After sleeping through the morning, Shi Jin woke up to find Lian Jun sleeping next to him, probably taking a nap.

He blinked his eyes for a while before fully waking up, first looking at the tightly drawn curtains, then at the small clock on the bedside table, and finally turning over to face Lian Jun. He gazed at Lian Jun's sleeping face for a while before happily reaching out to hug him.

There was nothing more joyful than waking up from a deep sleep and finding the person you like next to you.

"Awake?" A familiar voice came from above, followed by a tight embrace and a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Hungry or not? Let's get up and eat something."

Shi Jin looked up and met Lian Jun's open eyes. He asked, "Did I wake you up?"

Lian Jun reached out and tousled his messy hair, saying, "No, I woke up a long time ago. I was just being lazy."

"You? Lazy?" Shi Jin raised an eyebrow and lightly tapped his forehead. He couldn't resist kissing Lian Jun's collarbone and slowly moving down.

Lian Jun reflexively grabbed his hair and called out his name, "Shi Jin."

Hearing his voice, Shi Jin stopped and looked up at him, planting a kiss on his heart. He obediently lay back down and hugged him tightly, no longer misbehaving.

Lian Jun's clothes were already in disarray, but he could feel the love and attachment in Shi Jin's actions. His heart softened and he lovingly stroked his back before rolling over and pressing down on him.

......

After getting up and washing up, Shi Jin went to the restaurant for an awkward lunch with Lian Jun. Lian Jun told him about Rong Zhouzhong coming to see him in the morning.

"Did he see you standing?" Shi Jin almost choked on his rice when he heard this. Seeing Lian Jun nod, he quickly got up and went back to his room to retrieve his phone.

His phone had run out of battery and automatically shut down. He quickly plugged it in and turned it on, only to be bombarded with a bunch of messages and missed calls from his five brothers, causing his hand to go numb from the vibration and ringing.

"I knew it would be like this." Shi Jin pressed his temples, opened each text message one by one, and saw that they were all asking about Lian Jun's condition. He couldn't help but deeply hate his brothers' habit of "sharing information" and their big mouths.

Lian Jun slid his wheelchair up and asked, "Did I cause you trouble?"

"No, it's just that these brothers are too annoying." Shi Jin frowned and complained. Seeing Lian Jun leaning over, he leaned in to kiss him, but remembered that he had just eaten and had oil on his mouth. Instead, he hugged him and rubbed his cheek against Lian Jun's, saying, "Don't worry, I'll make sure they don't blabber about your true physical condition."

Lian Jun loved these affectionate gestures from him and didn't mind at all. He turned his head and kissed Shi Jin's face, saying, "I'm not worried, let's continue eating."

After dinner, Shi Jin sent a message to his brothers, instructing them not to spread the news about Lian Jun. He chose to send it to the group. One minute later, his phone started vibrating like crazy, with one message after another pouring in.

"It feels like three thousand ducks attacking my phone," Shi Jin thought expressionlessly.

Five minutes later, Rong Zhouzhong stormed into the room after receiving the message.

The two brothers sat and stood on either side of the sofa, facing each other in silence. After their intense argument, they both felt a bit awkward.

"Should we throw him out?" Number Two suddenly appeared out of nowhere, his eyes dangerously fixed on Rong Zhouzhong. It was this guy who had caused Shi Jin to have a mental breakdown as soon as he appeared, and the danger needed to be eliminated as soon as possible.

As he felt his back chill under his gaze, Rong Zhouzhong turned to face him with defiance in his eyes.

Seeing this, Number Two's expression turned cold as he took a step forward.

The tension was palpable, but Shi Jin quickly intervened, placing a hand between the two men and patting Number Two on the shoulder. "Go do your thing, I'll handle this," he said, gesturing towards the balcony. "Let's talk?"

Rong Zhouzhong nodded and led the way to the balcony.

Number Two relaxed his stance and turned to Shi Jin, asking, "Are you sure about this? If you don't want to see him, we'll have your back."

Shi Jin's heart warmed at the concern in Number Two's voice. "It's okay, don't worry. I just want to talk to him."

Number Two watched as Rong Zhouzhong disappeared around the corner of the villa, still feeling uneasy. "If you need anything, just call me," he reminded Shi Jin before heading off.

As Shi Jin left, he made an "OK" gesture.

......

The two brothers sat down at a rattan table in the corner of the veranda.

Shi Jin had the kitchen send over two cups of hot milk tea and got straight to the point: "Lian Jun's leg is not completely disabled. After treatment, he can recover to the level of an ordinary person. This news is quite confidential and not suitable for public disclosure. I hope you can help me keep it a secret."

Rong Zhouzhong had been calm all day and had already digested this information. He carefully considered his words, trying to sound as gentle as possible, and said, "You don't have to remind us. We are not the kind of people who talk too much... Has his leg already been cured?"

Shi shook his head and replied, "No, he is just undergoing physical conditioning before treatment."

"Do you need any help?" Rong Zhouzhong asked.

Shi Jin looked at him surprisingly. Rong Zhouzhong looked uneasy, staring down at the milk tea in his hand. "Your soul has been hooked by him, and you are determined to be with him. Besides compromise and trying to make your future life better, there is nothing else we can do for you."

Shi Jin carefully observed his expression, took a sip of milk tea, and smiled. "I didn't expect you to be so honest and considerate. It seems that a beating is still effective."

For the first time since their brotherly relationship had soured, Shi Jin had shown such a genuine and unguarded smile in front of Rong Zhouzhong. Rong Zhouzhong was a bit stunned, watching as Shi Jin's expression was noticeably brighter and more cheerful than it had been in the past few days. He slowly let go of the tension he had been holding and his lips curled up slightly.

He deliberately snorted and pretended to hide his emotions behind the act of drinking his milk tea, saying, "Clearly, you misunderstood me too deeply. Every time you see me, you want to hit and scold me like an unreasonable little brat."

"You deserve it," Shi Jin retorted, not backing down. The awkwardness in his heart also eased a bit as he changed the subject and asked, "Has the filming for the drama finished yet? When are you leaving?"

"Are you tired of me?" Rong Zhouzhong frowned.

Shi Jin just smiled and said nothing. Rong Zhouzhong was feeling bored and asked discontentedly, "So how long are you going to stay here?"

"I have to stay until the meeting between the Tarantula and Snake Fang is resolved, and until the matter in Province G is completely settled before I can leave," replied Shi Jin vaguely, although he knew in his heart that he would leave as soon as possible.

Rong Zhouzhong felt a little disappointed with his answer, but didn't say anything. He stirred his milk tea and glanced at Shi Jin, who looked relaxed and casual.

Suddenly, he tilted his head back and drank the milk tea in one gulp, stood up and said, "Can I come over for dinner every day before I leave? The food from the crew's lunch boxes is terrible."

Shi Jin looked up at him, taking in his tall figure silhouetted against the light and his furrowed, indistinct expression. Suddenly, he felt a bit unfamiliar, yet strangely familiar. He smiled and said, "Sure, this was something I brought up earlier."

Rong Zhouzhong was satisfied and turned to leave. As he lifted his leg to take a step, he suddenly pulled it back and turned around to unexpectedly pat Shi Jin on the forehead. Then he quickly turned and walked away at a fast pace, as if afraid of retaliation.

Shi Jin was stunned, but he touched his forehead and realized it didn't hurt. He watched Rong Zhouzhong's retreating figure and chuckled, "How childish."

After laughing, he turned his milk tea cup and stretched lazily, feeling content. After the recent experiment, he was certain that he would no longer be affected by the memories and emotions related to Rong Zhouzhong, as if he had become "desensitized" to it. "Ah, that's great," he exclaimed with satisfaction.

In the villa, Lian Jun saw this scene and finally felt relieved. He slid his wheelchair back to the study.

......

Under the enthusiastic matchmaking of Zhang Zhuoyuan, the Tarantula and the Snake Fang officially began their dialogue. As expected, the situation was as bad as Lian Jun had predicted.

Lu Shan refused to let go of Xi Fan and insisted that Snake Fang pay the price. Snake Fang suffered heavy losses and could no longer be targeted by the authorities. They refused to admit to any malicious competition, and the two leaders stubbornly refused to back down, leaving Zhang Zhuoyuan on the brink of collapse every day.

"We need to come up with a solution to soften one side of the argument. If we continue to argue like this, we will never reach a resolution," said Zhang Zhuoyuan urgently and angrily over the phone. "I've already been scolded for staying in G province for too long, and now the Tarantula is solely focused on arguing with Snake Fang. They're not even paying attention to business matters, and they're dragging their feet on the promises they made to me. The pressure on my end is just too much."

But Lian Jun remained as steady as a rock and said, "Don't worry."

"This is getting urgent," said Zhang Zhuoyuan, feeling like he was going to pull his hair out from hearing the same thing over and over again. "It's been a week already and their arguments are getting louder and more frequent. Every time they talk, I have to be there to make sure they don't start fighting! I have other things to take care of and can't keep wasting my time on them. Lian Jun, you wanted the four families to form an alliance, but with the current situation, Snake Fang and Tarantula have become enemies. How can they possibly form an alliance?"

"Lu Shan and Yuan Peng are not just hot-headed fighters who can't resolve their grudges. They are playing a psychological game and using you as a pawn. Just hold on a little longer. Their conversation will yield results in a week at most," reassured Lian Jun. As he spoke, he noticed Shi Jin entering the room and slumping onto the couch, indicating that he had finished his homework.

Lian Jun smirked and spoke into the phone, "Stay calm and enjoy the show. The conversation will go smoothly, and the alliance between the four families will officially begin. Get ready for a tough battle." He hung up the phone and rolled his wheelchair closer to Shi Jin.

Shi Jin turned his head at the sound of Lian Jun's voice and saw him approaching. He jumped up from the couch and lunged towards him, grabbing the hand that Lian Jun had just extended.

"Finished chatting?" He leaned forward and held onto Lian Jun's leg.

Lian Jun nodded and glanced at his homework.

Shi Jin then crawled back to his previous position, picked up the homework, and handed it back to him.

Lian Jun took it, carefully flipped through it, nodded in satisfaction, and said, "I can let you try to review some simpler documents... Shall we go eat?"

Shi Jin smiled happily, quickly got up, leaned over and kissed him, and said with delight, "Let's go, let's go eat. Today, I had the kitchen make seafood soup!"