The Popular/Charismatic Beta Always Thinks They Are Universally Disliked - Chapter 26

Chapter 26: What He Owns Has Always Been Little

Today is the fourth day of the divorce cooling-off period, leaving Wei Yuzhi with only twenty-six days.

He had calmly thought for seventy-two hours over the past three days, and persuaded himself for seventy-two hours, ultimately finding that what he thought about most was the necessity of keeping Wen Zhiyi.

Three days were enough to give Wen Zhiyi some peace and quiet.

Clear, pillar-like sunlight streamed through the flourishing, lush garden into the swimming pool. Wei Yuzhi took off his goggles and tossed them aside, leaning back against the edge of the pool, his muscles completely relaxed. He had a habit of exercising early in the morning, with his routine typically being swimming followed by a bath.

Except for the past two years of marriage, when he moved this whole sequence to the nighttime because he didn’t want to disturb Wen Zhiyi’s sleep.

Compared to changing his own life habits, he would certainly never choose to sleep in a separate room from Wen Zhiyi.

In the first year of their marriage, the worse aspects of Wei Yuzhi’s personality had not been fully exposed, and Wen Zhiyi still had the patience to compromise. This was the honeymoon period of their marriage: they slept together and woke up together every day of the 365 days, and even when Wen Zhiyi went for his internship, Wei Yuzhi would follow suit.

Wen Zhiyi, who had not yet developed the habit of waking up early, naturally assumed Wei Yuzhi was also a heavy sleeper like himself, often laughing at the latter for waking up even later than he did, despite the mysterious look on Wei Yuzhi’s face.

Wen Zhiyi, who had to leave first for his internship, would stand by the bed, meticulously organizing his clothes, checking everything from scarf, wristwatch, to belt. After checking from top to bottom, he would lean over to give Wei Yuzhi, who was sitting up working, a sweet kiss. The latter would then cup the back of his head, deepening what was meant to be a fleeting kiss.

Sitting on the bed was the best angle to admire all of Wen Zhiyi’s movements.

The slightly raised, well-defined jawline, the stretched straight, evenly muscled shoulders and back, and the smoothly tapering, long and taut waistline.

As well as the warm, subtle sounds of his fingers moving through the fabric.

To Wei Yuzhi, Wen Zhiyi, slowly dressing himself, seemed sexy precisely because of these extremely routine, extremely restrained movements.

So, he often assisted Wen Zhiyi in completing this series of actions, and frequently struggled with the dilemma of whether to simply watch and appreciate or actively join in.

Wei Yuzhi, caught in the memory, coldly cut off the recollection in his mind. He frowned, got up from the water, tied on a pre-prepared bathrobe, and then sat on the sofa by the pool, closing his eyes to ponder the questions he had mulled over countless times in the past three days.

Wen Zhiyi… What is Wen Zhiyi thinking?

How does he view this marriage? How can I get him to accept me again? And… those people around him, can I get rid of them for him?

The thought of Gu Yansheng and Chen Que made Wei Yuzhi’s teeth itch.

And based on his keen intuition, Wei Yuzhi could almost assert that there were many more butterflies and bees surrounding Wen Zhiyi.

He suddenly opened his eyes and calmly and indifferently issued a command to his phone’s voice assistant.

“—Call Wei Zhao.”

The conscientious AI assistant quickly dialed the number. After three rings, the other person answered precisely.

“…Yuzhi? What is so important that you call me yourself?” The old fox on the other end of the line asked languidly. He slightly raised his chin toward the female companion beside him, who was only wearing a thin silk nightgown. She understood his meaning and tiptoed out of the room, gently closing the door behind her.

Yuzhi?

Before leaving, Feng Yun heard Wei Zhao address the caller this way.

There are many people with the same name in Beijing, but the only person in this circle who would be called Yuzhi by Mr. Wei is that person—the true holder of power in the Wei family, now twenty-seven years old. The reason for his ascent to the peak of power at such a young age is quite poignant: his father and grandfather died in the same car accident when he was young, and his mother was also killed in an accident while investigating the crash.

Wei Yuzhi’s father was famous for being devoted—while not having illegitimate children, no affairs, and only one marriage in one’s life is normal for most common people, it is considered a rare act of devotion in this tempting, dazzling circle.

As for Wei Yuzhi himself… Feng Yun had not met him, or rather, had not formally met him face-to-face. The person she had seen was a vague, tall figure, surrounded by a crowd of hurried, suited subordinates, passing by her.

Her deepest impression was the cold, indifferent glance he cast her way inadvertently.

Feng Yun did not know who Wei Yuzhi was at the time. His identity information was heavily encrypted, and before she became Wei Zhao’s lover, she was completely unfamiliar with the name Wei Yuzhi. It wasn’t until she finally stepped into Wei Zhao’s bedroom that she realized the weight of those three characters.

Before Wei Yuzhi successfully regained control of the Wei Corporation, Wei Zhao had actually placed quite a few obstacles in his way. However, Wei Zhao was always quick to adapt and observe the direction of the wind. Realizing that his nephew was not to be trifled with, he quickly switched allegiance.

“Little Mr. Wen is indeed tutoring Xingjiang. It started last week.” Mr. Wei slowly pulled away the thin silk blanket draped over him and raised a hand to rub his temple, trying hard to recall anything about Wen Zhiyi. “Aren’t you two married? Why are you asking me about him instead of him?”

The first thing he recalled was Wen Zhiyi’s gaze when they first met a week ago.

It should have been a pair of eyes very adept at smiling, yet they were indifferent, profound, and impatient. This unconsciously revealed emotion made the other person seem isolated and cold. This kind of fearless, unafraid, and unconcerned look was one Wei Zhao hadn’t seen in a long time. Of all the people who could appear before him, only two gave him this look.

One was Wei Yuzhi, and the other was Wen Zhiyi.

What was even more astonishing was that he finally found out the marriage partner Wei Yuzhi held so closely, unwilling to let anyone know about, was actually Wen Zhiyi.

“Stop wasting time.” Wei Yuzhi on the other end clearly had little patience. “I pretended not to see your previous small moves. If you investigate further, you know the consequences.”

“Little Mr. Wen will be tutoring Xingjiang this Sunday.” Mr. Wei said calmly. “You can come as a guest too. It’s just a matter of adding a set of cutlery.”

“…”

Wei Yuzhi naturally could not refuse this suggestion.

For him, ways to appear before Wen Zhiyi without causing disgust had become extremely scarce. Even for Wen Zhiyi’s sake, he would temporarily put aside dealing with Wei Zhao.

He had naturally considered starting with Wei Zhao, ordering him directly to take Wei Xingjiang and stay away from Wen Zhiyi, but—but he knew this job was Wen Zhiyi’s own choice.

The things Wen Zhiyi chose and owned himself have always been few.

The former Wei Yuzhi was one; the current tutoring job is another. Can the already abandoned Wei Yuzhi unilaterally decide to reject the latter on his behalf again?

He found himself in a difficult, stuck situation, and he also discovered a blind spot he had never realized before—

He was too accustomed to giving Wen Zhiyi things, but he never seriously looked at what Wen Zhiyi was truly missing until now that Wen Zhiyi was leaving him. He realized that perhaps Wen Zhiyi didn’t need the things he had given him.

A person who owned little in the first place left without taking anything at all.

Wei Yuzhi’s long, lowered lashes blinked very slowly.

He suddenly regretted it immensely, an emotion more intense than all previous remorse surged up, and this feeling of irreparable, unbearable regret even surpassed the pain of the divorce registration day.

He finally understood: Wen Zhiyi was also suffering.

It wasn’t just him who was suffering, or just him who needed love; Wen Zhiyi needed it, too, in the past.

This delayed realization left Wei Yuzhi both painful and humiliated.

He had to admit that he, who thought he understood Wen Zhiyi, might have never truly seen through him.

…

Wen Zhiyi, having had a peaceful night’s sleep, welcomed his weekend.

But not entirely.

He was supervised by Lin Chang to start his workout plan right after waking up.

Given that his wardrobe only contained casual T-shirts or shirts, Wen Zhiyi temporarily borrowed a tracksuit from Da Wen’s closet.

He put on the snap-off track pants with some confusion, worried that they might come apart during the run, but since things were already underway, he decided to focus on the training first.

After washing up, Xiao Wen took the breakfast handed to him by Lin Chang and slowly opened the glass container to eat a banana and an energy bar. Halfway through, he realized: “You prepared this beforehand?”

Lin Chang patiently watched Xiao Wen’s unhurried movements, subtly checked the time, and gave a reasonable answer that maintained a certain distance.

He usually focuses on fitness and health; his three meals a day are handled by a dedicated nutritionist. What he handed to Xiao Wen was simply an extra portion he added temporarily, so it wasn’t much trouble. The food Wen Zhiyi was eating now was just easily digestible carbohydrates; he would eat a proper meal after the training.

Wen Zhiyi said “Oh,” estimated the cost in his mind, and transferred the money to Lin Chang via Alipay.

Lin Chang, receiving the Alipay notification, smiled helplessly.

About an hour after breakfast, at 8:30 AM, Xiao Wen officially began the snow mountain training plan!

The morning jog could be done outdoors, but the evening loaded ascent required a gym. Actually, according to Lin Chang’s plan, it would be best for them to go straight to the gym in the morning too, but Xiao Wen firmly refused. He knew he probably wouldn’t last long the first time and refused to be seen struggling in such a miserable state by others.

As for Lin Chang’s gaze—Xiao Wen told himself not to avoid the necessary treatment.

The first ten minutes.

Wen Zhiyi controlled his pace and speed with ease, even finding time to chat with Lin Chang.

“Are you sure you want to keep talking to me?” Lin Chang, jogging beside him, said slowly. “Why don’t you save some energy? It’s going to get tough.”

After saying this, Lin Chang sped up.

Wen Zhiyi… Wen Zhiyi started to slow down.

He was definitely not being uncooperative, but he realized his stamina was starting to fail. Even gritting his teeth and holding his breath, he was slowly being left behind by Lin Chang. Noticing this, Lin Chang lifted his wrist to check the time—

Less than fifteen minutes had passed since the training began.

And Wen Zhiyi’s training goal was to easily complete about an hour of basic jogging in two weeks.

This looks a little worrying.

But—

Lin Chang looked back at Wen Zhiyi, whose sweat was beading on his forehead. This bit of sweat made his bangs damp, drooping innocently and softly between his brows. As he tried to look straight ahead and cheer himself on, he looked like a shimmering gem just pulled out of the water, bright and pitiful.

He inevitably softened his heart.

Worst comes to worst, I’ll carry Wen Zhiyi to the top when the time comes.

Lin Chang thought to himself.

This slightly joking thought of his would be solidly realized two weeks later—due to Coach Lin Chang’s lenient approach, Wen Zhiyi, who was numb from using all four limbs on Haba Snow Mountain two weeks later, was carried over the most difficult, despairing slope of the entire mountain with Lin Chang supporting his rear.

At this moment, Wen Zhiyi, who swore he would personally charge the summit, was deeply stung by Lin Chang’s obvious decrease in speed.

Thirty years east, thirty years west of the river—do not bully a young man in poverty!