"Xiao Jin."

"Xiao Jin, are you feeling any better?"

"Why did you get out of bed directly?"

"What? Xiao Jin is here? Wait, let me wash my face."

With Shi Jin's greeting, everyone in the kitchen turned to look at him and then put down what they were doing to gather around him. Rong Zhouzhong's eyes were stinging from the onions and he couldn't open them. He wanted to go over but couldn't, so he frantically used tissues to wipe his face, hoping to get rid of the burning sensation in his eyes as soon as possible.

Shi Jin briefly responded to everyone's greetings, then walked past Shi Weichong and Fei Yujing, and approached Rong Zhouzhong. He raised his hand and pressed down on the back of his head, pulling down his hand that was rubbing his face, and said, "Do you want to blind yourself?"

"What... Ah! You little brat, what are you doing!" Suddenly, Shi Jin held a handful of water paste and smeared it on Rong Zhouzhong's face, causing him to scream in fright.

"Don't move." Shi Jin held down Rong Zhouzhong's head as he carefully rubbed his eyes with a tissue soaked in water.

Then he let go of his head, picked up some soap, and washed his hands thoroughly.

Finally, he handed Rong Zhouzhong a few tissues and said, "Quickly wipe your face. If you rub your eyes with onion on your hands, even if someone calls you a fool, it would be a compliment. Now go away and don't touch onions again today."

When Shi Jin was helping him rub his eyes, Rong Zhouzhong had already calmed down. He stood there, with water and paper scraps all over his face, staring at Shi Jin in a daze. Suddenly, he reached out and hugged Shi Jin tightly, rubbing his hair vigorously.

Through gritted teeth, he said, "You little brat, you're not cute at all! You evil guy, how dare you mess up my carefully styled hair! Do you know how important an actor's hair is?"

Shi Jin didn't expect him to suddenly attack him. He only realized that his hair had been messed up into a bird's nest after the fact. He immediately grabbed him back and started rubbing his hair as well, saying in a grumpy tone, "You ungrateful guy! I helped you and you still blame me? You deserve to be punished! You're better off blind!"

How could Rong Zhouzhong be his match? The hairstyle he had painstakingly prepared was rubbed into a mess by Shi Jin in no time. Frustrated, Rong Zhouzhong grabbed Shi Jin's hand and exclaimed, "Let go, let go! The style has collapsed!"

Only after Shi Jin had turned Rong Zhouzhong's hair into a mess did he release his grip, satisfied. He then turned around and embraced Xiang Aoting, who was standing nearby.

Everyone was stunned, including Xiang Aoting. "Fourth Brother, thank you for the birthday gift. I really like it," said Shi Jin, patting Xiang Aoting's back and thanking him with a smile.

Xiang Aoting quickly regained his composure and hugged Shi Jin back, patting his back as well. "I'm glad you like it. Did the fever go down? Are you feeling better?"

"It's fine, the fever has gone down," Shi Jin replied, taking a step back and looking towards Shi Weichong, who was standing on the side. Shi Weichong watched him quietly. When he looked over, he instinctively avoided his gaze, but quickly adjusted and greeted him warmly, "Xiao Jin, long time no see."

It was more than just a long time no see... There were some emotions in his heart that were about to burst out.

Shi Jin pinched his palm and hugged Shi Weichong, then quickly let go before his emotions overwhelmed him. He gave him a smile and said, "I don't really hate ginger, big brother doesn't have to worry too much."

Shi Weichong was about to hug him back when he suddenly became restless. His eyes dimmed for a moment, then quickly covered up and helped Shi Jin straighten his clothes, saying, "I understand."

Shi Jin smiled at him again, then turned to Fei Yujing. Fei Yujing reached out his hand and asked, "Do you want a hug? I don't mind this kind of brotherly reunion."

"Brotherly reunion my ass!"

Shi Jin gave him a disdainful look, then hugged him briefly before pushing him away and saying, "Second brother, you looked so clumsy when you were washing the vegetables just now."

Fei Yujing laughed after being criticized, and withdrew his hand, saying, "I actually think I look much better washing vegetables than the third and fourth brothers."

"Hey!" Rong Zhouzhong protested.

Even Xiang Aoting defended himself, saying, "My vegetable washing skills are definitely more proficient than second brother's."

Shi Jin smiled as he watched them talk, subtly squeezing his fingers, before finally looking at Li Jiuzheng, who had been standing in front of the cutting board the whole time without taking a step closer. Li Jiuzheng was looking over this way. When he saw Shi Jin approaching, he immediately lowered his head and pulled at his sweater, as if trying to cover up the bloodstains on it.

"Xiao Jin," whispered Xiang Aoting.

"It's okay," Shi Jin reassured him with a smile, then walked over to Li Jiuzheng and called out, "Fifth Brother."

Li Jiuzheng stiffened and turned his head to look at him.

Shi Jin smiled at him and hugged him, gently patting his back. "It's okay if your clothes are dirty, just change into something clean. It's okay if your hands are dirty, just wash them. You can do it... and so can I."

So there was nothing to worry about. Hugging was no more difficult than facing a blade, and he could do it.

"Xiao Jin..." Li Jiuzheng's voice trembled as he wanted to hug Shi Jin. He lifted his hand, but remembered the blood on it and slowly put it down. He lowered his head, blocking his reddened eyes and said, "I'm sorry... I'll dirty your clothes..."

"It's okay, I'll just change into a clean one." Shi Jin let go of him, smiled at him, then glanced at everyone and said with a smile, "You guys go ahead, I'll take a shower and change clothes before coming back. I've been sleeping for too long, and I smell bad."

After speaking, he ignored everyone's reaction, walked to the kitchen door, and held onto Lian Jun's hand again.

Lian Jun immediately held his hand back, took a step forward to block his figure, nodded to the Shi family brothers, and directly led him away.

......

The chaotic and terrible emotions only slightly faded away when the hot water poured over him. Shi Jin looked at Lian Jun, who was helping him bathe, and hugged him affectionately, nuzzling him.

Lian Jun patted his lower back and asked, "Feeling warmer now?"

"Mm, thanks to my baby," Shi Jin sweet-talked, turning his head to kiss Lian Jun's neck.

Lian Jun let him kiss him and continued to gently stroke his hair and back.

This bath took a full hour to finish. Shi Jin came out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and put on one of Lian Jun's robes. He sniffed the scent of Lian Jun on the robe and then poked Xiao Si in his mind, saying, "Is there a Great Compassion Mantra in this world? If there is, play it on loop in my mind. If not, play some nursery rhymes, the sillier the better. Keep playing, don't stop."

Xiao Si was absolutely terrified by this request and stuttered, "C-come on, what's wrong with you? Don't go crazy, I'm scared..."

"With you here, how could I possibly go crazy? Let me out, you don't want me to develop any psychological problems today, do you?" Shi Jin reassured him. He was about to close the wardrobe when he suddenly thought of something and opened it again, taking out his own navy blue sweater.

Lian Jun had been by his side the whole time and when he saw this, his eyes flickered and he reached out to touch Shi Jin's hair.

Shi Jin turned around and smiled at him, "After the reunion dinner, I'll tell you a story."

Lian Jun touched the corner of his mouth and leaned in to kiss him, "Okay."

......

When Shi Jin returned to the kitchen, the cooking had already begun in earnest. Xiang Aoting was in charge of the cooking, while Shi Weichong assisted him. Fei Yujing and Rong Zhouzhong were responsible for serving and cleaning up the dishes, while Li Jiuzheng watched over a pot of soup, his sweater nowhere to be seen, wearing only a shirt.

Crash!

Rong Zhouzhong dropped the third plate, and Fei Yujing closed his eyes in patience, saying, "Old Third, you..."

"Shut up! It was an accident," Rong Zhouzhong angrily interrupted him.

Fei Yujing sighed and pulled his hand away from picking up the broken pieces, saying, "I can't believe we both inherited our father's genes. You..."

"I can't believe it either," said Shi Jin, stepping into the kitchen. He glanced at the fried dim sum and spring rolls on the table and complimented their appearance before walking up behind Li Jiuzheng and patting him on the back.

Li Jiuzheng immediately turned to look at him, his eyes widening as his gaze slowly fell on Shi Jin's robe.

"Here," Shi Jin handed him his sweater and said, "the heating in the club isn't turned up too high. It'll be cold if you only wear a shirt. This is my sweater, just wear it for now."

Li Jiuzheng's eyes remained fixed on the sweater for a while before he finally reached out to take it, clutching it tightly and saying, "Thank you...Xiao Jin."

"It's no problem," said Shi Jin, his mind filled with the melody of children's songs. He felt like he was a kindergarten teacher, facing a group of misbehaving children, but surrounded by a loving aura. He didn't feel uncomfortable at all.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise.

Shi Jin turned his head to look towards Rong Zhouzhong, and saw that his thin knit sweater was covered in water stains. He held a water cup and pretended to say, "Oops, I accidentally spilled water on myself. Xiao Jin, my clothes are wet, can you lend me a piece of clothing to wear?"

Everyone: "..."

As soon as Li Jiuzheng's expression sank, he quickly put on the ink blue sweater that Shi Jin had given him. Then, he bent down and pulled out his own orange sweater from the corner. It looked like a wrinkled piece of cloth that had been through a lot.

He walked quickly to Rong Zhouzhong and shoved the sweater onto his face, saying, "Put this on. You can borrow my clothes."

Rong Zhouzhong was taken aback at first, but then he exploded. He quickly tried to block Li Jiuzheng's hand and said, "Who wants to wear your smelly garbage? Get away! Get away quickly!"

Li Jiuzheng wouldn't take no for an answer and held onto Rong Zhouzhong's shoulder, insisting that he put on the sweater.

As the two of them were pushing and pulling, they accidentally bumped into Xiang Aoting, who was cooking. Xiang Aoting's hand slipped and a bunch of salt fell into the pot, ruining the dish.

As a vein popped on his forehead, Xiang Aoting couldn't take it anymore and put down his spatula. He turned around, grabbed one of them by the collar, and dragged them to the kitchen door. With a flick of his wrist, he threw them out.

"No one is allowed in the kitchen until you calm down!"

Bang!

Xiang Aoting slammed the kitchen door shut and turned to look at the people still inside.

"It's about time," Fei Yujing muttered as he continued to clean the dishes.