Chapter 61
When Zong Nanze heard that, a faint note of helplessness touched his brows, and a slight smile lingered at the corner of his lips as he asked in return, “Of course I came here to hike. What else would I be doing—coming here to study?”
Lin Huaixi did not flush in embarrassment at those words. What filled him instead was pure shock.
In the original story, Zong Nanze had never appeared here. Could he be the one who had been lying in wait behind the scenes, the true culprit who had secretly harmed Youyou?
But Zong Nanze had no motive.
Wait. After Youyou died, when Zhong Chongqiu was at his lowest, Zong Nanze had been the first to appear. He had guided him with his words, shifting that hatred onto Qi Wang. That was why Zhong Chongqiu and Qi Wang had ended up at each other’s throats, both sides ruined in the end.
If he thought about it that way, then Zong Nanze really was suspicious.
The realization hit Lin Huaixi like a bolt of clarity. Even the way he looked at Zong Nanze changed, and for a moment he failed to hide his emotions.
Zong Nanze froze, then said with a smile, “Even though we haven’t seen each other in a long time, we’re still old classmates. There’s no need to look at me like I’m some criminal, is there?”
Only then did Lin Huaixi reluctantly smooth out his expression. “Did you come by yourself, or…”
“I came with my classmates.” Zong Nanze turned and pointed into the distance. “Look, they’re right over there.”
Lin Huaixi saw four boys and reasonably assumed one of them was Zong Nanze’s current boyfriend.
As if he could read minds, Zong Nanze sighed. “You’re overthinking it. They’re all just good friends. I’m not very interested in dating right now.”
Lin Huaixi looked as if he’d just heard the biggest joke in the world. “Really?”
Zong Nanze laughed at his expression. “Really. You’re in college now, so why are you still that meticulous disciplinary committee member from before?”
Lin Huaixi looked at him suspiciously. “Not a single word out of your mouth sounds trustworthy.”
Zong Nanze nodded thoughtfully, then put on that insufferably smug expression again. “I can understand that. After all, you became a disciplinary committee member especially because of me.”
“…” That part was true, but why did it sound so ambiguous coming from him?
Lin Huaixi nearly got goosebumps. His eyes widened. “I never wronged you back then, okay? Don’t come settling old scores now!”
“How am I settling scores? I’m thanking you.” Zong Nanze smiled with refined elegance, handsome enough to stir hearts.
Lin Huaixi only became more alert. “What are you thanking me for?”
“For pulling me back onto the right path so I didn’t keep wasting my time. Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have made it into college.”
Zong Nanze looked utterly sincere, but Lin Huaixi could tell at a glance that he was teasing him. Folding his arms, he gave a snort. “That’s definitely not what you really think. Tell the truth.”
“All right. I really did stop dating. Otherwise my exes would probably line up to hunt me down. I’d open my eyes in the middle of the night and see somebody standing by my bed with a cleaver.”
The corners of Lin Huaixi’s mouth twitched twice, and then he laughed right in front of him.
“Does that count as laughing at me?” Zong Nanze did not sound angry at all. Instead, his peach-blossom eyes fixed intently on Lin Huaixi, as though there were no room in them for anyone else, making him look absurdly affectionate.
After laughing, Lin Huaixi’s eyes looked as though they were veiled with a thin layer of mist, especially bright under the sunset. He looked much the same as he had in his first year of high school, but now that he had grown into his features, he was even more refined. The youthful greenness had faded from his temperament as well. He was like a piece of fruit that had finally ripened, fragrant and tempting, inviting someone to pluck it.
Thinking back to the little show he had seen before, Zong Nanze asked in puzzlement, “Where’s Qi Wang? Can he really bear to leave your side?”
Every time Lin Huaixi heard Qi Wang’s name from Zong Nanze’s mouth, he went straight into stress response mode and bristled at once. “Why are you bringing him up?!”
Zong Nanze fell silent for a few seconds. “Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me?”
Lin Huaixi did not answer, but inwardly he gave a cold, contemptuous huff.
What misunderstanding could I possibly have? You big scumbag.
Zong Nanze looked at Lin Huaixi in a meaningful way, one brow lifting slightly, as though he wanted to say something—but another voice cut him off.
“Huaixi—”
“He really did come looking for you,” Zong Nanze said teasingly. “Wolves never leave their prey’s side.”
He turned his head, only to see a handsome but unfamiliar face.
Though they were meeting for the first time, the look this man gave him already carried a trace of hostility. Then his gaze shifted to Lin Huaixi, becoming complicated.
Zong Nanze might never have truly loved anyone, but his many relationships had not been fake either. Zhong Chongqiu was like a blank sheet of paper before him; he saw through him instantly.
“This one is…” he began, only to be interrupted.
Qi Wang appeared behind Lin Huaixi and met his gaze from afar. Compared to last time, the confusion in his eyes was gone, replaced by a fierce possessiveness.
Zong Nanze licked his lips, a gleefully malicious expression appearing on his face. His gaze dropped onto Lin Huaixi, the one caught in the center of the storm, and he said pointedly, “Another one just showed up.”
Lin Huaixi’s scalp went numb. He had no time to care about Zong Nanze at all.
This time he had acted in secret because he wanted to protect Youyou from the shadows—but if that was the case, hadn’t everything already been exposed now?
And misfortunes never came singly. Qi Wang had come too. All the protagonists were here now, and once everyone was in position, the play would begin on its own. Right before his eyes, the curtain on this tragedy seemed to be slowly rising. For a moment, Lin Huaixi was struck by a sense of utter helplessness, as though destiny could not be changed after all.
But in the very next instant, he adjusted his emotions, and his eyes turned resolute.
He had never admitted defeat in his life.
Qi Wang and Zhong Chongqiu walked over almost at the same time, stopping on either side of him, boxing him in, while Zong Nanze stood in front of him smiling like a sly fox.
The atmosphere suddenly turned strange.
Qi Wang frowned at Zong Nanze and was the first to speak. “Why are you here?”
“You two really are perfect childhood friends. You even ask the same questions,” Zong Nanze said innocently. “I’m obviously here to hike. What, is this mountain your family’s backyard? Am I not allowed to come?”
Qi Wang’s brows knitted tightly together.
What he had meant was, What are you up to? Don’t try anything. Zong Nanze had clearly understood, yet he still insisted on playing dumb.
And among the people present, there was one person who was genuinely dense.
Lin Huaixi had never expected the protagonist and two of the scumbags to run into each other at the same time. His mind spun furiously, trying to come up with a reasonable solution, but after a full minute of thinking, the only thing he managed to squeeze out was, “Your classmates are waiting for you, Zong Nanze. You should go back.”
Zong Nanze smiled at him. His expression was oddly indulgent. “Are you all camping up on the mountain too?”
Lin Huaixi could only force himself to nod.
“What a coincidence. I’m camping up there too. How about this—let’s all stay together. We can look out for each other, and it’ll be safer too.” That had been Zong Nanze’s plan all along. He had just never found the right opening. To his surprise, Lin Huaixi had delivered him the perfect excuse.
Lin Huaixi was about to refuse on instinct, but Qi Wang was even faster than he was. “No need. There are campsites all around here, and lots of people. Safety isn’t an issue.”
Zhong Chongqiu also looked straight at Zong Nanze. “Sorry, but the place we rented is limited. We can’t add you all in.”
Then he paused, cast a vaguely guilty glance at Lin Huaixi, and added, “But Huaixi is a member of our club. We set aside spots in advance for him… for the two of you. You can come straight over.”
“Forget it. Didn’t you just say your space is limited?” Zong Nanze said with a smile. “We can just squeeze in with Huaixi.”
Zhong Chongqiu latched onto the wrong point entirely and shifted his gaze. “Huaixi? Are you that close with Huaixi?”
“Oh, me?” Zong Nanze drawled lazily, slipping right back into his playboy persona. “Huaixi and I are old classmates. There was a period when he used to chase after me all the time. Right, Qi Wang?”
Lin Huaixi: “…”
Wait a minute. I chased after you because I was on the disciplinary committee and needed to dock your points, okay? Don’t twist the cause and effect!
And I’m standing right here, so why are you asking Qi Wang? Don’t think I don’t know your real target isn’t me!
Just as Lin Huaixi was about to bristle, Qi Wang grabbed his wrist and pulled him behind himself.
That move made the other two immediately look over.
Zong Nanze spoke first. “If I remember right, Huaixi should be the same age as you, shouldn’t he? He’s already an adult. Don’t be so overprotective.”
“Huaixi looked like he wanted to say something,” Zhong Chongqiu said, his stance wavering as he redirected the spear at Zong Nanze instead. “The two of them grew up together. Huaixi once said that when they were little, Qi Wang protected him like an older brother.”
Zong Nanze tried to muddy the waters and clicked his tongue twice. “Looks like you and Huaixi are pretty close too. He even told you that.”
Zhong Chongqiu was so inexperienced in matters of feeling that he failed to hear the teasing in that entirely. His thoughts snagged only on the phrase pretty close. His mind turned to mush, all the blood in his body rushed upward, and the tips of his ears instantly went red.
Anyone who knew him would understand that he was simply thin-skinned. Anyone who did not would have thought his expression had just exposed some hidden private matter between him and Lin Huaixi.
“…”
Zong Nanze had not expected this complete amateur, with such a low level of emotional skill, to dare try cutting in. He gave a disdainful snort.
Zhong Chongqiu’s reason came back online. He frowned at him, his features sharp, his naturally fierce face gaining another layer of intimidation.
Zong Nanze, however, did not take him seriously at all. Slowly, he turned to Qi Wang and lifted a brow. “You’re not still fooling yourself, are you? No, actually, eyes don’t lie. Tsk, tsk, tsk—you’ve practically built a blockade already. So how exactly did this person manage to get through it?”
As the only person there who fully understood what he meant, Qi Wang drew his brows together and his expression went dark. It was hard to tell whether he had been struck where it hurt, or whether he was simply disgusted by Zong Nanze.
Sensing the undercurrent between the two of them and understanding that Lin Huaixi was at the center of it, Zhong Chongqiu pressed forward, worried he might be hurt. “What are you talking about? Are the two of you hiding something from Huaixi?”
Zong Nanze locked gazes with Qi Wang for two seconds, then decided to deal with the one who knew the least first, smiling as he stabbed where it hurt most. “What does it have to do with you?”
Zhong Chongqiu opened his mouth, then closed it again. His face turned black as coal.
Looking at Lin Huaixi, who stood behind Qi Wang with a confused, innocent expression that made him seem almost pitiful, he said with concern, “Huaixi, you just climbed all the way up here. You must be tired. I’ll take you to rest.”
At once, all attention focused on Lin Huaixi again. Qi Wang’s grip tightened further, as though he wanted nothing more than to hide him behind his back where no one could covet him. “You don’t need to worry about him. I’ve already set up the tent.”
“Huaixi, why don’t you come stay with us?” Zong Nanze cut in brightly. “We’re having barbecue tonight. The grill’s already set up, and it’ll be delicious.”
The three of them abruptly stopped sniping at one another and all turned together to look at Lin Huaixi.
Lin Huaixi’s eyelashes trembled twice. A giant question mark appeared over his head, nearly crushing him beneath its weight.
What are you doing?!
What the hell are you all doing?!
Your love-triangle drama doesn’t need to drag innocent bystanders into it too!
