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

Pei Lin looked at Shen Jicheng with incredibly gentle eyes. He slowly nodded and said earnestly,

"Yes, I'll agree to anything."

Shen Jicheng swallowed hard, staring at him without blinking.

"If I told you that I made a terrible mistake, so terrible that you would throw me into the sea, would you still forgive me?"

Pei Lin did not answer immediately after saying this.

He stared at Shen Jicheng's face for a long time, his gaze deep and thoughtful, as if he were weighing the weight of those words, or perhaps trying to see something else through that face.

Shen Jicheng felt a chill run down his spine from his gaze and quickly tried to cover it up, "I said 'if.' If I—"

Before he could finish speaking, Pei Lin interrupted him, "Yes."

The word fell like a pebble dropped into still water, ripples spreading outwards in concentric circles. Shen Jicheng's heart pounded, and his eyes suddenly stung with tears.

He couldn't resist and suddenly lunged forward to hug Pei Lin's neck, burying his face in the crook of his shoulder, his voice muffled as he said, "Okay."

"I will stay home obediently and wait for you to come back."

He made his decision.

On his birthday, he confessed everything.

If Pei Lin gets angry, he will coax him.

If Pei Lin scolds him, he will accept it.

If Pei Lin really doesn't want him anymore, then he'll accept it.

Perhaps it was because he had finally made a decision, or perhaps it was Pei Lin's answer that gave him confidence, but Shen Jicheng's smile became brighter than ever before.

He wrapped his arms around Pei Lin's neck, tilted his head back, and pressed his lips lightly against Pei Lin's.

Pei Lin's pupils contracted slightly, then a dangerous glint flashed within his dark eyes. His arms tightened around Shen Jicheng's waist, his voice hoarse.

"Honey, what's wrong with you...?"

"To seduce you." Shen Jicheng finished the sentence for him crisply.

Pei Lin raised an eyebrow, then without hesitation stood up, scooped Shen Jicheng up in his arms, and strode upstairs, letting out a soft chuckle in his ear.

"Let's start over."

Shen Jicheng: "..." He buried his face in Pei Lin's chest, his ears turning so red they were almost bleeding.

On Sunday, after Pei Lin went out, Shen Jicheng sat by the fish pond fishing listlessly.

He held the bare fishing rod in his hand, the line dangling in the water, motionless for a long time. He rested his chin on his hand, his gaze lingering on the few koi swimming on the surface of the water, but his thoughts were far away. He wondered if his elder brother and Xiao Yu'an had set off yet, what Pei Lin would say to them when he saw them, and whether the matter of the peace charm would ever be resolved.

Before leaving, Pei Lin instructed the gatekeeper that no one was allowed to enter or leave that day. He was worried that someone might take advantage of his absence to harm him and his precious child.

Shen Jicheng couldn't find a way to get information from the outside world.

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from the gate, shouting at the top of its lungs, "Shi Jiaming!"

Shen Jicheng suddenly looked up. Pei Shuli was standing outside the iron gate, jumping up and down at the gatekeeper, "Let me in right now!"

The gatekeeper stood expressionless in front of the door. "Mr. Pei has instructed that no one is allowed to enter or leave here today."

Shen Jicheng only fully understood the situation when he reached the door. Pei Lin was truly ruthless, not even letting Pei Shuli in. Looking at Pei Shuli's furious face through the door, he was momentarily at a loss for words.

Upon hearing that even he wasn't allowed in, Pei Shuli erupted in fury and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the gatekeeper.

"Why don't you use those big, bright eyes of yours to see who I am! You won't even let me in? Pei Lin allowed me in before! What do you mean by this? Believe me or not, I'll tell my brother to fire you!"

The gatekeeper remained unfazed, standing ramrod straight, not daring to utter a single word. Pei Shuli shouted for a long time until his voice was hoarse, finally resigned to his fate, plopping down cross-legged on the stone steps by the entrance, waving his hand at Shen Jicheng.

"Alright, alright, let's just leave it at that."

Shen Jicheng squatted inside the iron gate, looking at him in confusion. "Didn't I tell you not to come over? Why are you here again?"

Pei Shuli's expression became unusually serious, and he frowned as he asked directly, "Is Pei Lin meeting with the Shen family today?"

Shen Jicheng paused, somewhat surprised at how he knew. Pei Shuli noticed his question and quickly explained,

"I was planning to go out today, but on the way I came across a suspicious car. The group of people were acting suspiciously, like they were plotting something. I happened to hear them say something as I passed by—"

He lowered his voice, "They said the Shen family brought enough men that Pei Lin is doomed."

Shen Jicheng froze.

Pei Shuli was still muttering to himself.

"Although I do hate my second brother, I also know that if he dies now, the Pei family's assets will definitely fall into the hands of the Shen family! How can that be allowed? I came here to ask you to think of a way to contact my brother and tell him not to go! I can't get through to him on the phone."

"I called Shen Mingxiao on my way here, but he didn't answer! There's definitely something wrong here!"

Shen Jicheng had no interest in listening to Pei Shuli continue rambling. He suddenly stood up, turned around, and ran into the house. His cell phone had been confiscated by Pei Lin, so he could only use the landline. He rushed to the landline and dialed Pei Lin's number with trembling fingers.

It rang a few times, but no one answered.

He dialed again, but still no one answered.

Shen Jicheng's heart sank.

He slammed the receiver back onto the landline, his breathing becoming heavier.

His mind raced. Since it was a negotiation, there was a high chance a signal jammer had been installed in that situation. He couldn't get through to his older brother's phone, and he couldn't get through to Pei Lin's phone either. That meant they had already arrived at the agreed-upon location?

Pei Lin is in great danger. But he's locked up in this house, with nothing and nothing to do.

Shen Jicheng turned and rushed back to the door, reaching out to Pei Shuli through the iron gate, "Give me your phone."

Pei Shuli thought he was going to make another phone call, so she handed it to him while trying to dissuade him.

"I told you, I really can't get through. I've tried several times—"

Shen Jicheng took the phone, his fingertip hovering above the screen. He subconsciously entered the Shen family's landline number, his thumb hovering over the dial button for a long time before finally not pressing it.

No. If something really happens to Pei Lin, what's the point of him calling home? It might even implicate the Shen family.

He gripped his phone, his gaze piercing through the cracks in the iron gate to fall on the winding road in the distance.

Suddenly, something flashed through his mind.

Ten minutes later.

Shen Jicheng suddenly clutched his stomach, curled up, his face pale, sweat beading on his forehead, and weakly called out to the gatekeeper.

"...My stomach...it hurts so much..."

The gatekeeper became nervous as expected. Pei Lin had instructed that no one was allowed to enter or leave before he left, but he couldn't just ignore someone inside who had fallen seriously ill.

The two guards exchanged a glance, and one of them hesitated before stepping forward to investigate.