The only sound in the living room was the TV. Chen Jianhong and Chen Shiming's eyes were fixed on Chen Qizhao. When Zhang Yazhi came over, she looked at the father and son in surprise, "What's wrong? Have you finished discussing the work?"

"It's almost over." Chen Shiming broke the silence, "Mom, have you taken care of the kitchen?"

"Okay, I've explained everything." Zhang Yazhi glanced at Chen Shiming and noticed that the medicine bowl on the table was empty, and she felt relieved.

Chen Qizhao sat in the living room for a while longer, listening to Zhang Yazhi nagging about how to arrange the birthday party on Wednesday. While listening, he looked at the message sent by Shen Yuhuai on his mobile phone. Shen Yuhuai had just arrived home at this moment and was replying to the message he sent.

[-Shen Yuhuai: Did you take photos at night? ]

[-Zhao: What are you shooting? ]

[-Shen Yuhuai: This was taken before dinner. ]

Chen Qizhao paused and flipped through the photo album on his phone, and he came across the photos he took when the two of them went out to dinner that night.

The two of them went to Huang's Restaurant for dinner in the evening. At that time, he found an excuse to take pictures of the meal and took a few pictures of Shen Yuhuai. There were several photos of Shen Yuhuai hidden in the album. Chen Qizhao picked and chose, and finally found a photo of him that looked pretty good among the photos of him eating noodles and sent it out.

[-Chen Yuhuai: Just one? ]

[-Zhao: Just one. ]

Chen Qizhao lowered his eyes slightly and put the other photos into another album. When he looked up, he noticed Zhang Yazhi was looking at him.

"Looking at photos?" Zhang Yazhi asked.

Chen Qizhao crossed out the background, "Well, where were we just now?"

"Speaking of which, you have a few friends coming over." Zhang Yazhi was looking at the guest list.

"As for Yan Kailin and the others, I'll send you a WeChat message later." Chen Qizhao said.

Only after Zhang Yazhi finished her work did Chen Qizhao suggest going back to the room to take a shower and rest.

Chen Qizhao also went to bed early during this period. Zhang Yazhi knew that he had been out all day and must be very tired now. "Well, go quickly."

Zhang Yazhi continued watching TV and was completely uninterested in the work of the father and son. Chen Jianhong's eyes followed Chen Qizhao until he disappeared at the end of the living room, then he turned his gaze to the documents on the table.

Chen Shiming said politely, "Dad."

Chen Jianhong agreed, and the two of them got up and walked upstairs.

Chen Shiming did not go directly to the study, but first called the Criminal Police Team of the Municipal Bureau, and then went to the study.

There was an orange light hanging high in the study, and the documents on the desk were neatly arranged.

After closing the door, Chen Shiming hesitated for a while and said, "I didn't tell Qian Qizhao about the ambush at noon."

Just now in the living room, they were talking about the situation of the Gu family. Considering that Zhang Yazhi was present, they did not directly mention the ambush in the underground garage of the Chen Group. However, Chen Qizhao naturally listed this matter as the premise for Gu Zhengsong's actions. Chen Shiming knew that Chen Qizhao had some unknown background, and he was not against Chen Qizhao's involvement in this matter. He was just a little worried that Chen Qizhao would get too involved.

Following the police to the hotel was risky enough. They had no clear idea of ​​the extent of information exchange between Gu Zhengsong and Gu Shen. It was very likely that Gu Shen already knew that Chen Qizhao was not ordinary. The more things were involved, the easier it would be for Chen Qizhao to be put in danger.

Of course, it couldn't be what Chen Qizhao said, "I'm just making a suggestion." They only found out today that the news had leaked out, and Chen Shiming hadn't had time to ask Special Assistant Xu to tell Chen Qizhao about this. But it must be said that if this suggestion is true, then Gu Zhengsong's next move would be particularly critical.

"I'm worried..." Chen Shiming stopped talking halfway.

Chen Jianhong interrupted: "At least now, he told us the story."

If Chen Qizhao didn't care about this matter at all, or wanted to solve it alone, he would not take the initiative to talk to them, nor would he use the method of "making suggestions" to express his opinions so obviously.

Neither the father nor the son said anything. The current situation is actually much better than before.

Some things cannot be forced. Chen Shiming thought about what had happened during this period, which added up to more than the past ten years. It was difficult for people to consider everything comprehensively, and he could not force Chen Qizhao to tell him everything. The gap of time was there, and family relationships could not be achieved overnight. Some things could only be done slowly.

Chen Shiming saw Chen Jianhong, who was sitting in the right seat, looking at his phone. He paused for a moment and said, "I called the police."

Chen Jianhong looked up: "Thank you for your hard work."

The father and son did not stay in the study for too long. After briefly discussing the remaining arrangements, Chen Shiming left the study. He asked the servant to bring him a cup of warm water. After returning to the room, he arranged other things before he had the leisure to reply to the messages on his mobile phone.

But when he clicked into the circle of friends, he saw Chen Qizhao’s circle of friends among the circles of friends of his business friends.

Chen Qizhao only posted one photo, which just happened to include the three people in his family. Chen Shiming clicked on the photo and looked at it for a while, then finally clicked "like" on the post. After clicking "like", he clicked on Chen Qizhao's other posts. When he was about to scroll down, he suddenly looked at Chen Qizhao's avatar.

Chen Shiming seldom pays attention to his WeChat avatar. Even his own WeChat avatar has never been changed since he started working. For him, WeChat is just a convenient online chatting tool that makes it easy to contact work partners or business partners.

Now he looked at Chen Qizhao’s profile picture, clicked on the large picture, and saw a mobile phone in the photo whose meaning he did not quite understand.

Chen Qizhao’s phone has a case, and it’s not this kind of transparent case... Is this a picture you found online?

Chen Shiming was just thinking about it, after exiting Chen Qizhao's circle of friends, he casually scrolled down a few circles of friends, and suddenly saw the circle of friends that Shen Yuhuai posted 2 hours ago. I chatted with Shen Yuhuai quite a lot some time ago, and they were all about the Gu family. When Chen Shiming occasionally browsed the circle of friends, he rarely saw Shen Yuhuai. Now when he saw Shen Yuhuai's circle of friends, he couldn't help but stop.

Of the two siblings in the Shen family, Shen Xuelan is ostentatious, while Shen Yuhuai is reserved.

Shen Xuelan can post three or four Moments a day, either about business gatherings or business trips and social events, and each post is a record of her achievements that she brags about. Chen Yuhuai was different. Chen Shiming had never seen his circle of friends. When he clicked in, he occasionally saw professional things, and there were very few traces of his life.

The dishes in the picture are Chinese food. It should be when I went out to eat with Chen Qizhao and took some simple photos of the food.

The composition is pretty good, with some artistic conception.

Chen Shiming was thinking when he suddenly saw the mobile phone in the corner of the photo. The phone was placed on the table. It was an inverted transparent phone case. You could also see the style of the phone on the back and roughly know which model it was.

Judging from the style of the phone...it’s not the one Chen Qizhao uses.

Chen Shiming was slightly surprised. Whose phone is this? He looked at the background of the meal and it looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

But soon, he hesitated and thought of another thing, didn’t Chen Qizhao go out to eat with Shen Yuhuai in the evening? Or did Chen Qizhao not go out with Shen Yuhuai at night, but went to do something else...?

The night is getting quieter and quieter, and you can even hear the summer cicadas chirping outside.

After a whole day of playing out, Chen Qizhao was not as tired as he had imagined. He felt very energetic when he lay in bed after taking a shower. Some information flashed through his mind randomly. He thought of the scene where they were sitting together in the living room downstairs watching TV series, and then he thought of the behavior of Chen Jianhong and Chen Shiming when he was in the hospital. All kinds of strange emotions surged up, and Chen Qizhao had an indescribable feeling.

The phone was buzzing. Chen Qizhao picked it up and took a look. It was a private message from Yan Kailin, asking him to check the group message.

The group was not that big. It was just the people led by Yan Kailin. There were only 4 people in it. Apart from them, there were only Cheng Rong and Liu Kai. Zhang Yazhi said she wanted to hold a birthday party and asked Chen Qizhao to invite a few friends. Chen Qizhao simply said it in the group, and as a result, these people spent the whole day discussing what gift to give him.

[-Yan Kailin: It seems there is nothing else. I will give you a pair of shoes. 】

[-Liu Kai: Why do you give shoes to Rong Ge’s girlfriend every day? You gave her high heels on her birthday before, and I heard you also gave her shoes on Shen Yuhuai’s birthday last time? 】

[-Yan Kailin: I can’t think of it, @Cheng Rong, what are you sending me? Copy my homework for me. 】

[-Cheng Rong: How can you ask in front of someone when giving them a gift? 】

Before Chen Qizhao had finished reading the messages in the group, Yan Kailin called him quickly.

"Brother, have you checked the group?" Yan Kailin hesitated for a while and said, "I really can't think of anything to give you. Why don't you just tell me what you want?"

Chen Qizhao hasn't really celebrated his birthday for a long time. In the past, the so-called birthday only meant to remind him that year after year had passed, that he was a year older, and that some extremely evil people were still at large. Seeing these friends taking great pains to prepare a birthday present for him now is like going back to the carefree age of 19, thinking not about the future but the present.

"Just tell me?" Chen Qizhao laughed, "Have you made money recently?"

"Isn't it because I behaved well recently? The living expenses my brother has given me in the past two months are pretty good." Yan Kailin said, "Don't be polite with me. Just tell me what gift you want. I also have a small stash of money. I missed your birthday before, but now I'm finally in China..."

Chen Qizhao: "Then give me shoes."

"Ah?" Yan Kailin thought for a long time but couldn't think of anything. He ran to ask the birthday boy and got back to the question of giving him shoes. "Are you really giving him shoes?"

Chen Qizhao chatted with Yan Kailin for a while. The voice in the receiver was particularly loud, which didn't seem out of place with Yan Kailin's loud voice. After hanging up the phone, he looked at the group chat still going on, replied casually and clicked on the message to check.

There are only a few messages in his phone, and he can't go back to his youth to interact with his college classmates. In the past, he joined quite a few college classmates groups, but now, except for the class group for receiving messages and the course groups of various subject teachers, he has no other group chats. He is happy and quiet in the empty space. It has been too long, and when he recalled his classmates from his four years of college in his previous life, he could only remember a handful of faces.

Due to their different majors, students with strong abilities entered graduate schools or stayed on campus to teach, while other students changed careers one after another.

Chen Qizhao can be considered a career changer. He studied artificial intelligence and eventually went into finance.

The lights in the room were on. Chen Qizhao glanced at the bookshelf in the distance and saw one or two professional books. He could vaguely remember what was written in them. He couldn't help but sit up again, walked to the bookshelf to take out the books that were covered with dust, turned the pages and saw the beautiful and neat handwriting inside. He felt as if he was in another world. This was indeed the way his handwriting looked when he was young.

Chen Qizhao's handwriting is now a little more sloppy. Looking at the notes in the interleaf, one can vaguely make out characters similar to those now.

Reading journals is one thing, and reading professional books is another. His foundation is still there. Even though he was busy with other work over the years, some of the procedural memories were deeply rooted in his muscles like instinct. It seemed that not much time had passed when he looked back at these theoretical knowledge.

Pursuing a double degree or postgraduate study...

He is good at practical operation, but he has almost forgotten the theory.

It is easy to forget the time when flipping through a book. It was not until he finished reading the chapter that he noticed that more than half an hour had passed.

Chen Qizhao closed his professional book and his eyes stopped at the glass bottle placed far away on the table. He paused for a moment and poured out a mint candy from it.

The phone on the bed vibrated. Chen Qizhao opened it and saw a message from Shen Yuhuai popping up in the chat interface.

[-Chen Yuhuai: Are you asleep? ]

[-Zhao: Not yet. ]

Shen Yuhuai was at home, sorting out several pieces of data brought from the laboratory. During this time, he was chatting with Liu Sui and communicating the details of the experiment. Liu Sui was playing the game while speaking in voice: "No, brother, we can discuss this when we get back to the lab. Why are you in such a hurry? Don't you have nothing to do in July?"

"Something happened." Shen Yuhuai's eyes stopped at the computer screen, his fingers typing quickly, "I have packed the data details and sent them to your email. I will give you a compressed package of the collection tomorrow. When the time comes, you just need to fill in the experimental data according to the form."

Shen Yuhuai's efficiency was astonishingly high. Even if Liu Sui was lazy, he had to cheer up when he was led by his great teammates.

"Okay, I'll take care of the rest." Liu Sui turned off the game and wrote down everything Shen Yuhuai had told him. "Why do you seem to be busier than in the first half of the year? Do you have anything to do on Wednesday? I rarely see you asking for leave to do experiments."

Shen Yuhuai: “Someone’s having a birthday.”

"Can't you just go after you finish your work on your birthday? I didn't see it on other people's birthdays before..." Liu Sui was talking and suddenly realized, "That's not right, whose birthday would allow you to skip the experiment?? Something's wrong, something's wrong with you, Shen Yuhuai, did you succeed in chasing the goddess!!"

Shen Yuhuai filled the data into the form and wrote a comment by the way. Hearing this, he responded briefly: “Yeah.”

Liu Sui: "Damn it, brother, just do great things quietly! When can I meet someone?..."

“You’ve seen it.” Shen Yuhuai responded briefly, and when he saw a message reply below, he said, “I have something to do, so I’ll hang up first.”

Liu Sui was about to ask for some details, but when he heard Shen Yuhuai's words, he couldn't help but have a brief brainstorming session.

There were only a handful of girls around Shen Yuhuai, and most of them were from their experimental group. There was no girl like S University student that he had ever met!

Shen Yuhuai stopped working and played a voice message to Chen Qizhao.

The other party answered the call almost instantly. As soon as he answered, he noticed that the camera lens was a bit messy, and then he could see Chen Qizhao clearly.

“Just getting ready for bed.” Chen Qizhao saw the bright background, vaguely seeing the decoration of the room behind Shen Yuhuai, not the background he saw in the city apartment, “Are you home?”

Shen Yuhuai responded: “Yeah.”

Chen Qizhao noticed the keyboard sounds in the background. He was quite sensitive to sounds. "Work-related?"

His eyes moved quickly from the bright background to the person closest to the camera, without blinking.

The man was wearing pajamas, neatly dressed with only one button undone.

He wasn't wearing glasses, and when he spoke, there was an indescribable feeling sliding somewhere in his throat.

It’s just… Shen Yuhuai is a little far away.

"I just finished my work and fell asleep soon." Shen Yuhuai lowered his eyes slightly and noticed that Chen Qizhao's collar was slightly messy in the camera, and the bedding in the background was a little messy. Looking at the angle, he could tell where Chen Qizhao was on the bed.

Chen Qizhao's eyes didn't move. "What's that next to it?"

"Water cup." Shen Yuhuai showed him the thing, "Why are you asking this?"

"If you can't see clearly, just ask." Chen Qizhao, "Are you using a notebook?"

Shen Yuhuai was indeed using a laptop PC, and the camera was fixed in a certain position. His eyes deepened slightly, and he understood something.

Chen Qizhao noticed that Shen Yuhuai seemed to be a little further away, and even his voice became a little lower, "Is that a book on the left?"

Shen Yuhuai looked at the folder next to him, “Information brought back from the laboratory.”

Chen Qizhao's eyes moved slightly, and after a pause he said, "I haven't been to your room."

Shen Yuhuai paused for a moment, “Wait a moment.”

The video chat was hung up. Chen Qizhao waited for a while with his phone, and an expected video request popped up.

Shen Yuhuai appeared in the camera, this time it was close, there was no extra background decoration, the person was right in front of him. But after a while, the camera was switched, and what came into view was Shen Yuhuai's room in the Shen family.

The room is more spacious than the city apartment, and the decoration style is more modern and simple. The color tone is the same as the city apartment, and there are more furniture.

The simple room was just like Shen Yuhuai's style, and one could see through it at a glance, but Chen Qizhao didn't want to see that, his sight followed the camera and he completely saw Shen Yuhuai's room, he could only hear the background sounds and the hands that moved with it, he didn't even see his face.

After Shen Yuhuai finished speaking, a brief silence spread in the atmosphere between them.

A low laugh came from the background of the camera, and the man's voice seemed to come from the other side of the receiver, very close: "What else do you want to see?"

Chen Qizhao simply said: "I want to see you."

The camera switched, and Shen Yuhuai appeared in the camera, "And then?"

Chen Qizhao licked his lips slightly, "Come closer."

The camera was moved closer, and the people were closer too.

Chen Qizhao's gaze moved to the corner of Shen Yuhuai's lips, and he seemed to see the invisible wound that he had bitten during the day. He was half lying on the bed, the taste of mint in his mouth mixed with a hint of sweetness, spreading between his lips and teeth bit by bit, very much like the taste of something wrapped up.

I kind of want to kiss Chen Yuhuai.

At night, Chen Qizhao hung up the call with Shen Yuhuai and went to get another mint candy.

When he finished washing up and lay on the bed, he inexplicably thought of the scene of Shen Yuhuai pressing on him during the day, as if the other person's breath was still close at hand. The fatigue from a busy day came over him at this time. Chen Qizhao pulled over the quilt and fell asleep. In his dream, there seemed to be a wet and hot itch around his neck, which crawled down along the back of his neck little by little, making his whole body hot as if on fire, and gradually the wet heat sprayed on his back.

A tingling sensation made his scalp tingle, and a large hand seemed to touch his face.

When he looked more closely, he saw Shen Yuhuai’s face.

In the middle of the night, Chen Qizhao suddenly woke up, sat on the bed, breathing softly, and his body was sticky.

The air conditioner in the room was blowing softly, the sound was so faint that Chen Qizhao didn't feel the slightest bit of coolness. He was silent for a long time when he turned over the quilt, and finally went into the bathroom to take a cold shower.

By the time he returned to the bed, a long time had passed. He was no longer sleepy, so he touched the phone beside him and opened it to see the chat interface between him and Shen Yuhuai. He didn't send a message to Shen Yuhuai, and stayed on the interface for a long time. When he was about to exit, he somehow clicked into Shen Yuhuai's circle of friends.

Then, he saw the circle of friends posted by Shen Yuhuai.

The picture of the noodles he sent to Shen Yuhuai not long ago is now at the top of Shen Yuhuai's circle of friends.

Did you ask him for a photo and then post it on your Moments...?

Chen Qizhao felt a little itchy, and a little itchy, but he couldn't describe the feeling.

Just a little happy.

The day of the birthday party soon arrived. The Chen family did not announce this birthday party to the public, and the guests invited were only close friends.

The banquet was held in the Chen family's garden. The lights in the garden were on and the fountains reflected dots of light. During this period of chaos and war, the peaceful and beautiful birthday party seemed to be the only good thing during this time. The hostess Zhang Yazhi gave instructions to the servants while chatting with the guests with Chen Jianhong.

Those who came were uncles and aunts who could be called by name. The banquet without any socializing had a different kind of liveliness. Chen Qizhao lowered his eyes slightly and glanced at the door. The Shen family had not arrived yet.

The message on the phone was replied fifteen minutes ago, and there was no reply since then. Shen Yuhuai might be driving.

He swiped open the chat history, clicked on the phone interface, and picked up a glass of champagne.

When Yan Kailin came in with the gift, he saw Chen Qizhao and Cheng Rong talking beside the fountain. After he gave Chen Qizhao the limited edition sneakers he had carefully selected, he learned that Cheng Rong's gift was a custom-made lighter. "Oh my god, last time I asked you what you were going to give me, you said you didn't know."

Cheng Rong said: "I only remembered it after you asked."

Liu Kai said: "It's okay, I also gave you a tie."

Yan Kailin asked around to make sure his gift would not be too cheap, then he went to see Chen Qizhao with peace of mind, and found that Chen Qizhao was looking at his mobile phone. He leaned in closer to look, "Brother, what are you doing? Chatting with Brother Huai?"

He saw the name at the top of the chat interface, "It seems that Brother Huai called my brother on my way here."

Cheng Rong said: "Chen Yuhuai? What's there to talk about?"

These playboys are afraid of meeting serious people, like Chen Shiming of the Chen family, Yan Kailin’s eldest brother Yan Kaiqi... and Chen Yuhuai. These serious people have nothing to do with their circle, and they can't play together. They would even sound the alarm if they met them. Inevitably, they would report it and send Chen Qizhao and Yan Kailin away directly.

Thinking of their restlessness when drinking and hanging out in bars before, they all kept their distance when they met people like Shen Yuhuai.

Liu Kai: "I still remember that when I met Shen Yuhuai while drinking last year, I felt uncomfortable all over."

"Damn, he must have gotten something from my brother. Didn't he keep liking my Moments recently? He must have been spying on my Moments for my brother." Yan Kailin kept talking about this matter. "It's so shocking, you don't know. He liked my Moments. What's the difference between that and telling me openly? I was so scared that I didn't dare to post for a while."

Cheng Rong: "You have to be careful. People like them are very smart and can find clues from even a single photo."

Yan Kailin nodded fiercely, "Last time I was drinking, my brother actually figured out which bar I was in from a photo. It was so scary. But it's been better recently. Shen Yuhuai hasn't liked my posts for more than two months. But then again, he probably doesn't have time to like my posts either."

A few people talked about Shen Yuhuai in a few words. Chen Qizhao looked up at Yan Kaiqi who was talking to Chen Shiming in the distance, and asked casually: "Why are you calling your brother?"

Yan Kailin had just been complaining to someone about his brother's recent hegemonic behavior. Hearing this, he said, "Phone call? I didn't understand. It seemed to be about business. I heard them talking about some organization, but I haven't heard of any of the names they said."

Chen Qizhao listened, looking thoughtful.

At this time, there seemed to be another sound coming from outside the garden. A new guest came in from the entrance, and Chen Jianhong walked over with a glass of champagne.

Chen Qizhao looked towards the door and saw a figure in the distance. Among all the guests, Shen Yuhuai stood out and could be seen at a glance.

After a while, their eyes met, and Shen Yuhuai nodded at him from a distance.

Yan Kailin had no interest in his brother talking about work, but when Shen Yuhuai was mentioned, he suddenly remembered something. He took a glass of champagne from the table next to him and said casually, "Oh, let me tell you something exciting. My brother let something slip when he was drunk last time. Shen Yuhuai seemed to..."

Before he could finish his words, he saw a half-drunk glass of champagne on the side of the table.

The owner of the champagne walked quickly to the other side.

Cheng Rong asked: "Like what?"

Liu Kai: "Why do you only speak half of your words?"

Yan Kailin's gaze inexplicably followed Chen Qizhao's gaze, until he saw Chen Qizhao standing in front of Shen Yuhuai, he added the next sentence: "...It seems like they are in love."

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The author has something to say:

Da Chen was confused three times: (The phone is not his, where did he go, what did he do)

Xiao Yan: Do you want me to tell you something exciting?