Watching the siblings interact, Fu Mingyu felt a sudden pang of envy.
He had a brother, too, but they were half-brothers.
That brother was only a year younger than him, and they had never gotten along. He often played tricks on Fu Mingyu, even framing him for his own misdeeds.
Fu Mingyu lowered his gaze. ’That’s not a little brother,’ he thought. ’That’s an enemy.’
Just as he was thinking this, Yun Jiao and Yun Xiaojiu both leaned in close to him. Really close.
"It’s true! Why don’t you have any expression on your face?"
Clearly, Yun Jiao had told Yun Xiaojiu about the strange thing she’d noticed on Fu Mingyu’s face.
"You didn’t have any expression even when you were caught by traffickers and had a knife to your throat?"
Fu Mingyu shook his head. He didn’t know; he couldn’t see his own face.
So... he had no idea his face was expressionless.
Fu Mingyu touched his face. "Is it strange?"
Yun Xiaojiu stroked his chin. "It is a little strange."
"No wonder."
His childish voice carried a hint of maturity and indifference that was beyond his years.
"My dad doesn’t like me either."
"’Dad?’ You mean your father?"
Fu Mingyu nodded.
"What? That’s impossible. What kind of father doesn’t like his own son?"
He couldn’t imagine it.
His dad really liked him and his brothers, and Jiaojiao too.
"He said I’m a monster."
That was truly pitiful.
At this moment, Yun Xiaojiu felt a deep sense of sympathy for the boy in front of him.
’It’s one thing not to be liked by your own dad, but to be called a monster on top of that... What a terrible father.’
The brother and sister studied his face for a long while, even tickling him.
Any change in his expression was minuscule.
But it wasn’t a complete absence of reaction.
When being tickled, he still pursed his lips and frowned.
It was just that his reaction was different from a normal person’s.
Yun Xiaojiu patted his shoulder. "It’s okay, buddy. We don’t mind."
Yun Jiao nodded from the side. "You’re good-looking, so it doesn’t matter if you don’t have any expression."
Being praised so bluntly, Fu Mingyu’s ears turned slightly red, but the expression on his face still didn’t change much.
"What about your grandpa? Isn’t he worried about you running off here all by yourself? What hospital are you staying at? We can take you back."
Fu Mingyu said, "The military hospital on the island."
Yun Xiaojiu’s eyes widened. "Oh, I know! Isn’t that where the soldiers live?"
His tone was laced with excitement. "You’re actually getting treated at the soldiers’ hospital! Quick, tell me, are the navy guys really impressive? My big brother and second brother are going to be soldiers too. They already passed the physical exam."
Fu Mingyu: "Being a soldier... is very tiring."
There’s lots and lots of training every day.
"So what?"
Yun Xiaojiu and Yun Jiao didn’t care.
Yun Jiao: "Dad and the others get very tired going out to sea to fish, too."
Yun Xiaojiu: "Working on the mountain is also very tiring."
"Being a soldier is glorious! Just you wait. When my big brother and second brother become soldiers, who knows how many people in the whole village will envy us."
Fu Mingyu looked at Yun Jiao. "Do you like soldiers too?"
Yun Jiao tilted her head and thought for a moment. "I guess so?"
Ultimately influenced by the era, she said, "Everyone likes them."
Fu Mingyu nodded.
"Do you want to come to our house and play first? Let me tell you, we went to our grandma’s house the other day and caught a huge wild boar..."
Yun Jiao unceremoniously handed the small bucket for Fu Mingyu to hold, while she picked up the tabby cat.
"This is Boss. You have to call him Boss."
Fu Mingyu and the tabby cat stared at each other for a moment.
The tabby cat twitched its whiskers in disdain and turned its face away.
Fu Mingyu: "It doesn’t like me."
Yun Xiaojiu chattered, "It’ll like you if you call it Boss. Boss is a tabby cat with a lot of personality. He can even catch wild pheasants and rabbits, and fish too."
Fu Mingyu said blankly, "Boss."
The tabby cat twitched its ears and whiskers but didn’t make a sound.
Yun Jiao squeezed its paw. "He already called you Boss, hurry up and say something."
Only then did the tabby cat reluctantly let out a meow.
At that moment, although there was still no significant change in Fu Mingyu’s expression, his whole demeanor seemed to soften considerably.
When they got home, Yun Jiao and Yun Xiaojiu each grabbed one of Fu Mingyu’s hands and ran into the house.
"Grandma, Grandpa..."
"Dad, Mom, Big Brother, Second Brother..."
They called out for every family member one by one, but only Granny Yun, Shen Yunlian, Yun Xiaowu, and Yun Xiao Liu were home.
"Jiaojiao! Sister!"
Yun Xiaowu, his face all dark and grimy, rushed over and swept Yun Jiao into his arms, spinning her around.
His eyes were sparkling.
Yun Jiao used her small hands to push his face away a little. "Fifth Brother, you’re dirty."
His face, hands, and clothes were all grimy.
Yun Xiaowu chuckled. "I was tending the fire. It’s just soot."
No wonder he was so dirty.
"Who is he?"
Yun Xiaowu and the others asked the same question as Yun Xiaojiu had.
And they surrounded Fu Mingyu, sizing him up.
’An unfamiliar, good-looking kid, and their sister was the one who brought him home.’
As older brothers, they immediately became vigilant.
’This can’t be some stray brother Jiaojiao found outside, can it?!’
"Jiaojiao, you..."
Yun Jiao answered quickly, "I didn’t go find another brother! I only have you nine brothers, plus my cousins."
Yun Xiaowu and the others were satisfied.
’Their Jiaojiao was so well-behaved and pretty; who knew how many boys in the village alone wanted to be her brother.’
"Jiaojiao brought a guest home?"
Granny Yun wiped her hands on her apron. "Oh, and such a handsome young man too. Come, come inside and sit down."
Fu Mingyu followed Yun Jiao into the house.
Surrounded by so many people, he sat very properly on the small stool.
The clothes he wore were clean and well-made. With his fair, pale skin, he looked like a handsome little page from a celestial court.
He subtly sized up the Yun family’s home.
The house was still an adobe house, and the floor was packed earth. Forget tiles, it wasn’t even concrete, and it wasn’t very level.
But it was kept very clean.
Because there were so many people, the whole space felt cramped.
The table was wooden and very old. One of its legs had a small piece broken off and was propped up with a stone.
The tabletop was also wiped very clean.
This was a very old and shabby house, but it wasn’t hard to see that the people living here kept their small space neat and clean.
There were even some decorations in places.
For example, strings of seashells hanging in the window, and a small wooden carving on the table.
This was a very warm and cozy home.
It was different from the home he used to live in, which was large and luxurious but very cold, a place where he felt like a transient guest living under someone else’s roof.
"Are you hungry? Want a rice ball?"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
The moment Granny Yun finished speaking, all the children except Fu Mingyu responded enthusiastically.
"Grandma, we want soy sauce rice balls! Make sure to add soy sauce."
"I know, I know."
Rice balls were actually just small, egg-sized balls of pressed rice.
It was just rice, but eating it this way seemed to make it exceptionally delicious.