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

Shen Yu'an lowered her eyes, her fingers twisting the edge of her phone, her voice lowered, "I just... thought this hotel was cheap and close to the exam venue, so I wanted to save some money. After all, the Shen family has already spent so much money these past few days..."

His eyelashes trembled, glistening with tiny drops of water that shimmered slightly under the light.

Shen Mingxiao frowned. He rarely faced this situation.

His younger siblings were all quite assertive. Shen Yanhe was meticulous and never caused him any trouble. Although Shen Qingcheng was a girl, she was the one who always made others cry. As for Shen Jicheng… that kid cried all the time, always crying and shouting, "I was wrong, I won't do it again," before turning around and causing even bigger trouble. Crying was just a tactic for him.

But the Shen Yu'an in front of me is different.

Sensitive and fragile, like a snail that would shrink back at the slightest touch. Shen Mingxiao tried to soften his voice as much as possible.

"Yu'an, you don't need to worry about money, and you don't need to be frugal. Just tell me if you run out of money."

He paused, then lowered his voice even further, "Just treat me like your older brother."

Shen Yu'an finally raised her eyes. A cautious glimmer of light appeared on her tear-streaked face. "Really... Big Brother?"

Shen Mingxiao looked into his eyes, then looked away after a moment, and said, "Hmm."

He turned and walked towards the door. "Let's go, let's change hotels."

Shen Yu'an didn't follow immediately, but stood still and said, "Big brother, why can't we wait and see?"

Shen Mingxiao stopped in his tracks.

Shen Yu'an thought for a moment, then tilted her head and said seriously, "Let's see what the Pei family is up to, so we can know whether they will harm Brother Cheng."

The last sentence struck a chord with Shen Mingxiao. He also wanted to know what Pei Shuli was up to by following behind. If that person posed a threat to Shen Jicheng, then they needed to be on high alert.

Shen Yu'an's voice rang out again, and he said sincerely,

"Brother, how about this? For Brother Cheng's sake, I'm willing to be the bait. Let's see what the Pei family is really up to."

Pei Shuli was furious.

"Damn, what a lousy hotel!" He turned left and right, his head spinning from the hotel's chaotic layout. If he hadn't gotten lost, he would have caught up with Shen Mingxiao by now. After wandering around this godforsaken place for nearly ten minutes, his patience was almost gone.

We finally found the corresponding room number.

He stopped at the door, calmed his breathing, then took out a room key and swiped it to open the room opposite.

He had gone to great lengths to obtain this card, having bribed someone inside the hotel. He planned to stake out the room for a while, and then, once Shen Mingxiao left, he would smoothly sneak into his room; everything would fall into place naturally.

Pei Shuli smiled with a determined look on his lips and pushed open the door to the room opposite.

Then he froze.

"Mmm~"

"You're so great, baby!"

Someone lives in this room!

Before Pei Shuli could retreat, the woman on the bed saw him and immediately screamed, "Ah—!"

Pei Shuli felt a chill run down his spine, fearing that too much noise would disrupt his plans. For the first time in his life, he lowered his proud head.

"Excuse me, I'm a cleaner, I've entered the wrong room."

After saying that, he quickly retreated, shutting out the cursing and swearing behind him behind the door.

He had just breathed a sigh of relief when he turned around and found that the door to Shen Mingxiao's room across the street was open.

Pei Shuli's eyes lit up, and he almost instantly rushed inside.

The room was quiet and empty. Pei Shuli was a little confused, but he didn't think about it too much. He quickly glanced at the layout of the room, and after confirming that no one was there, he took out the medicine he had prepared from his pocket, intending to throw it into the water glass next to him.

Just as he took out the medicine and hadn't even had a chance to use it, footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

Pei Shuli was so startled that his hand trembled, and the pills fell to the ground with a clatter. He didn't have time to pick them up; in his panic, he could only roll over and crawl under the bed.

The door opened. Someone walked in.

"Don't worry, brother, I'll call you right away if anything happens."

Pei Shuli, lying under the bed, heard a young voice speaking into a phone. Footsteps moved around the room and stopped at the table.

"Don't worry, if anything happens, I'll definitely tell you right away. I'll come back after I finish my exams here tomorrow..."

The voice paused, then added with a faint hint of amusement, "Besides, I trust my brother won't let me get hurt."

Pei Shuli closed his eyes in frustration. He had been following them all afternoon, thinking it was Shen Mingxiao living here, but it turned out to be his brother? Had he made a wasted trip? And what a waste of a pill!

I need to find a chance to slip away quickly.

After the phone call ended, the room fell silent. Pei Shuli held his breath, listening to the sounds outside. Footsteps approached, growing closer and closer, finally stopping in the area where he had just thrown away the medicine.

Pei Shuli's heart leaped into his throat. He saw a pair of white sneakers through the gap in the draped bed sheet, standing less than a step away from him.

Then, the man squatted down.

Pei Shuli's pupils constricted sharply, and he tensed up like a taut string. He held his breath and remained motionless. However, the other person seemed not to have noticed him, and simply reached out to pick up the pill that had fallen to the ground.

Then...

Then they heard the other person seem to sniff.

after that.

A "ding-dong" sound rang out.

It was as if the pill had been dropped into a glass of water.

The footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

Pei Shuli was puzzled, not understanding why, and dared not make any rash moves.

He strained his ears to listen for any sounds outside, but instead of answering his phone, he heard it buzzing. However, for some reason, the person in the room didn't answer. They simply went to the bathroom.

Before he could figure it out, he heard the sound of water coming from the direction of the bathroom.

Then came the sound of a phone vibrating, over and over again, but the room's occupant didn't answer. Pei Shuli lay under the bed, listening to the continuous buzzing, hesitating whether to slip away now.

Just then, the bathroom door opened.

Someone came out, followed by the soft clinking of a glass against lips. The phone vibrated again, but still no one answered.

The bed dipped slightly, and Pei Shuli heard a very low, almost inaudible murmur above him, as if talking to himself.

"idiot."

Pei Shuli paused for half a second. Who was he cursing? The person who made the call? It couldn't be him, could it? He hadn't been discovered.

Time passed second by second. Pei Shuli's hands and feet were going numb from lying down, and he was almost dozing off when there was a sudden, urgent knocking on the door.

He instantly regained his senses.

There was a rustling sound of fabric overhead, followed by the sharp crack of a glass shattering. Then someone went to open the door; after the sound of the hinges turning, a weak, hoarse, almost distorted voice called out.

"Big brother..."

Pei Shuli was startled. What was that noise?