After Unbinding the Simp System, I'm Targeted by the Villain - Chapter 50

Yu Chucheng closed his eyes, attempting to endure the wave of pain through sheer willpower.

However, as luck would have it, his pheromone dependency flared up at that exact moment. The mixture of various scents lingering in the internet cafe made him feel like vomiting.

Dammit, why must it attack my weakest point right when I’m most vulnerable?

Yu Chucheng buried his head and covered his nose, acting as if that would provide some relief. But obviously, the effect was negligible. A thin layer of cold sweat broke out on his back, while his palms remained icy.

Ji Zhou held his phone out toward Yu Chucheng. “Here, order whatever you want to eat.”

Yu Chucheng waved him off, his voice muffled. “I’m not hungry.” His stomach was doing somersaults; it would be a miracle if he could keep anything down.

Xu Mengshu noticed that Yu Chucheng seemed unwell and immediately asked with concern, “Brother Chucheng, what’s wrong?”

“My stomach hurts a bit. I probably drank too much cold stuff,” Yu Chucheng hissed softly. He lifted his head, about to ask a server for some hot water.

Clack.

A glass was placed before his eyes, the water inside still steaming. Before Yu Chucheng could even say “thank you,” he saw Duan Huaijin turn and walk away without a word.

Yu Chucheng: “…”

How strange. Something feels off.

Although he intended to keep a certain distance from Duan Huaijin from now on, he hadn’t actually put it into practice yet. Why had Duan Huaijin suddenly become so cold? Had he not hidden it well enough, and the other man sensed something?

A trace of familiar pheromones drifted past Yu Chucheng’s nose—left behind when Duan Huaijin walked over. His Adam’s apple bobbed. His throat felt dry and stinging; it wasn’t water he craved, but the scent of Duan Huaijin’s pheromones.

If only Duan Huaijin had stayed a bit longer.

Yu Chucheng’s thoughts wandered aimlessly as he unconsciously scratched his neck, several red welts quickly appearing on his nape. His nerves were frayed.

No, I have to endure.

After all, the root of this pheromone dependency was his own internal longing. He couldn’t ask Duan Huaijin for pheromones for the rest of his life. He might as well use this time to tough it out and overcome it.

Yu Chucheng gave himself a hard pinch; the pain in his thigh snapped him out of his desire. He managed to drag his gaze away from Duan Huaijin, picked up the glass, and gulped down the warm water in one go.

With the warm water in his system, Yu Chucheng felt slightly better, but he could no longer sustain high-intensity gaming. He ended up leading Ji Zhou and the others into a “car crash” for the next two rounds. Fortunately, Ji Zhou’s goddess was already satisfied for the day, and he, the free “gaming companion,” could finally go offline and catch his breath.

Ji Zhou gratefully sent him a digital “Red Envelope” (cash gift), which Yu Chucheng didn’t accept.

In the days that followed, Yu Chucheng began a routine of traveling only between school and his apartment. Duan Huaijin didn’t message him, and he didn’t seek out Duan Huaijin. The “last chat” date on their WeChat gradually changed from “The day before yesterday” to “Friday,” and then to a cold, static date.

Yu Chucheng opened the chat window for the nth time and narrowed his eyes. Excellent. This is exactly what I wanted from the start—gradual distance, no more involvement.

And yet, he wasn’t as happy as he’d imagined.

Yu Chucheng threw his phone onto the bed in a fit of self-abandonment and rubbed his face vigorously to try and wake himself up. He kept brainwashing himself: Duan Huaijin is a villain—a very dangerous one. Staying away from him is a good thing. My previous interactions with him were only out of necessity.

Duan Huaijin is just an ordinary friend. Even if some of the things we did before crossed the line… but! Those were forced by circumstances, they don’t count.

As the saying goes, the best way to move on from a relationship is to start a new—wait, that quote probably doesn’t apply here. It’s his own fault for not studying argumentative writing properly; now even his “famous quotes” were nonsensical.

Buzz buzz!

The phone he’d tossed aside vibrated unexpectedly. Yu Chucheng looked over, his heart skipping a beat. Could it be Duan Huaijin?

He snatched up the phone. It was his private investigator.

Previously, Yu Chucheng’s curiosity had been through the roof; he wanted messages from the investigator every day, ready to unmask the mastermind. But now, his first reaction upon receiving a message was: Oh, it’s just him.

Yu Chucheng clicked on the photo sent by the investigator. It showed the black car from outside the teahouse entering and exiting the Zhang Group headquarters.

Private Investigator: 【Found it. The man who went to see Lin Mei that day is Zhang Hanzhou’s legal representative.】

Seeing the name “Zhang Hanzhou,” Yu Chucheng’s pupils constricted. Though he had mentally prepared himself, the truth being stripped bare before him still sent a shock to his soul.

So, Zhang Hanzhou had been in contact with Lin Mei for a long time? Does that mean Zhang Hanzhou knew all along that he wasn’t the Eldest Young Master of the Zhang family, yet continued to occupy the title?

They had joined forces to deceive Duan Huaijin!

Yu Chucheng was submerged in shock and anger, unable to recover for a moment. He had thought Zhang Hanzhou was as ignorant as Duan Huaijin, even feeling at one point that Duan Huaijin was too extreme. There were many ways to get revenge—on Lin Mei for the swap, or on Duan Haixiang for being an accomplice—but Zhang Hanzhou seemed “innocent,” and suffering Duan Huaijin’s wrath seemed like an unmerited disaster for him.

Now, Yu Chucheng realized how catastrophically wrong he had been. Everyone was keeping Duan Huaijin in the dark, himself included.

Yu Chucheng felt a tightness in his chest, as if it were stuffed with cotton, making it hard to breathe.

Furthermore, the private investigator brought another piece of news.

Private Investigator: 【Zhang Guangzhi’s surname wasn’t originally Zhang. It was Su—his name was Su Guangzhi. Mrs. Zhang’s name is Zhang Mian. Su Guangzhi only changed his surname after marrying into the Zhang family. This is a secret I stumbled upon while investigating Zhang Hanzhou. Very few people know, and since Zhang family affairs are now entirely handled by Zhang Guangzhi, those who do know don’t dare discuss it casually.】

Yu Chucheng stared at the text, his fingers tightening. Something’s wrong. This is different from the plot in the original book. The book clearly stated Mrs. Zhang was a “Su”—the eldest daughter of the Su family—and she had married Zhang Guangzhi in a merger of the two families.

What was going on? Which one was the truth?

A massive amount of information flooded Yu Chucheng’s brain, nearly frying his CPU. But he was in no mood to think deeply about these intertwined relationships. Suddenly, he really wanted to see Duan Huaijin.

Not because of the dependency, but simply because he wanted to see him.

He—the person who, out of cowardice, thought he was maintaining a neutral “none of my business” stance while actually being part of the group deceiving him—suddenly realized that things shouldn’t be this way.

Yu Chucheng sat on the edge of the bed, trying to stay calm. But his hands were trembling slightly, forcing him to pace back and forth in the room.

He shouldn’t have made that bet with Yu Jingchen; he really wanted to go find Duan Huaijin right now. But the last time they spoke was days ago, and their relationship had grown stiff. He couldn’t find a single reason to barge into Duan Huaijin’s life.

As he was racking his brain, his phone rang again. This time it was a call. Seeing it was Xin Yihuan, Yu Chucheng answered irritably, “What?”

Xin Yihuan’s voice sounded a bit distorted over the line. “There’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time. I think it’s better if I tell you.”

Yu Chucheng: “What is it?”

Xin Yihuan paused. “The bottle Zhuang Yunfei broke at the club last time… it actually contained pheromone extraction liquid. S-rank, extremely high purity. It must have been extracted directly from the gland.”