Lin Xinyi was knocking on the door vigorously, determined today to wake up this good-for-nothing younger brother and give him a good piece of her mind.
With a loud bang, the door swung open, and Lin Xinyi's hand froze mid-air.
Seeing that Lin Ge had finally opened the door, Lin Xinyi almost failed to contain her fiery temper, but remembering that today was little Qingyang's birthday, she decided it was not the time to blow up.
She took a deep, heavy breath and managed to swallow her anger.
"I said it before, you're the older brother, so you shouldn't be bickering so much with little Qingyang anyway..."
Without noticing Lin Ge's flushed face and dull expression, Lin Xinyi rambled on to herself.
"Come on, it's the weekend, no classes today. Finish breakfast and let's go pick out a birthday gift for little Qingyang together!"
With that, Lin Xinyi turned and headed downstairs first.
Lin Ge watched his third older sister's retreating back and let out a cold, mocking laugh.
Look at that, this was the family he had always yearned for!
If this third sister of his had even an ounce of care for him, she would have noticed that he wasn't feeling well. Yet she only cared about blaming him, without even sparing him a second glance.
"I'm not feeling well today, I'm not going with you guys!"
Lin Ge said lazily.
At this exact time in his past life, in order to please his family, Lin Ge had forced himself to endure a fever of thirty-nine degrees Celsius, taking nothing more than some casual over-the-counter cold medicine—all just to let Lin Qingyang have a happy birthday.
The result was that Lin Ge didn't bring his fever down in time, developed pneumonia, and nearly lost his life!
In this life, he would never play the humble, groveling fool again.
"What? You're not going?"
Lin Xinyi flared up once more.
She whipped her head around, her voice pitching higher.
"Everyone else is going, and only you aren't. Aren't you deliberately trying to upset little Qingyang?
Wouldn't it be nice for the whole family to be happy together? Why are you being so unreasonable?"
Seeing Lin Xinyi's angry glare, as if his refusal to go shopping for Lin Qingyang's birthday gift with them was some catastrophic and horrifying offense, Lin Ge found it utterly laughable and couldn't even be bothered to speak to her.
Still, his stomach was genuinely empty; he might as well go down and get something to eat!
Otherwise, his cold would only get worse, and he'd be the one suffering in the end.
Thinking this, Lin Ge ignored his third older sister and headed straight downstairs.
Assuming Lin Xinyi's words had finally gotten through to him, Lin Xinyi let out a sigh of relief, followed Lin Ge down the stairs, patted him on the shoulder, and said earnestly:
"You and Qingyang are both our good younger brothers. We just want the two of you to get along. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the whole family loved and cared for one another?"
Lin Ge didn't make a sound, treating whatever Lin Xinyi said as if it were white noise.
Inside, however, he scoffed inwardly: "Do you really take me for a good younger brother of yours?
In your hearts, there is only Lin Qingyang. Everything I say or do is wrong—how are we supposed to get along? How can you even talk about mutual affection?"
Lin Xinyi started, glancing at Lin Ge and confirming that his mouth hadn't moved at all.
Yet the words she had just heard were unmistakably spoken in Lin Ge's voice.
Only, what did he mean by saying she didn't take him for a good younger brother?
Wasn't bringing him back from the orphanage enough proof of how well they treated him?
And what did he mean by saying they only had Qingyang in their hearts?
Sure, they were a little strict with him at times, but that was precisely because they treated him like a real younger brother!
Lin Xinyi couldn't quite wrap her head around it, but today she had a strong feeling that something was off with Lin Ge!
In the past, no matter what their parents or any of the five older sisters said, Lin Ge would simply agree without ever talking back, wearing a cooperative smile.
Even when friction arose between him and little Qingyang, under the demands of their parents and sisters, Lin Ge would always apologize to little Qingyang so they could shake hands and make up.
What had gotten into him today?
Not only was he refusing her?
He even wore a cold, stony expression, glaring like the whole world had wronged him.
Honestly, what kind of attitude was that?
It seemed she would have to set him straight properly another day.
Lin Xinyi thought indignantly to herself.
The two of them walked one after the other to the dining table. Lin Ge sat down, picked up a bowl of century egg and lean pork congee, and began to drink with his head down.
Father Lin Qingyang's father, Lin Rude, glanced at Lin Ge and frowned.
"Why are you waking up so late? Even though it's the weekend, you cannot slack off! Remember, the Lin Family does not raise mediocre people!"
Lin Ge quietly held his bowl and ate his congee without a word.
Mother Huang Huijuan looked displeased: "Lin Ge, your dad is talking to you. Why are you being so impolite?"
In the past, no matter who was speaking, Lin Ge would immediately put down whatever was in his hands, listen attentively to their lectures, and nod along in agreement.
Lin Qingyang glanced at Lin Ge sitting opposite him, his eyes turning slightly red as he said timidly:
"It's probably because big brother is still mad at me! I'm sorry, big brother, I really didn't mean to yesterday, I just forgot..."
Mother Lin patted Lin Qingyang soothingly on the back. "Son, you don't need to apologize. He's the older brother; he has no business holding a petty grudge against you over something like this!"
"Angry? Over such a trivial matter, what kind of temper are you throwing? As a member of the Lin Family, do you have so little breadth of mind?"
Father Lin also raised his voice in a reprimand.
"Exactly, Lin Ge. You're the older brother, you should give way to little Qingyang when issues come up! Little Qingyang simply forgot, what a huge deal that is! Besides, didn't you still make it onto the last bus?"
The eldest sister, Lin Shunyi, chimed in with an unfriendly tone.
"Lin Ge, you've been back in our family for two years now, haven't you? Even though you didn't receive a proper education back at the orphanage, you've been back for two years now—haven't you made any progress at all?"
Lin Xinyi looked at Lin Ge, who was solely focused on burying his face in his congee, her expression full of dissatisfaction.
"You need to be more tolerant toward your family. It seems you haven't learned a single thing about respecting your elders and loving your juniors!"
The second older sister, Lin Jiayi, couldn't help chiming in either: "Those who achieve great things do not sweat trivial details! Harboring resentment over such a small matter—what kind of things will you ever accomplish in the future?"
The second sister was a moderately famous painter—gentle, refined, and exceptionally tolerant.
Yet even she, when faced with Lin Ge and Lin Qingyang, would inevitably lean toward Lin Qingyang.
Lin Ge remained silent, a chill running through his heart.
Aside from the fourth and fifth older sisters, who were still on their way home, his parents, eldest sister, second sister, and third sister were all in the house.
Every single person present was either blaming him or lecturing him, telling him to yield to Lin Qingyang, telling him to forgive Lin Qingyang.
Yet was there anyone who actually gave a damn about him or cared how he felt?
If they had paid even the slightest bit of attention, they would have noticed his condition was wrong.
Yet more than ten minutes had passed, and not a single person had noticed that he was sick with a fever.
Though he had long since given up on this family, Lin Ge still couldn't help venting his thoughts in his mind.
What?
Lin Ge had a fever?
Lin Xinyi looked at Lin Ge in astonishment.
Looking closely now, she indeed saw an unnatural flush on Lin Ge's face.
Just as she reached out to check Lin Ge's forehead, Lin Ge set down his bowl and stood up.
"I'm full, I'm going back to my room!"
With that, he walked toward the stairs.
The family stared at Lin Ge's retreating back as if looking at a total stranger. Was this really the same Lin Ge they knew?