I drank a large gulp of ice water. It seemed he never actually wanted me; I was too eager! I looked up at Zheng Wei, starlight in his eyes. I suddenly felt I should thank him—precisely that moment of misstep made Ye Zhengchen and me see each other’s desires clearly, which made us confront the undeniable fact: we still loved each other. Otherwise, we might have regretted it for a lifetime.
My heart stirred, and I thought of a more important question. “Zheng Wei, why were you responsible for the Nanzhou City case? Is this just a coincidence?”
Zheng Wei smiled faintly, not answering directly but said: “When I was fifteen, I was addicted to gambling. I was scammed by a group of professional gamblers and owed them a lot of money. I didn’t dare tell my father, so I went to Ye Zhengchen for help.”
Actually, his family discipline was even stricter than mine, but he didn’t hesitate to steal his mother’s jewelry to pay my gambling debt. For this, he almost got beaten to death by his father, but he gritted his teeth and remained silent.
I nodded, now certain I had the answer I needed. “Can you tell me more about him? I want to understand him better.”
Zheng Wei’s gaze swept across the hall, where his friends were taking turns toasting Ye Zhengchen, determined not to stop until he was drunk. Ye Zhengchen was also drinking enthusiastically, welcoming every toast.
“I knew him when I was five, and he was three. We lived in the same compound and grew up together. His family upbringing was extremely strict. Uncle Ye managed him like a soldier, constantly scolding or punishing him. He forbade him from playing with other children, fearing he would be led astray. He wasn’t allowed to smoke, drink, gamble, or have a girlfriend, worried he would lose his ambition. Yet he was stubborn by nature and had no idea how to spell ‘obedience.’ You can imagine how lonely his childhood was.”
I listened carefully, trying to picture the scene.
“Uncle Ye wanted him to apply to military school, but he insisted on studying medicine.”
