That weekend.
The Ye family’s hovercar had been parked at the gate long ago.
When Ye Muo got in, Ye Yun was animatedly talking to Ye He about something. He immediately stopped once Ye Muo appeared.
Ye Yun and Ye He both inherited the good looks of their parents in very different ways. Ye He has the same cold and aloof appearance as his father, while Ye Yun seemed more soft and well-behaved.
‘Seemed’ was the key word there. Ye Yun actually had a very bad temper and a contrary personality. No matter how cold Ye He was, he would remain polite on the surface and would not embarrass others. In certain aspects, he was much easier to get along with than Ye Yun.
Ye He nodded at Ye Muo as he got situated and signaled for the driver to head off. The entire car ride home was suffocatingly silent.
It was already getting dark out when they finally arrived back at the Ye family manor. The villa was brightly lit, several butlers and maids bustling about, busy setting up the main hall and preparing to welcome guests.
Ye Yun headed straight for the sofa upon going inside. He spread his arms on the back of the sofa and deliberately rested his feet on the coffee table, right in front of Ye Muo who was going upstairs.
The living room was still being set up, so the only way upstairs was through here.
Ye Yun looked up at Ye Muo, whose way he was blocking. Ye Muo was still wearing his military uniform. It fit him well.
Black fabric covered almost the entirety of Ye Muo’s entire body, a leather belt tightly cinched at his waist. The scant skin revealed was fair to the point where it seemed to glow softly in the dim light of the living room.
Ye Yun noticed Ye Muo pursing his lips, his eyelashes gently fluttering a few times. The sight made Ye Yun inexplicably feel a bit guilty. He even hesitated for a few seconds over whether he should get out of the way.
“I’ll let you pass if you beg.”
On the side, Ye He slowly and methodically took off his uniform’s jacket and handed it to a butler while lecturing Ye Yun, “Don’t be so capricious. You’re supposed to be the older brother here. How old are you to still be provoking your little brother like this?”
Ye Yun tsked and reluctantly retracted his legs. “How am I provoking him? He’s going to go up to his room and stay there until the banquet is over anyway.”
Ye Muo, who was heading upstairs, paused for a beat before continuing his way up.
His footsteps soon faded from earshot. Ye Yun tsked once more and kicked the table in front of him, annoyed.
“This again.”
Once again, it seemed like Ye Muo would silently endure whatever he did.
“Settle down. I haven’t come after you for sending Cairns after him last time yet.”
“You can’t blame that on me. It was that brainless dit Cairns who took matters into his own hands. I just complained a bit. And it’s partly his fault for being too weak too, hanging around those losers in Class D all day.”
A few traces of anger surfaced on Ye Yun’s face. Cairns, that bastard. How dare he make a move on his little brother. Overreaching much? No matter how much he complained, this was his business. It wasn’t for outsiders to intervene in.
Ye He didn’t even spare him a look.
“You’re not a child anymore. You should know that it’s not Little Muo’s fault.”
“Of course I know.”
Ye Yun interrupted him.
“…I know.”
After a moment of silence between the two brothers, Ye He suddenly said.
“Speaking of which, do you know what Cairns said to Little Muo?”
“He said the person who sent him described Ye Muo as ‘the one that looks most like a woman’.”
Ye Yun put his feet down and stared at Ye He with an expression of disbelief.
“I never said that!”
Ye He didn’t humour him. He continued.
“Ye Muo looked quite angry at the time. You could say I’ve never seen him that angry before. If you want to piss him off so badly, you can learn a thing or two.”
“I’m going to make sure Cairns gets what’s coming to him.”
After a while, Ye Yun asked Ye He like a tsundere, “Was he really, really angry?”
Ye He didn’t humour him. Ye Yun has always had this rotten temper growing up. He always provoked Ye Muo, but if his little brother actually started to cry he would go get his favourite toys to try and coax him like a tsundere. But Ye Muo rarely cried, and he was very quiet even if he did.
***
Ye Muo looked into the mirror and fastened the last button of his outfit. He lifted his head and examined himself in the mirror. The exact same appearance as his previous life. There was even a tear-shaped mole at the corner of his eye.
He picked up the gift he had prepared some time ago and went to Lady Ye’s door. Before he could even knock, the door opened.
The young man who opened the door had thin-rimmed glasses and looked very gentlemanly. He was slightly taken aback, but quickly reacted and took a step back. After Ye Muo entered, he closed the door for some reason and stood to one side.
Lady Ye was seated in front of the dresser. She turned and extended a hand towards Ye Muo, who bent down and brought himself within reach of Lady Ye.
Lady Ye stroked Ye Muo’s head and smiled.
“I have a good eye. This outfit suits you.”
Her words were not mere polite pleasantry, but sincere. Ye Muo’s looks were truly outstanding, so outstanding that Lady Ye only needed to look at him to calm herself in even her angriest moments.
Such a small child, covered in injuries to boot. One who was as frightened as a young cub brought home by a hunter.Â
Skittering to hide at any movement, only willing to timidly peer at people from around a corner…
It was difficult to dislike such a child.
Lady Ye couldn’t help but take care of him a little bit more. In the end, she could only hatefully ponder over how a bastard like Ye Zhiyuan could have fathered such a well-behaved and good-looking child.
Lady Ye took Ye Muo’s gift and placed it in the drawer beside the ones Ye He and Ye Yun had sent over earlier. She introduced the two youngsters in the room to each other.
“This is Ye Muo.”
Lady Ye paused for a moment before finally smiling and explaining with relief, “He is my youngest son.”
Lin Yizhi pushed his glasses up and extended a hand to Ye Muo.
“Hello, I’m Lin Yizhi.”
“I’m Ye Muo–”
Before he even finished speaking, Ye Muo blinked hard, a little confused why everything around in front of him was beginning to blur. Wisps of his unusually active psychic power wafted from his body.
Lady Ye stood up.
“Not feeling well? I’ll call the doctor.”
Ye Muo wanted to answer Lady Ye, but the pounding in his head made him want to retch. He groped for the wall for balance. Then a hand reached over and steadied him.
Lin Yizhi pushed his glasses up with his free hand, looking ever so calm.
“A bout of psychic power disturbance. He’s still in his development period and requires soothing agent, my lady.”
Lady Ye breathed a sigh of relief at that. She quickly rummaged through the drawers.Â
The psychic power of a developing child would meltdown frequently. More sensitive children reacted so violently that almost all families with children kept an adequate amount of psychic soothing agent on hand.
“I still have some left over from Ye He here.”
“Let me, my lady.”
Lin Yizhi got down on one knee. In his arms, Ye Muo was already drifting in and out of consciousness. One of his hands tightly clutched Lin Yizhi’s arm. Even his cheeks were flushed an abnormal red.
Lin Yizhi tore open the packet with his teeth and held Ye Muo’s chin with one hand. He used some force to make Ye Muo open his mouth so he could pour the medicine in.
The soothing agent worked quickly. Ye Muo quickly quieted down. But before Lin Yizhi could even breathe a sigh of relief, the youth’s body bowed over again. There was an even more agonized look on his face than before.
Lin Yizhi opened another pouch and administered it to Ye Muo, who could no longer even swallow on his own. A small portion spilled out from the corner of his mouth. Lin Yizhi wiped it away and waited a while longer. Ye Muo’s bowed body started to tremble. The situation was worsening.
Lin Yizhi had Ye Muo tilt his head back and put his finger in Ye Muo’s mouth to prevent him from biting his own tongue.
The maximum amount of soothing agent that could be taken at one time was three doses.
Lady Ye has already handed over the final one.Â
Yet Ye Muo showed no reaction.
“It’s not working, my lady. He’s reacting even more strongly this time. He may need soothing directly from his parents.”
Before there was the convenient and fast-acting psychic power soothing agent, the only way to allow children to safely pass their development period was parental soothing. The psychic powers of their parents could greatly comfort the child and stop their psychic meltdown.
Children who have been deprived of comfort for a long time would usually become irritable, their psychic powers becoming difficult to control and extremely aggressive. Due to the close relationship between one’s psychic power and cerebral domain, this would result in physical symptoms as well.
Before the invention of the soothing agent, orphans in orphanages had a mortality rate of up to 40%. A portion of the children who survived their development period would be left with a variety of aftereffects.
“I’ll go and inform Ye Zhiyuan.”
Lady Ye’s expression was grave. While calling for someone to go downstairs to get Ye Zhiyuan, she dialed the man’s number on her terminal as well. Although her heart settled down when the call connected, she did not show him any grace.
“Hurry up and get your ass over here. Little Muo needs psychic soothing.”
Ye Zhiyuan’s side was somewhat noisy before gradually becoming quiet. He should be downstairs at the banquet.
“I’ll be right there.”
