So Pei Song'an had understood!
"Then why were you putting on that act with me?"
Mortified and angry, Li Shu broke free and scrambled several steps back, his mind a tangled mess. He couldn't even tell whether he was happy or unhappy right now.
All he could think was, I can't take this!
"Pei Song'an, do you know that once you pick up the bad habit of kissing people willy-nilly, your whole life is over?"
Li Shu hurriedly rubbed his face all over, then paced four or five frantic laps around the living room. Only when the heat had completely faded from his face did he calm down.
Pei Song'an looked at him. "Did I scare you?"
Li Shu stubbornly denied it. "Of course not!"
A smile lingered on the man's face, restrained tenderness in his phoenix eyes. "You're so brave, baby. Got it."
Out of options, Li Shu crouched down and covered his ears in despair.
Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying!
Still, he had to admit that Pei Song'an's words had put him considerably more at ease.
Perhaps there was simply something magical about Pei Song'an. Whenever he promised something, even if it hadn't happened yet, Li Shu felt one hundred percent certain he could do it.
God, now that I think about it, I don't know whether Pei Song'an treats me like a kid, but I really do seem to treat him like my dad...
Holy crap, what the hell? Begone, begone, begone!
With no classes all Tuesday, Li Shu took Zhaocai out camping.
Cheng Zhen went ahead to their agreed campsite, while Li Shu went to the pet shop to pick up the dog.
After meeting up, the two rolled up their sleeves and followed the instructions to put up their tent. Zhaocai quickly hit it off with the dogs on the lawn and brought a whole grand procession over to cheer Li Shu and Cheng Zhen on.
"Shoo, shoo, go play somewhere else! Don't pee here!"
"No putting muddy paws on the tent!"
"Zhaocai, how many times have I told you not to sniff little girl dogs' butts? You've already been neutered, stop getting ideas... Hey! Little boy dogs are off-limits too!!!"
"..."
By the time the tent was up, Li Shu's throat was parched.
He sat in a reclining chair, clutching a one-liter water bottle and gulping endlessly.
He had just put down his bottle when Cheng Zhen plopped down beside him, huffing and puffing with a hammer in hand, and wailed at the sky. "Do you know how many male models with eight-packs would fight to pitch my tent if I just waved my bank card? How am I supposed to show my face if word gets out that I spent today hammering in pegs with my ass sticking up?"
Li Shu was considering which mineral water bottle to put ants in and didn't even look up. "Don't get me started. I lost the bugs I was going to scare you with last time. Now I have to catch more."
Cheng Zhen: "..."
That topic finally opened Cheng Zhen's floodgates. "What's going on between you and Pei Song'an, anyway? Is he pursuing you? Do you like him? Have you kissed? Don't tell me you've already ended up in the same bed under the pretext of tutoring?"
"Is it really like the novels say, too big to wrap one hand around?"
"How many times?"
Li Shu: "..."
Was he really just that inexperienced?
Was this something you could just casually ask!?
Li Shu had intended to shut down that filthy-minded Cheng Zhen's line of thought immediately, but then he remembered the kiss Pei Song'an had planted on his chin. Every touch ended up feeling incredibly sexual. They clearly hadn't done anything, yet somehow it felt as though they'd done everything.
"I don't know what we are right now either." Li Shu scratched his fluffy hair in extreme embarrassment. "He's never said he likes me, and I don't know whether I like him. Anyway, things are a little strange between us right now."
Cheng Zhen instantly perked up, his gaze solemn. "Tell me everything."
After hearing Li Shu describe their current relationship in concise terms, Cheng Zhen knitted his brows.
"Zhen, do you think something's off too?"
Cheng Zhen shook his head. "It's off. It's seriously off. Am I part of you and Pei Song'an's play too???"
Li Shu: "Huh?"
Cheng Zhen found it even stranger. "Why does it feel like you've turned straight again since you stopped liking Chen Yannan? Those are questions only some clueless little straight guy would ask, okay!"
"Still, maybe that's exactly what Pei Song'an likes about you. Have you ever heard this saying that's been going around?"
Li Shu tensed. "What saying?"
"Hehe." Cheng Zhen grinned wickedly. "Straight guys are great. They're a treat whether they top or bottom."
Li Shu: "...Then I'm not straight. Spare me."
Unfortunately, Cheng Zhen clearly had no intention of stopping there. "Watch yourself. Pei Song'an is this close to pinning you to the bed, kissing those little lips, squeezing your waist hard, calling you baby, whispering sweet nothings that'll be the death of you, charming you until you can't tell which way is up, and finally keeping you locked in bed for the rest of your life!!!!"
"..."
"..."
What on earth was he babbling about???
"Shut up already!" Li Shu cracked and went straight for his trump card. "God, you wouldn't want your gaming buddies finding out you went 0-25 and hid your match history, would you?"
Mutual destruction.
Right where it hurt.
They called a temporary truce. To prove he wasn't a coward, Cheng Zhen pulled out his phone again, ready to fight another three hundred rounds and show them what he was made of.
Li Shu turned away and took his water bottle to find Zhaocai on the lawn. He ran around after the pack of dogs, occasionally petting their tails and catching bugs in the grass. Once he tired himself out, he lay down on it to bask in the sun.
Unfortunately, as soon as he closed his eyes, Pei Song'an's scorching lips and the sensation of his fingers stroking his body haunted him like ghosts.
As that palm roamed over his fair, unblemished legs, Li Shu instinctively clutched the grass beneath him.
His eyes snapped open. The dazzling sunlight briefly doubled his vision, and as it slowly came into focus, his gaze landed beside a truck not far away. His scalp immediately prickled.
He had seen that face not long ago.
The burly man who had led the others, stick in hand, when he rescued Shen Muwen at the alley entrance was smoking beside the truck at that very moment. There was no way Li Shu could mistake that full beard!
Outwardly calm, Li Shu caught hold of Zhaocai, who was just about to perform a great leap. But when the bearded man's gaze landed on him, sweat had already begun coating Li Shu's forehead and palms uncontrollably.
The bearded man had evidently recognized Li Shu as the person who had meddled back then, but because he wasn't quite certain, he didn't approach particularly quickly.
It was lunchtime, and many people had returned to their tents to barbecue, leaving the lawn relatively empty.
Worried about bringing trouble to Cheng Zhen and afraid Zhaocai might get hurt, Li Shu patted the dog's rump and sent him back to Cheng Zhen, then stood and walked steadily away.
Going somewhere crowded could keep him safe for a while, but Li Shu couldn't guarantee that this man wouldn't lie in wait until he and Cheng Zhen left before attacking. That would still drag someone else into it.
He might as well use himself as bait and lure the man onto the street. There were plenty of cameras along the way, and a police station about a thousand meters away.
When you're in danger, you can't go wrong asking the police for help!
Despite having thought everything through, Li Shu's heart kept pounding. He had seen with his own eyes how the bearded man had beaten Shen Muwen until he couldn't stand. This man definitely had training; an ordinary person couldn't possibly compare.
As his steps grew quicker and quicker, Li Shu swallowed, not even noticing that his clenched hands were trembling slightly.
No time to think about all that. Run!
Before you continue