Evil People Have Their Own Evil Mothers [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 15: Classmate Cao, Why Are You Ignoring Me?

Chapter 15: Classmate Cao, Why Are You Ignoring Me?

The next second, Xu Jiu’s ear was twisted by the other person, the pain making his face scrunch up and a furrow appear between his eyebrows.

Something wasn’t right.

Cao Weidong had never twisted his ear before, and it was impossible for him to suddenly break into his home.

Xu Jiu blinked, trying to see the person in front of him clearly through his hazy, misty pupils.

Before Xu Jiu’s vision could clear, Pan Yu’s booming voice exploded beside his ear like a loudspeaker.

Xu Jiu, I’ve been looking for you all day! You’re not answering calls or messages—what are you trying to do? Do you want to die?

Xu Jiu widened his eyes in surprise to look.

There was no shadowy figure in black, white, or gray—only Pan Yu wearing a black baseball jacket, his exposed arms covered in scratches, though they were just marks from his girlfriend’s manicure.

That so-called Cao Weidong—it was nothing but a hazy fantasy Xu Jiu’s muddled mind had conjured up after nearly a whole night of amusing himself.

Pan Yu had one hand gripping Xu Jiu’s ear while the other checked his phone, grumbling discontentedly, Turned off? What were you doing last night? Was it necessary to shut it off and hide from your bro?

Nothing much.

Xu Jiu’s tone dropped, carrying an indescribable sense of melancholy.

Faced with Pan Yu’s pressing questions, Xu Jiu smacked his lips twice and answered listlessly, Just watched some videos and amused myself.

Hearing this, Pan Yu instantly broke into a relieved, almost fatherly smile. Xu Jiu’s bizarre sexual orientation—being attracted to neither women nor men—had once led Pan Yu to believe he had both physiological and psychological issues.

Now that Xu Jiu was actually watching videos and amusing himself, it seemed he was cured and could be a normal man after all.

Pan Yu chuckled playfully, What kind of videos were so good? Let your bro have a look too.

Xu Jiu shot him a glare.

Come on, tell me! Japanese? Korean? European?

Xu Jiu struggled free from Pan Yu’s grip, collapsing back onto the bed, and irritably hugged his pillow as he rolled over to the other side, burying his head in it and ignoring Pan Yu.

He looked like a sparrow drenched in a heavy rain, shriveled and half-dead in a crevice, his hair clinging to his face like damp feathers.

Pan Yu’s smile faded as he studied Xu Jiu’s condition, growing more and more uneasy. Xu Jiu never used to turn off his phone, and he’d never ignored Pan Yu’s calls before.

All these changes seemed to have started after he met Cao Weidong the previous day.

You’re not usually like this. What happened after you saw Cao Weidong? What exactly did he say to you?

Pan Yu grabbed Xu Jiu by the shoulders and forcibly turned him around.

Did he secretly get someone to beat you up? Where are you hurt?

When Pan Yu got a clear look at Xu Jiu’s condition, he gasped sharply, biting his tongue to suppress a cry of horror.

After just one night apart, Xu Jiu was covered in injuries.

Around Xu Jiu’s neck was a glaring, deeply embedded red strangulation mark, the flesh nearly twisted against the bone. His collar was open, revealing bruises on his chest like an ink-wash painting—layers of dark, vivid purples and blues. Pan Yu rolled up Xu Jiu’s sleeves and pulled his wrist straight to look: one shocking scar after another.

These wounds were definitely not something Xu Jiu could have inflicted on himself.

Xu Jiu had definitely been pinned to the ground and beaten up by Cao Weidong. The reason Xu Jiu claimed he’d been amusing himself the previous night was purely because his friend was too thin-skinned to admit he’d lost a fight.

Pan Yu was absolutely certain of this and decided to help his friend vent his anger.

He cursed under his breath in a continuous stream while impulsively dialing an unfamiliar number on his phone.

Cao Weidong’s flat, emotionless voice came from the other end of the line:

Who is this?

How dare you ask who it is? What did you do to Xu Jiu? Spit it out!

Xu Jiu’s body jolted as if electrocuted. He sprang to life, swiftly grabbing Pan Yu’s hand.

Xu Jiu snatched the phone just as Cao Weidong’s voice, muffled and mixed with static, emerged from the speaker, sending a tingling sensation through Xu Jiu’s fingertips.

Cao Weidong deliberately paused, his tone both questioning and challenging:

Xu Jiu? Who’s that?

Xu Jiu froze.

After all that effort, he remained a nobody in the other’s eyes.

A surge of inexplicable fury ignited within him. His pale face flushed crimson, his brows furrowed tightly and trembled violently, and he gritted his back teeth, producing an irritated grinding sound.

His eyes widened, emotions swirling chaotically with no outlet, raging wildly behind his pupils.

Xu Jiu’s distraction gave Pan Yu a chance to break free. Pan Yu roared furiously, Playing dumb? Just you wait! If I don’t get someone to beat you to a pulp today, I’ll take your surname!

Xu Jiu quickly lunged forward again, covering the phone with his hand and hissing a low warning, I don’t need your help.

Pan Yu, thinking Xu Jiu was siding with the enemy, raised his voice sharply and scolded, If we don’t handle this properly, won’t you have taken that beating for nothing?!

Cao Weidong’s voice came through the receiver again, picking up on the key detail and emphasizing it: Beating?

For some reason, Xu Jiu felt Cao Weidong’s voice wasn’t as lifeless as before—maybe it was because of that shoddy old-man phone of his.

Xu Jiu could no longer afford to dwell on it—whether Cao Weidong was being deliberate or unintentional, or even the simmering rage coiling in his own chest.

He clamped a hand over Pan Yu’s head, shaking him vigorously to keep him from speaking.

Xu Jiu muttered a blurred, hushed warning:

Stay out of it!

All his anger and tangled grievances with Cao Weidong were forcibly shattered like glass shards and swallowed down his throat, scraping his voice raw and leaving a metallic taste of blood.

Xu Jiu grabbed the phone and forcefully pressed the end-call button.

Pan Yu opened his mouth to ask more, but Xu Jiu accurately hurled a cushion at him, sending Pan Yu stumbling backward.

Xu Jiu shot him a sharp glare and snarled, I told you to stay out of it!

Fine, fine. Handle your own business then.

Xu Jiu retorted coldly, I will.

He got out of bed and headed into the walk-in closet, adjusting his collar before leaning against the vanity mirror to inspect himself.

The marks on his neck were indeed noticeable, so he turned back and changed into a black turtleneck sweater.

Returning to the mirror, he began adorning his ears, neck, and hands with small accessories, each movement accompanied by faint, delicate jingling sounds.

The items on the table were scattered in disarray. Pan Yu walked in and casually started tidying up for Xu Jiu.

Glancing at Xu Jiu’s thin attire, Pan Yu couldn’t resist reminding him, It’s colder today.

Xu Jiu acted as if he hadn’t heard, continuing to mumble indistinctly to himself.

Who is Xu Jiu? How could you not know who Xu Jiu is? Stop pretending—why don’t you just stuff yourself in a sack and play dead for real—

What did you say? Pan Yu asked, puzzled.

Xu Jiu twisted open his lip balm and applied it casually. Nothing.

Drenched in perfume and hand cream, Xu Jiu seemed soaked in floral essence, the scent seeping into his very bones until Pan Yu waved his hands frantically. Enough, enough!

I need to go back to campus.

What for? To beat up Cao Weidong? Count me in.

Finals are coming. I’m going to study.

Pan Yu stared at him as if he were an alien.

Xu Jiu felt guilty.

He did intend to find Cao Weidong and pin him to the ground for a beating, but Pan Yu couldn’t be there.

Xu Jiu spent the entire day buried in the library. Pan Yu, driven away halfway by the suffocating academic atmosphere, eventually left. Xu Jiu waited and waited, but Cao Weidong never showed.

Having been friends for over a decade, Pan Yu saw right through him. Before leaving, he tapped Xu Jiu’s head. Feels like you’ve been revolving entirely around Cao Weidong lately.

Xu Jiu scoffed dismissively and pretended to keep reading.

He thought to himself: I’m just an NPC existing for the protagonist, born to orbit around him. A villain should have professional integrity—to endlessly pester the protagonist until he snaps and crushes me underfoot.

Before leaving, Pan Yu flipped upright the book Xu Jiu was holding upside down and informed him its title was How to Conquer Handsome Young Men.

Xu Jiu retorted, More skills never hurt.

As dusk fell, Xu Jiu left the library and lurked near the back entrance of the bar where Cao Weidong worked part-time.

His pink hair flattened in the cold wind, his slender body trembling as snot and tears streamed down simultaneously. Shivering in the bitter cold, he picked up an empty liquor bottle from the ground, planning to smash it over Cao Weidong’s head when he emerged.

But.

Cao Weidong wasn’t even at the bar.

The glass bottle in Xu Jiu’s hand was snatched by an old scrap collector, who scolded him for disrespecting the elderly and competing with low-income households for trash.

Stumbling through the darkness, Xu Jiu groped his way from memory to Cao Weidong’s home.

The lights were off, the iron door tightly shut.

He shouted a few times at Cao Weidong’s door until someone upstairs opened a window and told him no one was home.

Unable to find Cao Weidong anywhere, Xu Jiu had no choice but to retreat in frustration.

At dawn that day, Xu Jiu developed a high fever and spent three days in the hospital on antipyretics before barely recovering.

The moment he could leave his bed, Xu Jiu secretly checked Pan Yu’s contacts and found the phone number dialed three days prior.

After half a day of internal struggle—typing and deleting, deleting and retyping, adjusting repeatedly—he finally sent three words at 4 a.m., when the world was deepest in sleep:

Where did you go?

After sending the message, Xu Jiu checked his phone every 30 seconds. Dawn broke, but Cao Weidong never replied.

Feeling humiliated, Xu Jiu decided Cao Weidong wouldn’t get off easy either.

He fed Cao Weidong’s number into an SMS bombing program, flooding his inbox instantly with a deluge of spam messages.

The bombing continued until noon. Only after lunch, as Xu Jiu prepared to nap, did he halt the SMS bombing, sending one final taunt:

Hehe ^u^

Then, Cao Weidong chose that moment to reply: Out of town for an exam.

Can your hand even hold a pen?

No, I’ve already dropped out of the exam.

That’s good then.

Xu Jiu wandered around the campus for two more days but still couldn’t find any trace of Cao Weidong.

However, when passing by the school’s main gate, he did spot the long-missing senior campus dog, Big Yellow.

With winter approaching, life was hard for animals. Big Yellow had fallen ill and was lying weakly under a tree, barely breathing.

Whimper… Big Yellow let out uneasy whines upon seeing Xu Jiu.

The dog’s pitiful cries softened Xu Jiu’s heart. Though wearing brand new clothes, he didn’t hesitate before picking up Big Yellow and rushing headlong toward the nearest pet hospital.

But the moment Xu Jiu stepped into the pet hospital—before he could even put Big Yellow down—he made a new discovery.

Cao Weidong, who had been missing for several days, was actually here.

Cao Weidong stood in a partitioned room next to the main hall. Beside his leg lay a weak, dark yellow old dog, completely lifeless.

Hello, a receptionist from the pet hospital approached.

Xu Jiu promptly handed Big Yellow over to the receptionist.

His attention was completely focused on Cao Weidong, staring intently without concealing his gaze, as if afraid Cao Weidong wouldn’t notice.

In the past, Cao Weidong would already be looking at Xu Jiu before Xu Jiu even turned his way. Their eyes would always meet the moment Xu Jiu glanced over.

It was as if Cao Weidong was constantly waiting for Xu Jiu’s response.

But this time was different. Xu Jiu had been staring for so long, so intensely.

Yet Cao Weidong remained unmoved, as if completely unaware of being watched, oblivious to Xu Jiu’s presence.

Uncharacteristically ignoring Xu Jiu.

Intentional? Unintentional?

Xu Jiu couldn’t figure him out, so he decided to take the initiative instead.