After studying the two men for a while longer, he finally waved a hand to dismiss them, watching as Feng Jianyu took Zhou Jinhai’s elbow and led the man away. He would need to talk to Feng Jianyu alone some time soon, and find out how Zhou Jinhai was really adapting to his condition. A shadow darkened his desk and he looked up, broken from his musings. Smiling he reached up and pulled the tall young man down to sit beside him. Instantly the youth twisted away with a frown as he bowed his torso in a proper martial greeting before a cry of complaint escaped as his father ruffled his hair out of it’s neat style. 

“A-Biao. Have you settled back in?” Liu Huizhong asked his eldest son, smiling as the youth tried to smooth his hair back into place. 

“Yes Father.” Tian Shan answered seriously, settling down beside the older man, but just out of easy reach. Liu Huizhong could only smile and let the young Liu boy keep his dignity. “Good. Have you seen your brother since your return? He’s missed you dearly.” 

Tian Shan scoffed, but nodded. The two, while only half brothers, were as close as any siblings, and Huizhong knew the disaffected air was a charade. A fact proven a moment later when a tiny figure in loose robes pelted through the room on bare feet to dive into Tian Shan’s chest, almost sending the elder sibling tumbling backward with the force of the attack. Muffled laughter escaped the tangle of cloth as Tian Shan, splayed out on his back, unearthed his youngest sibling from the mass. A small head popped up, the presumably once neat hair a wild mass of black curls, large eyes the colour of the setting sun sparkling as the small child wound his arms about his gege’s neck and dangled there, even as Tian Shan sat them both up and fussed with their clothing. Trying to regain a sense of modesty. 

“Gege!!” The seven year old beamed up at his eldest sibling, admiration in his eyes. Only to start laughing when Tian Shan began to tickle him mercilessly. 

“What did I tell you about jumping on people?” The elder Liu brother demanded, tone serious but not cold. The younger bowed his head, fending off the spidery fingers as he tried to sound apologetic while giggling like a mad thing. “Not to.” Came the succinct answer. At which he was released from his elder brother’s retribution. But he stayed on Tian Shan’s lap, holding onto his brother’s sleeve tightly. “You were gone so long. I thought you had forgotten us!” He said plaintively, earning a frown from his sibling and a chuckle from their father. 

Tian Shan huffed. “That’s impossible. How can I forget the wild monster that masquerades as my littlest sibling?” He demanded, ruffling the small child’s hair as his father had just done to him. Ruining his own efforts at taming it a moment ago. 

Once the two brothers had settled down. Liu Huizhong caught their attention by clearing his throat. “Now… tell me about your travels.” He said to his eldest. Wanting to hear what the boy had been up to and more importantly, how he had handled the challenges of life outside the sect in the Jianghu. His paperwork could wait at least a little while as he spent some precious time with his family.