TLSMLMMM Chapter 6

“Little brother-in-law…”

As she watched Si Yunyi turn away, the eldest sister-in-law reached out, wanting to say something, but not knowing how to begin.

That child from the Si family’s branch line, who was of suitable age, truly had a bad temperament. Their own children also disdained Chu Junlie. But no matter what, it shouldn’t have come to the point of her brother-in-law sacrificing his own happiness just to fulfill the needs of others.

“Dad!” Si Yunyi’s second brother grew anxious, turning to the patriarch.

Standing behind Si Yunyi, Chu Junlie looked nervously at the elderly man in the main seat. His fingers clenched unconsciously, the knuckles turning pale.

The patriarch glanced at his youngest son’s calm and rational expression. He knew this decision came only after deep consideration. But then, looking at the young man standing behind him—compared with Si Yunyi, he was like heaven and earth apart.

The old man struggled within himself for a long while before finally shaking his head helplessly and waving a hand to his children.

Let him be.

Seeing his father’s agreement, Si Yunyi’s expression eased slightly.

Unlike the others, he had thought carefully. In every aspect, there was no one more suitable than himself to take Chu Junlie in through marriage.

Within the entire dream—or rather, within the novel The Most Arrogant Live-in Son-in-law—Si Yunyi’s character had only appeared briefly.

Like a background filler, he was mentioned just three times, and that alone summed up his life.

The first time, he was casually brought up by others in front of Chu Junlie, dismissed with the mocking label of “aloof and heartless.”

The second time, a year after Chu Junlie had married into the Si family’s branch line, when the old patriarch passed away—Si Yunyi returned home and, according to the will, inherited the majority of the family’s assets.

The third time was after Chu Junlie regained his memories. Si Yunyi, having caught wind of the news, hurried back, only to encounter an accident on the way. His car was wrecked, and he lost his life.

If the accident was inevitable, then it happened right in line with Chu Junlie’s timeline. If it could be avoided, then once Chu Junlie’s true love arrived, he could choose to step aside.

The marriage alliance between the Si and Yan families would still be completed, the Si family would remain intact, Chu Junlie’s romance wouldn’t be delayed, and he wouldn’t be subjected to abuse.

Compared with the patriarch’s “killing two birds with one stone,” this seemed more like a win-win-win situation.

Madam Yan looked at the varying expressions of the Si family members, then at the resolute Si Yunyi before her. In a daze, she agreed on the engagement banquet’s date. By the time she left the Si family’s ancestral home, her legs were weak.

Who would have thought that this brilliant young genius of the Si family would choose someone as utterly useless as Chu Junlie? Not only the Si family—even Madam Yan herself found it unbelievable.

Walking out of the Si family’s gates, Chu Junlie couldn’t stop smiling. He had been smiling so long his face was stiff, yet whenever he glanced at Si Yunyi beside him, the corners of his lips would rise again uncontrollably.

“Junlie.”

Madam Yan silently adjusted her tone as she called out to Chu Junlie. “Let’s go home.”

Chu Junlie’s steps faltered. The smile on his face slowly faded; he knew Madam Yan had plenty of questions waiting for him.

“Chu Junlie.”

A cool, clear voice came from his side. At once, Chu Junlie turned, jogging to Si Yunyi’s side, lips curving up again unconsciously.

“Madam Yan, how about I send Chu Junlie back tonight?” Si Yunyi’s expression remained calm, though his gaze carried a hint of indifference.

Madam Yan forced a smile, turning to her eldest son. “Why not let Junlie choose for himself? He can decide who he wants to go back with.”

Her eyes bore straight into Chu Junlie, the message unmistakably strong.

She wanted him to follow her. Now that things had taken such an unexpected turn, Chu Junlie was more valuable than before. She needed him to maintain good ties with the Yan family—only then could they benefit more.

Before Si Yunyi could say anything, the answer came swiftly from his side.

“I want to go back with Mr. Si.”

Madam Yan’s eyes darkened with heavy discontent. Si Yunyi merely gave her a faint smile before guiding Chu Junlie into the silver-white Jaguar XJ.

As the car drove off, Madam Yan nearly ground her teeth to pieces. Her husband tried to console her with a hand on her shoulder, but she avoided his touch.

“He hasn’t even married into the Si family yet, and he’s already tossing us aside!” Madam Yan slammed the car door shut and fumed. “Ungrateful little ingrate!”

“Look on the bright side,” her husband said gently. “Our An doesn’t need to marry into the Si family anymore. He’s free. Isn’t that wonderful?”

At the thought of her own son, Madam Yan’s expression softened. After a pause, she even managed a smile. “Yes… let’s go home and tell An’an this good news.”

---

Chu Junlie’s rented place was in the old district of Harbor City. The facilities there were outdated, and the alleys narrow. Thanks only to the driver’s skill did the car manage to stop steadily beneath his building.

“Mr. Si.”

Chu Junlie looked at Si Yunyi beside him. He had wanted to seriously thank him, but the moment his gaze met those cool eyes, the words were forgotten.

He opened his mouth, yet no sound came. His ears flushed red in an instant.

Si Yunyi watched as Chu Junlie lowered his head, then raised it, then lowered it again—back and forth for a full ten minutes. His ears grew so red they seemed ready to drip blood, yet not a single word was spoken.

Patient all the while, Si Yunyi finally waited until Chu Junlie managed to squeeze out one line:

“Would you… like to come up, and have some water?”

Seeing his nervous, flustered demeanor, Si Yunyi gave a slight nod, and followed him out of the car, into the old stairwell.

Chu Junlie led the way, so tense he almost tripped over his own feet. The stairwell lights were sound-activated, though several bulbs were faulty. He had to clap hard or call out “hey” a few times before the dim yellow light reluctantly flickered on.

He lived on the fourth floor. Under Chu Junlie’s fervent but restrained gaze, Si Yunyi entered the apartment—and realized how small it was.

One bedroom, one bath, no more than twenty square meters in total. Though tiny, it was spotless. The bed was perfectly smooth, not a wrinkle in sight. Even the decades-old tile floor gleamed from constant scrubbing.

Chu Junlie carefully poured a glass of water, holding it with both hands as he offered it to Si Yunyi. Taking it, Si Yunyi thanked him softly.

The cup itself seemed aged, decorated with red flowers—something out of the 1990s.

Si Yunyi took a small sip, his gaze sweeping the room: an old refrigerator long out of production, one bed, one wooden table, a storage shelf with items covered in plastic to keep dust away.

Standing nearby, Chu Junlie’s eyes were involuntarily drawn to the hand holding the cup. The cheap red flowers printed on the cup looked dazzling in those pale, elegant fingers—like crushed blossoms, dripping their vivid juices down his hand.

Heat flared in Chu Junlie’s ears. He turned his head quickly, unable to look any longer.

Just as Si Yunyi swallowed the sip of water, a loud buzz reverberated through the room. The walls seemed to tremble faintly. After two seconds, he realized it came from the old refrigerator.

Chu Junlie flinched at the sound, ears still red, lips pressed tight. “This fridge… has some issues. The repairman said the parts for this model aren’t made anymore. It can’t really be fixed.”

“May I take a look?” Si Yunyi set the cup down.

Head lowered, Chu Junlie opened the fridge before him—like a child caught doing something wrong. His hand clenched tightly at his side, regret in his eyes.

He knew exactly what was inside.

He shouldn’t have let him see. Shouldn’t have exposed this grim, shabby part of his life.

He understood well: the only reason Si Yunyi accepted him was out of pity, because he couldn’t bear to see him cast aside again and again, finally thrown to the Si family’s branch line to be trampled on.

Words should have been enough. So why had he foolishly brought him here, to witness his shame so nakedly?

The scornful gazes flashed again in his mind.

Madam Yan’s. Yan An’s. The passing supermarket customers’. The Si family juniors’.

Would Si Yunyi now look at him the same way?

The fridge opened with a stale odor. Si Yunyi calmly observed its contents: a few steamed buns, some hard cheap pastries, nearly-expired bread, a bag of wilted greens, and a small dish of leftovers wrapped in plastic.

The freezer was nearly empty. Aside from ice cubes, only the top shelf held two pieces of frozen meat, so discolored they’d lost all trace of red—likely frozen for at least three months, but still uneaten.

Next to the refrigerator was a small box. When opened, it revealed the tenant’s collection of plastic bags of all sizes, carefully kept as if they were to be reused—none of them discarded.

Before seeing this, Si Yunyi had never imagined that a man destined to be a “protagonist” could live so harshly.

“What do you usually eat?” Si Yunyi returned the box to its place, then turned his face slightly toward Chu Junlie, who was lowering his head deeply.

Chu Junlie cautiously lifted his eyes, trying to find the familiar look of disdain he’d seen so often. But instead, in the other man’s eyes, he saw an emotion he had never encountered before.

It was something like tolerance that could contain all his stains, and also something like compassion that reached into the depths of his heart.

He wasn’t disgusted with him. He didn’t see him as poor or dirty.

Unconsciously, Chu Junlie spoke the truth. His voice was hoarse, difficult to control.

“In the morning, I eat steamed buns or leftovers from the night before. At noon, some buns again. In the afternoon, I cook some vegetables for myself. Sometimes Grandpa Chang brings me food. If I get hungry at night, I’ll eat half a piece of pastry or bread.”

Si Yunyi didn’t comment, only glanced toward the bed not far from the refrigerator.

“With the fridge making noise, how do you sleep at night?”

“I might wake up seven or eight times at night. On days when I’m exhausted from construction work, I’ll wake up fewer times.” Chu Junlie felt a dull heaviness in his chest.

He’s the first person to ever notice this.

He’s the first person to ever ask him these kinds of questions.

“Do your parents know about this?” Si Yunyi lifted his gaze to the young man in front of him, who was eight years his junior.

“She doesn’t like hearing me talk about these things.” Chu Junlie pressed his lips together, working hard to hold back the sourness swelling in his chest.

“I already cost her too much when I had that accident.”

He paused here, then turned his face slightly toward Si Yunyi. His dark eyes brimmed with sincere gratitude.

“Now… she and I are even.”

Seeing the redness under his eyes, Si Yunyi realized he couldn’t ask further. If he pressed again, those unshed tears would spill.

Watching Chu Junlie deliberately hide his damp eyes by fetching the thermos to refill his cup, Si Yunyi’s heart stirred faintly. He decided to try asking the one question that might solve all of this hardship.

“Would you consider… moving in with me after the engagement?”

His voice, clear and steady as always, carried words that struck Chu Junlie as an unimaginable luxury.

Chu Junlie froze, thermos still in hand, his whole body stiff. In his mind, he repeated the sentence over and over, carefully tasting each word.

Once they were engaged… he could live with Mr. Si?!

Si Yunyi recalled the Chu Junlie from his dream and briefly worried that perhaps this was inappropriate. As the destined protagonist, Chu Junlie was proud and stubborn, fiercely self-reliant. Even in hardship, he would rather suffer than lose his independence…

“Yes, I’d like that.”

Before Si Yunyi could finish reflecting, the answer came quickly.

As though afraid that Si Yunyi might retract the offer, Chu Junlie raised his voice, his eyes still ringed with red but burning with determination.

“I’d like that.”

Si Yunyi nodded slightly, thinking perhaps he still hadn’t understood the “dragon-protagonist” well enough.

“Our engagement banquet is set for the 26th. That’s one week from now—it may feel rushed.”

He took out his phone and handed it to Chu Junlie, his gaze calm.

“Enter your number here. You’ll need many things, and tomorrow I’ll take you shopping.”

Chu Junlie instinctively wiped his hands on his pants before carefully accepting the phone with both hands. Joy threatened to spill from his eyes as he painstakingly entered his number, checking it three or four times before handing it back.

Si Yunyi pressed the “call” button. A few seconds later, Chu Junlie pulled out his own phone, nearly dropping it from the shock of its blaring ringtone.

“That’s my number.” Si Yunyi ended the call. Chu Junlie fumbled to steady his phone, staring at the digits on the screen marked only as “Unknown Number.”

“It’s late,” Si Yunyi said as he stood, looking at him. “See you tomorrow.”

“See—see you tomorrow.” Chu Junlie’s ears turned red. He had never found those three words so precious, as if they carried a soft pink echo that lingered in his heart.

Si Yunyi walked downstairs. Chu Junlie followed to clap for the voice-activated lights, then stood watching until the Jaguar disappeared down the narrow alley. Only after lingering a long while under the yellow streetlamp did he finally return upstairs.

The first thing he did upon returning was to collapse onto his bed, clutching his old phone. Above the digits of that new number, he edited the contact name.

At first, he typed “Mr. Si.” Then, glancing around the room, he deleted it letter by letter. Carefully, with a racing heart, he typed out: “Fiancé.”

Staring at the three words—so impossibly distant yet so close—Chu Junlie broke into a smile. Thinking back on the whole day, it felt like a sweet dream, or maybe just his own fantasy.

But it was real.

Absolutely real.

Hugging his phone, he pulled the blanket over himself, rolling up tight as he stifled his laughter. Only when he nearly ran out of air did he poke out his messy head, exhaling deeply.

Suddenly remembering something, Chu Junlie shot up, shuffled into the cramped bathroom in his plastic slippers, and blushing furiously, began washing himself carefully with cold water from the broken heater.

Meanwhile, Si Yunyi sat in his car. He sent a message to the housekeeper, asking her to prepare a guest room over the next two days. As he considered the things Chu Junlie would need for the engagement, his fingers slid over his tablet screen—confirming payment for a brand new, top-of-the-line phone.

The old master of the Chu family wanted to use memory loss to make Chu Junlie taste all the hardships of this world—forcing him into poverty and distress. Through countless nights of humiliation and abuse, he sought to grind away Chu Junlie’s resistance toward the Chu family, shaping him into an heir perfectly molded to his liking.

But Si Yunyi, on the contrary, would not let him have his way.

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