After the Most Hated Persona Faked Their Death, the Ex-Husband Lost His Mind - Chapter 30

He whispered, “There will be plenty more to bother you later.”

Although Li Zhi had been discharged, he still had to return to the hospital for regular follow-up checks. He had to see Deng Zhuoyuan and have the outpatient doctor prescribe medication.

After such a long hospitalization, Li Zhi was no longer as guarded against Deng Zhuoyuan as he had been at the start. While he did not proactively pour his heart out, he would obediently answer whenever Deng Zhuoyuan asked him something.

The night before Li Zhi’s first follow-up, Deng Zhuoyuan was incredibly nervous. He had written a full page of questions, reciting them word for word before bed and clutching the paper even in his sleep. As it turned out, the next day, he did not use a single one.

Deng Zhuoyuan flipped the hourglass on the coffee table and asked as a matter of routine, “How have things been lately?”

He expected Li Zhi not to answer, but the boy’s reaction caught him off guard.

“Lately, I have been a bit nervous.”

“Nervous?” Deng Zhuoyuan raised an eyebrow, calculating the time. “School is starting soon, is it not? Are you nervous because you have to go back?”

Li Zhi lowered his head, rubbing his fingers together. “You could say that, but it does not feel quite right.”

He took a deep breath and asked Deng Zhuoyuan a question: “Dr. Deng, have you ever loved anyone?”

“Well, of course I have.” Deng Zhuoyuan scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Student Li, are you troubled by a romantic relationship lately?”

Li Zhi’s mind seemed to wander again, his gaze turning vacant. He answered with another question: “Then, Dr. Deng, have you ever loved someone like this? Knowing full well there would be no result, yet being unable to stop fantasizing about something happening between you?”

The doctor was actually stumped by the question. He searched his mind as quickly as possible and then told the truth: “No.”

Li Zhi smiled and said, “I have.”

Deng Zhuoyuan finally learned about Chu Mingzhang from Li Zhi’s own mouth. These were words Li Zhi had never spoken to anyone, not even Gong Jie. People often find it hardest to reveal their secrets to those closest to them.

But Deng Zhuoyuan was different. Their relationship was one of doctor and patient; they were mere acquaintances, allowing Li Zhi to speak his mind candidly.

He sat there, eyes closed, recalling every moment spent with Chu Mingzhang, from their first meeting to their final parting. Li Zhi’s tone remained steady throughout. Sitting there, he was like a patch of mist that could be blown away at any moment.

Deng Zhuoyuan listened in silence, occasionally jotting things down on paper. He appeared very serious, but only he knew that the things he was writing were meaningless.

As a novice, Deng Zhuoyuan did not yet have the knack for speaking off the cuff. He organized his words as fast as he could, but just as he was about to speak, the sand in the hourglass ran out.

Li Zhi’s gaze fell gently on the hourglass. He looked up, a slight curve at the corners of his mouth as he looked at Deng Zhuoyuan. “Dr. Deng, time truly flies.”

“Thank you. I feel much better,” Li Zhi said. “This is enough.”

Deng Zhuoyuan pursed his lips and closed the notebook resting on his knees. “Okay, I understand.”

“How has your appetite been lately? Are you sleeping well?”

Li Zhi answered him honestly. Deng Zhuoyuan nodded. “I will relay your situation to the outpatient doctor. Once the prescription is written, you can go straight to pick up your medicine. Contact me if you need anything else, and I will schedule a consultation for you.”

“Be happy, Student Li,” Deng Zhuoyuan said. “Goodbye then.”

Li Zhi had just collected his medicine and was walking while counting the quantities for each type. The boxes filled an entire large bag, all squeezed together, making it impossible for Li Zhi to reach the bottom to pull out the two boxes pressed at the very deep end.

Li Zhi grew anxious and sweaty. His grip slipped, and all the medicine in the bag spilled onto the floor.

He had no choice but to crouch down, picking up the boxes one by one and putting them back into the bag. As he did so, he carefully cross-referenced them with the prescription from the outpatient doctor.

Halfway through, the quiet hospital corridor echoed with the sound of footsteps approaching. Li Zhi quickened his pace, but the person was closer than he imagined. Before he could finish tidying up, the person was already standing in front of him.

A male voice sounded from above: “Li Zhi?”

The voice carried a hint of hesitation. Li Zhi had already recognized the person. His movements faltered for a second, then he lowered his head even further, hurrying to finish.

However, the person had already identified him. Seeing that Li Zhi was ignoring him, the man simply crouched down and tilted his head to look at Li Zhi’s face. “Ha, it really is you. Why are you ignoring me?”

Li Zhi subtly moved his head back. He sighed inwardly and spoke the person’s name: “Han Ziyao.”

“What are you doing here?”

Han Ziyao let out a scoff, his tone somewhat condescending. “My father is a major shareholder of this hospital. Why can I not be here? It is you I should ask. What are you doing at the hospital?”

“Hey, what illness did you have last semester? You were nowhere to be seen even by the end of the term.” Han Ziyao looked down, his gaze naturally falling on the bag and the boxes scattered around it. “Damn, that is a lot of medicine. Do you have a terminal illness?”

As he spoke, he reached for the box closest to him. Li Zhi’s pupils contracted, and he moved to snatch it back, but Han Ziyao anticipated the move. He lifted his hand and read the name on the box aloud.

“What is this for?”

Li Zhi did not answer. He snatched the medicine back with a dark expression, his voice cold and defensive. “It is none of your business.”

Li Zhi felt he was having the worst luck. He did not bother checking the quantities anymore; he stuffed all the boxes into the bag, tied it in a knot, stood up, and walked toward the end of the corridor without looking back.

Han Ziyao watched his receding figure. Surprisingly, the arrogant boy’s face showed a hint of something like regret. He seemed to want to give chase but stopped after two steps. Han Ziyao pursed his lips, took out his phone, and typed the name of the medication he had just seen into a search engine.

“Anti-anxiety, anti-panic, sleep aids.” Han Ziyao’s eyes widened. He scrolled down quickly, and a related entry popped up, stabbing into his eyes like a sharp blade.

Han Ziyao’s heart skipped a beat. He turned off his phone, but Li Zhi’s face kept flashing through his mind. He was pale and gaunt, looking even worse than the last time they had met.

“Why is he taking this kind of medicine?” Han Ziyao could not help but ask himself. Actually, there was no need to ask. He had already guessed the answer.

Li Zhi had been troubled lately.

Someone had moved into the room across from his. Originally, that room was vacant, and Li Zhi did not particularly care if someone lived there, unless that person was Han Ziyao.

Li Zhi found it completely unreasonable. Although the school required students to stay in dorms, how could someone like Han Ziyao possibly obey? The guy owned a two-hundred-square-meter apartment right next to the school, yet he still complained about how hard student life was.

Li Zhi could not understand what magical force could compel such a lazy, pampered young master to live in a school dormitory. Li Zhi found it cozy and comfortable, but it must have seemed like a slum to Han Ziyao.

Today was registration day and Han Ziyao’s first day moving in. Li Zhi was lying on his bed with headphones on, volume turned to the maximum, yet he still could not drown out the clattering from across the hall. Li Zhi could not fathom how many things Han Ziyao owned for him to still be unpacking from noon until nearly sunset.

Earlier, he had stolen a peek through the crack of the door. There were several large, unopened boxes at Han Ziyao’s doorway. The people he had brought were busy organizing his things while Han Ziyao sat on the bed like a king, playing games on his phone with a face as sour as if he had eaten something foul.

Li Zhi estimated it would take another two or three hours for Han Ziyao to finish, but he had underestimated the guy’s pickiness. By ten at night, the noise from across the hall was still constant.

Li Zhi had taken his medicine and was starting to feel drowsy, but it was so noisy that he could not fall asleep. The banging sounds made his temples throb.

Finally, he could not take it anymore. Li Zhi forced himself out of bed and opened the dormitory door. As soon as the door creaked open, Han Ziyao’s voice flooded toward him: “Are you people fucking pigs? If you put the cabinet there, how am I supposed to walk? Are you blind? Do you think this hellhole is fit for humans?”

Li Zhi looked out to see two men holding a transparent shoe cabinet about as tall as a person and over a meter wide. The two middle-aged men were being berated by the teenage Han Ziyao, looking truly miserable.

“You guys,” Han Ziyao looked up instinctively when the door opposite him opened. Seeing Li Zhi, he raised his eyebrows. “Ah, so the person living across from me is you.”

He probably wanted to act surprised, annoyed, and dismissive all at once, but Han Ziyao was truly a terrible actor. His performance was so clumsy that even Li Zhi could see through his attempt to cover things up.

“Han Ziyao.” The hallway light made Li Zhi’s eyes uncomfortable. He lowered his head and rubbed away the tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “Can you please be a little quieter?”

Han Ziyao frowned and checked his watch. “It is only ten o’clock!”

“But I am tired,” Li Zhi said, losing his patience but still trying to speak reasonably.

Han Ziyao actually wanted to say a few more things, but when he caught a glimpse of Li Zhi’s exhausted face, he swallowed the pointless remarks.

Han Ziyao scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, looking somewhat displeased. He condensed his many thoughts into one sentence: “Sleeping so early. How many hours do you sleep a day? You look so sickly, no energy at all.”

Li Zhi did not want to waste words on him: “Yes, yes. Please be quiet. Thank you.”

“Alright, alright, I get it. I will immediately,” Han Ziyao waved his hand, but before he could finish his sentence, a loud bang came from across the hall. Li Zhi had slammed the door.

Han Ziyao brushed the hair off his forehead and let out a scoff.

“What is that supposed to be?” Han Ziyao rubbed the tip of his nose. “This is only the beginning.”

He stared at the door in front of him and whispered, “There will be plenty more to bother you later.”