The Whisper of the Northern Lights

"Little Shizi, come take a look at your Brother Guangyi's latest award-winning work."

Nie Guangyi entered with a face full of smugness, cradling an architectural model in his arms.

Strutting with the gait of an emperor.

Bowlegged.

Full of verve, unmatched in presence.

The boy called Little Shizi didn't even lift his head, responding with a nonchalance: "Little Niezi, I'm not interested in armchair strategizing. When your design actually gets built, then I will have a look."

"Who gave you the guts to call your brother 'Little Niezi'?" Nie Guangyi made a throat-slashing gesture.

"Perhaps your dad did." Xuan Shi kept his head down.

"Are your arms itching for a solo trip again?" Nie Guangyi lifted his chin, oozing with a threatening tone: "Shall I dismantle the left or the right one first?"

"If you can actually dismantle them, feel free to try both sides."

Xuan Shi was unfazed, earnestly swiping the screen of his phone.

Just like a jerk boyfriend who only knows to play with his phone when together with his partner.

Of course, the same applies if the genders are switched.

Being a jerk knows no gender.

Luckily, Nie Guangyi was not Xuan Shi's partner, and Xuan Shi was not a jerk.

At that moment, Xuan Shi was completely engrossed in admiring the three photos his girlfriend sent to his phone.

Scenery photos.

Serious ones.

Honest to a fault!

"Hey!"

Feeling his brother's dismissiveness and neglect, Nie Guangyi perked up, putting down the model he was holding.

He rolled his neck side to side.

Turned his shoulders back in a few circles.

He made his preparations for a "fight."

Then he sprang into action with the fastest speed.

Xuan Shi still didn't bother to lift his head.

With his right hand on his phone, he flicked up his left hand, catching Nie Guangyi's right hand swooping over his head.

He effortlessly neutralized all the force from Nie Guangyi's hand.

With a backhand twist, he wound Nie Guangyi's recently loosened arm behind his back.

Tight as could be.

Making it impossible even to twitch.

Nie Guangyi had no choice but to switch to his left hand.

Before it could even be raised, it was twisted together with the other by Xuan Shi.

In less than two seconds, the formidable Brother Guangyi was left without any power to resist.

Clearly, the "formidability" in Nie Guangyi's dictionary was a typo that should manually be corrected to leaky "leak."

Seeing Nie Guangyi stop struggling, Xuan Shi released the force in his hands; he had no plan to compete seriously with Nie Guangyi.

"You just talk without involving my dad, why do that?" Nie Guangyi was quite annoyed; it was okay if his combat power wasn't superior, but he absolutely couldn't lose in terms of presence.

"If your dad doesn't have the surname Nie, how could you have it? If I don't call you 'Nie,' can I call you 'Little Niezi'?"

Xuan Shi explained why it was "your dad."

He truly had no intention to insult his brother's family.

Because his combat power didn't compare to Xuan Shi's, Nie Guangyi's imperial aura had long vanished without a trace, but he still couldn't help but to struggle: "Kneel in salute, then, Xiaoxuan. Your Brother Guangyi is in a good mood today, I won't take issue with you."

"What's up?" Xuan Shi looked up, interested.

"Didn't I tell you? Brother won an award today!"

Finally, Nie Guangyi regained a smidgen of his presence. He shook his head and assumed what he thought was a suave hair toss.

"Another conceptual design?" Xuan Shi's flicker of interest evaporated instantly, "Then I'll admire it some other time."

Since university, Nie Guangyi has been doing all sorts of conceptual architectural designs.

Since they're conceptual, it implies they won't be realized anytime soon.

Ephemeral and esoteric, not suitable for human habitation in the current times.

Xuan Shi is a pragmatic person; he prefers something he can live in immediately, like the place Cheng Nuo had just invited him to.

He frankly didn't know how to describe it with words.

Just looking at the photos made him feel it was beyond compare.

So much so that he couldn't bear to take his eyes off the phone screen even for a moment.

Nie Guangyi's temper was flaring up, and he launched into a barrage of questioning.

"When is 'next time'?"

"Hmm?"

"What day is 'another day'?"

"Ah?"

"How long is 'in the future'?"

"Uh..."

Xuan Shi was stumped for several seconds.

It was at this moment, from the corner of his eye, that he noticed the award-winning model Nie Guangyi had placed on the side.

Suppressing his inner surprise, he asked Nie Guangyi: "When did your conceptual design win the award?"

"Just today."

Nie Guangyi leaned back slightly and threw up two thumbs in front of his chest, giving Xuan Shi a clear view.

The gesture was quite perfect.

It didn't obstruct Xuan Shi from seeing his latest award-winning work, nor did it prevent him from giving himself thumbs up.