After the Most Hated Persona Faked Their Death, the Ex-Husband Lost His Mind - Chapter 12

Chu Mingzhang’s gaze lingered on Li Zhi for only a moment before quickly returning to its usual calm.

“Behind the mirror, top shelf,” he said, moving his hand from the doorknob. After dropping those words, he turned and left.

A moment later, he doubled back and tossed a pair of long trousers to Li Zhi. “Wear these.”

The pants were actually too large, but fortunately, they had a belt. Li Zhi pulled it tight so they would not slide down his waist, and he cuffed the long pant legs.

He dried his hair in the bathroom and put his glasses back on before stepping out. Li Zhi packed his filthy uniform away and looked uneasily at Chu Mingzhang, who was leaning against the sofa. “Um, thank you.”

Chu Mingzhang was wearing headphones and did not acknowledge him. Li Zhi rubbed his fingers together, his voice as soft as a mosquito’s hum. “The clothes, I will wash them and return them to you.”

“Then, I am leaving.” The relationship between him and Chu Mingzhang could not even be called a casual acquaintance; they were perhaps only slightly better than strangers. In fact, Li Zhi was surprised that someone as cold and indifferent as Chu Mingzhang would help him to this extent.

Li Zhi had no reason to stay any longer. He gripped the corner of the bag containing his dirty clothes. “Goodbye.”

“No need.”

Their voices rang out at the same time. Li Zhi turned his head in surprise. Chu Mingzhang also seemed slightly taken aback. He took off his headphones and let them hang around his neck. From Li Zhi’s angle, his profile looked exceptionally handsome and cold. “Do not return them to me.”

“You may dispose of those clothes as you wish.”

“Oh, alright.” Li Zhi was silent for a while. He nodded, almost talking to himself. “Alright.”

Li Zhi could not remember how he got back to the dormitory that day. He skipped dinner and sat on his bed for a long time, hugging his knees.

When the alarm went off, it was already 6:00 PM. Li Zhi instinctively looked at the small medicine bottle on his nightstand. It was time for his medication. Li Zhi reached out, but just as his fingertips were about to touch the bottle, he pulled his hand back.

Li Zhi had once made a schedule that strictly regulated the time for each of his medications. But now, the sound of paper tearing echoed as he ripped the schedule into pieces, letting them fall like snowflakes into the trash can. Following them were various medicine bottles. Li Zhi swept them all in without a flicker of hesitation.

Quitting cold turkey, Li Zhi could imagine the consequences of stopping his medication without permission: endless nightmares and sudden, unprovoked pain throughout his body.

Yet Li Zhi did it anyway. He even felt a faint sense of anticipation.

Just as a birthday must be associated with a cake, a slap is followed by comfort, and bullying is followed by rescue. Harm is inevitably accompanied by warmth, and thus, he began to obsess over pain.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on the pile of stench-ridden clothes thrown in the corner.

“What could be worse than this?” Li Zhi thought to himself.

The school board held an emergency meeting and unanimously decided to dismiss Director Wang from his post. Wang Kaixuan was expelled, and his cronies were punished one by one. Even Han Ziyao did not escape; he received a disciplinary mark and was suspended for a week.

Wang Kaixuan had been acting like a tyrant at school for a long time, but this was the first time he had been so reckless with his violence.

However, since he dared to do it, he must have had the confidence to back it up. As long as he did not kill anyone, his father had the power to settle things for him. The reason Wang Kaixuan failed this time was that someone had decided to take him down.

At 7:00 AM the morning after Li Zhi was bullied, the directors of this private high school simultaneously received an anonymous email. The email contained a video attachment.

It was surveillance footage. The location was the badminton hall that was about to be renovated, and the time was 1:00 PM the previous day.

The email was sent very boldly yet with a sense of proportion. The audio for everyone in the video had been muted, and their faces were blurred. However, the blurring was thin; anyone familiar with them could identify their identities after watching it a few times.

As one of the school directors, Zhou Guoxiong naturally saw the video. He quickly recognized that the pathetic boy being beaten on the ground was his younger son, Li Zhi. Zhou Guoxiong was furious.

Yes, he did not particularly like this son, but the boy was still his flesh and blood. What were these people doing? To put it bluntly, they were grinding his dignity into the dirt.

The matter was handled quickly afterward. The school called a temporary board meeting. Li Zhi, as one of the parties involved, was only asked a few questions. As for what exactly happened during the board meeting, he did not know.

He only knew that after the meeting ended, it was announced that Wang Kaixuan’s father had left the board and Wang Kaixuan had been expelled. Wang Kaixuan’s father looked devastated, leaving the school and getting into his car looking as though he were mourning his own parents.

He knew that because of his worthless son, he had completely offended Zhou Guoxiong.

Business relationships were complex. Although the elder Wang was considered to have status in S City, he was nowhere near as influential as Zhou Guoxiong, who was known as the Father of S City Retail.

A setback in his career was inevitable, but at that time, Wang’s father did not know that the real catastrophe was yet to come.

About a week later, Wang Kaixuan, who had gone to Manhattan, New York, for a vacation to clear his head, was struck by a phantom car and killed on the spot. The driver fled the scene and later committed suicide out of guilt.

The American police investigated the driver’s social connections but could not find any useful leads. Thus, Wang Kaixuan’s death was handled as a routine traffic accident, and the case eventually went cold.

However, that is a story for later.

As one wave subsided, another rose. Because of Wang Kaixuan, Li Zhi became a celebrity at school. Of course, he was already quite well-known, but after the bullying incident, the attitude of others toward him became even more distinct: they avoided him at all costs.

Naturally, Li Zhi himself did not care much. Having people avoid him felt like a good thing. At least he could attend school peacefully without having to stay alert for bullying that could appear at any moment.

But there was one more thing, something that made Li Zhi worried and made his heart race for no reason.

Li Zhi stared at the sealed bag in his arms. Inside were several pieces of clothing, folded neatly. He did not know how many times they had been washed and ironed, but they looked as clean as if they were brand new.

It was the outfit Chu Mingzhang had lent him.

Chu Mingzhang’s seat was right behind Li Zhi. Li Zhi could see him just by turning around. This meant that throughout the day, he had countless opportunities to speak to Chu Mingzhang and naturally return the prepared clothes.

But he missed his chance every time. Every time he summoned the courage to speak, he would lose his nerve the moment he met the other’s gaze. Either Chu Mingzhang would glance at him and walk away, or the bell would ring for class.

Just like that, Li Zhi failed to return the clothes even after school ended.

Li Zhi was distracted after returning to the dormitory. He sat at his desk, staring blankly at the book in front of him, but he did not process a single word. His head was filled with Chu Mingzhang.

A wasp had flown into the classroom today, buzzing around everywhere. The girls were frightened and hid, but the wasp was later killed by Chu Mingzhang, who swatted it with a thick book without changing his expression.

Chu Mingzhang had made eye contact with him today. Chu Mingzhang.

Li Zhi suddenly stood up, grabbed the bag beside him, and ran out without a moment of hesitation.

He suddenly, very suddenly, wanted to see Chu Mingzhang. Li Zhi ran to the bottom of Chu Mingzhang’s dormitory building in one go. The elevator slowly ascended to the top floor. In the enclosed space, Li Zhi could hear his own heartbeat, one thud after another.

But when Li Zhi actually stood in front of Chu Mingzhang’s dormitory door, he regretted it. How could he be so impulsive? What time was it? What if Chu Mingzhang had not returned from dinner yet? What if Chu Mingzhang thought his uninvited visit was rude?

Maybe, maybe he should just leave? It would not be too late to give it to him tomorrow.

But his hand moved faster than his brain. Li Zhi’s hand had already pressed the doorbell. A “ding-dong” sounded in the quiet hallway. Li Zhi’s heart pounded, and at the same time, the door was pulled open.

Chu Mingzhang, who had taken off his school uniform and changed into a loose T-shirt, looked down at him. At that moment, Li Zhi was still in a posture with one foot stepped back and his body twisted to the side.

Li Zhi opened his mouth, a crimson flush slowly creeping from his neck to his ears. His body felt hot as he returned to a normal standing position. “Chu Mingzhang, hello.”

“It is you?” Chu Mingzhang only opened the door halfway, meaning he had no intention of inviting Li Zhi in. “Is something the matter?”

“I am sorry to disturb you. I, I am here to return your clothes.”

Li Zhi summoned his courage and struggled to say the sentence. He held the bag of clothes out in front of the person before him, not even daring to look up at Chu Mingzhang’s expression.

Chu Mingzhang did not take it. Li Zhi swallowed and said, “I am sorry for waiting so long to return them. Um, I washed them many times and ironed them. They are very clean now.”

“Really.” Fearing Chu Mingzhang would not believe him, Li Zhi immediately followed up with another sentence.

The air seemed to freeze. Li Zhi’s arms were a bit sore, but he did not dare to relax or even breathe heavily. He wanted to use his peripheral vision to glance at Chu Mingzhang’s expression, but Chu Mingzhang was too tall. Li Zhi could not see his face clearly; instead, he saw the clothing bag he was clutching so tightly it was wrinkled.

In that instant, Li Zhi felt another pang of regret, but it was also at that moment that his arm suddenly lightened.

“Thank you. Sorry for the trouble,” Chu Mingzhang said.

A matter that had caused Li Zhi to lose sleep and appetite for an entire day ended just like that. Li Zhi was a bit dazed, and only after a few seconds did he snap out of it. “Oh, okay.”

“Then I am leaving. Bye.”

Li Zhi seemed very afraid of seeing the door close in front of him, so before Chu Mingzhang could pull it shut, he had already turned and walked away. Chu Mingzhang watched his back for a moment before shifting his gaze to the bag in his hand.

“Chu Mingzhang? Who was it?” Another boy’s voice sounded from inside the room.

Chu Mingzhang did not respond immediately. Instead, he expressionlessly threw the bag into the trash can in the corner.

After completing this action, Chu Mingzhang looked up at the two teenagers sitting on the sofa and answered Han Ziyao’s question.

“No one,” Chu Mingzhang said. “Just someone insignificant.”