Once they got in the car, Shi Jin quickly suppressed the complex expression he had shown in front of Shi Weichong and turned to Number One, who was sitting in the passenger seat, asking, "Any updates?"

Number One nodded and gestured towards the entrance of a convenience store diagonally across the street, saying, "That car with the license plate ending in 99 belongs to Xu Jie."

As expected, they were being followed. Shi Jin's tense heart relaxed slightly.

Previously, when he had asked Xu Chuan to contact Xu Jie, he deliberately had Xu Chuan tell her that he might have some information about the past and was planning to contact Shi Weichong and the others to tell them the "truth." Xu Jie's biggest support and reliance now was Shi Weichong.

Knowing that he could contact Shi Weichong at any time and tell him some "truths of the past," Xu Jie would definitely keep a close eye on Shi Weichong's movements. Once she discovered any signs of Shi Weichong meeting with him, she would not sit still and follow him. And as long as Xu Jie followed him, he could find a way to stimulate Xu Jie and force her to act impulsively.

At the right time, Xiao Si reminded him, "Jin Jin, your progress bar has increased, it's at 930, just after you embrace Shi Weichong."

As Shi Jin snapped out of his thoughts, he glanced at the progress bar and felt satisfied - it seemed that the stimulus he had just given was effective. Xu Jie must have lost her mind by now, seeing the person she most wanted to kill holding her most important son in his arms.

He instructed Number Two to drive and waited until they were out of sight of the restaurant and convenience store before continuing to ask, "How long has Xu Jie been here?"

Number One replied, "More than twenty minutes. When she arrived, she tried to enter the restaurant but was stopped by the manager. Since then, she has been parked outside, not moving."

Xu Jie must have been feeling a mix of anxiety and anger for the past twenty minutes.

She must be more than just losing her mind - she must be close to going insane.

Shi Jin nodded in acknowledgement, leaning back in his chair and watching his progress bar. He let out a shallow breath - after he left, Xu Jie would definitely confront Shi Weichong about what they talked about at the dinner party. And when Shi Weichong saw Xu Jie, he would undoubtedly show his skepticism and dissatisfaction towards her due to her "tracking" and the truths she learned at the dinner table. With one on the brink of rage and the other at their limit of patience, a dispute was bound to happen.

Let them argue, the more heated the better.

Shi Jin slowed his breathing and closed his eyes.

Once Xu Jie had no more powerful allies or support, he could deal with her without any worries.

......

Outside the restaurant, Shi Weichong watched as the vehicle carrying Shi Jin disappeared from view. He placed a hand over his chest and his eyes darkened. Waiting for his call, but how can he make the call? After all, it's his...

"Weichong!" Xu Jie, dressed in a light-colored long dress and looking very intellectual, walked quickly across the street. The kind and friendly mask that had been on her face for many years now showed signs of cracking, her eyes full of anger.

As soon as she got close, she grabbed Shi Weichong's arm and demanded, "I just saw Shi Jin talking to you, why are you out here eating with him again? What did he say to you?"

Although Xu Jie is already old, she still looks very attractive. Her skin is well-maintained, her figure is well-managed, her hair is meticulously styled, her makeup is exquisite, and her pearl jewelry and long dress match perfectly. Even when she shows her angry face, which is about to argue with someone, she still looks beautiful.

However, Shi Weichong, who knows her personality well, can easily see that beneath her current questioning and anger, there is actually a hint of fear.

Fear? What is she afraid of?

Shi Weichong looked at Xu Jie's eyes filled with anger, and his heart sank little by little. This reaction just indirectly confirmed something.

He didn't break free from Xu Jie's hand, but looked at her seriously, with a rare cold and hard expression, and asked, "Mom, what have you done?"

Xu Jie looked at his almost identical expression of resistance and suspicion to Shi Xingrui's, as her brain hadn't caught up yet, her hand had already lifted up and slapped him hard across the face.

Smack!

Shi Weichong's head turned to the side from the force of the blow, and it took him several seconds to turn back and look at Xu Jie. Suddenly, he asked, "Mom, how did you know I was eating here? Did you bribe my assistant?"

Xu Jie's finger trembled slightly, her expression becoming stern as she forced herself not to look at the red mark gradually appearing on his face. "Don't look at me like that, Weichong. Remember, everything I do is for you."

With that, she let go of his hand, turned around, and walked quickly towards her car, her expression dark and full of determination. Shi Jin, it's that Shi Jin again, every time Shi Weichong saw him, he would be like being bewitched. If it wasn't to make him give him shares, it would be to make him come to argue with her.

She couldn't let that wild seed approach Shi Weichong anymore. He must be eliminated, and he must be eliminated as soon as possible! Yun Jin had already taken Shi Xingrui away from her hands. She would never allow Yun Jin's son to come and take away her son!

......

Shi Jin closed his eyes and rested for a few minutes, and then he heard Xiao Si's reminder in his mind.

"Jin Jin, the progress bar has increased again, it's 950 now."

950, not far from the death penalty.

Shi Jin opened his eyes, lowered his head and took out his phone, found Shi Weichong's number, hesitated for a few seconds, turned off the phone, and closed his eyes again.

He could wait for three days.

When Shi Jin returned to the club, it was already late. He gently opened the door and peeked inside. He saw Lian Jun had finished washing up and was lying on the bed with a smile on his face.

Shi Jin approached quietly, took out the documents in his hand, and Lian Jun was startled. He had just noticed that Shi Jin had returned. Glancing at the time, he asked, "Did you get stuck in traffic?"

"Yeah, for a while," Shi Jin replied. Seeing that he didn't scare Lian Jun, Shi Jin sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling bored. He flipped through the documents in his hand, but they were all data he couldn't understand. Feeling dizzy, he stuffed them back into Lian Jun's hand and said, "You can only look at this one. When I come out after washing up, I want to see that you're already lying down."

"Alright, this is the last one for today." Len Jun was very easy-going, reaching out to touch his face and asking, "How did your talk with your brothers go? Smoothly?"

"It went smoothly," said Shi Jin as he grabbed his hand and gave it a kiss. He didn't hide his emotions and let out a sigh with a drooping face. "Shi Weichong should have realized who I really wanted to deal with. I didn't want to play the emotional card with him, but he's quite powerful, and I don't want to be his enemy. So, I chose to be even more despicable. As for whether he will choose to help me in the end, to be honest, I don't have much confidence. Actually, I hope he won't come to me for information. I can't say a word of forgiveness to him without getting past this, and he probably can't treat me normally as someone who wants to harm his mother. So, it's best for us to be strangers. This way, we'll both feel better." 
    
"Having a clear conscience is all that matters." Lian Jun pinched his face and asked, "What about your other brothers' attitudes?"

Shi Jin relaxed a bit and replied, "Their attitudes are clear. They shouldn't interfere in my fight with Xu Jie. I just hope Xu Jie won't disappoint me. If she's going to come, she should come hard and settle it once and for all."

"Of course," Lian Jun replied affirmatively, leaning in to kiss him and saying, "Go take a shower, it's late."

Shi Jin composed himself, gave him a quick bite, then got up and stretched lazily, temporarily putting aside these troublesome matters. He picked up his pajamas and headed towards the bathroom.

Lian Jun watched him leave, and once the bathroom door closed, the tenderness on his face faded away. He picked up his phone from the bedside table and called Lu Shan. The call was answered quickly, but the tone was impatient: "Kid, don't you know women need their beauty sleep?"

Lian Jun was very cold: "In my eyes, you are a man."

"Fuck you, you little brat." Lu Shan hurled some insults, but seeing that Lian Jun remained silent, she calmed down and frowned.

"The woman you mentioned did manage to contact the person in charge of the Tarantula's B branch and wants to place an order to harm Shi Jin. But do you really want me to take this order? Do you know that once I make a move against Shi Jin, even if it's fake, it will be a public declaration of war by Tarantula? Have you thought about the current situation? If the stalemate in the underworld is broken, the pressure on your side will be immense. Can't you just endure a little longer?"

"It's not a matter of endurance, but a matter of choice. The person who placed the order not only contacted domestic organizations, but also searched for foreign ones. For Annihilation, it's easier to deal with you than with foreign forces. As for the domestic situation, it's easier to handle our internal struggles than to let outsiders come in and stir things up." Lian Jun answered honestly, but his honesty infuriated Lu Shan.

"I really don't know what to say to you. Your little lover looks so honest, but how did he get you into such a big trouble? Why don't you just get rid of him and find someone easier to deal with?" Lu Shan suggested sincerely.

Lian Jun replied coldly, "That's impossible. He didn't cause me any trouble. You and I will eventually have to face each other openly, and now he has given me such a good excuse, which is actually helping me."

Lu Shan rolled her eyes, "I think you've been blinded by love. But you're right, we'll eventually have a falling out. It's better to do it sooner rather than later, to avoid causing more trouble. Wait for my message, I'll have someone take care of the paperwork."

Lian Jun's expression relaxed, "Thank you, Aunt Lu. Can you negotiate with Xu Jie for a few more days? I need a week to arrange things."

"Now you call me Auntie. Fine, hang up. Don't come bothering me in the middle of the night again," Lu Shan hung up the phone with a disgusted tone.

Lian Jun put down his phone and looked at the picture of him and Shi Jin in matching outfits, taken under the Ferris wheel. He couldn't help but reach out and touch it. Lu Shan still didn't understand. In this world, where else could he find a lover more considerate than Shi Jin?

......

After waking up from a nap, Shi Jin noticed that his progress bar had increased by 3 points. Only 3 points, with an awkward decimal point at the end. It made his OCD flare up, and he desperately wanted to increase it to a whole number.

"These 3 points are increasing at a steady pace, and they will eventually reach a whole number," Xiao Si tried to reassure him, surprisingly calm. Shi Jin remained calm about the increase in his progress bar, making it unable to get nervous either. Even though the progress bar had already reached a value that would have made it scream before, it didn't feel like Shi Jin was in danger at all.

Maybe it was because they had their treasure Lian Jun, it secretly thought. Shi Jin forced himself to pull his attention away from the progress bar and looked over at Lian Jun, who was rarely sleep in. He leaned over gently, his hand reaching into the blanket towards Lian Jun's leg.

The moment his hand touched Lian Jun, he flipped over and pinned him down, pulling at his face and asking, "Want to do something bad?"

Shi Jin stood firm and said, "What's wrong with doing something bad to my boyfriend? Is it not allowed?"

Lian Jun didn't say anything, he just lowered his head and kissed him, his hand reaching up to his waist, giving him the answer through action.

......

After finishing their morning exercise, Shi Jin sent a message to Fei Yujing, Rong Zhouzhong, and Li Jiuzheng's common email account, packaging the prepared materials and recordings together and sending them over. The information and recordings had been processed, and all parts related to Jian Jinwen have been blurred or edited out.

Shi Jin's original intention was to let everyone know the truth, not to expose innocent Jian Jinwen to more people's eyes. Anyway, everyone only needs to know that Shi Xingrui found someone to have a child because he wanted to replicate a child like his white moonlight. As for who his white moonlight really is, it's not that important.

On that day, Shi Jin did not wait for responses from Fei Yujing and the others', which he had already anticipated. The information contained in those materials was too explosive, and everyone needed time to digest it and to seek confirmation from their respective mothers.

To his surprise, Xiang Aoting did not call Shi Jin for the requested information that day. Shi Jin was puzzled, but not worried. His intuition told him that Xiang Aoting and his mother had no ill intentions towards him, and that Xiang Aoting would eventually call.

Time flew by and on another afternoon, the first batch of feedback on the information came in from Fei Yujing, Rong Zhouzhong, and Li Jiuzheng. Fei Yujing called directly and bluntly stated that he would not interfere in the matter between Shi Jin, Shi Weichong, and Shi Weichong's mother, but if Shi Jin wanted to reclaim the inheritance in the future, he could help.

This was actually a clear indication that Fei Yujing was on Shi Jin's side. Shi Jin was surprised because he initially thought that Fei Yujing would choose to remain neutral and watch from the sidelines.

"I'm not helping you," Fei Yujing explained his attitude towards himself in response to his surprise. "I just feel that those inheritances are what you deserve. Also, if possible, my mother would like to talk to you in person."

Shi Jin frowned, "Your mother? Did you tell her about those things?"

"Yes," Fei Yujing replied, suddenly changing the subject. "Shi Jin, I never regret what has happened or the choices I've made, but now I have to make an exception. The deal we made back then was the stupidest thing I've ever done. I'm sorry."

Shi Jin fell silent, not knowing how to respond to his words. He wasn't the original owner and didn't have the right to say anything. Besides, there's an old saying, "If apologies were enough, what would the police do?"

From his silence, Fei Yujing could tell his attitude and wisely didn't say much. He apologized because he wanted to, but if the other party forgave him, it was their kindness. If they didn't want to, then being retaliated against or treated coldly was his own fault, and he could accept it.

"You can contact me anytime if you encounter difficulties," he said before hanging up the phone.

Shi Jin put down his phone and thought back to what Fei Yujing had said. He let out a sigh and collapsed onto the sofa.

Fei Yujing was unexpectedly easy to understand. When they weren't familiar with each other, their relationship was based on mutual benefit. After accepting each other, their relationship depended entirely on his own preferences... He was truly a self-willed person, with no conscience when he was bad, and when he apologized, he didn't expect a response, leaving others speechless.

Afterwards, as if they had planned it, both Rong Zhouzhong and Li Jiuzheng sent messages to Shi Jin expressing their attitudes. Rong Zhouzhong's message was still full of anger, using various curse-free words to insult Shi Xingrui from head to toe, and ending with the phrase "little bastard". He also said he wanted to talk face-to-face with Shi Jin after work. Shi Jin accepted the invitation, but insisted on meeting at the club and not outside.

Li Jiuzheng's text message was very gentle. He sent several messages, and the content was quite fragmented. In summary, it could be said that your mother, like my mother, was also deceived by Shi Xingrui. Look at the six brothers, only you and I lost our mothers, and our rankings are still so close. This is fate! I apologize for what I did wrong and will make it up to you. Should we cultivate our relationship?

Shi Jin held his phone in shock and couldn't understand Li Jiuzheng's thought process. He even wondered if this person had been bullied by his mother since childhood, causing his mental age to never grow up. His inner self was actually just like his appearance, a sensitive and melancholic teenager... oh no, a young boy. After much deliberation, Shi Jin finally replied with a vague "go to bed early" to fool Li Jiuzheng.

It was now the afternoon of the second day, with only one day left until the three-day deadline to obtain the information. Shi Jin's progress bar had reached 960 and remained steady.

On the morning of the third day, Shi Jin finally received a call from Xiang Aoting. He sounded exhausted and his first words were, "I've talked to my mother. She said I was supposed to have a sister, but she was aborted by Shi Xingrui."

Shi Jin didn't expect that he had waited until now to make the call because he had gone to his mother first to confirm the truth of the past. He called out, "Fourth Brother..."

"Sorry for only contacting you now," Xiang Aoting adjusted his state and said, "I just feel that when it comes to my mother's privacy, I should learn about it from her personally rather than from documents... Xiao Jin, I'm sorry."

Xiao Jin had heard too many apologies these past few days, but even with all of them, he still didn't know how to respond.

"Let's not talk about that anymore. Can you send me a copy of the documents? My mother only knows bits and pieces about what happened back then, and I want to know the whole truth."

Xiao Jin quickly replied, "Sure, just give me a commonly used email address, and I'll send the documents over to you."

"Okay."

Xiang Aoting gave him the email address, and Xiao Jin jotted it down. Then, the two of them didn't know what else to say and fell into silence together. "Xiao Jin, I want to see you again," Xiang Aoting finally spoke up.

Why does everyone want to see him?

Sighing, Shi Jin replied, "Sure, I'll be at the club until school starts. Just come find me if you want to see me."

"Thank you." After a long silence, Xiang Aoting spoke again, "Xiao Jin, if we could turn back time...never mind, let's keep in touch." He hung up the phone.

Shi Jin could hear the sadness in Xiang Aoting's last words and felt a heavy heart. Who wouldn't want to turn back time if they could? He looked at Lian Jun behind the desk and suddenly dismissed his previous thoughts.

No, he didn't want to turn back time. Lian Jun was here, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him.

Lian Jun noticed his gaze and waved at him, "Come here."

Shi Jin snapped out of his daze and cheerfully walked over.

......

After dinner, Shi Jin couldn't help but focus all his attention on his phone, feeling absent-minded about everything else.

Lian Jun finished work early and accompanied him, asking, "What's with that expression? Didn't you say you didn't want Shi Weichong to call you for information?"

"Although that's what I said, but..." Shi Jin frowned, unable to come up with anything else to say. He simply sighed and collapsed onto Lian Jun's shoulder, staring blankly at his handsome face.

Lian Jun chuckled and pulled out his tablet, saying, "Then shall I play mahjong with you?"

Shi Jin's gaze shifted to the tablet and after considering for a moment, he said, "Sure, let's have some fun tonight!"

It was almost ten o'clock and they were still playing mahjong, but there was no sign of his phone ringing. Shi Jin was feeling down, so he pushed Lian Jun back to their room. They washed up separately and then lay together on the bed, counting the carved patterns on the ceiling.

"Let's go to sleep," Lian Jun hugged him and gently stroked his back.

Shi Jin hugged him back and closed his eyes, forcing himself to fall asleep.

Ten minutes later, the phone suddenly rang.

Shi Jin opened his eyes and sat up, reaching for the phone on the bedside table. He saw the three big characters "Shi Weichong" flashing on the screen, and his breath caught in his throat. He quickly answered the call and said hello.

"Give me the information," Shi Weichong spoke, his voice low and hoarse, almost unrecognizable.

Shi Jin was shocked by his terrible voice and furrowed his brows, asking, "What's wrong with you?"

"There's nothing... Xiao Jin, I don't want to keep doing things blindly. In the past, I listened to everything my mother said and believed everything she said. Whether it was our Second or the Fifth brothers, too many people were influenced by me and my mother... Am I a terrible older brother, am I?"

He spoke in a jumbled manner, causing Shi Jin to furrow his brows even more as he struggled to answer the question. So, he changed the subject and said, "Give me your email, and I'll send you the information."

Suddenly, Shi Weichong hung up the phone without warning.

Did he regret it?

Shi Jin put down his phone with a complicated mood and wanted to sigh. Did Shi Weichong really choose not to receive the information?

"Go to sleep," Lian Jun got up and patted his head.

Shi Jin turned his head and forced a smile at Lian Jun, saying, "Sorry for disturbing you."

Lian Jun shook his head and helped him lie down. As their bodies slid down just a bit, Shi Jin's phone rang again. He quickly picked it up and saw that Shi Weichong had sent a message with an email address. His breath caught in his throat, and his body suddenly relaxed, collapsing onto the bed.

Lian Jun leaned over to look at him.

Shi Jin reached out to touch his face and asked, "If I had brought such a powerful enemy like Shi Weichong upon us, would you blame me?"

"I wouldn't." Lian Jun lowered his head and kissed the corner of his mouth. "I'll never blame you. We are one, Shi Jin."