It was Cheng Huanzhen’s first time at the Li family home.

As soon as he knocked, the Li family’s butler recognized him and immediately invited him into the living room.

The butler was somewhat surprised by his sudden visit. He led him to the sofa in the living room, and after pouring him a cup of tea, the Li family’s butler politely inquired, “Did you have a prior appointment with Young Master Shuyun?”

Cheng Huanzhen said, “I apologize, it was a sudden plan. I haven’t spoken with Shuyun yet.”

The butler nodded. “Then please have some tea, Young Master Cheng. I will go inform Young Master Shuyun.”

A short while later, the butler came back downstairs.

The butler made a “please” gesture towards him and said, “Young Master Cheng, Young Master Shuyun invites you to his room for a visit. Young Master Shuyun has injured his leg these past two days and finds it inconvenient to get out of bed.”

Cheng Huanzhen was surprised. “He injured his leg? Is it serious? How did he get injured?”

The butler said ambiguously, “Young Master Shuyun was a bit too reckless while out playing and sprained his foot. His ankle is still swollen.”

As they spoke, the butler led Cheng Huanzhen into the elevator.

Exiting the elevator, they were at the top of the stairs. Two men stood there. Cheng Huanzhen recognized one of them as Li Yunhui. The burly man opposite him was likely a Li family bodyguard. The two stood facing each other with tense hostility.

When he stepped out of the elevator, Li Yunhui happened to turn his head as well.

His eyes were fixed on him. He nodded at him and said with a slightly polite tone, “Welcome. This is your first time at our home, isn’t it?”

Cheng Huanzhen was very puzzled. “Yes. What are you two…?”

The butler smiled and led him past the bodyguard, saying to him, “Please don’t worry, Young Master Cheng. This is just one of our regular family activities.”

Cheng Huanzhen listened with confusion, then thought seriously and understood. “I see.”

Soon, he followed the butler to Li Shuyun’s bedroom door. The butler knocked and said, “Young Master, Young Master Huanzhen is here.”

A clear and gentle voice quickly came from inside. “Please come in.”

The butler then opened the door, made a “please” gesture with his hand, and said to him amicably, “Young Master Huanzhen, please chat with Young Master Shuyun first. I will go bring you some tea.”

Cheng Huanzhen politely thanked the butler.

He entered the room. The bedroom was bright, and the warm morning sunlight of summer slanted into the air-conditioned room, spreading across the bed and making the young man’s brown hair glint with specks of gold.

“Hello, Huanzhen.”

Li Shuyun was sitting up against the headboard, wearing a white jacket over his long-sleeved pajamas.

He smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, my leg isn’t doing well these past two days, so I can’t get out of bed to greet you.”

Li Shuyun’s smile was gentle and soft, completely different from his little uncle’s flamboyance.

When Cheng Huanzhen saw him, he would always involuntarily think of his little uncle.

It was clear that the differences between Li Shuyun and his little uncle were so great.

Their personalities, their looks, the blood that flowed in their veins—all highlighted their differences. They were completely two different people.

However, just like a traveler lost in the desert, in a state of extreme dehydration, would always fantasize about an oasis ahead, even having hallucinations and auditory illusions, and all their senses would betray them, making them firmly believe the mirage was real.

Cheng Huanzhen would also always involuntarily and subconsciously try to find similarities between Li Shuyun and his little uncle.

For example, their age, their height. For example, the warm joy that would color their eyes when they smiled.

For example, their almost identical food preferences.

For example, their overly similar habits in the finest of details.

Just like now.

When he entered the bedroom, Li Shuyun smiled and greeted him, then used his right hand to grab the center of the blanket, pulling it towards the far side of the bed, clearing a space on the left side of the bed.

Then he said to him, “Sit.”

It was just like during the time he was taking care of his little uncle, every time he went into his little uncle’s room, his little uncle would habitually make room for him.

So much so that in that instant, Cheng Huanzhen even wanted to ask Li Shuyun.

Ask him if he liked the color red, ask him if he had a habit of making plans, ask him if he had ever been to No. 3027 Hutong in the capital.

But all these thoughts, in the short distance of three or four steps from the door to the bedside, were completely suppressed by reason and calmness.

In the end, they all turned into a polite and simple, “Hello, Shuyun. I came to see you.”

At this moment, outside the bedroom, at the end of the hallway, at the top of the stairs.

Li Yunhui was still in a standoff with the bodyguard.

This bodyguard was a man of few words.

No matter what he said or tried to persuade, he just stood there silently with his hands behind his back, using his massive body to block the entire passage.

No matter what tactic he used—lures, threats, forcing his way through, detours, feints… he would always stand firmly in front of him, blocking his path with his body.

Li Yunhui was extremely annoyed with him.

After thinking it over, he simply shouted the butler’s full name, luring him out from the kitchen.

The butler frowned with great dissatisfaction and stopped him. “Eldest Young Master, there’s a guest in the young master’s bedroom.”

Li Yunhui glanced at him. “You also know that’s Shuyun’s ‘friend’.”

He sighed faintly. “I really didn’t expect that after what happened yesterday, you could still be so at ease, letting Shuyun’s ‘friend’ be by his side without any vigilance—”

He met the butler’s questioning gaze and said with a smile, “Shuyun just returned to the capital. How many friends has he made in total? Who have we even seen of the ‘friends’ Shuyun has used as an excuse these past few weeks?”

“Shuyun just got injured yesterday, and Cheng Huanzhen suddenly visits today. You don’t have any suspicions about the reason for this?”

“You haven’t thought at all—that perhaps the ‘friend’ Shuyun mentioned, the one who instigated Shuyun to try skydiving alone, is this very Young Master Cheng?”

The butler’s brow furrowed tightly. “Young Master Cheng doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would do such a thing.”

Li Yunhui said lightly, “You can’t judge a book by its cover. Shuyun is such a well-behaved child. Looking at his appearance, could you have guessed his passion for extreme sports?”

Li Yunhui gestured to the huge bodyguard blocking his way.

He sneered. “Today, he came to our house, perhaps to conspire with Shuyun about their next adventure.”

“I want to go over and stop them, or at least keep an eye on them. But you? You are indulging an outsider in tempting Shuyun!”

Li Yunhui asked aggressively, “Shuyun had just let go of some of his thoughts on extreme sports because of his injury. What if his desire is rekindled today? Do you really have a way to make him stop extreme sports? If Shuyun’s addiction becomes even worse because of your stubbornness now, can you afford to take that responsibility?”

The butler was speechless.

The butler was at a loss for words, his brow knitted tightly together.

How could Young Master Cheng be that kind of person?

But he indeed didn’t have a deep impression of Young Master Cheng and couldn’t guarantee that Young Master Cheng wasn’t the kind of person the Eldest Young Master described.

After all, the Eldest Young Master did know Young Master Cheng, while he had only occasionally heard Young Master Cheng’s name in the capital’s gossip circles.

The identity of the “friend” the young master mentioned was a mystery.

What if…

The trouble with everything is thinking ‘what if’.

The butler thought for a long while and finally, reluctantly, waved his hand to let the bodyguard make way.

The butler warned, “Eldest Young Master, just this once. After today, don’t think you can use any method to continue evading Mr. Li’s request.”

Li Yunhui smiled.

The moment the bodyguard turned sideways, he quickly passed through the top of the stairs.

His toes landed lightly on the second-floor corridor. He brought two fingers together, made a gesture back at the butler, and responded with a grin, “Thanks for letting me pass!”

The fabricated reason was tossed to the back of his mind as he walked.

In its place was the subconscious vigilance of an older brother.

…Last time, at Old Master Cheng’s birthday banquet, Cheng Huanzhen had been very enthusiastic towards Shuyun.

Why would the usually NPC-like Cheng Huanzhen suddenly be so enthusiastic towards his brother?

Something was wrong. There must be something wrong!

Li Yunhui strode quickly to the door.

He could faintly hear something from inside: “…don’t worry, just choose what Shuyun likes… I will record it seriously…”

Li Yunhui: ?

The ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger. His eye twitched heavily. He skipped the step of knocking and threw the door open with force!

The scene inside the room came into view.

He saw Cheng Huanzhen sitting on the edge of the bed, very close to his brother, holding up a piece of cantaloupe to his brother’s mouth, while whispering something to him in a soft voice.

His brother was holding a phone that was clearly not his, carefully reading something.

Hearing Cheng Huanzhen’s words, he raised his eyelids, smiled faintly, and accepted the piece of cantaloupe the other had speared for him, his eyes curving into beautiful crescent moons.

This smile was exactly the same as the one his brother often showed him three weeks ago!

…

“Don’t mind that the list is long. We don’t need to visit every single one… Shuyun just needs to choose the shops he likes to try.”

Inside the bedroom, Cheng Huanzhen spoke slowly and seriously to Li Shuyun.

He speared pieces of fruit one by one, asking “do you want to eat this?” for each type, and then decided whether the fruit would end up in Li Shuyun’s mouth or his own based on the answer.

Li Shuyun was currently holding his phone.

The phone screen displayed a list document with a full thousand rows.

On it was a dense record of the collection of shops in the capital that he had gathered, which his little uncle would like.

…Hiring people to stake out these shops 24/7 was a very stupid and brute-force method.

But when all other paths were blocked, a desperate person would try anything.

And this document was one of the results of Cheng Huanzhen’s desperate attempts.

Of course, the stakeout personnel, he had already hired.

He had hired people to watch all these shops without blinking for a full three months.

Then, two months ago, he had to admit that this was indeed a useless and stupid method, and dejectedly moved it, along with countless other discarded methods of searching for people, into the recycle bin.

It was only just now, under a flash of inspiration, that he had pulled it out of the recycle bin again.

Li Shuyun read the names of the shops on the phone seriously and asked for confirmation, “I just need to find ‘the shops I think your little uncle would like the most’ from this list, and that’s it? …Is this really useful?”

Cheng Huanzhen said calmly, “Whether it’s useful or not… we have to try. A full-scale, all-day surveillance of all locations is not realistic, but if we can pick out a few core shops with the highest hope, then the stakeout plan can be sustained long-term.”

Li Shuyun was a soft-hearted and gentle person.

Ever since he heard him tell the story of his search for his little uncle, he had felt great sympathy for his plight.

When he made his request for help, he had very kindly agreed to help him with this favor.

Cheng Huanzhen looked into Li Shuyun’s clear and innocent eyes and suddenly felt a small twinge of guilt.

He hadn’t deceived Li Shuyun.

He had just…

left out one sentence.