Si Chengyou originally had all kinds of guesses in his mind. He would verify his assumptions one by one as soon as Shen Yue came over and eventually deduce the correct answer after eliminating the mistakes.
But he did not expect that this girl named Shen Yue would be bolder than he imagined. She was also very smart.
Not only did she blurt out his full name directly, but she also guessed his intentions.
As expected, Shen Yue was a variable. But how exactly this variable was produced and what Shen Yue saw in the year she was 12, Si Chengyou still had no answers at present.
Before Si Chengyou could think more, Shen Yue had already sat down on the sofa in the principal's office after saying that sentence. She leaned back and looked very comfortable. She also pointed to the sofa opposite her, hinting Si Chengyou to sit down.
Si Chengyou: ...
At this moment, he was at a loss as to who was actually the superior between them.
What made Si Chengyou feel even stranger was that as he looked at Shen Yue in front of him, he inexplicably had the feeling that he was looking at himself.
Could this girl be related to him in some way?
As Shen Yue had said, Si Chengyou walked over and sat down on the sofa opposite her.
Unlike the casualness of the past two days, today's Si Chengyou was wearing a crisp military uniform with every button neatly buttoned. He held his military cap in one hand and the other hand on his knee, clearly an extremely elegant sitting posture yet giving off a sense of danger.
But Shen Yue didn't care. Externally displayed danger was a good thing. Being able to feel the danger meant being able to respond early. The Si Chengyou in the Crippling World didn’t even let you feel a trace of danger, yet he could inexplicably push people to desperation.
Shen Yue observed Si Chengyou. He had combed all his black hair to the back of his head. After putting on his military cap, his distinct facial features were revealed.
Compared with her third brother who was on the front line performing special missions all day, Si Chengyou's skin was a little fairer. But it was not pale either, it was a very healthy color, adding a touch of aggression to his already good-looking face.
If the Si Chengyou in the Crippling World was an emperor who had gone through 26 precipitations, standing high above and treating all living beings like chess pieces, then the present Si Chengyou was a lead wolf at the forefront, bathing in blood while leading the pack to fight step by step.
"What is your purpose?" Seeing that Shen Yue didn't speak again after saying that sentence and just stared at him instead, Si Chengyou felt as if he had been seen through and decided to take the initiative to attack.
Upon hearing Si Chengyou's counter-question, Shen Yue withdrew her scrutinizing gaze. Her expression resumed the harmless look when she first met Si Chengyou.
Shen Yue did not answer Si Chengyou's words directly. Instead, she suddenly said, "The golden toad is very beautiful. But if big brother leaves it in the garden, it is inevitable that some small animals may crawl onto it. When brother Si passed by the toad while leaving yesterday, his steps seemed a little strange."
When Si Chengyou left yesterday, although it was already dark, Shen Yue had specifically asked the steward to turn on all the lights to ensure that Si Chengyou could spot the toad at first glance with the brightly squirming worms on it.
She had also been staring at Si Chengyou's actions all along and noticed a pause in his normally rhythmic pace of walking when he was close to the golden toad. Right after that, he had also quickly turned his gaze to the other side, while he was originally facing sideways talking to big brother about something.
Si Chengyou was afraid.
The moment Shen Yue confirmed this fact, she knew that Si Chengyou did not lie to her in the Crippling World back then. This was indeed his weakness.
A person like Si Chengyou would absolutely not reveal his weaknesses in front of others. Even if he was afraid, he would force himself to hide it. If he didn't take the initiative to tell others about it, it would be very difficult for others to perceive anything from his every move.
If those worms were not deliberately placed there by Shen Yue, and if Shen Yue didn't know about Si Chengyou's habit of using patterns to conceal some information, she would not have noticed Si Chengyou's barely detectable pause.
And his appropriately timed shift of gaze.
Why did Si Chengyou tell her about his weakness back then? Was it just to gain her trust?
Shen Yue felt it wasn't the case. If Si Chengyou only wanted to gain her trust, when she used bugs to test him, Si Chengyou should have pretended to show fear. But instead, he let the dog eat the bugs.
Shen Yue had never bothered to delve deeper into this question. She didn't even care enough to properly verify the authenticity of the information. She only remembered that there was such a dubious matter.
It wasn't until she truly saw Si Chengyou a few days ago and realized the difference in status between her present self and Si Chengyou that Shen Yue suddenly understood. This was the bargaining chip Si Chengyou left for her, for her 15-year-old self to interact with the Si Chengyou from the past.
Facing his own weakness yet still able to remain calm on the surface, Si Chengyou would never believe such a thing could happen with a 15-year-old girl.
At the foundation of Si Chengyou’s skill in planning strategies was absolute confidence in himself. The present Si Chengyou in front of her may not have reached the extent of absolute confidence yet, but he would definitely not believe that a 15-year-old little girl could see through him.
Not even Shen Hui could.
Therefore, when Shen Yue placed Si Chengyou's weakness right in front of him, after eliminating all other options, only one answer would remain in his mind.
"You were the one who told me about this," Shen Yue looked into Si Chengyou's eyes and verbalized the answer for him.
