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It was also possible that there had long since been no place for him at home. To avoid looking too pathetic or self-indulgent, Shi Zhongye had even booked a hotel for an entire week.

But what lay before him was nothing like what he had imagined.

The room had been cleaned spotless, preserved exactly as it had been when he left. Everything was familiar, yet unfamiliar.

The newly placed potted plant on the desk had been misted, its leaves lush and glistening.

When the wind lifted the curtains toward him, Shi Zhongye caught a whiff of...

Well, the scent of cream on his own face.

Shi Zhongye cursed, "Fuck."

What was he getting all sentimental for? This was all Shi Jihan's scheme.

Leaving his room for him, trying to make him soften up? Shi Zhongye tossed his luggage onto the floor. Dream on. I came back this time to expose Shi Jihan's true colors.

And that Shen Qinghuai—was that his name? Sooner or later, he would find proof that Shen Qinghuai and Shi Jihan had joined forces to screw over that idiot Shi Bochuan.

Thinking this, Shi Zhongye cursed all the way into the bathroom.

He needed to wash off the cream. He could not wait even one more second.

The mirror in Shi Zhongye's bathroom was the largest in the entire villa, because he wanted to admire his own beauty from every angle without a single blind spot.

But now, after washing his face, while standing before the mirror with his mouth open as he brushed his teeth, Shi Jihan's joke drifted through his mind.

"If someone steps on you, you open your mouth wide. That's why humans are trash cans, hahaha."

With a gulp.

Shi Zhongye closed his mouth and accidentally swallowed a mouthful of extra-strength refreshing mint toothpaste.

His expression began to twist as he stared into the mirror.

Then he thought of the equally distorted face on the cake, which Shi Jihan had hacked to pieces.

Shi Zhongye clenched his toothbrush, and his anger surged again.

[ Ding, Malice Points +2 ]

[ Ding, Malice Points +4 ]

Someone knocked on the door. When he opened it, the butler stood outside and politely asked the second young master who had just returned home, "Second Young Master, if there is anything you need added to or changed in your room, you may let me know."

"There is." Shi Zhongye gritted out.

"Tomorrow—no, now! Remove the mirror in my room, along with everything else that can reflect light, right now!"

He did not want to see this face that was insured anymore!

Shi Zhongye told the butler to hurry inside and clear everything out, while he went to sit in the entertainment room and calm down.

But the more he sat there, the more something felt wrong.

The three members of the Shi Family were one thing, but why was Zhou Jingcheng here too? And his younger brother—that blockhead was his younger brother, right?

Shi Zhongye headed downstairs to demand an explanation from Zhou Jingcheng. He poked his head out and immediately locked eyes with his own smiling face on the giant hanging poster: Not every face deserves insurance.

Murder was illegal.

Killing your little brother was illegal too.

He tried hard to calm himself down, immediately gave up on going downstairs, and switched to communicating online.

[Ye: Zhou Jingcheng, you'd better explain why you're here.]

It took a long time before the other side replied.

[Z: What kind of question is that? It's your welcome party. Of course I came to welcome you back.]

Not only had he sincerely welcomed him, he had personally taken part as well.

Shi Zhongye was half-convinced, half-doubtful. [Seriously?]

Zhou Jingcheng replied slowly, as if he was busy with something. [Seriously. This bro keeps you in his heart.]

That reply made Shi Zhongye feel a little guilty.

His bro was always busy with work. Every time Shi Zhongye went looking for him, he was told Zhou Jingcheng was unavailable. Now that Zhou Jingcheng had finally made time to come welcome him back, Shi Zhongye had rewarded him by socking him twice.

[Ye: Fine, I was impulsive. Do you have time now? Let's go out for a drink. I'll apologize to you.]

As he sent it, he stood and left the entertainment room, mentally preparing himself to go down to the second floor.

After a while.

[Z: I appreciate the thought, but I don't have time right now.]

[Z: I'm dealing with a business pain point at my company.]

Shi Zhongye had just typed, "Then get back to work, we'll talk another day," when he rounded the corner and saw his good brother in the first-floor hall, huddled together with his so-called family, happily sampling his giant face cake. His enormous poster and a toothy smiling balloon were sitting on the table beside them.

Business pain point? No time to reply to messages?

Shi Zhongye gripped the railing tightly.

Pain point my ass. Zhou Jingcheng, I'll stab you to death, damn it.

Zhou Jingcheng's nose tickled slightly, and he turned to sneeze.

He rubbed the tip of his nose. "Caught a cold? That shouldn't be possible." But why did he feel chilly all over? Had the air conditioner been set too low?

Like it was second nature, he took out the smart remote and raised the central air conditioning by two degrees.

Shi Bochuan, who had watched the entire thing, was speechless. Wasn't this his house? It was, right? Right?

He turned to seek confirmation from his wife, only to find her sitting gracefully on the sofa, eating Shi Zhongye's pointed chin.

Shi Bochuan: "..."

How strange. How surreal.

Shi Jihan was applying medicine to Zhou Jingcheng's face. When Zhou Jingcheng turned his head to dodge, Shi Jihan reached out and turned it back. "Hey, hey, don't move."

Shi Zhongye's two punches had not been light, and he had deliberately aimed for Zhou Jingcheng's face. Zhou Jingcheng now had a bruise on his cheekbone.

The cool medicine soothed the pain somewhat as it was rubbed over the injury.

Zhou Jingcheng took out his phone to use as a mirror and checked the wound. "Tsk."

Annoying. Damn Shi Zhongye.

Drinking together? He could drink six my ass.

And this little runt who had stood by and done nothing.

As the mirror tilted, it happened to reflect Shi Jihan, who was applying medicine to him.

Shi Jihan was lowering his head to dip into the medicine. His round eyes naturally held a dewy gleam when lowered, and whenever he blinked, his lashes fluttered like a butterfly beating its wings, making one want to catch that trembling shadow with a fingertip. His naturally upturned lip bead was tucked between his lips as he pressed them together, but if he opened his mouth to speak, a little canine tooth would show between his teeth.

Little runt... fine. This little runt's face did look better without bruises.

As Zhou Jingcheng thought this, he recalled how Shi Jihan's cheek had felt when Shi Jihan was drunk last time and Zhou Jingcheng had tugged on it.

His skin had been soft and smooth, like a peeled egg, with a bit of baby fat. Zhou Jingcheng had only lightly pulled and pinched it, yet it had left a red mark that took ages to fade.

Shi Jihan noticed Zhou Jingcheng's gaze lingering on him for too long. Tilting his head, he asked, "Why are you looking at me?"

Then he realized what that might mean. Oh no, oh no. Did Dianjia Bro, with his tiny little heart, hold a grudge because I stood by and did nothing?

He hurriedly searched his mind for a way to make up for it and tried pushing his portion of cake over, placing it before Zhou Jingcheng. "Um, how about another piece?" he earnestly suggested. "Eat more. Build yourself up."

Zhou Jingcheng lowered his eyes to the cake decorated with Shi Zhongye's nostrils.

Build up what?

Ugh, is this even food? And you brought it over?

Zhou Jingcheng looked disgusted. "Thanks, but I don't need that many air intakes."

Shi Jihan looked confused. "But every time I see you, you're desperately taking deep breaths. Someone who didn't know better might think you were preparing for a deep-sea diving certification exam. Do you really need that much lung capacity?"

Beside them, Zhou Zeyang coughed violently. "Cough, cough, cough cough!"

Shi Jihan said, "I was talking about your brother. Why are you choking?"

Zhou Zeyang repeatedly waved his hands, not daring to look at his brother's expression.

Zhou Jingcheng's temple twitched, and he began taking deep breaths again.

Calm down, calm down. What is there to argue about with a little idiot whose thought process is this bizarre?

That's right. Serenity leads to distance; inaction carries one across.

Zhou Jingcheng calmed down again, his hands pressed together in prayer.

Then he lifted his fork and stabbed it straight into Shi Zhongye's nostril.

Shi Jihan silently marveled at how irritable this person was when the task assignment notification sounded beside his ear.

[ Ding, task issued: While Shi Zhongye investigates Shen Qinghuai's dark past, fabricate intimate photos and send them to him, slandering Shen Qinghuai for marriage fraud. Task reward: Malice Points +15 ]

Shi Jihan clicked his tongue. [The pure-hatred warrior is back again.]

Zero-Zero-Zero told him to look up. Shi Jihan raised his head and looked toward the railing on the second floor.

Shi Zhongye was staring at them from there, his face dark and murderous.

[Worthy of the Main System's correction mechanism,] Zero-Zero-Zero praised. [That hatred level is really high. This round is definitely in the bag.]

The only problem was that intimate photos would be difficult to arrange. Zero-Zero-Zero offered a suggestion. [Your silhouette is somewhat similar to Shen Qinghuai's. How about being his body double from behind?]

It could work, but choosing the other lead would be difficult. After all, it could not be someone Shi Zhongye knew well, or he would not be fooled.

Shi Bochuan would not work; that was the real person. Zhou Jingcheng would not work either. Zhou Zeyang... forget it. After all the mission failures, Shi Jihan had decided to put him on ice. The foolish son of a rich family—useless at everything, but first place when it came to eating.

Shi Jihan was thinking when the corner of his eye accidentally caught Zhou Jingcheng's phone lock screen.

The lock screen wallpaper was the same as Zhou Jingcheng's profile picture: a hand holding a dog paw. But the wallpaper showed more, revealing half of Pizza's body.

[I've got it. I can buy Pizza a curly wig!]

Long, wavy curls paired with Pizza's slender, trim body—she would absolutely look like a rich and beautiful heiress.

What did Pizza lack? Nothing at all.

Shi Jihan made his decision in an instant. He was going to ask Pizza out for an unresolved human-dog romance.

[But just asking Pizza out won't do. Dianjia Bro will get suspicious,] his brain finally came online at this moment. [I need to find a way to ask both man and dog out.]

Zero-Zero-Zero had secretly scooped out a piece of cake to taste. Hearing that, it instinctively asked, [Which one is the dog?]

Shi Jihan: [? Dianjia Bro will cut you.]

He quickly sorted through his plan. [Ask both dogs out, use the moonlight to get someone to take blurry silhouette photos. Make them as intimate as possible.]

[I can even wrap my arms around Pizza and give her a big smooch.]

Hehe, Little Beagle was adorable.

Zero-Zero-Zero: [And then? Let Shi Zhongye see the three of you traveling together?]

[We can just crop Dianjia Bro out.]

Three people would be too crowded.

He patted Zhou Jingcheng's shoulder and asked, "Do you have anything to do all day tomorrow?"

"Yes." Zhou Jingcheng lifted his cup and took a sip of water. "I have to walk the dog in the morning and evening."

Shi Jihan said, "That's great. Then you'll definitely be willing to take me out for a walk too."