It hurts so much, Pei Song'an

Li Shu had no idea what grown-up talk Pei Song'an and Chen Yannan were having behind his back, but he noticed that Chen Yannan didn't look too good after hanging up.

Chen Yannan took Li Shu back to his dorm, and even Cheng Zhen, whose soul was halfway out of his body, noticed something was off.

"What happened? Brother Yannan looked down. Did you force a kiss on him?"

Li Shu closed his eyes in despair. "Shut it. Say another word and I'll punch you."

Cheng Zhen laughed. "What actually happened? Satisfy my curiosity."

Li Shu pulled out his chair and curled up in it. "I told Brother Yannan I wanted to change majors."

Cheng Zhen drew out an "Oh." "He cared. He was upset!"

Li Shu continued, "Then Pei Song'an called me to check that I was in the dorm instead of running around outside like a stray dog."

Cheng Zhen wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth. "Oh no. You've landed yourself a top-tier daddy."

Li Shu finished, "And finally, Pei Song'an told me to hand the phone to Chen Yannan."

Cheng Zhen nearly jumped off his bed. "Holy shit, they're competing over you! They're competing! We're saved!"

"..."

"..."

"Cheng Zhen, go home and get your head checked. If that doesn't work, get a shot or drink some Chinese medicine. How are you ever going to pass CET-4 at this rate?"

Cheng Zhen clicked his tongue twice with an all-knowing expression. "Oh, you just don't get it, you greedy boy. Your good days are still ahead."

Li Shu had nothing to say. "Ha ha."

Thanks to Pei Daddy's supervision, Li Shu spent the afternoon of the last day of the weekend quietly and tediously working through his CET-4 workbook.

So after a full morning of classes on Monday, he couldn't wait to go hiking off campus with some like-minded club members. Though it was still a little cold in early spring, plenty of strange bugs had already emerged on the mountain. Li Shu liked collecting them in water bottles to take back to the dorm and scare Cheng Zhen.

One afternoon wasn't nearly enough fun, and on top of that, Li Shu lost a water bottle full of bugs on the way down. They spent a while looking for it, so by the time they returned from outside campus, none of them had time for dinner.

Laden with bags of all sizes, the others ran toward the dorm to grab their books for evening study. Only Li Shu stubbornly charged back off campus.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where are you going?"

Li Shu had no time to look back. He stuffed bread into his mouth and chewed away, mumbling indistinctly, "I've got something to do. Go on without me."

He had to show his face at Zhaocai's place, or the pet shop would be closed by the time evening study ended.

Li Shu worried that if he didn't visit Zhaocai, the little mutt would think he'd been abandoned and whimper in the middle of the night with his little tail drooping and his eyes red, so he went every day.

"Lots of wildflowers have bloomed on the mountain. I'll take you there when it gets a bit warmer."

"Woof!"

Okay!

"Hey, Zhaocai, what do you think of me offering a hiking companion service? I could earn some pocket money to get you a wife."

"Woof, woof!"

So-so.

"Oh, right, I collected loads of bugs. Have a look and see if there's anything you like eating. I'll pick some out for you to taste first."

"Woof, woof, woof!"

You're the real expert at being a dog!

Keeping an eye on the time, Li Shu played with Zhaocai's tail a little longer, then put on his backpack and said goodbye, a hint of resentment in his almond-shaped eyes. "Being a dog is great. You don't have to go to evening study."

With that, he trudged off. He had only just pushed through the door and crossed the street when two unfamiliar men stopped him.

Seeing this from inside the pet shop, Zhaocai frantically scratched all around his two-bedroom-and-living-room enclosure, barking nonstop. He even banged his head against the glass in his efforts to get out.

The owner came out, baffled, and looked in the direction Zhaocai was barking. There was no one there.

In the end, unable to settle the little mutt, the owner had no choice but to call Pei Song'an.

"Yes, Zhaocai's been barking ever since that young man left. Could you come take a look?"

"All right. I'll be right there."

Pei Song'an had just come out of the library. After hanging up, he checked with Li Shu's hiking companions and confirmed that Li Shu hadn't returned to campus with them. His right eyelid wouldn't stop twitching.

As the two men sized Li Shu up, he studied them too.

Dressed entirely in black, with sunglasses on top of that-just looking at them, either one could send Li Shu to the afterlife with a swing of those massive arms.

"You're Li Shu?"

At those words, it was as though lightning struck Li Shu's brain. Hardly anyone passed through here at this hour, and these two had clearly picked their moment.

Steadying himself, Li Shu kept his expression perfectly normal. "No."

He turned to leave quite naturally, deliberately looking impatient. "What the hell? I've got things to do."

The instant he turned, his expression changed. He took off like a rabbit, shooting away in a flash.

The two men caught on and swore:

"Fuck, the kid's playing us! That's him! Get him!"

Li Shu's heart pounded wildly. He couldn't even hear the wind in his ears, only the thumping of his heart. Danger sent his adrenaline surging, pushing his muscles to their limits as he ran faster than usual.

He unscrewed the water bottle he'd intended to scare Cheng Zhen with and swung it behind him, scanning his surroundings and trying to run toward as many people as possible.

The men chasing him were no pushovers either. One grabbed Li Shu's jacket outright. Clutching a dead bug, Li Shu nimbly twisted around and slammed it against the man's mouth.

Seizing the opening, Li Shu hurried another couple of steps forward, only for the other man to grab his shoulder and yank him back hard, slamming him straight into the ground.

When he came to his senses, he first felt a chill against his back, followed by countless tiny stabs of pain spreading through his body. His bones were probably fine; he'd likely just scraped his skin.

"Faster than a damn rabbit. Still going to run?"

The man who'd been forced to eat a bug kicked Li Shu twice in the thigh, then pulled away the backpack Li Shu was holding protectively in front of him. But when he opened it, it was full of leaves, little stones, and plenty of colorful flowers that had been crushed beyond recognition.

"We were only going to scare you. You're getting beaten because you tried to be clever, understand?"

Li Shu had only been in a handful of fights his whole life, let alone fought thugs off the street. His body hurt, and his mouth was probably bleeding too. It wasn't serious, but the pain made his chest clench.

He glared fiercely at the two men. Seeing that Li Shu was still defiant, one wanted to hit him a few more times, but the other stopped him.

"That's enough. The person paying us said not to lay a hand on him."

He had barely finished speaking when they suddenly heard several urgent, ferocious barks.

"Woof, woof, woof!"

"Woof, woof, woof!"

Zhaocai bared his teeth and raced toward Li Shu without a care for anything else, wanting nothing more than to sink his teeth straight into the two men's throats.

Pei Song'an followed close behind, and Zheng Linchuan hurried after them with several bodyguards.

Only when he saw Pei Song'an's tightly knitted brows and ashen face did the jumble of thoughts in Li Shu's mind slowly come to a halt.

His Adam's apple bobbed, and his nose stung.

He felt a little wronged, without knowing why, and could only complain in a trembling voice:

"They hit me. It hurts so much, Pei Song'an."