Chapter 64: Zhou Zhuoli: If Zhou Zhuoyuan Were Like This Too, He’d Be the Eldest…

He said he didn’t like it again. He didn’t like Zhou Zhuoyi touching him. He didn’t like going home. He didn’t like them bringing him meals.

The picky Zhou Zhuoyuan was starting to dislike more and more things, especially his blood-related parents’ unsolicited attempts to win him over.

Zhou Fuxuan took a step forward, his tone stiff. “Then what do you like? You can tell us.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan couldn’t help stepping back, stopping two meters away from them and drawing a clear dividing line.

Passing students shot them puzzled looks one after another. Under those gazes, Zhou Zhuoyuan straightened his spine, his face expressionless—a posture that protected his dignity well and gave him a surge of strength and courage.

Under the blazing sun, he faced off against the three people who knew nothing.

No one knew why his hatred ran so deep. No one understood why Zhou Zhuoyuan feared his parents’ attempts to get close.

He couldn’t put it into words, either.

Maybe Zhou Zhuoyuan’s reborn self came off as especially pretentious. But compared to being hunted down by the Zhou Family in his previous life, this was a small price to pay—a sacrifice that let him hold his own completely in front of Zhu Wan and the others.

“Then we’ll…” Zhu Wan paused, yielding to Zhou Zhuoyuan. “We’ll head back first, then. Eat well.”

She gestured for Zhou Fuxuan to come back with her, but she couldn’t stop herself from stepping forward. Her arm lifted slightly before dropping back to her side under Zhou Zhuoyuan’s cold gaze. “Next time you don’t feel well, tell Mom first, okay? We won’t force you to come home anymore. We won’t say you can’t take care of yourself. But if you never ask your family for help, Mom really will worry.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan said nothing. His brief bout of illness and hospitalization seemed to have earned him a few new privileges—he could get sick again now without anyone blaming him.

~~~

With the Gaokao just a hundred days away, Zhou Zhuoyuan was fortunate not to miss the Hundred-Day Oath-Taking Rally. He’d attended it successfully in his previous life too, but back then his oath had been, “I will get into AA University.” This time, he needed to change it to the top university in the Capital City.

High schoolers had varying attitudes toward the ceremony. Take Pei He, that self-proclaimed mature guy—he’d mocked Zhou Zhuoyuan for being childish before it started.

Zhou Zhuoyuan held back a laugh. He vaguely remembered how, in his previous life, Pei He’s oath-taking moment had been snapped by campus reporters and plastered all over the official WeChat account and school website. Pei He hadn’t cut his bangs yet back then, and his serious expression paired with his handsome features had drawn another wave of admirers. He’d love to see Pei He try to play it cool this time.

Unaware of Zhou Zhuoyuan’s wicked little scheme, Pei He was still wondering why he hadn’t fired back.

But things didn’t go quite as planned, thanks to yet another butterfly effect. This time, Pei He wasn’t in the front row—he was right next to Zhou Zhuoyuan.

As they stood up, Pei He’s gaze drifted to his roommate’s face, which was seriously cute in its focus. He only looked away when it was time to recite the oath.

His voice came right after Zhou Zhuoyuan’s, repeating the same words.

He would stick by Zhou Zhuoyuan’s side always—unless Zhou Zhuoyuan ever told him he didn’t like it or need it.

That evening after the ceremony, Zhou Zhuoyuan pulled up the photos on the school website, scanning them intently in hopes of spotting Pei He.

Pei He leaned over. “What’re you looking at?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan closed his phone in defeat and feebly threw his earlier words back at him. “Weren’t you taking it seriously too? And you had the nerve to mock me?”

Pei He blinked in surprise. “Then I really screwed up big time.”

He thought for a moment, then fished a lollipop out of his pocket and handed it over. “Consider this my apology for mocking you.”

The gloom vanished from Zhou Zhuoyuan’s eyes. So petty, yet so easily placated.

Pei He’s dark eyes fixed on Zhou Zhuoyuan as he unwrapped the lollipop, a smile flickering to life within them.

Liking Zhou Zhuoyuan was tough. He had all sorts of thoughts that made you worry, all sorts of past experiences that made your heart ache. But when you weighed it against what you got in return, the hardship didn’t matter at all.

~~~

Ji He watched as Zhou Zhuoyuan slowly returned to normal. That gut-wrenching feeling finally stopped plaguing him. Over the past few days, every time he’d missed Zhou Zhuoyuan, he’d ended up feeling sorry for him too—and that hurt worse than watching He Qinglan and Zhou Zhuoyuan flaunt their relationship right in front of him.

During break, he sprawled over his desk, idly tracing Zhou Zhuoyuan’s outline in the air with his finger. Suddenly, the guy behind him kicked his chair.

The kicker was the same back-row guy who’d once refused to close the window for Zhou Zhuoyuan—and who also happened to be a distant relative of Ji He’s. Propping up his face, he smirked. “What, casting a spell? Ji He.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan snapped out of his immersion in the problem he was solving. He turned to glare at the back-row guy, sticking up for his friend. “You got a problem?”

Jiang Sijue’s smile turned even more malicious. “I’m talking to my cousin. What’s it got to do with you?”

Ji He’s face darkened instantly. “Shut up! Don’t try to act like we’re related. I barely know you!”

He reached anxiously for Zhou Zhuoyuan’s hand again. “Really, believe me.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan said smugly, “Hear that? Your cousin barely knows you.”

Jiang Sijue’s expression turned icy. He grabbed Zhou Zhuoyuan’s other hand, the one resting on his desk. “I’m just curious—how much sincerity do the friends you’ve lured in with that pretty face really have for you?”

Caught off guard and yanked closer, Zhou Zhuoyuan stared at the boy behind him in shock. “Psycho! That’s a line the villain says to the heroine in XX Heiress Awakened! Don’t spout it if you don’t get it! Illiterate!”

XX Heiress Awakened was the novel Zhou Zhuoyuan had been hooked on lately. It had been plastered everywhere on Steady Sound with nonstop hype, so Jiang Sijue must have seen that iconic scene. But Zhou Zhuoyuan was handsome, not pretty—he couldn’t fathom why Jiang Sijue was mangling the script like this.

Jiang Sijue: “?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan yanked his hand free with force, leaving faint red marks on his skin.

After verbally tearing into him, he turned back without a care and resumed working on his problems. Jiang Sijue stared at those marks on his hand, which lingered right up until class started. For a moment, he genuinely wondered if he was the villain here.

After the Hundred-Day Oath-Taking Rally came the mock exam that most closely mirrored the Gaokao’s difficulty. Zhou Zhuoyuan scored second in the class—a great result—and climbed more than a dozen spots in the year rankings.

During class meeting, the homeroom teacher spent a full three minutes praising him, noting how he’d kept up with his studies despite being hospitalized for health reasons. She urged everyone to use him as an example.

The homeroom teacher had always been fond of praising him, but the old Zhou Zhuoyuan had been so sullen and unapproachable that no one dared speak to him. Now he seemed much friendlier, patiently answering questions whenever classmates asked.

Zhou Zhuoyuan figured this came from the mellowing effect of time’s passage.

But even this mellowed Zhou Zhuoyuan pulled a long face when the teacher assigned him and Jiang Sijue to haul back stacks of exercise booklets.

Morning exercises had just wrapped up, and they’d returned too soon—right into the teacher’s path for grabbing volunteers.

There were four stacks of varying sizes. Zhou Zhuoyuan scooped up the two largest without a word to Jiang Sijue and headed straight for the classroom.

Jiang Sijue gritted his teeth in frustration. He hated that holier-than-thou look on Zhou Zhuoyuan’s face. “Who are you trying to impress? Don’t come crying to me if you can’t handle it!”

The classroom was on the fifth floor, and the elevator was out for repairs. Zhou Zhuoyuan ignored him and climbed the stairs with steady steps.

By the third floor, Jiang Sijue couldn’t take it anymore and blocked his way. “Okay, I get it—you’re tough. For fairness, let’s swap now.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan shot him a scornful look. “You think I’m an idiot? If we swap now, you’ll steal all my credit.”

Jiang Sijue: “?”

How could anyone be so cynical about others?

Zhou Zhuoyuan wouldn’t share credit with him, but he was fine splitting it with Pei He and Ji He.

On the third floor, he handed off half his load to Pei He. On the fourth, he gave a quarter to Ji He.

Even after claiming half the credit, Pei He was still mad. “Why didn’t you call me for help?”

Zhou Zhuoyuan had figured out by now that Pei He only snapped because he mattered so much. He didn’t rise to the bait. “I’ll call you next time.”

Pei He knew he had a silver tongue—He Qinglan had always melted under it before. But Pei He couldn’t wield Qinglan like a weapon, so he said stiffly, “From now on, I’m dragging you to the bathroom with me too.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan: “…Are you in elementary school?”

He glanced at Pei He’s profile and realized the guy was dead serious.

Ji He wouldn’t be outdone. “I’m dragging you to the bathroom from now on too.”

Zhou Zhuoyuan: “?”

Why did the bathroom sound like some prized hangout spot they had to share with their buddy Zhou Zhuoyuan?

~~~

Zhou Zhuoli’s reaction to reading that diary was far more subdued than Zhu Wan and Zhou Fuxuan’s.

It wasn’t much different from what he’d expected. Zhou Zhuoyuan hadn’t had it easy in the Lin Family. His mood swings were likely influenced by Jiang Yueyi, who would beat and berate him, then pull him into a sobbing hug while murmuring, “My poor Little Yuan.”

The Lin Family members had long grown used to Jiang Yueyi’s volatile temper. Only Zhou Zhuoyuan’s heart kept dying and reviving amid that twisted mix of love and hate.

He lost control for just a moment—when he read Zhou Zhuoyuan’s words: “Why can’t I have a gentle brother who treats me well?”

Seconds later, he snapped out of it. The glass shattered on the floor. Zhou Zhuoli crouched to pick up the fragments, pricking his finger and drawing a spot of blood.

He thought of the game console Zhou Zhuoyuan had smashed to bits.

Using money and gifts to express love was the simplest way. For a cheap game console like that, Zhou Zhuoli could have easily outbid everyone and bought two without batting an eye, but he hadn’t even given Zhuoyuan this negligible token of affection.

He was starting to understand why Zhuoyuan still bothered dealing with Lin Boxu, and why over the past six months Zhuoyuan had started showing signs of unhealthy behavior.

Back at the Lin Family, only his adoptive parents had been biased against him. Now at the Zhou Family, everyone was biased.

The feelings Zhuoyuan had endured were laced with malice, so it was no wonder he suspected Zhou Zhuoli would trade his life for Zhou Zhuoyi’s—or that when Zhou Zhuoli questioned him about the game console, he had blurted out, “I’m not a thief.”

Zhou Zhuoli was gradually piecing together all the clues he had previously ignored or misinterpreted.

He was slowly waking up to the truth and wanted to make amends to Zhuoyuan. But Zhuoyuan wanted neither his money nor his belated realization.

“Big Brother! What are you doing?!” Zhou Zhuoyi’s startled cry snapped Zhou Zhuoli out of his reverie. He yanked Zhou Zhuoli up from the floor. “Why were you picking up the shards with your bare hands?!”

Zhou Zhuoli stared at the blood on his hand and wiped it away with a tissue. “It’s nothing. Just a scratch.”

Zhou Zhuoyi opened his mouth to scold him further, but his attention was suddenly caught by a yellowed diary on the bar counter. “What’s that?”

Zhou Zhuoli’s heart skipped a beat. He pressed his hand down on the diary first, forcing a calm tone. “It’s nothing.”

Fortunately, Zhou Zhuoyi didn’t press the issue. Instead, he grabbed Zhou Zhuoli’s injured hand with a look of heartache. “How could you be so absentminded? Let me take lunch to Big Brother today. You rest at home.”

Zhou Zhuoli refused him firmly once again.

Perhaps Zhou Zhuoyi had never been turned down so many times in a row. Tears welled up in his eyes. If it had been Zhuoyuan, he probably would have picked a fight with Zhou Zhuoli. But even feeling wronged, Zhou Zhuoyi still fetched the first-aid kit and tended to his brother’s wound.

Everyone had always treated Zhou Zhuoyi this way—no matter how angry they got, they still took care of him. That was how Zhou Zhuoyi had grown up: kind, innocent, and fragile.

If Zhuoyuan had been treated the same way, he never would have grown up.

~~~

When Zhou Zhuoli delivered lunch at noon, he made a point of showing Zhuoyuan the Band-Aid on his hand as he served the food.

Zhuoyuan didn’t seem to notice the injury at all. He was anxiously waiting for his favorite chicken wings to appear.

Disappointed, Zhou Zhuoli set down the plates, handed him the chopsticks—and then spotted two Band-Aids on the back of Zhuoyuan’s hand.

He pulled back the chopsticks and grabbed Zhuoyuan’s hand. “What happened?”

Zhuoyuan looked baffled. “What do you mean?”

Zhou Zhuoli pressed, “How did you hurt your hand?”

Zhuoyuan replied, “It’s not hurt. I must’ve scraped it on the wall while moving books. Pei He insisted on putting Band-Aids on it, said they were about to expire and I should use them up.”

Zhou Zhuoli let go and handed over the chopsticks.

So that wasn’t considered an injury. Which meant he didn’t see Zhou Zhuoli’s as one either.

Zhuoyuan ate a chicken wing and said, “Tonight I’m going out to dinner with my friends. Don’t come.”

Zhou Zhuoli instinctively asked, “Which friends? Where are you eating? No spicy food, got it?”

Zhuoyuan frowned. “I never realized you were so nagging before.”

He fell silent after saying that.

Maybe the old Zhou Zhuoli had been nagging too—it just had all been directed at Zhou Zhuoyi.

Zhou Zhuoli couldn’t figure out why Zhuoyuan had suddenly gotten upset. The rift between him and his brother was so deep that even casual words could drag up old grudges.

In the end, he didn’t know what else to say. “I won’t nag anymore. Call me if anything comes up.”