This time, Li Shu was truly angry

Soon, the deadly phone call came.

"Li Xiaoshu, so the first thing you do after realizing your mistake is dodge responsibility?"

"So my mouth can eat dirt, but the Crown Prince's body can't take a bullet?"

"Didn't you say you'd never be a pathetic little simp again? How did you turn right around and go, 'I'm so hungry, so sleepy, I miss you so much'?"

On the other end, Cheng Zhen was so angry he actually laughed.

Hearing himself about to be branded a simp again, Li Shu slapped his thigh in agitation. "When did I say I liked Pei Song'an? Can't you wish me well for once? Is spending all day revolving around a man something to be proud of? Dude, I really had no choice. You seriously don't get it."

"Oh." Cheng Zhen chuckled dryly. "What don't I get? I was the one who found you your very first gay porno."

"..."

Well, you certainly knew your stuff.

Mystery solved.

Your Honor, so you were the bastard who led Li Xiaoshu astray!!!

"Ahem, ahem." Li Shu cleared his throat with great solemnity, his gaze burning. "Pei Song'an and I are still getting to know each other. We don't even count as friends yet. Besides, Pei Song'an only made such a huge scene to stand up for me. Was I supposed to leave him to die?"

Cheng Zhen rolled over. "Bullshit! He had his arm around your waist! His hands, his eyes, his moves-his progress bar was already maxed out, and you're still telling me you had no choice?"

Li Shu said, "..."

"Honestly, he still hasn't let his guard down around me."

Cheng Zhen didn't need to know about the desensitization through touch, which also involved being held down and worked over.

Cheng Zhen saw through everything. "Oh, oh. Then what does letting his guard down look like? Plucking the stars out of the sky for you? That's all men's sweet talk. Have him do something tangible. Shake some cash loose for you to spend."

Li Shu couldn't get through to him. "Damn it, go memorize some textbook passages when you have time. Didn't you fail College Chinese last semester?"

Only as they were about to hang up did Cheng Zhen grow a little more serious, his voice coming through the phone's speaker with a hint of hesitation.

"Shu, everything else aside, the Crown Prince is much better than Chen Yannan. At least he takes responsibility and dares to answer for his own actions."

"The way Chen Yannan looked at you today seemed a little different from before. If he comes back looking for you, please make absolutely sure you don't go simping after him again."

"Okay?"

Li Shu sat cross-legged on the bed. "Rest easy, Mama Cheng."

After hanging up, Li Xiaoshu threw back his head and let out a silent dragon's roar.

See? You really shouldn't make such a spectacle of your crush.

It all became a permanent record afterward.

The bedroom door stood ajar, the gap just wide enough for every word of Li Shu and Cheng Zhen's wild conversation to be heard clearly.

That was how innocent college students like them were. Whether saying good things or bad, they never knew to keep their voices down around others. All they knew was that they were born emperors and had to attend court at eight every morning.

Zheng Linchuan looked at the Crown Prince standing silently by the door and sighed inwardly.

No genius had ever dared openly declare, on Pei Song'an's own turf, that he had no choice but to get close to Hong Kong City's Crown Prince.

Those words were undoubtedly a death sentence for his own prospects and future.

Zheng Linchuan cautiously observed the Crown Prince's expression, but his face was impassive, his gaze following that open, unguarded figure inside the room. Then he closed the door for Li Shu.

It was more or less what he had guessed.

Protecting him without wanting anything in return made no sense in itself. Someone or something must have offered Li Shu some benefits. But it was also because everything so far worked in his favor that Pei Song'an had tacitly allowed it.

He understood all of it, but actually hearing Li Shu say he had no choice still stirred a visible fluctuation in Pei Song'an's emotions that he couldn't suppress.

With that cloud of mystery around him, Li Shu was subtly encroaching on Pei Song'an's order and territory. Once Pei Song'an opened a gap and let him in, everything about Li Shu would fall under his control.

The atmosphere grew somewhat heavy.

Just as Zheng Linchuan was sweating on Li Shu's behalf, he heard Pei Song'an speak slowly.

"Have someone secretly follow Li Shu. Report his every move to me."

"I don't want to see him threatened in the street a second time."

Zheng Linchuan froze.

"Oh, and transfer some pocket money into the account he uses for living expenses. I don't know how Chen Yannan's been looking after him. He can't even bear to buy himself new clothes."

Zheng Linchuan hurriedly agreed.

Li Shu didn't stay at Pei Song'an's home very long. Besides, it was Sunday, and he had evening self-study, so after dinner, Pei Song'an drove him back to school.

Everyone did all sorts of things during Sunday evening self-study. Cheng Zhen even brazenly fiddled with his phone right on his desk.

Li Shu listened to Cheng Zhen hum several songs, only realizing when he heard the lyrics that they were actually all the same song. Rather than say anything that would wound Cheng Zhen's pride, he considerately took out the little cake Pei Song'an had tucked away for him and offered it to shut his mouth.

"Here, eat. A gift from the Crown Prince. May it bless you with a passing grade in advanced math."

The two were engaged in a fierce chase beneath their desks over who would get the first bite of cake when they suddenly heard the class monitor call from the front, "Li Shu, someone's here for you!"

"Coming!"

Hastily taking another bite of strawberry cream, Li Shu licked his lips and walked out the door, where he saw Chen Yannan's slightly weary face.

The sweet taste still lingered in his mouth. Set against Chen Yannan's somewhat tired eyes, it felt exactly as though Li Shu had been cheating outside, then come home without time to wipe his mouth and found himself facing his husband, who had been asleep for ages.

The bizarre thought flitted through his mind, and Li Shu hurriedly asked, "Brother Yannan, what is it?"

"Xiaoshu, tell me the truth. What exactly is your relationship with Pei Song'an?"

Li Shu had never expected those to be Chen Yannan's opening words. Pei Song'an had told him a little about it: in the end, Xue Chen could only swallow his bad luck over his injury. Without evidence that Xue Chen had deliberately made trouble for Li Shu, even the Crown Prince couldn't do whatever he pleased.

Ending the matter with Xue Chen's fractured wrist as a warning was just right.

But the Xue Family seemed somewhat difficult to deal with. They couldn't touch the Pei family, so they could only hold the Chen Family accountable. After all, Chen Yannan had brought him there.

At the time, Li Shu had been very curious. Xue Chen liked Chen Yannan so much, so why would he let his father make things difficult for the Chen Family?

Pei Song'an's answer had made Li Shu feel that humans had no feelings in the face of profit.

"What sustains a relationship is never affection, but both parties holding bargaining chips. It looks like he's seeking justice for his son, but he's really using this opportunity to put pressure on the Chen Family, reminding them not to forget that their current expansion owes a great deal to the Xue Family's help."

Recalling this, Li Shu raised his head without giving a definite answer. "Brother Yannan, why are you suddenly asking this?"

What little restrained patience Chen Yannan had possessed had already been worn through by the Xue Family that afternoon. The corridor lights fell across his taut profile. The gentleness in his features had been replaced by sharpness and calculation, making him look somewhat frightening.

"Are you defending him now?"

Chen Yannan found it inconceivable.

"Pei Song'an deliberately set things up to injure Xue Chen's wrist. Hong Kong City's Crown Prince can cover the sky with one hand. Xiaoshu, you need to think carefully about exactly why he's keeping you by his side."

"People like him seem well brought up and have a strong sense of order, but deep down, they've long since discarded ordinary people's rules. To put it bluntly, he's despicable and filthy!"

Li Shu didn't want to hear any more and interrupted Chen Yannan's analysis of Pei Song'an.

"Brother Yannan."

This time, Li Shu was truly angry.

"If this is what you came to tell me today, don't waste your breath."

"Why don't you stop and think about why, out of all those people, only Xue Chen got hurt?"

"Does that really not occur to you? No! You just don't dare think about it!"