As the fourth son of the Yuan family, Yuan Si was a spiritless child.
In the garden, his second brother Yuan Fa and third brother Yuan Yong were engaged in a brutal fight, exchanging blows and drawing blood.
The two-year-old Yuan Si stood by with a milk bottle, eyes half-closed and body swaying, as though he might collapse and fall asleep at any moment.
After the fight ended, the irritated Yuan Fa passed by Yuan Si.
Having experienced this battle, Yuan Fa deeply realized that as an older brother, he should beat his younger siblings while they were still young to establish a solid psychological shadow.
So, Yuan Fa casually dealt Yuan Si a heavy blow.
"Smack!"
His hands loosened, and the milk bottle fell to the ground as Yuan Si looked on in bewilderment.
He did not understand why his brothers were fighting each other, nor why he had been hit.
Torn between bravely hitting Yuan Fa in the face with his fists or calling for his parents to punish Yuan Fa, Yuan Si chose to simply lie down wherever he stood and sleep.
He peacefully lay on the grass, gazing up at the swirling clouds in the sky.
Yuan Fa said, "I didn't hit him that hard, did I?"
Yuan Si replied, "The pain is not in the body, but in the soul. This mortal world is not worth it; I shall not come back again."
The children of the Yuan family were each abnormal in their own way, and at this moment, Yuan Fa witnessed the diversity of life as his fourth brother went insane in a rather novel manner.
Nevertheless, on that day, Yuan Si did indeed sleep soundly on the grass.
When Yuan Si turned three, the Yuan family held a grand banquet to celebrate his survival into childhood.
The leaders of other families enthusiastically greeted Yuan Si, each harboring ulterior motives, having long since lost their sense of self in pursuit of money and power.
They surrounded Yuan Si, either flattering him or making sarcastic and mocking remarks.
Yuan Si found the world increasingly dull. With his brilliant mind, beautiful appearance, and noble bearing, he would one day be forced to deal with these greasy, dirty, and utterly repulsive creatures when he grew up.
Ah!
What a fate!
Was this the price to pay for being born perfect?
And so, before the eyes of all, Yuan Si swayed and fell into a dense patch of four-leaf clovers, instantly falling asleep.
Yuan's Mother, panic-stricken, picked him up, her mind racing with terrifying thoughts of "sudden heart disease," "congenital brain defects," and "sudden death."
After Yuan's Father and Yuan's Mother took him to three hospitals for examination, they finally confirmed his condition.
The fourth son of the Yuan family, Yuan Si, possessed an extremely high intelligence and could see through people's hearts. However, envious of his talent, Heaven had afflicted him with an incurable disease, commonly known as "laziness."
Fortunately, the wealthy Yuan family could afford to support a lazy egg, and Yuan Si's days began with eating and ended with sleeping, punctuated by intermittent periods of daydreaming.
Yuan's Father had given up on Yuan Si, focusing his efforts on grooming the eldest son, Yuan Ao. Yuan's Mother's attention was on the third son, Yuan Yong, who was too bloodthirsty and needed her watchful eye.
The second brother, Yuan Fa, remained a happy little madman as always, either getting beaten by his older brother Yuan Ao or beating his younger brother Yuan Yong, keeping him busy every day.
No one paid attention to Yuan Si, and he grew up alone in the darkness.
After a while, the maids would be startled upon seeing Yuan Si.
"Good heavens, whose child is this, so handsome!"
"This is the fourth young master!"
"Forgive me, Fourth Young Master, I was rude!"
The maids would hastily bow to Yuan Si.
Yuan Si found this unsurprising, as he usually stayed in his own room, only venturing out for a walk on particularly nice days. Many servants had heard of his existence but had never seen him before.
Yuan Si thought his life would pass in idleness and gluttony, but when he turned seven, a major event occurred in the family – his sister Yuan Luoyi was born.
He gazed at the tiny life from afar, unable to take his eyes off her for a long time.
Having witnessed so much of humanity's ugliness, the sudden appearance of pure light left him astonished.
Even more surprising to him was that this fragile little life had so many emotions – she would laugh and cry, like a kaleidoscope, changing into a dazzling sea of flowers with the slightest movement, never growing tired of watching.
However, his status in the family was too low, and he could not compete with the others for her attention.
Watching his sister laugh in the arms of his eldest brother Yuan Ao, a strange and oppressive feeling arose within him. Yuan Si suppressed it for a long time, but the feeling did not dissipate, leaving him distressed and unable to breathe normally.
Yuan Si began to feel lost.
His grandfather Yuan Jianghai noticed this.
The wheelchair made a humming sound as he approached Yuan Si and softly said, "Don't worry, child. This emotion is called jealousy. Ordinary people consider it an undesirable bad emotion, but I disagree. It suits you very well."
Yuan Si said, "How can I make it go away?"
"Once this emotion appears, it will accompany you for life. You cannot make it disappear, but you can alleviate it."
"How can I alleviate it?"
"Your elder brother Yuan Ao has taken her away from you. Take her back, and you will feel much better."
"He will kill me."
Yuan Jianghai let out a low, cold laugh. "When I was a child, I was also very fond of jealousy. I was sickly while my brothers were healthy, and I had no power, but my father held immense authority."
He placed his dry, pale hand on Yuan Si's shoulder. "As someone who has been through this, I advise you to stop at nothing to take her back. Hide yourself, accumulate strength, and kill to stop the killing. Otherwise, the emotion of jealousy will only make you more miserable."
"Child, I see your talent. You can become the head of the Yuan family."
"At that time, you can completely control her. No one will be able to stop you."
Yuan Jianghai's proposal was tempting.
An intense desire for control had arisen in Yuan Si the moment he saw his sister, an irresistible, dark, evil, and utterly selfish urge.
Yuan Si desperately wanted to possess his sister, lock her in his room, and keep her hidden in his embrace, never allowing anyone else to see her.
But Yuan Si knew the cost of doing so would be high. His sister would become a beautiful doll, allowing him to dress her up however he pleased, but she would never laugh again.
The kaleidoscope's beauty lies in its ever-changing patterns.
Yuan Si did not want his sister to become a beautiful lifeless object.
In the end, Yuan Si chose to watch his sister from afar, knowing that he would be a bane to her.
However, occasionally, and truly only occasionally, Yuan Si would erupt.
He would set out delicious sweets, decorate every corner of his room with fragrant fresh flowers, fluffy toys, and shimmering ornaments – all things his sister loved.
She was like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, captivated by the beautiful surroundings, sitting on the stool prepared for her, beginning to enjoy the delicacies.
Meanwhile, Yuan Si was quietly watching from the shadows, memorizing every change in her.
She was completely unguarded, holding the pastries in her small hands and taking tiny bites, her feet dangling in the air, swinging back and forth happily.
After filling her stomach, there was fragrant tea to quench her thirst, and carefully selected toys too. Her little hands sank into the soft fur, caressing it over and over, everything was so perfect.
Until she grew tired and wanted to leave, she realized the room had been locked.
Yuan Luoyi began calling for help.
It was useless, as Yuan Si had already sent the servants away, and his brothers were not home either. In the vast Yuan mansion, there were only the two of them.
Her voice gradually turned into sobs as she sat on the floor, curled up into a small ball, tears dripping incessantly.
Time ticked by second by second...
Suddenly, the crying stopped abruptly.
Yuan Luoyi crawled up from the floor, her face still glistening with tears, but her eyes were icy cold, causing Yuan Si to tremble uncontrollably.
How beautiful!
A black flower blossomed in the kaleidoscope.
Under Yuan Si's gaze, Yuan Luoyi picked up the dinner knife from the table and walked towards the door.
In extremely dangerous situations, one's survival instinct can easily awaken the dark side, and Yuan Si did not expect that his little sister also had a dark side.
At three years old, she was still too young, and in her simple world, she felt the bad person was outside and would come in.
And she would stand behind the door with a knife.
