Chapter 6: Why Did She Have to Provoke Him

In an urban village.

Trash piled up in the corners, emitting a strange stench, with flies buzzing all around.

Tang Susu frowned slightly. Why is no one dealing with the garbage here?

She took out a mask she had prepared in advance and put it on.

After squeezing through a narrow alley, she finally arrived at He Zhimou’s place.

In the afternoon light, the setting sun cast its glow over the doorway. The white walls had turned yellowish, with some lime flaking off, revealing the grayish-brown mud bricks underneath.

He Zhimou had a makeshift wooden splint tied to his foot with bandages, limping as he sorted through bottles and jars stacked outside.

She remembered that He Zhimou had always loved chemistry and biology. In the end, he became a giant in biotechnology and even made major contributions to human genetic research.

So this is where he used to do his research, under such tough conditions.

The girl’s admiration for the boy grew a little more.

She took off her mask and put it into her pocket.

“Don’t move, let me help you,” Tang Susu stepped forward, reaching out to assist him.

The boy turned his head defensively and blocked her. His pale but strikingly handsome face, with dark, cold eyes, was filled with hostility.

“Why are you here again?” he asked darkly.

Tang Susu smiled and narrowed her eyes. “I was worried about you, so I came to check on you.”

As she spoke, she raised the takeout bags in her hand, including a container of goji berry bone broth. “You haven’t had dinner yet, right? I brought this for you—it’s still hot. You eat first, I’ll help you clean up…”

“Get lost,” the boy said coldly.

Tang Susu froze, facing his pitch-black, menacing gaze. She forced a smile. “You don’t have to be so hostile. I really—”

“Do you not understand human language?” His voice was low and terrifying.

Tang Susu suddenly felt aggrieved.

She had come all this way to see him and bring him food, yet this was the second time he treated her like this.

“If you keep acting like this, I’ll get mad!” she said, turning her head away from him.

She had never been treated like this before. In the past, she was always surrounded by flowers and applause.

The way boys looked at her had always been with admiration and adoration—no one had ever treated her like this.

“Hurry up and leave,” the boy snapped, completely indifferent to her feelings.

But the girl still had her pride and emotions. “Fine! I’m leaving! I won’t care about you anymore.”

As she walked away, Tang Susu glanced down at the bone broth she had carefully packed.

She gently placed it on a bench by the door, then stomped off angrily.

“What’s with him, so rude!” she pouted, her cheeks puffed in frustration.

No wonder he was so withdrawn when he was young—so different from the gentle and approachable man he would become.

His leg was infected. What did that have to do with her?

But as she kept walking, her steps grew slower and slower.

If the wound got infected and wasn’t treated in time, he could lose the leg.

Could she really stand by and watch him suffer an infection and become disabled?

Even if he were just an ordinary person, she couldn’t turn a blind eye. And besides, in the future, he would go on to do so much good.

She stopped, turned back, and hesitated.

She had just said she wouldn’t care about him anymore. Wouldn’t it be embarrassing to go back so soon?

It would make her look like she had no dignity.

Tang Susu, what’s more important—your pride or He Zhimou’s leg?

If he were some evil villain, then fine, let his leg rot—it would serve him right. But he wasn’t. He was a good person. She couldn’t bear to watch his leg get infected and possibly amputated.

Fine, fine. She would just thicken her skin and pretend she didn’t hear his harsh words.

She was doing this for the future He Zhimou, not holding it against the current one.

At the very least, she needed to make sure his leg was okay before she could truly walk away.

And so, Tang Susu turned back.

The door was ajar.

He Zhimou had already taken the bottles and jars back inside.

Only the bench remained outside—with the takeout meal she had left. He hadn’t thrown it away.

She couldn’t help but smile a little. He’s still the same gentle and accomplished man underneath.

She walked up and stood at the door, knocking twice lightly with her slender fingers.

“He Zhimou,” she called softly.

The next second—Crash! A glass object hit the floor.

She pushed the door open and went inside.

The dim room was unlit and gloomy.

The house was old and run-down, with a few yellowed tables covered in all sorts of bottles, tubes, and equipment. It looked like a miniature laboratory.

In front of He Zhimou lay a shattered test tube. A transparent liquid was bubbling on the floor, emitting a bit of smoke—it must have been some chemical reagent.

Tang Susu looked around but didn’t see a broom.

She turned to the boy with the dark expression. “Don’t move. I’ll clean it up.”

Then she ran off to the kitchen to find a broom.

Meanwhile, in the living room, He Zhimou stood motionless. His seductive, fox-like eyes were dark as he stared toward the kitchen doorway.

With slender fingers, he picked up a test tube from the side, his gaze indifferent.

This colorless, odorless poison—

Just a drop was enough, and this woman would disappear from his life.

The only reason he hadn’t used it before was because it hadn’t been tested yet. Using it for the first time on a person—if it didn’t work, that would be troublesome.

He didn’t want to kill her too soon.

But she just had to provoke him.

She had to die.