Song'an, not answering your phone isn't a good habit

Sound traveled so fast that by the time Li Shu realized what he had heard, it was already too late.

He went over it three times in disbelief.

!!!

What

the

?

Li Shu was so startled that he scooted a long way to the side and nearly missed his seat. His excellent physical fitness and balance saved him from an embarrassing fall, but he still inevitably grabbed the arm Pei Song'an held out to him.

He could no longer worry about his burning face and barely squeezed a few words through his teeth.

"There are other people here. Please talk like a grown-up, young master!"

"We'll do it in secret."

"Not even in secret!"

Pei Song'an's tone and expression held a hint of regret. After pulling Li Shu upright, he turned his gaze back toward the distant clouds and dazzling sunlight, the corners of his lips lifting.

"Really? All right, then."

Only when the morning chill swept into his collar on the wind racing across the mountaintop did Li Shu belatedly realize that this man seemed to be messing with him.

"What do you mean? Were you teasing me?"

Pei Song'an said, "Do you want me to be teasing you?"

"I..." Li Shu instinctively started to answer, then immediately caught himself and turned fierce again. "Wait, how did you end up asking me questions again?"

In a fit of anger, Li Shu threw away his sausage skewer, only for it to bounce off a rock by his feet and land squarely in the mesh of Zhu Sichun's sneaker, sticking straight out.

Zhu Sichun: "?"

Li Shu died a little-40%, to be precise-and hurriedly apologized. "Sorry, sorry, sorry."

The timing really was terrible.

It made him, Li Xiaoshu, look utterly spineless in front of Pei Song'an.

The mountaintop offered a zip line for thrill-seeking young people who wanted to challenge their heart rates. Pei Song'an asked the group what they thought, and since they had stayed up all night and exercised intensely, most chose to return the way they had come.

Seeing that most people felt that way, Li Shu felt awkward about going off on his own. He decided to head down first and come back by himself another time.

Pei Song'an saw through Li Shu's little thoughts and bought three zip line tickets, including ones for himself and Zhu Sichun. Worried that Li Shu might feel embarrassed, he specifically added:

"The zip line here is famous. Zhu Sichun and I have wanted to try it for ages."

"Want to come with us?"

Zhu Sichun: "?"

When exactly had he ever wanted that? How come he didn't know about it himself?

Li Shu was so delighted that his mouth nearly curled all the way up, and his eyes, utterly incapable of hiding his emotions, lit up. "Really? That's great! I actually really wanted to try it too, but I was too embarrassed to say so. Pei Song'an, I've realized that every time I run into you, I'm super, unbelievably, explosively lucky!"

Hearing Li Shu say that, Zhu Sichun closed his mouth, abandoning his intention to expose the lie.

On the way back, Zhu Sichun didn't drive. He gave his car keys to a friend in their group and climbed into Pei Song'an's back seat on trembling legs, declaring that Pei Song'an had caused all of this and had to take responsibility.

Li Shu was a little tired from all the fun, but sitting in the passenger seat, he felt he bore the important duty of keeping the driver awake, so he held his eyes as wide as bells.

Pei Song'an swept a dark gaze over Li Shu. There was no trace of unspoken awkwardness on his face over the kiss on their way up the mountain. Even after someone crossed a line with him, he could distinguish what mattered, wouldn't pettily refuse to speak to them, and said what was on his mind.

Of course, it was also possible that Li Shu had gotten so carried away having fun that he had forgotten all about the kiss.

"You can sleep."

"No!"

Li Shu was adamant.

But less than ten minutes after the car started moving, the person who had solemnly vowed to keep him company until the end was already sleeping with his head tilted, oblivious to the world.

The car traveled steadily along the highway. Calls to Pei Song'an's phone interrupted the car's music several times, but Li Shu slept like a little pig, completely unaware.

Just as Pei Song'an rejected the third call, Zhu Sichun, who had been resting with his arms crossed and head tipped back, suddenly spoke.

"Is it okay not to answer Uncle Pei's calls?"

Pei Song'an kept his eyes straight ahead, lowering his voice for fear of waking the person beside him. "It's fine. Answering would wake Li Shu. I'll take him back to his apartment, then go straight to the Pei family home."

"I'll go with you. I bought an old vintage red wine at an auction a while ago. This is a good chance to bring it over." Zhu Sichun was uneasy. "At least with me there, Uncle Pei can't..."

Pei Song'an interrupted him. "No need. Go straight home. I can handle it myself."

At that, Zhu Sichun said no more.

More than a dozen tall trees lined both sides of the road in orderly rows, their crowns blotting out the sky and sun. At the end stood two simple, imposing black gates.

The car honked.

Soon, someone slowly pulled the gates open from inside.

A little farther down the road, a spacious, square courtyard came into view. The Pei family residence was old, painstakingly crafted a hundred years ago by skilled artisans who built courtyards for the emperor. Originally a private courtyard established by the emperor, it had passed through several hands before coming into the Pei family's possession.

Its present value could no longer be described simply in terms of location or price. What mattered more was the timeless elegance and charm handed down through the ages.

Farther inside, Pei Song'an's father, Pei Lian, sat fishing beside the lake. Several men in black crouched nearby with their hands pressed into the pond water. Froth kept churning to the surface, accompanied by gurgling loud enough to make one's ears ring.

"Father."

Pei Lian nodded slightly and raised a hand to stop the men in black. As he withdrew his hand, Pei Song'an clearly saw Shen Muwen crawl miserably out of the water, a few grains of fish food still clinging to his hair and collar.

After Shen Muwen had been thrown in, Pei Lian had fed the fish as well.

Shen Muwen coughed hard several times, then wiped his face with a towel handed to him by a man in black.

Pei Lian spared him not so much as a glance. Instead, he handed his fishing rod to a servant beside him and used a tissue to wipe the droplets from his clothes. Throughout it all, there was not the slightest displeasure in his sharp eyes.

"The view from this position is vastly different from the one underwater."

"Underwater, the first thing you see will always be other people looking down at you as though you're trash."

"Reminding you just how useless you are."

Only then did Pei Lian finally deign to look up at the bedraggled Shen Muwen. His tone was calm, but the anger at his failure to measure up was still audible.

"A few thugs with dirty hands managed to corner you in an alley and beat you up. You've truly disgraced me."

Shen Muwen stood where he was and lowered his head, his usual flippant expression gone. His voice was hoarse from choking on water, and speaking felt as though a razor blade were lodged in his throat.

"I'm sorry, Father."

Pei Song'an remained silent, but a dark, restless emotion was plain in his eyes. His hands hanging at his sides clenched uncontrollably, then relaxed less than a second later.

Those people had been like a small test. He had successfully avoided trouble, so his father rewarded him this way, while also warning him that if he failed to perform so perfectly next time, he would be the one in the water instead of Shen Muwen.

He had known since childhood that he and Shen Muwen were merely merchandise bearing the label of sons.

With Pei Lian's current status and prestige, he needed an utterly perfect son to satisfy his own twisted vanity.

Footsteps drew closer.

Pei Song'an calmly met Pei Lian's gaze. An icy consideration mingled with the seemingly kindly smile in Pei Lian's eyes as he walked over and lightly patted Pei Song'an's shoulder.

"Song'an, not answering your phone isn't a good habit."

His tone wasn't particularly reproachful. It was more as though a perfect score had offset the fault.

"It won't happen again, Father."

Pei Song'an's voice was flat.

Pei Lian seemed to have no intention of pursuing the matter. His gaze was neither stern nor mild, and his tone betrayed no emotion.

"Both of you stay. Have breakfast before you leave."