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

"Where are you taking me?" Shen Jicheng asked again.

I thought Song Yiyang wouldn't answer, but after a moment of silence, he finally spoke.

"He told me to take you to the underground warehouse in the west of the city so he could use you to threaten your family and achieve his goal."

Shen Jicheng frowned.

"What is his purpose?" Threatening his family? Is he targeting his father?

Song Yiyang turned a corner, pondered for a moment, and

He said his goal was to make your father regret it and make him lose his dearest loved one.

Shen Jicheng: "...?"

"But I suspect it's more than that." Song Yiyang's voice lowered, tinged with confusion and gossip.

"I suspect there might be some other connection between him and your father... I once saw a picture of your father in his wallet."

Shen Jicheng remained silent for a long while, his gaze fixed on the road ahead, before finally speaking.

"Put me down."

Song Yiyang frowned. "It's no use getting out now. Once you get out of the car, Uncle Quan's men will immediately take you to another vehicle."

Shen Jicheng did not speak again.

Just then, a car suddenly accelerated past from the side and rear, cutting across the front of Song Yiyang's car and blocking his path. Song Yiyang slammed on the brakes, the tires screeching as they scraped the ground, and Shen Jicheng was thrown forward, nearly hitting the windshield.

Song Yiyang gripped the steering wheel tightly, his gaze fixed on the license plate of the car blocking his way, his knuckles turning slightly white. The car door opened, and a tall, slender figure stepped out of the driver's seat, radiating the chill of early winter. His gaze swept over them, devoid of warmth.

Shen Jicheng's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected Pei Lin to arrive so quickly.

Song Yiyang wasn't too surprised to see Pei Lin. He was silent for a few seconds, then turned to look at Shen Jicheng, his tone earnest and pleading.

"Please don't throw me into the sea, okay? After all, I didn't really hurt you."

Shen Jicheng: "..."

The passenger door was opened, and Pei Lin bent down and leaned in halfway to carefully check Shen Jicheng from head to toe. After confirming that he was not injured, he straightened up and turned his gaze to Song Yiyang, who had been brought out of the car by Jiang Jin.

His fist clenched for a moment, and he was about to step forward when Shen Jicheng grabbed his wrist.

"Pei Lin..." Shen Jicheng paused for a moment, then looked up at him. "Let me do it."

Rin stared at him for a few seconds, then finally loosened her fist and took a half-step back.

Shen Jicheng walked up to Song Yiyang. Jiang Jin was holding his arms. Shen Jicheng turned his head and said, "Let him go."

Jiang Jin subconsciously looked at Pei Lin, and only released his grip after receiving tacit approval.

Song Yiyang kept his head down, silently rotating his wrist, never raising his eyes to look at Shen Jicheng.

Shen Jicheng stood in front of him, about two steps away.

"Song Yiyang, I'm not a magnanimous person. You betrayed me, and I can't pretend nothing happened. I believe you also know that we can never go back to the way things were."

Song Yiyang remained silent.

"So I won't pursue what happened today." Shen Jicheng paused for a moment.

"But from this day forward, we are no longer friends."

After saying that, he turned and left without looking back.

Song Yiyang stood there for a long time before slowly squatting down and finally sitting on the cold ground. He looked up at the gray sky, his eyelashes trembling slightly in the wind, his vision blurry.

Inside the car, Shen Jicheng was slumped in the passenger seat, looking listless.

Pei Lin held his hand, her fingertips gently stroking the back of his hand, and spoke in a voice a few decibels lower than usual.

There's no need to be sad. It's not worth it.

Shen Jicheng remained silent for a while before speaking, his voice somewhat muffled.

"I wish he had been even harsher on me. That way I could have a legitimate reason to hate him. I can't forgive him, but I can't truly hate him either."

He turned his head and glanced out the window.

"He knew perfectly well that my watch had a GPS tracker, but he didn't say anything, didn't ask anything, and just let me press it and wait for you to come."

Pei Lin didn't reply, but simply gripped his hand tighter.

-

Shen Yanhe went to Beishan Villa to bring Shen Jicheng back.

Seeing that Shen Jicheng was safe and sound, he breathed a sigh of relief. After the car drove away from Beishan Villa, Shen Yanhe repeatedly gave him instructions.

"My little darling, Father hasn't been in a good mood these past few days. You'd better behave yourself, or your elder brother and I really won't be able to protect you."

Shen Jicheng was extremely surprised by this and hurriedly asked,

"Second brother, what exactly happened this time?"

Shen Yanhe thought for a moment and briefly recounted what had happened that day to Shen Jicheng, but omitted the complicated relationship between her father and Shen Quan. Firstly, her father did not want anyone to know about this, and secondly... this was not good news for Shen Jicheng.

Shen Yanhe knew her younger brother too well. If he knew why their father disliked same-sex relationships and strictly forbade them from having any contact with the same sex, then given Chengcheng's personality, he would definitely confess without hesitation.

Therefore, it's best not to say anything for now.

After hearing this, Shen Jicheng was slightly surprised. "Shen Quan? He's actually Father's younger brother?" Although they weren't related by blood, there was still some kinship between them.

To go this far, what an ingrate!

No wonder my father never mentions this person; he must really hate him.

When Shen Jicheng returned to the Shen family home, he immediately saw his eldest brother sitting in the living room, his arm clearly wrapped in gauze. He hurried over, his voice anxious.

"Brother, what did the doctor say?"

Shen Mingxiao had already learned from Shen Yanhe that Shen Jicheng was alright, so he comforted him, "It's nothing, just a scratch, it's not serious."

Shen Yanhe smiled and patted Shen Jicheng on the shoulder, "Alright, don't worry, I told you it's just a scrape, are you relieved now?"

Shen Jicheng remained silent, but recalling what Song Yiyang had said, he wanted to ask his elder brother, but before he could speak, Shen Mingxiao said again, "Father is upstairs, go and greet him."

Shen Jicheng suppressed the question he wanted to ask, nodded, and got up to go upstairs.

No sooner had he left than Shen Mingxiao raised his chin, gesturing to Shen Yanhe, "You should go and see too. Shen Jicheng can't handle things alone."

Shen Yanhe nodded, then hesitated, as if thinking of something, "Big brother, between Chengcheng and Pei Lin..."

Shen Mingxiao rubbed his temples. "Don't let Father know for now. At least... not now."

Shen Yanhe didn't say anything, just said, "Okay."

"Knock knock—" There was a knock on the door.

Shen Yue's deep voice came through the door, "Come in."

Shen Jicheng pushed open the door, poked his head out, and after seeing the figure standing by the window, he walked over.