Around four in the afternoon, a car drove out of the old residence and headed towards Qinxin Estate.

In the back seat, Jiao Bai wrapped his long coat tighter around himself. He leaned against the side of the car, struggling to open his eyelids that were drooping and creased from fatigue, and breathed in the fresh air while feeling the breeze.

The old residence was situated halfway up the mountain. The scenery along this road had appeared in the comic, always from Li Jue's perspective. Jiao Bai realised that the actual views were even more beautiful than what was depicted in the drawings, and was instantly wide awake.

But someone didn’t want to let him enjoy himself.

“Close the windows.”

As Shen Ji’s voice fell, all the windows in the car went up.

Then Shen Ji said, “Stop for a moment.”

Jiao Bai immediately had a bad feeling. Before he could say anything, the old man gave him a kick, accompanied by two cold words, “Get out.”

“...” Jiao Bai felt like there was hair lodged in his throat, which wouldn’t come loose no matter how he pulled. He was on the verge of losing his mind. He absolutely couldn't get out of the car. If he did, the first step of his plan would fail.

In the cramped space, the tension was palpable. The driver discreetly raised the partition.

In the dim light, Jiao Bai leaned back against the seat, tilting his head to look at Shen Ji's frosty profile. The Shen family didn't dare to be presumptuous in front of him. They were timid and even held back the volume of their voices.

Little Hot Pepper Jiang Yan was afraid of him, Qi Shuang was afraid of him, and Wang Chuqiu was also afraid of him.

Everyone who had been with Shen Ji was afraid of him.

He had a cold expression on his face all the time and was always insufferably arrogant.

Jiao Bai pulled down his mask and said earnestly, “Sir, there’s still a long stretch of winding mountain road before we reach the bottom.”

Shen Ji was indifferent and merciless. “Don’t you have legs?”

Jiao Bai raised his thin, pointed chin and grinned. “My old injury relapsed. I can’t walk.”

He was even leaving out the ‘Sir’ now.

Shen Ji noticed something and pinched Jiao Bai’s face between his fingers to pull him closer.

This person usually spoke with his head down, his mouth moving only slightly, and he seemed really wooden. It turned out he had two very sharp canine teeth.

Just as Jiao Bai was about to blow up, he inadvertently caught sight of a scratch on Shen Ji’s neck. The colour indicated it was fresh, which meant it could only have been done by Jiang Yan. No wonder Jiang Yan went to the hospital this morning. He must have been teetering on the edge of cdzsg last night.

After all, old dog Shen never allowed his little lovers to touch him when he was qdkhduhmf himself. He maintained absolute control in both public and private affairs. It was impossible for him to treat it as if nothing had happened after Jiang Yan left marks on him.

Shen Ji’s fingertip pressed against the young man’s gleaming canine.

Jiao Bai’s mouth was forced open. More and more saliva was secreted, and was about to dribble down. His face really hurt from being pinched, and the finger started to rub his canine.

This old azrszqc wasn’t planning to pull out his canine teeth, right? Jiao Bai endured the pain in his cheeks and forced his jaw shut.

He bit down on the soft flesh inside his mouth and also the old azrszqc’r index finger.

Jiao Bai cried out in pain and spat out Shen Ji’s finger. He covered his mouth and shed tears. He had bitten through a large chunk of his soft flesh and the pain was excruciating.

The phone rang. Shen Ji wiped the dirty saliva from his hand onto Jiao Bai's clothes. Without giving any thought to his illogical behaviour just now, he answered the phone and said coldly, “Who is this?”

“Excuse me, are you Shen Er’an’s guardian? I’m his homeroom teacher...”

Jiao Bai heard the word “guardian” and immediately knew that it was a call from the school, which surprised him. Considering the relationship between Shen Ji and his son, shouldn’t the guardian contact details be listed as the butler or Madam Shen? Why was it Shen Ji? Did he know what grade his son was in?

The pain in Jiao Bai’s mouth wasn’t as intense anymore, so he pricked up his ears to eavesdrop on the call. Shen Eran was one of the standard-type gongs in school-setting stories: tall, good-looking, had good grades, introverted, antisocial, and quiet.

That was when he was young.

His personality changed drastically after he grew up.

Jiao Bai was hit by a blast of cold air, and half of his body felt like it was about to freeze.

“Okay,” Shen Ji said calmly over the phone. “Very good.” He even gave a light chuckle. “Teacher, feel free to do as you please.”

After the call ended, the car was filled with a dead silence.

A few seconds later, the phone was thrown violently, smacking into the car window with a deafening crash, like the sky was collapsing and the earth was splitting.

In reality, the heavens didn’t collapse, the earth didn’t split, and the car window didn’t crack into a spiderweb. The phone simply lay quietly in the corner, intact and undamaged.

Jiao Bai was incredulous. The quality of this car’s glass was really impressive, and the quality of the phone wasn’t bad either.

“Go to Third High.” Shen Ji took off his suit jacket and tossed it aside.

The car started up again.

Jiao Bai then remembered that the driver had been in the car the entire time. He couldn't help but be deeply impressed. This was a true expert, someone who had clearly weathered many storms and remained unfazed in any situation.

The driver updated the destination on the navigation system, and the car smoothly maneuvered along the mountain road. Jiao Bai kept his distance from the czqj-ezbdc Shen Ji. He didn't know what Shen Er’an had done, but Shen Er’an was probably going to pay a big price[1].

That wasn’t the important thing.

Jiao Bai suddenly realised something. The route was changing. He needed to quickly inform Qi Shuang.

Just as Jiao Bai touched the phone in his pocket, he heard Shen Ji say, “Return to Qinxin Estate.”

“...” The old man was so inconsistent.

Jiao Bai withdrew his hand.

Shen Ji noticed that the person next to him had suddenly become much more relaxed, like a pet freed from its collar—so at ease he was on the verge of wagging his tail and running wild. Shen Ji bent his finger and tapped the cigarette holder. “Come over.”

Jiao Bai glanced sideways.

Shen Ji said, “Light me a cigarette.”

Jiao Bai didn't move at all and thought to himself, I want to light you up and send you to the heavens.

Shen Ji's eyes were as dark as a bottomless abyss. “After pretending for two years, why are you suddenly dropping the act?”

Jiao Bai’s eyes shifted and he put on an insincere smile. “Haha.”

Shen Ji’s anger surged briefly, but was quickly suppressed by his rationality. He felt that this wasn’t in line with his outlook on life and style of handling matters. How could he let a mere okzxsghmf affect his emotions? Even mentioning it would make people laugh.

Seeing that Shen Ji had stopped ordering him around, Jiao Bai closed his eyes. Waiting was his forte, honed through countless confrontations with his aunt.

Patience was the key to success.

Inside the car, tendrils of smoke rose up in the air. Shen Ji rubbed his temples and took one puff after another on his cigarette. After a while, he became busy with a flurry of phone calls.

When the car was struck and the accident occurred, Shen Ji ignored to the driver's shouts. The first thing he noticed was that the little dog, who the old lady had locked up for him, glanced in his direction with a gaze that was innocent and serene.

In that moment, Shen Ji felt as if the first gentle snowfall of winter had settled on his heart—it wasn’t particularly cold but it was unexpected and caught him completely off guard.

After that, Shen Ji was engulfed in darkness.


[1] 要脱层皮 (yào tuō céng pí) literally translates to “will shed a layer of skin” meaning Shen Er’an is going to face serious consequences.