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

A faint scent of oranges lingered in the air, bringing Zhu Yan back to her senses and making her realize that this was not a dream.

"How...did you get in?" Zhu Yan asked curiously, looking at Zhu Yu who was squatting on the ground with an embarrassed expression on his face.

"It... jumped in from next door..." Zhu Yu's voice trailed off, and he stood up sheepishly, pretending to be calm as he straightened his clothes.

"This is the fourth floor," Zhu Yan said, somewhat incredulously.

The balcony next door is quite a distance away from this one. I didn't expect Zhu Yu to be so brave as to jump over here. Isn't he afraid of falling?

"We're so sorry, Ayan. We were so worried about you that we resorted to this. You locked yourself in your room and didn't eat. Your parents are worried about you outside."

Zhu Yu observed Zhu Yan's expression, fearing that he would become even angrier because of this, so he analyzed his current mood from his every move.

Zhu Yan frowned, his eyes conveying his dissatisfaction with a hint of hostility.

After that, I seem to be even angrier...

"I mean, fourth floor, what if I don't jump properly and fall?" Zhu Yan seemed completely unconcerned that Zhu Yu had sneaked into his room without his permission.

Zhu Yu naturally understood the unspoken meaning in Zhu Yan's words.

!!!

Ah Yan is concerned about me!!!

So he stopped pretending and went straight to the banquet.

"No, no, your brother is very skilled, he won't fall." Zhu Yu said without any hesitation, plopping down next to Zhu Yan. "So, Yan, you're not upset that I came to your room without permission?"

Zhu Yan looked away and said, "This is your home, so you can go wherever you want."

!

Good heavens, Jade Emperor!

This isn't just not angry; it's worse than being angry!

Ah Yan doesn't even recognize this as his home anymore!

Danger!!!

Zhu Yu panicked. Seeing what Zhu Yan was doing, he quickly took over, saying, "I'll peel it for you, Ayan. How can I let you do this?"

Zhu Yan turned slightly to the side, dodging Zhu Yu's outstretched hand.

"Don't touch it, your hands are dirty."

Zhu Yu saw that Zhu Yan's hands were covered in orange juice, but he didn't seem to mind at all. "Yeah, don't get your hands dirty. I'll peel one and feed it to you."

"I meant your hands are dirty." Zhu Yan was somewhat speechless.

Zhu Yu: ¯_(⊙_ʖ⊙)_/

Okay, he just jumped in and his hand touched the ground, so it's a bit dirty.

The atmosphere was somewhat awkward. Zhu Yu felt that Zhu Yan seemed like a different person, no longer as enthusiastic as before, but instead carrying a subtle indifference.

Yes, Zhu Yan stopped pretending to be well-behaved.

All the obedience he put on before was just a tactic to fit into the family.

Now, he doesn't want to pretend anymore.

He was that kind of person—cold, arrogant, and with a touch of mischievousness at his core.

Tired of pretending, he wanted to drop the pretense.

Or rather, they were disheartened and lost all hope.

At that moment, Zhu Yu's phone rang. It was a message from Zhu Qian, asking how things were going inside.

"This is terrible."

Zhu Yu lowered his head and typed a few words, then looked up at Zhu Yan a few times, hesitating to speak.

"My parents are outside. Can we let them in?"

After finishing the last segment of orange in her hand, Zhu Yan took a tissue to wipe her hands and said, "It's your family, you're in charge."

Then he got up and went to the toilet.

Zhu Yu was at his wit's end. He was 100% sure that Zhu Yan was seething with anger. But he wasn't good at coaxing children, so he simply pulled the others in from outside the door—strength in numbers.

As soon as Zhu Yu opened the door from the inside, Bai Zheng rushed in anxiously, looking around, trying to find Zhu Yan.

"Where is Ayan?"

Bai Zheng became anxious when she didn't see Zhu Yan, and grabbed Zhu Yu's hand to ask.

"In the restroom." Zhu Yu patted Bai Zheng on the back to comfort her. "But you need to be mentally prepared to meet the real Ayan."

"Um?"

Before anyone could even wonder what was going on, Zhu Yan came out of the restroom. Her hair, which she had washed half an hour earlier, was still damp because she hadn't dried it.

Zhu Yan walked over unhurriedly, only glancing at them as she exited the restroom before looking away.

"Is there anything else you need?"

There were no titles, just a single sentence, yet it conveyed a strong sense of distance.

Zhu Yan hesitated as she walked over, but when she got to them, she couldn't bring herself to call out "Mom and Dad."

Before Zhu Yan could get a reply, he suddenly felt a figure appear in front of him and hug him tightly.

"I'm sorry, Mom was wrong. Please give Mom another chance, okay?"

?

What does that mean?

Zhu Yan didn't dare to move, trying to find the answer from Zhu Mo and the others. But the people in front of him were also looking at him sincerely with reddened eyes.

They looked at each other speechlessly for a long while.

"Please don't cry."

Zhu Yan attempted to soothe Bai Zheng's emotions.

"Okay, Mommy won't cry anymore." Bai Zheng got out of Zhu Yan's arms. Because Zhu Yan was a few points taller than her, Bai Zheng had to look up slightly. Watching him up close like this, her hand unconsciously touched Zhu Yan's cheek.

It's quite surprising to see; she seems to have lost even more weight than when I first met her at the banquet.

It turns out that Ah Yan was really having a hard time.

"I've lost weight, it's all my fault, I should have noticed sooner."

Zhu Yan didn't speak or resist; she just stood obediently in front of Bai Zheng.

My problem is that I'm a picky eater.

Yes, they are picky eaters, especially when it comes to sweets. But there's nothing we can do, your whole family loves sweets.

"Ayan, you don't actually like sweets, right?" After Xu Zhiyuan said this, Zhu Cheng realized that Zhu Yan wasn't picky about food, she just didn't like the food they prepared.

"Mm," Zhu Yan replied softly.

Everyone was startled and cast incredulous glances at the banquet.

After finding Zhu Yan, they specifically asked the Wen family's nanny about Zhu Yan's preferences, and they also learned that Zhu Yan loved sweets.

Actually, their whole family prefers spicy food, but when they learned about Zhu Yan's preferences, they did not hesitate to go along with it.

But he never ate at the banquets, so they always assumed it was because the food wasn't to his liking. So they prepared different dishes for him.

Who would have thought that it was wrong from the very beginning?

After all, no one in the Wen family had ever loved him, so how could anyone understand him?

"So, we were wrong from the very beginning. We really didn't understand you at all." Zhu Qian lowered his eyes, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips.

Zhu Yan took a deep breath, bit her lip, pondered for a moment, sighed heavily, and took a step back.

"Perhaps you should get to know me again before deciding whether to acknowledge me and hand over your vast assets to me so hastily."

"I've never liked sweets, so maybe eating together with you is a kind of torture. Also, I'm not the kind of well-behaved kid you like at all. I'm far inferior to Xie Sheng'an, the good son who would never dare to go against your wishes. I'm arrogant and domineering by nature, and arrogance is ingrained in my bones. So I can't be like Xie Sheng'an, always putting on a smiling face and greeting you."

Zhu Yan paused for a moment, then continued, "Besides, I'm a rather selfish person. I can't share your love with someone like Xie Sheng'an. Anyway, you've raised him for so many years, so why not just go with the flow? I think he's quite willing to take over your family business."

Rather than torturing yourself like this, it's better to just end it all.

Hurry up and get me out of here. You've said such awful things; I can't stand it.

You're probably thinking of yelling, "Get out of here!" right now, aren't you?

Go ahead and yell at me.

After finishing her speech, Zhu Yan stood quietly, waiting to be kicked out of the house.

But unexpectedly, the celebration banquet turned out to be...