Pei Song'an: "Sorry, did the way I spoke scare you?"
"Sexual harassment is your way of speaking?"
"That's how you understood it?"
"What's going on? Why does that question make me sound like some tasteless jerk?!"
Li Shu rocked impatiently from side to side in his chair, pouting without a word, his round black eyes unable to resist stealing glances at how incredibly hot Pei Song'an looked in glasses on the screen.
Pei Song'an got into the car and glanced at Li Shu's rosy lips again. "If I give you money, spend it. At your age, you don't buy clothes or play games, and all you do outside class is run around laughing behind a dog's backside all day. What kind of life is that?"
"..."
Li Shu had nothing to say to that lecture.
What he admired most was how Pei Song'an always wore that face while saying things that invited misunderstanding. Every time, Li Shu thought the man's mind was full of dirty thoughts, only for him to overturn that judgment the very next second.
Not only had he stood up for him and gotten revenge, he'd also noticed that he kept wearing the same few outfits lately. Without asking whether he was having money troubles, he'd simply transferred money over without another word.
"Oh my god..."
"Pei Song'an, you're too good to me. I'm not used to it!"
"I don't have any outstanding abilities. If you give me this much money, I can't pay you back... no, I mean, the Li Family will end up owing you the favor."
That was terrifying. I nearly let it slip.
With that kind of charisma, how many years would Pei Song'an get if he were a human trafficker?
The sound of the car starting came through the microphone. Somewhat helpless at Li Shu's lack of caution, Pei Song'an didn't expose him. He slowly glanced over and chose to pass over it.
"Not used to it? Then start learning to get used to it now."
"There's no standard for being outstanding. You're actually very impressive. You have sound values, good manners, a nice personality, and you're clearheaded and independent. In my eyes, you're outstanding."
"Pei Song'an, the words you're using to praise me feel so unfamiliar." Li Shu was floored and unbelievably embarrassed. "What I heard most growing up was 'all right,' 'not bad,' and 'keep working hard.'"
"Mm." Pei Song'an remained composed. Once he started driving, he stopped looking at the screen, leaving Li Shu with only his profile. "Not being good at expressing affection is also something you're lacking right now."
"But don't worry. I'll teach you that too."
Li Shu: "Huh???"
How did we suddenly end up here?
What the hell? Who needs you to teach me??
Can a pervert who needs physical contact to deepen a relationship even teach that properly?!
The result of not having to study all week was that the week flew by.
It was as though he feared that studying even a little more would actually make him pass the CET-4.
On Saturday morning, Pei Song'an had a project report to submit for the Mathematical Research Group. The original plan was for him to pick Li Shu up once he finished, but Li Shu wanted both to have fun and to walk the dog, so he couldn't wait and rushed out of his dorm.
Fresh from a bath and smelling lovely, Zhaocai circled Li Shu as though showing off, winding the leash around him several times.
"Shoo, shoo! Don't lift your leg next to my feet. Go pee in the corner!"
Zhaocai wasn't in the habit of standing there peeing while being bathed. Having rubbed against Li Shu to his heart's content, he shook his head and prepared to mark him with some fresh pee.
Startled, Li Shu hurried backward, forgetting the leash wrapped around his legs. He landed butt-first on the steps beside him, frightening Zhaocai into picking any available gap and relieving himself on the spot.
It was an absurd scene.
Fortunately, no one was around. Otherwise, Li Shu would have had a complete meltdown from embarrassment right there.
He stood up, dusted off his trousers, and continued toward Pei Song'an's apartment. Before he had gone far, Zhaocai suddenly stopped, intensely alert, growling deep in his throat and baring a neat set of big white teeth as he barked at an alley entrance not far away.
"Woof, woof, woof!"
Soon, a chaotic flurry of footsteps came from the alley, along with the dull thuds of unidentified objects striking something.
Not wanting trouble, Li Shu decided to pretend he hadn't heard and tugged the leash to take Zhaocai away. But out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar face in the crowd.
Shen Muwen.
At the very instant he spotted him, someone landed a vicious punch on Shen Muwen.
His retreating footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
Li Shu suddenly hated his excellent 20/20 vision.
Please, not this.
"Let's go, let's go. Shen Muwen isn't a good person anyway. He deserves a beating. Who knows what infuriating thing came out of that mouth that's always asking for a slap."
"Ugh, but thinking about it, Shen Muwen hasn't actually done anything to hurt me. What if I leave him to die and those people beat him to death? Will he turn into a ghost and come after my life?!"
"Pei Song'an just praised my character, and now you're going to turn around and leave his little brother to die, Li Xiaoshu!"
Fine, fine, fine. Fine, fine, fine.
When you see injustice, give a shout.
Li Shu had really never left someone to die before. He picked up his phone and shouted into it, borrowing the authorities' clout:
"Hello, police? There's a gang beating someone up across from A University. Yes, they're practically beating him to death. Hurry!"
They weren't hardened criminals, after all. Hearing someone suddenly shout that outside, the group panicked and ran in the opposite direction with their weapons.
Only after Li Shu was certain they had all run far away did he dawdle about, preparing to sneak off.
"Hey, student."
Shen Muwen's voice came from inside. Firmly resolved that whoever looked back was a total idiot, Li Shu kept walking. To his surprise, the other man persisted, his voice growing considerably louder.
"Li Shu, the young student in the light brown tracksuit walking a little yellow dog."
Li Shu stiffly reversed course and backed up to the alley entrance.
His fair, clean face was utterly righteous. "I'd advise you not to harbor ill intentions toward your lifesaver."
Shen Muwen laughed. The movement pulled at the corner of his mouth and reopened his wound, twisting his handsome, wicked-looking face slightly. He braced himself against the wall and slowly stood, his tone chilly.
"You're too kind for your own good, Li Shu. Didn't Pei Song'an tell you to stay away from me?"
"Don't tell me you only saved me because Pei Song'an and I are brothers."
"That would piss me off enough to wake me from my dreams."
Once again stunned by Shen Muwen's outrageous reasoning, Li Shu said, "...What does that have to do with anything? Do you want to live or die?"
This guy was crazy!
Li Shu didn't dare approach. He stayed at the alley entrance, within sight of the security camera. "Aren't you the Second Young Master of the Pei family? How did you get beaten up like this?"
Shen Muwen raised an eyebrow and gave Li Shu a smiling look. "I do have some idea who those people are. They've probably been pushed into a corner to dare act so openly. They targeted me this time. Next time, it'll be Pei Song'an."
"Why are you cursing Pei Song'an for no reason? Couldn't it just be because you're so annoying?" Li Shu snapped, "Zhaocai, bite him!"
"Because Xue Chen thought he was being clever, I had the bad luck to get a warning from Pei Song'an too." Shen Muwen casually wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, took out his phone, and tapped it a couple of times, his smile particularly grating. "I've been behaving myself so much lately I'm about to grow mold."
As soon as he finished speaking, the system in Li Shu's mind suddenly spoke.
[Beep-] [Key plot event detected. Loading-] [The mathematics project group Pei Song'an belongs to will organize a mountain hike next Wednesday. A sudden downpour will strike that evening, and Pei Song'an will become trapped in a nearby cave on his way back to his tent. The group that has been following him will seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.] [Only then will Pei Song'an realize that these are the same people who beat Shen Muwen.] [Host, please identify the source of danger before next Wednesday and help the male lead avoid the risk.]
The instant the system finished speaking, Li Shu jerked his head up and stared at Shen Muwen as though he were a ghost.
At the same time, Li Shu's phone vibrated.
Pei Song'an's message arrived with perfect timing: "Where are you?"
Before you continue