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Weng Shao looked at the brand-new towels, toothbrush, and toiletries laid out on the bathroom counter and knowingly asked, "Why didn't you have Assistant Meng prepare everything for me beforehand?"

Pei Xingze replied with perfect justification, "Assistant Meng doesn't know your habits or preferences. I was afraid he wouldn't choose well."

Weng Shao smiled. "I'm not picky."

Pei Xingze disagreed. "But I can't bear to let you make do. You'll be living in this apartment for at least four years, and I want everything in it to suit your preferences."

Having said that, Pei Xingze probed further. "Do you like the decor in this apartment?"

"If you don't, we can renovate it. You'll just have to put up with staying at my place a little longer."

Weng Shao merely smiled without answering. This apartment had probably been decorated according to model-home standards from the start, with a clean, refined modern luxury style throughout. Recessed ceiling spotlights, natural marble floors, entire sets of luxurious furniture in cool black, white, gray, and brown tones—everything exuded a restrained, capable businesslike air.

At first glance, it felt like stepping into a hotel room.

Weng Shao did not actually like this style of decor. It never felt warm or comfortable like a home. But in his previous life, he had long grown accustomed to living in such luxurious yet lifeless houses, or drifting from one hotel to another.

Habit was truly a terrifying thing.

So terrifying that even though Weng Shao clearly knew he disliked it, he could not be bothered to change it.

He would rather soak day after day in those cold, extravagant surroundings until he gradually became numb and cold than crave a momentary warmth and comfort, only to fall into an illusory trap.

Those who had crawled out of a trap understood best how harmful that cheap warmth could be.

But now, Pei Xingze was asking whether he wanted to change the decor.

Weng Shao's heart began to beat slowly. Without blinking, his deep eyes watched Pei Xingze—the man who had once warmed him with scorching blood and a burning body temperature.

A trace of longing touched Weng Shao's lips. "If we renovate, it'll be very noisy, won't it?"

"We can go back to the villa for a while first." Pei Xingze finally revealed his true motive, reminding him with feigned casualness, "Do you remember that villa? When you came to Jinghai last time, we stayed there for a night."

"It's too far. Going back and forth would be inconvenient..." Weng Shao tapped the cold, hard marble counter with his fingers. "But we can go back there on weekends."

"Does that mean you're accepting my invitation to live together?" Pei Xingze reacted quickly.

Weng Shao had not expected Pei Xingze to have put all his scheming into this, and he froze for a moment. Then he chuckled. "Mm, I accept."

The next second, Weng Shao fell into a burning embrace.

A warm, strong hand pressed against the back of his head. With a slight push, his face was buried in Pei Xingze's broad, warm, resilient chest.

At that moment, Weng Shao felt Pei Xingze's heartbeat.

It was so vivid, so vigorous and powerful, so full of life.

The fingers hanging at Weng Shao's sides trembled faintly. Slowly, he raised both hands, hesitating in midair at first before fiercely wrapping them around Pei Xingze's back. He allowed his body to press against Pei Xingze's without the slightest gap, squeezing out bit by bit everything between them—whether air or life and death.

Weng Shao closed his damp eyes and silently took a deep breath, feeling the warmth and breath of a living person in his arms, so utterly different from the touch of that cold corpse in his memories.

"From now on, my home is your home." Pei Xingze held Weng Shao tightly and lightly rested his chin atop Weng Shao's head. From Weng Shao's angle, his voice sounded somewhat muffled, as though it were far away yet close at the same time, carrying a hum that made Weng Shao's heart resonate.

Pei Xingze had not overlooked what Weng Shao said when he first entered. He had said, "This is your home," then, "That is my apartment." Pei Xingze understood then that Weng Shao had no sense of belonging. Even if he gifted Weng Shao property and wanted him to settle down within his sphere of influence, Weng Shao still lacked a sense of security.

Weng Shao's sense of security seemed to come neither from property nor money and power, but from him.

That realization made Pei Xingze's heart race, while also filling him with a heavy sense of responsibility.

He did not know why Weng Shao trusted him so completely and without reservation, but he knew that he would never betray Weng Shao's trust.

"It's getting late. Go rest first. If you don't sleep well, you won't grow taller." Pei Xingze smiled as he released Weng Shao.

As though he wanted to dispel the fragility and sorrow surrounding Weng Shao, before letting him go, Pei Xingze took advantage of their height difference and mischievously mussed up Weng Shao's hair.

He had thought Weng Shao would instinctively avoid his antics, but unexpectedly, Weng Shao simply stood there quietly and let Pei Xingze's long fingers move through his hair.

Weng Shao's hair was cool and smooth, while Pei Xingze's palm was warm and dry. The contrast between cold and warmth spread from where they touched, part of it traveling through Pei Xingze's palm and into his blood vessels, returning with the venous blood to his heart.

Thump! Thump!

As if a faint electric current had traveled straight from his palm into his heart, Pei Xingze could not help but freeze.

Meanwhile, Weng Shao slowly closed his eyes, quietly feeling the lingering warmth atop his head gradually fade, seeping bit by bit into his cerebral cortex and awakening his brain cells. It was as though, in that instant, even he himself had come alive.

Before this, he had merely been a living corpse, a walking dead man.

That night, Weng Shao slept in the room next to Pei Xingze's. His sleeping posture had always been excellent. His long body lay straight on the bed, his hands folded atop the summer blanket over his chest. Once he closed his eyes, he could remain motionless until dawn, with only the faint rise and fall of his chest.

But that night, Weng Shao suddenly felt that his sleeping posture was actually terrible. So he lay on his side, staring without blinking at the wall hidden in the darkness. On the other side of that wall, Pei Xingze was sleeping.

A breathing, walking, jumping Pei Xingze.

Weng Shao imagined Pei Xingze's sleeping posture. They had once been so intimately close that he knew every habitual movement Pei Xingze made in his sleep and remembered every expression Pei Xingze wore while awake.

The coffin and soil that had once separated life and death had become a wall.

The rotten, damp earth and sandalwood had become reinforced steel and concrete. Separated by one wall, they were both still alive.

How wonderful.

Weng Shao closed his eyes drowsily. After who knew how long, he too fell asleep.

The next morning, Weng Shao was awakened by the rich, sweet aroma of milk.

The heavy curtains blocked out the sunlight completely, leaving the room dim. Only a cloying milk fragrance squeezed in through the gap beneath the door, faintly tempting the sleeping man.

Still half asleep, Weng Shao finished washing up and followed the scent into the kitchen, where he saw Pei Xingze, wearing an apron, making breakfast.

Morning sunlight streamed through the window. The man stood with his back to him, his tall body bathed in the morning light, carrying an unreal, dreamlike illusion.

"You're awake." Pei Xingze turned around in the dazzling backlight and handed him the sandwich he had just made. "Breakfast will be ready soon."

Breakfast consisted of milk, sandwiches, and fruit salad. Pei Xingze's cooking skills were fairly ordinary, but none of these things required much skill. He could handle them.

"We could've had the hotel deliver morning tea," Pei Xingze said, raising his milk to clink glasses with Weng Shao. "But I think doing it myself better shows my sincerity."

"Doesn't it feel more like home now?"

Weng Shao paused and lifted his calm eyes to Pei Xingze. After a while, he chuckled. "You've made me feel right at home."

After breakfast, Pei Xingze drove Weng Shao to school to register.

One press on the accelerator took them from Hanlin Academy to the gates of Jinghai University.

At eight in the morning, the school entrance was bustling with people. Besides incoming freshmen and their parents, there were also many upperclassmen welcoming the new students.

The moment Weng Shao got out of the car, he was recognized by one of the upperclassmen helping with orientation.

"You're Weng Shao, right? I'm Xu Molin, a second-year student in the Finance Department." As Xu Molin spoke, he glanced at Pei Xingze beside Weng Shao, then at the Cayenne parked by the roadside. Hesitantly, he asked, "This gentleman... could he be President Pei of Pei Group?"

Pei Xingze smiled and extended his hand. "Hello, Xu Molin. Our Weng Shao will be in your care."

"President Pei, you're too polite. Weng Shao is the provincial top scorer our Finance Department worked so hard to recruit. Our professors treasure him dearly. As his senior, I definitely won't refuse if there's anything I can help with. Besides, he's so smart and capable that there will be plenty for me to learn from him in the future."

Xu Molin shook Pei Xingze's hand in flattered surprise. No wonder he's the president of a multinational group. He really knows how to win people over. He even personally accompanies a new employee to register for school. If reporters caught this, wouldn't it make a perfect article praising Pei Group for valuing talent and being approachable?

Compared to that, Weng Group, which only knew how to bribe reporters into cyberbullying Weng Shao and personally step in to morally blackmail him, had truly been trampled into the mud.

As Xu Molin thought this, he suddenly noticed that Weng Shao had not brought any luggage and could not help reminding him, "Junior Weng Shao, did you forget to take your suitcase out of the car?"

Weng Shao had not brought a suitcase at all. But before he could speak, Xu Molin suddenly slapped his forehead in realization. "Look at my memory. There was media coverage last night saying that you worked at Pei Group for three months, earned nearly a hundred million, and even own an apartment at Hanlin Academy!"

As Xu Molin said this, he was practically drooling with envy.

There had been so many people at the celebration banquet, along with so many media reporters, that Weng Shao was not surprised the news had spread.

Pei Xingze smiled. "Weng Shao worked at Pei Real Estate for three months and created enormous profits for the group. After discussion at a board meeting, the directors decided to gift Weng Shao an apartment as a reward. It is also meant to encourage our other employees."