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

Shen Jicheng's eyes were already red. His fingers, gripping the hem of his clothes, were trembling, and his breathing was erratic, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Pei Lin was still talking.

"On the contrary, every time we meet, I hate you."

He stood up from the sofa, walked to Shen Jicheng, reached out and pried open Shen's clenched knuckles one by one, revealing the crescent-shaped red marks on his palm, which were clearly visible under the light.

"Baby," Pei Lin lowered his head, his voice deep and gentle.

"I don't want to hate you." He turned and left.

Shen Jicheng didn't chase after him. He stood in the empty living room, watching the figure disappear at the end of the stairs, looking down at his empty palms, and suddenly understood the unspoken second half of that sentence.

I don't want to hate you.

Therefore, I don't want to see you.

Because he didn't want to see him... Pei Lin had been very busy these days, so busy that he really wouldn't see him unless he deliberately waited for him.

He stood in the living room for a long time with his eyes downcast, before finally turning around and going back to his room.

In the study, Pei Lin leaned back in his chair, slowly twirling a pen between his fingers. The light from the computer screen shone on his face, creating a play of light and shadow. Zhang Xu stood at the desk, his back slightly hunched, giving a report.

Pei Lin looked up from the screen and glanced at him casually. "Are you sure?"

Zhang Xu lowered his head and answered truthfully.

"Yes. They said it themselves. Mr. Shi didn't do anything out of line every time he went to Yuanyue..." He paused, his voice softening slightly.

"I just like touching the abs of those male models."

He raised his eyelids and glanced quickly at Pei Lin, then quickly lowered them again.

"My favorite thing to do... is watch male models do striptease."

Pei Lin stopped writing with his pen.

His expression darkened, and he slowly squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth.

"He really knows how to have fun."

Zhang Xu felt a chill run down his spine. Having followed Pei Lin for so many years, he knew all too well what that tone meant. He quickly added,

"However... what Young Master Pei said might not all be true. At least, Mr. Shi only spoke to you..." He paused, his mind racing to find the right words, before finally forcing himself to speak.

"I've only done it with you." He wanted to bite his tongue after saying that. That was such a crude way of putting it.

However, Pei Lin's expression visibly softened.

He didn't say anything, but leaned back in his chair, put the pen on the table, and tapped the surface with his fingertips.

The next day at the dinner table, Shen Jicheng was eating alone at the long table. The rice in his bowl was steaming. He picked up a piece of green vegetable with his chopsticks and was about to pick up the plate of sweet and sour pork ribs when suddenly a hand descended from the sky and steadily took the plate away.

"Oh, eating alone?" Pei Shuli's cheeky voice drifted over. "Why is no one keeping you company?"

Shen Jicheng's chopsticks missed their mark, hovering in mid-air. He didn't even lift his eyelids, too lazy to bother with it.

Pei Shuli, however, sat down on his own, placed the ribs that had been taken away in front of him, and gestured with his chin to the maid.

"Bring me a bowl of rice! I haven't eaten either."

Shen Jicheng finally looked up at him, his eyes filled with undisguised disdain. "Is your Pei family going bankrupt? Are you always coming here to freeload?"

Pei Shuli snorted coldly, picked up a piece of pork rib, took a bite, and mumbled something.

"If it weren't for you, would I be penniless? I'm already being lenient by not asking you for money." He chewed a few times and swallowed, then snatched a plate of braised pork and buried his head in it, eating as if he hadn't eaten for several meals.

Pei Shuli was truly unceremonious. He swept the dishes off the table in a flash, and Shen Jicheng glanced at him, then simply put down his chopsticks, having lost his appetite.

Pei Shuli's mouth was stuffed full, but when he saw Shen Jicheng stop moving, his eyes lit up.

"You're not eating? Then I won't be polite!"

He directly put the remaining piece of pork rib from Shen Jicheng's bowl into his own.

Shen Jicheng felt a headache coming on and said irritably,

"Do you know you are the third young master of the Pei family?"

Pei Shuli understood the sarcasm in his words, and he sneered.

"Wait until you go hungry for a few meals, and you'll realize that pride and such are all just empty words."

Shen Jicheng was silent for a moment, as if he had remembered something. He had indeed been hungry. Back then, his older brother had cut off all his credit cards and allowances, and he had been living a hand-to-mouth existence with Song Yiyang, eventually being forced to come up with that crooked way of doing things.

For example, administering medication.

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Wasn't the person he had intended to drug back then the very person standing right in front of him?

Thank goodness... thank goodness I slept in the wrong place.

"Hey! What's with that look?!" Pei Shuli looked up and met Shen Jicheng's undisguised look of disgust.

A surge of anger welled up inside her, and she snapped, "I'm warning you! Just because my second brother was kind enough not to throw you into the snake pit doesn't mean he doesn't care. My second brother hates betrayal and deception more than anything!"

Shen Jicheng's expression turned cold. After all, wasn't this rift between him and Pei Lin carved out by this very man? If it weren't for Pei Shuli's instigation, even if the truth had been revealed just a day later, they wouldn't have ended up like this.

He held back his words, afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would lose control and start hitting someone.

Pei Shuli, however, took his silence as a sign of weakness. He wiped his mouth, tilted his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly his eyes lit up, and he leaned forward.

"Hey, how about this, let's make a deal!"

Shen Jicheng: "?"

"Tell me your secret to making money, and I'll help you find a way to let my second brother see you!"

Shen Jicheng almost sneered, "A secret to making money? You've asked the wrong person. How would I know?" Even if he did know, he wouldn't tell him.

"How come you didn't know?" Pei Shuli didn't believe him, counting on his fingers.

"Putting everything else aside, you spent a lot of money at the Yuanyue Hotel. I checked back then, and my second brother didn't give you that much money at all, which means that the money was your own."

Shen Jicheng rolled his eyes inwardly. Of course he was being treated like a penniless wretch!

But before he could refuse, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. He looked up at Pei Shuli, a glint of light flashing in his eyes, so quick it was almost imperceptible.

"You really want to know how I made my money?"

Pei Shuli nodded.

"Well..." Shen Jicheng deliberately dragged out the last syllable, speaking slowly, "I can tell you. But I think a young master like you who can't endure hardship probably couldn't do it."

When dealing with a proud young master like Pei Shuli, nothing is more effective than using reverse psychology.

Pei Shuli took the bait as expected, and slammed his hand on the table.

"What a joke! Is there anything in this world I can't do? Besides..." He glanced at Shen Jicheng with disdain.

"If you can do it, I can only do it better."

Shen Jicheng: "..." Hehe, just you wait.

He turned slightly to the side, closer to Pei Shuli, and asked in a seductive tone, "Do you know why your second brother always sides with me?"

Pei Shuli paused for a moment, then remained silent. He really did want to know.

Shen Jicheng beckoned to him, gesturing for him to come closer. Although Pei Shuli was full of suspicion, he still moved closer. Shen Jicheng lowered his voice and slowly uttered a few words in his ear.

"Because my second brother has been bewitched by me."

Pei Shuli blinked: "?"

"You can do what I do." Shen Jicheng's lips curled up, and he couldn't hide the mischievous thoughts in his eyes.

Pei Shuli pondered for several seconds, puzzled, then suddenly widened his eyes and abruptly took a step back.

"You mean... I should seduce my second brother?!"

Shen Jicheng: "..."