Couldn't Tell Man from Dog

Lu Xingchuan's face, already twisted in pain from having his upper thigh stomped on, instantly filled with frightened fury.

He shot to his feet and lunged for the recorder.

Shen Yan turned, plopped down beside Pei Heng, then very smoothly "accidentally" dropped the recorder into Pei Heng's shirt.

Lu Xingchuan froze mid-charge.

His words from just now were still playing from the recorder.

For a moment, the car was as silent as a graveyard, making the voice drifting from the recorder all the clearer.

Lu Xingchuan's face flushed red. Humiliated into rage, he glared at Shen Yan through gritted teeth. "Give it back."

Shen Yan rolled his eyes. "In your dreams! From now on, you'd better not provoke me. Get lost!"

Xie Li looked over timidly, trying to ease the tension. "Shen Yan, if you and Xingchuan have some misunderstanding, we can talk it out privately. We still have to film the show together."

Shen Yan looked at him. "You get lost too!"

Xie Li's lips immediately drooped. With red-rimmed eyes and a wronged expression, he turned away.

Lu Xingchuan wanted nothing more than to strangle Shen Yan, that bitch.

But the recorder was inside Pei Heng's shirt, and Pei Heng himself showed no intention of taking it out.

Clenching his fists, Lu Xingchuan said to Pei Heng, "President Pei, please give me the recorder."

Pei Heng sat by the window, one elbow resting on the armrest, his index finger propped against his forehead. His peach-blossom eyes curved at the outer corners and narrowed at the inner ones as he looked leisurely at Lu Xingchuan. "No."

Huh?

Lu Xingchuan nearly died of anger on the spot.

Pei Heng held an important position in the business world, so Lu Xingchuan couldn't just grab it from him. But he couldn't let Shen Yan use the recorder to control him again, either.

Taking a breath, Lu Xingchuan smiled at Pei Heng. "President Pei, this is a private matter between Shen Yan and me. Isn't it inappropriate for you to get involved?"

Pei Heng kept smiling. "That may be true, but I won't listen."

Lu Xingchuan: ...

Are you sick?

How could a CEO like you use your power to bully people?

With no other choice, he shot Shen Yan another vicious glare before turning and sitting back down.

Once they arrived and got out of the car, he would find a chance to speak to Pei Heng alone.

He couldn't shake the feeling that Pei Heng was targeting him.

After Lu Xingchuan sat down, Pei Heng slowly took the recorder, which had been pressed against his skin for a while, out from his shirt. But instead of handing it directly to Shen Yan, he toyed with it in his hand as though he had never seen one before.

Toyed with it and toyed with it.

He kept toying with it until they were nearly out of the car, yet Shen Yan never once asked for it.

Pei Heng turned to look at Shen Yan.

Shen Yan had his head against the seatback, mouth slightly open, fast asleep and snoring softly.

Pei Heng: ...

"Hey!"

Once they reached the location and got out of the car, the cameraman sighed.

The director, walking beside him, sighed as well. "You're worried too, aren't you? Seriously, what dating show gets filmed to this point? How are we supposed to film the rest?"

The director was worried enough to go bald.

Carrying his camera, the cameraman watched the guests get out. "I'm just purely disappointed that we didn't film and livestream that battle over the recorder in the car!"

The director flew into a rage, jumped up, and smacked him on the head. "Filming everything will only ruin you!"

The cameraman held his head in grievance but stood by his principles. "Filming everything is the only way to maintain a balanced diet."

Lu Xingchuan had notified the servants at the villa in advance, and the place had been cleaned spotless.

Since the production crew needed to set up the venue, once the guests arrived, their rooms were reassigned based on the previous game's scores, and they were allowed to rest for the time being.

Shen Yan had slept soundly the entire ride. After dragging his suitcase into his room, he wasn't sleepy at all, so he took out his handheld console and started gaming.

He had only played one round when someone knocked on the door outside.

Shen Yan made a snap decision—

He climbed out the window and onto the roof.

"Ha!"

The moment he got onto the roof, he discovered that such a huge rooftop could not belong to him alone.

Pei Heng was there too.

Seeing that Shen Yan had not come up via the attic stairs but had instead climbed out the window and scaled the wall, Pei Heng was so stunned that he laughed. "Teacher Shen has a very unusual way of getting around."

Shen Yan wasn't familiar with Pei Heng.

And if they weren't familiar, there was no need to rack his brains making small talk.

"Hello, President Pei." Shen Yan flashed him a toothy grin as a greeting, then found a shady spot and continued gaming.

Lu Xingchuan might have poor character.

But the villa's rooftop was actually rather nice.

Vines twined around a huge flower trellis, and blossoms of every color gave off a gentle fragrance that soothed the senses.

Pei Heng narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at Shen Yan, who was playing his game nearby. His gaze paused for a moment before he lowered his head to reply to a message.

[The tomatoes, eggs, and noodles were all insured at the highest coverage level. You can't devalue them just because they're tomatoes, eggs, and noodles. When the insurance company took my money, they didn't take a cent less.

[Before nightfall today, I want the compensation paid in full. If it isn't, have the legal department sue them. If the insurance company keeps whining, sue the insurance company too.]

The message was sent to his assistant.

After sending it, Pei Heng got up and walked toward Shen Yan.

"What game is Teacher Shen playing?"

Without lifting his head, Shen Yan focused on the screen. "3D World."

Watching the little character Shen Yan controlled return to the starting point after falling into the water yet again, Pei Heng smiled. "Need my help?"

Shen Yan instantly looked up, stars sparkling in his eyes. "You know how?"

Pei Heng raised a brow and said nothing. He directly took the console from Shen Yan, worked the controls, and cleared in one try the short section Shen Yan had failed to pass more than twenty times.

Shen Yan jumped up and applauded. "You're amazing."

Pei Heng placed the console on the small tea table in front of them, looked up at Shen Yan, and smiled. "How did you and Lu Xingchuan fall out? Didn't you like him a lot? I heard you drank with quite a few people to get him resources."

As he spoke, Pei Heng's eyes never left Shen Yan's face, as if he intended to see straight through him.

Shen Yan sat back down carelessly and shouted at the top of his lungs, as though Pei Heng across from him were hard of hearing. "I was too young and foolish back then. I couldn't tell a man from a dog."

Pei Heng paused, about to say something else when footsteps sounded nearby.

A staff member came up, panting. "I finally found you, Teacher Shen. Your task card is here."

As he spoke and approached, he noticed Pei Heng was there too.

Intimidated by the CEO's imposing presence, the staff member froze and dared not step any closer. Instead, he stopped where he was and called to Shen Yan, "Teacher Shen, your task card is here!"

Shen Yan controlled the little character in his game. "What?"

The staff member raised his voice. "Your task card is here!"

Shen Yan controlled the little character in his game. "What?"

Putting all his strength into it, the staff member bellowed, "Your task card is here!"

Shen Yan controlled the little character in his game. "What?"

Pei Heng looked at Shen Yan in confusion.

Shen Yan finally cleared the level in his game. He jumped up and called toward the space behind the staff member, "Have you filmed enough? If you have, I'll go get the task card."

The staff member froze, then followed Shen Yan's gaze and turned around in bewilderment.

When he turned, he saw Lu Xingchuan hiding in the flower bushes behind him, holding up a phone.