Chapter 55

Chapter 55

As he lifted the covers, Shen Ju found himself looking directly into Pei Yan's smiling eyes.

He immediately realized he was being teased again.

"Brother Pei, why do you always tease me..."

Shen Ju mumbled, embarrassed, "But yesterday, yesterday..."

"What about yesterday?"

Pei Yan asked, raising an eyebrow, as he sat by Shen Ju's bedside and reached out to pinch his cheek. "Is 996 out? Let it give you a check-up first."

996's voice echoed faintly, "I already checked. I did it as soon as I came out of the little black room. Other than being a bit weak, all the drugs have been metabolized."

Shen Ju: "..."

"What's wrong?"

Pei Yan looked at Shen Ju's expression. "What did 996 say?"

"It said I'm fine."

"Then why the long face?"

Of course, it was because 996 said he was weak.

Shen Ju silently pulled the blanket up, covering his nose and mouth, leaving only his eyes peeking out as he stole glances at Pei Yan. His voice muffled by the blanket, he said, "Brother Pei, you're still asking me what happened yesterday."

"You're not going to back out, are you?"

"So, am I your boyfriend now?" Pei Yan asked with a smile.

Shen Ju looked at Pei Yan for a few seconds, then suddenly threw off the blanket, sat up, and grabbed Pei Yan's arm. "Not 'kind of'! You 'are'! You have to take responsibility for me!"

Pei Yan couldn’t help but laugh, putting on an act of being forced. "Yesterday was out of necessity. I already said I don’t like you all that much."

He stressed the words "like you all that much" heavily, as if afraid Shen Ju might miss them.

Shen Ju blushed. "I also like— no, no, I also don’t like you all that much."

996 couldn’t help interrupting. "Oh, come on, Host! Brother Pei needs to say the opposite, but you don’t have to! Are you stupid?"

Pei Yan heard this too.

He immediately turned his head and laughed.

He had wanted to remind Shen Ju yesterday but ultimately didn’t say anything.

Now, 996 had spilled the beans.

"............"

Shen Ju, embarrassed and a little angry, snapped, "Brother 996, don’t come out and be a third wheel!"

996: "Hmph!"

After laughing, Pei Yan turned back and looked at Shen Ju carefully.

Compared to when he first met Shen Ju, seeing him so lively now made Pei Yan sigh, thinking that Shen Ju ought to be raised like this—free to live life to the fullest and enjoy himself.

Under Pei Yan’s gaze, Shen Ju’s fingers unconsciously gripped the blanket.

From the moment he woke up and remembered what happened last night, his nerves had been in a state of buzzing excitement, mixed with restlessness, eagerness, shyness, and other complex emotions. His heart was racing, and he felt an urge to do something, all his actions driven by instinct.

But now, with Pei Yan looking at him so intently, Shen Ju’s heartbeat quickened even as his emotions gradually "settled."

His back tingled as if an electric current had passed through him.

He was so embarrassed he wanted to curl his toes.

Shen Ju suddenly realized he was sitting there completely naked—he had been talking to Pei Yan like this for who knows how long!

This time, he was so embarrassed he wanted to curl his toes into the bedsheets.

Shen Ju pulled the blanket tighter around himself, trying to make conversation. "By the way, Brother Pei, about Wei Tianxi yesterday—did you contact the police? Is there anything I need to do?"

"No need."

Pei Yan lowered his gaze and said, "Originally, I planned to wait until you and Guan Mulin were better before reporting it, since you two were the victims. But yesterday, seeing how exhausted you were after just two rounds, I figured you wouldn’t be able to get out of bed this morning. So, after you fell asleep last night, I went out and handled it. Don’t worry, both of you just need to wait for his apology."

"............"

For a moment, Shen Ju didn’t know what to say.

What did he mean by "exhausted after just two rounds"?

He already said it was because of the alcohol and the drugs.

Seeing Shen Ju pout, Pei Yan suddenly added, "Yesterday, Pei Haochuan took Guan Mulin and left first, but when I went to deal with Wei Tianxi last night, they got there after me."

What was that supposed to mean?

Shen Ju was confused.

Then it gradually dawned on him—

"Pei Yan!!"

He shouted Pei Yan’s name, this time so angry he pounced on him!

Did Brother Pei really think he wouldn’t catch the implication!

That's going too far!!

"You couldn't last long either!"

Pei Yan laughed and caught him. "Why don’t you give it a try?"

Shen Ju realized that by lunging at him, he had essentially thrown himself into Pei Yan’s arms. He immediately tried to pull away, but Pei Yan held him firmly, making him sit on his lap instead.

Pei Yan’s smile faded as he said softly, "Don’t worry, you'll get your chance to find out."

Their relationship had truly changed.

This thought grew clearer in Shen Ju’s mind.

He looked at Pei Yan, his face red and with a sense of wonder, thinking, This is the person I like. He’s mine—my boyfriend?

"So, a boyfriend, huh?"

Shen Ju suddenly spoke up, "Does this count as teenage romance?"

Pei Yan chuckled softly, "Then does that make me an old cow eating young grass (a cradle robber)?"

Shen Ju said indignantly, "No!"

Pei Yan: "But that's what you called me yesterday."

Shen Ju: "..."

Pei Yan: "Let me think, what else have you called me—"

"Hmm, no sense of decency, shameless, a rascal, being led by your libido— Mph—"

Shen Ju covered Pei Yan's mouth with his hand, "Alright, alright, Brother Pei is not an old cow eating young grass at all. Brother Pei's still young, decent and respectable, a true gentleman, a Liu Xiahui (the famously virtuous ancient official)!"

Pei Yan chuckled, pulled Shen Ju's hand down and held it, then shifted his leg, bouncing him a little, "Well, forget that then. I don’t want to be a true gentleman or a Liu Xiahui. I’d rather be shameless."

"............"

"But next time, you can use something else to keep me quiet, baby."

He really was shameless.

Shen Ju instinctively looked at Pei Yan's lips.

Of course, he understood what Pei Yan meant.

They had kissed yesterday, after all.

But...

Today felt different.

Shen Ju thought for a moment, leaned in, and kissed Pei Yan—a quick, pecking kiss on the lips—then lifted his gaze, "Like this?"

Pei Yan's gaze darkened immediately.

He murmured, "No."

"How did I kiss you yesterday?"

"Try again."

Shen Ju placed his hands on Pei Yan's shoulders and kissed Pei Yan again.

Kissing felt strange.

Of course, it was—after all, yesterday had been his first kiss.

Remembering how Pei Yan had kissed him the day before, Shen Ju brushed against Pei Yan's lips, then timidly slipped out his tongue, giving a faint, shaky lick before pulling back shyly.

But Pei Yan wasn’t having any of that.

Since he had come this far...

Pei Yan had really been holding back plenty.

He didn’t want to be a Liu Xiahui, but he had been playing the part.

There was no helping it—yesterday, Shen Ju had been drugged. Although Pei Yan had needed to help him through it, he was afraid of going too far and hurting Shen Ju’s body, so he had no choice but to hold back.

And he still had to hold back now.

The timing wasn’t right, and Shen Ju had only just shaken off the drug.

But taking a little interest was acceptable.

............

By the time they left the room, it was well past noon.

It wasn’t that they'd gone too far.

It was just that Shen Ju had been kissed until his eyes were teary and his skin was flushed—he couldn’t exactly go out looking like that.

Fortunately, Guan Mulin hadn’t been around long either.

When the group gathered, Shen Ju and Guan Mulin shared a look, then instinctively looked away.

Drinking really causes trouble...

Han Chengfeng and Ke Cheng didn’t ask what had happened to the two of them afterward. After confirming they were physically fine, they filled in Shen Ju and Guan Mulin on Wei Tianxi’s situation.

Once school started tomorrow, Wei Tianxi would have to publicly apologize in front of the entire school.

The incident had already been reported to their homeroom teacher and the principal.

Qichen would not retain a student like Wei Tianxi. After his self-criticism and disciplinary record, he would be expelled, and the record would follow him for life.

Wei Tianxi was now filled with regret. If it weren’t for the video keeping him in line, he would probably be pleading with Shen Ju and Guan Mulin.

But there was no way Pei Yan and Pei Haochuan would allow that to happen—Han Chengfeng and Ke Cheng wouldn’t agree either.

So they had kept Wei Tianxi completely away.

Once they returned to school tomorrow, Wei Tianxi would not get near the two again.

Han Chengfeng folded his arms and huffed, "Even without the video as leverage, he probably wouldn’t last at Qichen anyway. The commotion yesterday was quite a scene, and the few of us were running around handling it. The students in our two classes are all perceptive—they’ve probably already gossiped about it privately. But don’t worry, Brother Pei gave instructions early on: the part about you two being drugged has been left vague."

Even tomorrow, during Wei Tianxi’s self-criticism, that detail would remain obscured.

After all, even though Shen Ju and Guan Mulin were the victims, no one wanted them to become the subject of gossip.

Ke Cheng added, "Brother Pei and Haochuan acted decisively yesterday. It served as a 'making an example of him.' Some people probably won’t dare to gossip recklessly now."

Shen Ju and Guan Mulin both nodded.

Truthfully, the two of them didn’t really care if people talked behind their backs.

Those who dared to talk would only do so in secret—it wouldn’t reach them, and if they didn’t hear it, they could pretend it never happened.

But since others had stepped in to handle it, they had no objections.

After this conversation, the atmosphere grew somewhat awkward.

No one spoke anymore.

Han Chengfeng and Ke Cheng exchanged a glance, then glanced at Pei Yan and Shen Ju, as well as Guan Mulin and Pei Haochuan.

Uh...

So, these two pairs?

What's going on now?

They were still a little curious...

Shen Ju was also curious.

Naturally, he was curious about Guan Mulin and Pei Haochuan.

So he couldn’t help but glance toward Guan Mulin and Pei Haochuan.

After all, they were the main couple.

This morning, he took a quick look and saw that the mission energy bar had already reached 85%!

Actually, Brother 996 didn’t need to figure out how to abort the mission anymore—it looked like their mission was about to succeed.

But Shen Ju hadn’t brought this up with Brother 996 yet.

Probably didn’t need to bring it up.

Seeing that the mission energy bar had already risen to 85%, Brother 996 should also realize there was no need to secretly investigate anything further, right?