Not one less

  In the bathroom, Pei Jianyu stood naked in front of the misty mirror, talking to himself. Water droplets slid down his freshly washed hair, flowing over his sharp jawline, and dripped onto his muscular chest. The slightly yellowish light cast a golden glow on his moist skin.

  Before attending university, Pei Jian was a student at a sports school. After long-term training, his body became very strong. During his university days, he also got into boxing and put in a lot of effort. He wasn't exceptional, but he did develop impressive muscles that made people's blood boil, comparable to those of Roman statues. With a height of 180 cm, wheat-colored skin, and triangular and six-pack abs that showcased masculine power, Pei Jian was the object of admiration for many girls in school. Every time he appeared at the annual university sports meet, he would cause a commotion, with many beauty queens and department flowers throwing him red scarves. However, Pei Jian remained unmoved, having set a rule for himself to not consider major life events before the age of 30.

  A man who would never give a second glance at any flower was now entangled in a thousand knots over how to go see a girl.

  "Should I go or not... If I go, what should I say? What's the first sentence? Hello? Or hi? Should I bring Shengtao along? He's familiar with them and can speak well... No, no way... he's familiar with them but I'm not, how do I introduce myself without looking like a fool? If I don't say it well, that kid will laugh at me to death, no way! No way..."

  Bang! Bang! The sound of knocking on the door. Outside, Pei Shitao's urgent voice came through, "Little uncle, hurry up! You've been in there for half an hour, I'm about to suffocate!" Bang! Bang! Bang!

  Before long, Pei Jian's face turned black as he opened the door and glared at his nephew. Before he could even speak, he was interrupted by Pei Shi Tao, who hastily pulled him out of the way and rushed inside himself. "Bang!" The door slammed shut behind him.

  Bai Jian stood helplessly by the door, staring at it for a moment before turning back into his room. He sat down in front of his computer and continued to rack his brains until Bai Shidao returned, still unable to think of what to do.

  Early in the morning, Lin Peipei went up the mountain as usual. At this time, it was already a season of long days and short nights, and the sky lit up early. Lin Peipei didn't intentionally want to see the sunrise, but simply got used to getting up early for her morning exercise. On her way back down the mountain, someone caught up with her from behind and greeted her. Turning around, she saw a very handsome young man. Lin Peipei felt that he looked familiar, but hadn't seen him before. He was wearing an all-white sports suit with two big characters "Public Security" printed on his chest, a very short flat-top haircut, and a lean figure. Without asking, it should be someone from the same line as her brother. Although she hadn't seen him before, she still responded politely and turned to continue walking down the mountain.

  Bai Jian still couldn't help but come, however he didn't do as Bai Shi Tao said and wait at the door or chase after her up the mountain. He only waited until Lin Pei Pei came down the mountain to appear, making it seem like a coincidence. His thinking was that even if she wouldn't talk to strangers, at least he wouldn't be too embarrassed. He wasn't certain if he would recognize the wrong person, but based on scattered information from Gu Auntie, he judged that the person in front of him might be Lin Pei Pei.

  Lin Pei Pei took two steps, feeling something was off. The person had called out her name, but she couldn't recall who he was. Had they met before? There wasn't a single impression in her mind. Was her brain prematurely aging?

  "May I ask... have we met before?" Lin Pei Pei turned her head back and stared at Bai Jian, sizing him up from head to toe.

  "We haven't met before, but your name is like thunder in my ears. Every day, someone mentions you to me, telling me how great you are. My ears are almost growing calluses." Pei Jian hastened his pace and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Lin Peipei when she stopped to ask him, knowing he had found the right person.

  "Hello... I am Baegeom."

  "Pei? You and Pei Shitao..."

  "Shi Tao is my nephew, and I'm his young uncle." Pei Jian finally found a way to introduce himself that didn't sound too awkward.

  "Ah! You're Uncle Pei's younger brother, hello! Hello! I've also heard Shitou mention you before, saying that you were a sports coach. Are you working at the Public Security Bureau now?" It turns out to be an acquaintance, Shitou's uncle, Aunt Gu's uncle, so we should be more polite.

  "I'm from the Criminal Investigation Department, Director Zhao asked me to come and assist you in setting up a go-kart team. If there's anything I can do, just let me know, please instruct me." Pei Jian smiled, revealing a row of white teeth.

  "Who can teach, this matter will still trouble you in the future, thank you for your hard work, haha. Oh dear, isn't this laughter a bit fake? Saying polite words is really not what people do!"

  Bai Jian also felt that the dialogue at this time was a bit awkward, and he rubbed his flat head slightly, driving away the small insects flying around his head. He and Lin Peipei were currently stopped beside a bush, where ripe sauce fruits fell to the ground, attracting countless insects with their bursting fruit pulp, and Lin Peipei also waved her hand to drive them away with some annoyance.

  "I say, we won't just stand here in this bug heap flattering each other, are you not afraid of your delicate skin getting bitten? I am, my face is already dark enough, if I get bitten a few more times, people will think I'm from some refugee camp, who would still like me? I haven't even found a wife yet." Pei Jian said with intentional humor but also with a hint of seriousness.

  Lin Pei Pei was delighted by him, and her good impression of him greatly increased. Since he is Shi Tao's uncle, there's no need to be polite, let's just be natural.

  The two of them walked down the mountain road, returning to the entrance. From a distance, they saw Pei Shitao pacing back and forth, and when he saw them return, he rushed over from afar.

  "Sister! Sister! I've finally waited for you to come back... Little uncle? How are you here? Didn't you say you weren't coming?"

  Pei Jian was asked by his nephew and coughed twice, feeling a bit embarrassed. "We met halfway and were discussing serious matters... what are you doing here again?"

  "I have something serious to discuss with my sister too. Uncle, you've been taking up her time for so long, shouldn't you be done with your business by now? I'm going to take my sister away."

  Lin Pei peered at the uncle and nephew, thinking to herself, what's going on here that I don't know about?

  "Wait! What are you going to do?" Pei Jian saw Pei Shi Tao pulling Lin Pei Pei's arm and speaking, and took two steps forward, feeling a bit anxious, so he hastily called out.

  "Uncle, if you want to know, come with us! Sister, I'm telling you, my painting won an award..."

  Bai Shidao pulled Lin Peipei towards the gate, not slowing down despite Bai Jian's call, and chattered excitedly as they walked. Bai Jian followed behind them, looking at his nephew who was a head taller than Lin Peipei, and suddenly felt a void in his heart, feeling strange, and subconsciously pressed the spot with his hand, but the feeling vanished instantly.

  Pei Shitao pulled Lin Peipei to the basketball court beside the tree-lined path that day, where five children were already waiting. When they saw Pei Shitao, they all gathered around him and lined up neatly in a row. Lin Peipei looked at them curiously and turned to ask Pei Shitao, "What's this..."

  "Sister, they are my classmates, this is Peipei sister I told you about, hurry and call someone!"

  A group of kids shouted "Sister" in unison, it can be seen that this should be a small group that Pei Shitao usually plays with and listens to Pei Shitao's words.

  "Sister, I told them about forming a go-kart team and they also want to join, it's just that they are not from our big yard..."

  "So you brought me here to open the back door?"

  Bai Shidao saw being pointed out by Lin Peipei and smiled awkwardly twice.

  "Peipei jie, please take us in. We're always playing karting games and feel like it's not enough. Now that we know there are real go-karts, we all want to try them out. We'll listen to you, so please take us in!" One of the kids spoke up, begging, and the other kids chimed in agreement. Lin Peipei smiled silently as she looked at them.

  "Sister, just agree already, I've guaranteed that there's no problem. If you don't agree, I'll lose face. Sister..."

  Bai Shidao saw that Lin Peipei didn't react, so he helped her out by softly begging, and in the end, he even shook her hand like a child throwing a tantrum.

  Lin Pei Pei was amused by his cute expression and couldn't help but laugh out loud, reaching out to ruffle Bae Shi Tao's hair before turning around to leave. Bae Shi Tao wasn't sure if she had agreed or not, so he hastily called out to stop her.

  "Whether or not I agree is not what matters... it depends on whether they can pass the assessment."

  Those children heard that Lin Pei had not explicitly agreed, but they were already excited to join in, jumping and shouting. Pei Jian watched from afar as everything unfolded on the court, seeing off Lin Pei's departing back, growing more and more curious about her in his heart, finding her vastly different from the girls he knew at school, even overturning his usual impression of an official's daughter - this Lin Pei was truly not ordinary!

  According to the notice, a group of children gathered together, scattered in small groups on the playground. Lin Peipei saw this scene when she arrived, and Bai Shidao was among them with his little friends, forming their own world. Next to them were several kids wearing glasses, looking a bit dull, who should be introverted and not good at sports, but were forced to come by their parents. On the other side of the playground, there was that group of kids who rode fancy mountain bikes that day. Among those children, Lin Peipei found someone who shouldn't have appeared - Baozi.

  From that night on, Lin Peipei mentioned the idea of go-karting to Hei Lao Da, and Baozi volunteered to help out, but in reality he was afraid that these kids wouldn't listen to him. After all, there were many young members of the Hei Shark gang in this compound, and if they were to offend Lin Peipei again, even if Big Brother didn't flay him alive, he would still lose face in front of Lin Peipei and Big Brother. And so, Baozi followed closely behind, trying to keep an eye on things for Lin Peipei.

  When the leopard, who was scolding those kids, saw Lin Peipei coming, he hurriedly made everyone stand up. To be honest, whether they stood or not didn't make much of a difference, except for Pei Shitao's few children, the others were all twisted and turned, looking up at the sky, squatting on the ground, picking their noses, scratching themselves, and making all sorts of strange shapes. The leopard wanted to shout at them to stop, but since Lin Peipei was there, he didn't dare overstep his bounds, so he could only use his eyes to glare at those kids and tell them not to be too excessive.

  Lin Pei Pei watched the group of children with interest and walked towards them. She approached the one who was gazing up at the sky, also looking up at the empty sky, and after a while suddenly shouted, "The plane is falling down!" The child who was gazing up at the sky subconsciously replied, "That's not a plane, it's just a sparrow!" Lin Pei Pei smiled at him, and he looked away, scratching his head in embarrassment, not daring to look up at the sky again. Next, she approached the one who was squatting down, but instead of squatting down with him, she walked around to behind him to see what he was staring at so intently. After a while, she suddenly let out a loud cry, "The ground has cracked open!" The child was startled and jumped up, then looked again, only to find that there was nothing on the ground, realizing that Lin Pei Pei had tricked him. He glanced at her, but didn't squat back down again. Further ahead, the one who was picking his nose saw what happened earlier and quickly put his hand down, standing up straight, afraid that Lin Pei Pei would also suddenly do something to him.

  Lin Pei Pei looked over one by one, and soon walked to the front of Bae Shi Tao's children. Seeing that their sister Pei had come, they all straightened up with excitement on their small faces. Lin Pei Pei glanced at them and smiled in satisfaction.

  No way, there are only 19 of them, one is missing, that little red-haired guy who dared to swing a knife at her hasn't arrived.

  "Shi Tao, why didn't your younger cousin come?"

  "Here, over here!" Turning his head to look, he saw Pei Jian holding a child's collar and walking out of the small woods on the other side of the road. Actually, Little Red Hair Gu had arrived early, but seeing that the leopard was a bit intimidating and didn't dare get close, he hid behind a tree by the roadside and peeked out. Gu had been sent to the hospital for three days after that night's incident and was really scared out of his wits. This time, he had calmed down a bit, but only came reluctantly under Grandpa Gu's strict orders to take a look.

  When Gu Quan arrived, Pei Jian discovered him and estimated that he was the main culprit of the incident that day. Seeing him hiding behind a tree and not daring to come out, he went up and pulled him into a corner of the woods. As for what they said, it is unknown, but in short, after Gu Quan came out, his eyes were filled with fear when looking at Lin Pei Pei.

  Digression

  It seems that the comment section is very quiet, so I'd like to ask everyone to make a sound after reading the article, so I know I'm not fighting alone.