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

Shen Jicheng wasn't sure if his older brother could guess it was him.

Although he offered a hint indirectly, given his elder brother's personality, he might not necessarily suspect him. His elder brother is always pragmatic, insisting on evidence in everything he does, and he won't draw conclusions lightly without absolute certainty.

If it were the meticulous second brother... he would probably understand the meaning behind his words.

Unfortunately, Pei Shuli was sitting next to him. He dared not be too direct, nor did he dare to say a single unnecessary word, lest he be discovered and be finished.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Pei Shuli nudged him with his elbow and handed him his phone. "Look, look, Shen Mingxiao replied to my message again."

Shen Jicheng glanced down at the screen and saw a newly popped-up line of text.

Idle Clouds and Wild Cranes: [Time to go home.]

His heart skipped a beat.

Pei Shuli, oblivious to his odd behavior, put her phone away, frowned, and muttered, "What does that mean? Is she telling me to go home? Go home to which home?"

Another message lit up immediately afterward.

Idle Clouds and Wild Cranes: [Judging from the pictures you posted, it seems you're not home? The weather forecast says it will rain today, go home early, don't worry your family.]

Pei Shuli could no longer sit still; his eyes widened in shock.

"Holy crap! This is the first time I've seen him send such a long message! Usually, it's all about legs or waist, how come he's suddenly showing concern for people today?" He shoved his phone in front of Shen Jicheng, waving it around with a look of utter surprise.

"Look at this! Look at this! Has this person taken the wrong medicine?"

Shen Jicheng looked at those lines of text and felt a mix of emotions he couldn't quite describe. It was rare for his older brother to be so gentle; his words were full of thoughtful concern.

But the more he felt this way, the more uneasy he felt. He couldn't go back, and he didn't want to go back. He also didn't want his family to worry about him from so far away.

"Shi Jiaming, what should I say?"

Pei Shuli's tone was much more urgent than before, clearly showing his utter admiration for Shen Jicheng. He had to learn from Shen Jicheng's skill in getting so many extra words from a single sentence.

Shen Jicheng withdrew his gaze, gave a faint, somewhat forced smile.

"What else can I say... just tell him you knew, that you brought an umbrella and that nothing will happen, and that he shouldn't worry."

Pei Shuli dialed the number as instructed, but to his surprise, a transfer notification immediately followed.

He nearly jumped up from the grass, slapping Shen Jicheng's shoulder loudly. "Holy crap! Holy crap! Shen Mingxiao actually transferred money to me!"

He was so excited he was incoherent, waving his phone in front of Shen Jicheng's face.

"Do you know how many photos of my thighs I sent him before? He didn't reply to a single one! He wouldn't even transfer a hundred yuan for a bubble tea! So stingy! But today he actually transferred ten thousand yuan!"

Shen Jicheng's shoulder went numb from the pat, and he dodged back, his lips twitching. "You... think ten thousand is a lot?" Ten thousand yuan, in his older brother's hands, was practically a beggar's gift.

Pei Shuli looked back with a strange expression, his eyes filled with pity.

"For me, it's just a matter of one meal. But for you, it's probably a year's living expenses, right?"

After he finished speaking, he patted Shen Jicheng on the shoulder, his tone carrying a hint of condescending righteousness, "It's okay, I'll take care of you from now on. You won't go hungry. After all, you've helped me a lot."

Shen Jicheng remained silent for a while, his gaze falling on the koi swimming in the fishpond, before slowly speaking.

"How much did you have for living expenses in the past month?" You should know that he used to not even have enough to spend in a month, and he would always overspend. In the end, he could only shamelessly ask his second brother for money and his third sister for help.

The eldest brother would never dare to speak up; if he knew what he had done, he would surely break his legs.

Pei Shuli looked puzzled after hearing this, tilting his head and thinking for a moment.

What is living expenses?

Shen Jicheng: "..."

"I don't have any living expenses." Pei Shuli shrugged, his tone indifferent. "Ever since my second brother took over, he hasn't given me any money. Otherwise, why do you think I've been opposing him at every turn? Opposing him being in that position?"

Shen Jicheng looked at him with disbelief. "No living expenses? How will you eat and wear?"

Pei Shuli sighed, carefully putting the ten thousand yuan away, and said in a low voice, "I have servants at home who cook for me, hired by my second brother, so I rarely eat out. Even when I do eat out, it's only at high-end restaurants, the kind that can reimburse and keep track of the bill."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "As for clothes, although Pei Lin is heartless and doesn't give me any money, he doesn't limit my living expenses. If I want to buy any clothes, I can just send the information to Zhang Xu and he will reimburse me."

He glanced at Shen Jicheng as if he were an idiot.

"Otherwise, why do you think all my clothes are so expensive? It's not like I'm spending my own money, so of course I'll pick the most expensive! I'll bankrupt him!"

Shen Jicheng opened his mouth, completely unprepared for this way of life for the third young master. He hesitated for a long while before asking again,

"But didn't you take out ten million before?" That money ended up in his pocket, but now he can't get it out.

Upon hearing this, Pei Shuli's face immediately fell, his fingers tightened around his phone, and his tone was annoyed.

"It's all because of you! You're always going against me! I was just waiting for you to take the bait, so that you and Pei Lin would fight amongst yourselves, and I could reap the benefits! That's why I broke the rules set by my second brother and sold all the clothes I bought. I was afraid you wouldn't take the bait, so I sold dozens of pieces and managed to scrape together ten million."

Shen Jicheng felt as if a flock of crows flew overhead.

For a moment, he couldn't decide whether to praise Pei Shuli for his commendable courage.

Or should we praise him for being overconfident? Where does he get the confidence to think he can reap the benefits without lifting a finger? Does this third young master not understand his own position at all?

"What about the 50 million yuan fine? Where did it come from?" Shen Jicheng asked another question. He and Pei Shuli had turned the villa upside down before, and in the end, it was the unlucky Pei Shuli who paid for it.

Mentioning this made Pei Shuli even angrier, so annoyed he gritted his teeth.

"And you're still talking! My dad gave us all shares, but that heartless Pei Lin insists I pay him back! Where am I supposed to get 50 million in cash? I can only use the shares to pay for it!" He finished speaking and grabbed a handful of grass leaves, pulling them up by the roots and mud, and casually threw them into the fish pond.

Trading 50 million for his shares wasn't too bad for him. But Pei Lin insisted on this price as compensation, leaving him no room for negotiation. The 50 million just slipped through his fingers.

It was only at this moment that Shen Jicheng finally understood that the seemingly glamorous third young master of the Pei family was actually living a very stifling life.

No wonder he's so "ambitious"; if he weren't, he probably would have starved to death.

Pei Shuli clenched his fist and added fiercely, "One day, I'll sit in my second brother's position! Then, I won't have to secretly sell clothes to make money, and I won't have to smile obsequiously at outsiders!"

Shen Jicheng looked at him silently, and after a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out two words.

"...Good luck." So that aloof and polite demeanor in public was out of necessity...