Brothers Conflict 05

The toothpaste, squeezed personally by Cheng Ze.
The water, poured personally by Cheng Ze.
Her face, washed personally by Cheng Ze.
After that, when she sat down, the soup was fed to her, spoonful by spoonful, by Cheng Ze.

The memories Si Jiu received told her that this had been Cheng Yinyin’s daily routine since childhood.
When she was little, it was even more exaggerated; she hardly ever walked anywhere, as Cheng Ze basically carried her everywhere.

Even for a sister-complex, and no matter how doting he was, this was simply too much for someone about to reach adulthood.
Besides, they were not even Cheng Yinyin’s biological brothers.

Only half a bowl of soup was fed to her. Something that a normal person would finish in two mouthfuls was fed by Cheng Ze, spoon by stubborn spoon, for a full fifteen minutes.
Miraculously, after drinking just that little bit of soup, Si Jiu actually felt full, and somewhat tired as well.

"If you're tired, go back to sleep for a bit.
I'll call you when dinner is ready tonight."
Cheng Ze wiped her mouth, his tone inquiring.

Si Jiu shook her head. "My bones ache from sleeping. I want to go out for a walk."
"Big Brother will go with you. Where do you want to go?" Cheng Hui, who hadn't left yet, chimed in.
"Just... for a casual walk in the garden outside."
"Alrighty then." Cheng Hui stood up and looked at Si Jiu. "Do you want Big Brother to carry you down?"
He had just said it offhandedly.
When she was little, Cheng Yinyin had been very particular and would only let the first and second older brothers carry her.
Moreover, he was not much older than Cheng Yinyin, and the adults would not have trusted him to carry her.
As she grew a bit older, Cheng Yinyin would only let her second older brother carry her.

By the time she was eight or nine, she no longer liked being carried by people.
Over the past year or two, even more so, she hadn't been very close to her second older brother either.

Yet, unexpectedly, Cheng Yinyin said, "Okay."
Both Cheng Hui and Cheng Ze froze for half a second. Then, Cheng Hui gave Cheng Ze a meaningful glance, took a few steps over to Si Jiu, and crouched down with his back to her.

"Better let me carry you on my back. Big Brother played too much ball today and doesn't have much strength in his arms; I might drop you."
Cheng Ze's look just now had been damn terrifying; he decided it wasn't worth the risk.

Si Jiu didn't argue either, obediently pressing herself against his back.
"Then I'm taking Yinyin downstairs." Cheng Hui said sideways to Cheng Ze before leaving.

Cheng Ze slowly put down the bowl and, out of habit, pushed up his glasses.
Just a few steps out the door was the elevator.
Cheng Yinyin lived on the fourth floor, and taking the elevator down took mere moments.

In the spacious first-floor living room, the twin brothers were sitting together with their heads close over a tablet, analyzing something from time to time. Hearing footsteps, they looked up simultaneously, and were immediately startled by the sight before them.

"Yinyin wants to go out for some fresh air, you guys coming?"
She was truly light. She rested lightly against his back as if she had no weight at all.
Well, it made sense; she ate less than a cat every day. No matter how expensive the food was, how heavy could she possibly get?

The twins mirrored each other's expressions, raising their eyebrows in unison, before lowering their heads back to the tablet. Even their words were perfectly synchronized: "Not going."

So, Si Jiu and Cheng Hui went to the garden together.
"Fifth Brother, today isn't even Family Day yet. Why are you all back?"
After setting Si Jiu down, Cheng Hui walked beside her as she strolled slowly. Hearing this, he gave her a sidelong glance of mock annoyance.
"Why we're all back—don't you have any idea in your heart?"

When facing him, the young lady was neither as docile as she was with the eldest brother, nor as delicate and endearing as with the second older brother; instead, she was somewhat willful and spoiled.

Therefore, she predictably rewarded him with an eye-roll.
Not to mention, her eye-roll today looked rather cute.

"I know you all came back because you heard I got hurt, but why do you all look like you have no intention of leaving?
You I can understand.
What about Cheng Qian, Cheng Yuan, and that nuisance Cheng Cheng? Why aren't they leaving yet?"

Usually, only Cheng Yinyin lived here. Cheng Ze came rather frequently because taking care of Cheng Yinyin had become routine, and she seemed to depend on him, so no one said anything.
The eldest brother, Lin Su, occasionally came back to stay, but most of the time he practically lived in his CEO's office.
As for the remaining brothers and the younger brother, they all had their own residences.

Of course, it hadn't been like this when Cheng Yinyin was little.
Except for Cheng Cheng, who arrived later, the whole family used to live here when she was a child.
But after Cheng Yinyin turned twelve, that stopped being the case.

However, the Cheng family had a rule.
The fifteenth of every month was designated as Family Day.
All the older and younger brothers away from home, no matter how busy they were or how far away, had to come back for dinner and stay the night.
Everyone followed this rule quite well.

Aside from that, however, the twins and Cheng Cheng hardly liked coming here.
Even Cheng Hui didn't actually like this place.
They made no effort to hide this dislike; even Cheng Yinyin knew about it.

That was why Si Jiu asked the question.