As he spoke, Yan Jinzhi took out his phone and video-called his older brother, Yan Jinrang.

The moment the call connected, Yan Jinzhi launched into his grievances. “Older brother, your little sister is trying to run away from home. I took out all the things she’d already packed, and she turned around and called me by my full name and berated me. No sense of respect whatsoever.”

“Did you bully Ningning?” Two pleasant male voices rang out at the same time. Yan Jin’an had appeared on the phone screen as well.

“Older brother, brother.” Yan Yunning leaned in toward Yan Jinzhi’s phone, looking pitifully aggrieved. “Please keep your younger brother in line — he took all the clothes I worked so hard to pack and threw them onto the bed.”

Yan Jinrang curved the corner of his mouth into a smile. “Worked so hard — that’s a bit of an exaggeration. At most you just tossed things into the suitcase haphazardly.”

“…I’m done talking. We have nothing left to say to each other.” Yan Yunning put on a stiff smile.

“Older brother is a good person. He won’t be like Sister Ranran — taking no account of right or wrong, only protecting Ningning.” Yan Jinzhi said this while straightening his hair for the camera.

The “Sister Ranran” he mentioned was their elder cousin, Yan Yuran — the eldest of the five children, and Yan Jinrang’s biological elder sister.

She truly didn’t care whether Ningning was right or wrong. As long as Ningning went to her to complain about the three brothers, all three of them would inevitably get put in their place.

“Ningning, when are you coming home? Haven’t you had enough of Second Aunt’s place?” Yan Jin’an closed a file and handed it to Yan Jinrang, then looked up at the camera.

“Tomorrow.” Yan Yunning took the clothes Yan Jinzhi had piled on the bed and hugged them back into the suitcase.

“Alright. Are you booking a flight or taking the train? If you’re not taking the train, your brother will go to the airport to pick you up, then swing by and pick up your sister-in-law on the way to the restaurant Jingan has reserved for dinner.”

After Yan Jin’an finished speaking, he pointed to a document on the computer. Yan Jinrang double-clicked to open it, his brow furrowing slightly. “This project was contracted long ago by the Qi Group and the Xuan Group. With the Xuan Group involved, if they won’t allow it, no one else can get a share. There’s no need to draw up a proposal.”

Yan Jin’an frowned. “Brother, from what I’ve been hearing, the Qi Group yielded ten percent to the Xuan Group on this project. You could say the Qi Group is practically working for the Xuan Group. Because of this, the head of the Qi Group — Old Master Qi — was so furious he was hospitalized. With the Qi Group giving away such a large concession, could there be something going on behind the scenes?”

“Furious enough to be hospitalized — even Old Master Qi wouldn’t dare go head-to-head with the Xuan Group. It seems this project is virtually guaranteed to turn a profit, which is why the Xuan Group stepped in and took an extra ten percent. To avoid offending the Xuan Group, the head of the Qi Group had no choice but to grit his teeth and sign the contract.”

Yan Jinzhi pressed his lips together. Even Old Master Qi couldn’t go head-to-head with brother Yuhe’s father… so then — then his lie to brother Yu today…

Hearing the name “Xuan Group,” Yan Yunning’s movements faltered slightly. She pushed down the bitterness rising in her throat.

“Ningning?”

“Ningning!”

Yan Jinrang’s warm, mellow voice came through the receiver. Yan Jinzhi knocked on Yan Yunning’s head. “Older brother is calling you — what are you spacing out for?”

Yan Yunning composed herself, smiled brightly at the camera, and said, “Older brother, I was busy just now and didn’t hear you.”

Yan Jinrang, with great patience, repeated himself. “What time will you arrive in Yuanjin City tomorrow? If you’re flying, your older sister-in-law and I will pick you up from the airport, and then we’ll all go to the restaurant Jingan reserved for dinner.”

“Hmm!” Yan Yunning thought for a moment. “Older brother, that depends on what time I wake up tomorrow. If I manage to get up early, I can arrive in Yuanjin City early. If I sleep in — heh — then who knows when I’ll get there.”

Yan Jinrang raised an eyebrow and reclined in his office chair, languidly curving his lips. “When you get back, will you be coming to work at my company or going to Jingan’s?”

Yan Yunning’s eyes went wide. “I have to go to work?”

“Hmm?” Yan Jinrang twirled his pen, unhurried and calm. “You’ve graduated, haven’t you? Shouldn’t you come and help out at the company?”

“I — well — that…” Yan Yunning hemmed and hawed for a long time without managing to produce a fourth word.

Suddenly she had no desire to go back.

“She wants to go abroad.” Yan Jinzhi leaned close to the phone screen and spoke on Yan Yunning’s behalf.

“That’s fine — once she’s had enough fun, she can come back and join the company.”

“She doesn’t want to come back. She wants to settle abroad permanently.” Yan Jinzhi added another line.

“Absolutely not.” Yan Jinrang’s expression cooled. “She can go travel, but what would one young girl go to a foreign country for?”

“Older brother is right.” Yan Jin’an agreed as well.

“And if I insist on going?” Yan Yunning talked back.

“Go right ahead — I’ll notify the finance department to freeze your card. I’ll announce it in the group chat: no one is to give you pocket money. Off you go.” Yan Jinrang smiled with an easy, unhurried air.

“…” Yan Yunning weighed her options and promptly gave up. No money meant suffering hardship.

She might as well stay put, right here in the same city as Xuan Yanyu.

“I’m not going anymore — I suddenly realize that if I leave all of you, I really can’t bear to.” Yan Yunning began laying on the flattery.

“You just can’t bear to part with your soon-to-be-frozen card, can you?” Yan Jinzhi laughed with an insufferably smug grin.

“What nonsense are you talking?” Yan Yunning kept her expression perfectly composed and continued, “Of course I can’t bear to leave my older brother, my brother, my sister, my dad, my mom, my uncle, my aunt, my great-aunt, and my great-uncle — just not you.”

“Ha — like I care?” Yan Jinzhi rolled his eyes.

Yan Yunning pursed her lips.

Yan Jinzhi flicked her on the forehead.

“Yan Jinzhi!!!” Yan Yunning gritted her teeth.

“Don’t bully your little sister.” Yan Jinrang’s warning voice came through the receiver.

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare — I’m afraid this little brat would go tattle to Sister Ranran.” Yan Jinzhi gave a roguish grin. “I’m so scared.”

“Alright — send Ningning back to me tomorrow.” Yan Jinrang instructed.

“Well…that is…older brother, I was thinking — Aunt and Uncle will be back from their trip in two months, and I’d like to wait for them to come back before going home.” Yan Yunning explained somewhat haltingly. “Otherwise, Aunt is going to chase me all the way to Yuanjin City again.”

Yan Jinrang’s smile was layered with meaning. “An excuse to avoid coming to work at the company?”

“That’s exactly what she means, older brother.” Yan Jinzhi chimed in helpfully with his usual cheekiness.

“Yan Jinzhi, what would happen if you just didn’t say anything?!!”

Yan Jinrang laughed helplessly and spoke in a leisurely, languid tone. “Alright — I’ll give you two more months of vacation.”

“Older brother, in this whole family, I love you the most.” Yan Yunning batted her eyes at the phone screen with a wink.

Receiving Yan Yunning’s wink, Yan Jinrang laughed. “Go and enjoy yourself.”

“Bye, older brother! Bye, brother!” Yan Yunning’s voice was sweet as honey.

“Mmm.”

“Mmm.”

Yan Yunning happily ended the video call, then looked at the clothes, bags, and everything else piled haphazardly on the floor in and around the suitcase, and felt a slight headache coming on — she would have to pack all over again.

“Have the housekeeper come up and pack it.”

“Okay.” Yan Yunning smiled and nodded.

Yan Jinzhi stared at her, then suddenly asked, “Ningning, do you know brother Yu?”

Yan Yunning’s ears buzzed. The hand hanging at her side gripped the hem of her skirt tightly. She slowly shook her head.

“Did you see those gifts in the living room?” Yan Jinzhi asked, his expression turning serious.

“Mm.” Yan Yunning’s voice came out low and subdued.

“Brother Yu sent them. For you.”

“What?” Yan Yunning looked up, staring at Yan Jinzhi in disbelief. She fought to keep her voice steady, but it betrayed a faint tremor nonetheless. “Why would he send them to me? Does he — does he know who I am?”

“He said it was simply out of concern for you. Wasn’t it because I talked too much — that night he was hosting friends, I mentioned you were in a bad mood and I was worried about leaving you home alone, so I rushed back after just one drink. He probably sent them out of consideration for me.”

Noticing that something was clearly off with Yan Yunning’s emotions, Yan Jinzhi pursed his lips and said with a serious face, “Ningning, I know brother Yu is handsome and that men like him are attractive to girls your age — but you can’t let yourself be foolish about this. Even though brother Yu isn’t married, he has Shiyao, and now there’s a baby on the way too. I’d guess they’ll be holding a wedding soon.”