Unexpectedly, Big Brother-in-Law was sitting in the car too. He Qinglan greeted him politely before helping the dusty Zhou Zhuoyuan aboard.
Zhou Zhuoli nodded to him. Only after the door shut did he furrow his brow tightly. “How did you get yourself into such a mess? Did you roll around in the mud or something?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan shrugged off his outer coat. His down jacket was torn in several places, and feathers burst out, floating wildly through the car.
Zhou Zhuoyuan: “!”
Zhou Zhuoli’s expression darkened even more. “A grown man like you loses all sense of proportion when you go off the rails.”
“It’s not like that.” Zhou Zhuoyuan schooled his face into a blank mask, cleared his throat lightly, and said evenly, “I was just helping with a rescue. I slipped and tumbled down a hillside saving the guy.”
Zhou Zhuoli started examining him more closely. He sat ramrod straight, staring ahead at the empty seatback. His hands rested in his lap, clad in mismatched gloves—one far dirtier than the other, torn across the back. It was too shadowy to make out the state of his pants below.
The car was warm inside, so Zhou Zhuoyuan shed his down jacket, sending another puff of feathers airborne. He tugged off his gloves next, casually revealing two bandages on his hand—his hard-earned badges from the rescue. His skin was pale and neatly tended.
Zhou Zhuoli bit back the sarcastic quip dancing on his tongue: You want me to praise you or what? He knew it’d only make Zhou Zhuoyuan explode in embarrassment. Instead, he said, “Well then, you were pretty brave.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan cleared his throat again and replied coolly, “You’re too kind.”
In a flash, Zhou Zhuoli seized his wrist. “Where are your Buddhist prayer beads?”
Zhou Zhuoyuan, caught off guard, yanked back twice. “What’s it to you?”
Zhou Zhuoli let out a bark of incredulous laughter. Why hadn’t he spouted that line back when he was fishing for compliments? Now that he’d gotten his ego stroked, he was flipping the script.
“Did you give them to that boyfriend of yours? Something that rare, and you just hand it over? Are you that far gone on him?”
Unable to pull free—and spotting the anger on Zhou Zhuoli’s face—a spark of fury ignited in Zhou Zhuoyuan’s chest. “What’s the problem with me giving it to him? It’s mine; I can give it to whoever I damn well please! When Zhu Wan made me hand it over to Zhou Zhuoyi, none of you called it rare then. What, scared mine’s gone now and it’ll steal from your precious Little Yi? Relax—I wouldn’t touch his castoffs even if you begged me to take them back!”
He huffed out a few heavy breaths after the tirade, wrenching his wrist free from Zhou Zhuoli’s now-pallid grasp. He fished a small box from his pocket, cracked it open just enough for Zhou Zhuoli to glimpse inside. “This is the Worry-Free Jade my boyfriend gave me. It’ll keep me safe and sound just fine! I wouldn’t take your Little Yi’s used junk even if you got down on your knees!”
Before Zhou Zhuoli could get a proper look, Zhou Zhuoyuan snapped the box shut with possessive pettiness and shoved it back in his pocket.
Zhou Zhuoli’s face turned iron-gray. “That’s not what I meant. Your health’s not great right now—you should keep something that precious on yourself. If you want to give him a gift, plenty of options out there. Short on cash? I can wire you some.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan shot back, “I’m in perfect health! Don’t jinx me!”
Zhou Zhuoli couldn’t believe the bald-faced lie. “When did I jinx you? Can you please calm down? I’m not picking a fight—I’m trying to talk sense into you. You’re being way too lovesick.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan’s voice went frigid. “Tired of playing the good brother yet? Since when do you get to lecture me? He’s treated me better than anyone in the whole Zhou Family. You lot feel entitled to my stuff—why can’t he have it?”
Only then did Zhou Zhuoli realize his opening words had been downright merciful by comparison.
~~~
“How’d you get banged up like this?” Zhu Wan jumped up from the sofa as they returned, hurrying over. “You’re hurt? I’ll call the doctor right away…”
Zhou Zhuoyuan swatted her hand away. The fresh argument had killed any urge to brag about his heroics. He brushed past her without a word and stalked off to his room.
He declared a unilateral cold war on the entire Zhou Family.
The standoff dragged on until the day before school resumed. Finally, Zhou Zhuoyi cracked at the dinner table, speaking for the rest. “Bro, here—take back these Buddhist prayer beads…”
Zhou Zhuoyuan tuned out whatever phony back-and-forth they must have had about stopping Zhou Zhuoyi, with everyone tugging at each other. He just lifted his eyelids to eye them.
Zhou Fuxuan watched him gravely, gauging his mood. Zhu Wan gazed at Zhou Zhuoyi with pity. Zhou Zhuoli kept his head down over his meal, impassive.
Truth be told, with the Zhou Family’s wealth and influence these days, scoring some genuinely auspicious protective charms was no big deal. They’d likely found superior replacements already—now they were returning his to smooth things over, sparing Zhou Zhuoyi further frostbite from Zhou Zhuoyuan’s icy aura.
Zhou Zhuoyi spoke as he removed the Buddhist prayer beads from his wrist. He reached out to take Zhou Zhuoyuan’s hand and slip them on for him.
Zhou Zhuoyuan dodged his grasp once more. “I don’t like you touching me.”
Zhou Zhuoyi’s face drained of color. He knew his brother had always harbored some resentment toward him, but these were the most heartbreaking words he had ever heard from him.
Was it because he hadn’t spoken up for him? Because that day at the temple gates, in his overwhelming joy, he had pretended not to notice Zhou Zhuoyuan’s reluctance—and now he held a grudge for it?
But in the past, whenever Zhou Zhuoyuan had wanted something of his, he had given it without the slightest hesitation.
Ignoring the shifting expressions around the table, Zhou Zhuoyuan pressed on. “I’m not transferring the shares back. It doesn’t matter if you regret it now—it’s too late.”
Zhou Fuxuan set down his chopsticks. “No one’s asking for your shares. Your brother already explained what happened that day. It was Little Yi who insisted on giving the prayer beads back to you. You shouldn’t speak to him so cruelly.”
Zhou Zhuoyuan froze for a moment. If there was no need to return the shares, he still wanted them. But then the harsh words he had flung at Zhou Zhuoli that day flashed through his mind: even if you begged me, I wouldn’t take back anything Little Yi had used.
A flicker of embarrassment stirred in his chest.
Gritting his teeth—lose anything but face—Zhou Zhuoyuan said, “No need. I wouldn’t touch anything Zhou Zhuoyi has used.”
~~~
After those words left Zhou Zhuoyuan’s mouth, Zhou Zhuoyi’s heart condition flared up. What had started as a one-sided cold war escalated into a full freeze-out. Zhou Zhuoyuan didn’t mind in the slightest. The next day, he simply had the driver take him back to school.
Zhou Zhuoli blamed him for triggering the attack and stopped showing up with meals for days, sending only a stiff, by-the-book young driver in his place.
Without Zhou Zhuoli pestering them to join in, Zhou Zhuoyuan felt freer than ever. The only annoyance was He Qinglan zoning out in class, drawing the teacher’s ire—and even prompting the homeroom teacher to pull him aside for talks several times.
Zhou Zhuoyuan had no idea what was wrong. He Qinglan had plenty of tact; he never asked questions that might put Zhou Zhuoyuan on the spot. Out of the same respect, Zhou Zhuoyuan waited patiently for him to open up.
Pei He, however, had no such restraint. That weekend in the dorm, he cut straight to it. “Why didn’t you go to the A University interview? You were always telling me how much you wanted to go there.”
His words jogged Zhou Zhuoyuan’s memory. He belatedly recalled He Qinglan’s fate in his previous life: just a few weeks into the new semester, he had gone abroad to study. Zhou Zhuoyuan had assumed that was the plan all along. He hadn’t realized He Qinglan’s original dream had been A University.
He Qinglan mustered a strained smile. “People change. A University’s not the school I want anymore.”
In the dim dorm, unlit, Pei He’s already dark eyes seemed to pierce right through He Qinglan’s flimsy excuse. “Really? So where are you aiming now?”
“C University,” He Qinglan said.
Pei He let it drop. “As long as you’ve thought it through.”
In truth, He Qinglan didn’t go to C University. Zhou Zhuoyuan felt a pang of disappointment. When he’d decided to date He Qinglan, he’d already factored this in—braced himself for a long-distance relationship, boyfriend abroad and all. What stung was why He Qinglan hadn’t told him. Afraid his somewhat short temper would flare? But he’d scarcely ever raised his voice at He Qinglan.
Noticing the look on his face, He Qinglan stepped closer and took his hand. “Little Yuan, don’t overthink it. I picked C University because it ranks highest for the major I want. It’s not about being in the same city as you.”
C University’s Soft Sci ranking trailed just behind A University’s. He assumed that’s what had upset Zhou Zhuoyuan.
He Qinglan’s sincerity was so convincing that Zhou Zhuoyuan truly believed he’d chosen to stay domestic for his sake.
That illusion lasted a week—until the homeroom teacher sought out Zhou Zhuoyuan. “Why did He Qinglan turn down the A University interview… and then reject C University’s too?”
She sounded worried. “Have you two been fighting?”
It took Zhou Zhuoyuan just a second to register her awareness of their relationship before hurt crashed over him—He Qinglan’s repeated deceptions. “No, Teacher. I have no idea why he’s doing this.”
Three days.
That’s all the time Zhou Zhuoyuan planned to give him. If He Qinglan didn’t come clean about going abroad with three days’ notice, he’d let loose: call out how immature, how utterly disappointing it all was.
The very next evening, He Qinglan asked him to skip the end of evening self-study and head back to the dorm. He had something to say.
Just as expected. Zhou Zhuoyuan opened the door, face set like stone. He Qinglan stood there facing him—but not with the guilt or remorse he’d imagined.
He Qinglan’s expression was utterly calm.
“Little Yuan,” he said, “do you remember what you told me when we first got together?”
“Sorry, I don’t like you anymore.”
“Let’s break up.”
