Chapter 180: Long Time No See

Da Fu sensed that the atmosphere between the two owners tonight was off.

The all-white-furred dog carried a toy to the female owner's hand, hoping to invite her to play the "throw the stick" game, trying to cheer her up this way.

Seeing her not take it, it raised its two front paws to wave goodbye at her, making various whimpering sounds.

Unable to stand it any longer, Shu Shu had to take the toy, then toss it with a wave of her hand; the dog immediately chased after it, trotting back and forth to retrieve it.

The person and dog kept playing back and forth; on the fifth try, distracted, Shu Shu's force was off, and the toy landed deep under the cabinet, out of the dog's reach.

Shu Shu went to the cabinet, knelt down, and helped it pick it up.

Just then, an electronic prompt sounded from the entryway: the "beep-beep" of the passcode door unlocking.

Accompanied by a heavy and hurried footsteps, the cold night wind poured in from outside, and that person rushed in without even changing shoes.

Shu Shu stood up, and before she could turn her head, she was enveloped in a front-facing hug.

"... Pei Du?"

All was quiet except for the occasional tap of the dog's paws on the wooden floor; after a long while, the person holding her remained silent, and Shu Shu blinked, calling out his name in confusion.

"Mm."

He gave a low reply, held her tighter, bowed his head, and carefully buried himself in her neck, his deep breath enveloping her.

Before leaving the main residence, Pei Qian confidently asked Pei Du whether he still dared to see Shu Shu, the implied meaning questioning whether he could still be with her.

It seemed as if he were certain this question would trap Pei Du.

However, Pei Qian was unaware of this.

After seeing those news about Shu Shu's family being "bloody", Pei Du's mind was filled only with heartache, nothing else.

He wanted to do something for her, to help her bear the difficult emotions of enduring those incredibly painful moments.

He couldn't utter a single word; even the thought of making her speak a syllable felt utterly cruel.

So in the end, he simply held her.

After a moment of shock, Shu Shu seemed to also understand the meaning of Pei Du's embrace; her hand, which had been holding the dog's toy and hovering at her side, slowly moved toward his back.

She also lightly returned the embrace.

Yinyin, give me a little more time, Pei Du thought to himself.

Today's incident was some kind of warning from Pei Qian; at that time, Pei Du naively believed the situation was within his control and that he only needed a little time to break free.

But there is a saying: plans can't keep up with changes.

…

At noon, the harsh sunlight reflected off the floor-to-ceiling window glass, illuminating the chilly interior with clarity; Pei Qian's special assistant stood by the door and respectfully reported.

"Young Master, the Chairman wants you to go to his office now."

Half an hour later.

Pei Du pushed open the Chairman's office door, and a faint fragrance of tea leaves drifted to his nose.

One of Pei Qian's greatest hobbies is brewing tea; he likes to treat the meticulous tea-making steps as a business, enjoying all the elaborate processes, solving them step by step, and finally obtaining the desired result—his office is equipped with a set of precious tea tables.

When Pei Du entered, the tea had just finished brewing.

"Here." Pei Qian didn't mind Pei Du's Shan Shan being late, smiled, glanced at the white jade teacup before Pei Du, and recommended: "Just unpacked Junshan Silver Needle, care to try?"

Tea-scented mist curled up from the cup, refreshing the heart and spleen; Pei Du's eyelids didn't twitch, and his brows remained firmly cold.

He didn't think Pei Qian had summoned him merely to taste tea; his attitude was clear, and he had no intention of wasting time sparring with him.

Indeed, Pei Qian raised his hand slightly; his special assistant received the cue and handed Pei Du a document with both hands.

As soon as he saw the title on the cover, Pei Du's dark pupils contracted slightly.

"Surprised?" Pei Qian took a light sip of tea, looked at Pei Du, and said: "Surprised that this authorization letter shouldn't be here, but since it is, it means the project that would collapse once released through your hands has been halted."

"Ah Du, this must be your trump card, right?"

"From the moment I had someone give you the proposal, you knew I wanted you to officially enter the Pei family as an heir and eventually take over the Pei family."

Taking over the Pei family is no easy feat; if it caused major decision-making errors that severely harmed the group's interests, shareholders would never accept such a future leader.

"From the start, you've been planning to cut off your own path as heir, Ah Du—do you want to leave the Pei family?"

Pei Qian calmly pointed this out; after doing so, he had no intention of getting angry, instead his eyes showed admiration: "Although this isn't within my approval range, I still have to say you've done well."

"In such a short time since entering the Pei family, you've managed to hide things from under my nose without a leak."

"It's a pity, just missing the final step." Pei Qian sighed with regret and asked Pei Du: "Do you know where your loophole lies?"

Pei Du pressed his lips tightly, the emotion in his eyes turning colder, almost instantly realizing it.

Song Yunqiu, acting on Pei Qian's orders, went to confront Shu Shu with a demonstration that was more than just a warning.

Seeing Pei Du's expression change, Pei Qian guessed he understood.

After refilling his own cup, Pei Qian, like a loving elder teaching a cherished junior how to survive, lightly pointed out: "Your soft spot is too obvious, you reveal your trump card too quickly, and caring leads to chaos."

Pei Qian knew better than anyone that his grandson's soft spot was none other than that young girl; he merely probed casually, and Pei Du became anxious.

"Look at the teacup before you—its ink lines are simple and flowing, and holding it in your palm feels like grasping a piece of warm, fine jade."

Pei Qian abruptly changed the subject, suddenly talking about the cup, but clearly not just about the cup—he had a deeper meaning.

"Yet you don't want to drink this tea, not even willing to lift the cup."

"You always discard the easy path and insist on suffering." Shaking his head, Pei Qian's earlier amiable expression seemed like an illusion; his face darkened, and he set the jade cup on the table with a not-so-light clink: "Truly disappointing!"

At that moment, his special assistant whispered in his ear: "Chairman, the time you agreed to meet with Director Lu at Hunan Pavilion has arrived."

Pei Qian glanced at Pei Du, who had remained silent the whole time, and asked: "Ah Du, do you want to come with me?"

"This Director Lu holds high rank and power; I've heard he has a younger brother who was forced to live apart since childhood, once working in Sea City." He continued on his own: "Unfortunately, his brother took a wrong turn midway, established the Xie Family Wrongful Case, and was executed last year."

Upon hearing the words "Xie Family Wrongful Case," Pei Du's whole body tensed, like a drawn bow, and he suddenly looked at Pei Qian.

"If this wrongful case isn't overturned, he would be safe and sound; his brother has always been a heavy heart for Director Lu, who still regrets not having helped him in time."

Pei Qian failed to notice Pei Du's sudden change in expression, narrowed his eyes, and remarked curiously.

A Du, you say, Bureau Chief Lu must surely hate the person who overturned the case back then and caused him to lose his brother, right?

Night fell, and the indoor lights were warm and bright.

Great Blessing lay on the carpet, its paws pressing a beef chew stick, gnawing on it with great delight.

Shu Shu came out of the bathroom, removed her hair‑dry cap, was about to blow‑dry her hair, when a hand with distinct knuckles moved faster than her and took the hair dryer.

Shu Shu lifted her head and, in the mirror, saw a young man with well‑defined features standing behind her.

Pei Du wasn't the first time he blow‑dried her hair; he was very meticulous, never pulling her scalp painfully, nor making her hair frizzy.

With someone else doing the work, Shu Shu naturally enjoyed the leisure, sitting there propping her chin as she watched him.

The phone on the table chimed "dingdong"; it was a message from Siwei, which Shu Shu casually opened, only to discover the sender wasn't Siwei.

"Shuyin, I'm Ji Lun. Do you still remember me? We met at the Zheyang ski resort; I came with Siwei. I heard you have a boyfriend now—didn't you once say you weren't interested in dating?"

The other party persisted relentlessly.

"Shuyin, can you adjust the settings to accept my friend request?"

"I promise I won't bother you; I just want to be ordinary friends."

Shu Shu frowned slightly; she had no impression of this person at all.

Then Siwei herself appeared in a flash.

"Heavens! Dear Shu! Ji Lun has lost his mind, outrageous—just now, while I wasn't paying attention, he grabbed my phone and messaged you. Ahhh, sorry, dear Shu!"

"I'm really exasperated—if it weren't for the fact that he does business with my family, I definitely wouldn't have come to his gathering today. Dear Shu, I'm truly, truly sorry for causing you trouble!"

"I will definitely take good care of my phone from now on. T. T"

Shu Shu replied with just two "hmm"s, then put down her phone. From this angle, Pei Du could have seen her entire screen, yet his hand that was playing with her hair never paused.

Whether he was too focused to notice, or like her, didn't treat this little incident as anything noteworthy.

The warm breeze made Shu Shu feel drowsy; she didn't realize when the blow‑drying finished, and then someone embraced her.

It was the kind of embrace where one bends at the waist, arms crossed, especially affectionate, pulling her into the chest; the holder lowered his head, touching her neck and behind her ears with the tip of his nose and lips, clearly enjoying this intimate gesture.

Shu Shu muttered softly: "Huh, clingy weirdo."

He heard her, and held her even more tightly.

"Mm."

Pei Du didn't deny it; he lifted his dark lashes slightly, his gaze sweeping over Shu Shu's lovely face, finally resting on her lips, and he leaned in to peck her.

Finding it insufficient, he raised his hand, lifted her chin, and naturally met her lips in a kiss.

The space where her hair had just been blown dry was filled with the fresh fruity scent of shampoo, mingling in their shallow, intermingling breaths.

They kissed, sticky and sweet, for a while.

Pei Du murmured to himself, wondering: "How can it be this soft, after puzzling over it for so long?"

Having said that, as if to test this doubt, he pressed on again; Shu Shu got a bite—it didn't hurt, but he kept biting, so she grabbed his collar and scolded him lightly.

"Pei Du, are you a little dog?"

"Mm, yours."

She could say anything about him, and he'd admit it all.

…

Great Blessing's chewing spot moved from the bedroom to the living room; the beef jerky on the chew stick was so fragrant that it had no leisure to notice what was happening in the bedroom.

The main light was switched off; the only illumination left came from the desk lamp.

In Shu Shu's vision, it first went dark, then the darkness gradually faded downward, a warm, dry sensation spreading from her ankles up to the backs of her knees and continuing upward.

"Turn off the light."

Shu Shu suspected Pei Du had deceived her; perhaps the main light wasn't really off, otherwise why did she still see patches of bright light flickering before her eyes, making her breath and heartbeat tremble, causing her to instinctively clench her pale fingers.

Ah, his hair feels so nice.

In a daze, Shu Shu's attention drifted to another concern—unbelievable, as if she could barely keep herself together—then her emotions became like a silver little fish that had leapt out of its fishbowl by accident and landed on the floor, flopping desperately to stay alive.

Instinctively, she shrank backward.

Usually, Pei Du is quite easygoing in front of Shu Shu; even if she deliberately teases him, he's good-natured and lets her have her way.

But once a certain moment arrives, this facade inevitably fails, and the aggression lurking deep in Pei Du's bones bursts forth.

The veins on the back of his hand showed a faint bluish tint, and with one hand he easily gripped both of her hands as she tried to push him away.

I don't know if it's Shu Shu's illusion, but she sensed Pei Du suddenly becoming unusually domineering; this time his aim was clearer, leaving no room for escape as before, directly depriving her of any ability to evade him.

Thus she could only be forced to receive many sensations from him unilaterally.

Over and over, again and again.

""

Waiting for the silver little fish to be scooped back into the tank, the air grew humid; Shu Shu lifted her eyes weakly and saw a scene.

Pei Du knelt on one knee on the bed, wearing a light‑gray cotton lounge set; his outfit was still intact, though the collar and the short hair above his forehead were messy, giving him a disheveled yet handsome look.

Shu Shu saw the young man lower his clean eyelids, slowly and delicately sucking on his own slender fingers one by one; his unhurried, meticulous manner exuded an undeniable sensuality.

Taking advantage of the desk lamp's faint glow, Shu Shu could see clearly; her cheeks and neck felt as if they'd been roasted by fire, burning hot.

!

This little bastard, too… sexy.

Shu Shu couldn't help but avert her gaze; in her peripheral vision she noticed his arm propping at his side, then he crawled over to hug her.

Just a hug.

Because Pei Du knew that at times like this he couldn't kiss her—before she rinsed her mouth, she wouldn't let him kiss her.

Much time passed; Pei Du neither rinsed his mouth nor did anything else, still quietly holding Shu Shu from behind; if one overlooked a certain detail, she would have thought he was asleep.

She turned her head to look; the young man's dark eyes were clear and alert—he showed no sign of sleep, yet also no indication of wanting to go further.

Pei Du, you……

He took her hand, pressed his face against her soft palm, guiding her to be affectionate with him, nonchalant: "Yinyin, don't worry about it, just worry about me."

…

Pei Du carried Shu Shu to the bathroom, simply cleaned up, adjusted the lights, and covered them with a blanket; his calm demeanor throughout was the opposite of his actual state.

"Pei Du, you're acting weird today." Shu Shu studied him, voicing her sixth sense: "I feel like you might be… unhappy?"

No.

Not unhappy.

Pei Du embraced her, denied it twice in a row, then lowered his head and lightly kissed her forehead with his lips, tone normal: "Yinyin, good night."

Okay, Shu Shu was indeed tired, and she fell asleep not long after.

But halfway through sleep, she reached out and felt an empty space beside her.

Her sleepiness vanished instantly, and she opened her eyes.

The room was silently quiet, the desk lamp emitting a dim warm light; Shu Shu sat up, looked around, and finally caught sight of a tall, slender figure standing on the balcony through the gap in the curtains that weren't drawn tight.

Shu Shu pushed open the glass door and realized how cold it was outside, even windy, but Pei Du, wearing thin clothes, was oblivious.

He didn't know how long he'd been standing there; his upright back looked inexplicably forlorn. She hugged his waist from behind, and the chill of his clothing made her shiver.

Why aren't you sleeping?

Pei Du turned around, took her hand and pulled her into his embrace, frowning: "You'll catch a cold."

"Oh, then you won't catch a cold?" Shu Shu poked him: "I'm asking you, why aren't you sleeping?"

After two seconds of silence, Pei Du said: "I had a nightmare."

Was it a terrible dream?

A bit.

"It's fine, it's fine." Shu Shu, still a bit dazed, closed her eyes and patted his back, soothing him: "Nightmares and reality are opposites, Xiao Du, don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

The two returned to the bedroom.

Just now it was pitch black outside; after Shu Shu came in, she noticed something and leaned in to look at him: "Your eyes… why do they look reddish?"

The wind's cold, it blew.

Is that so?

Yeah, the room has heating." Pei Du rested his chin on her head: "It won't stay red for long."

... Alright.

Shu Shu slowly closed her eyes again, and just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard a low whisper by her ear: "Yinyin is so popular."

"... Huh?" After a few seconds, Shu Shu slowly realized he was referring to when he blew her hair earlier: "Pei Du, are you jealous?"

But is the reaction time for this jealousy a bit long?

He tightened his arm around her, and she heard him ask: "Yinyin, can you delete them all?"

Who?

At this moment, Shu Shu was really sleepy, and her drowsiness made her treat Pei Du's obscure remark as just his petty jealousy, nothing more.

She thought, this idiot spends so long in the study every day; when will he finally notice her voice recorder? She's given him plenty of hints.

…

Two days later.

Shu Shu received an email from Siwei.

"Dear Shu, about what happened that day with Ji Lun, are you still mad at me?"

"I bought you new ski gear to make amends; Shu, please forgive me and add me back, okay 555……"

Shu Shu was bewildered, asking Siwei why she sent her an email, and what "add me back" meant.

"You didn't delete me, did you, Shu? QAQ."

Shu Shu stared, checked her list and found Siwei's chat window gone; when she searched Siwei's account, it showed the contact was in a blocked state.

It was delete and block.

Shu Shu definitely didn't do that, and besides herself, only Pei Du could unlock her phone.

It was me.

After Shu Shu added Siwei back, she uncertainly went to find Pei Du.

He was in the kitchen making lunch, a slim waist tied with an apron; hearing the question, his hand holding the spoon paused half a beat, but he admitted it without any guilt.

... Why?

Shu Shu was a bit dazed, associating it with that night when Siwei's phone was taken and someone tried to add her as a friend.

But that's not right either; such things have happened before—several times when she went out, Pei Du came to find her and happened to see her being hit on.

Pei Du would take her hand, say nothing, just stand beside her staring at the other person; upon seeing their clasped hands, the other would realize what was going on and quickly apologize and leave.

Then, nothing else followed; the incident just passed like that, making Shu Shu unable to resist pinching his face to tease him, wondering if he was jealous.

Of course.

At that time he said, "I really am jealous; I really like Yinyin."

It's the kind of possessive liking where he wishes he could make her transparent so only he could see her, but he can't forbid others from liking her—she's so good, it's normal for her to attract attention.

Liking someone, wanting to be together long-term, isn't about suppressing their aura to hide your own mediocrity so they end up on the same level; it's about learning to become better yourself, striving to match them.

"So many people want to play with Yinyin." Pei Du lowered his gaze, long lashes casting shadows on his cold-white skin, his voice sounding a bit cold: "It annoys me."

"..." Shu Shu, puzzled: "Siwei is a girl."

"Girls are the same too; anyone who takes away time that belongs to us, I don't like."

"..."

Shu Shu opened her mouth, feeling a sort of dumbfounded sensation, as if she had understood her expression; Pei Du then said: "Before was before; from now on, Yinyin will only look at me, and I will only look at you—just the two of us. Isn't that good?"

Not good?

Good???

Shu Shu instinctively sensed something wrong with Pei Du before her; her first reaction was to ask: "Pei Du, what's wrong with you…?"

"I'm fine; I just suddenly realized that pretending to be magnanimous is actually quite difficult, and I don't want to keep up the act anymore—it's not the real me." He walked over, stood before her, took her hand into his palm, gripping it so tightly it caused a faint pain: "Yinyin, isn't the essence of love like this—being exclusive, which is selfishness?"

From that day on, Shu Shu felt that Pei Du had become strange and weird.

Whenever she picked up her phone for more than a minute, Pei Du would interrogate her about whom she was chatting with; then that night, after she fell asleep, he would take her phone and go through every chat thread in her list, checking them one by one.

Like a sentinel on duty, he feared she would chat with someone about over-the-line content.

This made Shu Shu very uncomfortable.

That night.

Phone light illuminated the young man's angular face; he wore no expression, his slender fingers sliding across the screen.

Shu Shu wasn't asleep; when he was about to press the delete key on the other party's profile page, she finally spoke: "This is the customer service of a car modification shop; she messaged me only to say new stock had arrived, asking if I was interested—the conversation never exceeded eight lines. Do you really need to delete even this much?"

His hand hovered in midair, and he didn't utter a sound.

"Pei Du, don't you think you're being a bit unreasonable?" Shu Shu sat up, took her phone back from his hand, paused, and said: "I feel like you're deliberately looking for an excuse to pick a fight with me, but I don't want to argue with you."

"You might need some alone time; fine, I'll give you that."

After saying that, Shu Shu was about to leave, but Pei Du got out of bed a step ahead of her, tossed off the six words "I'm going to the next room," and left the master bedroom.

"..."

Shu Shu basically kept her eyes open until dawn the next day.

Unable to sleep, she simply got up, opened the bedroom door, and saw Pei Du making breakfast in the kitchen; he remained silent the whole time, offering no explanation for what had happened over the past two days.

Seeing this, Shu Shu didn't know what else to say; she glanced at Pei Du for a few seconds, then picked up her phone, headed straight for the entryway, put on her shoes, opened the door, closed it, and left smoothly.