Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Pei Sheng brushed off Qi Yan’s question and returned to the bedside. He picked up his phone first and opened his email.

Locating the email sent by Qin You, he clenched his phone tighter before tapping to open it.

"...What is it?" Seeing his attention entirely focused on the email, Qi Yan temporarily set aside his burning questions and asked instead.

The email wasn’t long, and Pei Sheng finished reading it quickly.

Hearing this, he looked up at Qi Yan, hesitated a beat.

"He only told you not to tell—"

At this point, Qi Yan tripped over his words, "He only said not to let Tingshen know. What’s the harm in telling me? I can keep a secret."

Pei Sheng knew him well enough and knew he could be trusted—otherwise, he wouldn’t have shown him the contents of the other email earlier.

"There are two contracts," Pei Sheng said. "Signed by the Liu family and my grandfather."

Qi Yan keenly noticed the shift in his tone. Observing his expression, though Pei Sheng had grown more reserved and composed over the years, You could still read him.

Compared to before reading the email, Pei Sheng seemed visibly lighter now.

"Contracts signed by your grandfather?" Qi Yan took the phone from him. After reading, he was also surprised. "Another share transfer? The dates are the same—so all three families transferred their shares simultaneously."

That explains it.

With this email, that mostly cleared things up.

Pei Sheng nodded. "Yes."

The fact that all three families had signed contracts on the same day—with the Pei family in the mix—meant that the contract from the Yan family couldn't hold up as proof of their involvement in Cehai’s bankruptcy. It was possible that the three families were in on this together back then.

Qi Yan guessed what he was thinking. "Now that we’ve got these two contracts, you should be able to talk to Tingshen, right? Besides asking how much he knows about this, you’ll also need to figure out why Elder Pei transferred his shares before the incident. Isn’t that strange?"

These words mirrored Pei Sheng’s own thoughts. "I’ll talk to him as soon as possible. Good timing—he’s here at the hospital today."

Qi Yan glanced behind him, seeing no one there. "Tingshen’s at the hospital today too? I didn’t see him when I arrived."

Pei Sheng said, "He probably came with Young Master Qin."

"..." Qi Yan drew a blank. "Wait, wasn’t he at the company today? How did he end up with Young Master Qin?"

Pei Sheng replied, "Tingshen needs rehabilitation training now. Young Master Qin looks out for him and comes every day to help."

"............" Qi Yan went still again.

Pei Sheng had seen this reaction before.

When he first learned the two were together in the rehabilitation room during his hospitalization, he hadn’t paid it much mind. But yesterday, after hearing that Yan Tingshen had returned, he made a point to ask. The answer had surprised him too.

Of course, Tingshen’s explanation was a bit different—this was just Pei Sheng’s interpretation. But he was pretty sure this was the truth.

"...What exactly is their relationship?" Qi Yan finally came back to himself and couldn’t help asking. "Young Master Qin looks out for him, and Tingshen just lets him? That’s not adding up."

Pei Sheng paused before continuing, "We’ve got fifty minutes. Once Tingshen finishes, I’ll go talk to him about the contracts."

Qi Yan's smile didn't reach his eyes. "That's one hell of a clumsy topic change, don't you think?"

Pei Sheng said, "Why do you think Young Master Qin didn’t want Tingshen to know that he was the one who gave me these two contracts?"

"..." Qi Yan snapped irritably, laughing through his frustration. "Oh my ancestors, are you really letting everything I just said go in one ear and out the other?"

Pei Sheng's expression remained impassive. "You can see it too—he doesn’t like me. Yet for this, he was willing to meet with me. And he told me to clear up the misunderstanding between Tingshen and myself. Does that mean Tingshen already knows about this?"

Qi Yan snapped irritably, "Alright, alright, I won’t ask anymore, okay? Stop pretending."

Pei Sheng sat down on the edge of the bed. "Your nosy habit of prying into people's business needs some control."

"Curiosity is a human virtue. Don’t make it sound so ugly—I'm warning you now," Qi Yan retorted, though his expression gradually sobered. "As for why Young Master Qin asked you to keep it a secret, just drop it already. There’s a reason, and since he didn’t want you to ask, guessing endlessly won’t help. Besides, clearing up this misunderstanding has all upside, no downside—for both you and Tingshen."

Pei Sheng had already been overthinking it. If left unchecked, he’d probably waste who knows how much mental energy on this.

Having said that, Qi Yan noticed Pei Sheng lowering his head to check the emails again and doused his enthusiasm with cold water. "Don’t celebrate just yet. The stock issue may be making progress, but that doesn’t mean this matter is over. Whoever sent you that email yesterday clearly has it out for you. Have you looked into it?"

Pei Sheng replied, "It’s been too short a time. I haven’t traced the source yet."

"Why didn’t you come to me?" Qi Yan grumbled irritably. "Next time, don’t keep it to yourself. Finding the source early might save you a lot of trouble."

Pei Sheng said, "Got it."

Qi Yan continued, "Also, about this Young Master Qin—while he did help you, why did he have these two contracts in the first place? And why did he give them to you? I’m not doubting him, but he’s night and day different from the person in the records. You should consider whether he has some deeper motive."

These were obvious points, and Qi Yan knew Pei Sheng would eventually think of them too.

But Pei Sheng was too close to see clearly. Young Master Qin had helped him multiple times yet clearly disliked him. Given Pei Sheng’s personality, he’d inevitably get tied up in knots about it. It was better for him to focus on Qin’s possible motives rather than dwell on his disdain.

Hearing this, a thoughtful look passed through Pei Sheng’s eyes. "That's...a fair point."

After a moment’s thought, he set his phone aside.

He had already read the two emails thoroughly and didn’t need to review them again.

As for Young Master Qin’s deeper intentions—that was something he hadn’t considered yet.

---

Meanwhile.

In the hallway outside the rehabilitation room.

"System, you got the wrong person!" The system just realized. "Sure, the task is to resolve the misunderstanding between the target and the protagonist, but the task is aimed at the target! Why did you tell the protagonist instead?"

Qin You asked, "If the protagonist takes the initiative to clear things up with the target, how does that play out?"

The system hurriedly replied, "Then the target will only remember the protagonist’s kindness, and the task will fail outright, System! Not only will you gain no favorability points, but you’ll also lose spatial energy. You’d get totally screwed!"

Qin You said calmly, "Don’t panic."

"System, how can you still laugh about this?!"

The system was buzzing with anxiety. "The further the task progresses, the more energy points will be deducted. Although you've completed two side missions this time, the main task failed, meaning at least one point will be deducted. The problem is, that one point is our entire reserve!"

Qin You said, "We're not in the negative yet. Why panic?"

"..." The system short-circuited. "Host, once we hit negative, it'll be too late..."

It didn’t even know why it was panicking.

There had been times when the energy value was zero before, and the Host's progress had always been way ahead—even with room to fall. Yet, it couldn’t help but feel frantic.

So frantic!

A host who completely disregarded penalties, treating tasks like they're optional—completing or failing them at will—was unheard of. It was as if the Host didn’t even treat it like a real system!

After completing so many tasks, the rewards were gone almost immediately. Finally, they were down to their last point, but the Host didn’t spare it either. Soon, they’d be left with nothing again.

Terrifying. Every day was spent in fear of insufficient energy.

Suddenly—

The system noticed the favorability meter bouncing around. But by the time it looked, the final value hadn’t changed, still stuck at 30%.

Perhaps the target had secretly thought about the Host again.

Since the favorability hadn’t moved, there was no need to distract the Host now.

Faced with a Host who was slacking off, the system couldn’t be bothered with minor fluctuations.

Watching as the Host returned to the rehab room, it pleaded pathetically, "Host, I beg you... the key task really needs to be done..."

Qin You said, "Where these documents came from can’t be explained clearly. It’ll affect his trust in me."

The system gave up arguing. "But giving the documents to the protagonist doesn’t solve that either!"

Qin You just shrugged. "Then that’s the protagonist’s problem to explain."

As the protagonist, once he gave his word, he wouldn’t go back on it. Let the protagonist explain the source of the documents himself.

As for whether the protagonist would suspect him because of it—it didn’t matter.

By the end, with the Qin family fallen, even if the protagonist had suspicions, what could he possibly do to some nobody?

The system cried out, "Waaah... but what about the task?"

Qin You said, "No pain, no gain."

With that, he smiled at Yan Tingshen, who looked up at the sound of knocking. "I’m back."

Then he waved to dismiss the medical staff nearby and walked over to help Yan Tingshen with the rehab session.

At 4:05 pm, seeing Yan Tingshen had rested enough, Qin You checked his watch. "Let’s go. I’ll drive you home."

Yan Tingshen said, "Mhm."

In his current state, there was no need to linger at the company.

Qin You helped him up from the equipment, and together, they headed for the door.

Yan Tingshen said, "If you're busy with company matters, you can go back first."

Qin You glanced at him. "I clock out at two. After that, I’ve got other commitments."

Clocking out at two, picking someone up and heading to the hospital afterward—the drive itself takes nearly an hour.

Plus an hour for rehab, then sending them home—by the time everything's done, it's almost the end of the workday.

Yan Tingshen pursed his lips but didn’t look at him. "Some things are more urgent than others."

Qin You chuckled. "What I choose to do comes first. Obligations can take a backseat."

Hearing this, Yan Tingshen also glanced at him.

Qin You smiled. "Right?"

Yan Tingshen neither agreed nor disagreed, simply withdrawing his gaze and continuing forward.

Qin You laughed again but didn’t press further.

He and Yan Tingshen walked toward the elevator when, halfway there, they spotted two people approaching together.

Pei Sheng looked at Qin You first. "Qin, I wanted to—"

Qin You guessed his intention and turned to Yan Tingshen. "I’ll be in the room."

Yan Tingshen nodded. "Yeah."

Qin You then walked past the two of them, heading straight for the private room.

Pei Sheng watched him walk away, lowered his head briefly, then turned to Yan Tingshen. "Let’s take this inside, then. Qi Yan?"

"..." Qi Yan was at a loss for words.

Once again, he might as well have been invisible.

Was this guy really so infuriating? Did he only have eyes for Yan Tingshen??

Hearing Pei Sheng’s voice, he clenched his jaw and followed the two back to Pei Sheng’s room.

As soon as they entered, Pei Sheng pulled up his phone and showed Yan Tingshen a picture. "Ring any bells?"

To avoid Yan Tingshen noticing the discrepancy in the email’s timestamp, he had saved the image to his album, only mentioning that it had been sent by two people.

Yan Tingshen gave it a quick once-over. "What’s the issue?"

Knowing Yan Tingshen disliked dancing around things, Pei Sheng laid out the situation after he finished reading, leaving out what he'd told Qin You and emphasizing that first email being anonymous.

Only after laying everything out did he pose his question: "The shares of Cehai were traded during this period, something my grandfather never mentioned. I don’t know if you might know something about the background."

But what stuck out to Yan Tingshen was the second email Pei Sheng mentioned.

The Liu family.

The Pei family.

Last night, Qin You had left the Liu residence and gone to Qingning Road. From the route alone, it lined up perfectly.

Qi Yan also spoke up, he said, "If you don’t know either, we’ll have to ask the Lius. But how we got this contract is kinda shady—I’m just worried when push comes to shove—"

Yan Tingshen said coolly, "What did Qin You say?"

"..." Qi Yan had his breath catch and coughed.

Pei Sheng instinctively tightened his grip on his phone, his voice still calm. "What do you mean?"

Yan Tingshen returned his gaze to Pei Sheng after observing their reactions. "Did he tell you to keep it from me?"

"..." Qi Yan silently took a step back.

Pei Sheng said, "...This has nothing to do with Qin You. It's—"

"You said the first email was received yesterday but left out the second one. Since you waited until now, it must have been recent."

Yan Tingshen looked at him. "You got drunk last night because of the Yan family contract. After last night, apart from Qi Yan, you only saw Qin You."

Pei Sheng tightened his grip further. "...I just had a sudden impulse to talk to you."

Yan Tingshen said, "If you go by every random impulse, why come to me?"

Pei Sheng lowered his head. "I..."

Yan Tingshen turned to Qi Yan.

"..." Qi Yan took another step back, throwing his hands up defensively and speaking quickly. "This has nothing to do with me! Qin You approached Pei Sheng himself, asking him to clear up the misunderstanding between you two with those two documents!"

Pei Sheng frowned. "Qi Yan!"

Qi Yan urged him, "For crying out loud, open your eyes! He's seen right through you. Just come clean!"

Pei Sheng glanced at Yan Tingshen's expression but remained silent.

Yan Tingshen had already turned away.

Separated by who knows how many walls, he glanced in the direction of Qin You, his eyes growing darker.

While his reasoning made sense before Qi Yan spoke, it didn't prove anything.

But the facts were plain—the second email did come from Qin You.

Clear up the misunderstanding?

How could Qin You have recognized this misunderstanding before him and taken action?

Moreover, how did Qin You get his hands on these two contracts?

And why did he choose to give them to Pei Sheng instead of him?

None of this added up.

Just what was Qin You hiding?

"So..." Qi Yan looked back and forth before plucking up the courage to speak in the ward. "Yan Tingshen, could you just tell us straight? How much do you know about this?"

Yan Tingshen turned his gaze back to him.

Qi Yan immediately bent over, grabbing a glass of water from the side. "Here you go, have some water..."

Pei Sheng realized. "So this is the first time you've seen this contract too?"

Yan Tingshen said, "Mhm."

Unconsciously, Pei Sheng let out a sigh of relief.

He knew that if Yan Tingshen had been aware, he wouldn't have held back.

Qi Yan said, "Then we're back to where we started. Do we really have to ask the Liu family about it?"

Hearing him bring it up again, Pei Sheng glanced at Yan Tingshen. After a brief pause, he finally said, "Tingshen, sorry. Qin You did send me the emails, and I agreed not to tell you about this. But since you've figured it out, no point hiding it anymore."

Qi Yan: "..."

That's water under the bridge, and now he brings it up again.

He simply walked back and sat down on the sofa.

Pei Sheng continued, "I thought about it for a long time. Qin You didn’t want you to know, probably because he wanted to spare you the hassle."

Spare him the hassle?

A flicker of understanding passed through Yan Tingshen's eyes.

Pei Sheng added, "Lately, I’ve noticed that Qin You has been really looking out for you. He probably didn’t want me to bother you with such trivial matters."

Hearing this, Qi Yan jumped in, "Exactly, Mr. Yan. Look, last night when Pei Sheng got drunk, Qin You immediately left with you without a second thought, not giving Pei Sheng any chance to cause you trouble."

Pei Sheng shot him a look.

Qi Yan shrugged. "Just calling it like I see it."

Yan Tingshen also turned his gaze toward him.

Qi Yan gave a dry laugh. "You guys talk..."

Pei Sheng went on, "Qin You came to me specifically. I think it ties back to the origin of the contracts."

He reopened the images. "Neither contract is related to the Qin family. How he got them isn’t something he could easily explain, but by having me clarify things to you, he achieved his goal while skipping the drama. You know he’s not the kind of person who does things for credit."

After listening, Qi Yan sighed.

He had advised Pei Sheng to read between the lines about Qin You’s intentions, and this was the conclusion Pei Sheng came up with?

That Qin You was secretly doing good deeds for Tingshen without taking credit?

As if!

Qi Yan shook his head and waited for Yan Tingshen’s questioning.

Unexpectedly, after a long wait, no questions came—only the sound of a message notification.

He felt for his phone and looked up to see Yan Tingshen reading a text.

Qin: How'd it go?

Y: Done.

Qin: Want me to come get you?

Y: Sure.

A ping sounded.

Messages flew back and forth.

Messages flew back and forth.

Qi Yan’s hand froze mid-search in his pocket, still stiff, and he turned toward Pei Sheng.

Pei Sheng didn’t look at him.

Once Yan Tingshen put away his phone, he added, "Was that Qin Andong? The contract can wait. You two talk first."

Yan Tingshen said, "Not necessary."

He turned to Qi Yan. "The first sender—still no leads?"

Qi Yan replied, "...I only just found out myself."

Yan Tingshen said, "Get to the bottom of it. Someone’s trying to pit Pei Sheng against the Yan family—they’re after me. I want results as soon as possible. Also, you’re dragging your feet on Qin Andong."

"Hold on—" Qi Yan couldn’t stay seated. "Dude, you’re burying me here! I’m drowning in work!"

Yan Tingshen had already shifted his gaze back to Pei Sheng. "Any other issues with the contract?"

Listening to his familiar, decisive tone, Pei Sheng’s unease finally eased. "No—"

He didn’t get to finish.

The doorbell rang.

Pei Sheng, facing the entrance, saw Qin You standing outside through the two glass doors.

His finger hovered over the doorbell, but his previously smooth brow slowly furrowed, as if sensing something, and his gaze locked onto Pei Sheng’s.

Behind his glasses, those eyes sharp with barely restrained intensity, claimed Pei Sheng’s—

Under Qin You’s distant gaze, Pei Sheng pressed his lips together and instinctively ducked his head.

Seeing his reaction, Qin You remained still, but the system buzzed with renewed excitement.

"Yes! Favorability threshold met!"

Then came the system prompt.

"Task: Confess to the target boldly in front of the protagonist and claim your territory. Time limit: seven days."

The system gushed, "Host, you’re *amazing*! Was this your plan all along?"

Qin You: '...'