Chapter 5

Chapter 5

I looked up and locked eyes with a furious Zhou Xingzhi, who was standing not far away in the restaurant.

Well, what can I say? They really are brothers.

To think they both picked the same restaurant to take a girl out to dinner.

Zhou Xingzhi strode over and shoved Zhou Yanzhi aside with a forceful push.

His gaze swept over the two of us as he demanded urgently, “What are you two doing together?”

Zhou Yanzhi stumbled back slightly from the shove, but he merely offered a nonchalant smile.

“Brother, I just happened to run into Miss Lin and we’re having a meal. What’s the rush?”

Zhou Xingzhi’s voice rose sharply. “A meal? You call it a meal when you were about to damn well kiss?”

At that moment, Shen Xiao, who had been trailing behind, caught up.

Seeing the tension between the two brothers of the Zhou Family, she shot me a vicious glare.

“What are you shouting for?” she snapped at Zhou Xingzhi, her tone laced with irritation. “Do you want to eat or not?”

Zhou Xingzhi froze. He had always been subservient to Shen Xiao, and his attitude softened instantly.

“Xiaoxiao, don’t be angry. Be good and go order first. I’ll come over as soon as I’ve dealt with this.”

After finally coaxing Shen Xiao away, Zhou Xingzhi’s expression darkened again as he turned back to me. He let out a cold sneer.

“Lin Yuan, I’m giving you a chance to explain. What was that just now? Who gave you permission to go on a date with another man behind my back?”

“Brother, I was the one who invited Miss Lin. Just now, I saw a scrap of paper in her hair, so I was just…”

Zhou Yanzhi didn’t want to make things difficult for me. He looked at me, then took the initiative to yield and explain to his brother.

Zhou Xingzhi continued to sneer. “Even so, Lin Yuan, you shouldn’t have agreed. Are you really that desperate? The moment I don’t eat with you, you immediately go and hook up with another man…”

Zhou Xingzhi’s unfinished words were cut short by my slap.

Originally, I couldn’t bear to hit him.

Unfortunately, that face covered in gauze didn’t evoke a single shred of pity in me anymore.

It was a merciless slap, one that made my own palm sting.

I frowned and turned to look at Zhou Yanzhi. “Hey, hit your brother for me, and I’ll say yes to you.”

Zhou Xingzhi’s existing facial injuries hadn’t healed yet, and the pain made his vision swim.

However, hearing my words, he still scoffed disdainfully. “He’s my brother. You think he’d listen to a slut like you-”

Before he could finish, a heavy punch landed squarely on his face.

Zhou Yanzhi’s voice followed, tinged with a hint of apology.

“I didn’t want to resort to violence, but… I can live without a brother, but I can’t live without a wife. Sorry, Brother.”

With that, another punch slammed into him.

Two weeks later, Zhou Xingzhi was back in the hospital.

I went to visit him once. The doctor said the wounds on his face had become inflamed again, and it was almost certain he would be left with scars.

When he saw me arrive, Zhou Xingzhi’s eyes lit up, but he immediately tilted his head with an arrogant air.

“Even if you get down on your knees and beg me this time, I am definitely breaking up with-”

“Fine by me.”

I didn’t even listen to the rest of his sentence. I took the only gift he had ever given me-a strawberry bear keychain he’d won at a balloon-popping game-and threw it at him.

I smiled. “Remember this, Zhou Xingzhi: whoever doesn’t break up is a dog.”

Zhou Xingzhi’s face turned deathly pale. He gripped the strawberry bear so tightly that his palms began to bleed.

But I had already walked away.