Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The room was silent for half a minute.

Finally, Pei Sheng broke the silence with a call: "Lado."

The golden retriever wagged its tail and dashed to Pei Sheng's side. Gu Lin hurriedly pulled up his pants, covering his half-exposed skin, and muttered sulkily, "Your dog bullied my butt."

"What did you do to it with your butt?" Pei Sheng knew his dog well—it never attacked first, but once provoked, it held a grudge like nobody’s business, even waking up in the middle of the night to retaliate.

"I just wiggled my butt and danced at it," Gu Lin huffed, still digging in his heels.

"Tommy!" Lado protested.

"Tommy Tommy!" Gu Lin shot back.

Pei Sheng watched the dog and human exchange barks and ultimately sided with his dog. He dumped the blanket and pajamas on Gu Lin and led Lado away to feed it.

Gu Lin was buried under the blanket and pajamas. As he struggled free, he rubbed his still-chilly butt, then picked up the white clothing. After a moment, he realized they were pajamas.

His eyes lit up—no more barking—as he grabbed the pajamas and dashed to the bathroom to change.

Pei Sheng was focused on feeding Lado when he sensed someone approaching. He looked up to see Gu Lin leaning against the wall, putting on a little hip swing.

Gu Lin had deliberately undone the top two buttons of his shirt, revealing the delicate collarbones and fair skin befitting a pretty face. His pose screamed seduction.

His plan was to get Pei Sheng all worked up, rekindling their mutually beneficial arrangement in every aspect.

Pei Sheng stood up, grabbed his arm, and just as Gu Lin inwardly celebrated the success of his seduction, Pei Sheng deadpanned, "You're stepping on Lado's leash."

Gu Lin looked down to see the big guy grinning with its tongue out.

"Uh... heh," he let out a weak *heh*.

Lado barked angrily again, "Tommy!"

"Ah, Big guy, it wasn't on purpose!" Gu Lin bolted away, and Lado took off after him.

The small apartment was filled with the sight of the man and dog chasing each other. Pei Sheng rolled up Lado’s leash and headed to his room.

"Pei Sheng, take Lado away!" Gu Lin leaped over the couch and nimbly hid behind it, puppy-dog eyes locked on Pei Sheng.

His dark eyes were bright, his soft hair framing his face. Gone was his earlier sharpness—now he looked like a helpless little puppy.

Seeing Lado getting too wild and Gu Lin about to lose his mind, Pei Sheng took mercy and called, "Lado."

Lado finally stopped, wagging its tail excitedly—living its best life.

Pei Sheng led Lado back to the room, while Gu Lin face-planted onto the couch, exhausted, and sprawled on the soft blanket.

Pei Sheng's dog was truly fierce, but the pajamas were incredibly comfortable and even smelled nice.

Snuggled into the blanket, he played with his phone for a while before his eyes started drooping. He yelled through the door, "Goodnight, Pei Sheng!"

"No goodnight for you, Lado!"

Pei Sheng had been focused on his meeting when the two calls floated in. His cold gaze shifted from the screen to the closed door, thawing a little.

"Hey, Brother Pei, what are you looking at?"

"Yeah, Bro! You got someone at home?"

Two other voices chimed in over the call.

Pei Sheng looked away and continued with the meeting agenda. "Shaoran and Zheng Wei, you two keep following up on the next phase of the project. Cheng Zhiqing just took over the Pei Group and needs massive funding. His financial chain isn’t stable—this project is crucial for him. He’ll go to any lengths to secure it. We’ll use this to lure him into putting up more stakes."

There weren’t many voices on the call—just three people: Zhou Shaoran, Zheng Wei, and Wang Yang. The three had been with Pei Sheng developing games abroad.

Now that Pei Sheng had returned to China, they followed him back to continue their startup grind together.

Pei Sheng no longer planned to go abroad. He had lived alone overseas since he was ten, during which his stepmom had threatened to keep him from coming back.

A year ago, his father called, demanding he come back to take the fall for the Pei Group’s bankruptcy—that was his chance to return.

Now that the Pei Group had collapsed, his own empire was just getting started.

Zhou Shaoran’s voice came through again. "Brother Pei, Cheng Zhiqing is still investigating you. He suspects your bankruptcy is fake."

Zheng Wei fumed, "Is this dude nuts? Why’s he always obsessed with the boss? Wang Yang, tell me, isn’t he nuts?"

Pei Sheng, wearing Bluetooth earbuds, stood up and left the camera frame.

Wang Yang, who rarely spoke, piped up. "Where’s the boss?"

Zheng Wei, ever the blunt one, only then noticed their boss’s stupidly perfect face was no longer on the screen. "Hey, aren’t we in a meeting? Boss! Boss!"

Zhou Shaoran’s eyes shone with blind admiration. "Brother Pei must be figuring out how to take Cheng Zhiqing down."

About three minutes later, they saw their strategic boss holding a cup of instant noodles in one hand and iced black tea in the other, his stupidly perfect face taking up the screen as he slowly started eating the spicy beef noodles.

The other three: "..." So *that’s* his big takedown—instant noodles.

"Still listening. Continue," Pei Sheng reminded them when they fell silent.

Tempted by the smell, all three quickly said, "Boss, hold on, I’m grabbing a cup too!"

Thanks to their boss, all three simultaneously developed a love for instant noodles.

The online meeting soon turned into four people noisily slurping noodles.

By the time they finished their noodles, the meeting was over.

Pei Sheng went out to toss the noodle cup and saw Gu Lin sitting up, half-asleep.

"Did you eat instant noodles?" Gu Lin squinted at him.

Pei Sheng shook his head, for some reason. "No."

Gu Lin had already caught the scent, his mouth watering at the smell. Seeing the denial, he stepped closer and sniffed.

"Master Kong Spicy Beef Flavor!" Gu Lin announced triumphantly, lifting his proud little chin.

Pei Sheng: "..." Damn, that nose.

Gu Lin frowned at him, making Pei Sheng tense up for once. He was gonna say he wouldn’t do it again, but—

Gu Lin jabbed a finger at him. "You ate without me?!"

Pei Sheng wordlessly tossed the instant noodle box into the trash: "There's still hot water in the kitchen."

Don’t eat alone next time—call me to join you!" Gu Lin said, seeing his cooperative attitude, then snorted.

With that, he cheerfully hurried off to the kitchen.

Pei Sheng watched him busily add eggs and sausages to his noodles before returning to the dining table and pulling out another box of extra-spicy beef noodles.

Gu Lin blinked: "What are you doing?"

Then he saw Pei Sheng tear open the lid and mimic him by adding eggs and ham.

Wait, bro? Didn’t you just eat?" Gu Lin asked suspiciously.

"That was just spicy. This is *extra*-spicy—big difference," Pei Sheng said with a straight face, pouring hot water in.

Gu Lin’s jaw hit the floor—did this guy have a bottomless stomach?

They slurped noodles together at the table. Seeing Pei Sheng peek at his laptop screen between bites, Gu Lin leaned over curiously.

"What are you looking at?" Gu Lin asked.

"Job hunting," Pei Sheng said, knowing Cheng Zhiqing was wary of him precisely because he hadn’t yet appeared destitute and desperate.

"Oh yeah, we’re broke—we need jobs to support ourselves." Gu Lin realized he should also start looking for work to sustain both himself and Pei Sheng.

Pei Sheng slurped noodles and sent out resumes.

Gu Lin saw him applying to internet and finance companies: "What jobs are you applying to? Anything we could both do?"

Pei Sheng glanced at him, thought for a moment, then pulled up a foot massage parlor’s male model recruitment ad.

Gu Lin: "..."

His eyes went wide as saucers: "We’re selling *our bodies* to get by?"

Pei Sheng quietly closed the tab, searched again, and then showed Gu Lin options like: handing out flyers in mascot costumes (Snow King and Big Frog), escape room NPCs (Male Ghost 1, Male Ghost 2), suggestive male streamers, and Meituan delivery riders.

The delivery gig was scrapped since they only had one e-bike between them.

"Why are *these* the only jobs we can do together?"

"You quit college—only have a high school diploma," Pei Sheng finished his last bite. "No big company tied to Cheng Zhiqing will touch me."

It clicked for Gu Lin—as Pei Sheng’s formidable rival, Cheng Zhiqing must have blacklisted him in relevant industries.

So these really were their only options.

But this wasn’t sustainable.

"I’ll check out construction sites tomorrow. Hard labor, but the pay’s good."

Pei Sheng gave his skinny frame a doubtful look, then submitted his own resume for the haunted house NPC role and made one for Gu Lin too.

"We’ll figure it out tomorrow." After sending the applications, Pei Sheng tossed his empty noodle box into the trash. Once Gu Lin did the same, he bent down, took out the garbage bag, and left it outside before washing his hands and heading to his room.

Stuffed, Gu Lin couldn’t sleep.

He flicked off the lights and lay alone on the sofa, worrying about Pei Sheng’s situation.

Is he eating so much because he's developed psychological issues after going broke, leading to binge eating?

The more he dwelled on it, the more it worried him. He searched on his phone for depression and irritability, but wound up chuckling at short videos.

When he yawned and checked the time, it was already 1 a.m. He quickly tossed his phone away. "Gotta sleep. Gotta hit the construction site to look for work tomorrow."

He wrapped himself tightly in the blanket, closed his eyes, and thought about his plans for the next day before finally drifting off satisfied.

The next day, when Pei Sheng opened his eyes, it was still dark as pitch outside. He glanced at the time—5 a.m.

His wristband detected that he had slept for only an hour—a whole twenty minutes more than yesterday.

This was the longest he had slept in quite some time.

For a long time, he hadn’t been able to sleep normally for extended periods, only catching sleep in short bursts.

Noises were already coming from beyond the door. Without moving, he could hear footsteps fading into the distance and Lado’s low whining.

Gu Lin was already up.

The aroma of fried eggs drifted into the dark room. Pei Sheng’s brain, having slept for only an hour, was still exhausted, making him even sleepier with the smell of food.

Eyes half-shut, his senses sharpened in the dark, making time stretch out endlessly.

Like some dark, silent river, flowing slowly.

Half-asleep, Pei Sheng caught the fragrance of simmering rice porridge and heard the sound of the front door opening before everything fell into silence again.

He had fallen asleep once more.

By the time Pei Sheng woke up again, sunlight was already pouring in.

His wristband beeped, reminding him to prepare for his 7 a.m. workout.

He had slept for another two hours—something extremely rare for Pei Sheng.

Way more refreshed now, his morning grumpiness had lightened.

He got up immediately, grabbed a candy wrapper off the nightstand, pressed it between his fingers, swiftly folding it into an origami crane before tossing it into a transparent acrylic box.

When he stepped out, Gu Lin was gone from the couch—Lado had taken his place.

Pei Sheng walked to the kitchen doorway and spotted a note stuck on the fridge: "Breakfast is warming in the rice cooker. I’ve gone to the construction site to earn money! [lights cigarette]"

Pei Sheng's mouth quirked. Did he really go to work at the construction site?