On a Stormy Night, the Campus Belle Knocked on My Door Seeking Shelter
Chapter 36: Strange Gaze

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Strange Gaze

His love for his mother made it impossible to forget his vengeance for her murder.

His love for the girl made it impossible to seek that vengeance.

Rather than be crushed daily in the vortex of these two emotions, spiraling into endless agony, his brain chose to burn itself out—a defense mechanism. And so, Zhou Hao finally went mad.

The madness freed him from the daily cycle of torment.

But it also wiped his memory clean of everything but the existence of his mother’s killer.

Zhou Hao’s end had been tragic. That’s why, after coming back, Chen Mo desperately wanted to prevent him from becoming a killer who’d gone astray.

Even though the evidence from that night pointed to Zhou Hao as the only possible suspect, Chen Mo still felt no hatred or disgust toward him.

Chen Mo felt he knew Zhou Hao’s character well, and he already knew everything his friend had suffered in the previous timeline. Because of this, he found it incredibly difficult to believe Zhou Hao could be such a monstrous killer.

As a result, even with no other suspects, he remained highly skeptical that Zhou Hao was the culprit.

Seeing Zhou Hao once again drawn to this girl by the threads of fate...

Chen Mo couldn’t help but think that perhaps he could do something for Zhou Hao—something that would help him win the trust of the girl’s father and smooth the path for their relationship.

Recalling the sight of his once-good friend reduced to a babbling, ragged madman, Chen Mo remembered a heartache just as profound as the one he’d felt seeing Su Yuqing get killed.

’Now that I have a chance to do it all over again, I’m going to erase every last one of my past regrets.’

As he thought of this, an idea suddenly flashed into Chen Mo’s mind.

He was already planning on tipping off the police about a fugitive with a hundred-thousand-yuan reward. ’What if I let Zhou Hao do it and take all the credit?’

With a public commendation from the police, the girl’s father’s hostility toward Zhou Hao would surely lessen significantly.

’Why should two families that could have been united end up torn apart by a misunderstanding?’

Chen Mo didn’t particularly care about the girl’s father, but he knew the man had only caused the tragedy out of a desire to protect his daughter, coupled with a blind faith in the wisdom of his generation.

Chen Mo wouldn’t pass judgment on the father’s actions. But the girl and Zhou Hao were the ones at the heart of the incident—the ones who deserved to be hurt the least, yet suffered the most.

Chen Mo decided to intervene simply because his heart ached for them.

"Haozi," Chen Mo called out suddenly.

"What’s up, Old Mo?" Zhou Hao shot Chen Mo a confused glance.

Chen Mo thought for a moment. "I’ll tell you at school tomorrow."

"What’s with all the mystery?" Zhou Hao scratched his head, puzzled.

As they spoke, a young man who was strolling through the night market holding a little boy’s hand happened to walk past them. The moment he saw Chen Mo, he froze.

"Lin Yu’an? What a coincidence. You’re out with your little brother?" Chen Mo had spotted him too and immediately smiled and waved.

Lin Yu’an didn’t seem to know how to react, so he just gave an expressionless nod.

’He wanted to smile, but he couldn’t figure out what kind of smile to show Chen Mo. So, whenever he faced him, he would subconsciously become very serious.’

"Hi, Brother Mo." The Little Boy next to Lin Yu’an was far more relaxed. He called out sweetly the moment he saw Chen Mo. He’d seen Chen Mo help his older brother before, so he was quite fond of him.

"Hey there. Yuxi, you’re such a good kid," Chen Mo said with a smile, reaching out to pat Lin Yuxi’s head.

While Chen Mo’s attention was on Lin Yuxi, Su Yuqing’s eyes were fixed on Lin Yu’an. She noticed something was very wrong with the way he was looking at Chen Mo.

Especially when Chen Mo reached out to touch Lin Yuxi, Lin Yu’an’s eyes seemed to burn with an uncontrollable urge, a fervent intensity.

Lin Yu’an was intensely envious of the affection his little brother was receiving—so envious he wished he could trade places with him.

But he couldn’t let any of it show. The emotions were so intense, so difficult to express, that he began to tremble slightly.

Su Yuqing had rarely seen such a look on anyone—that impulsive, fanatical expression. It unnerved her. She couldn’t even tell if the gaze he directed at Chen Mo was born of goodwill or malice.

All in all, it was a bizarre kind of fanaticism.

’If it’s malicious, he must wish Chen Mo dead to look at him like that.’

’But if it’s benevolent... why would a look of goodwill feel so deeply unsettling?’ Su Yuqing couldn’t imagine.

As if noticing Su Yuqing’s stare, Lin Yu’an suddenly whipped his head around, his eyes sharp as he glared at her.

The look made Su Yuqing instinctively take a fearful step sideways to hide behind Chen Mo. Her hand shot out, nervously clutching the sleeve of his free arm.

Just then, Chen Mo looked up at Lin Yu’an. In an instant, every trace of emotion and intensity vanished from Lin Yu’an’s eyes.

In front of Chen Mo, he was like a lifeless statue, perpetually wearing an expressionless mask with dull, vacant eyes.

’I have no idea what goes on in Lin Yu’an’s head,’ Chen Mo thought.

"You two go on and have fun. Brother Mo is full, so we’re going to head out now," Chen Mo said to Lin Yuxi before turning to Lin Yu’an. "We’ll be going now."

Lin Yu’an gave an awkward nod, even bowing slightly.

"Yuqing, are you sure you’re full?" Chen Mo asked, turning to glance at her. "We have school tomorrow, so we need to get to bed early. I’m not making you a midnight snack."

At those words, Lin Yu’an’s eyes widened in shock. He stared at Chen Mo and Su Yuqing, his mouth opening as if to ask something, but in the end, he said nothing.

"I’m full. Let’s go," Su Yuqing said. She still seemed a little scared of Lin Yu’an, and she pulled Chen Mo away, quickening her pace until they were out of the food street.

...

"Brother, brother..." Lin Yu’an only snapped out of it when Lin Yuxi tugged hard on his sleeve. He finally tore his gaze away from the end of the street, where Chen Mo and Su Yuqing had long since disappeared from view.

"What were you spacing out for, Brother?" Lin Yuxi asked, confused.

"It’s nothing. I’ll take you to get something good to eat." A gentle smile, one he reserved only for his family, appeared on Lin Yu’an’s face.

You would never see this kind of gentle, big-brotherly smile from him in public.

Outsiders only ever saw the expressionless mask of Lin Yu’an.

Even in front of Chen Mo, his expression rarely changed.

Hearing this, Lin Yuxi happily grabbed his brother’s hand and charged into the night market.

But even as he walked forward, Lin Yu’an couldn’t stop himself from glancing back at the street corner, where there was no longer any sign of them.

...

On the outskirts of the night market, Chen Mo looked at Su Yuqing curiously. "We should be walking slowly after a big meal. Why were you pulling me along so fast?"