After the Most Hated Persona Faked Their Death, the Ex-Husband Lost His Mind - Chapter 25

“Maybe I misunderstood,” Li Zhi thought.

Hadn’t someone said it before? Friendship and love actually share many commonalities. Perhaps Chu Mingzhang’s feelings for him were indeed pure friendship, and those moments of warmth that led to his flights of fancy were merely the care one shows a friend.

Li Zhi’s thinking was simple. Being lovers would be wonderful, of course, but if that was impossible, being just friends was fine. After all, his original wish was simply to be a little closer to Chu Mingzhang.

He wanted to find Chu Mingzhang and talk it out. Li Zhi naively believed that as long as he explained everything clearly, it would all pass. But he did not expect that he would not even get the chance to speak to him.

Chu Mingzhang avoided him like the plague; this time, he truly avoided him. Previously, though they were somewhat distant, they would at least walk together and speak.

Unlike now, where he was truly unwilling to spare him even a glance.

Li Zhi could not stand being ignored for even a single day. The day after school, he ran to the door of Chu Mingzhang’s dormitory, wanting to have a clear talk.

Chu Mingzhang had once given Li Zhi a spare key, telling him that if he was not in, Li Zhi could go inside and wait. So, when Li Zhi rang the doorbell and received no response, he naturally pulled the key from his schoolbag.

His movement froze.

The key was not aligned with a keyhole. There was no keyhole; the lock had been changed.

What used to hang on the door was an ordinary lock, but it had been replaced with a digital code lock. Li Zhi’s hand, holding the key, stiffened in midair. He looked at the code lock and, for some reason, let out a small laugh.

The small, light key suddenly turned into a hot potato, weighing a thousand pounds, making it nearly impossible to hold. Li Zhi did not know what to do with it.

He felt an impulse to throw the key away recklessly, as if by discarding the key, he could discard his disappointment along with it.

But in the end, he did not do it. He wanted to return the key to Chu Mingzhang in person, yet the opportunity never came.

“Did you not know?” Gong Jie poked her chin with her pen cap. “He went to the neighboring province for a competition. Yes, the level of that event is quite high and the management is very strict. They are not even allowed to bring phones. It might take about half a month!”

Li Zhi finally understood. The only reason he could cling to Chu Mingzhang before was simply because Chu Mingzhang was too lazy to bother with him. If Chu Mingzhang truly made up his mind to have no involvement with him, he would not be able to touch a single hair on Chu Mingzhang’s head.

“Haha, is that so?” Li Zhi gave two dry laughs. The edges of the key bit into his hand, cutting his palm like a dull knife, a slow execution for his heart.

“I did not know.”

He did not know, even though Chu Mingzhang used to tell him everything he was going to do.

The person was gone, and there were no communication devices. He had vanished instantly, as if everything before had been Li Zhi’s hallucination. Li Zhi became a person falling from a cliff, and the person who pushed him was Chu Mingzhang.

He did not know how he survived those two weeks while Chu Mingzhang was away. His body did not feel like his own. There was not a single day Li Zhi could get a good night’s sleep; he either stared at the ceiling until dawn or woke up in the middle of the night drenched in cold sweat, terrified, unable to fall back asleep for the life of him.

Li Zhi would start crying for no reason, feel sad when others laughed, his appetite plummeted, he felt nauseous when eating, and he would tremble without cause. At this point, Li Zhi felt that something was very wrong with him.

He returned to his dorm like a madman, rummaging through the drawer by his bed. It was packed with clutter. After searching for a while, he lost his temper and threw everything inside out, leaving the mess scattered across the floor.

Li Zhi stood dazed for a moment, then suddenly snapped out of it, kneeling on the floor to search through the pile of junk. His lips trembled. “The medicine? The medicine? Where is the medicine?”

His finger brushed against something, and a sharp pain shot through his fingertip. Li Zhi quickly pulled his hand back as a bead of blood seeped out. He put the injured finger in his mouth, the metallic taste of blood stimulating his mind. Li Zhi remembered.

It was thrown away long ago. He had thrown it away himself.

Li Zhi gnawed on his fingertip. He could no longer remember how long he had been off his medication without permission, let alone the last time he went to the hospital for a follow-up.

Li Zhi sat on the floor dejectedly, dragging his body to curl into a corner, then shakily stood up and crouched inside the wardrobe. The room was warm, yet he felt freezing, his body shaking uncontrollably.

With his teeth chattering, Li Zhi draped a thick coat over himself. He fumbled for his phone in his pocket. His fingers were disobedient, so it took quite an effort to unlock it.

He found the pinned chat box. Li Zhi typed word by word, a long, long paragraph, then deleted it word by word.

“Brother Mingzhang, I still have your key.”

Li Zhi quickly sent this sentence and dared not look at the phone again. He turned off the screen and opened his eyes wide in the darkness. He had no concept of time, but after an unknown duration, the phone suddenly beeped.

Li Zhi started shaking again. He took a deep breath and saw the response from Chu Mingzhang that he had been longing for.

“Come find me after school tomorrow.”

Li Zhi stayed in the wardrobe all night and even vomited in the middle of the night. By morning, he truly could not hold on and asked Gong Jie to request a day’s leave from the teacher for him.

He slept in his dorm until the sun began to set before forcing himself to crawl up and tidy himself up.

Since he could not eat, he drank some water. Li Zhi took the key, put on his shoes, went downstairs, and walked toward Chu Mingzhang’s dormitory building. Along the way, it seemed like many people were looking at him. A girl even ran up to him and asked tentatively, “Student, are you okay?”

“Do you need help?”

Li Zhi shook his head in confusion. “Help? No, I do not need help.”

“I am fine. Fine.” Li Zhi smiled at the girl and continued walking.

Perhaps because he had not eaten all day, his blood sugar was low. Li Zhi felt dizzy, his head was heavy, and his legs felt like they were filled with cement. He entered the elevator in a daze and pressed the floor button by reflex. But the moment the elevator doors opened, Li Zhi froze.

There were several suitcases in the hallway, and people who looked like bodyguards were coming and going. Chu Mingzhang was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Li Zhi looked at him almost greedily, his gaze tracing every inch of his face.

Was the competition tiring? Was the pressure high? There were dark circles under Chu Mingzhang’s eyes, as if he had not slept well in a long time.

Li Zhi could not help but take a step forward. Chu Mingzhang alerted and opened his eyes. Their eyes met. Li Zhi’s throat felt as if it were being throttled, and he could not speak. He just stood there like a fool with his mouth open.

He remembered what he came for a moment later. Li Zhi pulled out the key and handed it to him. Chu Mingzhang’s gaze fell on his palm, but he did not take it.

Chu Mingzhang said, “Just throw it away.”

Li Zhi blinked, looking at him blankly. After a while, he turned to look at the people moving in and out of the door. In that instant, Li Zhi felt as if he had been struck by lightning. “You are moving out?”

Chu Mingzhang gave a mocking smile. “Do you think I can still live here?”

“I have no use for this key anymore. What you do with it is your business.” Chu Mingzhang stood straight. He was taller than Li Zhi, and his cold, downward gaze was intensely oppressive, making Li Zhi’s very bones ache. “I asked you to come over just to make things clear.”

“First, I am not that kind of person. Second, stay away from me from now on.”

Li Zhi had once wanted to have a good talk with Chu Mingzhang, even fantasizing that they could clear things up and remain friends. Perhaps not as close as before, but at least not as strangers.

But when he truly stood before Chu Mingzhang, Li Zhi realized he had no right to negotiate with him. They were not equals. He was a follower, a follower from start to finish. Chu Mingzhang pitied him, so he kept him around; Chu Mingzhang was disgusted by him, so he kicked him away.

Li Zhi did not know what else to say. He just gave a dry laugh and nodded while holding the key.

Unable to speak, his stomach, which had been empty all day, began to throb in waves of pain. Li Zhi turned around, his back slightly hunched. He walked into the elevator and closed his eyes.

Until the elevator doors closed, he kept his neck slightly arched and his chin held high.

After the elevator doors closed, Li Zhi opened his eyes. His vision blurred as if covered by a mist. It felt as though he were being forced underwater, his ears ringing. Li Zhi walked out of the elevator and the dormitory building with an expressionless face, intending to return the way he came.

However, he was so distracted that he accidentally bumped into someone. Li Zhi wanted to apologize, but at this moment, he was like a worn-out robot with delayed reactions. Before he could speak, the person opposite him began to blow up.

“Do you not have eyes when you walk? The road is this wide and you still bump into people! You do not even say sorry, you” The person’s words came to a dead stop. A familiar face suddenly appeared before Li Zhi’s eyes; a very handsome youth. “Holy crap?”

“Li Zhi?”

Han Ziyao was surrounded by several people, all of whom were shrewd and excelled at flattery. They jumped out immediately. “Hey, what is wrong with you? My Brother Han is talking to you!”

“I am telling you!” Someone took a step forward while rolling up their sleeves. “Do not think that just because Young Master Chu has your back, you can act bossy in school. You are just a nobody at best. If you really make Brother Han unhappy, then even”

“Get lost, get lost, get lost!” Han Ziyao knit his brows and pushed the person away. “Did I tell you to speak? Shut up and stand aside!”

The person immediately scrambled away. Li Zhi blinked and lowered his head. “I am sorry. I will be careful next time.”

He wanted to leave, but Han Ziyao stepped sideways to block him. Han Ziyao leaned over slightly, his eyebrows furrowed so deeply they could crush a mosquito. “Hey, what happened to you?”

“Why are you” Han Ziyao noticed something and widened his eyes. “Holy crap, are you crying? Why? Why are you crying? Who upset you? You”

Han Ziyao finally realized that Li Zhi seemed to have just come out of Chu Mingzhang’s dormitory building. “Did Chu Mingzhang bully? Did he scold you?”

“Han Ziyao.” Li Zhi’s voice was very soft, with a bit of a nasal tone. “I am sorry. Let me through now.”

Li Zhi could not understand why Han Ziyao, who used to want to pinch his nose shut the moment he saw him, was now clinging to him like this. But there were too many things he did not understand, and he was too lazy to think anymore. “Move aside, please.”

Han Ziyao still did not move. A surge of anger suddenly rose in Li Zhi’s heart. “If you find me unpleasant to look at, you can come pick on me later. At least let me go for now. I”

His vision suddenly went black, and he nearly lost his footing. Li Zhi touched his forehead and turned to take another, longer route. To his surprise, Han Ziyao followed him. “I am not picking on you. Hey, your face looks terrifying.”

Not picking on him? Did he even believe that himself? Li Zhi truly lacked the strength to deal with him, and Han Ziyao sensed his desire to avoid him. He actually reached out and grabbed Li Zhi’s wrist.

“Holy crap, it is so cold. Are you a dead person? Hey, what is wrong with you anyway?”

The previously listless Li Zhi suddenly jumped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. He violently shook off the hand Han Ziyao used to grab him. His whole body felt as if it were being pricked by needles, his hair standing on end. “Let go! Do not touch me!”

His outburst startled Han Ziyao. It was just a subconscious move, so he let go immediately. He did not expect that the Li Zhi who was just screaming would suddenly turn deathly pale and fall uncontrollably to the side.

“Li Zhi? Holy crap? Li Zhi?!”

“What happened to him?”

“He fainted! Go find someone! Call the people from the infirmary!”

“Is the infirmary even useful? Call an ambulance!”

So noisy, so dizzy, so much pain.

Who is the person leaning over him and shaking him violently? Is it Han Ziyao? He actually gets anxious for someone like me who fainted. I thought he would kick me twice and spit on me while he was at it.

But with his eyes wide and his mouth opening and closing, he looks like a goldfish blowing bubbles. Li Zhi felt like laughing, but he had no strength left to laugh.

What a shame, Li Zhi thought.

Yes. That was the only thought he had before he completely blacked out.