Master Pei! Don't force yourself into a circle that doesn't want you to.

As night fell, a warm yellow light shone in the study of Beishan Villa.

Shen Jicheng didn't even knock; he just pushed the door open and barged in.

Pei Lin was sitting at his desk flipping through documents when, before he could even look up, a warm, heavy weight snuggled into his arms. Shen Jicheng's arms encircled his neck, his face buried in the crook of his shoulder, and he called out in a slightly aggrieved voice, "Husband~"

Pei Lin raised an eyebrow slightly, shifting his gaze from the document to the fluffy head.

The person in his arms offered himself to him, so of course he had no reason to refuse. His arms naturally wrapped around Shen Jicheng's waist, and his fingers slipped under the hem of his clothes, his fingertips lightly brushing against the delicate, warm skin on his side.

He turned his head, a playful smile on his lips. "What? You want it?"

Shen Jicheng: "..." What the hell!

He took a deep breath, swallowed the swear words that were about to come out, and slapped away Pei Lin's restless hand with no restraint.

He looked up, a fake smile plastered on his face. "Pei Shuli bullied me, you have to stand up for me!"

Pei Lin raised an eyebrow, and the hand that had been slapped away silently returned, its fingertips tracing slow, deliberate circles on Shen Jicheng's sensitive waist. His tone was casual and languid, "Oh? How did he bully my darling?"

He secretly pinched Shen Jicheng's waist again, "Tell me, I'm going to avenge my darling."

Shen Jicheng felt the hand on his waist moving more and more brazenly. He gritted his teeth, telling himself to bear it, and then said in a wronged tone,

"When Pei Shuli came today, he humiliated me! He said I was a penniless nobody from some backwater village! That I wasn't as rich as him, and he even threw money at me!"

As he spoke, he feigned tears, rubbing his eyes vigorously, but after squeezing for a long time, not a single tear came out. He could only choke out,

"Honey, you absolutely have to stand up for me!"

Pei Lin's fingertips had already slid down her waist to her chest, casually stroking her, but her tone carried just the right amount of heartache, "Ah~ that's so mean. That really makes my darling suffer."

Shen Jicheng felt extremely uncomfortable being pinched, but he couldn't retaliate. He could only curse Pei Lin and Pei Shuli in his heart.

Pei Lin feigned serious thought, "So what does my darling want me to do? How about... throwing him into a snake pit? Or... feeding him to sharks in the sea? Or perhaps tying him up and letting you do whatever you want with him?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Jicheng was immediately overwhelmed. Ignoring the hand still causing trouble on his chest, he quickly reached out and covered Pei Lin's mouth, "No!"

He gave an awkward laugh, his eyes flashing for a moment.

"While Pei Shuli has certainly gone too far, he doesn't deserve to die... How about this?" He leaned closer, suggesting with a smile, "Cut off his funding. A small punishment to teach him a lesson!"

Pei Lin's favorite thing to see was the calculating look in his darling's eyes.

That expression—clearly doing something wrong, yet unable to hide the excitement in his eyes—was undeniably endearing, even captivating him. He couldn't help but chuckle softly, leaning down to lightly bite Shen Jicheng's lip. "Of course, no problem."

He paused, his gaze darkening slightly. "Baby, shouldn't we give you a little treat? Hmm?"

Before Shen Jicheng could speak, his lips were sealed by a kiss. The passionate kiss came quickly and fiercely, with an irresistible force. Shen Jicheng pushed him away forcefully, quickly adding,

"You can't tell Pei Shuli that I told you to do this! Otherwise, he'll definitely target me!"

Pei Lin didn't speak, but instead dug his palm into Shen Jicheng's hair, forcefully pulling him back, and lowered his head to kiss him again. His teeth were pried open, his breath stolen, and Shen Jicheng's thoughts were quickly thrown into a tangled mess.

"Ugh—!"

The night is long.

On the third day, Pei Shuli practically kicked open the door of Beishan Villa and stormed in with a livid face.

"Damn it! Is Pei Lin crazy?!" Pei Shuli's hair was a bit messy, and his coat wasn't properly put on; he had obviously rushed over in a huff. Meanwhile, Pei Lin had already gone to the company, and only Shen Jicheng was sitting cross-legged on the sofa in the living room, a smile he couldn't hide on his face, looking exceptionally good.

"Oh, what brings you here?" Shen Jicheng blinked, feigning surprise. "What's wrong? What did Pei Lin do?"

Pei Shuli clenched his fists in anger, his voice laced with gritted teeth, "Pei Lin actually withdrew the dividends that were rightfully mine! I don't have a single penny left!"

Shen Jicheng immediately adopted a sympathetic expression, frowning.

"Huh? Really? How could this happen? What should we do?" Hahahaha, that's hilarious! Actually, I did it!

Pei Shuli's jaw tightened, and he remained silent for a long while. Then he raised his head, his burning gaze fixed on Shen Jicheng.

"I've made up my mind. You're right, I can't abandon my initial decision. Pei Lin has been unkind to me, so don't blame me for being ruthless in return!"

Shen Jicheng blinked his innocent, peach-blossom eyes and said with a sincere expression,

"I can help you."

"Okay! But you can't tell Pei Lin about this!" Pei Shuli immediately made the decision.

Shen Jicheng didn't agree immediately. Instead, he looked troubled and hesitated for a moment before speaking, "This... is a bit difficult. After all, I'm also afraid that Pei Lin might misunderstand that I have any connection with the Shen family and get angry."

He paused, as if he had thought of a compromise, and his eyes lit up slightly for a moment. "How about this, I'll help you keep your pursuit of Shen Mingxiao a secret, and in return, you'll keep everything you overheard at the hotel that day to yourself and not mention it to anyone."

Pei Shuli didn't agree immediately, frowning as he asked, "Everything? Even the name Shen Yu'an can't be told to my brother?"

Shen Jicheng nodded firmly, "Yes, neither will do." What a joke! This name is the most important thing. "After all, I love Pei Lin so much, I don't want him to misunderstand me."

Pei Shuli thought it over and over, weighing the pros and cons for a long time, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "Okay!"

He paused, then added, his tone tinged with disappointment, "How come you're such a love-struck fool too?"

Shen Jicheng's smile froze for a moment, then returned to normal. He thought for a moment, then decided, "So be it, I'm just in love. As long as I can fool Pei Shuli and prevent him from investigating Shen Yu'an's name, everything will be fine."

In this way, Shen Jicheng traded his elder brother's temporary unrest for his current peaceful life.

"So what's next for me to do?" Pei Shuli asked curiously.