Chapter 61: The Fierce and Rough Brute Who Was Abandoned After Being Toyed With (13)

What she had once said to him, the things she had done for him, and the candies she had given him were now being carelessly handed over to another man.

Pei Zhi felt an inexplicable pain coursing through his entire body, yet he lacked the vocabulary to describe this unfamiliar sensation.

He had never been to school; he only knew how to work in silence, pouring all his raw strength into the fields.

Whatever he encountered, he could only swallow his suffering along with his broken bones, possessing not even the privilege of feeling distressed.

Shu Yao instinctively sensed someone watching her and turned her head in confusion.

The space beneath the large tree was already empty, devoid of anyone.

Throughout the entire afternoon, the male educated youth had helped Shu Yao pull up all the weeds in her plot of land.

Immensely moved, Shu Yao stuffed a few more biscuits into the young man's hands.

Having found no food in the original owner's dormitory earlier, Shu Yao was now ravenously hungry; no matter how much she disliked the cafeteria food, she had to fill her stomach.

Besides, going to the cafeteria might give her a chance to run into Pei Zhi.

She hadn't caught a single glimpse of him all day long.

Could he have been reassigned to other work?

The other educated youth and villagers had not yet finished work for the day, so the cafeteria wasn't very crowded, though it was stuffy and smelled of sweat, lacking even a single electric fan.

Yet, uncharacteristically, there was a hint of meat being served; thanks to Shu Yao's prompt arrival, she managed to secure a portion.

She ladled out a large spoonful and, catching sight of the gloomy man in the corner out of the corner of her eye, her eyes lit up.

"Pei Zhi!"

Hearing the voice, Pei Zhi did not raise his head. Instead, he accelerated his eating pace, nearly devouring his food like a starving wolf.

He had spotted Jiang Shu Yao the moment she stepped through the door.

Instinctively, he glanced behind her, failing to see the male educated youth from earlier. Even so, the oppressive feeling weighing on his heart did not diminish by half.

He could not understand why, when so many others fawned over her and she accepted their attentions with a clear conscience, she continued to pester him.

He disliked this state of affairs.

"Hey... where are you going?"

Just as Shu Yao had finished getting her food and walked over, she saw that Pei Zhi had already finished eating, briskly packed up his bowl and chopsticks, and headed outside.

He acted as though her call were non-existent, withholding even a single glance in her direction.

What was wrong with him?

Clearly, he had softened toward her yesterday and his attitude had shifted; why had he reverted to treating her like a stranger overnight?

Feeling that something was amiss, Shu Yao immediately set down her tableware and gave chase.

"Pei Zhi...! Walk slower!"

Pei Zhi was walking too fast, showing no intention of waiting for her at all, which made Shu Yao feel that things were increasingly wrong.

The man's back was rigid, his white short-sleeved shirt loose and billowing. The muscles in the arms hanging at his sides bulged with visible tension from the force of his stride.

He walked even faster.

Heaven knew how hard Pei Zhi was fighting the urge to look back.

Until the desperate voice of the woman behind him grew fainter and fainter, and finally vanished altogether.

She... stopped chasing?

Pei Zhi halted his steps, his heartbeat skipping a beat. His long, crow-feather-like eyelashes drooped to conceal the dimming light in his eyes.

She was so beautiful and proud; she surely wouldn't come looking for him anymore after this, right?

Naturally. With so many people adoring her, why would she waste her time on a penniless wretch?

His palms felt painfully pinched, and his muscles spasmed with a sharp ache.

Pei Zhi clutched his chest, feeling an unprecedented agony.

Yet the very next moment, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from behind.

Rapid and chaotic.

He raised his eyes in disbelief, and in an instant, a spark of light ignited within his lifeless gaze.

"If you ignore me again, I'm really going to be mad!"

Clenching her teeth, Shu Yao shouted these words while clutching her stomach, panting heavily with her brows knitted in distress.

Having eaten nothing all day, her stomach felt hollow, and after running several hundred meters to catch up with Pei Zhi, she felt as though she were about to throw up.

The footsteps stopped right in front of him. Shu Yao looked up, meeting the man's lukewarm, impassive gaze devoid of any extra emotion.

"What do you want with me?"

After catching her breath for a moment, Shu Yao replied in a slightly hoarse voice, "Can't I look for you without a reason?"

Her matter-of-fact tone grated harshly against Pei Zhi's ears.

He truly could not fathom what value she could possibly find to exploit in him.

"From now on..."

He paused, finishing his sentence in heavy silence.

"Don't come looking for me anymore. We aren't close."

"Pei Zhi, I feel terrible..."

Ignoring his attempt to draw a line between them, Shu Yao spoke with a sob in her voice as dark spots danced before her eyes.

Her hypoglycemia was acting up again.

Staring at her pale lips, Pei Zhi's Adam's apple bobbed as he averted his gaze.

"Go find the team leader."

Shu Yao grabbed a fistful of his shirt hem, her tone stubborn.

"No, I want you."

With her reddish-rimmed eyes and ashen complexion, she looked utterly pitiable.

Pei Zhi's gaze dropped to the hand clutching his shirt—the skin was fair, the bones delicate and slender, while bruised marks marred her elbow.

His pupils contracted. In the end, his heart softened, and he did not pull his hand away.

"Jiang Shu Yao."

His voice was hoarse and gravelly, his hot breath sounding as though it brushed across grinding stones.

"Would you stop playing with me?"

Shu Yao's fingertips trembled as she looked up at the man's taut jawline. Amidst the swirling black mist clouding her vision, the grim darkness in the depths of his eyes magnified inch by inch.

She realized that for all his pure and shy appearance, Pei Zhi actually had a temper of his own.

If he ever found out she was merely a villainous supporting character who had come to toy with his emotions, what kind of horrifying fate awaited her?

Shu Yao shuddered involuntarily.

"I'm not playing..."

Staggering forward, her forehead bumped against Pei Zhi's hard chest.

"I just wanted to see you."

Her words were shattered by a violent wave of dizziness. The weakness brought on by her low blood sugar caused her legs to go soft, and her entire body began to sag downward.

Before Pei Zhi could even process his own actions, his arm had already reflexively wrapped around her waist. His palm brushed against the protruding vertebrae of her spine, and his throat felt as though it were obstructed by a rough stone.

The scene he had witnessed in the fields replayed vividly in his mind, the two smiling faces gradually growing clearer.

His grip on her arm suddenly tightened, his thumb brushing lightly over the bruised marks.

"Who hit you?"

His voice was suppressed to an extreme low.

Shu Yao was already too weak to keep her eyes open, resting limply in his arms as stray locks of hair brushed against his protruding Adam's apple.

"You clearly care about me, yet you say we aren't close."

Pei Zhi parted his lips, instinctively wanting to deny it, but as the words reached his lips and he looked at the woman's helpless, fragile appearance, he ultimately swallowed them back.

Sensing that Shu Yao had candy in her pocket, Pei Zhi fished it out and stared at the familiar wrapper with a momentary daze.

Recovering his composure quickly, he unwrapped the candy and popped it into Shu Yao's mouth.

Shu Yao smacked her lips and secretly cracked open one eye to observe Pei Zhi's expression.

He still wore a cold, fierce look, glaring like someone who owed him millions.

Noticing her gaze, Pei Zhi swept a chilly look over her, startling Shu Yao into slamming her eyes shut.

Instead, she softened her voice to coax him coquettishly, "I feel awful, my head is spinning."

"I didn't even eat because I was chasing you. Why are you ignoring me?"

"How did I offend you again? You're so petty and fierce every day—you'd better watch out or you won't be able to find a wife."

She issued her grievances in an aggrieved tone, her gaze toward Pei Zhi laced with accusation.

Pei Zhi licked the corner of his teeth and suddenly let out a breathless, exasperated laugh.

Seeing that Shu Yao had recovered enough to still have the energy to act spoiled, he unhesitatingly released her.

As he turned and stepped away, Pei Zhi heard a firm, teasing voice drift from behind him.

"Pei Zhi, are you perhaps jealous?"