Lu Hongbin sat in the car, somewhat lost in thought.
It had been a really long time since he’d felt this way.
Back in the day, their father used to be out hustling during the day and only came back home at night.
So, it was always him who looked after these two mischievous kids.
Back then, Xiaobu was frail and sickly, and he was terrified of him getting bumped or scratched, while Wenhao was a clam, clocked with high IQ but lacking in EQ.
You know the type, they are often seen as nerds and misfits at school, subtly ostracized by everyone.
Back then, he really worried himself sick over his two younger brothers.
It’s said that the eldest brother is like a father, and he truly lived up to these words.
That’s also why, nowadays at home, he often behaves even more like a father than their actual father.
But, this feeling had almost vanished as Wenhao’s academic credentials increased, their father’s business improved, and Xiaobu became more and more of a spendthrift.
At this moment, he revisited that feeling!
He couldn’t help but blurt out—It’s been so long!
"Big brother, which way shall we go?"
Lu Xiaobu was no longer the storm-causing Young Master Bu; he was just a little brother following his big brother for a fun outing.
"You decide, after all, our annual target is always random."
Lu Hongbin laughed heartily.
This moment somewhat brought back his feeling of being the big brother.
"Um." Xiaobu thought for a moment, rummaged through his pockets, and took out a pen that he didn’t know when he had put there, and threw it out: "Wherever the pen points, that’s the direction we’ll head."
"Alrighty." Lu Hongbin looked where the pen pointed and then started the car.
The three brothers set off just like that!
Since the pen pointed north, they headed north.
Of course, it’s not like they went straight ahead, but rather kept the general direction while following their whims for the exact path!
The three brothers drove their rickety car, humming out-of-tune songs, occasionally Lu Wenhao and Lu Xiaobu would play-fight and then tattle to Lu Hongbin, eating when hungry, drinking when thirsty, and stopping to rest when tired—oddly feeling very comfortable!
Of course, since they set out to do good deeds, they wouldn’t be stingy about it.
Things like, every so often when traveling.
Seeing some cyclists sitting down to chat about life.
And uh, whistling at some young ladies and gentlewomen... cough cough cough, well, let’s pretend we didn’t see that! Yep, didn’t see it!
"Big brother, let’s go this way."
Lu Xiaobu suddenly got an idea and pointed at a path that wasn’t really much of a path.
It wasn’t a highway, or even a cement road, but a bumpy dirt road.
Lu Hongbin immediately agreed.
Only Lu Wenhao rolled his eyes: "Again with the deep woods, this is the third time. The first two were wastelands after entering, haven’t we learned our lesson! It’s getting dark soon!"
Of course, he was only concerned about safety and didn’t say anything else.
"Oh? Second brother, are you scared!"
Lu Xiaobu chuckled, seizing the chance to tease Lu Wenhao: "Are you afraid a female ghost might do something to you!"
"Get lost, with your pretty boy face, even if a female ghost was to do something, it wouldn’t be with me," Lu Wenhao immediately retorted.
"Big brother, second brother is bullying me!"
Lu Xiaobu shamelessly tattled!
"Right, Wenhao, be a bit more considerate of your brother."
Lu Hongbin gently repeated the phrase he had said countless times along the way.
"Big brother, you’re biased!"
Lu Wenhao rolled his eyes again: "On this entire trip, it’s Xiaobu who’s bullying me, yet you always ask me to yield to him!"
In the absence of outsiders, these three brothers often acted very childishly.
It didn’t matter if it was embarrassing or not, as long as they were happy.
"Why don’t you reincarnate? Become Xiaobu’s nephew?"
Lu Hongbin joked: "Then, I will definitely ask him to be considerate of you!"
Xiaobu immediately started nodding frantically.
"Big brother, you jerk! You’re taking advantage of me too!"
Lu Wenhao clutched his chest and said, "You two are in cahoots, always scheming against me!"
He really thought they couldn’t guess what he meant!
As they bickered, they drove along the bumpy road.
Soon, it got dark, and Lu Hongbin turned on the headlights to illuminate the road.
"Let’s find a nearby place to rest, otherwise we’ll have to make do in the car for the night."
Lu Hongbin took on the responsibility of being the elder brother at that moment.
Actually, if it were just him and Lu Wenhao, it wouldn’t matter!
After all, due to their lack of experience the year before last, the two brothers had made do spending the night in the car.
However, now with Xiaobu around, and considering Xiaobu’s pampered habits, he was worried that Xiaobu might get sick from exhaustion!
After all, even though Xiaobu had recovered now, he still couldn’t help being concerned about Xiaobu’s health.
Lu Xiaobu and Lu Wenhao had no objections and nodded in agreement.
"But, in this wilderness, are there really any houses?"
Lu Wenhao remained skeptical.
"There should be. Look at the potholes on this road, they are traces of cars driving by, which means there are people who frequently drive here."
Lu Hongbin stayed rational.
If it weren’t for the car tracks, he wouldn’t have agreed to let Xiaobu take this road.
And he also believed that Xiaobu must be aware of this.
After all, among the family, Xiaobu was the one he could least see through!
The three brothers continued walking.
As expected, they indeed saw some houses.
However, Lu Hongbin drove straight past them.
"There are houses right there!"
Lu Wenhao, puzzled, asked.
"The lights are off; they probably go to bed early. Let’s not disturb them, let’s keep moving!"
Lu Hongbin explained with a smile.
Although his younger brother had grown older and had increasingly managed the company, developing some EQ, he still tended to be impulsive.
The three brothers continued walking.
Later, they also saw a few more houses, but they all had their lights off.
This puzzled the three brothers.
"Why are they all dark?!"
"Could it be a local custom to go to bed early?"
Lu Hongbin also wondered.
Lu Wenhao shrugged his shoulders; to him, as long as there were houses around, there was no need for Xiaobu to be homeless; everything else was trivial.
They saw a house with lights on.
Lu Hongbin quickly sped up and stopped in front of the house.
Seeing the car pulled over, Xiaobu also called Zhang Meng to check on their situation.
He wasn’t too worried about just Zhang Meng, but there were a few girls too; they surely couldn’t be left to sleep in the streets!
He had it all planned out; if necessary, they would all come over and find a place to stay.
However, Zhang Meng told him they had prepared a trailer house and could rest once they tidied up a bit.
Hearing this, Xiaobu felt relieved.
At that moment, Lu Hongbin knocked on the door of the house, but the scene that greeted them made their hearts skip a beat!