After the Most Hated Persona Faked Their Death, the Ex-Husband Lost His Mind - Chapter 21

As soon as the words fell, those two people came to a halt before them. When Zhou Baiyu saw Li Zhi, he did not have much of a reaction. He simply raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. “Leaving? My car is ready.”

He hooked a set of keys from his pocket, spinning them twice around his fingertip. Zhou Baiyu gave a rakish whistle. “It is a real showstopper.”

“You guys go ahead,” Chu Mingzhang said. “Li Zhi and I will arrive later.”

“Hey, do not be such a stickler. What does it matter if you do not have a license?” Zhou Baiyu let out a disappointed click of his tongue. “My driving skills are universally recognized as top-tier.”

Before Chu Mingzhang could respond, Han Ziyao snorted with disdain from the side. “Why are you even talking to him? Chu Mingzhang will not listen to you. Anyway, Zhou Baiyu is going out to pick up girls, and we are heading over to back him up. Why are you bringing this kid along?” Han Ziyao tilted his chin toward Li Zhi, his disgust palpable. “Does that not just lower your status?”

Since the start of the semester, the attitude of those around Li Zhi had noticeably improved, but that group definitely did not include Han Ziyao.

On the contrary, Han Ziyao’s hostility toward him had only deepened. Li Zhi felt he had never provoked Han Ziyao. In the past, he could endure a few snide remarks here and there, but now, Han Ziyao treated him almost like a mortal enemy with a blood feud.

The most baffling incident happened at Chu Mingzhang’s birthday banquet. During the cake-cutting, Li Zhi and Han Ziyao were standing close to each other. When Chu Mingzhang handed over a slice of cake, both of them thought it was for them and reached out at the same time.

At that moment, the backs of their hands accidentally brushed against each other. Before Li Zhi could even react, Han Ziyao jumped back a huge step as if he had been scalded by boiling water, his handsome face flushing with a mix of emotions. He rubbed the back of his hand frantically, his face red with anger. Afterward, he lost his appetite for the cake and stormed out of the venue with a dark expression. Li Zhi did not see him again until the party ended.

“Han Ziyao, watch your mouth,” Chu Mingzhang said tonelessly.

Li Zhi instinctively shrank behind Chu Mingzhang’s back. This movement caught Han Ziyao’s attention, and he shot Li Zhi a fierce glare. Li Zhi pulled his neck back in fear, but this reaction only seemed to make Han Ziyao angrier.

He let out a mocking laugh and said to Chu Mingzhang, “Hey, why are you helping him so much? Is he some girl you are seeing? Is he your girlfriend? You are protecting him like he is your own heart and soul. Can I not even say a couple of words?”

After he said this, Chu Mingzhang did not respond. If the previous remark was a warning, Chu Mingzhang was now completely incensed. His brow lowered slightly, and the atmosphere around him seemed to drop in pressure, like an invisible force that made it hard to breathe.

Han Ziyao’s expression shifted slightly, and he took a half-step back. Zhou Baiyu stepped in at that moment to smooth things over. “Hey, why are we fighting again? Enough, let us stop wasting time. Let us go.”

The tension eased slightly. Han Ziyao followed Zhou Baiyu out, and Chu Mingzhang called a car. Their destination was a secluded private Japanese restaurant. After getting into the car, there was an empty seat between them. The journey was long, and they hit a traffic jam, but throughout the entire ride, neither of them said a word.

Li Zhi stole a glance at Chu Mingzhang, who was wearing headphones with his eyes closed. He could tell that Chu Mingzhang was still displeased, and the reason was obvious; it was because of Han Ziyao’s final comments.

Li Zhi could feel that Chu Mingzhang was extremely repulsed by that kind of speculation. Han Ziyao’s words had likely disgusted him enough to make him regret letting Li Zhi tag along. Sure enough, when they got out of the car, Chu Mingzhang said, “After we eat, go back on your own.”

Li Zhi was stunned, but he still agreed. “Okay.”

After that, Chu Mingzhang walked inside without another word, leaving Li Zhi following behind, feeling a sense of unexplained disappointment.

The target Zhou Baiyu had been eyeing lately was a Japanese woman. He had been pursuing her for several months, and she currently worked at this Japanese restaurant. Consequently, Zhou Baiyu frequented the place whenever he could. It seemed he was close to succeeding, so his mood over the last couple of days had been even more high-spirited than usual.

Zhou Baiyu was clearly a regular. The hostesses in kimonos at the entrance recognized him immediately and greeted the group with smiles, leading them inside. After everyone was seated, the hostess withdrew. A moment later, a woman in a kimono walked in. She appeared to be in her early twenties. The moment Zhou Baiyu saw her, his eyes lit up, and he began communicating with her in broken Japanese, making the woman burst into fits of giggles.

Li Zhi kept his eyes on them. He was not sure if he was overthinking it, but he felt the Japanese woman’s gaze occasionally fell on him, which he found quite strange. At that time, Li Zhi had no idea that the appearance of this Japanese woman would shatter the existing balance of the Zhou family.

The woman clearly suited Zhou Baiyu’s tastes. From the moment she entered, his eyes never left her for a second. He grabbed her hand, rubbing it suggestively. Seeing his actions become increasingly inappropriate, the woman gave him a playful push and walked out of the private room with a sway of her hips.

“Are you really that thirsty?” Han Ziyao sneered with disdain. “This is a place for eating, not a hotel.”

“You cannot blame me. This woman,” Zhou Baiyu clicked his tongue, gesturing in the air. “That face, that figure; she is built exactly to my preferences. How could I not like her?”

Han Ziyao scoffed. At that moment, Chu Mingzhang asked, “Where did you meet this woman?”

“A lounge bar?” Zhou Baiyu recalled. “Three months ago. I chased her for a few days. She is quite different. You have no idea how arrogant she was at first. She even quit her job. I had to have someone look into it to find out she was working here.”

Chu Mingzhang gave a light, meaningful laugh. “You do not go to lounge bars for centuries, yet you go once and run into the girl of your dreams? That is quite a coincidence.”

“Yeah, when love comes, there is no stopping it. That is just fate!”

“Fate?” Chu Mingzhang lowered his eyelids and took a sip of sake. “I do not really believe in that. The more something fits your desires, the less you should get involved with it.”

“You people with high-ranking officials in the family are always so cautious about these things. Look at you; your life is so dull.” Zhou Baiyu clearly did not take Chu Mingzhang’s words to heart, tossing back a few more drinks as he spoke.

Just then, the waiter brought out the sashimi. Zhou Baiyu waved his hand. “Alright, let us eat.”

Han Ziyao was disgusted. “Who knows if the sashimi in a trashy place like this is even edible? If we end up in the hospital, are you going to take responsibility?”

“What is wrong with you two today? Why are you both being such a buzzkill?” Zhou Baiyu was getting a bit annoyed. His eyes darted around and landed on Li Zhi, who had remained silent. “Hey, you eat it.”

Li Zhi looked up upon hearing his name, only to see Zhou Baiyu pushing the freshly served plate of sashimi toward him. Beside the fish was a large dollop of wasabi that looked strong enough to make one’s teeth chatter.

Zhou Baiyu tilted his chin. “Eat up, little brother.”

He dragged out the word “brother,” making it sound decidedly malicious. Seeing Li Zhi sitting there frozen, he clicked his tongue impatiently. “Eat! What are you just sitting there for?”

Li Zhi did not pick up his chopsticks. He looked at Zhou Baiyu. “I do not want to eat it.”

Zhou Baiyu slammed his bamboo chopsticks onto the table, his eyes bulging. “I told you to eat, so you eat! Who do you think you are to act up here? You motherfucker!”

He was about to continue his tirade when a pair of chopsticks reached out from the side and picked up a piece of fish from the plate. Chu Mingzhang chewed the fish slowly and said without changing his expression, “The quality of the fish in a place like this is not good. Forget it.”

As he spoke, he pushed the plate of sashimi further away. Zhou Baiyu narrowed his eyes at him, tapping his knuckles on the table. He said, “I think Ziyao was right. Mingzhang, you are quite protective of this brother of mine. We are family, just brothers messing around. You do not know.” Zhou Baiyu had a few drinks in him now, and a slight flush had appeared on his face. It was hard to tell if he was talking nonsense because he was drunk or telling the truth under the guise of being intoxicated.

He said, “Before, he came to ask me where your birthday banquet was being held. I had just woken up then and was still out of it; plus my morning grumpiness was in full swing. I told him, ‘If you eat this whole plate of sashimi, I will tell you.’ My eyes were blurry, and I accidentally squeezed a whole tube of wasabi into it. Who would have thought Li Zhi would finish the whole plate without a word? Ha, his face turned red from the spice, and he could not speak for several days.”

He paused, then added as if remembering something, “What you said just now was interesting. You said, ‘The more something fits your desires, the less you should get involved with it.’ Well, I do not get it. You used to avoid my brother like he was a poisonous snake, yet now you are letting him follow you. It is strange. This brother of mine; does he fit your desires, or does he not?”

Han Ziyao and Zhou Baiyu shared a common trait: they spoke of Li Zhi as if he were a piece of meat or a dish on a plate. For Han Ziyao, it might just be his personality; as a young master, he never filtered his words. But Zhou Baiyu was different.

Perhaps blood relations are truly mysterious. Li Zhi always felt that Zhou Baiyu saw much more in him than he ever let on. Zhou Baiyu’s probing gaze shifting between him and Chu Mingzhang not only made Li Zhi feel uneasy but also clearly provoked Chu Mingzhang’s repulsion.

“It has nothing to do with fitting desires,” Chu Mingzhang spoke bluntly, his voice dropping significantly. “That is not what this is about at all.”

After saying this, he fell completely silent. Until the end of the meal, Li Zhi did not hear him speak another word. Li Zhi had a premonition that the relationship between him and Chu Mingzhang was about to revert to how it had been at the very beginning.

The Japanese woman smiled as she saw them out the door. As Li Zhi turned to leave, he happened to lock eyes with her. This was Li Zhi’s first meeting with this Japanese woman. The second time he saw her was in the Zhou family villa. The Japanese woman was standing there dressed provocatively, while on the other side, Wang Xiaochun was lying unconscious in a pool of blood, her pregnant belly protruding.

The woman pointed to Zhou Baiyu, who was standing beside her wearing only a pair of shorts, and said in broken Chinese that she had seen with her own eyes as Zhou Baiyu pushed the woman down the stairs.