It was a small velvet pouch with a note tucked beneath it.
—“I’m really sorry for worrying you last night. Please don’t be mad, okay?
Place this little pouch under your pillow, and you’ll have sweet dreams and wake up feeling mentally refreshed.
Huo Ting opened the pouch and found an impeccably round little pearl inside.
This subtle gesture of delivering a small gift as an apology seemed like a method better suited for coaxing a child like Huo Yan.
“…”
But Huo Ting couldn’t help but question himself…was he really this easy to appease?
As Huo Ting fell into contemplation, the ongoing serialization of “Reborn” continued to delve deeper into its plot, leaving interstellar readers screaming for more.
This time, the much-awaited scene of the younger brother Pei Shen calling out “big brother” finally unfolded!
[[When Pei Yan smiled at his younger brother Pei Shen, both their mother Luan Yi and the surrounding servants were shocked.
No one expected the usually sensitive and arrogant young master to not only refrain from being angry but to also actually engage with the adopted son.
Pei Shen, who was held tightly by Luan Yi’s side, silently observed the person in front of him who claimed to be his ‘big brother.’
“I’m sorry, Pei Yan. Pei Shen is still a bit shy, especially with strangers. He often refuses to interact…”
Just when Mother Luan Yi was afraid that the situation would become awkward and tried to ease the atmosphere, she unexpectedly heard Pei Shen’s response.
It could even be said that this was the first time Pei Shen took the initiative to speak since he was brought back.
‘…Big Brother?’
Although the two words shouted out from Pei Shen’s mouth were more like confirming the meaning of the two words rather than connecting them to the person in front of him, it still stunned everyone.
Hearing this familiar yet slightly immature “big brother”, Pei Yan was momentarily dazed.
In fact, Pei Yan followed his mother Luan Yi’s expectations and took the initiative to talk to Pei Shen, whom he was meeting for the first time in this life. Rather than being sincere, it was more of a polite façade.
He didn’t intend to have further entanglements with the Pei family in this life.
Therefore, not only did he change his career path to stay clear of the family business, he also planned not to attend the same university as Pei Shen, avoiding the relentless comparisons like in his past life.
However, before these plans unfolded, Pei Yan couldn’t bear to disappoint his mother. Thus, he planned to play the so-called role of elder brother, though he had long grown weary of it.
But, as he held Pei Shen’s thin and fragile hand, he was overwhelmed by complicated feelings.
It turned out that when Pei Shen was first brought back, he was so thin and pitiful?
The radiant, confident figure of his later years seemed unimaginable now.
While Pei Yan was touching Pei Shen’s palm, Pei Shen was also quietly observing Pei Yan in front of him.
A hand that was completely different from his.
Warm and unblemished, the hands were soft like silk, completely unlike his own calloused ones.
When he first saw him under the crystal chandelier, Pei Shen always felt that Pei Yan was just like the crystal figurine he saw every time he passed by the department store windows–luxurious, unattainable, and priceless, even if he moved countless boxes, he couldn’t afford even a fragment of it.
At this moment, being held by the other person’s hand…
The reality of having changed parents seemed to truly sink in from this point onward.
But as he looked at him, the other party had already turned to face their mother.
“Xiao Yan, let Pei Shen stay in the guest room next to yours for now. Is that okay?”
For a moment, Luan Yi couldn’t tell whether she felt relieved or nervous.
“Okay.”
Sensing the cautious tone of his mother, who seemed to be trying to please him, Pei Yan smiled again and agreed.
He even took Pei Shen’s hand and led him upstairs.
Perhaps it was precisely because his mother had been too focused on his feelings in his previous life that he had never realized the “fake young master” was actually himself.
As Luan Yi nervously released her grip, she noticed that Pei Shen, who had been resisting her earlier, obediently followed Pei Yan upstairs!
It was as if there was a different kind of obedience towards Pei Yan.
“So Pei Yan didn’t lose his temper? He just turned and left?”
Hearing the story from his wife after returning from work, Pei Jianchuan was extremely shocked.
“Yes, I don’t know why, but Xiao Yan seems very different these days,” Luan Yi replied, though her joy was tinged with worry.
“Do you think Xiao Yan is deliberately suppressing himself to accept Pei Shen just to avoid upsetting me?”
Pei Jianchuan picked up the newspaper beside him, his face clouded as he pondered over the matter, unsure of what to do.
“But Pei Shen has had a really tough time these past few years.”
In this interstellar age, reproductive technology had advanced tremendously, and age was no longer a limitation.
Regardless of gender, as long as individuals preserved their genetic cells in a hospital beforehand, they could choose to have children at any age when they found someone they loved and both parties were willing. The preserved genetic cells could be placed in advanced incubators to create offspring.
Back then, the genetic cells extracted from him and Luan Yi were part of a shipment where a transportation accident occurred. The order of the genetic cell samples aboard the ship was completely scrambled.
The negligent medical officer covered up the incident, resigned and fled to another star system over a decade ago.
It wasn’t until this year that the Federation’s Medical Bureau uncovered the truth, and even with all their efforts, were only able to trace and recover part of the mishandled genetic samples.
Not only did they discover that Pei Yan was not their biological child, but also that their actual genetic offspring had been mistakenly taken years ago by a couple of undocumented Federation citizens.
So when Pei Shen was discovered, not only was his household registration not processed and he was not sent to school, he was also helping the couple move construction materials nearly as heavy as his own frail body, his face expressionless and covered in dust.
Luan Yi couldn’t believe how any parents could bear to subject such a small child to this kind of labor.
Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Pei Yan was observing the unusually frail Pei Shen of this life.
Although Pei Shen had followed him upstairs, his eyes roamed over the surroundings, feeling that everything was dazzling and unfamiliar to him.
Even the air in “big brother” Pei Yan’s room carried a floral fragrance, unlike the choking scent of dust or machine oil he was used to.
“This is freesia. Do you like it?”
Pei Yan noticed Pei Shen’s gaze lingering on the flowers and subconsciously introduced them.
Pei Shen only tightened his grip on Pei Yan’s hand.
“Why don’t you sit down?”
Pei Yan noticed that Pei Shen remained standing and attempted to encourage him to take a seat.
Though he harbored resentment in his past life toward the always superior Pei Shen, looking at this child now, Pei Yan found himself unable to stoop so low as to take revenge on a little boy.
After all, he no longer wanted to have anything to do with the Pei family in this life.
Perhaps true indifference was about not caring at all anymore.
“It’ll make the chair dirty.’
The next second, Pei Yan was caught off guard by Pei Shen’s response.
“Who said you were dirty?”
Pei Yan felt that this Pei Shen was extremely novel, and inexplicably a little pitiful and cute.
He couldn’t reconcile the image of the strategic and domineering Pei Shen from his previous life with this vulnerable child.
Without thinking, he picked Pei Shen up and placed him on the chair.
!!
The moment Pei Shen was held, his frail body stiffened, as though he didn’t know how to react.
“Would you like something to eat?”
Pei Yan, intrigued by the now small Pei Shen, considered asking Aunt Lin to bring over some food.
“No…”
But Pei Shen grabbed his sleeve, as if reluctant to let him leave.
“Then let’s go together. I’ll show you around the house while we’re at it.”
After all, this would be your home from now on.
Pei Yan smiled sadly to himself. But in the eyes of Pei Shen who was completely unaware of the situation, Pei Shen, who originally didn’t want to go out, nodded subconsciously.
It seems that he couldn’t refuse any proposal from his big brother.
And so, much to Pei Jianchuan and Luan Yi’s amazement, the two brothers spent the entire summer without any conflicts.
It could even be seen that many times, Pei Shen trusted everything his brother Pei Yan said more than he did for Luan Yi and Pei Jianchuan, and had completely become Pei Yan’s little tail.
By the end of the summer, as school started, Luan Yi couldn’t help but smile as she looked at the two boys in their respective uniforms.
“Xiao Yan, take good care of your brother. He hasn’t attended school before, so we’ve placed him in his grade level for now. If he struggles, we can adjust later…”
“I’ll take good care of him, Mom. Besides, Pei Shen already reviewed the textbooks during the summer vacation,” Pei Yan replied.]]
