I'd encourage people to check the start of chapter 55 again to see that parents aren't necessarily fully happy with this either :P

It's clear he's not biologically related but Mu Xiaoen's parents seem to accept him just fine as a guest at least, including snuggling on her mom, so he's obviously not just a stranger who's inserting himself into this family based on nothing. Yundao kinda comes across as being mean for no reason, claiming he's unwelcome here when at least for the parents he clearly seems to be accepted. She says "you don't make life easy for them" but since when is it the job of a needy child to make the lives of adults easier? Fuck off Yundao lol.

Basically, even with the knowledge they’re not related (really this whole character is just confusing I thought he was Xiaoxen’s little sister but he’s neither a girl or even related to her apparently despite looking exactly like her) it’s still just randomly out of pocket to drop on someone on college break and spending time with people that enjoy their company. But Yundao has always been extremely curt so he guess it’s not surprising

Except the "college break" is actually Xiaoyang running away from home and "people that enjoy their company" are annoyed with it. Xiaoen's immediate reaction to getting the message that Xiaoyang is over at Wang's pastry shop is annoyance, which she does not drop even when coming face-to-face with Xiaoyang. Her parents do not approve of Xiaoyang coming over either. Once Xiaoen was out of the room, their facial expressions and their words left absolutely no doubt that this is not something they enjoy, they are just putting up with it because they are too nice to tell the kid to piss off.

Xiaoyang's "college break" also included him deliberately coming over penniless, in order to force Xiaoen to take care of him, and has no qualms accepting food on the house at Wang's pastry shop (after, again, deliberately not taking any money with him).

Overall impression leaves very little to interpretation, this is a person who is abusing other people's hospitality and is definitely inserting themselves where they are not wanted. I did not find him quirky nor enjoyable, likely because I get irked by people who do not respect others' privacy, and Xiaoyang's behaviour sits pretty squarely in the disrespectful territory. I am 100% with Yunduo on this, it seems she is simply saying what everyone is thinking. Notably, Xiaoyang agrees with her, so I am kind of perplexed why some readers here are glossing over pretty much all of this and are essentially rewriting what was presented in the actual story (so we get a "college break" with "people that enjoy their company" instead of a freeloader who ran away from home with no money in order to force people who are not even his family to take care of him, despite literally none of them, including the freeloader himself, being happy with it).

I am honestly surprised how most of this seems to have flown completely under the radar here (I did not check the Forum in general in nearly a year, until today). It seems the issue of Xiaoyang's gender completely overtook the discussion when he was introduced.

last edited at Jun 25, 2024 1:17PM

Another reason why the position of some of the readers here perplexes me is that their own presentation (a quirky kid on a college break being rudely lectured for no reason by Yunduo) is far less interesting than what was actually shown in the story itself.

Behind the quirky and seemingly carefree facade Xiaoyang is actually a person filled with self-loathing, deliberately doing what he knows makes people unhappy, but he is doing it anyway because it alleviates his own self-hatred.

"I know they must hate it. I hate doing this too. But the only time I hate myself less is when I come here and see jiejie."

This could even support the idea of him being trans, potentially. And even if that turns out to not be the case, it still points to some pretty severe personal issues. In other words, it is a compelling and layered presentation and I am greatly interested in discovering what hides behind it.

last edited at Jun 25, 2024 2:12PM

Nice.

And another story is slowly being set up on the side.

I am honestly surprised how most of this seems to have flown completely under the radar here (I did not check the Forum in general in nearly a year, until today). It seems the issue of Xiaoyang's gender completely overtook the discussion when he was introduced.

Hmmm ok reading your response and re-reading those pages convinced me to re evaluate my thoughts, I must’ve had some shit memory not to recall any of this and well it definitely changed my perspective, you’re right, I straight up just got facts wrong here lol. I’ll definitely strive to be more aware of stuff like this for future chapters

last edited at Jun 25, 2024 3:52PM

Another reason why the position of some of the readers here perplexes me is that their own presentation (a quirky kid on a college break being rudely lectured for no reason by Yunduo) is far less interesting than what was actually shown in the story itself.

Behind the quirky and seemingly carefree facade Xiaoyang is actually a person filled with self-loathing, deliberately doing what he knows makes people unhappy, but he is doing it anyway because it alleviates his own self-hatred.

"I know they must hate it. I hate doing this too. But the only time I hate myself less is when I come here and see jiejie."

This could even support the idea of him being trans, potentially. And even if that turns out to not be the case, it still points to some pretty severe personal issues. In other words, it is a compelling and layered presentation and I am greatly interested in discovering what hides behind it.

Yeah their situation is very interesting. There's not enough at the moment to fully understand what's happening and why everyone feels as they do.

Xiaoyang isn't a college student, he's one year younger than Xingyuan, and he mentions this chapter just passing the tests to get into fine art school. And I don't think he's remotely as toxic or unpleasant as you're saying, he's just clearly got some complicated history we have yet to learn.
Also the part in chapter 55 with Mu Xiaoen's parents, they seem annoyed at Xiaoyang's parents, not at Xiaoyang himself. They seem pretty much okay with the kid, which makes sense given they raised someone like Mu Xiaoen lol. The mom says "this year must have been hard for you," so clearly there's some drama they know about that we don't that's yet to be revealed. My gut says Xiaoyang's queer and his parents don't approve.

Edit: Yundao putting Xiaoyang to work tutoring her kids for their art homework also implies he's not remotely that bad, because otherwise she wouldn't want him influencing them.

last edited at Jun 25, 2024 3:59PM

Xiaoyang isn't a college student, he's one year younger than Xingyuan, and he mentions this chapter just passing the tests to get into fine art school.

I was just referencing the "college break" that was put forth by Noodle.

And I don't think he's remotely as toxic or unpleasant as you're saying, he's just clearly got some complicated history we have yet to learn.

I never said he was either toxic or unpleasant. I said that he abuses other people's hospitality, and it is clearly calculated (such as not taking enough money in order to force others to take care of him). I personally do not like this type of person, but I never went beyond what was presented on the actual panels regarding his behaviour.

Also the part in chapter 55 with Mu Xiaoen's parents, they seem annoyed at Xiaoyang's parents, not at Xiaoyang himself. They seem pretty much okay with the kid, which makes sense given they raised someone like Mu Xiaoen lol.

Your reasoning makes no sense. The reason they are annoyed with Xiaoyang's parents is because the kid crashes with them every summer. If they were completely fine with him coming over, they would not have that much issue with his parents over it either.

"We end up looking after their kid every summer. I think you should've given them an earful over the phone. Why hold back?"

They pretty much spelled out what the problem is. This is not even all that uncommon, many people have family "friends", relatives, even close family members that they put up with, that they do not want to necessarily host under their roof, but end up doing it because they feel bad confronting them (as Xiaoen's parents say, they are cowards when it comes to this topic). The person does not even necessarily need to be bad themselves.

The mom says "this year must have been hard for you," so clearly there's some drama they know about that we don't that's yet to be revealed. My gut says Xiaoyang's queer and his parents don't approve.

Could be, or she could be referring to the school exams that were mentioned (exams were literally his response to her when she said the year was hard for him). From chapter 55 it is obvious that his crashing in is a yearly occurrence, and his own words confirm he is doing this because his life sucks in some way - in other words, there is no reason (yet) to believe this year was especially bad when compared to others or that the mom is referencing something more complicated than an exam/enrolment year.

Edit: Yundao putting Xiaoyang to work tutoring her kids for their art homework also implies he's not remotely that bad, because otherwise she wouldn't want him influencing them.

Again, I never said he was bad all around.

Edit: You also glossed over him agreeing with Yunduo and actually being harsher on himself than she was.

last edited at Jun 25, 2024 4:56PM

Except the "college break" is actually Xiaoyang running away from home and "people that enjoy their company" are annoyed with it. Xiaoen's immediate reaction to getting the message that Xiaoyang is over at Wang's pastry shop is annoyance, which she does not drop even when coming face-to-face with Xiaoyang. Her parents do not approve of Xiaoyang coming over either. Once Xiaoen was out of the room, their facial expressions and their words left absolutely no doubt that this is not something they enjoy, they are just putting up with it because they are too nice to tell the kid to piss off.

Xiaoyang's "college break" also included him deliberately coming over penniless, in order to force Xiaoen to take care of him, and has no qualms accepting food on the house at Wang's pastry shop (after, again, deliberately not taking any money with him).

Overall impression leaves very little to interpretation, this is a person who is abusing other people's hospitality and is definitely inserting themselves where they are not wanted. I did not find him quirky nor enjoyable, likely because I get irked by people who do not respect others' privacy, and Xiaoyang's behaviour sits pretty squarely in the disrespectful territory. I am 100% with Yunduo on this, it seems she is simply saying what everyone is thinking. Notably, Xiaoyang agrees with her, so I am kind of perplexed why some readers here are glossing over pretty much all of this and are essentially rewriting what was presented in the actual story (so we get a "college break" with "people that enjoy their company" instead of a freeloader who ran away from home with no money in order to force people who are not even his family to take care of him, despite literally none of them, including the freeloader himself, being happy with it).

I am honestly surprised how most of this seems to have flown completely under the radar here (I did not check the Forum in general in nearly a year, until today). It seems the issue of Xiaoyang's gender completely overtook the discussion when he was introduced.

Thank you for this. I was so surprised by people misinterpreting the interaction with Yunduo, but didn't have the time to write a response. I admit I had forgotten a couple of details myself, but it was definitely obvious that his presence is not wanted. While people may like him and they clearly care about him, it seems that they have only been putting up with this behaviour. Not one of the characters seemed all that happy to have him there (not even the shop owner, really). I agree that he's been quite annoying so far. I'm waiting for the explanation to see how much of this might be justified.

Also, Gabinomicon, I think you are focusing too much on how the parents behave in front of Xiaoyang. It is obvious they do care for him, even if they are not happy with him coming over (the two are not mutually exclusive). Of course they will not be cruel towards him. It is what they say when he is not present that matters. Overall, this leaves the impression of that all-too-familiar situation that I think most people can relate to: when everyone in the family knows the real state of affairs, but because of avoidance of confrontation, embarrassment, and awkwardness nobody wants to bring it up in front of other people, especially in front of the person in question themselves. Note that Xiaoen's parents even wait until she is out of the room before complaining about Xiaoyang coming over, despite the fact she herself was clearly just as annoyed with his presence.

The irony, of course, is that everyone involved in these situations almost always knows what the deal is, up to and including the offending party, and they know that everybody else knows - and Xiaoyang explicitly confirms he is aware how everyone really feels.

last edited at Jun 25, 2024 6:42PM

I don't disagree with your assessment of the situation, just in your attribution of the problem. Xiaoyang's behavior looks to me like a child coping the only way he knows how to, in a way that presses upon the goodwill of others. He feels guilty about this. But I don't have the impression that Xiaoen's parents blame him for this, rather they blame Xiaoyang's parents for the situation Xiaoyang is trying to cope with. Like "because they don't take proper care of their child we have to make up for them to ensure the welfare of this kid". The ones they talk about being too cowardly to confront are the parents, not Xiaoyang. This is why Yundao confronting him feels surprisingly unsympathetic, because he's not really acting selfishly, just taking care of himself. I'd expect Yundao as a parent to have more sympathy for this unaccompanied child, but she instead seems to be taking her cue from Xiaoen, whose negative feelings are still a strange mystery, as is why people recognize Xiaoyang as specifically her little brother despite her parents not being his. I can't even guess at how that works yet lol

last edited at Jun 26, 2024 9:55AM

I don't disagree with your assessment of the situation, just in your attribution of the problem. Xiaoyang's behavior looks to me like a child coping the only way he knows how to, in a way that presses upon the goodwill of others. He feels guilty about this. But I don't have the impression that Xiaoen's parents blame him for this, rather they blame Xiaoyang's parents for the situation Xiaoyang is trying to cope with. Like "because they don't take proper care of their child we have to make up for them to ensure the welfare of this kid". The ones they talk about being too cowardly to confront are the parents, not Xiaoyang.

It is possible, but that was not the impression I personally got. I would have expected more sympathy expressed towards Xiaoyang in that case. Also note that Yunduo and Xiaoyang's brief discussion only references his actions.

"Xiaoyang, you don't make life easy for Xiaoen, Mrs. Tao, and Mr. Mu either by coming here every summer."

The main point is that he agrees, and specifically addresses the issue by saying "I know they must hate it," 'it' being his coming over.

This is why Yundao confronting him feels surprisingly unsympathetic, because he's not really acting selfishly, just taking care of himself. I'd expect Yundao as a parent to have more sympathy for this unaccompanied child, but she instead seems to be taking her cue from Xiaoen, whose negative feelings are still a strange mystery, as is why people recognize Xiaoyang as specifically her little brother despite her parents not being his. I can't even guess at how that works yet lol

That is the thing, she is not taking her cue solely from Xiaoen. When she confronts Xiaoyang, she includes the parents on the list of people he is making life difficult for. As someone who is obviously familiar with the situation, I doubt she would take it upon herself to speak on their behalf if they were really fine with Xiaoyang being there and were exclusively blaming his parents for the situation.

Xiaoen's negative feelings only really look special because of their intensity and her refusal to hide them, but Radios is right, nobody looks particularly happy to see Xiaoyang.

Also, being selfish and taking care of oneself are not mutually exclusive. In fact, if one's way of taking care of themselves involves actions that represent an active imposition upon other people, that pretty much is selfishness, especially if one is aware how others feel about it (which Xiaoyang is).

That is the thing, she is not taking her cue solely from Xiaoen. When she confronts Xiaoyang, she includes the parents on the list of people he is making life difficult for. As someone who is obviously familiar with the situation, I doubt she would take it upon herself to speak on their behalf if they were really fine with Xiaoyang being there and were exclusively blaming his parents for the situation.

"She includes the parents on the list of people he is making life difficult for". The parents could also suck. Sometimes anything a child is or does that's different from the societal "norms" is considered making life difficult for the parents by some folks.

I need more information about the whole situation. All we really have so far is everyone dogpiling Xiaoyang.

That is the thing, she is not taking her cue solely from Xiaoen. When she confronts Xiaoyang, she includes the parents on the list of people he is making life difficult for. As someone who is obviously familiar with the situation, I doubt she would take it upon herself to speak on their behalf if they were really fine with Xiaoyang being there and were exclusively blaming his parents for the situation.

"She includes the parents on the list of people he is making life difficult for". The parents could also suck. Sometimes anything a child is or does that's different from the societal "norms" is considered making life difficult for the parents by some folks.

I need more information about the whole situation. All we really have so far is everyone dogpiling Xiaoyang.

True. Depending on future revelations, Xiaoyang's actions could be viewed sympathetically, especially if this turns out to be linked to some form of societal rejection. My main reason for bringing any of this up was the fact the thread completely glossed over pretty much all of this. The discussion before the latest chapter revolved either around Xiaoyang's gender or his amusing gremlin antics, and when chapter 57 dropped people were harsh on Yunduo, and more importantly, presented her actions as unwarranted and random - which is simply not the case. Whether it was her place to say anything is another matter, but her criticism of Xiaoyang was not coming out of nowhere.

Also, being selfish and taking care of oneself are not mutually exclusive. In fact, if one's way of taking care of themselves involves actions that represent an active imposition upon other people, that pretty much is selfishness, especially if one is aware how others feel about it (which Xiaoyang is).

True! But unfortunately Xiaoyang has been miseducated on this issue, as are most people who have nonstandard needs. "Why can't you just have what everyone else gets and be fine with that?" Is the everpresent refrain queer people, disabled people, and weirdos of all stripes tend to hear, especially if they live in conservative societies and/or have conservative parents. Needing something different is treated as demanding something extra.
Xiaoyang would probably feel guilty for his self advocacy even with 100% positive reception in Peach Town (and clearly there ARE people there who accept him, like Sisi setting him up to participate in the peach fair), so his feelings of guilt aren't actually useful for assessing him accurately without knowing more.

last edited at Jun 26, 2024 3:02PM

Xiaoyang would probably feel guilty for his self advocacy even with 100% positive reception in Peach Town, so his feelings of guilt aren't actually useful for assessing him accurately without knowing more.

That is a fair point.

"She includes the parents on the list of people he is making life difficult for". The parents could also suck. Sometimes anything a child is or does that's different from the societal "norms" is considered making life difficult for the parents by some folks.

Also, just to clarify, because I realised now that my wording was somewhat vague - I was talking about Xiaoen's parents. They are the ones that Yunduo brought up.

"She includes the parents on the list of people he is making life difficult for". The parents could also suck. Sometimes anything a child is or does that's different from the societal "norms" is considered making life difficult for the parents by some folks.

Also, just to clarify, because I realised now that my wording was somewhat vague - I was talking about Xiaoen's parents. They are the ones that Yunduo brought up.

Oh yeah I got the parents confused admittedly. Still the main point stands that Xiaoyang's parents could suck, and they're a core reason behind him crashing with Xiaoen's family. I'm very curious about what future chapters will reveal, since the details are so sparse at present.

... whose negative feelings are still a strange mystery, as is why people recognize Xiaoyang as specifically her little brother despite her parents not being his. I can't even guess at how that works yet lol

This is probably a time to mention that Xiaoen was adopted at the age of 2. So the situation with family is not really straightforward at this point.

last edited at Jun 28, 2024 10:25AM

Thanks to everyone for the clarifying information. Personally, at this point I’m mostly just here for the lovey-dovey fluff and the remarkable art, and will wait for more information to see how things resolve themselves.

But it seems clear that there’s still a good bit of information to come about some complexly intertwined relationships.

Thanks to everyone for the clarifying information. Personally, at this point I’m mostly just here for the lovey-dovey fluff and the remarkable art, and will wait for more information to see how things resolve themselves.

But it seems clear that there’s still a good bit of information to come about some complexly intertwined relationships.

Like I said. ^

Plenty to chew on here, but I really just wanted to grab the 1001st post.

Well this makes everything much more clear through implication. And I'm starting to get an image of why Mu Xiaoen has such unhappy feelings associated with her little brother, since it seems very likely now that he's her bio brother, grew up with their bio parents, and likely suffered in the way she would have had her real parents not adopted her away from that family. This would also explain why he's clingy and desperate for affection to both her and her parents.
Dunno yet what sort of darkness exists in Xiaoyang's parents that led to this situation. They seem to have money, so it's unlikely to be severe poverty or something individually debilitating. There's a number of very dark turns the author could take in this arc but hopefully we focus more on Xiaoyang and Xiaoen reconciling instead of detailing his suffering too much. That kid feels like he needs it.

Well this makes everything much more clear through implication. And I'm starting to get an image of why Mu Xiaoen has such unhappy feelings associated with her little brother, since it seems very likely now that he's her bio brother, grew up with their bio parents, and likely suffered in the way she would have had her real parents not adopted her away from that family. This would also explain why he's clingy and desperate for affection to both her and her parents.
Dunno yet what sort of darkness exists in Xiaoyang's parents that led to this situation. They seem to have money, so it's unlikely to be severe poverty or something individually debilitating. There's a number of very dark turns the author could take in this arc but hopefully we focus more on Xiaoyang and Xiaoen reconciling instead of detailing his suffering too much. That kid feels like he needs it.

Similar-ish to a situation from A Joyful Life. One kid "gets out" against their will and receives what they suspect is a better life...the other, not so much; then there's all the complicated interpersonal feelings that come from that.

last edited at Jul 9, 2024 12:45PM

She's certainly earned her current life.

... whose negative feelings are still a strange mystery, as is why people recognize Xiaoyang as specifically her little brother despite her parents not being his. I can't even guess at how that works yet lol

This is probably a time to mention that Xiaoen was adopted at the age of 2. So the situation with family is not really straightforward at this point.

Um. Where did you find this? I've reread Lass at least 5 times and I don't recall that plot point. I'm not going as far to say it's not true, but point me to your source please.

And to the first point. I say read my previous post. The title "little brother" is given for any male in the same generation and younger than the speaker. It has nothing to do with actually being related in asian languages.

last edited at Jul 9, 2024 7:01PM

You can be lucky and it can still be a tragedy.