The Sickly Villain Only Wants to Survive

35

At school, students' main concerns outside of studying are gossip, entertainment, and anyone who manages to stand out.

Thanks to Yuan Shaozhou's incident, nearly everyone in the second year knew who Zhu Tong was—and that he wasn't someone to mess with. However, their understanding of him was quite superficial. Few dared to approach him, fearing rumors, so even though people wanted to know more about him, no one had the courage to get close.

Who would have guessed Zhu Tong had an older brother? And a brother with no blood relation to him?

What did Zhou Sui mean by "fighting over inheritance"?

A high-society drama seemed to be unfolding, and almost everyone who heard Zhou Sui's words on the sports field stopped to watch.

Zhu Tong's expression darkened as he looked over at Zhou Sui.

Though the lighting on the sports field wasn't great, one could still see the displeasure on Zhu Tong's face.

The corners of Zhou Sui's mouth lifted slightly in satisfaction. He had said it on purpose.

Aside from the ointment he had sent at first, everything else he had gifted had been ignored. Zhu Tong clearly didn't like him.

And yet, Qin Junhong had already sent a message explaining everything.

If Zhu Tong didn't believe he was really Qin Junhong's friend, there could only be one explanation—Zhu Tong, like Qin Junhong, was someone who pretended to be kind but was actually two-faced.

Zhu Tong didn't trust Qin Junhong at all.

And yet, Qin Junhong, self-proclaimed as smart, thought he had fooled everyone in the Zhu family.

But it didn't matter if Zhu Tong didn't trust Qin Junhong. Zhou Sui had other ways to make it so that Zhu Tong couldn't reject him.

Zhou Sui said, "Your brother genuinely cares about you. He's been worried you wouldn't adjust to the school here, and he asked me several times to look after you. Over the years, while you were sick and in the hospital, he helped your dad and took care of you. Even if you don't appreciate him, you shouldn't treat his friends so coldly."

His casual tone caused a stir among the crowd.

"What does that mean? So, all those things Zhou Sui sent to Zhu Tong weren't because he's pursuing him? It was on his brother's behalf?"

"I heard Zhu Tong threw away all those gifts. Was it because he didn't want them?"

"From what Zhou Sui's saying, Zhu Tong's brother seems really good to him, but Zhu Tong's attitude is kind of strange."

"A brother with no blood relation... so, a stepbrother? Stepchildren usually have inheritance rights too, don't they? Could it be that Zhu Tong doesn't like his brother because of that...?"

Zhou Sui's words had revealed a lot of information.

A brother with no blood relation. Zhu Tong's father must have remarried, and from the way Zhou Sui spoke, it seemed that Zhu Tong's father valued his stepbrother highly. Given Zhu Tong's frail health, it wasn't hard to guess why.

But why didn't Zhu Tong like his brother?

The whispers around them grew louder.

Zhou Sui listened to the speculations with satisfaction.

Zhu Tong and Qin Junhong had been putting up a facade of brotherly harmony in front of others. In these wealthy families, there were always people like them—so fake.

But since they were pretending, it was clear they didn't want to tear that facade down in public.

Using Qin Junhong's name to get close to Zhu Tong, Zhou Sui figured that if Zhu Tong didn't want to be seen as petty, jealous, or ungrateful, he would have to stop rejecting him so openly.