The Abused Villain is Always Obsessed with Me - Chapter 19

The children’s boisterous shouts and laughter from outside the window pierced the sky, seeping into the room through the poorly sealed window.

Feng Hechi was jolted awake by the noise. He pressed his temples and sat up.

Last night’s farce had ended abruptly, and Manna hadn’t sent him any messages after returning home. His own messages to her had vanished into the void.

Feng Hechi glanced at his phone. It was nearly eleven in the morning.

When he pushed open the bedroom door, Lu Cang was hunched over the desk, scribbling and sketching on paper with a pen.

Their high school allowed students one day off per week, and today was Lu Cang’s day at home. Despite the break, the school had assigned a mountain of homework.

Feng Hechi remained silent as he walked to the sofa and casually picked up the teapot, pouring some hot water into a glass cup.

He had no intention of speaking.

Sunlight streamed through the glass, casting shifting patterns of light that solidified his shadow into a dark mass.

A sudden sound drew Feng Hechi’s attention. He glanced over to see Lu Cang, who had been working at the desk, rise and walk expressionlessly into the kitchen, just as he used to do.

He walked with a limp, as if afraid to bend his knees.

After two hours of kneeling, standing up would send searing pain through his knees. Each step felt like ants gnawing at bone, an unbearable agony that lingered for hours, never growing easier no matter how many times he endured it.

This was a lesson Feng Hechi had learned from his father.

Pain, his father had told him after forcing him to kneel for four hours straight in the study as a child, was the quickest way to make someone understand their place.

Feng Hechi withdrew his gaze and picked up his phone, opening WeChat.

The screen displayed his chat history with Shen Wenyu.

They had been friends on WeChat for a long time. Feng Hechi had obtained Shen Wenyu’s WeChat at the parent-teacher conference, but instead of adding him immediately, he had sent the request only after returning home.

Shortly after school let out that day, Feng Hechi received a notification that Shen Wenyu had accepted his friend request.

At the time, he was swamped at the bar, taking orders one after another while simultaneously fending off eager men and women who were trying to strike up conversations with him right in front of the counter. He couldn’t spare a moment to check his phone.

It wasn’t until nearly midnight, when most of the guests had moved to the dance floor to dance and listen to music, that Feng Hechi finally had a moment to relax and check his WeChat.

A notification from Shen Wenyu showed up from two hours earlier, right after Feng Hechi had accepted his friend request.

Shen Wenyu had sent a cute greeting sticker.

Feng Hechi casually tapped a similar cute greeting sticker in response, assuming that a good student like Shen Wenyu would already be asleep. To his surprise, a message popped up almost immediately.

Brother, why are you still awake at this hour?

Feng Hechi’s fingers paused over the keyboard. Thinking it would help build rapport, he replied,  Still working.

Working this late? That’s tough!

Shen Wenyu’s conversation was tactful; he didn’t pry about Feng Hechi’s job. After a brief exchange, they both went back to their respective tasks. From then on, Feng Hechi intentionally reached out to Shen Wenyu occasionally, hoping to strengthen their connection.

Even now, the two still kept in touch sporadically.

Staring at their chat history, Feng Hechi pondered what to say next to spark a new conversation. Suddenly, the kitchen door swung open.

Lu Cang emerged from the kitchen carrying a bowl of rice, his head bowed as he placed it on the coffee table. His hair fell across his face, completely obscuring his expression.

Feng Hechi turned off his phone and set it on the table, intending to consider the matter later. But then he saw Lu Cang turn back to the kitchen and return with a bowl of soup.

Feng Hechi’s lowered lashes cast small shadows on his eyelids, and a flicker of doubt crossed his eyes.

He couldn’t recall Lu Cang ever making soup when cooking at home. After all, it was just a casual meal, not a restaurant gathering, and making soup seemed like a waste of time and effort.

Yet Lu Cang’s expression remained unchanged.

Lu Cang lowered his gaze and walked to Feng Hechi’s side under his watchful gaze, his demeanor no different from usual.

Perhaps I’m just being paranoid, Feng Hechi thought, withdrawing his gaze.

The next moment, disaster struck.

As Lu Cang set down the bowl of rice, his fingers brushed against the scalding-hot bottom. He gasped sharply and reflexively released his grip.

The bowl of soup tilted instantly as Lu Cang pulled back his hand, the scalding liquid spilling out and covering most of the table in an instant.

Feng Hechi, with lightning reflexes, swiftly rose and stepped back, narrowly avoiding the scalding soup from spilling onto his leg.

His phone, however, wasn’t so fortunate.

Feng Hechi grabbed two tissues from the napkin holder, padded his hand, and swiftly snatched the phone from the viscous soup. He pressed the side button, but the screen remained dark.

Positioned so close to the bowl, the phone had undoubtedly been the first casualty.

Feng Hechi’s brow darkened, his gaze turning icy as he lifted his eyes to meet the gaze of the culprit standing beside him.

The other man’s face drained of color. He lowered his eyes in panic, then glanced up at Feng Hechi, only to quickly avert his gaze, his teeth biting down hard on his lower lip, his fingers twisting nervously in front of him.

After last night’s punishment, Lu Cang had reverted to the timid, anxious state Feng Hechi had first observed shortly after arriving in this world, his eyes wide with fear of further reprimand.

“Idiot,” Feng Hechi snarled, his voice as cold as millennia-old ice, each syllable seeming to crystallize into tiny shards of frost in the air. “Can’t you even manage this simple task?”

Verbal humiliation was the easiest way to increase hatred points, and Feng Hechi had always been adept at it.

Upon hearing these words, Lu Cang’s already clenched fingers tightened further, his knuckles straining white.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured, his head bowed low, his expression hidden. His voice was so faint it seemed to consist only of breath.

“Wipe the table clean,” Feng Hechi said, settling onto the other side of the sofa. He didn’t bother to spare Lu Cang another glance, his voice indifferent yet laced with impatience.

Lu Cang immediately turned and retrieved a cloth from the kitchen, meticulously wiping away the soup stains on the table. He then grabbed a mop and cleaned the spilled liquid from the floor until it was spotless. After taking the empty soup bowl back to the kitchen and placing it in the sink, he slowly and cautiously returned to Feng Hechi’s side.

By this time, Feng Hechi had already wiped the stains from his phone with a tissue. Despite repeated attempts to power it on and off, the screen remained stubbornly black and unresponsive.

Looks like I’ll have to get it repaired.

As Feng Hechi stared at his phone, lost in thought, a faint voice suddenly reached his ear.

“I’ll get it fixed.”

Feng Hechi looked up and saw Lu Cang gazing at the phone in his hand, his voice carrying a hint of timid inquiry. As if to demonstrate his sincerity in admitting his mistake, Lu Cang raised his voice slightly.

“I’ll use the leftover money from grocery shopping to pay for the repair. It won’t cost you anything extra…”

Sensing Feng Hechi’s gaze, Lu Cang’s voice grew softer and softer, the last words barely audible.

So he’s trying to make amends out of fear of further punishment, Feng Hechi thought.

He remained silent, simply watching Lu Cang. Under that unwavering gaze, Lu Cang grew increasingly uneasy, his lips pressed tightly together, yet he dared not say another word.

“Then you’ll get it fixed,” Feng Hechi finally said, placing the phone on the coffee table and gently pushing it toward Lu Cang. The phone slid across the surface, stopping right at the edge.

“If you can’t get it fixed, don’t bother coming back.”

Feng Hechi stared at him, his tone casual, yet the words he spoke were chilling enough to make one tremble.

Lu Cang froze, picked up his phone from the table, gave a barely perceptible nod, and, without even touching his meal, turned and strode out the door.

Host, you really don’t hold back, do you? If he truly can’t fix it, you really won’t let him return?

The System’s voice echoed in Feng Hechi’s ear.

Feng Hechi stared at the door, his expression remaining tense, his brow furrowing even deeper.

He didn’t answer the System’s question but suddenly asked, “Didn’t the hatred value increase just now?”

No increase detected. I will automatically notify you when the value rises, Host.

The System replied mechanically, sensing nothing amiss.

Feng Hechi’s face darkened instantly, the warmth in his eyes vanishing completely.

He believed he understood Lu Cang well. Given Lu Cang’s temperament, those few words should have been enough to increase the hatred value by several points.

Feng Hechi’s fingers unconsciously tapped lightly on the table, a strange sense of unease washing over him.

It felt as if something had slipped out of his control.

The midday sun mercilessly scorched the earth. Even though autumn had arrived, the temperature remained stubbornly high.

Few pedestrians were out; most had gone home for lunch and a nap. Even the shopkeepers along the street lazily reclined in rocking chairs, scrolling through their phones.

Lu Cang strolled down the street at an unhurried pace.

The unease and panic that had momentarily flashed across his face had vanished completely, leaving no trace as if they had never existed.

He suddenly raised his hand, holding the black-screened phone that had become a brick, and stared at the pitch-black screen.

Sunlight glinted off the screen, reflecting the upward curve of his lips.

Years of cooking and cleaning had calloused his fingertips; the slight warmth from the bottom of the bowl meant nothing to him.

Feigning a clumsy slip was effortless.

Just as easy as feigning nervousness and unease in front of Feng Hechi.

The cold rebuke from earlier echoed in his ears, and the hand gripping the phone began to tremble slightly again.

He knew Feng Hechi would never speak to others that way.

Whether it was that woman or Shen Wenyu, Feng Hechi always maintained a gentle demeanor toward them.

Only Lu Cang was different.

This extraordinary sense of being special made Lu Cang want to smile uncontrollably.

Lu Cang walked along his usual route to school, turned a corner, and passed several traffic lights before arriving at a shop not far from the school gate.

He glanced up at the shop’s sign: cheap advertising paper with three simple characters printed in bold black:

Phone Repair

Phone Repair, Buy and Sell Used Phones, Can Fix Anything, Excellent Skills

The small red text below looked like something the owner had scribbled in his sleep. The shop itself was dilapidated, with grimy glass display cases and an old man snoring loudly in a recliner—the whole place looked utterly unreliable.

Yet Zhuo Ying had recommended this very shop.

Let’s rewind to yesterday.

Lu Cang, who usually buried his nose in textbooks even after class, was now propping his chin in his hand, gazing out the window in a rare moment of distraction. He tilted his head slightly, his eyes following the birds soaring across the sky.

Zhuo Ying returned to the classroom to find him in this state.

“Not studying after class today? Finally feeling tired?” she teased, ploppling down in her seat. She followed Lu Cang’s gaze out the window, but the birds had long since flown away, leaving only the empty sky.

Zhuo Ying stared for a while, confused. “What are you looking at? There’s nothing there.”

Lu Cang didn’t answer, but turned to her. “By the way, do you know any good phone repair shops around here?”

Zhuo Ying’s jaw dropped. “Ah? Your phone’s broken?”

“Hmm,” Lu Cang nodded, his eyes dark and unreadable. “It seems… water got inside.”

“So what if water got inside? Why ‘seems’?” Zhuo Ying rolled her eyes, then rested her chin in her hand, thinking. “Oh, right! There’s a shop right outside our school gate, about a hundred or two meters to the right. The owner’s amazing—he can fix anything! Some classmates even had their phones completely smashed, but he repaired them like new.”

“Really?”

Seeing Lu Cang’s skepticism, Zhuo Ying slammed her hand on the desk.

“Look at you! If you don’t trust others, at least trust me! I have the owner’s WeChat. I’ve taken my phone there a few times before. He can even unlock phones without passwords—I bet he used to be a hacker!”

“Oh?”

Lu Cang raised an eyebrow, staring at Zhuo Ying. Seeing her unwavering conviction, he nodded.

“Then… thank you.”

“Aiya, no need to be so formal! We’re good desk mates, after all…”

Zhuo Ying’s voice trailed off as she stared blankly at Lu Cang.

Lu Cang met her gaze, a faint smile curving his lips. His eyes, deep as ink, flashed with a fleeting cold light—like a venomous snake coiled in the jungle, watching its prey before striking.

Something was wrong.

Zhuo Ying realized it belatedly.