“And then I went back to the bar to find you again,” Pei Qingjian continued. “I couldn’t exactly tell you that your cousin was trying to send someone to get close to you. But I was also afraid he might succeed someday. So the only thing I could do was keep asking you every day—can we try dating today? If not today, what about tomorrow?”
“Luckily you agreed. Otherwise I really wouldn’t have known what to do.”
Lin Xingchen nodded. “So in other words, you’re actually a spy Lin Rui planted beside me.”
Pei Qingjian’s eyes widened immediately. “How can you say that? I volunteered myself to repay you for saving me.”
Lin Xingchen: …
Lin Xingchen glanced at him sideways.
Pei Qingjian continued confidently, “There’s a saying—better a thief who steals than one who keeps you in mind. Lin Rui had his eye on you. If I hadn’t come, he would’ve found someone else sooner or later. Eventually there would have been someone by your side working for him.”
Hearing that, Lin Xingchen suddenly remembered something. Before he met Pei Qingjian, he would occasionally run into situations where someone either staged a heroic rescue or tried to set him up for compensation.
They were always young men or women who looked righteous and passionate—insisting on treating him to dinner or adding him on WeChat, eager to repay even the smallest favor a hundredfold.
So that was what had been going on.
“Then how can I be sure you’re not one of them?” Lin Xingchen smiled. “Maybe you really were sent by Lin Rui, and everything you’re telling me now is just something you deliberately made up to gain my trust. Maybe the first time we met at the bar—you only appeared because you wanted to get close to me.”
Damn! He got everything exactly right!
No wonder he’s my benefactor—so smart.
If the timing weren’t so bad, Pei Qingjian would have applauded his benefactor right then and there. Amazing! No wonder in the original story you discovered the original host’s problem so quickly!
But the person standing in front of Lin Xingchen now wasn’t the original host—it was him. So he had to keep making things up. Just keep going.
“I knew you’d think that. That’s why I didn’t tell you from the beginning.”
“Then why tell me now?”
“Because he contacted me today,” Pei Qingjian said, taking out his phone and showing him the call from Lin Rui earlier that day.
Lin Xingchen leaned closer and glanced at it. It wasn’t a number he recognized—apparently Lin Rui was being cautious.
“What did he say?”
“He just asked how things were going with you. Asked how the plan was progressing. Asked if you and I had slept together yet.”
“And what did you say?” Lin Xingchen asked with curiosity.
“Of course I said no. I told him you don’t get very close to me and you don’t want to sleep with me—you just want me to handle your three daily meals and be your housekeeper!”
Lin Xingchen: …
For some reason, Lin Xingchen found that statement strangely hard to interpret.
Was that supposed to be sarcasm?
Or a subtle complaint?
No matter how he heard it, something about the statement felt off.
Lin Xingchen’s expression turned complicated. “Actually, I said before that the three meals a day could be handled by someone else too. It doesn’t necessarily have to be you personally cooking.”
He wasn’t actually trying to hire a housekeeper.
Pei Qingjian: ???
Is that really the point here? Shouldn’t the point be Lin Rui?
Why are we talking about meals?
Was the food he made not good enough?
Why should someone else cook instead?
“Who’s talking about meals?” Pei Qingjian said helplessly. “I’m talking about Lin Rui. Lin Rui had me approach you to make you fall in love with me—but that definitely wasn’t his ultimate goal. He must have planned to use your feelings for me for something later. But he didn’t say what, so I don’t know either. That’s why I asked if there’s some kind of conflict between you two. What does he want to get from you?”
Lin Xingchen nodded. What else could it be? Of course it was about the shares he held.
But it was also possible that what Lin Rui wanted wasn’t the shares themselves, but rather for him and his uncle to fight each other—so that Lin Rui could sit back and reap the benefits.
Tsk. Quite a lot of effort for such a scheme.
Lin Xingchen turned to look at Pei Qingjian. “One question.”
“What?” Pei Qingjian asked, puzzled.
“How can I be sure you’re not a double agent, deceiving both sides?”
Pei Qingjian: …
Pei Qingjian thought about it, then nodded in agreement. “You’re right.”
“So you should just treat me like a double agent! Be appropriately wary of me! Be careful of me! Keep your distance from me! Be afraid of me!”
That way, Lin Rui definitely wouldn’t gain even the slightest advantage through Lin Xingchen!
Not bad!
“Alright, it’s settled then. Let’s eat.”
After saying that, Pei Qingjian picked up his chopsticks and started helping himself to the dishes.
Lin Xingchen: ???
Lin Xingchen: …
That’s it? That’s really it?
At this moment, shouldn’t he be declaring his loyalty, pouring out his feelings, swearing to the heavens that his heart belonged only to him?
Why had he started eating instead?!
Annoyed, Lin Xingchen grabbed his chopsticks and went to take the dish Pei Qingjian was reaching for.
Caught off guard, Pei Qingjian found his chopsticks pinned down. He glanced at Lin Xingchen, who was wearing a look of open provocation, and had no choice but to reach for another dish.
But the moment his chopsticks touched it, Lin Xingchen pinned them down again.
Pei Qingjian: ???
“What are you doing?”
Lin Xingchen replied calmly, “Double agents don’t deserve to eat.”
Pei Qingjian: ???
Pei Qingjian snorted. Just as Lin Xingchen picked up a piece of food and was about to put it in his mouth, he spoke slowly.
“I poisoned it.”
Lin Xingchen: ???
Lin Xingchen looked at him, only to see Pei Qingjian wearing a smug expression. “Double agents love poisoning people.”
Lin Xingchen: …
Lin Xingchen opened his mouth and stuffed the baby cabbage between his chopsticks into it. “Tell me then—what kind of poison? An aphrodisiac?”
“In your dreams! Aphrodisiac? It’s rat poison. Eat it and you’ll go straight to meet God!”
Lin Xingchen chuckled softly and set his chopsticks on his bowl.
“Then I’ll make sure to tell God I left a canary behind in the human world and ask Him to send it up to me.”
Pei Qingjian said disdainfully, “Once you go to see God, the contract becomes void. Then I can go back to Lin Rui and become his top contributor.”
Lin Xingchen: ???
Lin Xingchen narrowed his eyes. “What, would you miss him that much?”
“Well, I’m a double agent. Of course I have to treat every employer equally~”
Lin Xingchen: …
Pei Qingjian tilted his head. “Maybe Lin Rui will even be so happy he’ll give me five million without making me be his canary!”
Lin Xingchen: !!!
“What a pity,” Lin Xingchen said. “Right now you’re my canary, which means you can only earn my five million. So for the moment, you’d better make me happy.”
He looked at him, the corners of his lips lifting. “Come on. Try to please me. Make me happy.”
Pei Qingjian: …
“Hurry up,” Lin Xingchen urged. “It’s five million.”
Pei Qingjian: …
With a sigh, Pei Qingjian picked up his chopsticks and placed several dishes Lin Xingchen liked into his bowl. “Is that enough?”
“That’s it?” Lin Xingchen said with obvious disdain.
Left with no choice, Pei Qingjian thought for a moment. Then he picked up his bowl, took some food from it, and held it up to Lin Xingchen’s mouth. “This should count, right?”
Lin Xingchen happily swallowed the food, yet still continued to sound dissatisfied. “That’s it.”
Pei Qingjian: ???
Seeing the smugness in Lin Xingchen’s eyes, Pei Qingjian suddenly stood up, leaned closer, and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Lin Xingchen: !!!
Lin Xingchen stubbornly kept up his tough act. “That’s it.”
That still wasn’t enough? Pei Qingjian was surprised.
Refusing to lose, he stared at Lin Xingchen, then gritted his teeth and leaned in to kiss him directly on the lips.
Lin Xingchen: !!!!!!
Inside, Lin Xingchen felt like a tidal wave had crashed through him. He instantly fell silent.
Seeing that he wasn’t speaking anymore, Pei Qingjian knew it was working.
He quickly kissed Lin Xingchen on the lips again—then once more.
In an instant, it was like raindrops falling one after another.
“Is it enough now? Is it enough?” Pei Qingjian asked.
Lin Xingchen: …
The tips of Lin Xingchen’s ears had turned red.
Pei Qingjian clasped his fists under his chin, blinking at him in a cute, pleading way. “Don’t be mad anymore~ Being angry is bad for your health. Your health isn’t great to begin with—if it gets worse I’ll really have to stay by your side every moment~ Okay? Husband~ please~”
Lin Xingchen: !!!
Damn. He’s really good at this.
The tips of Lin Xingchen’s ears were practically burning.
Seeing that he still wasn’t speaking, Pei Qingjian figured he might already be immune to this tactic and needed something new.
So he spread his arms, hugged Lin Xingchen, and threw himself into his embrace, rubbing against him again and again.
Lin Xingchen: !!!
When had Lin Xingchen ever experienced something like this? Being rubbed against like that, he felt like he was about to react physically.
“Sit back down,” he said awkwardly.
Pei Qingjian clung to his shoulders, blinking. “Then are you still mad?”
“I’m not.”
“Are you happy now?”
“I am.”
“So am I still a double agent?”
“No.”
Pei Qingjian brightened instantly and planted a loud kiss on his cheek. “As expected of my husband—so sharp-eyed and perceptive!”
Lin Xingchen: !!!
Who on earth taught him to please people like this?!
So young, yet so skilled!
“Don’t go around pleasing other people like this in the future!” Lin Xingchen snapped in exasperation.
Pei Qingjian: ???
“Why would I please anyone else?”
Lin Xingchen felt satisfied.
Yet Pei Qingjian asked him, “Or does ‘other people’ actually mean you?”
Lin Xingchen: ????!!!
“Am I ‘other people’?!”
Did he have even the slightest connection with the phrase “other people”?!
Pei Qingjian smiled. “Oh~ I get it~ So it means I can only please you, not anyone else, right?”
Lin Xingchen: …
Putting on a calm, indifferent expression, Lin Xingchen said, “Isn’t that obvious? You’re my canary—my house canary. You understand that, right?”
Pei Qingjian cooperatively nodded. “I understand~”
Then he asked on his own initiative, “So about Lin Rui—do you have any other questions?”
Lin Xingchen thought about it and felt that Pei Qingjian had already confessed quite thoroughly. As for the rest, Lin Rui probably hadn’t told him anyway, so he wouldn’t know.
Wait…
Suddenly, Lin Xingchen thought of something.
“What about the three million I transferred to you earlier?” he asked, looking at Pei Qingjian. “You didn’t give it to Lin Rui, did you?”
No wonder he had suddenly been left with only three thousand left in his account. Had Pei Qingjian used the money to show loyalty to Lin Rui?
Pei Qingjian shook his head. “No. I’m not stupid—why would I give money to him?”
“Then where did the money go? What did you spend it on?”
Pei Qingjian rummaged through his memories and finally found the answer.
How should he put it? It was pretty much exactly what he expected.
“What kind of thing do you think can cost nearly three million all at once?” Pei Qingjian looked at him. “Of course—a car.”
The original owner of this body had graduated from college that year. Naturally, he felt his life had entered a new stage and believed he needed a better, more impressive car. But the two cars He Liangyu had given him were only worth a few hundred thousand each, completely beneath his standards.
On top of that, He Haochu had persuaded his mother to buy him a car worth over one million, and he deliberately parked it right beside the original owner’s two cars. The sight nearly drove the original owner mad with anger.
So the moment the money arrived, he rushed to buy a car worth 2.8 million. At the same time, he spent about two hundred thousand on a matching outfit and boots—his “battle gear”—determined to blind He Haochu with his brilliance.
Hearing this, Lin Xingchen asked in confusion, “Where’s the car?”
“It’s parked in the garage at our house.”
“The place you took me to last time?”
“Of course not,” Pei Qingjian replied. “That was my grandparents’ house. I don’t like my father and the others, so after turning over a new leaf I didn’t want anything to do with them anymore. I don’t really want to go home.”
But… now that he thought about it, leaving a car worth nearly three million there really was a waste.
“Maybe I should go back after all,” Pei Qingjian mused. “The car is innocent. I can avoid the people, but I can’t just abandon the car!”
Lin Xingchen didn’t feel strongly either way. “If you want to go back, that’s fine. If it feels like too much trouble, it’s just a car. You don’t have to make yourself unhappy over it.”
Pei Qingjian: … No wonder his benefactor was so rich. He could casually say a three-million-dollar car wasn’t worth worrying about.
But Pei Qingjian couldn’t do that.
Before he remembered it, it was one thing. But now that he had, just thinking about nearly three million sitting unused at He Liangyu’s place made him want to rush there immediately.
“I still have to get it back. I’ll go tomorrow!” Pei Qingjian declared firmly.
“Go the day after tomorrow instead,” Lin Xingchen advised. “That’s Saturday. I’m off work, so I’ll go with you.”
“Okay.” Pei Qingjian agreed without hesitation.
Since they were already talking about money, he suddenly remembered the 350,000 Lin Rui had transferred to him.
Pei Qingjian took out his phone and showed Lin Xingchen the bank notification.
“I made money today.”
Lin Xingchen: ???
“From Lin Rui,” Pei Qingjian said softly.
Lin Xingchen: !!!
“He even gave you money?!”
“Mm-hmm.” Pei Qingjian nodded. “My crying skills improved a bit this week, so I was planning to test myself today. It just so happened that he called. I used him as the topic and started my ‘performance.’ Turns out I did pretty well. To comfort me, he gave me three hundred thousand and told me to buy something I like—and to keep taking good care of you as your housekeeper so that you’d fall in love with this housekeeper.”
Lin Xingchen: …
“There’s also another fifty thousand he told me to use to buy you a gift.”
Lin Xingchen: ???
“I’m only worth fifty thousand?”
“Lin Rui said it’s the thought that counts. You’ve seen everything already, so buying something expensive would be pointless. Fifty thousand is just symbolic—enough for you to know my feelings.”
Lin Xingchen: … That really was stingy.
“Then just keep it,” Lin Xingchen said. “I’ll give you this fifty thousand too.”
“That won’t work.” Pei Qingjian shook his head. “If I actually accept his money, wouldn’t that make me a real spy he planted beside you?”
“He’s plotting against you. He’s the aggressor and you’re the victim, so it’s only fair for you to take his money. What’s your bank account number? I’ll transfer it to you.”
Lin Xingchen had never imagined that this was how Pei Qingjian’s thinking worked.
“Who was it that just said, ‘I’m not stupid—why would I give him money,’ hmm?”
“That’s different.”
“What’s different? You can’t give it to him, but you can give it to me?”
Pei Qingjian: …
That was exactly what he had been thinking.
“It’s mainly because my position is awkward. If I also take his money, wouldn’t that really make me a spy?”
Lin Xingchen nodded. “Right. Not only a spy—but a spy collecting two salaries. One from me and one from Lin Rui.”
Pei Qingjian: …
He puffed out his cheeks. “I’m going to get angry.”
Seeing that, Lin Xingchen didn’t dare tease him anymore. Smiling, he reached out and rubbed his head, coaxing him.
“Alright, alright. Be good.”
“Then take the money.”
Looking at Pei Qingjian’s determined expression, Lin Xingchen worried that if he refused again, his little canary would start thinking he didn’t trust him.
“Fine, fine. I’ll take it,” he said helplessly.
Pei Qingjian was satisfied. “So should I transfer it to your bank card or to Alipay?”
“Trans—” Lin Xingchen was about to tell him to use Alipay, but then something occurred to him. “Just transfer it to my bank card. I’ll send you the account number later.”
“Alright,” Pei Qingjian agreed.
Seeing the smile on his face, Lin Xingchen thought to himself, Fine. As long as he’s happy.
Besides, sometimes money didn’t have to be settled face-to-face.
Since Pei Qingjian didn’t want it right now, he could always give it back to him later.
After all, he still owed Pei Qingjian the remaining 1.55 million yuan from the contract payment. He would just have him transfer this 350,000 into the card he had prepared for the final payment. When the contract ended, he would give the card to him—then the money would still belong to Pei Qingjian.
Thinking of this, Lin Xingchen couldn’t help worrying about him again.
Even counting everything together, it still wouldn’t reach two million. Even if Lin Xingchen added another 100,000 to round it up to a neat two million, what could that really do?
It wouldn’t even be enough for him to change to another car.
He needed to have more money on hand.
Lin Xingchen thought it over and figured that letting the two million sit idle in a bank card would be a waste. It would be better if he took the money and used it as capital to invest and manage it for him. That way, by the time the contract ended, Pei Qingjian would have even more money.
He really had no choice—his little canary was such a double-standard creature.
Toward others he would say, “I’m not stupid. Why would I give my money to him?”
But toward Lin Xingchen it became, “That’s different.”
So silly. What difference was there?
Money was always safest in one’s own hands. No matter whose hands it was in, it was never as safe as keeping it yourself.
He didn’t even have much money himself, yet he insisted on giving it to Lin Xingchen.
At times like this, he wasn’t smart at all.
Looking at him, Lin Xingchen felt that Pei Qingjian probably really couldn’t be a qualified spy.
He worried about Lin Xingchen’s health and cooked for him every day.
He cared about his friendships and even stood up for him.
He prepared late-night meals for him and fulfilled his obligations every night.
Sometimes when Lin Xingchen pushed him too far, he wouldn’t complain. He would only cling to him, rubbing against him again and again like a spoiled little animal seeking affection.
Lin Xingchen didn’t completely believe Pei Qingjian’s explanation. At first glance it sounded reasonable, but some things felt a little too coincidental.
Still, that didn’t stop him from believing in Pei Qingjian as a person.
He trusted his own eyes and instincts.
So he didn’t want to dig deeper or pry apart every word and demand explanations.
Many people, in certain situations, make choices they have no choice but to make.
Maybe Pei Qingjian was the same.
Maybe he really had come with a mission. Maybe from the very first moment they met, his intentions hadn’t been pure.
But that wasn’t the important part.
What mattered was that he was now sitting obediently beside him, trying his best to make Lin Xingchen believe him.
Every day in this world people meet each other in ten thousand different ways, for ten thousand different reasons. But the meeting itself is never the point—the ending after the meeting is.
Lin Xingchen wanted a good ending between himself and Pei Qingjian.
So the things that weren’t important weren’t worth arguing about.
After all, what had already happened belonged to the past. What existed now—and what lay in the future—were what deserved to be cherished.
Lin Xingchen placed a piece of braised pork rib into his bowl and lowered his head to continue eating.