Mr. Pei! Don't force yourself into circles you can't fit into.

The nights at Beishan Villa are very quiet.

Pei Lin has not had any free time since Shen Jicheng left.

He sat in his study, the light from the computer screen reflecting on his face. The surveillance footage was frozen on a dusty stairwell entrance, the timestamp being 3 a.m.

Just as he was about to zoom in on the screen, his phone vibrated on the table. He picked it up, glanced at it, and answered.

"Feed?"

After hearing something said on the other end of the phone, Pei Lin's eyes narrowed slightly, and he tapped his knuckles lightly on the table twice, his voice icy.

"He deserved to die."

He paused, his gaze still fixed on the screen.

"Come back after you've cleaned things up over there. I have something for you to do." His gaze slowly shifted to the screenshot on the computer screen, and he added, "Yes, about Uncle Quan's whereabouts."

After hanging up the phone, Pei Lin placed his phone on the table, crossed his hands and rested them on his chin, staring at the screen for a while longer.

The Shen family's affairs had nothing to do with him.

But the situation is different now. His precious child has returned to the Shen family, and Uncle Quan's target is precisely the Shen family. He can't just stand by and do nothing.

Only by finding the perpetrators and eradicating the root of the problem as soon as possible can he feel at ease.

Fortunately, there are some clues about Uncle Quan.

-

Shen family.

Shen Yanhe went up to the second floor, walked to the door of Shen Mingxiao's room, and knocked twice.

"Knock knock—"

"Enter."

When he pushed the door open, Shen Mingxiao was sitting on the sofa with a tablet on his lap, and the screen was playing the news.

The reporter stood outside the police cordon, microphone in hand; the sound came through a loudspeaker.

"...The cause of the fire on the fifth floor is still under investigation, but fortunately there were no casualties. According to police at the scene, the floor is suspected of being a hideout for illegal gatherings, and further investigation is underway."

Shen Yanhe walked over and sat down on the chair next to her.

"Big brother saw it too? I heard there was a fire last night, thankfully no one was injured." He paused.

"When the police arrived and investigated, they found that it was a criminal den, and all the residents were people without household registration."

Shen Mingxiao didn't answer immediately. He swiped on the tablet, rewinding the image for a few seconds, pausing at a certain angle, and then tilted the screen slightly towards Shen Yanhe.

"Look at this person, doesn't he look like Pei Lin?"

Shen Yanhe moved closer.

The fire was raging, with thick smoke billowing out of the windows, and firefighters were using water hoses to extinguish it.

In a corner of the crowd, half of a profile was illuminated by the firelight. The features were distinct, the figure slender, and the person wore a black coat. They were facing away from the camera, seemingly talking to someone next to them. The image wasn't very clear, but Shen Yanhe recognized them immediately.

He raised an eyebrow slightly. "He's here too?"

Shen Mingxiao put the tablet back on the coffee table and leaned back into the sofa.

"According to my investigation, that floor is inextricably linked to Uncle Quan, the mastermind behind it all. I suspect Pei Lin has also traced it there." He paused for a moment.

"And those people, unwilling to let the evidence of their crimes fall into the hands of the police, simply set the scene on fire."

After listening, Shen Yanhe remained silent for a moment, then seemed to understand something and asked with a smile,

"Didn't he say he wouldn't interfere in the Shen family's affairs anymore? Why is he investigating so thoroughly..."

"Or... is it because we're lucky with Chengcheng?"

Shen Mingxiao didn't respond, but he clearly agreed.

"If Uncle Quan is driven to a dead end, he will definitely slip up."

"Be careful in all aspects these next few days."

Shen Yanhe nodded.

"Okay, big brother."

-

These past few days, Shen Jicheng has been staying at home, but he always feels uneasy.

News reports kept popping up, one after another, with fires breaking out here and there. It was the dead of winter, but the fires were happening more frequently than in summer.

He looked at the charred exterior walls of the buildings on the TV screen and felt something was off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He didn't have time to think about it, because his second brother had assigned him a task.

Staring at her father.

My second brother said that Father would most likely go out to see that Uncle Quan.

As for when he will go out and where he will go, it is uncertain, so someone needs to stay at home and follow him as soon as he leaves the house, and then notify them.

Shen Jicheng was stunned for a long time after hearing this arrangement.

After all, he had always been watched over by others since he was a child. Now, the roles were suddenly reversed, and he had to keep an eye on his father's movements. He found it...too exciting!

I have to say, my second brother is incredibly bold to entrust him with such a task.

But then he thought about it again, and it seemed that only he was the most suitable person to do it. He was always the most relaxed and vigilant person at home. His father probably never thought that his youngest son would be assigned to spy on him.

in the afternoon.

Shen Jicheng nestled on the living room sofa, listening intently to the sounds coming from upstairs.

Around ten o'clock, the sound of a door opening came from upstairs, followed by footsteps coming downstairs. Shen Jicheng's back straightened subconsciously for a moment, then he quickly relaxed and looked back at his phone screen, pretending to be playing a game.

Shen Yue came downstairs, wearing a dark gray overcoat and carrying only a cane.

He saw Shen Jicheng curled up on the sofa, and without stopping, he only threw out a sentence.

"I'm going out for a bit. Stay home and don't go out too much." Without waiting for Shen Jicheng's response, she walked straight to the door, pushed it open, and left.

Shen Jicheng waited about three seconds after he left before suddenly jumping up from the sofa, rushing to the door, pushing it open, and looking outside. He saw a black sedan had already driven away from the gate and was heading towards the intersection along the driveway.

He immediately took out his phone and dialed Shen Yanhe's number, saying urgently,

"Second Brother! Father has gone out! I'm driving to catch up with him now, please come quickly!"

He hung up the phone, grabbed his car keys from the entryway cabinet, and ran out. He drove off and disappeared through the old house's gate.

Just then, a figure emerged from around the corner of the gate. Shen Yue, leaning on a cane, watched the disappearing car, his expression unreadable—whether angry or amused—and he uttered a powerful curse.

"You little brat, you've actually learned to stalk me?" He then got into another inconspicuous car and drove in the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, in a coffee shop in a corner of the city, a young man sat by the window. His chestnut-brown curly hair fell slightly, covering half of his brow bone. There was a thin, light-colored scar on his cheek, which had faded but was still visible in the light.

On the table in front of him was a laptop computer with a city map on the screen, and a red dot was slowly moving along a certain route.

He stared at the point of light for a while, his brows furrowing slightly, before reaching out and typing a few lines of commands on the keyboard.

The trajectory of the light spot was not as expected.

He waited a few seconds to confirm that the location of the signal source had indeed deviated, then picked up the phone next to him and made a call.

After the call connected, he said, "Wrong location."

He glanced at the moving trajectory on the screen.

"The location is on Zhongjiao Avenue, in the opposite direction your brother is driving."