Lian Jun raised his head and looked at s.h.i.+ Jin without a word.

Extremely embarra.s.sed, s.h.i.+ Jin quickly covered his mouth. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. Do you want to change the table?”

“No need.” Lian Jun moved his own soup away, saying tonelessly: “People who litter need to pick up their own trash. Don't waste food.”

s.h.i.+ Jin: “…”

And so, lunch or dinner—s.h.i.+ Jin wasn't sure—continued. He kept fidgeting, now and then trying to sneak a look at Lian Jun's tablet. Finally, he couldn't resist, stealthily pulled out his own phone and opened the microblogging app.

With Rong Zhouzhong's popularity, s.h.i.+ Jin did not have to search hard. He just opened the main page and the post pinned to the top was ‘Rong Zhouzhong is looking for a young dancer'.

Panicking wouldn't do him any good. He asked in his mind, “Do you think Rong Zhouzhong recognized me?”

Xiao Si hadn't expected Rong Zhouzhong would get involved in this matter. It answered hesitantly:

s.h.i.+ Jin was slightly relieved—the progress bar wouldn't lie; if it wasn't going up, things should still be fine. However, if Rong Zhouzhong hadn't recognized him, why did he post this? Was it just to help Long s.h.i.+ to get back at him by inciting netizens?

…What a way to be petty.

s.h.i.+ Jin turned off his phone and put it away, then, like a student who was playing during the cla.s.s, he instinctively looked up to check if the “teacher” Lian Jun noticed.

Lian Jun was looking straight at him with an expressionless face.

s.h.i.+ Jin froze. “Uh…”

“Tell me about Rong Zhouzhong.” Lian Jun put down his spoon and a.s.sumed a posture indicating this was going to be a long conversation. “You said you wanted to follow me and I agreed. In the beginning, I haven't asked you too much about your personal affairs because you weren't allowed into my inner circle then but now that you're close to me, I think it's necessary for me to have more information. Gua Two said you were clearly trying to avoid Long s.h.i.+ yesterday, why?”

s.h.i.+ Jin was slightly taken aback, but he promptly put his chopsticks down. In fact, he had wanted to let Lian Jun know more about his situation since a while ago, so he explained honestly: “Because Long s.h.i.+'s employer is my third brother, Rong Zhouzhong. Besides him, I have another four brothers. The eldest, s.h.i.+ Weichong, you already know about, the remaining three are second brother Fei Yujing, fourth brother Xiang Aoting, and fifth brother Li Jiuzheng. I'm hiding from all of them.”

Lian Jun sat up straight and asked, “Fei Yujing, do you mean that lawyer Fei Yujing?”

s.h.i.+ Jin nodded.

“Li Juzheng—if I remember correctly, Elder Sun's last, beloved disciple is called Li Juzheng, and he's an extremely talented doctor.”

s.h.i.+ Jin nodded again.

“As for Xiang Aoting…” Lian Jun started to tap on the table and frowned slightly. It seemed he wasn't aware of any important people called by that name.

s.h.i.+ Jin said somewhat guiltily, “He's a pilot… um, a fighter pilot. In the military.”

Lian Jun's finger stopped tapping. He gave s.h.i.+ Jin a deep look.

s.h.i.+ Jin lowered his head silently.

“Your brothers…”

“Each of them is troublesome,” finished s.h.i.+ Jin.

“Do they really want you to die?” Lian Jun asked.

s.h.i.+ Jin nodded hard, touching the scars from self-inflicted cuts on his wrist.

The dining room fell quiet. After a long while, Lian Jun reached out his hand and pressed the call bell beside him. The cuc.u.mber feast was taken away and s.h.i.+ Jin was served a bowl of clear soup with noodles.

“Eat it,” said Lian Jun succinctly.

s.h.i.+ Jin couldn't fathom his thoughts. He obediently picked up his chopsticks and whispered, “Jun-shao, I know my family situation is complicated, but you can rest a.s.sured that I will handle it carefully and try not to cause any trouble for you…”

“Simply your presence is a problem,” interrupted him Lian Jun. He took a look at s.h.i.+ Jin, gave him two more poached eggs and said, “I will deal with the microblogging business. You haven't been out much lately… Had Rong Zhouzhong recognized you?”

s.h.i.+ Jin shook his head, looked at the poached eggs, then turned his gaze to Lian Jun, saying tearfully: “Jun-shao, you are being so nice to me…”

Lian Jun looked away, answering coldly, “Don't make that expression while you have that ugly mess on your head, disgusting.”

s.h.i.+ Jin: “…”

The effect of the post was not to be underestimated. Rong Zhouzhong popularity was so high that only a few hours later, his followers managed to ferret out more than a dozen videos from the bar, taken by different people from different angles. Some were blurry or filmed from too far away, but there were a few that managed to capture s.h.i.+ Jin's whole face clearly enough to let people recognize him on street.

s.h.i.+ Jin hated he couldn't go back in time to yesterday's evening and strangle himself to death before he managed to get up on the dance floor.

“If this goes on, I'm afraid it will be only a matter of time before Rong Zhouzhong recognizes me.” s.h.i.+ Jin's heart sank.

Xiao Si tried to comfort him, but it was of no use, he couldn't really fool himself. Although getting fatter or thinner will make a person look different, it was not plastic surgery—the facial features will not change too much. Besides, before adolescence, s.h.i.+ Jin was only slightly chubby and if somebody compared the current photos with the ones from back then, it wouldn't be difficult to recognize him.

“Not good, I have to change my appearance or I won't be able to go out in the future!” s.h.i.+ Jin suddenly stood up and strode outside.

Xiao Si was startled.

“No, it's too painful.” s.h.i.+ Jin shook his head, then lifted a hand and resentfully pulled at his permed curls. “It's all because of this stupid hair, I'm going to shave it away!”

Xiao Si:

When Lian Jun saw s.h.i.+ Jin again at dinner, the teenager's head was smooth and s.h.i.+ny.

Lian Jun put down his chopsticks, his expression blank. “What happened to you?”

“You said my hair is ugly, so I shaved it, haha.” s.h.i.+ Jin touched his bald head and let out a foolish laugh.

It turns out that good-looking people would still be good-looking even if they shaved their heads. What's more, without the hair, s.h.i.+ Jin's face appeared smaller and more childlike. It was especially noticeable when he laughed, just like now.

Lian Jun stared at him for a few seconds, then raised his hand and kneaded his forehead hard.

“Is something wrong?” s.h.i.+ Jin asked with a silly expression.

Lian Jun glanced at him again, motioned him to start eating, and picked up his chopsticks. He said, “Rong Zhouzhong has deleted his post and said the whole thing was just a joke, the dancer in the video is actually someone he knows.”

s.h.i.+ Jin cried out, “What?! Did he recognize me?”

“He didn't, it was because someone interfered. I asked Gua Two to inform the government officials and make them contact Rong Zhouzhong. They told him you were an undercover agent sent to approach Xu Huai and they'd rather Rong Zhouzhong did not publicize what you look like, so he cooperated and deleted his post,” explained Lian Jun.

“Oh, so it was like that…” s.h.i.+ Jin calmed down. He noticed a bowl of soup in front of Lian Jun and immediately praised him like he would a well-behaved child, “Jun-shao, you're drinking soup again today. That's great, you're not picky anymore!”

Hearing these words, Lian Jun immediately rung the call bell and asked to be brought a soft-boiled egg. Then, staring at s.h.i.+ Jin all the while, he brutally sliced the top off, making the yolk flow out.

s.h.i.+ Jin felt a chill down his spine. Knowing his attempt at flattery not only failed badly but seemed to have an opposite effect, he bowed his head silently and pretended to be engrossed in eating dinner.

In the blink of an eye, another two weeks have pa.s.sed. Thanks to Lian Jun's behind-the-scenes manipulation, s.h.i.+ Jin's dance video quickly became forgotten, quietly disappearing in the depths of the internet. s.h.i.+ Jin's tense nerves relaxed a little and he stopped worrying day and night about his brothers recognizing him.

During that time, the people from the government confirmed Xu Huai was the information seller. Not long after, Xu Huai had been suddenly captured by unknown people, stuffed into a sack and beaten black and blue. Then, to top it off, he was stripped naked and left at the entrance of Zero Degrees Bar, becoming a public laughingstock.

Later, Xu Huai, who had recovered from his injuries, left the city in order to change the scenery and disappeared completely, never to be seen again.

At the same time, the news about a cruise s.h.i.+p accident, in which several domestic and foreign tourists lost their lives, caused a small ripple and then were quickly forgotten.

Before s.h.i.+ Jin knew it, the first snow of the early winter has fallen. He wrapped himself up tightly in a scarf, put on a winter hat and went out shopping with Gua Two.

“Are we really going to spend the winter in B City?” s.h.i.+ Jin asked, his voice m.u.f.fled by the scarf.

Gua Two's neck was bare. He glanced disdainfully at bundled up s.h.i.+ Jin, answering, “Originally, we planned to spend the winter on M Island, but there were some matters on the government's side and they requested Jun-shao to stay here for a while longer, so we have no choice but to stay.”

s.h.i.+ Jin nodded his understanding and asked, “What are we going out to buy? Isn't there someone in the club responsible for shopping?”

“You will know when we get there.” Gua Two apparently wanted to keep him guessing. s.h.i.+ Jin let out a disgruntled snort and got into the car with him.

They headed for the nearest shopping mall. Bored, s.h.i.+ Jin reached out to play with fog on the car window.

When they were almost at their destination, Xiao Si abruptly cried out.

s.h.i.+ Jin was startled and his fingers slipped, making him almost slam his head on the door. He managed to grab the handle and straighten himself, then asked, “What's wrong?”

Xiao Si's voice became high-pitched from panic.

s.h.i.+ Jin looked at his progress bar in shock. After repeatedly confirming that he wasn't seeing things, he became dumbfounded. “Just what happened? How could it suddenly rise so much?!”

Xiao Si was also confused and answered shrilly,

s.h.i.+ Jin looked around quickly—right now, he was riding a car and hadn't done anything, if the progress bar suddenly skyrocketed, it means something dangerous must have appeared nearby! And in the middle of B City, what could cause danger for him except for his brothers?!

“What are you doing?” Gua Two saw him wriggling in his seat in a very strange way, apparently to look outside. He smiled and stopped the car, calling out, “We're here, get out of the car. Jun-shao is waiting for us to come back, so let's make it quick.”

s.h.i.+ Jin could see nothing but other cars. Slowly, his sight focused on the shopping mall not far away. He hesitated for a moment, then tightly grabbed the door handle and said firmly, “No, let's go back right now, I have to p.i.s.s.”

Gua Two stepped out of the car and gave him a sideways look, then reached to take s.h.i.+ Jin's winter hat off, exposing the short stubble on his head. He mocked, “I don't think you have to p.i.s.s, I just think your noggin is itching. Now get out.”

s.h.i.+ Jin still refused.

This led them to have a fierce dispute. s.h.i.+ Jin was determined not to get out of the car but wasn't able to give a clear reason why, and Gua Two kept insisting they go to the mall and spend there at least two hours or they won't be allowed to come back.

While they were making a ruckus, someone suddenly appeared beside the car, reached for the pa.s.senger's door handle, gently pulled it open, and then a familiar voice rang out from inside: “Give it a rest already, I—”

Xiao Si screamed wildly and s.h.i.+ Jin stiffened. Gua Two looked at the intruder with a frown.

Outside the car, the words on s.h.i.+ Weichong's tongue abruptly died out. His sight slowly fell on s.h.i.+ Jin, who was being pulled by Gua Two, swept over his face and focused on the little mole on his nose. Then, a storm began to brew in his eyes and he uttered coldly, “s.h.i.+ Jin, you really know how to hide.”

s.h.i.+ Jin: “…” f.u.c.king h.e.l.l!

Translator's Notes: “Last, beloved disciple” [關門弟子] – wuxia and xianxia readers, you know this one – it means ‘closing-door disciple' or ‘inheritance disciple': the last person a master would personally teach, and the one who would inherit all his knowledge, basically the successor.

Saitama, is that you?

This lil' cliffie at the end is why I decided to release two chapters. I didn't want to leave you hanging, my little pumpkins~╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

As usual, in the life-and-death situation, s.h.i.+ Jin quickly calmed down. He shook Gua Two's hand off, sat up, smiled politely at s.h.i.+ Weichong, changed his voice and whispered in some weird dialect: “Mistah, yew mistook me, I s'pose. ‘Ave a good day!”

After that, he grabbed the door and tried to pull it closed.

On s.h.i.+ Weichong forehead, a vein popped up. He put his leg between the pa.s.senger's seat and the door, preventing it from closing, then grabbed s.h.i.+ Jin's right arm and pushed the sleeve up, revealing the scars on his wrist. Tightening his hold, he sneered, “Do you think I'm stupid? Come out here!”

Xiao Si continued to wail:

s.h.i.+ Jin broke out in cold sweat. Trying to free his hand, he turned his head and shouted, “Gua Two, help me to—”

Click.

The sound of a bullet being loaded into the firing chamber could be heard. Gua Two aimed the gun at s.h.i.+ Weichong and grabbed s.h.i.+ Jin's shoulder with his other hand, pulling him to his side, then looked at s.h.i.+ Weichong and said, “Let go of him.”

…Oh f.u.c.k.

s.h.i.+ Jin was dumbfounded.

In a flash, s.h.i.+ Weichong's face turned ugly. He did not release s.h.i.+ Jin's hand but grabbed it tighter instead, and not avoiding the muzzle at all asked through clenched teeth, “s.h.i.+ Jin, you're allowing an outsider to point a gun at me?”

Xiao Si's shriek turned even more piercing: <890! jinjin,="" waah!="">

Aaaaah! Don't rise!

This was the scream of s.h.i.+ Jin's soul. Just as he opened his mouth to say something to ease the situation, another tall figure appeared outside the car. At the same time, a slightly familiar low-pitched male voice could be heard: “Big Brother, what's taking you so long? Did something happen—”

Before the man could finish his words, he saw the situation inside the car and his straight eyebrows wrinkled in a frown. Without any hesitation, he pulled out his own gun and aimed it at Gua Two, bellowing: “What the h.e.l.l are you doing? Put the gun down!”

Xiao Si was so agitated it almost broke down: <900, and="" darling="" is="" not="" here,="" we're="" done="" for,="" waah!="">

s.h.i.+ Jin choked. Incredulous, he stared at the man standing beside s.h.i.+ Weichong. Seeing his appearance, which was very similar to that of s.h.i.+ Weichong, and the fierce expression on his chiseled face, he really wanted to cry. “Four, fourth brother…” Why are you here?

Obviously, this person was Xiang Aoting. When he heard s.h.i.+ Jin's voice, he became stunned for a moment. His sight swept over s.h.i.+ Jin's features, concentrating on his nose, then he reached his hand to grab s.h.i.+ Jin and said, “Little Six, where have you been during all this time? Come here.”

“Don't touch him.” Gua Two leaned over, pus.h.i.+ng s.h.i.+ Jin down, and turned his gun towards Xiang Aoting, saying menacingly, “Get back or watch out for the bullets.”

Xiang Aoting s.h.i.+fted slightly, his eyes observing Gua Two's hold on s.h.i.+ Jin, and also turned the gun's safety off, his muscles tense and ready to instantly take action. “Little Six, are you being threatened?”

With the two guns in the near vicinity of his head, how could s.h.i.+ Jin's progress bar not go up? Feeling cold sweat on his forehead, he firmly shook his head and said, “No, Gua Two is my friend, this is all a misunderstanding. Put, put your gun down first, and let go of my hand…”

“Let go so you could run again?” When s.h.i.+ Weichong asked this, everyone could clearly hear the sound of his teeth grinding.

s.h.i.+ Jin's heart shook and he realized he had to break this stalemate somehow. After finally finding him, s.h.i.+ Weichong was not going to let him go again and although he had Gua Two helping him, s.h.i.+ Weichong had Xiang Aoting. With two against two, it was not sure which side would have an advantage, so he had to find a way to either play for time or run back to the clubhouse.

After quickly weighing the advantages and disadvantages, s.h.i.+ Jin calmed down, sat up between the muzzles of two guns, and looked at s.h.i.+ Weichong. “Big brother, I won't run anymore. Gua Two, put down your gun. These two are my brothers, they won't hurt me.”

Gua Two knew a little about s.h.i.+ Jin's family situation, that's why he immediately tried to defend him when he saw s.h.i.+ Weichong appear. Hearing s.h.i.+ Jin's words he frowned and asked, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I'll be fine.” After that, s.h.i.+ Jin looked at s.h.i.+ Weichong, forced out a somewhat ugly smile and said, “Big brother, I really won't run anymore. I'm living in a club called Nightlight not far from here, and I'll stay there until the end of this year.”

s.h.i.+ Weichong observed him for a few seconds as if he was trying to see whether he lied or not, then slowly let go of his hand. He wasn't completely convinced though, because he stepped toward the back door of the car and got in. At the same time, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number, saying, “Third, come to the mall's entrance, we've found Xiao Jin.”

s.h.i.+ Jin gasped—Thi, Third? Rong Zhouzhong was here too? How come the one time he went out he b.u.mped into three of his brothers?

Hearing s.h.i.+ Jin mention Nightlight, Gua Two raised his eyebrows slightly. He realized s.h.i.+ Jin was going to let Lian Jun take care of the matters, so he stopped hesitating and put his gun away, exchanging it for a cell phone. He quickly made a call and explained the situation here.

Two minutes later, both s.h.i.+ Weichong and Xiang Aoting's phones rang. They looked at each other. One brother answered the call directly, the other squeezed in next to s.h.i.+ Jin, closed the door and also reached for his phone.

“s.h.i.+ Weichong speaking.”

“h.e.l.lo, sir.”

They both started speaking at the same moment. s.h.i.+ Jin's side was touching Xiang Aoting, so he was able to hear an indistinct voice from his phone; it seemed the person who called was Xiang Aoting's commanding officer, who reprimanded him for attacking a member of the affiliated forces and ordered him to stop immediately.

Xiang Aoting frowned, answered ‘yes, sir' several times, then hung up the phone and looked at Gua Two, studying him.

s.h.i.+ Weichong was apparently called by Lian Jun in person. Their conversation was not long but obviously less than friendly, as could be deduced from his rapidly sinking expression.

Finally, s.h.i.+ Weichong concluded their talk with a “He's my brother!” shout, then looked at s.h.i.+ Jin, who kept peeking at him from the side, and asked, “This is what you meant when you said you're staying in a safe place and found a stable job?”

s.h.i.+ Jin evaded his gaze, laughed awkwardly and didn't dare to answer. He was really curious about what Lian Jun had said to s.h.i.+ Weichong.

The situation was temporarily stabilized thanks to these calls. Five minutes later, Rong Zhouzhong, wearing a hat and mask, walked up to the car. His beautiful peach blossom eyes glanced around, finally falling on s.h.i.+ Jin's ‘trendy' hairstyle, and the corner of his mouth curled up in a faint smile. He didn't ask anything but simply circled the car, opened the back door and got in.

The expression in his eyes was full of meaning and it somehow made s.h.i.+ Jin's skin crawl, so he furtively moved a little closer to Gua Two. Xiang Aoting noticed s.h.i.+ Jin's movements, scowled, then grabbed him and pushed him into the back seat.

s.h.i.+ Jin, who had accidentally ended up sitting between s.h.i.+ Weichong and Rong Zhouzhong: “…” Mom, it's freaking scary.

Xiao Si was trembling:

“Your feeling is right, it's bad,” answered s.h.i.+ Jin in his mind. He glanced left and right at the two pairs of legs, his heart filling with despair—three brothers at the same time, wasn't it practically the worst-case scenario?

s.h.i.+ Weichong was very dissatisfied with s.h.i.+ Jin's hunched and stiff sitting posture, so he pulled him up and made him sit straight, then said to Gua Two, “Everybody's here. Your boss asked me to come to talk with him, so hurry up and drive.”

Gua Two also received orders from Lian Jun. He took a last look at s.h.i.+ Jin in the rearview mirror and started the car.

Departure was happy, the return was full of dread.

After arriving at the club, Gua Two led everyone to the special elevator and went straight up to the sixth floor where Lian Jun lived.

Unexpectedly, Lian Jun actually waited right outside the elevator, wearing a red robe with the white plum blossom pattern, which he seldom wore. He was dazzling like a red Datura flower blooming in a world of ice and snow.

Gua Two was the first to walk out of the elevator. “Jun-shao.”

Lian Jun acknowledged him and beckoned to s.h.i.+ Jin, “Come here.”

His ‘golden thigh' was calling, so s.h.i.+ Jin hurriedly stepped forward.

Three brothers were taken completely by surprise by Lian Jun; they hadn't expected the person supporting s.h.i.+ Jin was someone looking like that. For a while, they only stared blankly, failing to stop s.h.i.+ Jin from acting like a baby bird returning to the nest. By the time they recovered, s.h.i.+ Jin had already stood beside Lian Jun and instinctively grabbed the armrest of his wheelchair.

s.h.i.+ Weichong's face darkened. He walked out of the elevator, stopped in front of Lian Jun and looked down on him, using the advantage of his height. “Mr. Lian, I want to take my brother home and you have no right to stop me.”

Instead of answering him, Lian Jun turned his head slightly to look at s.h.i.+ Jin beside him and asked, “Do you want to go home?”

Everyone's sight moved to s.h.i.+ Jin, who turned rigid for a moment, feeling an enormous amount of pressure from it; even his ‘golden thigh's' eyes were drilling holes in him. Finally, he braced himself, faced the urging gazes of his brothers and shook his head. “No, I want to stay with Jun-shao. I like it here,” he said while observing his progress bar.

“In that case, no one can take you away,” Lian Jun soothed him. Then he looked at s.h.i.+ Weichong and said, “This is my stance on this issue, Mr. s.h.i.+. If you can't accept it, please go back, because we have nothing to talk about.”

Xiao Si breathed a sigh of relief and said happily,

 s.h.i.+ Jin was also relieved, his hand tightening its hold on the wheelchair's armrest.

When s.h.i.+ Weichong heard the “no” from s.h.i.+ Jin's mouth, he couldn't restrain himself from stepping forward in order to drag s.h.i.+ Jin back. Gua Two, who had been quietly waiting on one side, immediately moved in front of him. Although this time he did not pull out the gun, he still exuded a feeling of extreme danger.

“Big Brother,” called out Aoting, signaling s.h.i.+ Weichong not to act rashly. The soldiers' intuition told him that even though the reception hall in front of the elevator seemed completely empty, there were at least five hidden guns aiming at them.

In short, this was the other side's territory and they would be at a disadvantage if they tried to do anything by force.

s.h.i.+ Weichong understood his meaning and reluctantly retracted his hand. He looked at s.h.i.+ Jin and asked, “Why?”

s.h.i.+ Jin took a look at the progress bar, recalled the days right after his rebirth when he was constantly frightened and forced to hide, and remembered how original ‘s.h.i.+ Jin's' life ended. Now, relying on Lian Jun's presence, he looked straight into s.h.i.+ Weichong's eyes and said something that almost broke all illusion of family warmth: “Because I want to live happily. Big Brother, Third Brother, Fourth Brother, I don't understand—it was Dad who treated you unfairly, why do you hate me? What did I do wrong?” After that, he looked away from s.h.i.+ Weichong, pushed Lian Jun's wheelchair and left without turning back.

The living room was at the other end of the corridor. The only sound that could be heard as they walked was the quiet squeaking of the wheelchair wheels.

“s.h.i.+ Jin,” said Lian Jun abruptly broke the silence.

s.h.i.+ Jin was nervously confirming the status of his progress bar. “Yes, Jun-shao?”

“Today's is special. Even if you cry, I can pretend not to see it.” After saying something inexplicable, Lian Jun gestured s.h.i.+ Jin to stop. “How come the living room is dark? Go and turn the lights on.”

Not suspecting anything, s.h.i.+ Jin obediently circled the wheelchair and moved toward the light switch.

Click.

When the switch was pressed, the party poppers hanging above the door exploded, showering s.h.i.+ Jin with confetti and colorful ribbons. At the same time, the living room lights lit up and the enormous, three-layered birthday cake sitting on the tea table was revealed.

s.h.i.+ Jin was struck dumb.

“You've come back too early, so there was no time to prepare anything more.” Lian Jun moved his wheelchair to s.h.i.+ Jin's side, took his hand, stuffed a red envelope into it, and said, “Happy birthday, congratulations on becoming an adult.”

Chapter 18 >>

Translator's Notes: What s.h.i.+ Jin says in the first paragraph is completely random and found on the internet, because I don't know any dialects (I'm not a native speaker).“Peach blossom eyes” [桃花眼] – another popular idiom. Here's the explanation by etvo from : It's related to the term 桃花, which is essentially someone's love life/relations.h.i.+ps. Having good peach blossoms is having encounters with good prospects who could develop into something more. Rotten peach blossoms are encounters with the sketchy, the odd, the random people that really don't fit you. Having peach blossom eyes (which I honestly would translate as naturally seductive/alluring/flirty eyes) means someone who easily attracts a member of the opposite gender (or whichever gender floats the MC's boat). It's not an actual shape like the phoenix or almond-shaped eyes.

 Well then, who expected this turn of events? ( ๑‾̀◡‾́)σ»