After Severing Ties, Do You Really Think I’d Still Tolerate You? - Chapter 1:

Chapter 1: Publicly Talking Back, Completely Unbothered.

“Cheng Ye, you disgust me! My fiancé will only ever be Cheng Fenghao. Don’t even dream that I’d fall in love with you!”

“Fenghao is already weak, yet you dared to push him into the water! You nearly killed him!”

“Today is Fenghao’s birthday banquet, and you deliberately made him lose face in public. That’s too much! I order you to kneel down and apologize to Fenghao immediately!!”

The mocking, threatening voices rang sharply in his ears. Cheng Ye froze for a moment, then instinctively looked around.

Wasn’t he supposed to have died after ten years of exhausting factory work, staying up late tightening screws until his body gave out?

Then why was he now standing at a banquet held by the Cheng family in the capital?

Guests who had come to curry favor with the Cheng and Chu families all spoke with questioning, mocking tones.

“Cheng Ye, you’ve really gone too far. Young Master Fenghao has been bullied by you again and again, yet he still speaks up for you kindly. Not only are you ungrateful, you even tried to kill him?!”

“Exactly. Someone’s just jealous. No talent, and such a vicious heart. No wonder the Cheng family and Miss Chu don’t like him.”

“Young Master Fenghao, I know you’re kind, but for someone like Cheng Ye, a white-eyed wolf, there’s no need to treat him sincerely.”

Listening to these familiar voices dripping with ridicule, Cheng Ye suddenly understood.

He had been reborn… back to when he was eighteen.

In his previous life, he had grown up in an orphanage. At fifteen, he was taken back to the Cheng family. It turned out that when he was born, the nurse had switched the babies by mistake. He wasn’t an orphan without family… he had relatives all along.

Desperate for affection since childhood, he had humbled himself to please his parents and three sisters. Yet the fake young master, Cheng Fenghao, constantly framed and sabotaged him. His parents and sisters grew more and more disappointed in him, until all that remained was disgust and rejection.

In the end, he was driven out of the wealthy family. He didn’t even get the chance to take the college entrance exam. With no other choice, he went to work in a factory, tightening screws for ten years… until he died from overwork.

Pulling back from his thoughts, Cheng Ye’s gaze turned calm.

In this life, he would focus on studying, get into a top university, and never repeat the same mistakes. He would not live that miserable fate of working himself to death tightening screws again.

“Cheng Ye, are you deaf?! Kneel down and apologize to Fenghao!!”

Hearing this, Cheng Ye lifted his eyes lazily and looked toward the man and woman in front of him.

The girl was Chu Xiyan, the eldest daughter of the Chu family. She was beautiful, with a cold and arrogant temperament. At this moment, her delicate face was filled with anger.

Cheng Fenghao stood behind her, protected. His eyes were red, his head lowered pitifully.

Around the fountain, elites and high society figures had gathered. Their expressions were filled with surprise as they whispered among themselves.

“Is Cheng Ye not planning to apologize?”

“Looks like it. That expression… there’s not even a hint of remorse. Truly morally corrupt.”

“Young Master Fenghao is so pitiful. Cheng Ye always uses his status as the real young master to make things difficult for him. A troublemaker at school, and just as restless at home. Ridiculous.”

At that moment, Father Cheng, Mother Cheng, and his three sisters hurried over.

Seeing Cheng Fenghao drenched, his face pale and weak as he covered his mouth and coughed violently, their anger instantly flared.

Cheng Fenghao looked aggrieved, his voice trembling as he spoke up for Cheng Ye, “It’s my fault. I made big brother upset. Don’t blame him… he just acted on impulse and pushed me into the water.”

Father Cheng pointed at Cheng Ye and scolded angrily, “Apologize immediately. I’ll pretend this never happened.”

After all, it was Fenghao’s birthday banquet, and many wealthy elites were watching. He didn’t want to escalate the matter and lose face for the Cheng family.

Mother Cheng anxiously comforted her precious son.

Eldest Sister Cheng Wei, Second Sister Cheng Zhirou, and Third Sister Cheng Shiyan all looked at Cheng Ye with undisguised disgust.

Cheng Ye crossed his arms, his expression cold.

Compared to his own isolation, the six of them stood together in harmony… while he felt like a complete outsider.

In his previous life, he had thought they loved him, just that they weren’t familiar with him yet. He believed that if he gradually corrected his flaws and devoted himself sincerely, they would eventually see his goodness and accept him…

But it had all been wishful thinking.

They had never treated him as real family. They trusted Cheng Fenghao unconditionally, dumping every accusation onto him. No matter how he explained, they always stood on Fenghao’s side.

Thinking of this, Cheng Ye suddenly let out a soft laugh. Then he looked indifferently at the furious Chu Xiyan and said in a cold voice, “If your brain’s broken, go get it treated. You’re not my type. Don’t be so narcissistic… you’re not the center of the universe.”

“You—!” Chu Xiyan’s eyes flashed with shock, her expression cracking instantly. “Cheng Ye, you made a mistake, and you’re still this arrogant?!”

Her face flushed red as she snapped, “You pushed Fenghao into the water. Isn’t it only right for you to kneel and apologize?!”

“Oh?” Cheng Ye’s tone turned faint and cold, “Which eye of yours saw me push him?”

Chu Xiyan was momentarily speechless. After a pause, she gritted her teeth, “When I arrived, I saw Fenghao in the water and you standing by the fountain. There was no one else!”

“Fenghao himself said it was you who pushed him!” Her fists clenched tightly. Thinking of how Cheng Ye had just mocked her as narcissistic, she felt deeply humiliated.

Chu Xiyan said angrily, “Look at your attitude! Where’s the dignity of a young master from a wealthy family?!”

“Whether I have it or not is for me to decide.” Cheng Ye didn’t hold back at all. “You’re like a grasshopper wearing a harness, pretending to be some big beast. Where exactly are you showing off that face of yours?”

Chu Xiyan stared at him in disbelief, her face alternating between pale and flushed.

Father Cheng and Mother Cheng hadn’t expected Cheng Ye to speak so viciously. This was the eldest daughter of the Chu family, known as the “number one beauty in the capital.” Wealthy young men lined up from the inner city to the outskirts just to pursue her.

If the Cheng and Chu families could form a marriage alliance, the Cheng family’s power and status would soar, even gaining the chance to contend with the top-tier Jiang family of the capital.

If not for the Cheng family’s old master once saving the Chu family’s old master, leading to an arranged marriage between their grandchildren, how could such a good match have ever fallen to Cheng Ye?

That was also why, after discovering Cheng Fenghao wasn’t their biological son, they brought Cheng Ye back from the orphanage.

Their original intention had been to nurture Cheng Ye’s relationship with Chu Xiyan, so that when the time came, they could naturally marry and solidify the Cheng family’s position among the elites.

But three years had passed… not only had their relationship failed to develop, Chu Xiyan had grown increasingly disgusted with Cheng Ye, while constantly protecting Cheng Fenghao instead.

Father Cheng suppressed his anger and said sternly, “You refuse to admit your mistake and act so rudely. Is this how you speak to your fiancée?!”

“Mr. Cheng.” Cheng Ye narrowed his eyes slightly. “From your tone, you’ve already decided that I pushed him into the water? Do you have any evidence?”

Father Cheng felt Cheng Ye was being unreasonable. He glared at him coldly. “It’s so obvious. Do we even need evidence?”

Cheng Fenghao stepped forward, his eyes brimming with tears. “Big brother, is it because Mom and Dad and our sisters didn’t give you a birthday gift that you pushed me into the water? I know you don’t like me much… I’m sorry. The one who should have lived a poor life in the orphanage should have been me.”

“Mom and Dad and our sisters gave me a Rolls-Royce as my 18th birthday gift. Our birthdays are on the same day. If… if big brother likes it, I’ll give you the car. As long as you’re happy, I’ll be happy. Even if you want me to leave the Cheng family, I won’t complain. I just hope big brother can behave a little better and stop making them worry every day… o-okay?”

Cheng Fenghao’s voice trembled with sorrow. His face pale, he coughed as he apologized, “Big brother… I’m sorry. I took your life.”

“Enough!!” Eldest Sister Cheng Wei grabbed Cheng Fenghao’s arm and pulled him behind her protectively. She shouted angrily, “Cheng Ye, you’re the older brother. Can’t you give in to your younger brother? Look at how badly you’ve bullied him!”

Second Sister Cheng Zhirou glared at him with hostility. “Cheng Ye, ruining your brother’s birthday banquet—are you happy now?”

Third Sister Cheng Shiyan said disdainfully, “We only have Fenghao as our brother. No matter how much you try to attract our attention, it’s useless.”

Mother Cheng sighed, her expression conflicted. “Xiao Ye, just apologize. Why be so stubborn?”

At that moment, Cheng Ye sharply caught the look in Cheng Fenghao’s eyes from behind them… a sinister, provocative glint.

If this were his previous life, seeing the Cheng family collectively defending Fenghao and accusing him without reason would have crushed him.

But now, there were only four words in his mind…

He couldn’t care less.

Cheng Ye lazily lifted his eyelids and said casually, “When humans evolved, were all of you hiding somewhere?”

The moment the words fell, not only the Cheng family, but all the wealthy elites present were stunned. It took them a full half-minute to understand what he meant.

He was indirectly calling them all brainless.

Father Cheng, Mother Cheng, the three sisters, and Chu Xiyan all flushed with anger and embarrassment.

Cheng Fenghao bit his lower lip, his eyes red and filled with tears. He stepped forward and reached out to hold Cheng Ye’s hand. “Big brother, please stop causing trouble, okay?”