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

After receiving the call from the company, Zhang Xu's expression immediately changed. He hurried across the corridor, stopped at the study door, and knocked twice with a serious look on his face.

"Enter."

Zhang Xu pushed open the door and entered. Before he could even stand still, he spoke, "President Pei, something has happened at the company."

Pei Lin was teasing the small black snake in his hand, his fingertips gently stroking its cool scales. Hearing this, he paused slightly, looked up, and his gaze fell on Zhang Xu's face, waiting patiently for what he would say next.

Zhang Xu wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead and spoke a few decibels faster than usual, "The Shen family somehow got wind of this and didn't fight for Huanyu as planned. Instead, they took a step back. The pit we dug... was dug for nothing."

He paused here, his voice lowering slightly, "The Shen family wasn't hurt, but the Pei family was implicated and has already lost a lot of money because of this."

Pei Lin's fingers tightened unconsciously. The little black snake in his palm felt uncomfortable being squeezed, so it turned its head, its long, thin forked tongue hissing twice, its sharp teeth faintly visible.

Pei Lin glanced down at it, his voice cold, "A pet that bites its owner should be punished."

These words were spoken so casually, as if referring to a snake, or perhaps someone else entirely. Zhang Xu understood, his lips moved, and he carefully chose his words, "But that document... didn't Mr. Shi not send it out?"

In his view, the key to the whole matter could only lie with Mr. Shi. But they clearly saw with their own eyes that the document never left the Pei family's gate from beginning to end that day.

Pei Lin chuckled coldly, casually placing Xiao Hei back into the glass tank on the table. "He went to the basement to see Xiao Hei once and touched my computer. It just so happened that it wasn't turned off that day. Perhaps he noticed that project proposal around that time."

Zhang Xu frowned, even more puzzled.

"But that doesn't make sense... Back then, Young Master Pei hadn't yet spent money to lure Mr. Shi into the trap. Why would Mr. Shi do that? Could it be that he really had something to do with the Shen family?"

He regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. He watched helplessly as Pei Lin's face darkened at a visible speed.

Pei Lin stood up, took his coat from the coat rack, and draped it over his shoulders with a deft movement. His voice was icy. "Go to the company. Find out exactly who leaked the information."

"Yes."

The sound of the car engine echoed in the yard for a while, then gradually faded away.

Just then, a figure peeked out from behind the bushes on the side of the villa.

Pei Shuli, hands behind his back, strolled leisurely to the edge of the fishpond. After looking around to make sure no one was watching, he quickly pulled a small bottle from his pocket, unscrewed the cap, and poured it all into the pond. The transparent liquid fell onto the surface, dissolving silently without leaving a trace.

He stuffed the empty bottle back into his pocket, turned around, and swaggered toward the main entrance of the villa.

Shen Jicheng was bending over wiping the railing of the first-floor escalator, holding a half-wet towel in his hand. He was wiping very carefully and didn't even notice someone approaching from behind.

Until that annoying voice rang out behind him.

"Oh, isn't this my second brother's treasure?" Pei Shuli, hands in his pockets, leaned against the wall, his brown eyes full of schadenfreude. "What are you doing cleaning the handrail here?"

Shen Jicheng ignored him. He didn't stop what he was doing, as if he hadn't heard the man speak at all.

But Pei Shuli wouldn't let him off the hook. She took a step forward, deliberately drawing out her voice lazily, "I thought you'd be so pampered, but it turns out you're nothing special. What's the difference between you and a servant?"

Seeing that Shen Jicheng still didn't respond, he became even more persistent, leaning closer and lowering his voice, his tone carrying a malicious intimacy.

"It seems Pei Lin doesn't truly love you either."

Shen Jicheng paused for a moment while wiping the railing. It was a very slight pause, almost imperceptible, but Pei Shuli, with his sharp eyes, immediately caught it, and the corners of his mouth curved up even higher.

"Anyway," he shrugged, adopting an air of knowing what he'd been through, "if I truly love someone, I can't say something like 'worthless.'"

Shen Jicheng clenched the towel tightly.

Pei Shuli observed his reaction, then casually added, "Are you curious how I knew? Well, my second brother told me himself, of course."

Ha! Tell him yourself? No way. He overheard it from the servants gossiping. But Shen Jicheng didn't know that.

Pei Shuli watched as Shen Jicheng's back gradually tensed, his nails digging into his palms until they turned white. He felt increasingly smug and his words became even more scathing. "He said he wasn't satisfied with your performance in bed. He said he didn't have as much fun as those gigolos."

It's fake. Of course it's all fake. He's just talking nonsense; who doesn't talk nonsense?

He also said about you—

"Get out of here after you're done talking." Shen Jicheng raised his hand and threw the towel into the basin of water next to him. The dirty water in the basin splashed up and splashed right onto Pei Shuli's trouser leg.

Pei Shuli stared down at the conspicuous water stain on his trouser leg, stunned for a full two seconds, then exploded like a lit firecracker, "You! How dare you treat me like this?! Do you even know how much these pants cost?! Can you afford to pay for them?!"

He cherishes his appearance the most, meticulously maintaining every detail from his hair to the soles of his shoes. Now, with a basin of dirty water splashed on his trouser legs, his heart is bleeding.

Shen Jicheng finally turned around, his face showing undisguised annoyance. "Even if you're wearing clothes worth tens of millions, I'll still drink them without hesitation."

He glanced at Pei Shuli, his tone full of impatience, "Get out of the way, you peacock."

Pei Shuli's eyes widened, his face flushed red, and he pointed to his own nose, "What did you call me? Say it again, you bastard?!"

"Peacock".

"Try calling it again!"

"Flower-Peacock".

Shen Jicheng enunciated each word clearly, with the final syllable of each word rising in pitch, conveying a strong sense of provocation.

Pei Shuli's rationality snapped. He bent down, picked up the dirty towel from the basin, and without caring what was on it, threw it at Shen Jicheng.

Shen Jicheng hadn't expected him to actually make a move. Unable to dodge in time, a wet towel was slapped across his face, dirty water streaming down his brow bone. He wiped his face, looked down at the layer of grayish-black water stains on his hand, and when he looked up again, his eyes had changed.

Without saying a word, he picked up the whole basin of water and poured it over Pei Shuli's head.

With a splash, Pei Shuli was soaked from head to toe. His purplish-red suit was stained, his hair was plastered to his forehead, and water droplets dripped down his chin.

Pei Shuli was dumbfounded.

Then he went mad.

He lunged at him, but Shen Jicheng wasn't one to back down either, and the two of them started wrestling in the living room. At first, it was just pushing and shoving, but then someone picked up something and threw it, and the situation completely spiraled out of control.