97: kidnapping

Yan Zhuohua still felt a bit embarrassed facing an elder he hadn't seen in a long time. He glanced at Yan Qinghe, who was looking around and pretending to know nothing, then awkwardly said to Jiang An, "Something came up last night, so I stayed up too late on my phone. I woke up early this morning and didn't get enough sleep, which is why I look a bit off."

"Are you that fragile now?" Jiang An was a bit puzzled, but he didn't press further. "Alright, alright. If you didn't get enough sleep, go take a nap after lunch! Quick, get inside!"

Jiang An pushed Yan Zhuohua through the door, only then finding the time to greet the others behind him.

"Come in, come in and rest. You must be exhausted from the trip, right?"

Each of them greeted Jiang An and entered one by one.

When it was Yan Qinghe's turn, the atmosphere felt a bit off.

Because of the story from the road, the way Yan Qinghe looked at his uncle now was very strange.

This left Jiang An completely baffled. What was wrong with this kid today? Had he taken the wrong medicine?

However, he didn't mind and pushed him inside along with the others.

Their aunt was named Zhou Ying, the only daughter of a scholarly family whose parents were both university professors. To make it easier to care for the two elders, their uncle had brought them to live with him a few years ago; Yan Zhuohua had met them a few times back then. Their uncle and aunt had only one son, named Jiang Yanshu, who was currently upstairs with his grandparents.

When Yan Zhuohua and the others entered, his cousin Jiang Yanshu and aunt Zhou Ying, having received the news, happened to be helping his grandparents downstairs.

"Aunt, Cousin, Grandpa, Grandma, it's been a long time!" Yan Zhuohua and his family were on good terms with his uncle's family, so they simply called the two elders what Jiang Yanshu called them.

"You're finally back. Quick, let me have a look at you!" Zhou Ying walked over in a few steps, turning Yan Zhuohua around to examine him closely. "Good boy, you've grown up."

"Don't block the way here, hurry to the dining room. Lunch is ready, and it's all your favorite dishes!" Jiang An, coming in from behind, started ushering them to eat.

After a quick freshening up, the group headed to the dining room for lunch.

At the table, Jiang An served food to each of the children while asking about their plans for the next few days.

"Are you still leaving today? Won't you stay for a few days?"

"No, this year is quite special. Many relatives will be visiting, and they'll likely start arriving tomorrow," Jiang Fuyue explained. "We have to go for Ancestral Worship on the sixth, and Zhuohua's check-up is scheduled for the eighth, so there's really no time."

Jiang An was very dissatisfied. "Then you only come home once a year and stay for just one day? That's far too short."

"It's only for this year. I expect next year won't be as busy, and then I'll come back to stay for ten days or even half a month—until you're all sick of me," Jiang Fuyue joked.

Before Jiang An could say anything, Grandpa was already excited, his face practically screaming "I agree."

"Eh, we won't get tired of it! I love talking to a knowledgeable Researcher like you! If you come back to stay, you can chat and drink tea with me every day!"

"Stop talking nonsense. You teach history—the liberal arts—while Fuyue is in physics and chemistry—the sciences. How could you two possibly have anything to talk about? If you say it's a pity about the Ming Dynasty, she'll probably reply that 'the Little Ice Age was just like that'." Grandma quickly undercut Grandpa, instantly making everyone laugh.

Grandpa was eager to retort but couldn't out-argue Grandma, his face turning red with frustration.

The dining room was filled with laughter and chatter; the atmosphere was as lively as a concert.

After lunch, Yan Zhuohua, who had claimed he hadn't slept well, was sent to his room to sleep. Yan Qinghe then followed him quietly.

"What are you doing? You're acting like a thief." Yan Zhuohua was leaning against the headboard playing on his phone when he caught sight of Yan Qinghe sneaking in, nearly giving him a fright.

"Keep it down! I snuck in." Yan Qinghe also got onto the bed and lay down beside Yan Zhuohua. "Big Brother insisted I mind my image here and wouldn't let me come sleep with you."

Yan Zhuohua laughed. "Aren't you afraid of being caught now?"

"I'm not! Uncle wanted someone to go fishing with him, so I strongly recommended Big Brother. Now he doesn't have time to keep an eye on me." Yan Qinghe was triumphant. He didn't understand why people of a certain age all liked fishing.

Yan Zhuohua was somewhat helpless. "Don't you think this move is a bit too obvious?"

"I asked Aunt and Cousin; they both said the fish pond isn't close, so it'll take them at least three hours to get back. I'll coax you to sleep, stay with you for a bit, and then slip out early. Without any evidence, Big Brother won't be able to do anything to me," Yan Qinghe said smugly.

"Who needs coaxing?"

"It's me. I'm the one who needs to coax you."

Yan Qinghe apologized with his words, but his hands were firm as he confiscated Yan Zhuohua's phone.

"Go to sleep. It'll be very late by the time we get back tonight, and you'll have to get up early to be busy all day tomorrow. You'll definitely be even more tired."

"Whose fault is that?" Yan Zhuohua shot him a look but obediently adjusted himself into a comfortable position and closed his eyes to rest.

When he opened his eyes again, more than two hours had passed. Yan Zhuohua didn't want to get up at first, but after tossing and turning and finding no more sleep, he had to put on his clothes and leave the room.

"Why are you awake?" Yan Zhuoyan was in the living room playing chess with Grandpa. He looked a bit surprised to see Yan Zhuohua come out.

"I couldn't sleep anymore, so I just came out." Yan Zhuohua answered his second brother while searching around for Yan Qinghe.

Yan Zhuoyan placed a piece. "Stop looking; he's not here. He was dragged off by Aunt and Mom to help them pick out clothes."

It seemed the reason Yan Zhuoyan was left here was very clear.

Since he couldn't find the person, Yan Zhuohua sat down to watch them play chess. The game seemed decided; Yan Zhuoyan was almost about to win.

Grandpa held a chess piece and pondered for a long time before finally sighing. "I've lost!"

Yan Zhuohua nudged his second brother. "You're being far too blunt."

"Eh! It's only when someone is this blunt that the game is satisfying!" Grandpa didn't mind at all. He slowly stood up and stretched. "I'm getting old; even a game of chess leaves me drained! I'm going up to lie down for a bit too. You two play. Come tell me who won later."

Yan Zhuohua gave a confident smile. "There's no need to wait for you to come down; Second Brother has never won against me."

"Stop talking nonsense. When have I never won?" Yan Zhuoyan retorted, his face flushing with embarrassment.

"Are you referring to before I was seven years old?"

"..." Yan Zhuoyan was furious. "Come, you take the black pieces. I will definitely beat you this once!"

The match ended in less than twenty minutes with Yan Zhuohua utterly crushing Yan Zhuoyan.

"I'm done!" Yan Zhuoyan threw the chess pieces back into the jar. "You clean up."

Yan Zhuohua was quite happy about winning and didn't argue, picking up the pieces one by one.

"Second Brother, how's the assembly of that second mecha coming along?"

"What? Can't wait to try it?" Yan Zhuoyan said crossly. "It's still early."

"Then, can you really not consider painting it blue for me?"

Yan Zhuoyan rubbed the throbbing vein in his temple. "Have you ever seen anyone's combat equipment being blue?"

"Alright then."

Yan Zhuohua felt it was a bit of a pity.

"By the way, you should stay indoors more lately, and don't go out alone with anyone." Yan Zhuoyan looked at his phone and suddenly spoke.