"You'd better take a break first, you need to rest. ●⌒We'll talk after you wake up." Ian did not answer Lance's question directly, turned around and left the room. The careful footsteps gradually drifted away, and all the noise in the bedroom settled down.

Lance put the glass on the bedside table, put on a coat, walked into the bathroom, and looked at himself in the mirror. His pale face and sweat looked really bad. The nightmare wrapped around his eyebrows like thorns, swallowing all the blood.

Turn on the hot water, watch the washbasin gradually fill up, and then plunge into the hot water, hold your breath, feel the whole world sinking into the silence of vacuum, the pores slowly open, and the misty hot air drills into the blood along the pores, slowly relaxing the muscles, and the panicked heartbeat gradually returns to the normal rhythm.

Until the suffocating fear came, it reminded him incredibly realistically: he was still alive. Then he suddenly raised his head. The mirror in front of him was stained with mist and blurred. He could only vaguely see his own outline. The floating feeling between dreams and reality slowly dizzed. He raised his hand and placed it on the mirror, gently wiped it clean, and the illusion of the dream disappeared bit by bit.

After taking care of himself, Lance left the bedroom and came to the door of the guest room. The apartment consisted of three bedrooms and two living rooms. One of them was originally a study, but it was transformed into a bedroom. In this way, all three rooms became bedrooms, which were reserved specifically for Ian and Gao Wen. Even if Theo was in Los Angeles, he would occasionally stay here.

"Knock," Lance knocked on the door of the room, "Ian, are you sleeping?"

"No, come in." Ian's voice came from inside, and Lance opened the door directly, and then saw Ian sitting at the desk.

At this time, Ian didn't even change his clothes, and was still wearing the dark gray shirt. However, the buttons on the collar were unbuttoned, looking a little decadent and embarrassed, but the panic and dignity in his expression had disappeared, as if he had returned to his usual casual and free prodigal son.

Lance swept casually and saw the information piled on the table. It was obvious that he was still busy working. Lance walked to the bed and sat down on the bed cross-legged. "Do you still remember the day Theo's 20th birthday?" Ian couldn't help but feel stunned, but then he reacted, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. Then he heard Lance continue, "Green Bay was so cold that year. In the morning, Gao Wen was the first to run into the bathroom. As a result, the water heater could not get hot water. He jumped out like a clown, shouting naked in the hall, like a gorilla, frightening the children."

Ian burst out laughing. "Then you checked it and found that the water heater was frozen. You and Gao Wen were sitting there worried. What should we do. Miss Larson said. There was no extra fund at the shelter, and even the turkeys on Thanksgiving were donated by the police/officials." Following Lance's words, Ian's memories were awakened, and he continued. "In the end, it was your idea. Mrs. Leah on Swinton Street has passed away for two weeks, but the house has never been taken back. The water heater is still there, and then we secretly carried the water heater back, which solved the problem."

"On the way back, the girl named Ella came over and asked you to help her take the math test. You said you had to take one hundred dollars. She said fifty dollars plus a single oral/work. You refused without raising your head. She was very sad." Lance said gloatingly. The young memories made Ian laugh, "I bet that she must have fallen in love with you. Taking the math test for the math test is just an excuse."

Ian tilted his head and looked at Lance speechlessly, "Are you sure she doesn't like you?"

"I? A thirteen-year-old little girl with her elbows like pasta. Are you sure?" Lance's self-deprecating made Ian shake his head and laugh helplessly. "Later, we returned to the shelter and saw Theo."

"Yes, when we walked into the shelter, we saw Theo. He was sitting next to the dining table, like a plaster." The smile on the corner of his mouth gradually dissipated, and Ian's memory returned to the distant past, which was nearly twenty years ago. He originally thought that those memories had been blurred, but every time he mentioned it, every detail of that day was so real and so beautiful that it was unbelievable that it all happened. "Theo then stood up and called us to the court together. His movements were so stiff that it was like a robot."

"Yes, Gao Wen and I said that he was possessed by C-3po." Lance chuckled.

"Yes, c-3po." Ian nodded, but soon, his voice fell silent and he fell into the distant memories.

Not only Theo, Ian, Govin and Lance were also stiffened, like robots. The other children in the shelter applauded and celebrated, and they all sent them blessings. Miss Larson, who managed the shelter, cried with joy, and incoherently did not know how to express her emotions. Amid the noise and applause, they stood stiffly like statues, because they could hardly believe that things had happened.

On August 18, 1984, a major incident occurred at the Strello family. In a violent out-of-control case, all three children were injured and a large amount of evidence of violent abuse was found. In the end, Frank Strello died in a car accident and Fiona Strello died of overdose. However, only three children knew what happened that afternoon. The police did not conduct further in-depth investigations. Such things are common in foster care families. No one cares, and no one cares.

However, according to the law, due to the death of foster parents, the minor children must be sent back to the Children's Welfare Bureau and then started looking for a foster family again. However, when the Children's Welfare Bureau arrived at the foster family, it was found that all four children had disappeared.

Their four children are not related by blood, just one of the many children adopted by Frank and Fiona for government subsidies. So, they all know what will happen next. They will be re-sent to the foster care system and then re-sent to different foster care families, and they will likely never see each other again - because no foster care family is willing to take in four children at the same time, which is impossible. So they chose to run away.

Until November 19th of that year, since the next day was Lance's birthday, in order to give Lance a surprise, Gao Wen sold a stolen cable for a good price, and then went to the town to order a birthday cake, but was accidentally discovered by the school teacher at the entrance of the cake shop. After the teacher called the police, the police followed the clues and found that the four children were hiding in an abandoned power plant and forced to be sent back to the Children's Welfare Bureau.

Due to the strong protests of Theo and Ian, Lance had a high fever, was in a semi-coma, and was almost unconscious. At the same time, considering the domestic violence suffered by the four children, the Children's Welfare Bureau finally agreed to Theo's request. After Lance was discharged from the hospital, they arranged them in the same teenage shelter and waited for the foster care system to be re-screened.

Twenty-one children lived in the teenage shelter, which was a shelter dedicated to the children beaten and abused by adults. The tortured and tortured souls were gathered together stiffly and awkwardly, protecting the only warmth. Then, waiting for their unknown destiny in twelve months, may be sent to another strange foster care family, may be completely forgotten, or may be lost in the chaos of crime - due to the limited funding of the shelter, they can only stay for up to twelve months, and then have to leave.

On December 24, 1985, the 20th birthday of Theo, he finally reached his legal age. On the grounds that his adoptive parents were unable to fulfill their nurturing responsibilities and both died, he submitted a list of personal income banks for the past year and applied for legal custody of Ian, Gowen and Lance to the court. In other words, the four of them did not have to separate, and they no longer had to wait for the unknown and fear sent by the foster care system.

After court trial, Theo legally obtained custody of his three younger brothers, and his family left Green Bay and came to San Francisco with nothing.

"You know, that is the best birthday gift and the best Christmas gift." Lance said in a deep voice, which made Ian look up, and then he saw Lance's quiet eyes, like the flashes of cereal blooming in the middle of the night, silently but thrilling.

Ian felt a little sad, and the surging emotions in that moment almost made him lose control. He lowered his head in panic and let out a long breath, slowly calming down the boiling emotions in his chest. Theo provided the bank list of personal income provided by theo was that after Theo and Ian worked together day and night, they barely reached the minimum annual income standard for legal custody.

"The best?" Ian showed a relaxed smile, "I thought the birthday gift that Gao Wen gave you last year was the best."

Lance chuckled, but said nothing.

In those dark and long years, in those confused and lonely days, in those struggling and painful lives, the four brothers are their support and only support. They support each other through the thorny, sharp and chaotic years, and seek a glimmer of vitality step by step in this cold and frozen world. They are each other's only support.

The existence of Theo, Ian and Gao Wen even made him almost forget the life that belonged to Li Jin, and made him almost forget that he had his family in another distant time and space. For the current Lance, this is his home, this is his roots, this is his support, and this is the best gift God gave him.

Irresistible.

"So, aren't you going to talk to me about the funding issue? You know, I won't accept 'no' as the answer." Lance looked at Ian in front of him and showed a naughty smile.
Chapter completed!