CHAPTER 31

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Lan Xichen was so hurt by what people said about his baby brother that a lone tear rolled down his cheek and dissapeared with the wind and that snow. He didn't know his brother was going through so much at his young age and he felt useless for not being able to check in his brother in class. They did not attend the same class as Lan Zhan was still young, he had to start with basic lessons first. Lan Xichen his while body's temperature rise and he felt as if the snow around him as Lan Zhan said " ge ge, they even said I'm not normal. Is it true? Am I not like other children ? Tell me ge ge what wrong with me then? " Lan Qiren was fuming at this point and Lan Xichen grabbed Lan Zhan's hand and pulled it to his and hugged him tightly as if his whole life depended on hugging his Wanji.

" They have gone too far now, Wanji!!...let's go home now ilbe9fre you freeze. I want to speak with the parents of those children tomorrow" Lan Qiren said in his angry tone and Lan Xichen broke the hug and held Lan Zhan's hand as they stood up and left. Lan Zhan was freezing but he didn't complain, Lan Xichen saw he was shivering and he offered to carry him on his back but Lan Zhan walked passed him and kept walking and Lan Xichen finally realised how all those words had impacted his brother. When they reached home Lan Xichen poured bit tea for the three of them to feel warm after standing in the snow for a long time. The maiden who was came and delivered their food and they ate quietly, Lan Zhan didn't feel hungry but he ate so that his brother wouldn't worry

The next morning they left the house and headed for their respective classes and Lan Xichen had told Lan Zhan to wait for him after class so that they would go home together. Lan Qiren went and spoke with the elders about what had happened to his nephew and ask for their advice on how he should go about that whole bullying situation. Since the time he punished Lan Furen, he didn't want to make another mistake of taking matters into his hands as he saw the results of doing such. So he promised himself to always ask for advice from the elders even if he was a clan leader at that time, he was holding that position for Lan Xichen to come of age to take his rightful title of clan leader.

After class Lan Zhan waited in the big tree a few metres away from Lan Xichen's class, waiting for him as promised while reading a book his teacher gave him to test his IQ level. He was sitting quietly when a boy who looked 2years older than him came and sat down next to him, the boy peeked at the book Lan Zhan was reading and when he didn't get any reaction from Lan Zhan he asked him questions " what's the name of this book, why haven't I read it before and I saw the teacher giving it to you" Lan Zhan kept silent and continued reading and the boys continued " hey I'm talking to you, are you deaf! Do you think you're special than all of us! Just because you're the clan leader's son doesn't mean you should be treated different from other kids. Oh..! So you're dead and mute, now I get why your mother left you, you're a living corpse ha..ha..ha...! " The boy laughed so hard that his laughter caught the atte6of other kids and they came running.

Lan Zhan ignored him even when he poked his nose, he ignored him even when he snatched the book he was busy reading he kept his eyes on the ground. The boy saw that he was still not getting Lan Zhan's attention then resulted in pushing Lan Zhan to the ground, other kids laughed and pointed fingers at him as he stood up and looked at his bleeding palms which were scratched by the concrete on the walk path. He took out a handkerchief bout of his robe's sleeve and wiped the blood, the boy took the handkerchief and threw it to the ground and stomped his feet on it. Lan Zhan was so hurt because the handkerchief was given to him by his mother when he was 2years old to wipe some flour when he was helping her bake cookies. He was clean even for his age that even dust on his shoes irritated him so he taught himself to walk differently so that his shoes didn't get dirty.

His movement was elegant for a child, his posture was perfect that he was praised by every elder in the clan. His clothes and hair was cleaner with the finishing touch of the Lan clan headband which he tied himself, the headband was given to his by Lan Qiren when he started attending classes so he would look like other kids. He didn't like anyone touching his headband as Lan Qiren had told him that the headband was the most sacred and that no one should touch it other than his family and soulmate, but to Lan Zhan didn't want even his brother to touch it so he taught himself his to tie it as he struggled for two hours to wear it as perfect as he wanted it to be.

Lan Zhan kept staring at the handkerchief which was now torn by the concrete on the ground and tried to pick it up when the boy accidentally stepped on his tiny hand. He tried to pull his hand away when his soft hand was dragged along with the boy's foot and was cut open. He started bleeding and the kids who were there started to panick when they saw too much blood coming out of the deep cuts in his hand. They ran towards their teacher to call him for help when the boy who was responsible for this panicked not knowing if he should run or help him. He had never wanted to hurt him in the first place, infact...he wanted to be friends with Lan Zhan but got frustrated when he wasn't answering his questions, so he hurt him purposely as the crowd grew. He didn't want to be called ' weak or a coward ' so he threw his book and and handkerchief on the ground . He didn't think Lan Zhan would try to pick it up which resulted in hurting him again but this time not on purpose.

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