Chapter 164: His Habit

(1)

Pei Du had a reason for not accompanying Shu Shu to the villa.

Although several months have passed since he came of age, tonight is his "coming-of-age" banquet.

It is his first appearance in the public eye as the eldest grandson of the Pei Family.

Such an occasion.

Almost no one sincerely congratulates him; it's merely a hollow, name-and-status social exchange.

Everyone praises Pei Du's outstanding talent, saying he bears the youthful charm of the Pei Family head, and everyone envies him, claiming that being reborn into the Pei Family is a blessing of three lifetimes.

Pei Qian also walked over with a smile and asked him.

"How does it feel to be fawned over?"

The implication is that, whether power and influence or reputation, as long as he figures it out, they are within easy reach.

Pei Du's face was expressionless; he only stared at the time.

In order to leave as soon as possible, he drank several cups of wine before he could extricate himself.

So how?

Not really.

He doesn't want any power, status, or fame at all; he dislikes them.

Because the only thing he longs for—

Pei Du lowered his gaze.

He looked at the person shrouded in his own shadow.

She cried again.

She is truly the pitiful one.

It's his doing.

He knows his own wretchedness, yet he is both self-abandoning and thoroughly sinking.

He simply doesn't want to sober up.

Pei Du's ink-black eyes were unfathomable; he lowered his head and gently kissed away the tear sliding from her eye corner, murmuring:

"I also really like Yinyin."

"I really, really, really like her; after coaxing her, I became even more unscrupulous."

…

Shu Shu felt she had slept an especially deep sleep.

Consequently, upon waking, as her consciousness returned, the first thing she sensed was the heavy weakness of her limbs.

She opened her eyes and stared blankly for a few seconds, then shifted her gaze; beside her was no one.

Pei Du wasn't there.

Just as she thought that, Shu Shu's movement stalled; she discovered she couldn't move her body.

She lifted the blanket.

She thought the person who wasn't there was actually nestled in her embrace at that very moment, arms around her waist, fast asleep, completely enveloping her.

From Shu Shu's perspective, she could see half of the boy's face, his straight nose bridge, and his clean skin.

He slept with his eyes closed, very peacefully.

However, the pose was the same as when they kissed; his hold on her was utterly insecure.

As if he feared she might run away.

Shu Shu shifted, her face full of resentment.

In her current state of having only just fallen asleep at dawn, could she even escape?

Shu Shu even suspected last night that she might have accidentally flipped some secret switch labeled "blackening progress" that would instantly push this little rascal to 100%.

So, is it still possible to dump him now, or would that be too irresponsible, kinda scummy?

Shu Shu glanced around; both were fully clothed, her last memory stopping before entering the bathroom, so it goes without saying who made them tidy.

Shu Shu was already awake, but Pei Du hadn't woken yet.

She was held fast in his arms, unable to leave, so she could only look around and discover that although they lay on a double bed, there was still only one pillow—the one she was using.

"I want to sleep on a bed with one pillow."

As it turns out, this really is his habit.

How boring.

Why isn't Pei Du waking up yet?

Shu Shu, bored, went to mess with his hair.

She originally wanted to give Pei Du a stylish 1:9 part, but his stubbornly smooth hair required hair gel like yesterday to hold it.

Shu Shu then went to poke his cheeks.

The skin that looked good also felt nice to the touch.

Shu Shu couldn't resist extending her thumb and finger, changing from poking to a gentle pinch.

On the fifth pinch, the arm on her waist moved.

Pei Du woke up.

About to be caught, Shu Shu tried to pull her hand back and act as if nothing happened, but she didn't have time and was stopped.

A brief rustling sound came from under the blanket.

Pei Du didn't open his eyes, he held Shu Shu's hand and kissed it, then moved it upward; he didn't lie down on the pillow with her, but instead tucked his head into the crook of her neck.

"Is Yinyin playing with me?"

A low, magnetic male voice beside the ear, tinged with drowsiness, came through muffled.

Does he not know what 'playing' means? Shu Shu hurriedly clarified: 'Nonsense, I definitely didn't.'

Her voice was a little hoarse.

"Hmm."

He earnestly said: 'Yinyin says there isn't, so there isn't—I believe her.'

Shu Shu: "..."

You'd be better off not saying that.

The air grew quiet.

Just as Shu Shu thought Pei Du had fallen asleep again, she felt a light peck on the side of her face.

It wasn't really a peck; it was just using his lips to wander, lightly touching, then lightly touching again—a very affectionate gesture.

Shu Shu reflexively shrank her neck.

"Is Yinyin ticklish?"

Pei Du propped his arm on the bed, sat up, his eyes meeting Shu Shu's, his slender fingers resting on the spot he had just touched, and he spoke seriously, as if studying an important matter:

"When I touched this spot yesterday, Yinyin kept dodging."

Shu Shu closed her eyes briefly: "I'm getting up!"

(2)

Hearing Shu Shu say she wanted to get up, Pei Du first put on his slippers, intending to carry her to wash up.

Shu Shu refused without hesitation: "No."

"Why." Pei Du looked at Shu Shu with a slightly hurt expression: "I've heard that when couples first get together, their feelings are at their strongest, and they want to be together twenty-four hours a day."

"Today is only our second day; is there something I'm not doing right..."

Before he could finish his sentence——

"Stop, stop, stop—quickly shut your little mouth."

Shu Shu practically cursed as she grabbed Pei Du's neck, then automatically placed her leg on his arm, and said angrily:

"Enough already!"

Only to see his troubled expression instantly vanish, he happily scooped her up and walked toward the bathroom.

Shu Shu silently complained in her mind.

Could it be that she's dating a Tang Seng?

You know, just a few months ago.

Pei Du and 'Tang Seng' are about as unrelated as can be.

After washing up, coming out of the bathroom, it was again Pei Du who carried Shu Shu to the dining room.

Pei Du went to make food.

Shu Shu watched him pull out many ingredients from the fridge and asked, puzzled: "There weren't any of these yesterday, were there?"

Pei Du explained: "I bought them."

Pei Du had already woken up once, drove himself to the city center, bought the stuff, came back, changed clothes, lay down, and continued sleeping while holding Shu Shu.

"Oh."

Shu Shu noticed Pei Du was making rice, she unconsciously glanced at the time and jumped in shock.

4:30 p. m.!

She thought it was at most eleven or twelve, but she'd actually slept the whole day!

Then Shu Shu realized the reason for this, and her face suddenly flushed.

"..."

Although she lacked experience, she also knew this probably wasn't right.

Shu Shu stroked Da Fu's doggy head, her expression grave as she pondered for a moment; she had originally planned to discuss with Pei Du the matter of 'restraint'.

But thinking of that someone's earlier spiel about couples...

She immediately swallowed her words wisely.

All for the sake of peace and quiet.

As Pei Du said, maybe couples who've just gotten together are supposed to be this clingy.

It'll get better after a while… right?

Yet what happened next was both unexpected and yet, in a way, expected—contrary to her wishes.

There is an essential difference between couples who have had skin-to-skin contact and those who haven't.

Shu Shu couldn't even meet Pei Du's gaze.

Whenever they made eye contact, he would lean in to kiss her a second later—even if he was in the middle of cooking, apron on, he'd come over.

He wouldn't leave without a kiss.

Once, Shu Shu patted his arm, pointed at Da Fu, and embarrassedly said the dog was watching, asking him, as the male owner, to pay a bit more attention to the influence.

Pei Du released Shu Shu's lips, but not his hold on her, and hooked a finger at Da Fu.

The dog grinned, having just come running over, when his big palm covered its eyes.

"It can't see now."

Then he continued kissing.

Shu Shu: "..."

In short, Pei Du is just a, kissing monster.

——a cute kissing monster.

Although Shu Shu already had a boyfriend, she would still run around wherever she wanted to play.

And Pei Du had no objection, silently following her as she ran.

Their lifestyle hadn't changed much compared to before they officially got together.

The only change was that Pei Du could now openly appear in Shu Shu's life, no longer needing to rely on 'chance encounters'.

After Shu Shu ran to a city, she would temporarily settle in a place, then tell Pei Du the location and the door code.

Often, Shu Shu would come back from outside holding something tasty, see the lights on in the house, immediately kick off her shoes, run inside, jump onto Pei Du's back from behind, cover his eyes, and pinch her throat to say:

"Cough cough, guess who I am with no prize."

Pei Du, with his eyes covered, instinctively wrapped his arms around Shu Shu's legs, then asked: 'If I guess right, no prize? If I guess wrong, is there a punishment?'

He hadn't really considered that; Shu Shu thought for a moment and said: 'The punishment for guessing wrong is that you have to hold me from tonight until tomorrow morning, without letting go.'

Pei Du asked solemnly: 'It's hard to guess; may I have some hints?'

Shu Shu thought again: 'As beautiful as a flower, as pure and smart as ice and snow.'

"Hmm, good hints, I got it." Pei Du, as if seriously thinking, murmured for two seconds, then slightly curled his lips and said: 'Is it a cat?'

"A very pretty ragdoll cat."

Shu Shu: "Ha, you guessed wrong."

All that could be heard was the boy's troubled sigh: 'What should I do? I have to hold you all night, but a person must keep their word, so I wholeheartedly accept the penalty for guessing wrong.'

Shu Shu burst out laughing.

Later, Shu Shu also had the experience of losing to Pei Du.

At that time, a new movie had just been released, whose protagonist was especially skilled at rolling dice, able to precisely roll the numbers he wanted.

Although she knew it was just a plot device, Shu Shu still thought it was awesome and cool.

When Pei Du came next, he told Shu Shu that he could also roll the dice to get the numbers he wanted, and then demonstrated it for her.

Shu Shu's eyes lit up immediately and she asked Pei Du to teach her.

Someone affected profundity, speaking in a light tone: 'I won't teach for free.'

Shu Shu glared: 'What, you want to charge me money?'

Pei Du furrowed his brows, his long fingers tapping the jar: 'I do intend to charge a fee, but it's not real money.'

Hmph, don't think I don't know what he's up to.

Shu Shu crossed her arms, struck a negotiating pose, and said: 'Then please tell me, what does your fee refer to?'

"I can first teach Yinyin to consistently roll a six, and the per‑session threshold fee is——"

He said.

Pei Du leaned in and pecked the corner of Shu Shu's lips: 'The per‑session threshold fee is that, for each lesson, you have to kiss me like this once.'

Shu Shu thought:

"Oh, that's not hard; she learns things quickly."

"Just ten kisses and it's settled!"

However, Shu Shu overlooked one thing: although she was ready to study seriously, the teacher could manipulate things behind the scenes and deliberately lower the teaching quality.

She first directly kissed Pei Du five times, paying off five threshold fees at once.

Then she failed to learn.

She then kissed Pei Du another five times, but the result was still the same.

Shu Shu racked her brains: 'How could this be?'

The person who had been kissed ten times calmly asked: 'Yinyin, do you want to continue?'

Shu Shu: "Continue!"

She refused to believe it.

Later, as she kept studying, Shu Shu started to fall behind on the threshold fees; Pei Du began to demand payment, and the still‑unlearned Shu Shu, fuming, lunged forward and grabbed Pei Du's face with both hands.

She gave him a rapid series of kisses.

Kiss this little rascal until he cries!

But the little rascal wasn't brought to tears by the kisses; instead, smiles kept welling up from the depths of his eyes, and he eventually slipped his arm around the girl's waist, turning the simple kiss into a full‑on kiss.

The atmosphere rose gradually.

Shu Shu, breathing unevenly, leaned back while her flushed face pulled the hand at her clothing down, her lips wet and glossy, and she whispered a curse: 'Little pervert.'

…

After the coming‑of‑age ceremony banquet, Pei Du was actually busy, basically trying to squeeze out as much time as possible to find Shu Shu.

The little couple being together isn't for the purpose of doing 'z' every time.

It's just that simple, warm kind of life.

When free time was scarce, Pei Du would rush to where Shu Shu was, cook her a meal, then hurry back to Jing Shi.

When free time was plentiful, Pei Du would accompany Shu Shu on daytime strolls, eating the snacks she'd taken two bites of and then discarded; at night he'd turn on the projector, the two snuggling on the sofa under a blanket, watching an old or new movie together.

After watching, they'd turn off the lights and then sleep soundly.

This happened several times.

Shu Shu ran to a scenic spot, pulled out her phone to film something interesting, was just about to share it with Pei Du, and then someone would hug her from behind.

"Got you."

A pleasant, familiar male voice sounded in her ear.

Shu Shu, used to it, didn't turn her head, laughing helplessly: 'Pei Du, quick look—I just caught two parrots swearing at each other, hahaha, so funny.'

Pei Du slightly bowed his head, leaned over to look at Shu Shu's phone, and watched the funny video she'd mentioned together with her.

Night fell.

The stadium lights at the racetrack all turned on.

The spectators in the stands were enthusiastic, shouting hoarsely to cheer for the jet-black race car on the track.

Closely following the black race car was its opponent.

The two cars refused to yield, with smoke billowing from their tires at high speed and the engine noise ringing across the sky.

Under everyone's gaze.

The black car made a flashy drift, overtook on the curve, and surged across the finish line in one go.

A huge cheer erupted.

Only to see the door of the black car parked sideways at the finish open; the person inside stepped out, removed the helmet—a pretty‑looking girl—and the owner of the blue car followed close behind, also a young lady.

"Hey, Shu, I just heard you gave up racing at Death Mountain?"

"Mm‑hmm, I'm not interested anymore."

"Want to grab a late‑night snack together later?"

"Nope, I've got someone to keep me company."

The other party was utterly surprised: "Huh? Who?"

Shu Shu didn't answer, gave the girl a playful wink, then lightly walked toward a quiet, slender figure lurking in the shadows; as she neared him, she quickened her steps and leapt onto him.

"I caught you too."