To You Whom I HATE The Most Chapter 11
Eleventh Letter
“Did you know I’m allergic to almonds?”
“...No, I didn’t.”
Cen Wei frowned in confusion. “Then why were you picking them out?”
Zhou Ran hesitated before responding, “I was bored.”
Cen Wei put one hand on her hip and leaned against the chair with the other. “Oh, really?”
“Fine,” Zhou Ran admitted, “I did know you’re allergic to almonds.”
Surprised, Cen Wei asked, “How did you know that?”
Zhou Ran avoided her gaze. “There was one time you didn’t come to school because you were sick. I overheard the teachers in the office saying you went to the hospital for an allergic reaction to almonds.”
“Oh.” Cen Wei nodded as the memory resurfaced. It had happened before.
Back in high school, someone had a crush on Cen Yuetong, her older sister. Every day, he would leave snacks and drinks in the milk box by their front door. Cen Yuetong didn’t care for them, so Cen Wei got to enjoy all the goodies instead.
One time, the bottle contained almond and walnut milk. Assuming it was just regular walnut milk, Cen Wei happily drank more than half of it. Within minutes, the area around her lips became swollen and painfully sore.
That time, she had difficulty breathing, broke out in hives, and nearly died on her way to school.
“Your memory is pretty sharp.” Cen Wei pulled out a chair and sat down, surprised that he even remembered such a minor detail.
Zhou Ran chuckled softly.
Still, something about it felt off. Cen Wei thought it over and suddenly shivered. Pointing at him, she demanded, “You didn’t secretly investigate my weaknesses to poison me, did you?”
Zhou Ran resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He picked up the bowl of almonds he had set aside and said, “If I had, I would’ve ground these into powder and dumped them into the water cooler by now.”
“Oh my god!” Cen Wei covered her mouth, feigning horror. “You actually thought about how to do it! You’re terrifying!”
“...So, are you still eating or not?”
“I am.” Cen Wei dropped her exaggerated expression, picked up a spoon, and scooped up some yogurt and oats.
She noticed something peculiar. Sugar seemed to be banned in "Zhou Ran's kingdom." Anyone daring to add even a grain to food would be sentenced to eternal solitude.
After two seconds of silence, Cen Wei widened her eyes, drew out her tone, and let out a satisfied, “Mmm,” before commenting, “Not bad.”
Zhou Ran glanced at her and bluntly remarked, “It’s not good, is it?”
Cen Wei’s smile faltered. She muttered softly, “Sorry, no, it’s not.”
She had thought the oats and nuts would balance out the yogurt’s tartness, but the result was the opposite. What had been merely bland before now had an unpleasant texture.
Zhou Ran pushed a plate of fried eggs toward her. “Here, eat this instead.”
He added, “If you don’t like something, just say so next time. Don’t force yourself.”
Cen Wei tried to save face. “It’s actually not that bad.”
“Then should I get you some more?”
Cen Wei quickly shielded her bowl with her hand. “No need.”
Zhou Ran laughed softly, sat across from her, and started eating the almonds from his own bowl.
Within Cen Wei's line of sight were Zhou Ran's slender, well-defined fingers. In contrast to the dark almonds, they appeared fair and clean.
Unable to help herself, she started staring at his body parts. Cen Wei inwardly scorned herself for being such a pervert.
Clearing her throat, she shifted her gaze and stirred the mixture in her bowl with her spoon.
Hoping to change the subject and distract herself, Cen Wei glanced up and casually asked, “You’re not actually that hard to get along with. So why do you always keep such a straight face? It makes people think you're unapproachable.”
“Do I?”
“You do,” Cen Wei said. “It’s like you have this resting bitch face. Have you heard of it?”
“What?” Zhou Ran asked, confused.
Cen Wei slowed her speech. “Resting bitch face. It’s when someone looks like they’re annoyed, even when their face is relaxed.”
Zhou Ran raised an eyebrow. “Oh, that might be it. Everyone in my family is like this.”
Cen Wei tried to imagine the scene and couldn’t help asking, “Really? Your whole family?”
“Really. If you met my sister, you’d know. She has the ultimate resting bitch face.”
Cen Wei’s curiosity was piqued. “Do you have a picture? I want to see.”
Zhou Ran picked up his phone. “Let me find one.”
He tapped on the screen a few times, then handed the phone to Cen Wei. “Here, take a look.”
Cen Wei took the phone and held it up to her face. The girl in the photo was wearing a graduation gown, surrounded by a group of Western faces. Yet she stood out strikingly, with delicate features and a sharp, spirited expression in her eyes. It was rare to see someone with such understated beauty make such a strong impression.
At first glance, Cen Wei exclaimed inwardly: Isn’t this just a girl version of Zhou Ran?
On her second look, she gasped and exclaimed excitedly, “Isn’t this Zhou Yi?”
“You know her?”
Cen Wei replied, “I’ve heard of her. I used to have a few underclassmen on QQ. Back then, my feed was full of her pics. I think it was during some school beauty contest between her and another girl?”
She swiped to the next photo. In it, Zhou Yi looked even more striking as an adult. Clearly a top student, this must have been her master’s graduation picture.
“Zhou Yi... Zhou Ran...” Cen Wei repeated the names in her head, barely able to believe it. “You’re Zhou Yi’s brother?”
Zhou Ran caught a subtle undertone in her voice. “What do you mean by that?”
“Well, she’s a school beauty, pretty and smart. And back in high school, you...”
Cen Wei slammed on the brakes, cutting herself off mid-sentence.
“I didn’t mean anything by it,” she said with an awkward smile.
——Back in high school, you were just an antisocial, unpopular chubby kid.
“It’s fine,” Zhou Ran said with a shrug. He’d heard comments like this more times than he could count.
One year on New Year’s Eve, his tipsy younger aunt had slung an arm around his shoulder and slurred, “Ranran, you should smile more often. When your sister acts aloof, people call her an ice-cold beauty. But when you’re like that, all anyone says is, ‘That fat guy looks so unapproachable.’”
The adults at the table burst into laughter.
Back when they were in school, Zhou Ran’s cousin, Zhou Yi, had stayed with their family for a while. At the time, she was in her third year of middle school, and Zhou Ran was in his second year of high school.
On the morning of an English final, Zhou Ran sat at the breakfast table with a vocabulary book, hoping to cram some last-minute knowledge.
“C-o-m-p-l-e-m-e-n-t, complement, praise or commendation,” he recited like a mantra, holding a fried dough stick in one hand.
Zhou Yi, usually quiet and reserved, suddenly interrupted him. “Compliment, c-o-m-p-l-i-m-e-n-t. The word you’re reciting, complement, means ‘to complete or supplement.’”
She spoke with a crisp, polished British accent, her voice fluent and clear. Her slender back was perfectly straight as she sipped her bowl of porridge, not even sparing Zhou Ran a glance.
Zhou Ran looked down at his vocabulary book and realized she was right.
Before he could say anything, he felt a sharp smack on the back of his head. The pain made him yelp, and the fried dough stick slipped from his hand onto the table.
His father, Zhou Jianye, pointed at him in frustration. “Look at you! You need your younger sister to correct you. Aren’t you ashamed?”
Zhou Ran lowered his head and froze, not daring to move an inch.
“Don’t even bother. What were you doing all this time? Now you’re cramming at the last minute.”
From the kitchen, Yang Yurong walked out, pointing at the remaining boiled egg in a bowl. “Who hasn’t eaten this yet? Hurry up and take it.”
Most of the time, Zhou Yi’s share of food was secretly eaten by Zhou Ran, but he had always been a bit petty.
“She hasn’t eaten,” Zhou Ran said.
“Xiao Yi, hurry up and eat. Once you’re done, I’ll take you both to school,” their father instructed.
With a reluctant “Oh,” Zhou Yi reached for the egg.
As she peeled off the shell, she cast a resentful look at Zhou Ran.
The immature boy smirked, but it didn’t bring him any joy.
There was no need for the phrase “other people’s kids.” Zhou Yi alone was enough to make the family praise her while belittling him. Ever since puberty, Zhou Ran had endured more than his share of passive-aggressive comments.
Whether those remarks were light or heavy, intentional or not, they always stung.
That was why Cen Wei’s words didn’t anger him.
But they did extinguish the faint flicker of warmth he had just started to feel toward her.
The atmosphere grew cold. Recognizing the shift, Cen Wei wisely chose to stay silent and continued flipping through the photos.
When she came across Zhou Ran’s high school graduation picture, she loosened her grip on the phone and glanced briefly at the person sitting across from her.
Zhou Ran was staring blankly at a spot on the table, lost in thought, his mind clearly elsewhere.
Cen Wei quietly raised the phone higher, scanning through the faces one by one until she found Zhou Ran’s.
The moment her eyes landed on his face, her expression froze as a flood of memories surged into her mind.
Her first-ever written self-reflection essay, the disciplinary lecture from the director, the gossip and ridicule from her classmates... all the humiliations that made her wish she could disappear, leaving her feeling choked with regret and curling her toes in shame...
She hadn’t forgotten after all. It had only been lying dormant, waiting for a moment like this to resurface.
And now, it all came back so vividly.
Cen Wei had never argued with anyone since childhood, and had never even had a falling out, except for Zhou Ran.
——That antisocial, neurotic, cold, petty, insufferable fat jerk.
The long-buried frustration and embarrassment erupted in her chest. With a sharp motion, she tossed the phone onto the table, the clatter breaking the silence, and shot a furious glare at Zhou Ran.
The sudden noise startled Zhou Ran out of his daze. He glanced at the phone on the table, then up at Cen Wei, clearly puzzled.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she replied tersely.
That evening, both Zhou Ran and Cen Wei received identical messages on WeChat.
He Zhiying asked Cen Wei: “How are you getting along with Zhou Ran these past few days?”
Shi Jiaxu asked Zhou Ran: “How are you getting along with Cen Wei these past few days?”
One replied: “It’s fine, I guess. Anyway, I’m leaving next week.”
The other replied: “Not bad. So, when is she leaving?”
With his arm mostly healed, Zhou Ran had resumed his habit of waking up early to hit the gym.
He descended the stairs, stifling a silent yawn.
The next moment, his foot struck something hard, and he yelped in pain.
On the sofa, someone stirred, rolling over as their blanket slipped onto the carpet.
Looking down, Zhou Ran realized he had kicked a cardboard box, still unpacked. On top of the pile inside lay one of Cen Wei’s jackets.
He nudged the box closer to the wall.
In the kitchen, he found bagels and cream cheese in the fridge. Starting the kettle, he decided to make himself a cup of coffee.
Steam continuously rose from the kettle, which emitted a series of beeping sounds once the water had boiled.
A peaceful dream was disturbed by the soft noises. Cen Wei lifted the blanket and sat up on the sofa, her hair tousled and messy from sleep.
She sat there for a moment, letting herself wake up gradually. Once she felt her mind clear, Cen Wei scratched her neck, reached for her slippers, and stood up.
When she returned after freshening up, Zhou Ran's cup still had the last sip of coffee left.
He asked her, “Why are you up so early today?”
Cen Wei glanced at him and let out a cold laugh.
Zhou Ran drank the remaining coffee in one go, assuming she was just in a bad mood from waking up.
He walked into the kitchen and rinsed out his cup.
The button on his black coat had been hanging by a thread for several days, and Zhou Ran had planned to take it to the tailor today.
He picked up the coat but searched for a while without finding the loose button. In fact, every other button was firmly attached.
Zhou Ran looked up at Cen Wei. Although he didn’t quite believe it himself, he asked just to be sure, “Did you sew the button?”
Without changing her expression, Cen Wei replied, “No, probably the little snail girl did.”
——Which meant, yes, she did.
Zhou Ran opened the coat and softly said, “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Twenty bucks per button. Let’s say a hundred for all of them. You can transfer it to me on WeChat.”
She said it all in one breath.
Zhou Ran adjusted his collar, exclaiming, “Wow, thanks for robbing me and still helping me sew buttons.”