The Yu Brother's Case Book

"Today's news report. At 3 a.m. this morning, a headless corpse of a woman was found in 台中市 (Taichung City). According to the initial investigation…"

At 6 in the morning, located in one of the garden villas of Taichung City, the news was being broadcasted on the television in one of the households.

Just like every other family, in the morning there would be the sound of changing television channels, from beauty channel, exercise channel, cartoon channel, and more, until the television returned to its original channel, broadcasting the news again.

At the kitchen counter separating the living room and the kitchen, the gas stove was turned on with a 'ka' sound, followed by the sizzling sound of the oil as it was poured into the pan on top of the stove. Cracking an egg into the pan, under the high heat from the stove, the egg was slowly cooked into a golden omelette.

The timer on the toaster ticked away and with a 'ding', the pleasant smell of the toasted bread weaved through the air.

Just as the person who was busy cooking turned around to put the bread on a plate, an angry voice cut through, protesting.

"I don't agree!"

At 6 in the morning, located in the thirdly developed garden villa, was a detached house with a door plate "虞" (yú) hung outside the gates. Despite the early morning, a family argument was raging in the house.

Although, the argument was currently one-sided as the other party completely ignored the angry protests while continuing his job at hand: "阿因 (Ah Yin), your dad and second dad have already decided. If you disagree now, be careful of how your second dad will torture you." Standing in front of the gas stove, a man with short hair and a baby face, shook his hand and the golden omelette did a beautiful flip and landed perfectly back into the pan, the oil continued to crackle on the side of the omelette.

"That was a decision made purely by the both of you! If you two want to bring someone home to stay, at least let me know beforehand!" Arguing in the early morning for the sake of defending his own territory is the only son of the Yu household, 虞因 (Yu Yin). He pointed to the unknown boy seated in the living room and complained unhappily: "I am also a member of this family, what you two have done is very disrespectful to this third member of the family eh!"

Yu Yin, a second year university student, currently studying at 理东科技大学设计学院 1 (Li Dong University of Technology, School of Design) located in the city. By nature, Yu Yin likes to play and make friends, especially female friends. He is rather well-liked and popular amongst people of his 'type', almost everyone within a hundred miles radius knows him… but this is not the point!

With a mop of curly orange hair, Yu Yin did his usual morning routine when he woke up this morning, brushing his teeth and washing his face, then heading down to the kitchen to wait for his breakfast to be made. However, the moment he stepped off the last step of the staircase into the living room on the first floor, he doubted his eyes for a brief moment.

There was an unknown little boy, appearing to be underage, sitting in the living room, reading an original edition book which Yu Yin could not understand. When Yu Yin spoke to the boy, the boy made no response, so he dashed into the kitchen to ask about the unknown boy. He got his answer… the unknown boy was actually adopted by his two fathers!

Immediately, he protested.

"Adopting a kid all of a sudden, aren't you two being a little too ridiculous ah?" Usually, when his two fathers brought other beings 2 back for a temporary stay, Yu Yin could close one eye. However, in the span of one day, to suddenly adopt a little boy, isn't this a little too much? The more he thought about it, the angrier Yu Yin got. He felt insignificant in the eyes of his fathers as his fathers did not care about his opinion whenever they made a decision.

Glancing at Yu Yin as he moved his hands, the chef spoke: "It is not as serious as you think. It is because 小聿 (Little Yu) is involved in a rather peculiar case and the adoption centres do not dare to take him in. Therefore, your second dad and I have discussed and decided to bring Little Yu back with us. Normally, an adopted child can make his own decision to leave or stay once the child reaches the legal adult age. Little Yu would be eighteen at the end of this year and would soon be able to make his own decision for his future. You don't have to worry la." Turning a blind eye to his agitated son. 虞佟 (Yu Tong), who is currently 38 but with the face of an 18-year-old teen and has a university son, said in a relaxed tone. He had long gotten used to his son's easily agitated character and did not take his words to heart. "Also, you better keep your voice down. Your second dad went to investigate a smuggling case yesterday and only came back to sleep at five plus in the morning. If you wake him up…"

"Investigating a smuggling case? Since when did that become his job?" Yu Yin furrowed his brows as he handed the plates over to his dad.

"Apparently it's due to a murder case subsequently linking to a drug trading case, so your second dad and his team worked together with the other team that was dealing with the smuggling case. As these two cases are not under my scope, I am also not too clear on the details" Placing the breakfast onto the plates, decorated with the previously broiled vegetable and some fruits, Yu Tong placed the plates on the table. "He did not get much sleep recently and finally got some time this morning to come back for a quick nap, so don't be too loud."

Fearing the sleeping tiger on the upper floor, Yu Yin lowered his volume but his rage did not dissipate: "Who cares! The little melon that you two brought back, you two take care of him yourselves! I don't care!"

Shrugging his shoulders in resignation, Yu Tong corrected his son, "The boy has a name called少荻聿 (Shao Di Yu), don't call him a melon."

"Shao Di Yu? A foreigner?" Yu Yin did not get a proper look at the unknown boy previously as the boy's head was faced downwards at the book he was reading. Hence, Yu Yin only saw a head of black hair and did not see his face. "There are still people with the surname 'Shao' ah?" He wouldn't be a smuggler, would he? Yu Yin decided to test the little boy if he knows how to sing the national anthem and the national flag song later on.

"It's not 'Shao' but 'Shao Di'. It seems to be related to something that is pa.s.sed down in his family, it wasn't written clearly in the records so that's all I know. Also, don't go testing the boy if he knows how to sing the national anthem. The boy has an identification card, he is definitely Taiwanese." Completely seeing through the plans of his older son, Yu Tong gave Yu Yin a warning before turning to the pot of soup that he stewed and called out to the little boy in the living room: "Little Yu, come and get a bowl of soup, will you?"

Just as the last word faded, the sound of footsteps was heard, 'don, don, don', the boy who was nicknamed 'little melon' by Yu Yin, entered the kitchen and tilted his head to the father and son duo.

Upon closer inspection, Yu Yin realized that the little boy which he despised, although had an Asian face and a mop of black hair, his eyes…

They were purple!

Is he really a local? Or is he using the recently trending colour contact lens?

Staring at the boy for a long moment, Yu Yin had the urge to step forward and check if the pair of purple eyes are real.

"Oh, and Ah Yin, Little Yu cannot speak so take note to be more accommodating towards him oh!" Pouring the soup for the boy, Yu Tong smiled at his older son and added, "This is your dad's order."

Breaking out of his surprise and shock at seeing the pair of purple eyes, Yu Yin's face darkened and he continued to show his displeasure, "That's none of my business." They did not even consult him when they decided to take in the brat, now they want him to look after the boy? No way in h.e.l.l!

With that, to show his utmost displeasure, Yu Yin gave up on the delightful breakfast placed before him. He turned to pick up his bag and left the house, leaving his father and new younger brother to look at each other.

After a short moment of silence, Yu Tong spoke up, "Sorry for that, Ah Yin is just a little rash. Little Yin, you have to be a little understanding, Ah Yin didn't mean any harm."

Purple pair of eyes looked at Yu Tong, then the boy slowly nodded his head.

Yu Tong stretched out his hand and ruffled the boy's head, "Don't worry, I believe you will be able to overcome this obstacle and speak once again."

The boy stared at Yu Tong silently before holding his bowl of soup and turned away.

Letting out a breath, Yu Tong stretched his back.

"Alright, let's work hard today!"

Character Introduction:

Dad - Yu Tong (虞佟)

Second Dad (Uncle) -Yu Xia (虞夏)

First Main Character (Son) - Yu Yin (虞因) a.k.a Ah Yin.

Second Main Character (Adopted Son) - Shao Di Yu (少狄聿) a.k.a Little Yu / Yu

Note: The Yu family members are referred to by their full name (e.g. Yu Yin) whereas Shao Di Yu is referred to by his first name only (i.e. Yu) in the story. They are also referred to by nicknames among the family, e.g Yu Yin as Ah Yin or Shao Di Yu as Little Yu, during conversations.

1: I don't know if this is a real university as I could not find the English name of the university in Google, I directly translated it into Li Dong University of Technology, School of Design.

2: I'm a.s.suming it includes people and animals since the story did not state specifically.