Rebirth and Conquest

After finishing his business at school, Chen Yan prepared to go home. Since starting his senior year of high school, he had hardly ever been back. He also returned the apartment he had rented and left his belongings to Yan Minghui to handle.

Walking along the road leading to the village entrance, Chen Yan felt relaxed. He didn't take any transportation and just wanted to walk back leisurely. The two rows of weeping willows planted by the roadside looked much thicker than when he came back last time, and their dense branches and leaves formed patches of shade.

Chen Yan raised his head, took a deep breath of the country air, and his long bangs fell to both sides, revealing his extremely handsome face, which then curled into a smile.

"Brother, brother..." The poetic scene was suddenly broken by a shout. Chen Haoran was running towards them from not far away, his face full of excitement. As soon as he reached Chen Yan's side, he hugged Chen Yan's waist tightly and rubbed his head against Chen Yan's chest: "Brother, you're finally back. We missed you so much."

Chen Haoran, who is now in fourth grade, has grown quite a bit taller, almost reaching Chen Yan's shoulder. Looking at Chen Haoran clinging to him like a koala, Chen Yan resisted the urge to twitch his lips and reached out to pat the fluffy head: "Something came up at school, let's go home."

Chen Haoran seemed to really miss Chen Yan, clinging to him and unwilling to leave. Chen Yan had no choice but to "drag" his younger brother home like this.

Grandpa and Grandma were overjoyed to see Chen Yan return. Grandma cooked a table full of dishes and kept nagging at the table, saying that she must not be eating or drinking well at school and that Xiao Yan had lost weight. Grandpa was also beaming with joy.

After dinner, Chen Yan returned to his room. Although he hadn't been back for several months, the room was still very clean, probably because his grandmother had been cleaning it.

Chen Yan was sitting in front of the computer, engrossed in reading something, when Chen Haoran pushed open his door and poked his head in: "Brother, I want to sleep with you."

Chen Yan paused, her hand holding the mouse still, then said without turning her head, "Go back to your room. I don't want to sleep with a pig."

"I'm not a pig." Chen Haoran looked aggrieved as he pushed the door open and walked in. "I want to sleep with you. I've been sleeping here since you weren't back. I'm used to it. I can't sleep in a different place."

As he spoke, he came to Chen Yan's bedside, took off his shoes, and climbed on top of her, as if to say, "I'm not leaving."

The veins on Chen Yan's forehead were about to pop out. What's wrong with Chen Haoran? Why is he becoming more and more useless? He wasn't like this in his previous life. Where did that sensible and well-behaved child go?

What Chen Yan didn't know was that his younger brother's feelings for him had gradually changed from the initial dependence on each other to admiration and longing. In Chen Haoran's eyes, this older brother was the bravest and smartest person, and also his greatest support.

Chen Yan ignored Chen Haoran and continued looking at his computer, while Chen Haoran on the bed remained quiet, not daring to disturb him.

When Chen Yan finally finished her work and came back to her senses from the computer, she saw that Chen Haoran had already gone to bed and snuggled under the covers.

"Brother, are you done with your work?" Chen Haoran poked his head out from under the covers, looking at Chen Yan with his innocent big eyes, making Chen Yan unable to even ask him to leave.

"Just sleep here tonight, go back to your own room tomorrow," Chen Yan said, preparing to go to bed to rest. Upon hearing this, Chen Haoran immediately climbed out of bed, excitedly trying to help Chen Yan take off her clothes: "Okay, okay, go to sleep now."

Chen Yan was still wearing his school uniform. He took off his jacket and was about to lie down to sleep when Chen Haoran immediately complained that it was uncomfortable to sleep like that and tried to pull Chen Yan to take off his jacket as well. Chen Yan slapped him on the head and pushed him into the quilt: "If you make any more noise, I'm going back to your room right now."

Chen Haoran immediately shrank back into the quilt, shut his mouth and didn't say a word. Chen Yan pulled up another quilt, covered herself with it, and went to sleep.

After a while, Chen Haoran climbed out of his bed again and snuggled close to Chen Yan's head: "Brother, brother, are you asleep? Are you asleep...?"

Chen Yan wanted to pretend to be asleep, but Chen Haoran was making so much noise that she had no choice but to open her eyes: "What's wrong?"

Chen Haoran pouted, looking aggrieved, but remained silent.

"If you have something to say, just say it. Don't look so stupid. Are you being bullied?"

"Okay, okay," Chen Haoran nodded vigorously. "My teacher said I'm not doing well in my studies. Can you tutor me?"

"Impossible," Chen Yan thought, not believing it. He remembered that in his previous life, his younger brother's grades were always among the best, which was the greatest pride of their family.

"Could you teach me tomorrow? I can't learn it anymore, and my teacher has already criticized me," Chen Haoran said, sounding increasingly aggrieved.

Seeing his expression, Chen Yan suddenly thought of his own elementary school days, which were truly "glorious." He couldn't help but feel a pang of tenderness. He gently pushed Chen Haoran back into bed and said in a soft voice, "Okay, go to sleep. I'll tutor you tomorrow."

Chen Yan thought he could have a relaxing holiday, but because of his younger brother, he was very conflicted. Chen Haoran was clinging to him to an unprecedented degree, staying in his room every day under various pretexts, pestering him to talk and explain problems. If Chen Yan didn't respond, Chen Haoran would put on a pitiful look to gain sympathy. What Chen Yan couldn't stand the most was his stupid look.

Chen Haoran searched through all of Chen Yan's places, from the bedroom to the study. He was extremely interested in anything that belonged to Chen Yan. The books in Chen Yan's study filled several shelves, and Chen Haoran took them out one by one to read. Actually, Chen Yan thought it was quite good that Chen Haoran was looking through his books. In his mind, his younger brother was supposed to develop into a good child and a good student, and reading more books would be beneficial.

At night, Chen Haoran still stayed in Chen Yan's bedroom, crawling into bed and refusing to come out. Chen Yan had no choice but to give in time and time again.

Chen Haoran loved to lie down next to Chen Yan's head, ruffling her hair and pulling it out strand by strand. Then he would look at Chen Yan's face and talk incessantly. During the day, Chen Yan rarely paid attention to him, and it was only at night, when they were in bed, that Chen Haoran would have the chance to chatter in her ear. Chen Yan couldn't understand why Chen Haoran had so much to say.

Sometimes, after talking for a while, when Chen Yan closed his eyes and didn't react, Chen Haoran would pinch Chen Yan's eyelashes. Chen Yan's eyelashes were long and thick, and he could pinch them with two fingers without any effort. He would pull them one by one and ask, "Brother, are you listening? Are you asleep?" Only when Chen Yan gave an indifferent "hmm" would he feel relieved and continue talking.

Sometimes, when Chen Haoran was ignored by Chen Yan for a long time, he would act pitiful and aggrieved: "Brother, someone bullied me today. Sanpang said I'm fatter than him."

"kindness"

He said I wasn't as smart as him.

"kindness"

He also said I wasn't a good kid.

"kindness"

He also said that I was a wild child without a mother or a father.

Chen Yan casually hummed in agreement, but the next moment, she suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Chen Haoran: "Did he really say that?"

Chen Haoran was startled. Looking into Chen Yan's eyes, he felt a little guilty and whispered, "Yes, I...I said it."

Chen Yan glanced at him, then reached out and pinched his chin, pulling him close to her face: "Since Sanpang bullied you, do you want to bully him back?"

"Um...I want to." Chen Haoran nodded blankly.

"Then let me tell you a way..."

The next day, when Chen Haoran went to school, he took a bottle of super glue with him from home; it was given to him by Chen Yan.

Chen Haoran took the glue and applied it to the seat of the classmate named Sanpang. Sanpang was stuck to the seat and couldn't get up. He was so anxious that he wanted to cry, while his classmates surrounded him and laughed. In the end, he had no choice but to take off his pants and go home.

As soon as Chen Haoran got home, he happily reported his success to Chen Yan. Chen Yan just smiled and asked, "Did anyone find out that you did it?"

"Of course not, I applied it secretly." Chen Haoran said smugly. "If he dares to say anything to me again, I'll apply it to his desk too."

Chen Haoran laughed heartily as he said this, but Chen Yan, seeing his smiling face, suddenly felt a pang of worry. Chen Yan regretted it; he shouldn't have taught Chen Haoran these things. His younger brother was supposed to be a positive and optimistic person, how could he learn from him? Chen Yan immediately stopped smiling and said coldly, "Alright, once is enough. Stop thinking about playing pranks on your classmates. You need to study hard, understand? Have you finished your homework?"

Seeing Chen Yan's sudden cold expression, Chen Haoran immediately dared not speak anymore and whispered, "Not yet."

"Then hurry up and do your homework."

Chen Haoran said "Oh" and obediently went to do his homework.

Chen Yan rubbed the corner of his eye in annoyance, turned around, and went to his computer to get busy. At this moment, perhaps even Chen Yan himself did not realize that he was almost like a mother to his younger brother, worrying about everything.

Not long after, Chen Yan's college entrance examination results came out. They were about what he expected; not great, but enough to get him into a decent university.

Chen Yan's maternal grandmother was overjoyed and almost set off firecrackers to celebrate, but Chen Yan's casual remark, "I copied someone else's work," extinguished all their excitement. Indeed, Chen Yan's grades had never been good since childhood, so it was hard to believe that she had suddenly been admitted to university.

So what should have been a happy occasion inexplicably turned into something strange. Grandma and the others stopped mentioning it. They had long since given up on Chen Yan, and the two of them simply advised Chen Yan to study hard and be a good student, and then they kept the news to themselves and didn't tell anyone.

Chen Yan thought this was good; he needed this kind of peace right now. After applying to schools, he was just waiting to go to school. But not long after, something suddenly happened: his mother, who had ignored him for many years, suddenly remembered him and said she wanted to take him over to see him.

...