As soon as the words left his mouth, Shen Ju pressed his lips together.
It’s not impossible, he thought.
After all, Pei Yan was only four years older than him, but he’d already entered the workforce. In university, people dated without a care, let alone out in the real world.
He’d seen tons of posts online from people whose families had nagged them endlessly in high school not to date because it would distract from studies. But once university hit, the parents backed off.
Some even started urging them to find a partner.
And after graduation? It got even crazier.
Certain families jumped straight to pressuring for marriage and kids, as if falling behind some imaginary timeline was the end of the world.
I wonder if Pei Yan’s family does that.
They probably do.
Pei Yan was older in the family hierarchy—his nephew Pei Haochuan was already this grown. Wouldn’t Pei Yan’s father want to see him settle down?
“Are you trying to nag me into marriage on behalf of my family?”
“Hm?”
Shen Ju realized he’d mumbled the last bit out loud. He flushed a little and said sheepishly, “I just saw a lot of that stuff online about parents urging marriage…”
“Then getting engaged to you solves that headache for me perfectly.”
“But…”
Pei Yan gazed at Shen Ju. “You say you have someone you like. Do you even know what that feels like?”
Is Pei Yan asking me for advice?
Shen Ju straightened up a bit, pondering seriously. “Liking someone? I think it means your heart ripples because of them. You think of them out of nowhere and can’t let go. Seeing them makes you nervous, shy, embarrassed—but you still want to get closer anyway.”
“In short, the person you like stands out from everyone else.”
Kid knows how to talk, Pei Yan thought.
But why won’t he ever think it could be me?
“Oh, so that’s what liking someone feels like.”
Pei Yan leaned back slightly, his eyes fixed on Shen Ju as he said lightly, “It seems like I have someone I like.”
“Shen Ju? Shen Ju?… Hey! Shen Chirp!”
Shen Ju snapped back with an “Ah!” and looked across at Han Chengfeng. “What?”
Han Chengfeng rolled his eyes in exasperation. “What were you zoning out about? The opening quiz results?”
Shen Ju shook his head. “Wasn’t thinking about that.”
Han Chengfeng shrugged. “Fair enough. Pei Yan spent the most time tutoring you. You’ll definitely improve again this time—no need to worry.”
Wei Tianxi passed by just then, tray in hand. He must’ve overheard, because he paused, shot Shen Ju a glance, then stalked off with a gloomy scowl.
Han Chengfeng tsked and muttered, “Ignore him. He probably bombed the quiz. I heard he snapped at someone asking him about answers—total nutcase.”
Ke Sheng chuckled. “Hey, wasn’t he your little sidekick back in the day?”
Han Chengfeng kicked him. “He followed me on his own. I just didn’t say no, okay?”
“Tsk tsk, classic scumbag talk.”
“Fuck, you asking for a beating?!”
Shen Ju watched as Han Chengfeng and Ke Sheng bickered back and forth, completely forgetting whatever Han Chengfeng had meant to say earlier. He shook his head and turned to Jian Yi, Pei Haochuan, and Guan Mulin nearby. “What were you trying to tell me? I zoned out and missed it.”
Guan Mulin let out an “Ah!” too, instinctively meeting Pei Haochuan’s eyes before they both quickly looked away.
Shen Ju: “…”
Jian Yi sighed. “He was saying his birthday’s coming up—right on the weekend. Wants to invite everyone out.”
“Oh yeah!”
Han Chengfeng dropped the argument with Ke Sheng and spun back around. “How about a bar? That hotel by the ski resort from winter break was pretty good. I’ve already scouted a spot—their birthday shows are killer, and I hear a famous band might play. If we drink too much, we can crash upstairs.”
Jian Yi cut in, “I’m not going. You guys have fun.”
Han Chengfeng wailed, “Bro! Not even for my birthday?”
Jian Yi: “…Lunch together is fine. Can’t do late night.”
It was just Xu Ru at home. From the sound of it, they’d party till late—maybe even overnight at the bar. He couldn’t leave his mom alone, and honestly, a bar wasn’t his scene. He’d just be a burden, especially with his left hand. But Jian Yi didn’t want to spell it out right now.
Back then, he’d have said it straight.
No hiding.
But with Shen Ju right there—even knowing Shen Ju understood—Jian Yi still wanted to downplay his disability.
He hoped Shen Ju’s mission could end midway.
Hoped Shen Ju could let go of that childhood car crash.
Hoped Shen Ju could live his own life without obsessing over Jian Yi’s hand.
But just as Shen Ju knew him, Jian Yi knew Shen Ju.
He knew Shen Ju wouldn’t quit unless pushed to the brink.
Like how he’d taken on a role that went against his nature—playing unlikable, even vicious—just to see it through.
So Jian Yi added, “Mainly, I need to get back for Mom.”
Han Chengfeng shut his mouth. They all knew Jian Yi’s family situation—no point pushing.
“Fine.”
Han Chengfeng rubbed his chin. “Then I’ll invite Pei Yan for the night.”
Ke Sheng let out an exaggerated “Ooh! So you weren’t even planning to ask Pei Yan?”
“That’s not what I meant! Don’t slander me!”
After bickering with Ke Sheng, Han Chengfeng turned back to Shen Ju. “Anyway, what were you zoning out about? Called you forever.”
Then he eyed Guan Mulin and Pei Haochuan. “And you two…”
He and Ke Sheng crossed their arms in unison.
Ke Sheng: “Yeah, you two.”
Han Chengfeng: “Don’t think I didn’t notice you zoning out too.”
“And weren’t you two out alone for dinner that night before school started? What, didn’t eat or chat enough—now you’re sulking?”
Shen Ju, Guan Mulin, and Pei Haochuan: “…”
Jian Yi raised a brow. “Something happen?”
He knew more than Han Chengfeng and Ke Sheng.
Like Shen Ju’s mission.
Like Guan Mulin and Pei Haochuan’s relationship.
Jian Yi glanced at Guan Mulin and Pei Haochuan, then at Shen Ju. “People who don’t know better might think all three of you are lovesick—totally lost in it.”
The three: “!!!”
Guan Mulin denied it instantly. “No way.”
Pei Haochuan scoffed. “Who would I be pining over?”
Shen Ju tilted his head. Lovesick? Me?
He was just replaying Pei Yan’s words.
Pei Yan has someone he likes…
He wondered if his mission was really troubling Pei Yan.
It was all he’d thought about lately.
Over and over.
But it’s normal to worry, Shen Ju figured.
His fears had come true.
What if he was messing up Pei Yan’s life?
Still, Pei Yan’s crush…
Shen Ju pressed his lips together, suddenly realizing he cared—a lot. Curiosity? Or… something else?
Qichen’s second semester of senior year kicked off with a quiz right away, to get everyone back in study mode. With the college entrance exam just months away, it also rebuilt their stress tolerance.
Qichen had let out early for winter break to avoid slacking.
So even though it was called a “quiz,” it was no small deal.
Scores and rankings went straight to parents.
No full parent-teacher meeting, but big swings meant home visits—embarrassing.
For Shen Ju and the crew, though? No sweat.
They’d grinded nonstop over break. Even Han Chengfeng improved big-time. His birthday lined up perfectly with results day—his dad was thrilled, handed over a fat stack of spending money, and told him to party hard.
Han Chengfeng had planned a casual lunch with Shen Ju and crew, bar crawl after. Senior year second sem—he couldn’t go too wild.
But with Dad’s blessing and extra cash? No holding back!
He declared the Elite Class and Experimental Class invited—lunch spot booked, bar for night entirely reserved.
Ke Sheng hailed “Boss Han’s got style!”
Come and go as you please—lunch or afternoon slots open. Details already shared.
Jian Yi still took first.
Guan Mulin second.
No contest—these were academic beasts. Jian Yi’s only limit was the environment, not himself. At Qichen, his ceiling kept rising.
Without score caps, he’d probably crush even higher.
At lunch, Shen Ju couldn’t help sighing. “Guan Mulin and Jian Yi really live up to being cousins. Some genius gene? So jealous.”
He’d lived with Jian Yi for years—no genius vibes rubbed off.
Guan Mulin chuckled, ruffling Shen Ju’s hair. “Your jump was huge too. Why envy us? You’ve got way more room to grow.”
The table erupted in laughter.
Even Jian Yi’s eyes crinkled with a smile.
Big growth potential—and leaped tons of spots.
Shen Ju: “…Hmph.”
“Hey, Shen Ju, you owe this to God Pei, right?”
This was from someone who’d seen Pei Yan at the ski resort over break but hadn’t talked to him. With Pei Yan absent at lunch, it was safe to bring up.
Shen Ju nodded. “Thanks to Pei Yan.”
Nothing to hide.
Everyone knew about the tutoring—even through break.
“Man, lucky.”
The guy sighed enviously. “God Pei’s the real deal. Outta Qichen for years, still pulls scores up like this.”
“If he quit work and tutored? Rake in bank, haha.”
“Bull. God Pei’s not quitting. Look at Star River Technology this year—co-founded with friends, blowing up.”
“Wait, didn’t he join Pei Corporation?”
“So what? With his skills, he’d dominate anyway…”
“Ahem…”
Pei Haochuan was at the table.
Better not gossip on Pei family drama.
Who knew his tie with Pei Yan now?
Everyone was buzzing who’d helm Pei Corporation next—Pei Haochuan’s dad Pei Kangnian, or Pei Tai’s obvious fave, Pei Yan.
One slip, and ties might go surface-only.
The table smoothly changed topics.
At another table.
Someone sneered under their breath. “Big deal. Still just family connections. Without Guan Family, how’d Shen Ju snag God Pei?”
“Right. Didn’t Guan Shen Ju say he lived with Jian Yi for over a decade? Jian Yi’s a top student—did that rub off? Nope. Back with Guan Family, leverages ties for God Pei tutoring—that’s the progress. All God Pei’s skill, zero from Guan Shen Ju!”
“Yeah, God Pei is still the best. If only we could…”
Wei Tianxi, who had been listening from the side, tugged at the corner of his mouth. “We don’t have connections or networks like the Guan Family.”
“So that’s why they say Shen Ju is so lucky. He suddenly became the Guan Family’s young master. Heh.”
Someone else at the table chimed in. “If we’re talking about luck, Guan Mulin is pretty lucky too, right? He doesn’t have a drop of blood relation to the Guan Family, but they still acknowledged him and raised him. And now, it looks like Guan Shen Ju and Guan Mulin are often seen going in and out together, hanging out and all that. Never mind if their relationship is actually good or not—at least on the surface, Guan Mulin hasn’t been mistreated by the Guan Family.”
“That’s not surprising. Before Jian Yi transferred here, Guan Mulin was always topping the charts at Qichen. A talent like that—keeping him around to join the Guan Family’s company later will be a big asset.”
“Tch, so do you think Guan Mulin and Guan Shen Ju actually get along well?”
The seating at lunch wasn’t deliberately arranged, but anyone with a shred of discernment knew where they belonged and who they should sit with.
Take Shen Ju’s table, for example. It had Pei Haochuan, Guan Mulin, Jian Yi, Han Chengfeng, and Ke Sheng—all close friends. A table seated about ten people, and with those six, they just pulled in four more who got along decently with them, at least enough to hang out.
Wei Tianxi used to stick by Han Chengfeng’s side and could usually tag along to that table.
But now…
Wei Tianxi’s table was mostly filled with people who bombed this exam, or whose grades were never that great to begin with, or whose family backgrounds didn’t measure up.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have ended up together.
Talking like this at the table, and still insisting on joining the party—nothing more than jealousy mixed with a desire to squeeze onto that other table.
Especially the ones speaking. They couldn’t even hide it.
Who knew what the silent ones really thought.
But since these talkers couldn’t hold back and spoke first, they had to drag the whole table into their camp, lest someone spill their words elsewhere.
So someone deliberately brought up the topic again, steering it toward the quieter ones.
Not an easy question to answer.
Say they seemed to get along? That came off as playing both sides.
Say they probably didn’t in reality? …If their words got back, they might end up offending the Guan Family.
After all, compared to the earlier speakers, these families couldn’t afford to cross the Guan Family even more.
Someone glanced at Wei Tianxi, eyes gleaming as they spoke. “Tianxi should know better than us, right? Didn’t you used to hang around Han Chengfeng? And now Han Chengfeng’s tight with them all.”
They couldn’t afford to mess with the Guan Family, but the Wei Family? Fair game.
Wei Tianxi’s face darkened instantly.
He shot the guy a look. “What do you mean by that?”
“What do I mean?”
The guy shrugged. “Just what I said. I remember you bragging before about eating with Pei Haochuan and them while tagging along with Han Chengfeng.”
“So you don’t know the real deal between Guan Mulin and Guan Shen Ju?”
“We haven’t gotten up close and personal with them, have we?”
Fair point.
But back then, Wei Tianxi had said it with a boastful tone, showing off.
Oh right.
At that time, Wei Tianxi thought he’d latched onto Han Chengfeng and looked down on the rest of them.
So now the conversation swung to him?
“Hey, Tianxi, spill it.”
The guy even put on a show of analyzing. “Guan Shen Ju is the Guan Family’s biological son. His grades have improved each time, but he’s still behind Guan Mulin. And even without blood ties, Guan Mulin was raised by their side for over a decade— no blood, but plenty of family bonds. So don’t you think now, when Guan Shen Ju and Guan Mulin hang out together, it’s just for show?”
“Are they putting on an act for the Guan Family? I mean, with the whole switched-at-birth scandal, the Guan Family probably wants them to get along for the sake of face.”
“Makes sense. If those two started beef, the Guan Family would become a total laughingstock—lose all credibility.”
The first speaker saw the topic veering off and quickly reeled it back. “Hey, quit guessing wildly. Let Tianxi tell us. Oh wait, I just remembered—you’ve got a connection to Jian Yi too, right? Jian Yi’s super close with Shen Ju, always in and out with that crew. You must know more than us.”
“Oh yeah, and… look, your grades are even worse than Shen Ju’s now. You can’t get God Pei to tutor you, but maybe ask Jian Yi for some lessons?”
