My younger brothers are so fierce!!! I'm clearly the eldest brother!

Bai Xin drove very steadily, stopping at several service areas along the way, having lunch, and arriving in Jingbei City around 4 PM.

Jiang Guanqing slept almost the entire way; he wasn't feeling well, and after sleeping for a while, he felt groggy.

As soon as the group arrived, they called Cheng Yunqin and Bai Jin to let them know they were safe.

The housekeeper had already arranged dinner, and Jiang Yan watched Jiang Guanqing eat and take his medicine throughout the meal.

The next day was Sunday, and everyone had a day off to rest. On Monday, everyone gradually got busy again.

Jiang Yan went to work at the hospital, Jiang Zhuo was dragged by her agent to audition, Jiang Huai had a competition soon and went to the training camp, Jiang Ting went to the studio, Jiang Ning went to school, and Gong Bolin went to the company.

Jiang Guanqing didn't want to be alone. Feeling that he was feeling better, he contacted Bai Xin to come pick him up, and they went to the company together.

-

Jiang Ning, her eyes glazed over, staggered into the classroom, and the noisy chatter that had been filling the morning reading break fell eerily silent for a moment.

Zhu Guangbai excitedly ran forward and slapped Jiang Ning's arm. "Boss, you're finally back! Is Big Brother alright?"

Jiang Ning felt a sharp pain in her arm, which jolted her awake. She casually hung her backpack on the chair and said, "It's okay, my older brother is fine."

A classmate nearby sidled up, "Is your brother really alright? When the stage collapsed..."

This question immediately drew everyone's attention.

Jiang Ning plopped down and waved her hand, "Stop, my brother is fine. As for the rest, leave the legal matters to the law, that's what my brother said."

Just as Jiang Ning finished speaking, the classroom loudspeaker suddenly blared, and the grade director's stern cough came through.

Jiang Ning was completely bewildered. He had just tidied his desk and was about to go to sleep when he heard, "What kind of meeting is this? Meetings every day! We just arrived at school and there's already a meeting."

Damn it (〃＞皿＜), school is my curse!

Ten minutes later, the auditorium was packed with people. Jiang Ning was huddled in the last few rows of her class's line, tilting her head and dozing off.

The headmaster's booming voice exploded in his ears, startling him once again.

"Students, there are less than 100 days left until the college entrance examination. Next Saturday, the school will hold an 18th birthday ceremony for you!"

The student group instantly erupted into chaos, creating a noisy scene.

"Quiet, I'm going to explain the specific procedures now, so please take notes."

A PowerPoint presentation started playing on the big screen, and Jiang Ning squinted as she looked at it.

"The coming-of-age ceremony will be held next Saturday at 9:00 AM in the school's main playground. The program is as follows: First, each class will enter the venue in formation on a red carpet; second, the national flag will be raised and the national anthem will be played; third, the principal will give a speech; fourth, and most importantly, parent representatives will come on stage to pin adult badges on their children and exchange letters with each other."

Fifth, all students, hand in hand with their parents, crossed the "Gate of Adulthood" and signed their names on the gate wall; sixth, a collective oath was taken; after the ceremony, each class had free time.

The head of the grade cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.

"In addition, on the day of the coming-of-age ceremony, all senior high school students are allowed not to wear school uniforms and may attend in formal attire or traditional clothing, but outlandish clothing is prohibited! Boys are not allowed to wear slippers and shorts, and girls are not allowed to wear miniskirts. Also, cosplay is popular now, but it is not allowed on that day. Remember all of this, otherwise you will all have to change back into school uniforms."

"Wow—"

Before the grade head could finish speaking, a burst of excited screams erupted from below.

"Quiet! One last thing, each student may invite one parent to attend and witness your coming-of-age moment. Before school ends today, each class should submit the list of parents to the grade group so that the school can make corsages for everyone."

A finger suddenly poked her in the back, and Jiang Ning's body trembled. She straightened up instantly, frowned, and looked at Zhu Guangbai, "You'd better have something important to say."

Zhu Guangbai wasn't intimidated at all, and chuckled, "Boss, who are you inviting? What are you going to wear?"

"have no idea."

Despite saying this, Jiang Ning wrote down her eldest brother, Jiang Guanqing, on the list she submitted that day without any hesitation.

Three days later, Jiang Ning and his group received the gold-embossed invitation from Meng Su, with "Jiang Guanqing" filled in the parent's name section.

Zhu Guangbai kept looking at his invitation letter, then leaned over to Jiang Ning and asked curiously, "Boss, who did you fill in? Don't keep it a secret."

The school does a good job of protecting privacy; all the forms they filled out were only visible to themselves.

Jiang Ning shoved Zhu Guangbai's head away, "What's it to you?"

Zhu Guangbai curled his lip, "Tch, it must be the eldest brother who filled in the paper. Who else but the eldest brother can handle your dog-like temper..."

"Oh dear, boss, are you getting angry?"

Jiang Ning lightly kicked Zhu Guangbai's chair leg.

Over the next few days, Jiang Ning would take the invitation out of his bag every morning and look at it. Several times at the dinner table, he wanted to tell Jiang Guanqing about it, but he swallowed the words back. He didn't know why he was always a little embarrassed to speak.

Meanwhile, Jiang Guanqing had already received a confirmation text message from the school for parents.

[Dear Parent, Your child Jiang Ning has confirmed that you will be attending our school's Senior Three Coming-of-Age Ceremony next Saturday at 9:00 AM... A hard copy of the invitation has been distributed to the student...]

On the day he received the news, Jiang Guanqing was in an exceptionally good mood and even ate an extra half bowl of rice. But as one day and two days passed, Jiang Ning still didn't mention it.

Jiang Guanqing read that text message countless times, and the expectation in his heart slowly dissipated, turning into pessimism and negativity.

...Xiao Ning probably didn't want him to go; he just filled in a random name because the school required parents to fill out forms.

Once the thought popped into my head, I couldn't suppress it anymore.

Jiang Guanqing pretended not to know since Jiang Ning didn't bring it up. Things were fine as they were. Before, Xiao Ning wouldn't let him attend parent-teacher meetings. Although she had explained the reason, Jiang Guanqing still had some reservations, fearing that if he asked, their relationship would sour again.

Jiang Guanqing tried to pretend he knew nothing, but he was preoccupied with something, and his whole demeanor was off. When reading, he would often take a long time to turn a single page.

Jiang Yan was the first to notice something was wrong.

"Brother, have you been unhappy lately?"

Jiang Guanqing snapped out of his reverie, smiled, and shook his head. "No, I'm probably just a little tired."

Jiang Yan stared into Jiang Guanqing's eyes, her voice turning serious, "Don't lie to me, what happened?"

Jiang Guanqing was taken aback. "Are you really alright?"

"Okay." Jiang Yan didn't ask any more questions and planned to investigate on her own.

This time, Jiang Yan didn't need to put in much effort. After checking the schedules of Jiang Zhuo and the others over the past few days, he quickly discovered the problem.