Pei Song'an did not immediately withdraw his hand. Instead, he carefully rubbed the grainy texture of the tongue's tip. The slightest pressure made it sink, and as soon as he relaxed, it sprang eagerly back.
"Would you do this for other people too?"
"Would you rush in without thinking if you saw Chen Yannan in danger?"
"Smiling at everyone, showing those little white teeth, kindly helping people out of their troubles."
The man's voice was low, calm and steady. Though he was speaking, he had no intention of waking Li Shu.
It was easy to confirm something, but when it came to Li Shu, it seemed to become difficult.
Pei Song'an lowered his eyes to Li Shu's sleeping face.
He was straightforward and ardent, the complete opposite of himself, yet he was not entirely uncontrollable. Li Shu only ran wild within areas he considered safe. He had his own theories and patterns of behavior, clear-cut loves and hates, and a dazzling frankness.
"If you save other people, they'll be grateful."
The man's gaze naturally caressed Li Shu's smooth face, from his brow bones to his eyelids, from the tip of his nose to the curve of his upper lip, missing nothing.
"But I'll only get worse. The closer you come, the tighter I'll hold on."
"Li Shu, run while you still can."
Pei Song'an tucked the covers around Li Shu and pushed his flailing foot back underneath. Just as he was about to leave, Li Shu suddenly spoke in his sleep.
"Mmph..."
"Mom... want braised pork for lunch..."
"Don't wash my pants... there's money in the pockets..."
He mumbled several more things, but most of what followed did not form sentences. Only scattered words about missing home could be made out.
Pei Song'an, who had been about to leave, stopped where he stood, looking at Li Shu with a little more scrutiny and puzzlement.
Li Shu's mother had divorced his father when he was ten. The investigation showed that she could not cook and never entered the kitchen, let alone did chores like laundry, which were servants' work.
Something seemed to surface briefly.
But Pei Song'an did not force himself to grasp it. Instead, after hesitating for two seconds, he turned to leave, quietly closing the dorm room door.
A night of sweet dreams.
Li Shu slept exceptionally well and woke full of energy. It was just that the pajamas he had spent all night bundled in, along with the sheets and duvet cover, smelled a little strange.
After showering, Li Shu decisively tossed everything into the washing machine to spin, spin, spin, then dug out the scent beads the original owner had bought from the balcony.
"How much of this stuff do I need to pour in to make everything smell really good?"
"Whatever. More, more."
Even after washing everything, Li Shu could not sit still. He got dressed, ready to pick Zhaocai up from the pet shop and take him for a walk.
He had just stepped outside when Pei Song'an called.
Hearing the noise coming through Li Shu's microphone, the other man immediately realized he was up to something again.
"Have you checked your temperature again before running outside?"
Li Shu had just put his shoes on. At those words, he guiltily added a thin scarf around his face, his voice muffled as he said,
"36.5 degrees. The international standard body temperature."
"I'm going to see Zhaocai. What kind of parenting is it if you don't look after your kid?"
Pei Song'an put away Li Shu's personal file, his tone deeply disapproving. "Zhaocai's at the pet shop. He won't get lost or run away. What's the hurry?"
"Pei Song'an, I've noticed you sometimes keep fussing over pointless things."
"I just want to pet a puppy, understand?"
Pei Song'an said, "Understand what?"
Li Shu's eyes lit up. "The joy of petting dogs and snuggling cats."
Sensing that Pei Song'an was about to say more, Li Shu hurriedly deployed his delaying tactic. "Oh, I'm heading out! We'll talk later. Hanging up now. My hands are freezing."
With the pet shop owner's permission, Li Shu took Zhaocai on his leash for an extensive inspection around campus. He knew exactly where new trash cans had been installed, whose slippers on their open-air balcony were too dirty, and which area had the most stray dogs.
By the end, Zhaocai was so tired that he lay on the ground with his tongue hanging out. Li Shu bought him a bottle of water at a convenience store, lecturing him as he gave him a drink.
"You little dog, you have terrible manners. How could you just sniff that little female dog's butt?"
"Did she agree to it? All you did was sniff, sniff, sniff."
Zhaocai seemed to disagree. His tail drooping, he gave Li Shu two "wer-wer" barks.
"Why are you sticking your chin up? Still not convinced? Being with you, I can't even hold my head up."
The man and dog faced off outside the convenience store, neither yielding, and ultimately got nowhere.
The man sat on a chair gnawing on a New Orleans-style chicken leg, while the dog squatted on the ground, dejectedly scraping at it with his paws.
Unfortunately, the peace did not last even two seconds before the chair opposite Li Shu was pulled out and a striking-looking man sat down across from him.
His fresh, handsome face carried a somewhat frivolous smile. His brows were relaxed, and the elongated corners of his eyes added a touch of calculation and gloom. He looked a little familiar to Li Shu.
Seeing how perfectly at ease he was only strengthened the illusion that this was a meeting between acquaintances.
But Li Shu's mind was blank.
It felt like seeing a familiar type of question in an exam and being absolutely certain the teacher had covered it, only for his atrocious memory to stop right there.
The helplessness of recognizing only the question, but not the answer.
So, beneath the man's smiling gaze, Li Shu asked hesitantly, "You are...?"
The man feigned hurt, the interest in his eyes deepening. "How heartbreaking. We met in the teaching building not long ago. Pei Song'an's younger brother, Shen Muwen."
Oh, the one who wanted Pei Song'an dead.
Li Shu cautiously glanced around. Once he confirmed that one of the cameras outside the convenience store pointed straight at him, he relaxed.
"Can I help you?"
Shen Muwen did not answer immediately. Instead, his gaze roamed over Li Shu's features, as though he were examining an object rather than a person, trying to determine its value through visual inspection.
Soon, however, Shen Muwen withdrew the gaze that made Li Shu uncomfortable. The sound of an electric scooter nearby caught his attention.
Li Shu watched Shen Muwen wave to the rider on the electric scooter. Soon, two steaming cups of milk tea were placed on the table.
Only then did Shen Muwen answer Li Shu's question. "I'm treating you to milk tea."
Li Shu's mother had told him from childhood never to accept things from strangers, so he did not touch it.
Shen Muwen did not seem to mind at all. After inserting his straw, he took a sip of the full-sugar milk tea and let out a soft, pleased laugh.
"I actually hate full-sugar milk tea. Pei Song'an's to blame for that, really."
Li Shu's attention was caught. If Shen Muwen wanted to talk to him about Pei Song'an, he was certainly interested. "Why?"
Shen Muwen looked into the distance, as though reminiscing. "Something this cheap, high in sugar and devoid of nutrition was a luxury for children of the Pei family. To ensure balanced physical development, our diets were strictly regulated too."
"When I was in first grade, I secretly bought a full-sugar milk tea with my pocket money. After I was found out, I was afraid of being punished, so I framed Pei Song'an."
"Pei Song'an was locked up for a full day and night because of it. My dad beat his palms raw with a ruler."
"But you know what?" Shen Muwen actually laughed as he said this. "He took it all without saying a word."
He looked at Li Shu after speaking, unwilling to miss a single expression on his face.
"Beating a minor like that is illegal, isn't it?" Just hearing those casually spoken words made Li Shu wince, his handsome face scrunching up. "But you-Pei Song'an covered for you. Why would you blame him?"
Shen Muwen was very pleased with Li Shu's reaction, but he still did not answer the question directly.
"Ever since he was little, Pei Song'an was the example for everyone in our generation. Top grades, good at everything, even extremely strict about managing his emotions. Someone who held himself to such high standards couldn't allow himself any moral blemishes."
"My dad's exact words were that Pei Song'an was perfect as the family heir."
"But I wanted to see what that perfect face would look like torn apart. So I shifted the blame onto my older brother, wanting him to overturn his own standards and say himself that someone else had actually done it."
Shen Muwen seemed to enjoy the recollection, speaking faster and faster.
"When Pei Song'an accused me, I'd deny it all innocently, falsely accuse him, condemn him, then finally pin the label of shirking responsibility on him, giving him a stain!"
"Watching that perfect mask crack before my eyes, then shatter all over the floor with a snap."
The rhythm of Shen Muwen's fingertips tapping the table turned strange as well, giving Li Shu goose bumps all over.
Li Shu did not understand, but deep down, he already agreed with Pei Song'an.
His brother was a psycho.
"What would you gain from that? It's not like you'd take Pei Song'an's place because of it."
Shen Muwen forced himself to take another sip of milk tea, as though still savoring the memory.
"It would feel fucking amazing."
"It would give me a mental or#."
Before you continue