The atmosphere felt a bit awkward.
In the end, Guan Mulin didn’t say much. Instead, he grabbed Shen Ju and said they should head back.
As a result, Shen Ju didn’t get a chance to say anything either before he was dragged away.
But honestly, whether they said it or not, it didn’t make much difference.
As long as Han Chengfeng and Ke Sheng weren’t idiots, after last night’s events, they had to know for sure—absolutely, definitely—that something was going on between Shen Ju and Pei Yan, and between Guan Mulin and Pei Haochuan.
The thing with Guan Mulin and Pei Haochuan? Yeah, they could see that coming.
But Shen Ju and Pei Yan…
Tsk, no wonder they called Shen Chirp a “brave soul.”
Daring to think what ordinary people wouldn’t dare, and do what ordinary people wouldn’t dare…
Guan Mulin dragged Shen Ju back home. Their family had no idea what had happened last night, so Guan Mulin had some things he wanted to tell Shen Ju. He found an opportunity and sneaked into Shen Ju’s room.
Maybe because they’d had that heart-to-heart at noon yesterday, Guan Mulin found it easier to open up around Shen Ju. And…
“I let it slip last night.”
Guan Mulin’s brows furrowed slightly as Shen Ju pulled him to sit cross-legged on the bed. He’d already changed into loose loungewear before coming in.
Shen Ju sat cross-legged on the bed too, hugging one of the pillows.
It was that baby bottle pillow they’d stuffed him with in the car before—Shen Ju had kept it close ever since.
He clutched it tight, with the nipple facing up, and looked over in surprise at the words. “Let it slip?”
“About the tasks?”
Shen Ju was a little shocked but continued, “It’s not a big deal anyway. Last time, didn’t I ask if you wanted to tell Pei Haochuan?”
He thought back to Pei Haochuan’s reaction today.
Hmm… Nothing too out of the ordinary?
Maybe he just hadn’t paid close enough attention.
But…
Shen Ju scooted closer to Guan Mulin, curiosity burning brighter. “So what happened? How’d you let it slip? And then? Did Pei Haochuan say anything? And you two…?”
Guan Mulin reached out and pinched Shen Ju’s mouth shut, the message clear: Keep that little mouth closed.
Shen Ju burst out laughing, pfft pfft, but before he could say anything, a little blue ball zipped out.
996: “The Protagonist Gong knows now too?!”
“What was his reaction? Does he know I exist? He hasn’t met me yet. Oh right, I haven’t talked to him either…”
Guan Mulin: “…“
Once the hand left his mouth, Shen Ju looked at 996 and couldn’t help sighing. “Brother 996, you’ve been popping out more and more lately.”
996: “Well, you all know I exist now. Why should I stay cooped up in your body?”
Shen Ju pretended to grab at it. “You feel cooped up in my body?”
“Hee hee.”
996 orbited Shen Ju’s hand while spinning on its own axis, and ended up dizzying itself in the process.
After the human and the UI finished fooling around, they both turned to Guan Mulin, their gossip-hungry expressions plain as day.
Guan Mulin: “… Fine.”
“Basically…”
Guan Mulin opened his mouth. Ugh, how was he supposed to explain this?
“Just…?”
“I let it slip by accident.”
Shen Ju and 996: “…“
Guan Mulin rubbed his face, deciding to just spill it all. “Yesterday, I was drugged, and Pei Haochuan wanted to help, but I didn’t want him to. So we argued again. He said I was stringing him along, always giving him mixed signals, and that I had no feelings for him—but he wouldn’t believe it. Then he pinned me down and insisted… In a fit of anger, I let it slip, and he kept pressing me while I was pinned. My head wasn’t clear yesterday…”
“And then…?”
Guan Mulin rubbed his nose and sighed. “And then… he forced everything out of me.”
Shen Ju blinked, letting out an internal oh ho, before asking, “So, did you two… do anything?”
Guan Mulin shot him a sideways glance. “What about you and Pei-ge?”
Shen Ju flushed with embarrassment and lightly punched Guan Mulin.
Guan Mulin flopped back onto the bed with a thud, nearly tumbling off the edge tail-first. Shen Ju yelped and yanked him back.
…
After the chaos settled, Guan Mulin rubbed his shoulder and gave Shen Ju a speechless look. He couldn’t resist reaching out to flick Shen Ju’s forehead.
“I don’t know how you got so strong.”
“Heh.”
Shen Ju grinned sheepishly. Then he noticed Guan Mulin rubbing his shoulder—his collar had slipped open a bit, revealing some red marks on his collarbone.
Eh?
“Oooh~”
…
Shen Ju asked curiously, “So what was Pei Haochuan’s reaction after he found out? He didn’t even come ask me about it today.”
“And since he knows about your ‘roles’ now, you and him…”
At the mention of it, Guan Mulin’s expression soured.
He huffed like he was sulking. “Who knows what’s in his head? After he forced everything out of me yesterday, he stared at me for a while, said ‘Got it,’ then helped me… cough, anyway. He said he’d cooperate, and to tell you to relax. As for the rest… he threw some passive-aggressive comments my way. I don’t remember much after that.”
Shen Ju opened his mouth. “Was he mad?”
Guan Mulin sneered. “If he’s mad, I’m mad too! You have no idea how overboard he got yesterday…”
Shen Ju tilted his head. “Overboard how?”
996 tilted too. “Overboard how?”
Guan Mulin glanced at the human and the UI, sighed, flopped onto the bed, and stared at the ceiling. “I know he might be mad, but I don’t know what exactly he’s mad about. Yesterday, he took advantage of me—not the other way around! He forced me to spill everything, and in the end, he went cold on me.”
Shen Ju thought for a moment. “Could it be… he likes you, and always thought you felt the same? But after learning about the task yesterday, he thinks you’re only doing those misleading things for my task? After all, the stuff 996 had me do to Pei-ge was all misleading… unless Pei-ge overheard my talks with 996 way earlier.”
Guan Mulin opened his mouth. “You mean Pei Haochuan thinks I’m just acting for your task, not because I like him?”
Shen Ju nailed it. “Do you like him?”
Guan Mulin fell silent.
“You told me before—yeah, knowing in advance about our potential pairings made me subconsciously resistant. Not to Pei Haochuan himself, but… knowing there’s this ‘arrangement,’ I couldn’t tell if our relationship would develop naturally or feel forced. So I resisted on instinct.”
“I rarely think about it. Besides the resistance, I was avoiding it… Sure, part of it was helping you, but honestly, I wasn’t doing anything deliberate.”
Guan Mulin added subconsciously, “After all, things were already kinda like that between us before…”
Shen Ju clapped his hands. “See? You didn’t do anything extra to Pei Haochuan just because of the task.”
“I…”
Right then, 996 chimed in. “Setting that aside, the Task Energy Bar is at 85%… oh wait, 86.3% now!”
Guan Mulin sat up on the bed. “Does that mean something specific?”
996 let out an “ah” and scratched its little tuft. “Didn’t I tell you? Though… cough, our task program has tons of super bugs, the Task Energy Bar’s core is solid. Its main criterion is your emotional progress with the Protagonist Gong… of course, with the host playing their role to help.”
“Now at 86.3%, that means… hold on, lemme check the emotional criteria.”
Shen Ju and Guan Mulin: “…“
“Found it.”
“Simply put, under 50% means you’re more than friends but not lovers yet. Over 50%? Straight-up heading for romance!”
“At 86.3%, you two definitely like each other—like, you’re each other’s world, and the most special person to one another.”
Guan Mulin: “… Real or fake?”
Shen Ju wanted to ask the same.
996 bristled at the doubt, its tuft twitching like it wanted to smack someone. “Of course it’s real! Roughly speaking!“
Guan Mulin thought of something. “So if I go tell Pei Haochuan we’re together now, your task completes?”
Shen Ju straightened up too, looking at 996.
996 spread its tufts. “It’s not that simple. Our criteria are strict, okay?”
…
Shen Ju couldn’t hold back. “Brother 996, doesn’t that feel insincere coming from you?”
Guan Mulin: “Yeah, aren’t you embarrassed saying that?”
996: “…”
“Anyway… to hit 100%, it’s not just saying you like each other and dating. You both have to choose each other unwaveringly!”
Shen Ju poked 996 with a finger and got a little zap. “But you just said they’re already each other’s everything now.”
996 huffed. “Then have Guan Mulin confess right now and see!”
Shen Ju looked at Guan Mulin.
Guan Mulin coughed lightly.
996: “See? He’s hesitating on confessing!”
“Liking someone and realizing you like them are two different things!”
996 pointed its tuft at Shen Ju. “When’d you fall for Pei-ge? When’d you realize it?”
“But you two got together fast—just under two days. I’ve been locked in the little black room multiple times, mmph—”
Shen Ju slapped both hands over 996 with a smack!
Guan Mulin raised a brow, giving Shen Ju a meaningful look.
“Oooh~”
Shen Ju: “…“
Guan Mulin thought for a bit. “Should we tell Mom and Dad about you and Pei-ge?”
“So soon?”
Shen Ju scratched his chin, a bit embarrassed. “Let’s wait a little. With Pei-ge… I didn’t plan to rush. I still have tasks to do.”
Guan Mulin nodded—that made sense. He patted Shen Ju’s shoulder. “No rush. 100%’s coming soon.”
“You just gotta…”
Guan Mulin caught himself. “Oh… I’ll just try harder…”
That was the plan, but in the end, Shen Ju told Guan Mulin to let things with Pei Haochuan flow naturally—like 996 said, the core judgment couldn’t be forced.
To make it happen organically, though, progress slowed compared to before.
The closer to the end, the slower the Task Energy Bar filled.
After all, developing a crush was easy at first. But real feelings? The deeper it got, the more tangled and messy—harder to smooth out.
Shen Ju felt things with Pei Yan were going pretty smoothly, though.
Maybe because Pei Yan was more mature?
Lately, after every tutoring session, Pei Yan always kept him behind alone…
“What’re you thinking about?”
A hand waved in front of Shen Ju’s face.
They were in Pei Yan’s Villa now. Han Chengfeng and the others had just left, Pei Haochuan had gone out too. Guan Mulin hadn’t left with Pei Haochuan, but he hadn’t stayed either.
Dinner was long finished, and the hired chef had gone home.
So now, it was just the two of them… and one dog.
Little Stone had wanted to play, but Pei Yan had shut him in the yard.
“You played with him all afternoon—no time left for me.”
Shen Ju stood by the window, watching Little Stone bury his head and dig wildly at the dirt, dragging his toys in. He sighed helplessly. “Gonna have to bathe him tonight.”
“Mm, no problem. He loves water—baths aren’t a hassle.”
Pei Yan stood behind Shen Ju, pulling him into a tight embrace. He rested his chin lightly on Shen Ju’s ear and let out a low sigh.
Shen Ju felt his ears heat up. “What’s wrong, Pei-ge?”
“You’re still in your senior year.”
Pei Yan murmured lowly. “And the college entrance exam’s just a few months away.”
Hm?
What about it?
Shen Ju turned around instinctively, meeting Pei Yan’s gaze. In the next second, he got it.
Because the way Pei Yan looked at him…
Was really thirsty.
It wasn’t vulgar, nor was it judged through any particular lens—it was that deep, profound gaze, brimming with the desire to touch more, yet forced to hold back…
Pei Yan bent down and scooped Shen Ju up into a face-to-face embrace in one swift motion.
Shen Ju had no choice but to wrap his legs around Pei Yan’s waist.
He let out a soft, “Pei-ge…”
“Mm.”
Pei Yan carried Shen Ju to the sofa and sat down, so Shen Ju naturally ended up straddling his lap.
Scenes like this had been happening sporadically these past few days.
From the end of Han Chengfeng’s birthday, to the start of school, to Wei Tianxi’s apology and withdrawal amid the school’s uproar, and right up to now—it felt like the only time he and Pei-ge spent together was during these evening tutoring sessions. No wonder Pei Yan always seemed touch-starved, keeping him behind alone every day and seizing any chance to pull him into his arms.
Shen Ju had sat on the dining table, the kitchen island, the living room coffee table, the bay window by the glass—but most often, it was on Pei Yan’s lap.
He always felt like Pei Yan wanted to keep him firmly in his line of sight, forcibly restricting his movements the moment he slipped out of view.
Just like earlier, after Guan Mulin had left last, he’d gotten up to stretch and wandered over to the window.
Pei Yan had taken Little Stone out to the yard first, but when he came back, he’d scooped him up again.
And in the previous days, whether he’d gone to grab water, fiddled with Legos on the coffee table, or played games, Pei Yan would always come over and draw him back into his field of vision.
The feeling was unmistakable.
Once or twice might be coincidence, but this consistently? It definitely wasn’t Shen Ju’s imagination.
Shen Ju knelt on the sofa cushions on either side of Pei Yan’s lap, his hands lightly pressing against Pei Yan’s chest for support. And with that, he confirmed one more thing—
He’d discovered Pei Yan’s domineering possessiveness.
Like he was testing it out,
Shen Ju shifted his hips, making as if to slide off.
Sure enough, the next second, Pei Yan’s hand clamped down on the small of his back.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Pei Yan asked it like he was being considerate.
Shen Ju said, “I want to get down.”
Pei Yan: “Get down and do what?”
Shen Ju: “Isn’t it weird to always be sitting on Pei-ge’s lap?”
Pei Yan: “Nothing weird about it.”
As if to soothe him, he added, “You’re not heavy anyway. Be good—I just want to hold you a bit longer.”
These past few days, they’d been clinging to each other often, but it wasn’t always about that.
Mainly, the night after the drug’s effects wore off, once Pei Yan confirmed his body was truly fine, he’d shown Shen Chirp how long sustained, machine-like performance could last… and how many rounds it could go… If he hadn’t known Shen Ju had to head home that night, he probably wouldn’t have let him off so easily…
The first time they’d truly faced each other without reservations, Shen Ju’s scalp had tingled with nerves.
Facts proved that “all show and no stamina” was the exception.
“All looks and delivers” was the norm…
And Pei Yan wasn’t just that—he was beyond delivering.
By the end, Shen Ju had been crying.
He regretted it immensely, telling Pei Yan he really didn’t need to prove himself anymore.
Afterward, he’d learned his lesson.
No more curiosity or provocation…
But no matter how overboard Pei-ge got, he’d never actually gone all the way.
Shen Ju recalled what Pei Yan had said before—was it because he was a senior in high school? Because his college entrance exams were just a few months away?
So considerate.
But even so, what difference would going all the way really make?
Only after the words slipped out did Shen Ju realize he’d muttered them aloud… He immediately looked up at Pei Yan.
Sure enough, Pei Yan arched a brow at him, repeating his words one syllable at a time: “What difference would going all the way really make?”
“Baby, so this is what you’ve been thinking about.”
Shen Ju: “…”
“I’d advise you not to even think about trying it.”
Pei Yan murmured lowly, “After all, you’ve regretted it before.”
“If we really went all the way, I’d let loose—won’t give you any chance to regret it. You can cry, but you won’t escape.”
“And even at this level, you’ve been crying every time these past few days, eyes and nose all red. Once we actually do it, you’ll probably cry even harder—how will you face anyone then?”
Shen Ju’s face burned red; he desperately wanted to clap a hand over Pei Yan’s mouth.
He doesn’t want to face anyone right now!
“Pei-ge, let’s change the subject…”
Pei Yan chuckled, noncommittal.
He knew it’d scare the kid.
If he truly gave in to his impulses, abandoned all restraint—Shen Ju wouldn’t be leaving this villa.
If not for that last thread of bottom line holding him back…
He really wanted to fuck him until he cried himself hoarse.
![I Cultivate Immortality Alone [Infinite Flow]](https://i1.wp.com/dobynovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/inf.jpg?resize=151,215 "I Cultivate Immortality Alone [Infinite Flow]")