In the afternoon, Shen Chuo returned to the school. As soon as he sat down in the laboratory, someone knocked on the door.

A delivery man was holding a large bouquet of flowers, saying they were delivered to this address.

Shen Chuo was surprised as he took them, glanced at the card tucked inside, and immediately stuffed it back in.

Several of his students came to report on the progress of their experiments and couldn’t help but laugh when they saw him with the flowers.

One bold student joked, “Teacher, do you have a girlfriend now? Why aren’t you the one sending flowers to someone else?”

Shen Chuo casually placed the flowers aside on a nearby cabinet and calmly replied, “No, they were delivered to the wrong address. They’re meant for another teacher downstairs. I’ll send them over later.”

After the students left, he picked up the flowers again, retrieved the card, and felt somewhat speechless. The card was adorned with colorful patterns and printed with a bunch of English “love,” and the only handwritten part was Pei Tingyue’s flamboyant signature.

The card went into the trash bin, but Shen Chuo hesitated with the flowers, feeling it would be a waste to throw them away, so he put them back on the cabinet.

He removed Pei Tingyue from his WeChat blacklist and sent a message: “Can you stop causing trouble for me?”

Half a minute later, Pei Tingyue replied: “Is sending flowers causing trouble too?”

Shen Chuo: “It’s troublesome when others see it and I can’t explain.”

Pei Tingyue: “Didn’t you ask me to show some sincerity? Professor Shen, you’re not easy to handle.”

Shen Chuo thought about blocking him again but decided against it. He put down his phone without replying.

Then, he began to focus on writing his paper. He only ate a few pieces of biscuit and bread for dinner, continuing until nightfall outside the window.

When he rubbed his sore shoulders and neck and looked up from the computer screen, it was almost nine o’clock.

Pei Tingyue sent a new message: “I’ll be at your school in ten minutes. Come out.”

Shen Chuo picked up his phone, then put it down, picked it up again, and finally replied: “I’m not going. I’m going to sleep.”

There was no response from the other side, so he thought Pei Tingyue had given up. He sighed in relief, packed up his things, and prepared to leave. But then, a new voice message came in.

“I’ll come to your dormitory to find you.”

Pei Tingyue’s attitude was strong, not giving Shen Chuo a chance to refuse.

Shen Chuo didn’t want to deal with him, but when he thought of Yang Wenbin’s suspicious look when he saw them before, he hesitated.

If he didn’t go, this lunatic might really come to his dormitory.

“I’m in the laboratory, come here.”

Fifteen minutes later, Shen Chuo sat in the Mercedes-Benz car, fastening his seatbelt. “Let’s go.”

“Did you receive the flowers?” Pei Tingyue asked.

“I threw them away.”

Pei Tingyue pursed his lips and started the car.

“Where are we going?” Shen Chuo asked as the car drove out of the school gate.

Pei Tingyue replied, “Where do you want to go?”

Shen Chuo thought to himself that he had already boarded the thief’s ship. There was nowhere else to go, so he might as well get straight to the point.

But he found it hard to say it. Just as he hesitated, Pei Tingyue said, “It’s still early, let’s take a drive.”

The car headed towards the riverside, with the windows half rolled down. Shen Chuo leaned back against the seat, feeling a bit drowsy from the summer night breeze blowing in.

“Don’t fall asleep,” Pei Tingyue said suddenly, stopping the car.

Shen Chuo woke up and looked outside, realizing that Pei Tingyue had driven them to the same place they had been to last time.

Pei Tingyue leaned back in his seat and lit a cigarette. As he took a puff, Shen Chuo reached out and extinguished it directly in the ashtray.

“Don’t smoke, I don’t like the smell,” Shen Chuo said.

Pei Tingyue looked at his actions without saying anything, then covered his hand, rubbing his palm against the back of Shen Chuo’s hand.

Shen Chuo felt like he was being electrified and wanted to pull away, but Pei Tingyue didn’t give him the chance. He turned his hand over and held Shen Chuo’s palm.

With deliberate movements, Pei Tingyue seemed to be teasing him.

“You blocked me for a week,” Pei Tingyue suddenly said.

Shen Chuo: “…Is there a problem?”

“What do you think?”

“You should reflect on yourself.”

Pei Tingyue lifted his eyes and stared at him for two seconds, then pushed him back and undid his seatbelt, leaning over.

Shen Chuo placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are you planning to do it here?”

Pei Tingyue didn’t answer. Instead, his hand slipped into Shen Chuo’s shirt collar, his warm palm against Shen Chuo’s neck.

The intimate touch made Shen Chuo feel particularly ticklish. He turned his head away. “Delete the messy photos you took on your phone first.”

“Why delete them?” Pei Tingyue said indifferently, massaging his neck. “They look pretty good.”

Shen Chuo frowned. “I didn’t agree to you taking them. You’re invading my privacy.”

“Hmm,” Pei Tingyue nodded casually. “Then sue me.”

“…,” Shen Chuo realized that he was wasting his effort and breath. Or perhaps Pei Tingyue was simply too confident. “Would it make a difference if I sue you? Aren’t you afraid of legal consequences when you already know you’re breaking the law?”

“What does it matter?”

Pei Tingyue didn’t care. He lowered his head and kissed the spot on Shen Chuo’s shoulder that his hand had touched just now.

When their breaths became unstable from entangling with each other, Pei Tingyue suddenly stopped and looked out the window.

Just as Shen Chuo was about to ask, Pei Tingyue turned around and flicked the high beams twice. The car that had arrived a few minutes after theirs finally showed some movement. Two big men, tall and muscular, got out of the car, and they walked towards their car aggressively.

Pei Tingyue glanced at them coldly for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and calmly straightened Shen Chuo’s clothes, who was still unaware of the situation, and buttoned them up.

“Be good and wait here.”

Shen Chuo also saw the people coming over, and he was a little confused. He grabbed Pei Tingyue’s arm. “What’s going on?”

“It’s nothing. Just a few fleas,” Pei Tingyue said casually, then got out of the car.

When Shen Chuo came to his senses, Pei Tingyue had already walked to the front of the car, with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the hood, and chatting with the two men.

Pei Tingyue said something that seemed to anger the big guy, who then reached out to grab Pei Tingyue’s collar.

Pei Tingyue raised an eyebrow disdainfully, and his raised hand directly grasped the man’s wrist.

The big guy probably didn’t expect Pei Tingyue’s strength to be greater than his own. Not only couldn’t he move his hand closer to Pei Tingyue’s collar, but he also felt pain from Pei Tingyue’s grip on his wrist. His anger surged even more, and his other hand also reached out.

“Ah—!!!”

The big guy let out a painful howl as Pei Tingyue forcefully twisted his arm.

All of this happened in just a few seconds. When the other person’s fist came flying, Pei Tingyue quickly blocked it and kicked out with his foot.

Shen Chuo watched in horror as Pei Tingyue fought with the people outside the car. His heart raced to his throat.

The two men in front had brute strength but lacked any fighting skills. Pei Tingyue, on the other hand, adeptly dealt with them and even gained the upper hand.

Seeing that they couldn’t take advantage, two more people got out of the car in front and approached with weapons in hand, swinging them towards Pei Tingyue from behind.

In a panic, Shen Chuo quickly pressed the car horn several times. Pei Tingyue swiftly grabbed the iron rod in one of the assailant’s hands and forcefully struck back.

Facing four opponents, although Pei Tingyue remained calm and composed, Shen Chuo in the car was anxious and scared. He wanted to get out and help, but found that the door was locked and couldn’t be opened.

In desperation, he climbed into the driver’s seat, tremblingly started the car, and stepped on the gas pedal while flashing the headlights.

The flashing lights dazzled the eyes of the people outside the car, and the engine roared loudly. Thinking the car was about to crash into them, they cursed loudly, “F*ck!!”

In a panic, they forgot about dealing with Pei Tingyue and just wanted to run away. Pei Tingyue took advantage of the opportunity to knock them down one by one.

Finally managing to unlock the door and get out of the car, Shen Chuo saw the last person being subdued by Pei Tingyue, who stepped on his face with one foot.

“Speak up,” Pei Tingyue’s shoe ground against the man’s face. “Who sent you?”

“Your mother—!” The man under his foot could hardly breathe, gritting his teeth. “Don’t you know who you’ve offended?”

“I don’t know,” Pei Tingyue’s expression remained unchanged.

Watching from the side, Shen Chuo felt that these people deserved it, but Pei Tingyue’s demeanor made him seem like a grim reaper.

Seeing the struggling men on the ground trying to get up again, he quickly reminded, “Pei Tingyue, let’s go.”

Pei Tingyue turned around, his gaze resting on Shen Chuo’s face for two seconds before he leisurely withdrew his foot and walked back to the car.

As they drove away, Shen Chuo hesitated several times before speaking.

Pei Tingyue spoke first, “If the car is damaged, you’re responsible for fixing it.”

Shen Chuo was taken aback, almost thinking he had misheard. “Wasn’t I helping you?”

If he hadn’t scared off those people by revving the engine while in park and pressing the accelerator, distracting their attention, Pei Tingyue might not have been able to subdue them so quickly. How could he say such a thing?

But Pei Tingyue was ungrateful. “So should I thank you?”

“No need,” Shen Chuo said irritably. “Who did you provoke to attract such a group of people?”

“There are plenty of people who want to cause trouble for me,” Pei Tingyue’s voice remained steady. “Can’t help it, I have too many enemies.”

“Are you a lawyer or part of the underworld?” Shen Chuo frowned.

As the car stopped at a red light, Pei Tingyue turned to look at him. “Are you scared?”

“What do I have to be afraid of? It’s not me who made enemies with those people,” Shen Chuo asked him. “Do you really not know who’s causing trouble for you?”

“I have a general idea,” Pei Tingyue said casually.

“Who are they?”

Pei Tingyue casually mentioned a name, “A wealthy man in the city. His family had a dispute over inheritance, and I helped his brother send him to jail for three years. He just got out half a month ago and has been threatening me.”

“What do you mean by ‘helped send him to jail’?,” Shen Chuo was puzzled. “Did he commit a crime?”

“The fly doesn’t land on an unbroken egg,” Pei Tingyue said indifferently. “Since you believe in fairness and justice, the law wouldn’t wrongly convict an innocent person.”

Shen Chuo didn’t know what to say. “…I don’t know if others are innocent, but you don’t seem like a good person.”

“Isn’t it tiring to be a good person?” Pei Tingyue sneered. “Professor Shen, you seem to want to be a good person. You’re even willing to give up the house that’s right in front of you. But others will laugh at you for being foolish behind your back.”

Shen Chuo frowned. “I didn’t give it up willingly.”

“Well, let’s just forget it then,” Pei Tingyue said dismissively.

Shen Chuo felt like punching cotton. He gave up thinking about it, as whether Pei Tingyue was good or bad had nothing to do with him.

“What are you thinking?” Pei Tingyue reached out and pinched his chin to make him face him.

Shen Chuo’s tightly knit brows finally relaxed when he saw the bruise on the corner of Pei Tingyue’s mouth. He couldn’t help but gloat, “I thought you were so powerful, but you’ve been injured.”

The red light turned green, and Pei Tingyue released him and stepped on the gas pedal. “Even if I’m injured, you still have to take care of me.”

Shen Chuo didn’t bother to respond and leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed.

This person may have some good looks, but if he loses even that, he’s not worth keeping around.