The five-meter-long table welcomed two more guests.
Shen Ju and Guan Mulin sat facing each other, with Pei Haochuan beside Guan Mulin. Over the past four days, they had shown up here almost every day.
Sometimes, Pei Haochuan couldn’t help but question himself.
How the hell did I end up like this?
He glanced at Shen Ju across from him.
Aren’t you supposed to be the studious type? Can you really sit still like this?!
School starts tomorrow, damn it!!
Pei Yan wasn’t in the study this time.
His head wound had mostly healed, so Gao Chuanbai had dragged him off to handle company business again.
Star River Technology was the company Pei Yan and Gao Chuanbai had founded together.
It had nothing to do with Pei Corporation.
On the surface, Gao Chuanbai was the frontman, while Pei Yan provided most of the investment as the behind-the-scenes boss. But in reality, Star River Technology had reached its current heights largely because Pei Yan made the key decisions. Gao Chuanbai knew his classmate was incredibly capable—he just couldn’t figure out why Pei Yan hadn’t gone straight to Pei Corporation and had chosen to start up with him instead.
Yet in just a few short years, Star River Technology had grown to such a scale that Gao Chuanbai sometimes thought: even without Pei Corporation, give Pei Yan a few more years, and he’d reach unimaginable heights.
Still, he couldn’t quite read Pei Yan—or rather, understand him.
Pei Yan seemed unapproachable, and he truly was. But other times, he could act almost human-like. If he wanted, he’d have an endless stream of followers who’d count his money for him even after being duped. But Pei Yan scorned that sort of thing. Often, Gao Chuanbai felt like Pei Yan rejected everyone indiscriminately.
Lately, though, Pei Yan had been acting a bit off.
For instance…
“Since when do you moonlight as a tutor?”
When Gao Chuanbai learned Pei Yan had been tutoring someone at home these past few days, he nearly dropped his jaw. Jokingly, he asked, “Short on cash?”
“Free. And I footed the bill.”
“Huh? For real?”
Pei Yan glanced at the study door. “As long as it’s valuable.”
“Valuable? What kind of value?”
Pei Yan shot him a look. “You gonna keep chatting, or get back to work? Otherwise, I’ll leave it all to you.”
“Hey, wait, no…”
“Don’t just stare at Mulin anymore. School starts tomorrow!”
Pei Haochuan finally couldn’t hold back and nudged Guan Mulin with his elbow.
“Ke Sheng just messaged me. He clashed with some guys from Yude School and they’re set to throw down at Central Street Basketball Gym this afternoon. He’s recruiting teammates.”
Guan Mulin: “He recruiting you, you mean.”
“And you.”
Pei Haochuan rubbed his hands together. “Come on, just the last day before school. It’s not a big deal, just an afternoon out.”
Guan Mulin hesitated.
He looked up at Shen Ju.
In the past, he would’ve agreed right away.
He wasn’t just a bookworm—he loved to have fun too. And when Ke Sheng was the one calling? No way he’d say no.
But with Shen Ju right here…
Even though Shen Ju still kept his distance, ditching him like this felt wrong to Guan Mulin.
Brother 996, should I invite him along?
Hm?
Guan Mulin perked up his ears.
He’d barely heard Shen Ju talking to the System these past few days.
A few seconds later, 996’s awkward voice piped up: Of course.
It said those three words and clammed up.
Totally different from its usual long-winded rants.
Shen Ju scratched his chin: Brother 996, are you still mad at me?
996 declared loudly: I’m not!
Then why have you been ignoring me these past few days? We still have tasks to do.
996 huffed: You’re the one ignoring me, Host!
Guan Mulin: “…”
What is this, an elementary school spat?
And a one-sided one at that.
Guan Mulin pulled out his phone and started typing away.
The Special Incident Investigation Bureau group chat lit up again…
Qin Soxi had instructed them beforehand: if they overheard anything, post it in the group for analysis.
Know thyself and thy enemy—only then could they win a hundred battles.
They needed more intel right now.
I haven’t been ignoring you.
Shen Ju continued: I should reflect on myself too.
I know you said that from the task perspective. You were just anxious in the moment, worried I’d go out-of-character on my persona. I get it. But things were urgent then—I couldn’t just stand by and watch, so I acted on instinct to save him. Still, I know I have to complete the tasks. I’ve always kept that in mind.
See? Right now, I know to stick close to Guan Mulin and Pei Haochuan.
Shen Ju rarely went on like that, so 996 dropped the attitude: Fine, got it.
It paused, then added: My bad too.
I promised not to cross that line of actually harming people, but I blurted it out in the heat of the moment. Don’t yell at me next time, okay?
And… I was worried about the tasks too.
If your persona collapses, how will the Protagonist Shou and Protagonist Gong’s relationship progress?!
Protagonist Shou and Protagonist Gong?
What the…
Pei Yan pushed the door open and swept his gaze around. He spotted Guan Mulin clutching his phone, face full of confusion and hesitation.
996 kept going…
After all, the task summary highlights in bold… Because of you, the real young master, out of jealousy and resentment over occupying the nest for over a decade, you mock and bully Guan Mulin everywhere, trying to grind him into the dirt. That’s what causes the key shift in Pei Haochuan and Guan Mulin’s relationship!
Thud…
Guan Mulin’s phone slipped onto the table.
The noise drew attention. Shen Ju and Pei Haochuan both looked over.
Shen Ju stayed silent, just looking puzzled. Pei Haochuan leaned in, worried and confused: “What’s up, Mulin? You’ve been off since earlier—mmph…”
“Back off first.”
Guan Mulin shoved Pei Haochuan’s face away with one hand and covered his own with the other.
Calm down.
He had to calm down.
He’s the Gong, right?
Yeah?
Yeah, he’s the Gong.
…No! That’s not even the point! The point is, why is he supposed to develop a relationship with Pei Haochuan?! Pei Haochuan’s his little bro!
Pei Yan raised a brow, amusement flickering as he walked over.
He pulled out a chair and sat beside Shen Ju.
“What were you all talking about just now?”
Pei Yan eyed Pei Haochuan, sizing him up. “I think I heard you speaking.”
“Talking to… your Guan classmate?”
Pei Haochuan didn’t catch anything odd and missed Guan Mulin’s awkward expression. He gave a dry laugh: “Uncle, your ears are sharp.”
Pei Yan nodded. “They are.”
“So, what were you saying?”
Shen Ju jumped in right away: “We were talking about heading to the basketball gym this afternoon.”
Pei Haochuan tsked. “Guan Shen Ju, who’re ‘we’?”
Shen Ju turned to Pei Yan: “I want to go too.”
Pei Haochuan: “I didn’t say I was bringing you!”
Shen Ju looked at Guan Mulin and whined coyly: “Second Bro, you wanna go too, right?”
Guan Mulin, still dazed: “I…”
“I wanna go… or maybe not…”
“Huh?”
Guan Mulin snapped back and checked the group chat.
Back on the He Yuan walkway, when Shen Ju had jumped in to defend him, the System had warned that doing it again might mean punishment. But what if it wasn’t Shen Ju’s issue?
Qin Soxi didn’t want to risk Shen Ju, but she couldn’t stomach her son being bound to this System, forced to play the “vicious real young master.” Could these role-playing tasks be disrupted by their non-cooperation? Did Shen Ju even care if they got interrupted? They still had too little info—some things needed testing.
This was just a preliminary test…
And facts proved that even if they “didn’t cooperate,” Shen Ju wouldn’t suffer. From the System’s view, their “non-cooperation” was an uncontrollable factor.
From what they saw, though, Shen Ju still seemed willing to play along with the tasks.
Guan Mulin had mentioned in the group that Shen Ju might tag along to the basketball gym. Qin Soxi’s take: they couldn’t always refuse—cooperate or not based on the situation. But don’t reverse everything just to spite it; that might alert the System. Though this little System seemed glitchy too.
Bureau Chief Qin: [Ah-Lin, did it say anything else after?]
Guan Mulin: “…”
It did, but he didn’t want to say.
He hadn’t figured it out yet.
Guan Mulin pretended to skip the question. While typing in the group, he told Shen Ju, “Fine, let’s go!”
Shen Ju touched his nose.
Why does that sound so resigned, like facing death?
“By the way…”
At Central Street Basketball Gym, Pei Haochuan eyed Pei Yan standing with them. “Guan Shen Ju coming is one thing, but Uncle, why’d you tag along too?”
“Not welcome?”
Pei Yan glanced over.
Pei Haochuan forced a laugh. “Welcome, of course.”
He was just flashing back to that dominating fear.
Always a generation above, always one-upping him. Sigh.
Ke Sheng, on the other hand, welcomed Pei Yan with wild enthusiasm…
That was Pei Yan!
Everyone at Qichen had heard the legends across recent years—his photo was still on the honor wall!
“Awesome, Senior! You playing too, right?”
Ke Sheng elbowed Pei Haochuan, winking: Bro, you’re a real one! Actually got God Pei to come, ha!
But how’d Guan Shen Ju end up here too?
Pei Haochuan tsked.
His uncle was here now—extra muscle on the court. But Guan Shen Ju…
“Isn’t that Shen Ju?”
A voice cut in sharply, dripping with malice.
“Long time no see.”
“But where’s that cripple brother of yours, Shen Ju?”
Ma Rui sauntered over with a basketball and his crew, then feigned realization: “Oh right, how could I forget? You’re loaded now, big shot status. Can’t be hanging with a cripple anymore, right? That’d just tank your vibe, huh?”
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