Early morning.

The sky outside was overcast, with dark clouds tumbling and the light dim and yellowish, as if at the end of dusk.

Zhou Li thought he had woken up very early, at most a little past six. But when he felt for his phone and took a look, it was already past eight. Generally speaking, other than on days when they had to wake up early for school, their family would have breakfast at seven o'clock.

Noticing his awakening, a head popped out from the top bunk.

"You're finally awake? They haven't eaten yet."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"I didn't call... Are you washing your underwear today?"

"!!?"

"Sorry," the head from the top bunk retreated. Only the voice of the Old Monster carried over. "I heard you reciting Li Daimao's name last night."

"...I still talk in my sleep?"

"Of course, but you don't do it often. Over such a long time, I've only heard you once or twice."

"..."

A strong sense of insecurity suddenly surged in Zhou Li's heart. He swallowed hard and, after a long silence, changed the topic. "Did I call for Li Daimao?"

"Of course not. You called for Brother Nan."

"Did I say anything?"

"I forgot."

"Oh."

Zhou Li glanced upward to the top bunk, quietly reached under the blanket to feel around, and then started putting on his pants.

As he dressed, he thought about it. After he was neatly clothed, he said to Huai Xu, "It's also quite a coincidence. You occasionally talk in your sleep as well. In the middle of the night, when it's quiet, I can hear you from two rooms away."

"Really?"

Huai Xu's head popped out again from the top bunk, looking at him in surprise.

Zhou Li did not respond directly. Instead, he walked to the window, turned his back on him, and said, "You usually talk close to early morning, just before dawn."

"Right, right, right! That's exactly when you talked!"

"Hm."

"But most of the time I'm not asleep at night!"

"That would mean you do it quite frequently," Zhou Li said as he opened the window, immediately letting the wind rush in. It was neither cold nor hot but slightly moist, probably because it was morning. If it had been noon, such weather would probably feel quite stuffy. But that was the norm for Yi Province.

"What did I say!?"

"I don't remember clearly. Things that happen when you're half asleep in the middle of the night tend to be easily forgotten upon waking."

"Right, right, right! That's exactly it!"

At this point, the Old Monster was thoroughly convinced.

Only then did Zhou Li close the window and turn around. He saw Huai Xu was still lying on his bed looking at him, blinking his eyes continuously, his legs dangling. Although he still looked like a man, his calves had a beautiful curvature not even found amongst girls, white as jade.

Zhou Li quickly averted his gaze.

Better not to look... better not...

This Old Monster was too much.

To gaze any longer would risk sore eyes.

"Aren't you coming down?" Zhou Li walked outside. "Aunt Jiang should have left us some food."

"THUMP!"

Huai Xu had appeared behind him.

Today was the weekend. Old Zhou wasn't working and was sitting on the couch with Aunt Jiang, watching news about floods on TV.

When they saw the two of them come out, Aunt Jiang immediately stood up. "You're up! We haven't eaten yet. Everything is ready; I just need to fry some potstickers and we can eat."

"Woke up late."

"It's cooler today, good for sleeping in. It's been really hot the last few days, reaching up to thirty-seven or thirty-eight degrees."

"You could have eaten first."

"We're not going to work or school anyway," Aunt Jiang said. "I figured you'd definitely wake up at least by eight, so I only just finished preparing the food not long ago. It should still be hot."

"Zhu Shuang isn't going to school either?"

"No."

"No," Zhu Shuang's voice came from his room. Then he walked out, stretching. "I haven't slept this well in a long time."

"On vacation?"

"I tore up all my books yesterday."

"I see."

Zhou Li, with Huai Xu, took their seats at the dining table.

The table was already full of breakfast: two pots of porridge—preserved egg and lean pork porridge, and mushroom and minced pork porridge—baozi and steamed buns, fried and boiled eggs, pickles, and stir-fried vegetables. It looked incredibly abundant. It must have been because of Huai Xu's presence; otherwise, even Zhu Shuang would only get such treatment on the day of the national college entrance exam.

"Bro, send me a red envelope to cheer me on!" Zhu Shuang picked up a baozi and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Isn't it supposed to be after the exam, when the results come out, that you send a celebration red envelope?"

"A cheer-on red envelope is a cheer-on red envelope, and a celebration red envelope is a celebration red envelope. You gotta send both." As Zhu Shuang spoke, he suddenly recalled something that might put his brother in a bind—

"Your money isn't controlled by Brother Nan, is it?"

"..."

Zhou Li immediately felt a bit embarrassed and subconsciously glanced over at Old Zhou, who was sitting across. He only saw Old Zhou deeply bowing his head, drinking his porridge with loud slurps as if he hadn't heard a thing.

On the other hand, Aunt Jiang, who was in the kitchen, leaned over their way, a smile on her face.

Kids really can't keep their mouths shut...

After thinking it over, Zhou Li took out his phone to send a red envelope and asked with concern, "Do you want to buy farewell gifts for your little sisters? Then I'll send you a bigger one."

Now it was Zhu Shuang's turn to be stunned.

He turned his head to look at Old Zhou.

Then he turned to look at Aunt Jiang.

Old Zhou was still having his porridge, while Aunt Jiang gave him a death stare.

What followed was—

"No!"

"It's not that!"

"I, I don't have any..."

"Bro, don't talk nonsense!"

"There aren't any little sisters..."

Most people are like this; the more flustered they are, the more they want to explain. Then, feeling their explanations fall short, they add more words to cover up, only to realize they've confirmed it as a fact. After all, it's a rare few who can keep their cool in such critical moments.

"DING-DONG."

Zhu Shuang received Zhou Li's red envelope.

For some reason, the red envelope seemed not to bring him any joy at all. Instead, it made him feel rather heavy-hearted.

Not understanding why things turned out this way, Zhu Shuang managed to muster a weak smile and said, "Looks like Brother Nan isn't in charge of your money after all..."

Zhou Li also responded with a smile.

Of course, his money wasn't controlled by Brother Nan, and he guessed it never would be. This was mainly because Brother Nan had no concept of managing money; to her, dealing with finances was a hassle. However, looking at the matter from another angle, letting Brother Nan handle the finances might not be such a bad idea. At least from what he knew, Brother Nan did occasionally manage some finances, investing in things like Alipay funds with pretty good returns.

Very good.

Really good.

She would just remember to buy, and whatever she bought would go up.

Then, when she remembered, seeing how much it had gone up, she would sell.

And once sold, it would fall.

A while back, she suggested Zhou Li should buy some too. Zhou Li himself was not one for speculation; he preferred slow and steady progress. But Brother Nan assured him with a thump on the chest that he'd definitely make money, thumping so confidently that Zhou Li casually invested some of his savings. He hadn't checked the returns yet but had bought quite a mix, so he thought they couldn't all possibly go up.

At this moment, Aunt Jiang, carrying scallion pancakes and fried dumplings, came over and smiled at Huai Xu. "Eat more, dear. Don't stand on ceremony in my house; just treat it like your own home."

Huai Xu nodded. "Got it!"

Aunt Jiang then smiled at Zhu Shuang. "Eat more!"

Zhu Shuang nodded nervously. "Oh... okay..."

The atmosphere went quiet for a moment.

Suddenly, Old Zhou looked up and asked, "Are you feeling nervous these days?"

"A bit... Were you nervous last year, bro?"

"A little."

"What about Brother Huai?"

"I, I'm okay," said Huai Xu.

"No one taking the college entrance exams isn't nervous, right?" Old Zhou said.

"Brother Nan wasn't nervous at all," Zhou Li suddenly interjected.

"Her grades are very stable, right?"

"Emmm..."

Zhou Li was about to explain. But thinking of how everyone in the family was convinced that he and Brother Nan had agreed to go to the same university, he decided not to shatter their fantasy.

Old Zhou glanced at Aunt Jiang and then began to ask Zhu Shuang, "So, are you planning to review these next few days, or rest up?"

"Mostly rest. I'll do a bit of reviewing to keep my thoughts in order and make sure to rest enough so my mind will be in good shape for the exams," Zhu Shuang was quite confident. "I aim to be at the same test center as my sister. If I make it, you'll have to take me on a trip to Caiyun. And when you come to the Capital, I'll take you to Yuanming Garden too."

"Oh..."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.