Lu Xiao dodged to the side nimbly, reacting incredibly fast as the oncoming person threw himself directly onto the hard blue brick ground.

"ah!"

He fell heavily to the ground with a dull thud, and Shen Ci felt his heart pounding even when he watched from afar.

Lu Xiao's moves... are so skillful that they make people feel distressed. Shen Ci's face was dark, thinking how many times he had to be scammed to be able to do this? Is this the trouble of a top-notch boss?

Lu Xiao looked at the person on the ground with indifference, and was not moved at all even though the person was screaming in pain.

He inadvertently caught sight of Shen Ci, who was walking towards him slowly, neither hurried nor slow.

"Why did you come out?"

There were so many things to complain about the scene before him that Shen Ci didn't know where to start. He simply ignored it and changed the subject: "Uncle, why did you come out to smoke secretly again?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiao was ready to crush Mars.

Shen Ci quickly reached out to stop him, ready to move: "Wait a minute, that... I want to try it too!"

Lu Xiao raised his eyebrows and held up the half-burnt cigarette in his hand. He took another puff with a smile in his eyes and gently exhaled the smoke onto Shen Ci's face.

"Then give it a try."

The thick smoke blocked my vision, and the faint smell of smoke with a subtle warmth instantly filled my nose, along with the faint fragrance of Lu Xiao's usual body.

Wisps of smoke drifted away, revealing Lu Xiao's dark eyes looking down at him. They were as deep as the night, hiding too many emotions.

Shen Ci felt that the smoke had probably flowed into his brain, and he actually felt a little dizzy...

Lu Xiao calmly held Shen Ci's waist with his hand, chuckled and put out his cigarette: "You are a child, don't learn from me."

He is already in his twenties, what child? Shen Ci was about to retort when he was interrupted by a voice from the side.

"Lu Xiao, you, you made me fall, you must take responsibility..." Bai Ziwei stood aside with red eyes, the scratch on his forehead was bleeding and mixed with dirt, his body was also dirty from the fall, in short, he looked really miserable.

But... is this kind of fraud popular now? Shen Ci was stunned. It was Bai Ziwei who fell down. Could it be that Lu Xiao should just wait to be taken advantage of?

Wait, most importantly, why is the protagonist suddenly entangled with the villain now? !

Lu Xiao glanced at him twice, and Bai Ziwei looked even more aggrieved and pitiful, with tears welling up in his eyes.

He has shown it so obviously, how could Lu Xiao still not understand?

Take him home! Why don't you take advantage of this great opportunity?

Bai Ziwei screamed wildly in his heart.

However, Lu Xiao ignored the poor crying kid in front of him, put his arm around Shen Ci's waist and turned around: "Xiao Ci, it's time to go."

Bai Ziwei: “???”

"Wait, don't go—"

In a hurry, he wanted to rush over to stop the two people, but unfortunately his foot was tripped by a raised brick on the ground, and he fell to the ground screaming.

Bai Ziwei raised his head with great pain and found that the two men had not stopped at all!

Lu Xiao only left him with a heartless back view. Instead, the little cannon fodder Shen Ci kept looking back in fear to see what happened, but was forced to turn back by Lu Xiao.

Bai Ziwei felt a little desperate. He didn't expect Lu Xiao to be so ruthless... Could it be that he had misunderstood him before?

***

There was nothing to do if they stayed any longer. Shen Ci was already tired from playing, so he said hello to Wei Shuo and took Lu Xiao home.

Of course, he was going back to the Shen family. He persuaded them for a long time before letting Lu Xiao stay and sleep.

Lu Xiao wanted to watch the news, and Shen Ci helped him wipe his glasses.

Lu Xiao wanted to take a shower, and Shen Ci stood outside and asked if he needed a scrubber.

When Lu Xiao was about to go to sleep, Shen Ci came over holding a pillow and jumped into his arms precisely.

…

Lu Xiao was so annoyed that he lost his temper. He gently stroked Shen Ci's hair and said, "Tell me, what's the matter?"

Shen Ci looked at Lu Xiao with sparkling eyes: "Nothing much, just... on our birthday, uncle, can you get off work early and play with us?"

Lu Xiao was stunned, the air slowly became still, and silence spread between the two of them.

Birthday parties were always held in Lu Xiao's manor, but Lu Xiao always showed up late at the very end. Every time when it was almost twelve o'clock, Shen Ci would rush Lu Xiao to blow out the candles, and the two would spend the last few minutes of their birthday together.

I heard from family members that Lu Xiao never celebrated his birthday before, but later he was always dragged by Shen Ci to celebrate it every year.

Actually, now that I think about it, maybe that day was not Shen Ci’s birthday at all, but later on, Shen’s family saw that he had a good relationship with Lu Xiao, so they specially set it on that day.

After all, Shen Ci was picked up, so how could there be a "birthday"?

They had the same birthday, but they could only spend a few minutes together. Shen Ci didn't think it was a big deal before, because he knew Lu Xiao was very busy with work, but this year was different.

Perhaps, this was his last birthday as the "young master of the Shen family". From now on, he would no longer be qualified to have birthday parties in that luxurious villa, and he would no longer be qualified to sit on equal footing with his former friends... All of this would probably have to be returned to Bai Ziwei.

He said he was very Buddhist and could leave or stay as he pleased. But when he really had to give up everything, Shen Ci still felt uncomfortable.

What he couldn't bear to part with was not his glamorous identity as a rich kid, but the friends and relatives who were with him day and night.

"It's such a coincidence that we share the same birthday. Can't we just spend the whole birthday together?"

Seeing that Lu Xiao didn't say anything, Shen Ci started to make a scene, shouting and shaking Lu Xiao's shoulders.

Anyway, he had given up and was determined to let Lu Xiao spend his last birthday with him.

Lu Xiao reached out and held Shen Ci's shoulders to stop him from getting restless, and smiled helplessly: "If I don't agree to you, you won't be able to sleep tonight, right?"

Shen Ci chuckled, threw away the pillow in his arms and hugged Lu Xiao's waist: "No one knows me better than my uncle!"

"It's been a while since I last slept with my uncle. I won't leave tonight!"

Shen Ci happily pulled the quilt over him and was about to dive into Lu Xiao's arms again when he discovered that all his muscles had suddenly become extremely stiff.

He poked Lu Xiao's arm and mocked him mercilessly: "Uncle, why are you so stiff? Hahaha..."

Lu Xiao: “…”

Two minutes later, Shen Ci, who was forcibly carried back to his room by Lu Xiao, was confused: "???"

***

On the day of the birthday party, Shen Ci was pulled out of bed early by Shen Bie who had returned home, and he washed, dressed and prepared to leave.

Not for any other reason, just because it’s too far!

Lu Xiao's resort is ridiculously large, with orchards, wineries, lakes, golf courses... everything. It's just far away from the city, and it takes an hour or two to travel over mountains and hills to get there.

For such a large manor, holding a party is indeed a huge undertaking and requires a long time to prepare. But... Shen Ci has a big brother.

Shen Bie came back from his annual leave specifically to celebrate Shen Ci's birthday. Before he even got home, he had already made clear arrangements for Shen Ci, and various planning teams had already moved in and started preparing.

My eldest brother is very meticulous in his work and rarely makes mistakes. Otherwise, my father would trust him to start a new business and there would be absolutely no problem in handling the party.

Shen Ci enjoyed the success. From now on, Shen Bie will belong to Bai Ziwei, so he must enjoy the last service of his mother.

Alas, I don’t know if Shen Bie will be so nice to Bai Ziwei…

"Lazy pig, run away!" Shen Bie kicked Shen Ci on the butt from behind, interrupting Shen Ci's melancholy.

Shen Ci turned around and glared at him angrily, then immediately took back what he was about to say.

Whoever wants this stinky old man can have him!

***

Lu Xiao really kept his promise. Not long after Shen Ci and his brother arrived, his car also arrived.

Shen Ci was delighted to see that Lu Xiao arrived earlier than most of the guests.

However, after Lu Xiao greeted them, he went to the study in the villa to work. He was still very busy with his work.

Since there was nothing to do now, Shen Ci didn't bother Lu Xiao and decided to wait until everyone started to have fun before calling him out.

As evening approached, the friends he had invited arrived one after another, and Shen Ci was almost overwhelmed.

In addition to the bad friends like Wei Shuo whom he made when he was a playboy, Shen Ci also sent invitations to people he knew now, such as Zhang Ge, Yang Xi, Xia Qingqing, and even Min Song.

Unlike the idle friends before, most of these friends in the circle were busy with their schedules, and some could make millions of dollars an hour. Shen Ci had already prepared himself to be rejected, but they all agreed to come.

Shen Ci suddenly felt a huge amount of pressure. If they didn't give him a good reception, it would be really outrageous...

As soon as Yang Xi arrived, he put his arm around Shen Ci's shoulders like a brother, and his voice was full of flattery: "Rich idol, are you interested in supporting me?"

Shen Ci: “……?”

Yang Xi quickly added: "How about I promise not to cause any trouble and be a good canary?"

Shen Ci looked at Yang Xi, who was nearly 185cm tall and had a frame that was wide enough to fit two of him, and rolled his eyes silently: "Gold, you damn sparrow..."

Yang Xi didn't have much time to argue with Shen Ciqian, because Wei Shuo came and drove him away with harsh words. The two of them exchanged a lot of insults, and Yang Xi reluctantly went to play somewhere else, making a childish face at Wei Shuo before leaving.

Shen Ci was trying to hold back his laughter, suspecting that these two people were incompatible in their fate.

Wei Shuo saw that there was no one around, so he pulled Shen Ci over with a serious look on his face and pointed at a figure in the distance: "Is that person... Bai Ziwei?"

Shen Ci was stunned: "Ah? I didn't invite him."

Wei Shuo sneered: "Just look at who is next to him and you will know."

Shen Ci looked carefully and found out... it was Shao Jinhuan?

Shen Ci was very puzzled. The last time they met, Shao Jinhuan seemed to have a bad relationship with Bai Ziwei. Why did he bring him in as a family member?

"Ah... forget it, forget it, guests are welcome." Today is a day to be happy, Shen Ci doesn't want to think too much about bad things, so he just ignores it.

Wei Shuo was not as careless as Shen Ci. He stared at Bai Ziwei's figure closely, always feeling that this guy was going to cause trouble again.

It's just a flea. I don't know why Shen Ci is afraid of him...

According to the process, all guests will gather at the villa at the beginning, get familiar with each other first, and then go to other places in the villa to play together.

Shen Ci saw that most of the people he had invited had arrived, and he had to stay here to liven up the atmosphere, so he asked his eldest brother to help call Lu Xiao down to play.

Fortunately, many of Shen Ci's previous friends were very outgoing and had already started chatting them up, so the atmosphere was quite lively.

From a distance, Shen Ci saw that one of his friends who had been successful in love since childhood had been rejected by Xia Qingqing. He looked around for a while and then spotted Min Song, who was looking at the mountains in the distance with an indifferent expression, and walked over.

Shen Ci didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was really good at selecting people.

He poured a few glasses of wine and decided to help his friend out of the situation.

As he was about to pass the swimming pool, Shen Ci frowned and walked outside. This time he couldn't -

"Bang!"

Shen Ci was caught off guard and was hit hard and fell into the water. There were two consecutive loud "splash" sounds as he fell into the water, and water splashed everywhere wildly.

Everything happened so suddenly that Shen Ci suddenly swallowed a nose full of water, which flowed back into his lungs along his trachea, burning his lungs.

"Help!... Gululu... Shen Ci knocked me down... ugh..."

Bai Ziwei's screams, the sound of water in his ears, and the intense pain in his chest gradually faded away.

Sudden choking and lack of oxygen, Shen Ci instinctively struggled for a few times and then became motionless, with his mind quickly going blank.

The tinnitus was heard in his ears, and before he could even continue to be afraid, Shen Ci slowly sank into the deeper darkness with his consciousness...