After the fake young master left home, he discovered that it wasn't raining at all outside.

At that moment, the quiet room was broken by a knock on the door.

"Young Master, it's time for dinner." The head servant entered from outside the door, walked to Zhu Yan, and bowed to ask for permission.

Zhu Yan's gaze swept past the person in front of him and landed on the food cart behind him.

"Why was it brought up?" Zhu Yan asked, puzzled. He had clearly told Lin Shen that he would go down to lunch with Lu Ze and Xu Zhiyuan, but now it had been brought up.

Lin Shen pursed his lips, looking hesitant and somewhat troubled. "Young Master, this was ordered by the Patriarch to be sent up. Perhaps... it's because of your foot injury."

"Brother Yan, didn't you just say you weren't taking us down to eat? Aren't you afraid we'll say something inappropriate?" Lu Ze didn't realize Lin Shen's strange behavior, nor did he care where they ate.

"Can't you tell it's a joke? You should at least be polite when you come here." Zhu Yan originally didn't want to go down to eat with them. Firstly, he was worried that Lu Ze and Xu Zhiyuan would talk nonsense without thinking. Secondly, he also felt awkward eating with Zhu Mo and the others.

However, since Lu Ze and Xu Zhiyuan came to visit him, he should introduce them to his parents and have a proper meal together; basic etiquette is still necessary.

Zhu Yan's mind wasn't on Lu Ze's words; he just casually replied with a couple of sentences because he had keenly observed that Lin Shen was acting strangely.

"Have Father and the others eaten?" Zhu Yan continued to ask.

"No, the master and mistress just came downstairs," the servant replied.

"Let's go downstairs then," Zhu Yan said to Lu Ze and Xu Zhiyuan.

But just as Zhu Yan was about to get up, Lin Shen stopped her.

"Wait, young master, why don't you and the two gentlemen dine here?" Lin Shen said, forcing himself to speak.

?

Zhu Yan frowned slightly, a hint of confusion in his eyes. He sat back down on the sofa, remaining silent and staring at Lin Shen quietly, as if waiting for an explanation.

Lin Shen felt uneasy under the banquet's gaze, but finally explained, "Young Master Xie Sheng'an has returned to the country today, and the head of the family and his wife are hosting a banquet for him."

Xie Shengan?

Who is it?

do not know.

"He's hosting a banquet, but I can't go?" Zhu Yan didn't ask who Lin Shen'an was; he was just wondering why he wasn't allowed to go down.

Lin Shen clutched his clothes, his eyes lowered, his heart pounding, unsure how to explain.

"Young Master Sheng'an prefers spicy food, so lunch was arranged according to his taste. Since you don't like it, the head of the family arranged for the kitchen to prepare a separate meal for you."

As soon as Lin Shen finished speaking, the room suddenly fell silent. Even Xu Zhiyuan, who was playing on his phone, stopped and, like Lu Ze, silently looked at Zhu Yan with a hint of pity in his eyes.

Lu Ze and Xu Zhiyuan were a little curious. Who was this Xie Shengan? How could he know so much about their preferences and even prepare lunch for them separately?

But don't they know that Zhu Yan also loves spicy food?

"You don't know..." Xu Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow, his gaze towards Lin Shen and the others suddenly turning somewhat displeased, his words carrying a hint of contempt.

But before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by the banquet.

"Okay, let's eat here." Zhu Yan gave Xu Zhiyuan a look, signaling him to shut up.

Xu Zhiyuan shook his head helplessly and obediently shut up.

The three sat around the tea table, with Zhu Yan even sitting directly on the floor.

"Young Master, aren't you going to ask... who Xie Sheng'an is?" Lin Shen asked cautiously while setting the table for the banquet, somewhat hesitantly.

Zhu Yan didn't seem to care. He picked through his food with chopsticks in his right hand and scrolled through videos on his phone with his left, seemingly uninterested in Xie Shengan, a name he had never heard of before.

"Does it matter? Look at how hesitant you are. If you don't want to talk, then don't." Zhu Yan's words were devoid of any discernible tone.

Lin Shen didn't feel relieved by the banquet. He wouldn't have been so hesitant if it wasn't important. The main reason was that he didn't expect the family head to hold a banquet for Xie Sheng'an in front of the young master.

Oh well, I'll have to tell them sooner or later. It would be even more awkward to explain when the two of them meet.

"Young Master Xie Sheng'an is the adopted child of the family head. He's from the amusement park where you got lost, and he's about your age," Lin Shen explained as he stood up next to Zhu Yan after setting out the dishes.

"Heh, another adopted son trope?" Lu Ze interjected, his tone somewhat disdainful.

Lin Shen spoke while observing Zhu Yan's expression, but Zhu Yan clearly did not react at all, continuing to eat and play on her phone as if she had not heard him.

"Hmm," Zhu Yan replied casually.

Lin Shen: Hmm? What does "hmm" mean? Young Master? Aren't you angry?

Zhu Yan didn't react, but Xu Zhiyuan reacted much more strongly. As soon as he heard "adopted son," he had already imagined how Zhu Yan would be bullied by him later.

"An adopted son? How come your Zhu family can ignore your biological son just because you have an adopted son? You throw a banquet specifically for him but won't let your own son attend?" Xu Zhiyuan threw down his chopsticks, his contemptuous smile widening. "And judging from the looks of it, you've never told Ayan about this adopted son, have you? Is it because he's unimportant, or because you feel guilty?"

Zhu Yan remained silent. What could he say? He was indeed a little angry when he first heard Lin Shen's words. He had been here for so long, and everyone had been very kind to him, but no one had ever mentioned that they had an adopted son.

It's nothing really, he's just an adopted son, but why not let him attend the banquet?

Xu Zhiyuan's words were actually what Zhu Yan wanted to say as well, but as for why he didn't say them...

He thought about it calmly. What right did he have to say that his biological son was the one downstairs? But the son downstairs had been with his parents for over ten years. It was normal for them to know each other's preferences. It was normal for them to have a meal together.

"No, the head of the family knows that the young master doesn't like spicy food, and he also has a foot injury that makes it inconvenient for him to go downstairs, so he instructed us to bring it up. As for Young Master Xie Sheng'an, he has been studying abroad for the past few years and just returned today, so we didn't tell the young master," Lin Shen immediately explained.

"Alright, let's eat. I have things to do after we finish." Zhu Yan put down her chopsticks and glanced at Xu Zhiyuan.

Lu Ze and Xu Zhiyuan were both dissatisfied on Zhu Yan's behalf, but Zhu Yan insisted on pretending not to care. They knew Zhu Yan better than anyone else; how could he not care?

After all, Zhu Yan was a child who had never been loved since childhood. He had just found a little warmth when he was pushed back into the abyss.

"Is Zhu Yun still kneeling? Let him go eat." Zhu Yan suddenly remembered that when he was in the living room, Zhu Yun from the west wing poured him tea, spilled the tea, and was punished by kneeling. It seemed that he was still kneeling in the hall. So he instructed Lin Shen.

Mentioning Zhu Yun made Zhu Yan even more guilty. "...Zhu Yun...When Young Master Xie Sheng'an came back just now, he saw him kneeling, so he told him to get up..."

Oh.

"I understand." Zhu Yan didn't say anything more.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the room was too oppressive, Lu Ze changed the subject.

"Brother Yan, don't you have two older brothers? I haven't met them yet."

"at work."

Zhu Cheng, Zhu Qian, and Zhu Yu did indeed leave their work at home to keep Zhu Yan company, but Zhu Yan reprimanded them all for it.

The key issue is that Zhu Yan has to go to school, so even if they are at home every day, they can't see each other much. In the end, they all went back to their own homes.

But Lin Shen's words plunged Zhu Yan's heart into despair once again.

"The three young masters are dining downstairs..."

Oh, that's great.

Zhu Yan was taken aback at first, but then continued to play on her phone as if nothing had happened.

"Perfect timing. If you want to see him, you can just go downstairs after dinner and run into him." Zhu Yan said this to Lu Ze.

But Lu Ze didn't care about meeting or not at this point.

"Brother Yan, aren't you angry? You were injured and your brothers didn't come back? But you came to a banquet hosted by an adopted son? You can tolerate this?" Lu Ze was furious.

"You eat yours," Zhu Yan explained. "They were here last night."

Lin Shen was about to explain when he realized that the young master actually knew.

Yes, upon learning of Zhu Yan's injury, the group rushed back immediately. However, it was already very late when they returned. They simply came in to check on Zhu Yan, and seeing that he was already asleep, they didn't wake him and went back to handling official business without stopping.

Actually, Zhu Yan wasn't asleep at all; she was just a little embarrassed and didn't dare to open her eyes.

This morning they had planned to visit Zhu Yan again, but unfortunately, Zhu Yan had gone out with Xu Zhiyuan and the others. After they finished their official business, they arrived just in time for Xie Shengan's homecoming banquet.

Zhu Yan was unaware of all this. In his mind, his three older brothers only came to see him once that night, and the next day they sat down to eat with their adopted younger brother.