After the Most Hated Persona Faked Their Death, the Ex-Husband Lost His Mind - Chapter 13

Han Ziyao remained silent. Instead, Zhou Baiyu, who was sprawled out on the other end of the sofa, let out a scoff. “Is that so? Was I hallucinating, or did I just hear my cheap little brother’s voice?”

“Li Zhi?” At those words, Han Ziyao frowned and tossed his phone aside, abandoning his game. “What is he doing here? And how does he know you live here?”

“What is that?” Zhou Baiyu, never one to miss out on drama, crossed his arms and nodded toward the bag inside the trash bin.

Chu Mingzhang glanced at it and spoke concisely: “Clothes.”

“Yours?” Han Ziyao’s eyes widened slightly as a realization flickered in his mind. He raised his voice. “You lent him your clothes? Holy crap, Chu Mingzhang, since when did you become so kind-hearted?”

“When did this happen? It could not have been that day.”

A flash of inspiration hit Han Ziyao. Many things that had been bothering him lately suddenly made sense.

There were surveillance cameras in the badminton hall. Even though the hall had not been officially renovated yet, the cameras were still running. Han Ziyao had known this when he led Wang Kaixuan and the others there.

He had simply assumed the footage would not matter. Only a few people in the school, the children of the board members, had the authority to access those recordings.

When the incident blew up, Han Ziyao had suspected almost everyone. He even wondered if Zhou Baiyu had suddenly found a conscience and decided to protect the brother he usually looked down upon.

He never would have guessed that the one who underwent a change in character was not Zhou Baiyu, but Chu Mingzhang.

Although the three of them often hung out together, the relationship between Han Ziyao and Chu Mingzhang was nowhere near as close as their bond with Zhou Baiyu.

To put it nicely, Han Ziyao always felt there was a layer between them and Chu Mingzhang, making him impossible to read. To put it bluntly, Han Ziyao thought he was just a pretentious poser.

“Damn you.” Han Ziyao’s temper flared. After being suspended, he had been scolded by both his parents at home and then dragged to the Zhou house by his father to apologize.

Uncle Zhou, who was usually quite fond of him, had turned a cold shoulder for the first time. On the contrary, that mistress surnamed Wang had greeted them with a smile and even personally sliced a platter of fruit for the two families.

“Little Han did not do it on purpose; he was just egged on by someone with bad intentions. At the end of the day, it is that Wang boy’s fault. The matter is over, so please do not let this ruin the harmony between our families,” Wang Xiaochun had said.

Her words were poised and generous, but they gave Han Ziyao goosebumps. If his own son had been bullied like that, how could he possibly speak so calmly? The woman was far too fake.

But while he could see through the act, and his father, a veteran of the social climbing scene, could see through it, Uncle Zhou could not. Han Ziyao still remembered Zhou Guoxiong’s expression after she spoke.

The words “I have wronged you; it is all my fault” were practically written across his face. Sitting there for several hours, Han Ziyao felt as if he were sitting on needles, with ants crawling up his back.

A few days later, news of Wang Kaixuan’s death arrived from across the ocean. There were many suspicious points; they called it a drunk driving accident, but who knew if it was a coincidence or foul play?

Han Ziyao had seen too much of this kind of thing. Fear finally caught up to him. He stood up abruptly and kicked the coffee table. “Chu Mingzhang, are you freaking crazy? What does Li Zhi have to do with you? Why the hell would you help him like this?”

“Hey.” The loud noise startled Zhou Baiyu. He glanced at Chu Mingzhang and reached out to tug at Han Ziyao’s sleeve. “What are you doing? Have you lost it?”

Han Ziyao snapped, “I do not care about losing it! I need to vent this frustration!”

He pointed a finger at Chu Mingzhang. “I have been putting up with you for a long time. What is with that ‘too cool for school’ act every day? I have known you forever; since when did you care about other people’s business?”

“Crap, stop talking.”

“You seem to have a bit of a temper lately.” Chu Mingzhang barely looked up. Han Ziyao’s flushed face stood in sharp contrast to his own calm demeanor. “I do not particularly enjoy meddling.”

“I simply found Wang Kaixuan annoying,” Chu Mingzhang said flatly.

Han Ziyao felt like he had punched a cloud of cotton; he was left breathless and fuming. “But even so, you should not have.”

“I can.” Chu Mingzhang sat down composedly. “I found him annoying, so I wanted to make things uncomfortable for him.”

He shrugged. “You can also interpret it as me being bored.”

Chu Mingzhang was bored, so he chose to mess with someone he disliked, just as Wang Kaixuan disliked Li Zhi and chose to mess with him. To Wang Kaixuan, Li Zhi was an ant; to Chu Mingzhang, Wang Kaixuan was an ant.

“As for accidentally hurting you, the most I can say is sorry.” Chu Mingzhang shifted into a more comfortable position. “But you were not exactly innocent, either.”

Bang! Enraged, Han Ziyao slammed the door and stormed out.

“Those were some harsh words.” Zhou Baiyu stood up, walked over to Chu Mingzhang, and patted his shoulder. “Regardless, we are friends. The three of us grew up together; that bond is not easily broken. Do not let someone irrelevant ruin our harmony.”

Zhou Baiyu’s words held a deeper meaning. Chu Mingzhang was not stupid; he understood perfectly. His brow furrowed for a split second, so quickly it seemed like an illusion.

“It is not a big deal. You did not mean it, and he is just acting out of anger. A good night’s sleep and it will all be over. We will go out after school tomorrow, and this will all be in the past, okay?”

Chu Mingzhang did not respond, which was taken as silent agreement.

Zhou Baiyu withdrew his hand, stretched, and headed toward the entrance. “I am heading out then.”

“Also,” just before leaving, he turned back with an ambiguous smile, “I find one thing quite strange. I am just asking, so do not take it to heart.”

“If you just wanted to make things uncomfortable, did you really need to go that far?” Zhou Baiyu’s gaze drifted seemingly by accident toward the trash bin. “Anyway, bye.”

The door closed again. Chu Mingzhang shut his eyes, hiding the trace of annoyance deep in his heart.

“Can you please stop chasing after Chu Mingzhang?” Gong Jie finally could not help but speak up as Li Zhi, clutching a bottle of ice water, prepared to rush to the basketball court yet again.

“Lately, you have been acting like you are possessed,” Gong Jie said fretfully. She pointed at the clean whiteboard. “If you are not cleaning the board during his shift, you are bringing him water. Your eyes are glued to him every single day.”

“Is that not an exaggeration?” she added. “Weren’t you too afraid to even say a word to him before? Why is it that after returning a set of clothes, it is like you have unlocked some secret potential? You practically want to announce your feelings to the whole world!”

At her words, Li Zhi froze. His ears turned as red as a cooked shrimp. “Ah, what feelings? Do not talk nonsense.”

Gong Jie rolled her eyes. “What feelings? You do not know? Do I really have to say it? You know exactly what is in your heart; it is.”

“It is just admiration!” Li Zhi interrupted her sharply. His hand squeezed the water bottle so hard that the plastic let out a sharp crack. “Admiration and gratitude. That is all.”

Li Zhi’s voice dropped, as if he were talking to himself. “That is all.”

Gong Jie did not feel like arguing further. She waved her hand dismissively. “Whatever you say. Try not to come back with the water again,” she teased.

This was not the first or second time Li Zhi had gone to deliver water. However, every time he reached the court, he felt embarrassed being squeezed among the crowd of pretty girls, and he would end up slipping away.

“A wasted trip,” Gong Jie would say every time.

Li Zhi secretly vowed not to back down today. Because of his nerves, the ice-cold soda had turned lukewarm in his hands. Condensation soaked his fingers, dripping onto the ground.

There were actually free mineral water coolers by the court, but so many people still waited with their own drinks. Giving water was just an excuse; the real goal was a chance to get close to someone they liked.

The most popular were naturally Han Ziyao and Zhou Baiyu. They were handsome, tall, and from prestigious families. They could win over a crowd of girls just by standing there.

Every time they finished a game, they were surrounded by beautiful girls. They were already the favored sons of heaven, and the girls’ admiration only made them more prominent.

Sometimes Li Zhi envied them. He would wonder if he would ever be that popular.

The only thing that gave him comfort was that Chu Mingzhang was not surrounded by many people, in fact, there was usually no one at all.

This did not mean Chu Mingzhang was less charming than the other two. On the contrary, whenever the three stood together, Chu Mingzhang effortlessly drew everyone’s gaze. He was the type of person who sparked the imagination.

However, compared to the others, Chu Mingzhang’s personality was far too cold, like an iceberg that kept everyone at a distance. Everyone knew he was unconquerable; wasting feelings on someone like him would never yield results.

But Li Zhi did not think that far ahead. Now, he was happy just to be able to say a few more words to Chu Mingzhang.

He watched the boys on the court walk toward the entrance. Li Zhi forced down his urge to retreat. He heard the plastic bottle crack again, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps.

Li Zhi looked up and realized Chu Mingzhang was standing right next to him, walking forward without looking left or right. Li Zhi’s eyes widened, and his voice trembled as he called out, “Chu Mingzhang! Chu Mingzhang!”

Chu Mingzhang paused and turned back. “What is it?”

“I,” Li Zhi’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he held out the lukewarm soda, “I brought you something to drink.”

Chu Mingzhang looked down at it, then slightly tilted his head toward the twenty-four-hour water station. With that single gesture, he answered Li Zhi: I do not need it.

“I do not like soda. You do not need to come again.” Chu Mingzhang ignored Li Zhi’s embarrassed expression and said those three words again. “No need.”

No need to keep watching him play, no need to bring him water, no need to clean the board, and no need to show him kindness. He did not need anything Li Zhi did.

Chu Mingzhang did not stop again; he walked away indifferently. A weight that had been pressing on Li Zhi’s heart suddenly vanished, leaving him lost.

Li Zhi was so dazed that he did not notice someone else approaching until the bottle was snatched from his hand. He looked at the person next to him. To his surprise, it was Han Ziyao.

Han Ziyao twisted off the cap and took a sip, his brow furrowing immediately. “Crap, this tastes disgusting.”

He tossed the open bottle behind him, letting the dark brown liquid spill onto the ground. Han Ziyao did not care. He gave Li Zhi a grin. “Long time no see, little bastard.”

He leaned into Li Zhi’s ear. His tone was cheerful, a sharp contrast to his cruel words. “Why the face? I haven’t even done anything to you.”

Li Zhi was still terrified of him; his bones felt frozen. By now, the people in the court had filtered out. In the blink of an eye, only he and Han Ziyao remained, even Zhou Baiyu had left with his new girlfriend.

“I, I haven’t bothered you.” Li Zhi’s heart rate skyrocketed from fear.

He took a step back, looking for an opportunity to run for the exit, but Han Ziyao was faster. He kicked the gate of the basketball court shut, blocking Li Zhi’s path.

“What are you running for? Don’t worry,” he drawled, “I won’t do anything to you.

We’re just going to have a little chat. You wouldn’t deny me that much, would you?”