Li Yunhui struggled for a long time.

It wasn’t until there was little time left in the ten-minute break Li Zhengshen had mentioned that he finally bit the bullet and said, “Shuyun is in a class meeting, but he wants to see you.”

Then, he sent a video request.

The video call was connected instantly, as if the person on the other end had been waiting for it all along.

On the phone screen, the familiar dark-toned room background appeared again.

This was the place where Li Zhengshen had video-called last night.

A night had passed. The decorative vase that was originally on the far left of the room was gone, and the crystal table lamp next to it had also been replaced. Other than that, the entire room was no different from the last time he saw it.

Li Zhengshen was still sitting on his spacious sofa. His legs were crossed, and a quietly burning cigarette was held between two fingers of his left hand.

His gaze towards the phone was still calm, his aura as steady as a mountain, as if all the accidents of last night had never happened.

But—

Li Yunhui remembered clearly.

Before last night, Li Zhengshen had always held his cigarette with his right hand.

And now?

Li Zhengshen’s right hand was casually resting on his leg, a position that required almost no effort.

Li Yunhui: “…”

Li Yunhui was the first to break the silence. “Is your right hand injured?”

Li Zhengshen looked down in surprise and said, “Oh, it’s nothing. A minor injury.”

Li Yunhui was expressionless. “…A ‘minor injury’ that makes you switch hands to hold a cigarette? Don’t treat me like an idiot, Li Zhengshen.”

Li Zhengshen frowned slightly, subconsciously opening his mouth to say something, but for some reason, the words got stuck in his throat.

The atmosphere fell silent again.

Not receiving the expected sarcastic rebuttal, Li Yunhui suddenly felt uncomfortable all over, feeling out of place.

Just then, his brother’s message suddenly popped up from the top of the video screen.

Shuyun: “Brother! Are you on a video call with Dad? Is Dad injured? How is everything now?”

Li Yunhui no longer had time to feel out of place. He first sent a screenshot of the video to his brother, then edited a reply to comfort him. “Don’t worry, Li Zhengshen, he…”

The reply got stuck.

Li Yunhui had no choice but to look up and ask Li Zhengshen, “Shuyun is asking how things are on your end?”

“And,” his gaze fell on Li Zhengshen’s right hand, “are you injured?”

Li Zhengshen said, “Just tell him everything is fine, no need to worry.”

Li Yunhui: “…”

Li Yunhui frowned in dissatisfaction. “Li Zhengshen, don’t be perfunctory. Shuyun is concerned about you!”

Li Zhengshen stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and said lightly, “No broken arms, no broken legs. All the spoils of war are about to be bagged—this is a complete victory.”

Hearing this, Li Yunhui’s anger flared up. What did he mean? Was he saying that all the tension and insecurity he and Shuyun had felt for the past two days were for nothing?

However, just as his anger flared, Li Yunhui suddenly remembered the news the butler had told them last night.

…Li Zhengshen had indeed been ambushed by his enemies last night.

The danger and crisis were real.

It was just that in Li Zhengshen’s mouth, all these crises were reduced to zero.

Li Yunhui: “…Li Zhengshen. Has anyone ever told you that your mouth is really annoying?”

Li Zhengshen was surprised. “Hmm? No.”

Li Yunhui sneered. “Well, now you have.”

Li Zhengshen: “?”

The atmosphere fell into a stiff silence.

Li Yunhui was a little annoyed. He thought, he really shouldn’t have chatted with Li Zhengshen alone.

What could he and Li Zhengshen possibly talk about? …Nothing. A quick look to confirm that Li Zhengshen was indeed fine, not disabled or seriously injured, was enough.

So he quickly replied to his brother’s message, planning to find an excuse to end the call directly.

However, just before he could speak, Li Zhengshen, who had been silent for a long time just like him, suddenly spoke.

Li Zhengshen’s words were a bit stiff. “You… take good care of Shuyun over there. Set a good example for him.”

Li Yunhui listened, and the words felt extremely familiar.

Not too long ago, the object in these words was him.

At that time, he only felt that Li Zhengshen always looked down on him, was always too controlling, trying to take over his life.

But now?

…He fully understood and supported Li Zhengshen’s two requests for his brother.

Li Yunhui raised his eyebrows. “Don’t you worry. I’ve been taking care of Shuyun for half a year… I know how to take care of him, at least better than you do.”

Li Zhengshen replied lightly, “Oh? Can someone who can’t even manage his own affairs really take good care of his brother?”

Li Yunhui’s eyes widened in shock. “How dare you say that about me? No matter what, I’m not like you, coming home every day to see Shuyun with injuries here and there!”

Li Zhengshen: “I said, these are all minor injuries.”

A fierce argument erupted from both ends of the screen.

It immediately enlivened the originally dull and silent atmosphere.

This argument was different from all their previous arguments.

At least when their argument finally returned to the topic of Li Shuyun, they reached an agreement on something for the first time.

Li Zhengshen: “Make him walk the right path, don’t let him play with dangerous things, and especially don’t let him come looking for me.”

Li Yunhui: “Make him walk the right path, don’t let him go looking for you, and especially don’t show him any dangerous things!”

So much so that when Li Yunhui hung up the video call, he was still in a state of disbelief.

He had actually had a peaceful, one-on-one video call with Li Zhengshen, and the call even lasted for ten minutes.

…He had actually spent a whole ten minutes peacefully with Li Zhengshen?!

---

It didn’t take Cheng Huanzhen much time to get replies from both sides.

The moment he got the news, Cheng Huanzhen’s eyes were as if nailed to the phone screen.

He stared at the words replied by the two on WeChat, and for a moment, his head felt a little dizzy.

Qi Wendong likes strawberries. Fang Chengyu likes strawberries.

Little Uncle likes strawberries. Li Shuyun also likes strawberries.

Qi Wendong came to the capital three and a half years ago and died two and a half years ago.

Not long after his death, Fang Chengyu came to the capital and died one and a half years ago.

A couple of days later, Little Uncle returned home and went missing more than half a year ago.

After a relatively long time—a full two months—Li Shuyun returned to the capital.

Cheng Huanzhen was still on the campus of A University.

Before receiving the news, he was walking towards the school gate.

However, the moment he received the news, his steps faltered twice.

It was just at a crossroads. A car stepped on the gas before he stepped onto the crosswalk, intending to speed through. As a result of his faltering, his head almost collided with that car!

The car owner’s face turned pale with fright. After passing the intersection, he quickly stopped, rolled down the window, and looked back, shouting at him about what was going on.

However, Cheng Huanzhen had no perception of this.

Cheng Huanzhen walked across the road in a daze and stopped under a tree on the roadside. He held onto the tree trunk, trying to calm his dizzy and throbbing head.

Strawberry. Strawberry. Strawberry. Strawberry.

Why were there so many strawberries with such high frequency? A 100% hit rate, how much higher was that than the probability of people in a crowd liking strawberries?

Cheng Huanzhen held onto the tree trunk, his other hand holding the phone, trembling slightly.

Reason told him that he should strike while the iron was hot, take out all the preferences that Little Uncle and Li Shuyun had in common, and ask if Qi and Fang’s preferences were consistent with them.

But his fingertips trembled on the phone screen for a full three minutes, and he still couldn’t press down.

…So strange. So strange. So strange.

This was clearly just his craziest guess.

But how… how… could there actually be progress?!

Cheng Huanzhen didn’t know.

He felt his mind was in a mess.

Countless details—whether about Little Uncle, Li Shuyun, or the information he got from Li Yunhui, or the various rumors from other people—grew and intertwined in his mind, tangling together.

His brain was still subconsciously making more associations.

For example, the social networks of these four people, for example, the funeral situations of two of them, for example, some rumors that were vaguely circulating in their circle…

No. Don’t think. Stop.

Stop—!!!

The scream-like stop finally pulled him out of his involuntary high-speed operation.

Cheng Huanzhen panted softly. His forehead and back were covered in a layer of cold sweat.

Cheng Huanzhen couldn’t say what kind of mood he was in right now.

Was it anticipation? Was it fear? Was it unease? Was it confusion?

…He didn’t know either.

But the only thing he knew and was sure of was—

No… these clues, before he could completely confirm them, absolutely could not be known by anyone else!

Not Li Yunhui, not Qi Xiuyi, not Fang Ji, not even his father!

In a daze, Cheng Huanzhen staggered back the way he came.

Unconsciously, he was once again standing under the teaching building.

Just then, a wave of new students was pouring out of the teaching building.

They gathered in twos and threes, talking and laughing cautiously together.

Cheng Huanzhen was not interested in any of these people. There was only one person he was looking for.

He searched hard in the crowd for that familiar figure, the “little junior” with short brown hair who spoke in a soft, gentle voice.

Soon, his gaze stopped, unmoving.

He saw the person.

It was just that next to the slender figure, there was also a strong, tall figure.

The tall one had a brilliant smile on his face.

He was gesturing wildly, very excitedly saying something to the brown-haired young man, his manner very exaggerated, looking like he was trying hard to make the brown-haired young man laugh.

But the brown-haired young man only ever smiled faintly, a very polite smile.

He responded to the other’s words in a gentle, patient voice: “…No need, senior. My brother usually takes me to school… Yes, my brother used to go to B University next door… Really no need, senior…”

Cheng Huanzhen couldn’t be bothered to judge what the relationship between the tall figure and Li Shuyun was.

When he saw Li Shuyun, he was like a magnet, his legs naturally taking steps, striding towards Li Shuyun.

He almost rudely and forcefully inserted himself between the two figures.

However, he was not aware of this.

Because the tall figure had never even appeared in his eyes.

He stared straight at Li Shuyun, came to him, and called out, “Shuyun!”

Li Shuyun was drawn by his gaze, and with a surprised and gentle smile, he greeted him, “We meet again, Senior Huanzhen.”

Soft and gentle. It was Li Shuyun’s usual style.

However, when their eyes met, when the silent eyes fell into the clear ones.

Cheng Huanzhen suddenly felt that in these clean, beautiful eyes, there was a vast, calm sea. Just by standing here, without saying anything, all his thoughts seemed to be reflected clearly.