Ryan Cooper has three rules for Ethan Clark:

Don’t call me big brother in public

Don’t act together

Don’t let anyone know you live at my house

Ethan Clark has always obediently followed these rules, acting like a stranger at school. At the opening ceremony, he suddenly collapsed from an allergic asthma attack, causing chaos at the scene. Unexpectedly, Ryan Cooper, who was giving a speech as the student representative, abruptly stopped speaking...

That night, the campus forum was buzzing with a hot post.

[Shocking!! The most handsome boy in our junior high and the most handsome boy in our senior high are actually “brothers”!]

————————————

Ever since his father brought home a little mixed-race kid at the age of six, Ryan Cooper’s life has been completely entangled with this clingy little guy whose Chinese wasn’t even good.

Preschool Liam Clark: Brother Ryan, my classmate said he has a pretty “sister-in-law” today. What’s a “sister-in-law”?

Ryan Cooper: His brother’s wife.

Liam Clark: No! I don’t want a “sister-in-law”!

Ryan Cooper: ...

Liam Clark: I’ll be your “sister-in-law”! (Something’s not right here...)

Ryan Cooper: Please study Chinese family relationships properly.

Liam Clark: No, no, I’ll be my own “sister-in-law”!

Ryan Cooper: ...

Chapter 1: A Stroke of Bad Luck

The air after the rain smelled like a camphor leaf stained with mud.

Ethan Clark was stepped on by the orange cat that jumped onto his bed. He opened his eyes in a daze, suddenly realizing he had overslept.

He was rarely late even a few times a year, but of all days, it had to happen on the first day of school—truly unlucky. Hearing Aunt Grace calling him from downstairs, Ethan Clark quickly responded a few times. The cat stepped over his stomach again, lightly jumped off the bed, and he hurried to wash up and change, grabbed his backpack, and dashed out.

"Your alarm didn’t go off?" Grace Miller calmly rinsed out a milk cup. "Hurry and eat breakfast. I mixed yesterday’s braised beef sauce with rice noodles—it’s really good."

By now, Ethan Clark had already darted to the entryway, not even thinking about breakfast.

"There’s no morning self-study before the opening ceremony, so I forgot to set a new alarm. Aunt Grace, where’s Ryan Cooper Brother?"

The little Pomeranian at home pattered after him, sitting obediently on the floor as he changed his shoes.

"Your brother left early. Isn’t today the opening ceremony? I think he said he was on duty today. Do seniors still have to be on duty?" Grace Miller put the cup away, dried her hands, and turned around. "Your junior high opening ceremony should still be together with the senior high, right..."

Turning around, she saw Ethan Clark already opening the door, with the Pomeranian frantically scratching his leg, not wanting him to leave.

Grace Miller hurriedly called out, "Liam Clark! You can’t skip breakfast!"

Ethan Clark squatted down, rubbed the dog’s head, gave it a kiss, and hurried off. "I’ll buy rice cakes, Aunt Grace, bye~"

"Don’t eat random things!"

Leaving the house, Ethan Clark rode his bike straight to the breakfast stall outside the neighborhood, but the old lady who usually sold rice cakes wasn’t there today. He remembered her saying her back hurt and figured she’d need a few days to rest. Next time he saw her, he’d buy extra. The soup noodle shop next door, though, was wafting with the aroma of stewed beef offal from afar.

"Liam Clark, have you had breakfast yet? Come have some noodles." The beef noodle shop owner pulled up a strainer full of rice noodles from the big soup pot, the hot broth under the strainer looking like white silk, rising and falling.

"I’m going to be late, Uncle Brooks, I’ll eat tomorrow!" Ethan Clark stopped his bike and rushed into the convenience store. With no time to choose, he grabbed a bag of rice bread, paid, and left. This was one of the few snacks Ethan Clark could eat from the convenience store.