Chapter 11

“Xiao Ge, should we just break in?”

Zhang Qiling stood up, glanced at Wu Xie’s room, and strode over to knock on the door.

“Wu Xie, time to eat.”

After a moment, a muffled voice came from inside.

“…Leave it at the door. I’ll eat when I’m hungry.”

“Xiao Tianzhen, come on, open the door. Let Fatty—no, let Xiao Ge keep you company while you eat, okay?”

There was no response from inside. Fatty refused to give up.

“Xiao Ge’s long and handsome face is a feast for the eyes. Just let him in—you like him the most, don’t you?”

Inside the room, Wu Xie listened to Fatty’s nonsense, unable to hold back any longer.

“Who—who said I liked him?! Don’t talk nonsense! Say that again and I’ll beat you up!”

Hearing this, both of them paused for a moment.

Fatty grinned. “Come on, who’s afraid of who? Get out here and watch me beat you till the flowers fall into the water!”

Idiot, it’s ‘the flowers drift with the water.’

Zhang Qiling stood silently, watching the two bicker, leaning against the doorframe. The hands in his pockets clenched slightly.

Not… like me?

Then why did Fatty say…

Fatty, unable to win the argument, wanted reinforcements. But when he turned his head, he saw Xiao Ge touching his lips absentmindedly.

What the hell? We’re busy here!

“Xiao Ge, Xiao Ge, kick the door down! I wanna see what the hell he’s doing inside!”

Zhang Qiling walked forward and raised his foot.

Bang—

Hmm? The door didn’t open.

He added a bit more force.

Crash—

The door fell apart, revealing a tilted cabinet and a bewildered Wu Xie.

Plop—

A wooden board, barely holding on, finally gave up and fell.

Wu Xie: “What the hell are you guys trying to do?”

Fatty peeked in, taking in the mess of the room and the mess of a person that was Wu Xie. He couldn’t hold back his laughter.

Then, with his sharp eyes, he noticed something—Wu Xie had written a lot of notes and stuck them on the walls. The floor was littered with discarded papers.

Wu Xie, without hesitation, quickly destroyed the pages filled with secrets.

Zhang Qiling only took a fleeting glance at the scattered notes. His eyes flashed with a trace of pain, but he quickly concealed it. Without a word, he grabbed Wu Xie and dragged him toward the living room for dinner.

The familiar taste of the food only made Wu Xie miss Fatty and Pingzi more. So, he refused to eat anything the two fakes tried to serve him and refused to engage with them.

After the meal, he ignored Fatty’s grumbling from the kitchen and paid no attention to the fake Zhang Qiling’s gaze. He walked straight out of Wushanju and onto the streets.

If I can’t find a flaw in this illusion, I’ll have to create one myself.

He needed to do something out of the ordinary. Something ridiculous. Something that didn’t fit with the flow of reality.

Looking at the bustling pedestrian street, he wondered—what kind of strange thing could he do?

Zhang Qiling silently followed Wu Xie as he wandered through the streets. Eating here, looking there, strolling like nothing was wrong.

Was I overthinking it?

Wu Xie figured his observer was probably letting his guard down, so he started executing his plan.

Standing by the crowded West Lake, he took off his jacket.

Then, he started doing push-ups.

Sweat beaded on his forehead as he warmed up. Then, suddenly—he sprinted forward and jumped into the lake.

Splash—

The crowd erupted in chaos.

“Someone fell in!”
“Someone’s in the water!”

People rushed to the scene. Some began taking off their jackets, preparing to dive in for a rescue. Others hurriedly dialed emergency services.

By the railing, discussions buzzed nonstop.

“I heard it was a young guy, fair-skinned. Why would he suddenly jump into the lake?”

Zhang Qiling had left for just a moment to buy a candied hawthorn snack. When he returned, he heard someone had jumped into the lake.

His heart clenched.

He set the candied hawthorn down on a bench and sprinted toward the crowd.

Slightly out of breath, his eyes darted around, searching frantically.

But he couldn’t see him.

[Wu Xie!]