Upon hearing Shen Chuo’s words, Pei Tingyue lightly brushed his face with his fingers. “Are you really drunk?”

“No,” Shen Chuo replied calmly. “Do you want to?”

Pei Tingyue silently assessed him, his gaze shifting from his eyes to his lips, then back to his exceptionally beautiful eyes.

It was a scene similar to that night, with eyes tinged with a hint of intoxication, staring directly at him and asking, “Do you want to?”

Initially uninterested, he found himself easily hooked.

“Getting drunk and finding someone to sleep with at random. What if there’s someone else next time?” Pei Tingyue’s gaze turned mocking. “Do you really not care who it is?”

Shen Chuo furrowed his brows. “Are you still concerned about that?”

Pei Tingyue chuckled softly. “Just curious.”

Shen Chuo closed his eyes briefly and then opened them again. He wasn’t drunk, just a bit lightheaded, far from the level of intoxication he experienced that night in Las Vegas.

“You’re noisy too,” Shen Chuo retorted. “Do you ask everyone if any random person will do before sleeping with them?”

“You forgot,” Pei Tingyue reminded him. “I already said no. Don’t believe me?”

Shen Chuo gave up on pursuing the topic and asked him again, “Do you want to?”

Those four words had no hint of seduction, at least not in Shen Chuo’s intention. He asked openly because he wanted to, but once spoken, the meaning might change to the ears of the listener.

Pei Tingyue’s eyes darkened slightly. His gaze shifted, and his fingers lightly touched the mole on Shen Chuo’s ear before sliding down to his chin.

At that moment, Shen Chuo felt that Pei Tingyue’s emotions were somewhat difficult to understand. His mind wasn’t very clear, but the fleeting sense of unease was gone.

In the end, Pei Tingyue didn’t say anything. He leaned back and sat down, restarting the car.

Shen Chuo was momentarily uncertain about his intentions. “If you don’t want to, just forget it. I’ll go back by myself.”

“I don’t mind,” Pei Tingyue’s tone was flat. “But we need to find a place first.”

“Stop the car.”

Pei Tingyue turned his head, and Shen Chuo bit his lip, saying, “Stop the car, I’ll buy something.”

Half a minute later, Pei Tingyue stopped the car by the roadside.

“Wait here,” Shen Chuo said as he got out of the car and walked into the nearby convenience store.

Pei Tingyue’s gaze followed his figure, and he casually lit a cigarette.

Ten minutes later, Shen Chuo returned with a bag in hand and got back into the car.

“Let’s go to the hotel,” Shen Chuo said.

Pei Tingyue glanced at the items Shen Chuo bought, rolled down the window halfway, and flicked the ashes outside. “Did you urgently need to buy these?”

Without looking at him, Shen Chuo gazed outside the car, his expression somewhat subdued in the night. “I didn’t want to change my mind later.”

Pei Tingyue watched him for a moment, stubbed out the cigarette, and started the car.

Twenty minutes later, he parked the car in a deserted area by the river, where only a few lights were visible, and turned off the engine.

Shen Chuo turned his head. “Aren’t we going to the hotel?”

“What’s the point of going to a hotel?” Pei Tingyue leaned back in his seat, one hand resting behind his head, looking at the rippling water ahead. “Don’t you think this place has a certain atmosphere?”

Shen Chuo looked around but saw only darkness and dim lights. Apart from being suitable for clandestine affairs, he couldn’t discern any other atmosphere. However, he didn’t intend to nitpick and tossed the things he had just bought over.

Pei Tingyue reached out and took them, turning them over in his hand without opening them. Then he turned to Shen Chuo and asked, “You’ve been refusing all this time. Why did you suddenly change your mind today?”

“No reason,” Shen Chuo said, unwilling to explain. “Just a sudden thought.”

Pei Tingyue was indeed not the right person, and he was even very unsuitable and troublesome. But he didn’t want to expend any more energy looking for someone else.

Perhaps he would regret it again by the time morning came, but at this moment, he didn’t feel like considering all that. He just wanted to indulge himself first.

Pei Tingyue lowered his eyes and chuckled softly. “Come here.”

Shen Chuo wasn’t interested in delving into what his smile meant. He obediently moved over and straddled him face to face.

Pei Tingyue adjusted the seat backward a bit, still adopting a somewhat lazy posture. His gaze roamed over Shen Chuo’s face, allowing him to take the initiative.

Shen Chuo didn’t particularly like being stared at from such a close distance. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from Pei Tingyue’s gaze.

Beneath his hand were Pei Tingyue’s slightly thin lips and firm jaw.

—It’s still pleasing to look at.

As Shen Chuo thought this, he slowly leaned in.

As their breaths intertwined, Pei Tingyue suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled it down forcefully. Caught off guard, Shen Chuo met Pei Tingyue’s intense black gaze at close range, his heart skipping a beat, instinctively wanting to pull away.

But Pei Tingyue didn’t give him the chance. He held the back of Shen Chuo’s neck with one hand and kissed him.

Shen Chuo didn’t struggle much. Since he had initiated the proposal himself, he chose to accept it. He closed his eyes, not wanting to look at the person kissing him.

The feeling of the kiss wasn’t unfamiliar. Although he didn’t particularly like the smell of Pei Tingyue’s cigarette, the intimate sensation of their lips and tongues touching easily aroused the desire in his body, making him unconsciously respond to the kiss.

Eager to grasp onto something, he pulled at Pei Tingyue’s shirt collar, trying to undo the buttons.

The more urgent he became, the clumsier he got. Fingertips touching the warm skin beneath the collar made it even harder to endure.

But at that moment, Pei Tingyue backed away. His wandering hand pinched Shen Chuo’s waistband, and he leaned in, whispering in his ear, “When you’re doing these things with me, who are you thinking of?”

Gasping for breath, Shen Chuo opened his eyes, looking at him in confusion.

“Who do you think about?” Pei Tingyue asked again.

“What…?” Shen Chuo was puzzled.

“Seeing your ex with someone else made you upset, so you came to me for comfort. It was the same last time as well,” Pei Tingyue’s gaze turned slightly cold. “But I don’t want to play this game with you. What should I do?”

Shen Chuo was stunned. “Pei Tingyue, are you crazy?”

“Aren’t you?” Pei Tingyue mocked him. “You’re obsessed with someone you haven’t seen in over a decade. You’re the one who’s gone off the deep end.”

“Do you want to do this or not?”

Pei Tingyue stepped back, leaning against the seat, calmly tidying up his disheveled clothes. He said indifferently, “No, I’m not interested.”

The atmosphere became tense. Shen Chuo clenched his fists in frustration, but Pei Tingyue’s eyes held no hint of jest. He truly had no intention of continuing.

After a moment, Shen Chuo sat back in the passenger seat, turning his face away embarrassedly, looking out the window.

One of Pei Tingyue’s shirt buttons had been loosened, so he simply tore it off and threw it into the glove compartment. “Professor Shen you have quite the temper. Is this how you are in front of others too?”

“Are you messing with me?” Shen Chuo didn’t look back. “Why did you bother to provoke me if you didn’t want to do it?”

“Just take it as that.”

Pei Tingyue adjusted his seat, started the car, and drove away.

As the car drove back, Shen Chuo remained silent, still looking out the window. The shadows of the night occasionally passed over his eyes, concealing the restless emotions within.

Pei Tingyue also stayed silent, driving quietly, his expression as lazy as ever.

Returning to Huai University, Shen Chuo reached for the door, but found it locked.

“Open the door,” he said coldly.

Pei Tingyue didn’t move, his gaze meeting Shen Chuo’s. “Are you upset?”

“Open the door,” Shen Chuo repeated.

“Did I make you more upset, or was it your old lover?” Pei Tingyue’s eyes bore into his. “Who bothers you more?”

Shen Chuo didn’t want to answer him at all. “Let me out of the car.”

Pei Tingyue looked into his eyes—there was no hint of drunkenness, only patience, anger, and embarrassment, still quite handsome.

“Were you thinking of me as a substitute?” Pei Tingyue’s voice was low. “If you want to sleep with me, be serious. Using me as a stand-in and expecting me to play along isn’t going to happen.”

“A substitute?” Shen Chuo almost laughed out loud. “Who do you think you are? Even if I did need a substitute, it wouldn’t be you.”

“So, do you really want a substitute?”

“I don’t.” Shen Chuo denied it immediately.

He really didn’t want one. Whether he had moved on or not, he had no intention of finding someone else as a substitute.

“If you don’t want one, then forget it,” Pei Tingyue lifted his chin. “Get out of the car. Until next time.”

As the door unlocked, Shen Chuo pushed it open, feeling a surge of anger inside. He glanced back at the person still sitting in the car, then slammed the door shut and kicked the tire hard.

Pei Tingyue remained unfazed, leisurely flashing the car headlights twice.

The glaring lights only fueled Shen Chuo’s anger further. After taking a few steps away, he turned around and came back, opening the car door again and sitting inside, staring straight ahead stiffly. “I’ll give you another chance. Will you do it or not?”

“Are you still drunk?” Pei Tingyue asked.

“Just pretend I am. Will you do it or not?”

“You’ve been refusing me all along, and suddenly you’re offering yourself tonight,” Pei Tingyue asked, “Is your old lover affecting you that much?”

“So what if I’m upset because of him?” Shen Chuo retorted. “Accept it and we’ll do it. If you don’t, I’ll find someone else, and you better not bother me again.”

“Who else do you want to find?”

“Not your concern.”

“You want to cut ties with me?” Pei Tingyue didn’t give him a chance to respond. “No.”

“You’re rejecting everything, what exactly do you want?” Shen Chuo’s voice unintentionally rose again.

Pei Tingyue’s gaze swept over him, then he smoothly took the phone from Shen Chuo’s palm.

“What are you doing?”

Pei Tingyue didn’t bother to explain. He unlocked the phone in front of him, calmly opened WeChat, went into the conversation that had been replied to once before, and deleted and blocked it.

Shen Chuo tried to grab his phone back, but Pei Tingyue blocked him.

“If you want to break it off, do it cleanly. Keeping contact details shows you’re not letting go. Are you still hoping to reignite the fire with him?” Pei Tingyue’s words left Shen Chuo speechless.

Pei Tingyue then took out his own phone and added Shen Chuo’s WeChat ID. Shen Chuo didn’t object, or perhaps he didn’t want to waste any more effort.

Pei Tingyue tossed the phone back to him, and Shen Chuo caught it, gripping it tightly in his hand, his eyes lowered, silent for a while.

“Now, are you getting out of the car or coming with me?” Pei Tingyue asked.

After a moment of silence, Shen Chuo spoke hoarsely, “I have to work on my thesis tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“…Take me back early in the morning,” he fastened his seatbelt. “Let’s go.”

Pei Tingyue’s gaze lingered on his face for a moment before retracting, then he started the car.