Zhaocai got a two-bedroom apartment too

Zhaocai was driven away in the pet shop's little car.

Pei Song'an must have put quite a lot of money into Zhaocai's personal account, because even the carrier they used to pick Zhaocai up looked fancier than the ones for the other animals.

The little mutt was washed until he smelled lovely, and even switched to dog food with all-English packaging. Supposedly, this brand was more nutritious. Li Shu didn't buy it. What was wrong with domestic dog food?

They probably saw that Pei Song'an was rich and decided to fleece the sucker for all he was worth.

Besides that, the pet shop owner was extremely warm toward Li Shu, promising two videos each morning, afternoon, and evening to give him a comprehensive view of Zhaocai's life.

Well, damn. Zhaocai was moving up in the world. He even had a two-bedroom apartment now.

Li Shu glanced at the man wearing that elegant mask of elitism and clicked his tongue.

Truly terrifying.

What a man. He had every base covered.

Before leaving, Li Shu reluctantly stroked Zhaocai's head, putting on who knew what sort of persona:

"Be good. Once your dad's doing better, I'll come take you home!"

Pei Song'an looked at the back of his fluffy head and reminded him, "This place is only a five-minute walk from your dorm."

Li Shu turned around, bristling. "You're so annoying. You broke my immersion."

Saturday evening, before the semester started.

Li Shu and Cheng Zhen had tumbled through the snowbanks outside a couple of times, leaving their noses icy and their faces flushed red with cold. Their collars and pockets were full of ice crystals.

"Li Xiaoshu, I noticed you haven't called Chen Yannan once these past two days." Cheng Zhen laughed and shoved Li Shu.

"There's nothing going on. Why would I call him?" Li Shu packed a snowball and hurled it straight at Cheng Zhen's grinning face.

Cheng Zhen failed to dodge and landed on his ass with a miserable yelp. "You really don't like him anymore?"

Li Shu pulled him up. "No, I don't. I'll say it eight hundred times."

Cheng Zhen was tired from playing, and his breath had left a thin layer of frost on his eyelashes. "He's not your actual brother, either. But that Pei Song'an doesn't look like much to me, either. The Crown Princes of Hong Kong City all have dirty hands."

"Why do I have to pick someone to like?" Li Shu was speechless. "Then I like money. Bring on the money, bring on the money, bring on the money."

Bzz, bzz, bzz-

"Hello?" Li Shu glanced at the screen. It was Chi Yelai, someone from Chen Yannan's circle.

"Little Shu, come hang out. Your Brother Yannan's looking for you."

Li Shu didn't want to go, but Chi Yelai added, "Xue Chen's here too. He pushed you into the water at that birthday party, so your Brother Yannan specifically brought him over to apologize to you. Don't be angry anymore. Come on."

Chi Yelai knew how Li Shu felt. Li Shu had tagged along with Chen Yannan's circle since childhood. With that sweet, well-behaved face and a sugary "big brother," he could leave anyone dazed.

But he understood very well what Chen Yannan was thinking.

To put it nicely, his moral standards were too high. After treating someone as a younger brother since childhood, switching roles and becoming lovers once they were adults really wasn't easy.

Besides, Chen Yannan's father had always felt that the Li Family offered the Chen Family little help in business. Once they got together, he would also have a legitimate obligation to support the Li Family. Businessmen were very good at weighing gains and losses.

As an outsider, Chi Yelai couldn't interfere in that, but regardless, he regarded Li Shu as a younger brother. Even if Chen Yannan hadn't spoken up about him being pushed into the water, he couldn't have let it slide.

Li Shu replied like a bot, "Oh, oh. Okay."

Help! How do I agree without agreeing?

Chen Yannan and his friends had a regular gathering place, though it wasn't exactly private. Going out was about having fun in a crowd. It was just that the people in this circle seemed to carry their own aura, and no matter how anyone else tried to join them, they couldn't fit in.

Standing outside the glittering, lavish bar and watching the men and women coming and going, Li Shu looked down at the black down jacket he'd thrown on. It still had damp patches from his snowball fight with Cheng Zhen. He suddenly developed a fear of fashionable people.

Even after his family had become wealthy in his previous life, he'd never visited somewhere like this. Despite having the original owner's memories, he was still a little nervous.

Fortunately, almost all the servers here knew him. As soon as Li Shu walked in, someone led him to where Chen Yannan's group was sitting.

When he arrived, Li Shu happened to see Xue Chen sitting on Chen Yannan's left. His phone screen was lit up with some video, and Xue Chen was excitedly sharing it with Chen Yannan, who also gave a faint smile.

The seat Xue Chen occupied had once been his.

That wasn't quite right, either. That seat had only belonged to Li Shu when Chen Yannan wasn't dating anyone.

Seeing that Chen Yannan hadn't looked up, Li Shu didn't know whether Xue Chen had deliberately picked this moment to draw him into conversation or what.

Chi Yelai hurriedly waved to Li Shu. "Come sit here with me."

Li Shu nodded and stiffly speared fruit from the platter in front of him with a little fork, crunching away.

"I heard Pei Song'an took you back to your dorm that day?"

Why was it another question about Pei Song'an?

Li Shu cleared his name. "That was a beautiful misunderstanding."

Seriously. That three-syllable name is haunting me like a ghost!

"You're an adult already. How are you still so clueless?" Chi Yelai laughed, then raised the end of one eyebrow slightly. "Don't think all those wild stories people tell about The Crown Prince are just talk. Old Master Pei was a womanizer in his youth. He had so many children, so why is Pei Song'an the only one with the surname Pei?"

"Keep your wits about you when you're dealing with him."

Li Shu took another bite of cantaloupe.

Haha, too late. That bastard Pei Song'an is about to strip me clean of even the things I've stashed away at the bottom of the chest.

Then Chi Yelai changed tack. "But our little Shu probably won't have much to do with that man anyway. Just consider that me talking too much."

No, you weren't.

Even Zhaocai was well-fed and warmly clothed now thanks to that man.

Just then, Chen Yannan looked up and saw Li Shu beside Chi Yelai. He walked over and crouched in front of Li Shu, apparently finding nothing wrong with putting himself lower than the other man, and naturally wiped the fruit juice from the corner of Li Shu's mouth with a tissue.

Li Shu leaned backward.

Wait, dude?

Chen Yannan's hand froze in midair, still holding the tissue. A trace of surprise filled his narrow, deep-set eyes. After a surge of emotion, they quickly settled again. His fingers trembled almost imperceptibly before his hand fell.

"Still angry?"

"What will it take for you to stop being angry with your big brother?"

Chen Yannan had said this before. The lovesick Li Shu had never lasted three rounds against that child-soothing tone of his!

An outsider saw things clearly.

Once he stepped back from the situation, Li Shu immediately saw where they stood in relation to each other.

Chen Yannan was always courteous toward others and rarely fell out with anyone outright. That gentle indulgence wasn't reserved for Li Shu; even Xue Chen received some of it. The smooth dealings of the world of fame and fortune weren't suited to a hot-blooded young man like him.

"Li Shu, I was wrong to push you in last time. I'll down this drink as an apology."

At some point, Xue Chen had come over. He tipped his head back and drained the glass of hard liquor, sounding as though he was going all out.

"If you're still angry, you can push me too."

"Or tell me what I have to do for you to consider this settled."

Sigh. Another person willing to go all out for Chen Yannan.

Li Shu understood that Xue Chen was doing this simply because he wanted to stay in Chen Yannan's circle for the long term. Personally, he felt nothing much toward Xue Chen, but for the original owner, this wasn't something a simple "it's fine" could settle.

"I admit I said some extreme things that day too, but please don't make assumptions about my relationship with Brother Yannan. He's my big brother. We grew up together."

"You don't have to go out of your way to please me for Brother Yannan's sake, either. If you want him to accept you, put more effort into him."

"Don't insist on treating me like a thorn in your side. If you can stay by Brother Yannan's side, that's down to your own ability. I won't do anything unnecessary."

"Clap if you understood."

After he finished speaking, several people present wore strange expressions.

Chen Yannan's hand unconsciously tightened against the sofa. Beneath the multicolored lights, his expression shifted inscrutably.

Chi Yelai looked at Li Shu in surprise, his mouth half-open. It took him a long time to close it.

He wasn't an idiot. He understood what he'd heard.

Li Shu had come to terms with it...

And given up on Chen Yannan!?