Shen Chuo woke up after seven o’clock. After washing up, he picked up his clothes and went downstairs. Just as he descended the stairs, he heard Pei Tingyue’s voice.

“Whatever, anyway, there’s no shortage of people who want to cause trouble for me. I can’t be on guard every day like guarding against thieves.”

“Just some grasshoppers in the autumn, not worth worrying about. We’ll deal with it when they come knocking.”

Shen Chuo turned to look, seeing Pei Tingyue making breakfast at the kitchen island in the Western-style kitchen, wearing Bluetooth earphones while talking on the phone.

Upon hearing footsteps, Pei Tingyue raised his eyes, and his gaze carried a hint of scrutiny as it fell on Shen Chuo.

“That’s it, I won’t say more.”

He hung up the phone.

Shen Chuo grabbed his shirt collar uneasily and walked over.

Pei Tingyue watched him approach, his gaze sweeping over the marks on his neck, and then he lowered his head to cut the bread. “Can’t hide them, don’t bother trying.”

Shen Chuo hesitated for a moment, then let go of his hand.

His neck down to his collarbone was covered in various marks, and coupled with his fair skin, they were particularly noticeable, indeed impossible to hide.

Pei Tingyue pushed the plate of food in front of him, a simple Western-style breakfast.

“Just this, eat whatever you like.”

Shen Chuo took it and ate silently.

After a moment, he heard a brief laughter from across the table, and looked up in confusion.

Pei Tingyue’s smile had disappeared from his face, leaving only a hint of narrowness in his eyes. “Making progress, this time you didn’t run off as soon as you woke up.”

Shen Chuo opened his mouth, but then felt there was nothing more to say.

Would anyone stay after a one-night stand, instead of leaving, continuing the tender entanglement?

As for last night, the almost coerced act, he still felt uncomfortable recalling it now. He hadn’t left yet only because his legs were still weak and couldn’t move.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take you back in a while.” Pei Tingyue said seriously, not teasing him further.

Shen Chuo nodded.

After finishing breakfast, Pei Tingyue went to change into a different outfit and came back to signal him. “Let’s go, I’ll take you back to school.”

Half an hour later, the car entered the campus of Huai University and stopped in front of the staff dormitory building.

Shen Chuo said “Thank you” and was about to open the door when Pei Tingyue asked him, “When should we make plans for next time?”

“We’ll talk about it when we have time.” Shen Chuo replied casually.

Pei Tingyue looked at him and suddenly said, “baby.”

Shen Chuo was almost choked by his own saliva. “Could you… not be weird?”

“Just kidding.” Pei Tingyue said calmly.

Shen Chuo got out of the car without bothering to say “goodbye” this time.

As he walked into the corridor, he coincidentally met Yang Wenbin coming out from inside. Shen Chuo nodded at him, even though they had greeted each other.

Just as they passed each other, Yang Wenbin suddenly stopped him, noticing the faint marks under his shirt collar, and asked, “Professor Shen, where did you come back from so early this morning?”

As he spoke, he peeked outside the corridor and saw the Mercedes-Benz car reversing away, his expression somewhat subtle. “You didn’t come back last night, did you? I didn’t see the lights on in your room. When did you get a girlfriend? I haven’t heard you mention it.”

Listening to his sarcastic tone, Shen Chuo didn’t feel like talking to him at all, so he just nodded at him and went upstairs.

Just as he entered his room, he received a WeChat message from Pei Tingyue. He casually opened it, and it was a photo that took a few seconds to load completely.

Seeing what the photo depicted, he was shocked almost to the point of dropping his phone.

—A messy bed in a dark room, with his naked back covered in ambiguous marks at the center of the picture, only his crucial parts were covered by a thin blanket.

“What do you mean by this? Why take such a photo?” Shen Chuo typed out quickly.

“When’s the next time?” Pei Tingyue replied with only these four words, a clear threat.

Shen Chuo took a deep breath, feeling regretful. He knew this person was a lunatic, so why did he foolishly provoke him again?

“Are you asking for trouble?” he typed out.

“You can’t beat me, give up early.” Pei Tingyue replied.

“…” Shen Chuo wisely decided to shut up and blocked him.

A few days later, Chen Peng called him, informing him about the dispute regarding his housing contract, and suggesting a pre-litigation mediation by the court, asking if he was willing.

“If the mediation can solve the problem, then we won’t need to go through the litigation process. It would be much simpler. Professor Shen, you might consider it.” the other party explained.

Shen Chuo agreed without much thought, “That’s fine, avoiding a lawsuit would be better.”

Two days later, Chen Peng contacted him again, informing him of the time for the pre-litigation mediation, politely asking, “Professor Shen, tomorrow morning at eight, should I come to pick you up at your school?”

Shen Chuo quickly declined, “No need, don’t trouble you, Lawyer Chen. I’ll go by myself, let’s meet at the court entrance.”

He already knew the other party was also a well-known elite lawyer, charging him so little in legal fees and still running errands for him was simply unreasonable. He didn’t know what Pei Tingyue had told him, but he felt embarrassed to take advantage of this situation.

Early the next morning, Shen Chuo arrived twenty minutes earlier than the agreed time at the district court entrance.

He hadn’t had breakfast because he rushed out, and seeing that Chen Peng hadn’t arrived yet, he went to a nearby shop to buy something to eat.

Just as he finished paying and walked out, a five or six-year-old girl came up and tugged at his sleeve, whispering, “Uncle, don’t eat that bun, I just saw it fall on the ground, and they picked it up and put it back in.”

The little girl looked at him with innocent eyes, not seeming like she was lying. Shen Chuo carefully looked at the bun he had just bought in a plastic bag, indeed it had some dust on it.

Thinking that the shopkeeper probably wouldn’t admit it even if he went back to ask, he sighed and thanked the little girl, throwing away the food and going to the neighboring supermarket to buy bread instead.

Later, Chen Peng also arrived, parked the car on the roadside, and got out. Before getting out, he asked Shen Chuo if he had brought the original documents as instructed. After receiving a positive answer, he walked towards the courthouse with Shen Chuo and said, “The other buyer also sued the seller. The court has combined our cases for mediation today. If both of you insist on wanting the house, I don’t think we’ll reach any resolution through mediation, and we’ll end up in court.”

Hearing this, Shen Chuo had a rough idea of the situation and didn’t hold too much hope. However, what surprised him was that in the mediation room, he saw the little girl he had encountered earlier.

The little girl obediently sat next to the other buyer he had seen before, smiled at Shen Chuo when he looked at her, and then lowered her head to continue playing with the origami in her hands.

The couple of the other buyer were ordinary-looking people. They said they had come from a small place to work in Huai City. They had saved enough money for a down payment to buy a house, so that their daughter could attend the local public elementary school next year.

Shen Chuo glanced at the little girl several times, seeing her sitting quietly without making a fuss, listening to her parents’ complaints, he couldn’t help but feel a bit shaken.

Midway through, Chen Peng handed him the phone, indicating for him to answer it.

Shen Chuo took it, and the voice on the other end immediately asked, “Are you planning to give up the house?”

It was Pei Tingyue’s voice, because Shen Chuo had blocked him, so the call came through Chen Peng’s phone.

“Did Lawyer Chen tell you?” Shen Chuo didn’t have time to argue about trivial matters at the moment, he only mentioned the current situation, “If we don’t give up, we might not reach a resolution today through mediation, and going to court would be a waste of time.”

He had indeed just told Chen Peng that he might as well give up, not take the house, and accept compensation. He didn’t expect Pei Tingyue to find out so quickly and call specifically to ask.

“So why is it you who’s giving up and not someone else? Because the mediator sympathizes more with them and persuaded you to give up? Professor Shen, you are truly a good person.”

Pei Tingyue’s tone sounded more like mockery, especially when he emphasized the words “good person.”

Shen Chuo: “…They do need the house more, and the child needs to go to school.”

“What does that have to do with you? It’s not your child, why do you need to worry about it?”

“Pei Tingyue, don’t you have any normal empathy?”

“If they really want the child to go to school, they can get the money back and buy another house,” Pei Tingyue said disdainfully, “It’s just that the prices in that area have gone up, and they’re reluctant to spend more. That’s why they’re trying to emotionally blackmail you.”

“Can you guarantee that I will win if we go to court?” Shen Chuo tried to remain calm, “Lawyer Chen only said there’s a chance, maybe the outcome will still be the same in the end?”

But Pei Tingyue replied, “What if I can guarantee it?”

Shen Chuo didn’t believe him, “Would lawyers like you make promises like that to clients?”

“Are you my client?”

That one sentence left Shen Chuo speechless.

“If you don’t want the house, it’s fine,” Pei Tingyue changed his tone, “Move in with me instead.”

Sometimes Shen Chuo really wondered what this person’s face was made of. Even though he had blocked him, he could still say such things as if nothing had happened.

“No, thank you.” He refused without hesitation.

“Shen Chuo,” Pei Tingyue said firmly, “I’m informing you, not giving you a choice.”

“Are you crazy?” Shen Chuo muttered under his breath.

Chen Peng, who was looking at documents, raised his head in surprise, and Shen Chuo awkwardly got up and left for the empty corridor outside.

“You’re becoming less and less like a role model,” Pei Tingyue sneered.

Shen Chuo thought to himself that he was too well-mannered, which was why he kept getting entangled with this person. “What exactly do you mean? One moment you say you’re pursuing me, the next you want me to move in with you. Don’t tell me that after just two times in bed, Lawyer Pei, you’re hopelessly in love with me?”

In the office, Pei Tingyue, who was replying to client emails, heard this and paused, leaning back in his chair with a hint of laziness in his voice, “If that’s what you think.”

Shen Chuo: “…”

He wasn’t a conceited person. In public, he was usually humble and polite. But whenever he encountered Pei Tingyue, he couldn’t control his temper, so he deliberately retorted like this.

Of course, he didn’t believe that Pei Tingyue had truly fallen in love with him. But since Pei Tingyue had no shame, he had to be even more shameless than him: “Fine, I’ll assume you’ve fallen in love with me and want me to acknowledge our relationship. Your threatening and tempting attitude won’t work. Show some sincerity if you want to.”

Pei Tingyue suddenly laughed on the other end of the phone, a very pleased laugh: “Shen Chuo, I find you really interesting.”

“Am I wrong?”

“Well, you’re pretty accurate.”

Shen Chuo didn’t feel like talking nonsense with him anymore and hung up the phone directly.

When he returned the phone to Chen Peng, the latter cleared his throat and asked him, “Professor Shen, are you really determined not to take the house?”

Shen Chuo was still hesitating, and Chen Peng reminded him quietly, “Look at that woman, she’s holding the latest model of an iPhone. The lawyer they hired is also a senior in the industry, legal fees won’t be cheap.”

In other words, those claims of being poor were just for show.

Shen Chuo frowned, observed the other party for a while, and indeed as Chen Peng said, not only the phone they were using, but also the clothes worn by the couple and the little girl didn’t seem cheap.

He became even more hesitant. Chen Peng handed him the phone again, and Pei Tingyue sent a WeChat message specifically for him to see.

【Professor Shen, being stubborn won’t work against me.】

If it wasn’t someone else’s phone, Shen Chuo would even suspect that the bastard was flirting, but it was also possible that he was flirting.

Chen Peng remained indifferent, as if he was not interested in their conversation.

Shen Chuo sighed and handed the phone back, “Please, Lawyer Chen, try your best to get me the house.”