water. Then he took some clean clothes and a towel into the bathroom and took a quick shower.
The shower water fell on him, and the bloodstains on his fair arm meandered and were quickly diluted by the constant flow of water from the showerhead, becoming lighter and eventually disappearing completely.
He lowered his head and saw that the veins on his entire arm were slightly protruding due to the intense pain, and the wound on his wrist, no longer covered by blood, had peeled skin and flesh, a pale white color, making it even more striking under the warm light of the bathroom.
The corners of his lips curled up in a bitter smile.
When Hang Feng appeared in front of everyone again, his wrist was wrapped in a bandage.
Song Yi frowned and asked him, "What happened to you?"
Hang Feng turned his face away, sat down at the table on the opposite side of Song Yi, and simply replied, "Just accidentally got cut."
Xu Che also lowered his eyes and didn't look at him, acting as if this person wasn't at the dinner table.
Everyone could feel the tension between the two brothers.
Song Yi didn't realize this time it was related to her, only thinking that Hang Feng and Xu Che had some kind of conflict again.
Well, the biggest heartache between the two brothers had already been resolved, and the rest were just minor squabbles, let them handle it.
"It's really strange," Murong Huan pursed her lips, pondering, "Quan Le's foot, Hang Feng's hand, and Shen Yujing catching a cold, does this place make you all so uncomfortable?"
At that moment, the door was pushed open again, and Shen Yujing, wrapped in an extra-thick robe, yawned and walked in, saying, "Good morning, everyone."
Song Yi looked at him and asked, "Why did you come down? Aren't you sick?"
Shen Yujing answered confidently, "Even if you're sick, you still need to eat."
After saying that, he pulled out the chair next to Song Yi and sat down.
The boy drooped his head, his usually neat golden hair today was a mess, his fair face had an unnatural flush that extended to his earlobes, looking listless.
Quan Le looked at him and said, "Didn't I have the housekeeper send you breakfast?"
Shen Yujing, who had looked extremely weak just a moment ago, suddenly bristled at Quan Le's words. "How dare you say that? It's just a bowl of plain porridge. Couldn't you at least give me some pickles? How am I supposed to eat this?"
Quan Le replied, "You're a patient; you need to eat something light."
Shen Yujing wasn't in the mood to argue. He picked up his knife and fork to start his breakfast but paused when he saw the pancakes on his plate. "Why is there something in this bowl? Did I sit in someone else's spot?"
Song Yi, sipping her milk, said, "I took it but didn't feel like eating. I thought your spot was empty, so I just put it there."
"No problem, I love them!" Shen Yujing said as he began to eat.
Though cold and not particularly tasty, he enjoyed them thoroughly.
As Shen Yujing was about to pour himself some milk, Song Yi snatched the jug away from him. "What are you doing?" he asked, looking a bit wronged.
Song Yi replied, "You can only drink hot soy milk."
The butler, waiting nearby, stepped forward with a smile and fetched a cup of hot soy milk from the trolley, saying, "Song Yi is right. Although your fever has subsided, you shouldn't drink cold things."
Shen Yujing frowned at the sight of the soy milk. He hated soy products the most.
After hesitating for a few seconds, he picked it up and chugged it down like a bitter medicine, barely holding back a gag.
"Shen Yujing!" Murong Huan slammed her hand on the table. "Can you please eat properly?"
Shen Yujing: "..."
*
In the afternoon, Shen Yujing woke up from a nap feeling completely refreshed.
Murong Huan announced the day's itinerary—
They would be visiting one of her elders.
And it was said that this elder's home was filled with many adorable animals.
Quan Le excitedly asked, "I heard this country has many black swans. Does she have any?"
Murong Huan: "No."
Jiang Yiheng asked, "How about pandas?"
Murong Huan: "No."
Song Yi asked, "What about jaguars?"
Murong Huan frowned, "Ew, how scary. Why would she have something like that?"
Xu Che interrupted their repetitive and boring conversation, asking, "So, what does she have?"
"Gorillas, lots and lots of gorillas!" Murong Huan's eyes lit up as she spoke, "Lady Beverly told me she has more than a dozen gorillas, all incredibly smart. She said she'd have them put on a show for us when we arrive."
"Cough, cough, cough! Cough, cough, cough!" Hearing this, Shen Yujing clutched his chest, nearly gasping for breath.
Murong Huan looked at him curiously, "What's wrong with you?"
Shen Yujing covered his forehead, feigning weakness, "I suddenly feel unwell again. Maybe you all should go without me."
Quan Le immediately called him out, "But you just said you were fine and couldn't wait to eat roast lamb."
Shen Yujing: "..."
He wanted to eat roast lamb, but he didn't want to see gorillas.
But there was no room for Shen Yujing to object. He was still dragged into the car by Quan Le and Xu Che.
Upon arrival, Lady Beverly, a beautiful woman of mixed heritage, warmly welcomed them and invited them to watch her gorillas perform.
Murong Huan excitedly asked, "What can they do?"
Lady Beverly replied, "They can count, hula hoop, dance, and much more."
Quan Le: "Wow! That's so exciting!"
The others also showed varying degrees of interest, except for Shen Yujing.
He wanted to escape, to leave this place.
He didn't want to watch any more gorilla shows! He'd seen enough in his lifetime!
Lady Beverly led them to a separate villa at the back, where the gorillas played and rested.
Shen Yujing: "..."
This familiar setup felt eerily reminiscent.
Soon, Shen Yujing found that the familiarity didn't end there.
When everyone was interacting with different gorillas, a particularly thin one at the corner suddenly charged at Shen Yujing with lightning speed.
Everyone was too stunned to react, and even Shen Yujing froze in place.
Lady Beverly shouted in alarm, "Slick! Oh no, Slick! You can't hurt people!"
Murong Huan screamed and covered her eyes, while Song Yi's mind went blank for a moment.
Would something terrible happen?
Only Hang Feng, closest to Shen Yujing, reacted quickly. He grabbed a nearby wooden stick and placed it between Shen Yujing and the gorilla, trying to prevent the "tragedy."
The gorilla paused, then snatched the stick from Hang Feng and broke it in half.
In the next second, in front of everyone's eyes, the gorilla... hugged Shen Yujing?
The gorilla was excitedly howling, patting Shen Yujing on the back, then letting go and dancing around him.
Everyone: "..."
It was clear to everyone that the gorilla had no hostility towards Shen Yujing, but rather was overjoyed to see him.
Lady Beverly covered her mouth, equally stunned by what had just unfolded.
This frail, handsome young man hadn't been turned into mincemeat by her fiercest gorilla but had received its embrace instead?
Shen Yujing looked suspiciously at the gorilla and tentatively called out, "Jerry?"
The gorilla thumped its chest and howled twice, clearly responding to him.
At that moment, Shen Yujing looked at Lady Beverly, his expression more complex than ever.
He asked, "Is this gorilla of yours legally purchased?"
Lady Beverly's expression changed, but she awkwardly smiled, "Of course."
Shen Yujing sent a WeChat message to his mother, then forced a smile.
Soon, the police arrived and took Lady Beverly and the gorilla away.
The others: "???"
Song Yi: "..."
Murong Huan's voice rang out in confusion, "Ah...? What just happened?"
Shen Yujing remained silent for a few seconds before answering, "Because that gorilla belongs to my mom. It went missing last week, and she's been searching for it. I didn't expect to find it here..."
Song Yi added, "That's no ordinary gorilla. That's Shen Yujing's step-brother, his mother's son."
Shen Yujing: "..."
Theoretically, it seemed to be the case.
Everyone: "..."
It was utterly absurd.
