Chapter 81: Make You Call Me Brother (I)
Xiao Ji’s irritability had subsided, but Chen Lan’s was only mounting.
Looking at the chaotic mess scattered across the room, she felt a throbbing headache. When she finally spoke, her usual gentleness was laced with a suppressed fire.
“Gu Yinnian, put your toys back where they belong. Don’t make things harder for Mommy, alright?”
The little boy on the floor flinched at her tone. He scrambled to gather the toys strewn across the floor, frantically tossing them into his toy box.
Once finished, he climbed to his feet and turned around, tilting his head and baring a mouthful of white teeth in a cheeky grin at Chen Lan. However, halfway through his smirk, he froze. He stared at Xiao Ji, looking momentarily stunned.
Chen Lan reached out to pat Xiao Ji’s head, addressing her son. “This is your younger brother. He’ll be staying with us for a while, and I’m putting you in charge of looking after him.”
She then knelt down to introduce them to Xiao Ji. “His name is Gu Yinnian. He’s a little older than you, so you should call him Gege.”
For a split second, Gu Yinnian was just confused.
Most ordinary children, when faced with a situation like this, would show a friendly side to try and make friends with a peer. But Gu Yinnian was different.
From the day he was born, the doctor who performed his check-up had stated with absolute certainty: “The second gender is Alpha, no question. The genetic sequence will be high.”
It wasn’t just the genetic reports; even from the time he was in swaddling clothes, that domineering streak unique to Alphas had already begun to show. In the baby pool, there could only be him. If another child was added, Gu Yinnian would immediately start wailing.
Anything he used could not bear the scent of any other Alpha—not even his father’s. Whether he was crawling or walking, he was like a little steamroller, causing Chen Lan and her husband no end of grief.
Later, when he started kindergarten, he would play with other kids, but he refused to have a desk mate. No one was allowed to touch his things. Yet, because he was smart, energetic, and physically sturdier than his peers, no one dared to provoke him.
Consequently, seeing Xiao Ji standing in his home, next to Chen Lan, and receiving a head pat from her, his irrational possessiveness flared up instantly. He opened his mouth, ready to drive Xiao Ji out of his house.
But before he could speak, Xiao Ji lowered his eyes and called out in a soft, obedient voice:
“Xiao Nian Gege.”
It was a voice unlike the milk-toned chirping or loud shouting of the kids at kindergarten.
Xiao Ji was holding a small bird in his hands, his neck wrapped in gauze. Covered in dust and grime, he looked heartbreakingly pitiful.
The words Gu Yinnian had intended to say to drive him away got stuck in his throat.
After a long pause, he finally stared at the shrike in Xiao Ji’s hands and asked, “Is your bird dead? And why aren’t you smiling?”
Gu Yinnian never expected that this one tactless comment would cause the usually even-tempered Chen Lan to snap. She looked at him and said sharply:
“Gu Yinnian, come here. Now.”
She first had Xiao Ji sit on the sofa and gave him some snacks. Then, she grabbed Gu Yinnian by the collar and hauled him into the bedroom.
Without a word, she snatched the feather duster from the headboard and gave Gu Yinnian a thorough thrashing.
As the cries echoed from the room, 037’s eyelids twitched. It said to Xiao Ji: 【Talk about a bad start. The Phoenix is getting beaten because of you.】
Xiao Ji, however, remained calm: 【He isn’t being beaten because of me. He’s being beaten because of his own lack of restraint.】
037 asked: 【Aren’t you going to stop her?】
Xiao Ji looked at the closed bedroom door: 【From what position?】
037 was speechless.
As the saying goes, “Jade must be carved to become a gem.” Chen Lan was just an ordinary Omega who had recently lost her best friend and brought back his child.
Xiao Ji could tell that the Gu family’s financial situation wasn’t exactly affluent. Raising an extra child would be a significant burden on the household. From an outsider’s perspective, Gu Yinnian had walked right into the line of fire; he deserved the lesson he was getting.
To say Xiao Ji didn’t feel a hint of heartache listening to the wailing and chaos inside would be a lie. But his options were limited now. He could only wait until he and Gu Yinnian were better acquainted, then try to guide him so the boy would face fewer beatings in the future.
Gu Yinnian was often blunt like this. Usually, Chen Lan would scold him, but she had never been this furious. As she hit him, she eventually began to cry herself.
This time, Gu Yinnian was truly frightened. Standing in the corner, his usual arrogant posturing had vanished. He was a mess of tears and snot, sobbing quietly.
Once Chen Lan’s anger spent itself, she felt she had been too harsh. She tossed Gu Yinnian two tissues and said:
“Son, you need to grow up. Your brother’s parents have passed away, and he’s injured. When Mommy went to pick him up, he was all alone in the hospital holding that bird. You shouldn’t have hurt him like that.”
Gu Yinnian was bossy, but he wasn’t malicious. At his core, he was soft-hearted. Hearing his mother’s words, he realized he had messed up. His face was flushed from crying, and he didn’t dare utter a single word of protest.
Not wanting to lose her composure further in front of the child, Chen Lan quickly composed herself and reached out to hug her “little chubby.”
“Wipe your tears and go apologize to your brother. Be a good boy.”
Gu Yinnian sniffled and asked, “Is he going to live with us forever?”
Chen Lan didn’t lie to him. “You can’t always be this selfish and overbearing. Not everything in this world will go your way. You have to learn to accept and welcome people.”
Gu Yinnian remained silent. After a long while, he used the tissue to wipe his face clean and told her, “I understand.”
But for a child who was also dealing with his own hurt feelings, apologizing wasn’t that easy.
From the end of the beating, through the takeout dinner the three of them shared, to Chen Lan clearing out Gu’s father’s study to serve as a bedroom for Xiao Ji—even up until Xiao Ji had washed up and was lying in his strange new bed—he never received an apology.
Gu’s father was busy handling the funeral arrangements for Xiao Ji’s parents and likely wouldn’t be back tonight.
Fearing Xiao Ji might be scared sleeping alone, Chen Lan knocked and entered after he had tucked himself in. She sat by the bed and asked if he wanted her to stay.
Xiao Ji looked at her. “I want to sleep by myself.”
Chen Lan respected his wish. She only said, “If you get scared during the night, come find me at any time, okay?”
Xiao Ji nodded.
“Do you want the door open?” she asked.
Xiao Ji shook his head.
Chen Lan reached out to feel his forehead, ensuring he wasn’t running a fever from his injuries or the shock, before getting up to leave and gently closing the door behind her.
Xiao Ji listened until he heard Chen Lan return to her own room. Only then did he climb out of bed and lie down on the floor beside it.
Given the stubborn streak Gu Yinnian had displayed, Xiao Ji hadn’t actually expected an apology.
To his surprise, however, he had only been closing his eyes for less than five minutes when his bedroom door was pushed open once again—stealthily and quietly.
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Xiao Ji’s habit of sleeping on the floor is so cuteeee, it never changes 🥹💔