How had Xiong Le Le learned about Ke Bu and Zhi Li’s relationship, much less the things that had happened between them in the past? He had only been at the school for a short time. Did everything he was doing really mean that he had fallen for Zhi Li? If not, what purpose could any of it possibly serve? Question after question circled through Ke Bu’s mind. Xiong Le Le’s behavior had left him unsettled and thrown him off more than he wanted to admit.
Xiong Le Le placed the ice pop into Zhi Li’s hand. “Remember to pay me back.”
Zhi Li held the ice pop as it slowly began to melt.
Ke Bu couldn’t stop himself from screaming internally.
Did that remind you of before? But that wasn’t me. That wasn’t me!
Clever.
Xiong Le Le was very clever.
He wasn’t like Dora. He wasn’t like anyone else who had ever wanted Zhi Li.
He knew what Zhi Li liked.
Ke Bu.
So he had turned himself into Ke Bu.
Zhi Li raised his hand. “Ask someone else to pay you back.”
The ice pop flew backward and landed in Chu Hao Yu’s hand.
Knowing absolutely nothing about what was going on, Chu Hao Yu tore open the wrapper and started eating it. “Eating an ice pop in weather like this has its own charm.”
He walked closer while taking another bite. “Hey, Ke Bu, why are you standing there like an idiot?”
Then he finally saw the real Ke Bu in front of him.
Chu Hao Yu turned back in shock and looked closely at Xiong Le Le’s face. “What are you two doing? Having an imitation contest?”
Xiong Le Le, completely unfazed, opened his own ice pop and began eating. “Mm. I like that personality of yours. Nice people are boring.”
“What are you trying to do?”
Xiong Le Le looked straight at Zhi Li. “Nothing. Do you think buying you an ice pop is somehow going to begin some romantic encounter? Or create a miracle? Come on. How could something like that happen?”
The bell rang.
“Ah, class is starting. Hey, Zhi Li, see you later.”
Even Ke Bu’s old verbal habits had been imitated perfectly.
A chill of disgust ran through him.
He desperately wanted to tell Xiong Le Le to shut up, but Xiong Le Le had already walked into his own classroom.
Zhi Li behaved as though none of it had happened. “Let’s go in.”
“Mm.”
Ke Bu sat beside Zhi Li that day. His mind wasn’t exactly in chaos, but he still couldn’t absorb a word of the lesson. He couldn’t figure out Xiong Le Le’s objective and couldn’t think of a way to respond. The lead in his mechanical pencil snapped against the paper.
The unease that had been manageable a moment ago suddenly surged.
How many more of his memories was Xiong Le Le going to steal and rewrite? How much of what belonged to Ke Bu was he going to turn into his own?
Was that the point of his malice?
Zhi Li set his pen down on Ke Bu’s textbook and underlined the important parts. “The only thing you need to worry about is your grades.”
“Right.”
Zhi Li was right.
That was what Ke Bu actually needed to worry about.
“He really does look like me, doesn’t he? I almost want to applaud him. He’s frighteningly good at imitating people. If I were judging, I’d give him ninety-five points.” Ke Bu spoke casually while copying down notes, though there was a faint trace of self-mockery beneath his words.
“I give him zero.”
The moment Zhi Li said it, Ke Bu’s mood became subtly different.
“I suddenly remembered something. Lan Yin told me before that I was going to face some huge disaster, and she even told me to pass the warning on to you. It’s practically become a nightmare. Every time anything happens, I remember what she said.”
“Is that so?” As Ke Bu had expected, Zhi Li’s reaction was mild.
“So she was just trying to scare me, right?”
“Who knows.”
“At least call her and ask. If it’s fake, I can stop thinking about it. If it’s real, I can prepare myself mentally.”
He watched Zhi Li finish underlining the important material and then start doodling randomly in Ke Bu’s book.
“If some huge disaster comes my way, I’ll deal with it myself.”
“You heard me wrong. It isn’t your disaster. It’s mine.”
“What part did I hear wrong?” Zhi Li sounded genuinely puzzled. “Isn’t what’s yours mine?”
Ripples spread through Ke Bu’s heart.
If that was the case, then there really was nothing left to worry about.
After class, Ke Bu saw Xiong Le Le head into the restroom and followed him inside.
Xiong Le Le stood in one of the stalls lighting a cigarette. He wasn’t surprised to see Ke Bu come in.
“What are you trying to get out of doing all this?”
“What could I possibly get? It’s fun.” Xiong Le Le blew out a smoke ring. “I told you my mom died after getting sick, right? It was just me and my dad at home. We were doing perfectly fine, and then some outsider suddenly barged in wanting to become my mother and split the family assets. I couldn’t accept that. Your mom stole my dad, so at first I thought I’d go after your mom. But after meeting you, I suddenly realized dealing with some old woman would be too easy. Too boring. Going after you is different. And sure enough, it’s even more fun than I expected. You took something I had, so I’ll take something you have. That isn’t excessive, is it? Normally I don’t have that sort of interest in men, but I guess Zhi Li is an exception. If it were anyone else, I’d probably use some other method.”
“You think you’re capable of it?”
“I don’t know whether I am or not. But seeing me turn into you and stand next to Zhi Li already makes you miserable, doesn’t it? Does the result matter? As long as the process is fun.”
He was like some spoiled, willful young master.
“How did you even find out about me and Zhi Li…”
“Good luck, I guess. Some girl contacted me. I have no idea how she knew about my situation or how she got my number, but she gave me information and told me plenty of ways to make you miserable. She only had one condition: I wasn’t allowed to touch Zhi Li or genuinely have any improper intentions toward him.”
“You’d better know when to stop, or else…”
“Or else what? You’ll hit me? Then come on.”
Xiong Le Le smiled and leaned his face closer. “Let your poor mother find out you hit me. Then she won’t just feel guilty toward you—she’ll feel guilty toward me and my dad too. Maybe they won’t get married anymore, which would save me plenty of trouble. Hit me, Ke Bu. Aren’t you a man? If you won’t, I’m leaving.”
Xiong Le Le tossed away his cigarette and walked out.
Ke Bu stared at the cigarette butt extinguishing in the water, then pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Dora. Why?”
“Given the relationship between you and me, is it really strange for me to do something like this?”
Dora hung up.
That was true.
Whether Dora was an enemy or an ally had always remained unclear.
Dora and Xiong Le Le were both people Ke Bu wanted to avoid directly clashing with.
Ke Bu loved Zhi Li too much. So much that no matter what Zhi Li’s younger sister Dora did, Ke Bu couldn’t bring himself to hate her or even truly dislike her. She had pushed him down the stairs before. She had left him with far too many terrifying memories.
But in Ke Bu’s eyes, she was still only Zhi Li’s little sister who loved him.
And Xiong Le Le was tied to his mother’s happiness.
When had Ke Bu accumulated so many weak spots?
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