As soon as the results were announced, the atmosphere in the living room instantly relaxed and became lively. Everyone discussed Shi Jin's results, unable to contain their joy. There was nothing more surprising than a child who thought they were a poor student suddenly achieving top grades in a crucial exam!

After the initial shock and excitement, Number Five and Number Nine quickly called Mr. Feng and Number One respectively to share the good news. Number Two began planning a celebration banquet to properly commemorate Shi Jin's achievement.

Even Uncle Long's tense expression eased up as he chuckled and said, "With these grades, Shi Jin can easily get into a medical university."

He still held onto his hopes and dreams for Shi Jin's future. Shi Jin's body trembled as he snapped out of his shock, quickly grabbing his laptop and sitting three meters away from Uncle Long. He then turned his head to look at Lian Jun.

"Congratulations," Lian Jun said with a smile, leaning over to wrap his arm around Shi Jin's back and holding him in his embrace. He lit up the computer screen and looked at the score, then leaned in to kiss Shi Jin's ear and asked, "You did very well. What reward do you want?"

Shi Jin was stunned by the embrace, and noticed everyone looking at them with ambiguous expressions. He coughed awkwardly, but didn't break free from Lian Jun's arms. He turned his head to look at him and asked, "Is there another reward?"

"Yes, what do you want?" Lian Jun replied with a smile.

Shi Jin's eyebrows shot up, nearly saying the words "Let's go on a date". He glanced at Number Two and quickly held back his words. With a sly smile, he pretended to be troubled and said, "I don't know what kind of reward would be good. Can I think about it?"

Lian Jun chuckled and wrapped his arms around Shi Jin's waist, pulling him close. "Of course you can. Take all the time you need. I'll wait for you," he replied.

Shi Jin couldn't contain his excitement and let out a loud "yes!" He happily planted a kiss on Lian Jun's cheek and began to plan out his long-awaited date. The clubhouse was bustling that day. Everyone put down their work and gathered together to enjoy some ordinary people's happiness. After a lively lunch, Lian Jun took the initiative to set up a mahjong table for Shi Jin and personally accompanied him to play.

The afternoon passed by like this, and in the evening was the formal celebration banquet. Everyone was very happy, and Shi Jin, as the original owner of the celebration, was poured several glasses of wine by everyone under Lian Jun's obvious attitude of not interfering too much with everyone's celebration activities.

Playing and fooling around until after nine o'clock in the evening, because Lian Jun needed to rest early, Shi Jin, who was half drunk, took charge and asked everyone to disperse, then pushed Lian Jun back to the room.

After returning to the room, Shi Jin pushed Lian Jun into the bathroom. He filled the bathtub with water and then came back to sit on a small stool in front of Lian Jun. He lifted his hand and placed it on Lian Jun's leg, not daring to put all his weight on it, just lightly touching it. He asked, "Will it hurt?"

Lian Jun looked at his half-drunk eyes, raised his hand and touched his head, shaking his head and replying, "No, it won't."

"Do you like drinking?" Shi Jin asked, his eyes slightly blurred due to the alcohol, but still containing a hint of caution and tenderness.

Lian Jun couldn't help but reach out and touch his eye corner, replying, "Yes, I do."

"What a coincidence, I like it too!" Shi Jin smiled contentedly and said, "I want to go to the night market with you after work, stroll around here and there, then have some late-night snacks together, and enjoy some skewers and drinks... You look so beautiful, maybe we'll even encounter some hooligans trying to harass you, and then I'll be your hero... How exciting!"

Lian Jun was amused by his words and playfully tapped his forehead, saying, "Drinking should be done in moderation."

"I know," Shi Jin's gentle smile returned as he took Lian Jun's hand and lightly massaged it, saying, "Most drinks should be consumed in moderation, but some drinks are meant to be savored, like the wedding toast... Lian Jun, you need to get better soon, you can't miss out on this drink."

As he listened, Lian Jun felt his heartstrings quiver. He was certain that Shi Jin was already drunk. Although Shi Jin was always warm and caring towards him, expressing his love through actions, he rarely spoke so directly.

Lian Jun often found himself confused, wondering how someone like Shi Jin, who grew up in a broken home, could have so much kindness and love in him.

Luckily, he had caught hold of this wonderful person.

Even though he hadn't been drinking, Lian Jun suddenly felt a bit intoxicated. He reached out and held Shi Jin's face, bending down to touch his forehead to his.

Looking into his eyes, which were now especially moist due to the alcohol, he asked, "Shi Jin, do you love me?"

When Shi Jin looked up and met his gaze, he was captivated by the tenderness in his eyes. Slowly but surely, he found himself sinking deeper and deeper into them, until he couldn't resist reaching out to touch him and exclaiming, "You're so handsome..."

"Do you like me?" came the soft voice, tinged with a hint of seduction.

Without hesitation, Shi Jin nodded and replied, "I like you, a lot."

With that, a look of satisfaction and joy crossed over Lian Jun's face, in addition to the tenderness and anticipation already present. "I like you too...I love you, Shi Jin."

Suddenly, a loud "Gah!" interrupted the moment.

Shi Jin's hazy thoughts were jolted back to reality by the sound of a duck's quack. He stared at Lian Jun in front of him, his expression growing more and more serious by the second.

He pulled Lian Jun down, tilted his head back, and fiercely bit down on his nose.

"Mine," he said, his eyes briefly clear before immediately clouding over again. He buried his head in his shoulder and pulled him into his embrace, childishly declaring, "Mine, my precious, no one else can have you."

Taken aback by his sudden nibbling, he burst into laughter at his words, a satisfied and radiant smile on his face. He playfully bumped his forehead against his and wrapped his arms tightly around him, responding, "Yes, I am yours."

Everything I have is yours.

......

He slept until the sun was high in the sky, and when he sat up in bed, rubbing his throbbing forehead, he saw that he was alone. The room was quiet, and he groaned in pain before reaching for his phone to check the time.

As he did, he noticed several missed calls and unread messages. There were three missed calls, two from Shi Weichong and one from Fei Yujing, all made between 9:30 and 10:00 last night.

Shi Jin racked his brain and could only remember that at that time, he had already taken Lian Jun to shower and left his phone on the bed without bringing it into the bathroom. He shook his head and opened the text messages.

There were six messages in total. The earliest one was from Number One, sent last night around 8 o'clock. It said that when he was chatting with Number Three about Shi Jin's college entrance exam results, Fei Yujing overheard. He warned Shi Jin to be prepared for possible harassment from Fei Yujing.

The second message was from Fei Yujing, sent just a few minutes after Number One's message. It was very short and only had one sentence: "Did you get your college entrance exam results?"

The third text message was from Shi Weichong, and its content was similar to Fei Yujing's, asking about Shi Jin's college entrance exam results.

The fourth and fifth text messages were from Xiang Aoting and Li Jiuzheng respectively, congratulating Shi Jin on his good college entrance exam results and inquiring about his college choices.

The last text message was still from Fei Yujing, with only one sentence asking, "Why didn't you answer the phone?"

Shi Jin threw his phone onto the bed and felt his headache worsen.

He really couldn't understand his older brothers from the Shi family, especially Fei Yujing. Wasn't he busy in L country? How did he have time to eavesdrop and gossip?

Shi Jin could almost imagine Fei Yujing sending a group text to the other Shi brothers 'betraying' him after overhearing the conversation between Number One and Three.

It was really childish.

...He suddenly felt that the Rong Zhouzhong who hadn't texted him to ask about his college entrance exam results was cute.

A soft melody played as his phone, which had been thrown onto the bed by Shi Jin, lit up.

Shi Jin's heart skipped a beat as a sense of foreboding washed over him. He reached for the phone and saw the name of the third brother he had just found cute displayed boldly on the screen.

Beep.

Shi Jin hung up the call expressionlessly, promptly switched his phone to silent mode, and covered his head with the blanket.

After a nap, Shi Jin was pulled out of bed by Lian Jun, who had finished his workout. After freshening up, Lian Jun led him to the study.

"Have some porridge first, don't eat too much, we'll have lunch soon." Lian Jun settled Shi Jin on the sofa and placed the bowl of porridge in front of him.

"Is your head still hurting?" he asked.

Shi Jin took a sip of warm water to moisten his throat and shook his head in response, "I'm not hungover. I didn't drink much yesterday." In reality, he had a small buff that helped alleviate the symptoms. His headache had disappeared when he washed his face earlier.

Seeing that he looked fine, Lian Jun relaxed a bit and didn't argue with him about not drinking much. He watched as Shi Jin finished his breakfast and then pulled out a stack of school enrollment forms.

Shi Jin was stunned and asked, "What's this?"

"The results are out, now it's time to fill out your preferences," said Lian Jun, placing the enrollment form in front of him. He explained, "I've been in communication with the officials and have selected a few schools that are suitable for you. You did very well this time, and there are more schools available for you to choose from than I anticipated. I contacted them urgently this morning and brought their forms as well. Take a look and see which one you like, so I can arrange it in advance."

Shi Jin glanced at the enrollment brochures of various schools placed in front of him and was surprised to find several prestigious schools that he had never even dared to dream of before. He gasped and asked, "Can I get into these schools too? My scores might not be enough."

"Enough," Lian Jun replied confidently. "You are different from ordinary candidates. You have military merits and can apply for special admission."

"When did I earn military merits?" Shi Jin was completely confused.

Seeing him like this, Lian Jun slid over and explained it to him in detail.

It turned out that after knowing that Shi Jin wanted to apply for the police academy, Lian Jun immediately arranged it. He first improved Shi Jin's background information, found a way to squeeze him into a military preparatory class, gave him the title of a preparatory student, and then contacted the authorities to adjust the mission with Yuan Ma-zi and moved Shi Jin's originally classified mission file to the public.

So now, Shi Jin is not only a military preparatory student, but also a preparatory student who has helped the government complete missions, eliminated illegal criminal organisations, and has military merits. He is more than qualified for special enrollment.

Shi Jin was stunned and shocked, saying, "Can this be done?"

"Of course it can. The task was assigned to you and your record is impeccable. Your excellence is enough to get you into any university you want," said Lian Jun with a relaxed expression, indicating that he was in a good mood.

Seeing that Shi Jin was still stunned, Lian Jun reached out and ruffled his hair before continuing, "In fact, not only Yuan Ma-zi's task, but also the task you did with Number Two to prevent retired cadres from leaking information abroad when you first came to B City, and your performance in confronting Gunfire in L Country, can all be compiled into a report and counted as your achievements.

"However, considering that it would attract too much attention, I only helped you bring Yuan Ma-zi's task to the forefront. Shi Jin, don't doubt your abilities. You deserve the best."

After being praised and flattered by Lady Lian, Shi Jin's shock and uncertainty finally dissipated. He looked at the row of enrollment brochures in front of him and suddenly felt like an emperor selecting a concubine for the night.

To be honest, it felt pretty good.

"Well then..." His gaze slid over a row of brochures from various universities, and his finger moved over to one in particular. After hesitating for a moment, he picked out the most low-key one and said, "I'll go with this one."

Lady Lian looked at the brochure in his hand, somewhat surprised, and asked, "Are you sure you want this one?"

"Mm, this one." Shi Jin nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed. "As I said before, I want to attend the police academy. Although the other military academies are all great, if you graduate from them, you'll definitely be trapped in the officials' circle. The police academy is better. After graduation, you can choose where to work as a police officer by taking the civil service exam. It's more free and there's not as much complicated politics. I don't want to attend a military academy and become an officer. Being a grassroots police officer is enough for me."

As Shi Jin spoke, Lian Jun's eyes softened.

Despite having more and better options, he still chose to stick to his original idea. Is this behavior lacking in ambition or is it commendable for staying true to his initial aspirations?

The person he liked seemed to never be blinded by desire, always knowing exactly what he wanted and steadfastly moving forward. He couldn't help but confirm again, "Have you decided?"

"I have," Shi Jin nodded. But then his expression suddenly hesitated, "Am I being too stubborn by choosing this? It seems like all the arrangements you made for me won't be necessary anymore." With his grades, he could easily get into this prestigious police academy without any military achievements.

Lian Jun shook his head and said, "It's okay. We can still use them. Choosing this school is also more convenient for registering as a student, and the authorities won't be so wary of you."

Shi Jin breathed a sigh of relief at his words. Seeing that he wasn't really angry, he leaned in and continued to ask, "Can I really register as a student in a police academy? How will that work?"

"It's simple, all you need to do is be in a constant state of being on missions. I'll talk to the officials about it and once I have a clear answer, I'll let you know," replied Lian Jun, turning his head to look at Shi Jin. Suddenly, he asked, "Have you thought about what reward you want?"

Shi Jin shook his head, looking serious. "No, I still need to think about it."

......

After lunch, everyone knew about Shi Jin's decision to not attend a prestigious military academy and instead go to police school. Uncle Long was so angry he left with the remark, "A rotten tree cannot be carved."

Number Two rubbed his hangover headache, looking hopeless. Number Nine had a look of "I knew this would happen" and continued typing on his computer. Only Number Five was friendly enough to congratulate Shi Jin.

After thanking Number Five, Shi Jin didn't care about what others thought anymore. The big stone in his heart had finally fallen, and he happily began planning his date.

A few more days passed, and it was time to officially fill out his college preferences. Everyone gathered in the small living room again, watching as Shi Jin wrote down the name of the police academy as his first choice. They all sighed in unison.

"At least put something else as your second choice," Number Two struggled to persuade him.

Shi Jin ignored him and selfishly wrote down the police academy he had attended in his past life as his second choice, then clicked submit.

And with that, Shi Jin's college preferences were complete. He couldn't change his mind about becoming a police officer now.

Number Two let out a long sigh and playfully poked Shi Jin's head, saying, "You little traitor."

Shi Jin closed his laptop and earnestly refuted, "How can you say I'm a traitor? I'll spend four years in police school. Who knows what the situation will be like in four years? Maybe by then, we can all use our real names and live normal lives. And when I become a police officer, I won't just be a traitor, I'll be the only one who can protect everyone with integrity. Isn't that a good thing?"

Everyone was stunned by his words, their expressions momentarily frozen.

Living a normal life... the way Shi Jin put it, his choice didn't seem so bad.

Lian Jun looked at Shi Jin, his thoughts drifting.

Four years? No, with the current situation in the underworld, it won't take four years for everything to collapse. At most, three years, no, maybe only two years, and everything will have a result...

......

The day after the deadline for college applications, Shi Jin once again fell victim to the constant barrage of calls and messages from the five brothers of the Shi family.

Feeling overwhelmed, he considered blocking them all, but hesitated when he saw the progress bar. In the end, he settled for a simple message, selecting all five brothers and sending it out: "600, Police Academy, don't ask again, ask again and you'll be blocked."

The world fell silent, and Shi Jin relaxed on the couch, picking up his tablet to continue planning his date.

Three minutes later, his phone began ringing incessantly. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he answered the call from Shi Weichong. After a long pause, he finally spoke: "What do you want?"

Shi Weichong didn't seem to expect him to answer the phone, and after a while, he said, "Third Brother's birthday is this weekend, and we're all getting together for a meal. Will you come?"

Ah? Rong Zhouzhong's birthday?

Shi Jin was taken aback, suddenly remembering the incident when Rong Zhouzhong had called him one morning and he had hung up on him. He shifted his gaze back to the tablet, tapping his fingers and opening the calendar.

Looking at the weekend he had previously added a reminder for, he squinted his eyes and his tone suddenly became friendly and affectionate as he said, "Ah, so it's Third Brother's birthday. Where are you guys meeting? I might be able to make time to come."

Shi Weichong was once again stunned, then his voice suddenly raised a few degrees, with a hint of obvious joy, saying, "There's a dinner party at Hejia Huan on XX Road tonight. Do you need me to pick you up?"

"No need, I'll go by myself. That's it, we'll be in touch." Shi Jin hung up the phone, opened the tablet and looked at the date he had marked, unable to help but chuckle.

He was just wondering how to come up with an excuse to get Lian Jun out on Sunday, but he didn't expect Shi Weichong to take the initiative to provide a reason. Very good, very good, this should give Lian Jun a complete surprise.

But it seems a bit unfair to Rong Zhongzhong, who was just celebrating his birthday...

He sat up straight, coughed nervously, and frowned as he opened the online shopping page. He wanted to pick a birthday gift for Rong Zhouzhong as a 'compensation', but suddenly he couldn't remember what Rong Zhouzhong hated or feared.

......

In no time, it was Sunday. As usual, Shi Jin accompanied Lian Jun for his morning exercise, and then during lunch, he mentioned wanting to celebrate Rong Zhouzhong's birthday.

Lian Jun was surprised. "You want to celebrate Rong Zhouzhong's birthday?"

Shi Jin had been resistant to the other brothers in the Shi family for some time now, so it was strange for him to suddenly want to celebrate Rong Zhouzhong's birthday.

"I actually want to seek revenge," Shi Jin said somewhat sheepishly. Suddenly, he pulled out a centipede-shaped pillow from his bag and continued, "My third brother gave me a cucumber pillow on purpose when he knew I didn't like cucumbers. I was so angry. But now, he's given me the opportunity for revenge, and I won't miss it!"

Silence followed.

Lian Jun put down his chopsticks and looked at Shi Jin's earnest but foolish face. He then glanced at the cartoon centipede pillow in his hand. After a few seconds of contemplation, he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll have Number Two take you there."

Shi Jin immediately took advantage of the situation and eagerly said, "Come with me! They're all single dogs, and I'm the only one with you. I want to show off and make them jealous!"

It was a childish request, but Lian Jun fell for it. His furrowed brow immediately relaxed, and a hint of resignation even appeared on his face as he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go with you."

"I'll go let Uncle Long know!" Shi Jin quickly stood up, thinking to himself that the plan was a go. He happily stuffed the pillow back into his bag at his feet and said, "The restaurant is a bit far, so let's leave early. You can eat slowly, and I'll go ask Number Two to be our driver!"

With that, he turned and ran, pulling out his phone as he went to send a group message to Number Two and the others: Operation Plan, starting!