Perfect work
Shi Chongyuan's order was like an inescapable shackle. On Saturday morning, Shi Xu stood downstairs at Yun Ying's house, surrounded by a visibly oppressive atmosphere.
“I’ll go with you.” Yunxi blurted out instinctively, looking at his tightly pursed lips and the gloom in his eyes. She couldn’t imagine what he would have to face if he returned to that “home” alone.
Shi Xu shook his head, his voice a little hoarse: "No need." He paused, looked at her, his eyes filled with complicated emotions, "That place... isn't suitable for you."
That wasn't rejection; it was protection. That home was a battlefield without gunpowder but filled with invisible blades, and he didn't want her to get involved.
In the end, Shi Xu returned alone to that villa located in the city's prime location, yet as cold as a modern art museum.
The person who opened the door was Chen Wanru. She was wearing a finely made lotus root-colored suit, her makeup was perfect, and she had an impeccable, gentle smile on her face.
"Xiao Xu is back? Come in quickly, we've been waiting for you." Her enthusiasm was like a layer of delicate oil paint, floating on the surface, isolating all real warmth.
Shi Xu nodded expressionlessly, changed into slippers, and walked into the spacious living room, where the echoes could be heard. Shi Chongyuan was sitting on the huge sofa reading a financial newspaper, not even raising his head, only giving a soft "hmm" as a greeting.
Right next to the piano by the window in the living room, a boy with his back to them was playing a technically proficient, yet emotionally cold and precise etude.
Upon hearing footsteps, the music stopped abruptly.
The boy slowly turned around.
At that moment, the air seemed to freeze.
Yunxi had imagined what Shi Zhiyuan would look like countless times, but when she saw the real person "through" Shixu's eyes, her heart sank.
They look so alike.
He shared the same pale complexion as Shi Xu, the same short, thick, black hair, and the same sharp, defined jawline as Shi Chongyuan. At first glance, they might even cause a momentary daze.
But the next second, all the similarities turned into sharp differences.
Shi Xu's eyes are like a calm, deep pool, occasionally rippling with waves, beneath which lie suppressed emotions; while Shi Zhiyuan's eyes are like two carefully polished black mercury balls, bright but devoid of warmth, looking over with the precision and indifference of an assessment scanner.
Shi Xu's lips were always tightly pursed, with a stubborn restraint; while Shi Zhiyuan's lips naturally carried a very faint curve, as if she understood everything yet was full of mockery.
He stood up, his posture upright, and walked over with a composed gait. He nodded slightly to Shi Chongyuan and Chen Wanru: "Dad, Mom." Then, his gaze fell on Shi Xu. There was no emotion in his eyes from the joy of brothers reuniting after a long separation; there was only a pure, calculated scrutiny.
"Brother, you're back." He spoke, his voice clear and calm, even polite. But every word seemed measured, devoid of any extra emotional weight.
Shi Xu's body tensed almost imperceptibly. He looked at the "younger brother" in front of him, who was slightly shorter than him but seemed like a distorted reflection of himself, and his stomach churned. That complex emotion of disgust and akin to pity once again intertwined and surged into his heart.
"Hmm." Shixu responded with the same cold, monosyllabic tone.
Lunch took place in an extremely eerily quiet atmosphere. The only sounds were the occasional clinking of cutlery and Chen Wanru's dry, polite attempts to liven things up, which went unanswered.
Finally, Shi Zhiyuan put down her chopsticks, elegantly wiped her mouth with a napkin, and turned her gaze to Yunya, as if casually mentioning:
"Brother, I heard you made it to the provincial math competition? Congratulations." His tone was flat, without a hint of congratulations, more like he was confirming a piece of data.
Shi Xu didn't speak, but just looked up at him.
Shi Zhiyuan didn't seem to expect a response from him, and continued in the same tone as if she were talking about the weather: "I've also signed up for the next physics competition. I heard that Zhou Yu from your school is very strong? If I have the chance, I'd really like to have a chat with him."
He paused, his gaze seemingly sweeping over Yun Ya's expressionless face, the slight curve of his lips appearing to deepen by a millimeter.
"After all, healthy competition is the only way to make progress together. Don't you agree, bro?"
This sentence is like a poisonous thorn, coated with the sugar of "ambition" and "politeness," piercing precisely at Yunya.
He wasn't expressing friendliness; he was declaring his presence, telling the world, "I've arrived in your territory. I will assess what you possess and may take it away."
Shi Chongyuan finally looked up from behind the newspaper, glanced at Yun Zhiyuan with undisguised approval in his eyes, then turned to Yun Ya, his tone carrying his usual impatience: "Learn from your younger brother and focus your energy on the right path. Stop thinking about nonsense all day long."
Shi Xu's knuckles, gripping the chopsticks, turned slightly white. He felt a suffocating sense of oppression. In this family, he was always the one who "went astray," while Shi Zhiyuan was the "benchmark" who was always right.
He slammed down his chopsticks, making a soft, crisp sound.
"I've finished eating." He stood up, his voice cold and hard. "Go back to your room and read."
He turned and left the restaurant, his back ramrod straight, like a solitary tree that refused to bend. He could feel Yun Zhiyuan's calm, assessing gaze fixed on his back like a shadow.
Returning to that cold, clean "bedroom" with almost no trace of his own, Shi Xu closed the door, leaned against the door panel, and exhaled a long, silent breath.
He subconsciously reached out and grasped the pebble in front of his chest; the cool touch calmed his turbulent emotions slightly.
He took out his phone and opened the chat window with Yunxi. He wanted to tell her about the suffocating air here, and about his ghostly "brother".
But he ultimately didn't post anything.
He simply stared at the encouraging smiley face emoji that Yunxi had sent earlier on the screen, as if he could draw from that small image the only warmth to combat the entire cold world.
He knew that Shi Zhiyuan's appearance meant that the war had escalated.
This was no longer a conflict of ideas between him and his father.
Rather, it was a battle for survival between him and his own "dark mirror image," a struggle for the future and for the right to define himself.
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