Shu Shu blurted out instinctively, “How is that possible? Isn’t her husband the richest man in our city?!”

The customers who often bought books at her store were either the movie queen’s biological son or the son of the richest man. This kind of plot—she wouldn’t even dare dream of it.

Qi Sen’s tone was still calm, like he was casually talking about buying a book.

“Probably.”

Shu Shu was completely dumbfounded.

How could Qi Sen be so calm about this?! The son of the city’s richest family! A real-life young master! Shouldn’t he be freaking out a little?!

**

With Shu Shu’s help, Qi Sen finally breathed a sigh of relief. He simply replied to his classmate, “No need to bother them, I have a solution,” and didn’t pay Pei Shen any more attention.

Asking others for help? Impossible.

Qi Sen thought to himself silently.

The next day at noon, Qi Sen once again made ham, egg, and corn fried rice—Cancan’s favorite.

“Giggle—Won’t we bring some to Third Brother?” Cancan asked while stuffing a big bite into her mouth, struggling to chew and speaking with a cute, mushy voice.

Qi Sen calmly picked out a few extra pieces of ham for her and said casually, “We’re out of rice. If we send some over, there’ll be none left for Cancan. How about packing your own meal and giving it to him?”

Cancan’s eyes widened, hugging her bowl tightly like a little dragon guarding its treasure.

“No, no! Third Brother and Second Brother are both grown-ups! They can cook for themselves!” she said pitifully.

The past few days, she only insisted on bringing food because she wanted to see Third Brother. But now, upon hearing that giving food away meant losing her precious ham… she immediately forgot all about Pei Shen and clutched her bowl tightly.

Ham was too delicious! She had to eat lots and lots of it!

While Cancan and Qi Sen finished their meal happily and headed out to play with Peach, Pei Shen—upstairs—was definitely not having a good time.

He paced back and forth in the living room, haunted by the voice message Lao Tan had sent.

【Pei Shen, seems like Qi Sen found someone else to help him. He said he doesn’t need us anymore.】

The cute, sweet voice of Cancan echoed in Pei Shen’s mind, sending him into a panic.

It’s over. It’s all over. Qi Sen didn’t need him anymore!!

Maybe… maybe Cancan was angry too? Because tonight, for the first time, Cancan didn’t come by to bring him dinner!

Dinner tasted like ashes.

Pei Shen tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep.

Even when he closed his eyes, his mind wouldn’t stop spinning—relentlessly analyzing why he cared so much about Qi Sen and Cancan all of a sudden.

Recalling everything that had happened over the past few days, Pei Shen suddenly sat bolt upright in bed.

Qi Sen’s plan was clear now—

The way to a person’s heart… is through their stomach!!

He had been tricked!!!

Author’s note: Qi Sen: ? Why am I being falsely accused? I did nothing!

Chapter 8: Cancan

Pei Shen spent the whole night thinking about Cancan not bringing him food, barely getting any sleep. When he woke up, he felt completely drained, his heart thudding anxiously against his ribs.

He lay in bed for a while before the suffocating feeling slowly eased. After rubbing his chest until it felt a little better, he yawned and reluctantly got up.

While brushing his teeth, he absentmindedly counted how many heart palpitations he’d had lately.

It seemed like they were happening more often—what used to be twice a week had become nearly once a day. Besides not sleeping well last night, it was probably because of staying up too late preparing for his thesis and the chemistry competition.

Looks like once the competition’s over, he’ll have to make time for a check-up with Dr. Liu.

Drying his fair hands with a towel, Pei Shen massaged his sore shoulders and reached for a little red box sitting by the sink.

In the mirror, his face was pale, lips drained of any color—completely different from the bright and lively image he usually showed outside.

He opened the box of blush—something most people only used for makeup—and quickly rubbed his palms together to warm them up before patting a little color onto his cheeks. He massaged it in for ten-odd seconds until he looked properly healthy again.

Then he lightly dabbed on some lip balm.

The shade he chose was very subtle, matching a natural lip color so perfectly that no one would notice a thing outside.

Pei Shen pressed his lips together. The weather had turned dry with the arrival of autumn, and his lips were starting to crack a little.

He had always been frail, plagued with illnesses big and small since childhood. His classmates often teased him, saying he was like a “male version of Lin Daiyu.”

His parents had once spent everything they had trying to cure him. Eventually, out of desperation, they left him in his grandma’s care while they went away to work.

But fate is cruel.

One drunk driver… one car crash… Both his parents were gone.

And then three years ago, Grandma left too. After that, Pei Shen had lived alone.

Neighbors sometimes gave him pitying glances, as if he were some abandoned little puppy. Pei Shen always found it laughable.

Living alone wasn’t the end of the world. His parents had already sacrificed everything for his childhood and his happiness. He had been loved and cherished—what reason did he have to complain?

After fixing himself up, he put on his headphones, shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and trotted downstairs excitedly to buy breakfast.

The shredded chicken noodles at the noodle shop downstairs were legendary—if you went late, you’d miss out.

As he passed by Qi Sen and Cancan’s door, Pei Shen couldn’t help but slow his steps.

He sneakily glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then crept up and pressed his ear to their door.

It was already eight o’clock. Still sleeping.

Pei Shen clicked his tongue in disapproval.

See, this is the difference. A top student like him was already up, eating and studying, while a slacker like Qi Sen was still snoring away. No wonder his chemistry grades were so terrible.

But then a thought suddenly hit him, and Pei Shen’s eyes lit up.

If he brought them breakfast, Cancan would be so happy seeing all the delicious food in the beautiful morning! Wouldn’t that be the perfect way to make up for his mistake yesterday?

Grinning like a fool, he skipped downstairs, already imagining Cancan’s bright smile.

At the noodle shop—

Cancan was already holding a fork in her chubby little hand, clumsily picking up a few strands of noodles and stuffing them into her mouth.

Qi Sen sat beside her, patiently wiping her messy hands and greasy little mouth.

“Do you want some more noodles?” Qi Sen asked gently.