Chapter 5

005.

Zhang Zhenzhong felt he couldn't really be blamed for thinking that way.

As a veteran employee of Yunhe Group, he had climbed to a fairly high position in his younger days thanks to his keen insight and his accurate decision to hitch his wagon to Lu Jingshan. He also knew a thing or two about the younger generation of the Lu family.

The eldest, Lu Ke, had perfectly inherited the family's business acumen, talent, and ability—a born entrepreneur. But as his name suggested, his personality was overly mature and staid.

The second son, Lu Zhuo, was a genetic anomaly among cold-hearted capitalists—a kind-hearted doctor. However, he was only kind when he was being a doctor. At all other times, his heart was as black as coal.

The third son, Lu Yan, needed no introduction—he was an absolute menace.

Just recalling his past "glory days" made Zhang Zhenzhong's temples throb.

With those two as brothers, Lu Ke missed them so much he skipped work and left at 3 PM?

Ha.

More like he wanted to beat them up so bad he skipped work.

Unfortunately, Assistant Yu just shrugged at his skepticism. "You'll find out in a couple days. Or, if you're really curious, you could text the boss and ask."

Assistant Yu felt he couldn't overstep by announcing on the boss's behalf that he'd found his youngest brother, so he could only urge Vice President Zhang to ask himself.

But Zhang Zhenzhong stumbled back two steps at those words, his face saying "are you messing with me?" "Do I look crazy enough to text the boss and ask if the brother he's thinking about at work is a real brother? If the boss knows me, he'd know I'm just nosy. But if he didn't, he might think I'm trying to dig up dirt on him to stage a coup!"

Even if he was Lu Jingshan's man, Lu Ke would still slap the crap out of him.

"Since the boss has already left for the day, I'll trouble you to pass these documents along to him. I'm heading off now." Zhang Zhenzhong rubbed his scrunched-up face—it was chubby, but the skin felt great, and it wouldn't be worth getting slapped.

Meanwhile, Lu Ke's car left the underground garage and headed straight for Songlan Estate.

When the Maybach pulled into the garage of Villa No. 2 at Songlan Estate, his watch read 4:10 PM. The elevator dinged on the first floor, and Lu Ke stepped out, his long legs carrying him as he casually swept his gaze across the living room.

Soon, the young butler came up. "Young Master."

Lu Ke hummed in acknowledgment and asked, "Where's A Yuan?"

The butler said, "Resting in the bedroom."

Resting?

He glanced at his phone's WeChat. Around 1 PM, he'd sent Lu Yuan a message asking if he'd had lunch, but there was no reply.

"Did A Yuan eat lunch?"

The butler cleared his throat. "No. Young Master Yuan said breakfast was late and he was too full, so he planned to eat lunch around 5 PM and asked us not to disturb him."

Lu Ke: "..."

After a brief silence, Lu Ke figured it made sense. In the past eighteen years, A Yuan probably never got enough sleep. Now that he finally had someone to lean on, it was natural for him to drop life's burdens and get a good rest.

After a moment's thought, he decided not to disturb his brother. He just said, "Make sure to arrange the meal on time—dinner... lunch," then turned and headed out.

The six villas of Songlan Estate were arranged in a staggered 1-2-3 layout, with the Lu family's Villa No. 2 in the middle and the Bai family's Villa No. 1 at the top.

On the right side of the sprawling villa was a glass sunroom, with several pots of aged Kaffir lilies on the front racks. Their bare old stems, thick flower stalks, and clusters of orange-red blossoms flaunted their seven-figure price tag with unabashed arrogance.

A man in a charcoal-gray fitted turtleneck stood behind the racks, holding a watering can. Sunlight streamed through the glass, casting a long, slanted shadow around him.

His long eyes lifted slightly as Bai Yu looked at his uninvited friend, his gaze flicking to his wrist.

The turtleneck sleeve was rolled up, showing the sharp lines of his pale wrist bone, with a metal watch above displaying 4:15 PM.

"Boss Lu, leaving work early today?"

"Yeah." Lu Ke said, as if it were only natural. "I was a bit worried about A Yuan, so I came back early to check on him."

Bai Yu moved his wrist slightly, setting the watering can aside. He took a dark handkerchief from the butler and wiped his long fingers one by one, his voice flat. "Songlan Estate may not be a fortress, but its security has always been solid. Your worry is completely unfounded."

"But I texted him and didn't get a reply for three hours."

"And the reason?"

"He's probably sleeping." Just as he finished, Lu Ke's phone buzzed. He looked down, and a familiar avatar popped up in the notification.

Professional Horizontal Lying Champion: Just woke up [kitten stretching.jpg]

Professional Horizontal Lying Champion: Getting up now to go eat!

Another sticker followed—a kitten running at full speed.

Lu Ke's heart immediately pulled him home. He put away his phone and asked, "Will you be in the country for a while?"

Bai Yu glanced at him. "Mm."

Lu Ke: "Alright. I'll ask A Yuan later. If he's willing, I'll set up a dinner so you two can get to know each other. He'll be living at Songlan Estate, so you can keep an eye on him for me."

Hearing this, Bai Yu's long lashes lifted slightly, his deep phoenix eyes narrowing even more. He asked with a hint of a smile, "And if he's not willing, does that mean you won't host this dinner, President Lu?"

Of course he'd still host it.

Although Lu Yuan had the butler looking after him at Songlan Estate, it was still far from the city center, making it inconvenient for him to come and go. For special situations the butler couldn't handle, he'd have to count on Bai Yu.

But if Lu Yuan was shy and didn't want to, then the dinner would just be between him and Bai Yu.

*

When he got back to Villa No. 2, Lu Yuan had already crawled out of that two-meter bed.

After sleeping all day, he was a bit dizzy.

Lu Ke had just stepped through the front door when he saw Lu Yuan in a blue shark onesie, crouching by the window.

The window was open a crack, and as the chilly wind blew in, he pressed his face against it.

The cold hit his forehead, finally clearing the fog in his head. His peripheral vision caught sight of Lu Ke's presence.

Lu Yuan froze. "Brother? You're off work already?"

Lu Ke's steps paused slightly. He stood still, chin lifted slightly, and hummed in acknowledgment.

"Are you hungry? Should I have the chef bring out the food?"

"Sure." Wiping the few flakes of snow that had stuck to his face, he pushed himself up from the windowsill, his cat-like eyes curving into a smile, his pretty face breaking into a grin. "It's getting late anyway—why don't you eat too, brother? We can call it dinner."

Lunch turned into dinner.

In addition to the tomato-braised beef brisket that Lu Yuan had specifically requested, the butler, Chen Chi, had also arranged for the kitchen to prepare crispy roast pigeon, black truffle scrambled eggs, garlic stir-fried lettuce, and a pot of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

For dessert, there was peach gum stewed milk.

It wasn't much, but everything was Lu Yuan's favorite.

The two brothers sat at the same dining table. Even though they'd only met yesterday, Lu Yuan was totally at ease.

After all, they had already shared a meal yesterday, and everything Lu Yuan was currently using and living with had been picked out by Lu Ke. Lu Yuan hadn't said it out loud, but from the pajama style to everything else, he was really happy with it all.

It was obvious Lu Ke genuinely cared about the brother he'd just found.

With that in mind, Lu Yuan asked thoughtfully, "Does the dinner suit your taste?"

Lu Ke nodded. "We have very similar tastes."

Lu Yuan smiled, his eyes crinkling into crescents. "That's good."

The chef Lu Ke had handpicked really knew his stuff. The tomato-braised beef brisket was stewed until it was fall-apart tender. Though the sauce looked rich, it wasn't greasy at all, and the sweet, tangy, and savory flavors had completely soaked into the meat. Mixed with rice, it was absolutely incredible.

Lu Yuan polished off two small bowls and was about to get more when he noticed the other three dishes nearby that were still barely touched. After hesitating for a moment, he finally put down his rice bowl.

The crispy roast squab was excellent too. The skin was roasted to a shiny, glistening finish, with a beautiful honey color. One crisp bite, and the subtle sweetness combined with the tender, juicy meat was a real treat.

Having cleaned his plate perfectly, Lu Yuan pushed the dessert aside and decided to save it for later.

"Want to take a stroll?" Lu Ke asked.

"Sure."

The snow outside had conveniently paused for a bit. Lu Ke led Lu Yuan along the path at a leisurely pace, thin layers of snow covering the greenery on both sides. Lu Yuan's fingers itched to touch it, so he bent down and poked two holes in the snow.

Lu Ke pretended not to see it, just saying, "Are you free tomorrow? I'd like you to meet Bai Yu."

Huh?

Lu Yuan's hand froze mid-snowball.

This was already the third time he'd heard Bai Yu's name come out of Lu Ke's mouth. To be honest, Lu Yuan hadn't paid much attention to the phrase "you can go to Bai Yu if anything comes up." He was a twenty-year-old adult—there was no way he'd run into a problem he couldn't handle while living in a villa with a butler, a chef, and a maid.

But...

He blinked and looked at Lu Ke.

This older brother was genuinely worried about whether he was living comfortably and doing okay.

Since Grandma passed away, Lu Yuan hadn't been cared for or worried over this attentively in a long time.

Not wanting to turn down Lu Ke's kindness, Lu Yuan obediently nodded. "Okay."

Lu Ke said, "Alright, I'll get in touch with Bai Yu later."

They circled the path twice, and the wind picked up again. Lu Yuan felt cold, so he pulled up the little shark hood over his head, pinching the sides of the hood with his fingers to close it around his face, leaving only a small slit.

Lu Ke checked the time and called for Lu Yuan to head back.

Neither of them noticed the figure standing by the floor-to-ceiling window on the second floor of Villa No. 1.

Bai Yu lowered his gaze, his eyes landing on the two people walking one after the other along the path. His gaze quickly skipped past Lu Ke and settled on Lu Yuan.

Wrapped up like the head of the Ultraman his nephew loved watching, his face was hard to make out, but he was probably walking too fast—his quick steps made the shark tail behind him sway back and forth the whole way.

Just like a little puppy.