The Popular/Charismatic Beta Always Thinks They Are Universally Disliked - Chapter 31

Chapter 31: Edward and Abilene

It was rare for Wen Zhijie not to have to work overtime on a Sunday. He arrived home promptly at 6 PM.

The first thing he did after opening the door was take off his tie and casually place it in the dedicated accessory basket in his bedroom, planning to wear it again tomorrow. Then, he glanced at the fat cat’s bowl, confirming the cat food inside was still fresh.

He lightly nudged the fat cat wrapping around his feet twice, certain the animal had gained weight again. The feeling underfoot was soft and heavy, like layers of compressed cotton. He bent down, picked up Zhuangzhuang, weighed him twice, and, holding the Golden Shorthair’s short, negligible, plump paws, sighed silently.

“You wait for me to get off work every day. Do you like me the best?” Da Wen asked, feeling quite bored and childishly vying for the cat’s affection with his brother. “Even though I’m only half your owner, our relationship is definitely the best.”

He reached out to tickle the kitty’s chubby butt, unilaterally declaring that the cat and he were the best in the world.

The greatly humiliated fat cat struggled fiercely. After a fierce, porcine thrust, it finally broke free from the human’s wicked grasp, leaped down from Da Wen’s arms, gripping the floor with its paw pads, and landed with two agile, elegant dong-dong sounds.

…It was an earthquake.

Wen Zhijie opened the fridge, grabbed a cold beer, smoothly pulled the tab, and took a long gulp. Holding the canned beer in one hand and his phone in the other, he checked his messages, and what he saw almost made the beer he was about to swallow spray out.

Xiao Wen said he would be coming home late today.

It’s quite normal for an adult to come home late, right?

Da Wen tried to convince himself.

He looked down at Zhuangzhuang, who was happily buried in his food bowl, and chuckled: “Tonight, it’s our turn to wait for your owner to come back.”

The handsome Alpha slumped onto the sofa, bored, and started scrolling on his phone. He knew he should get up, wash up, and handle some work he brought back from the company, but Da Wen simply couldn’t muster the motivation when he was alone at home.

Habit was a terrible thing. It hadn’t been two weeks since Wen Zhiyi moved in, yet he was already accustomed to the other’s presence, so much so that he felt lonely during their rare moments of solitude.

A notification came from WeChat. Lin Chang, who was working overtime at the company, messaged Wen Zhijie to discuss recent business matters again.

Their company was in the preparation phase for an IPO, which usually made it unsuitable for introducing large capital in a short time. However, a powerful state-owned fund recently offered to provide them with stable and reliable long-term funding. Wen Zhijie and Lin Chang had discussed this back and forth almost eight hundred times.

There was no helping it. Their little fledgling company hadn’t had time to form a specialized investment reception team; the founders had to handle everything personally.

No matter how he looked at the investment agreement, Da Wen stood to make a profit without loss, but he wondered, where does one find a free lunch in this world?

He sighed, lazily sending Lin Chang a voice message.

“My brother isn’t home. I’m too lazy to think. Don’t reply to me about this upsetting business today. Let’s talk tomorrow.”

“Zhiyi isn’t home?” Lin Chang slowly typed his reply, took off his rimless glasses, walked to the window, took a long breath, and asked casually.

“Why?” Wen Zhijie’s ears perked up alertly. He shot up from his sprawling posture to sit up straight: “Why are you so concerned about my brother?”

The older Beta, standing by the window overlooking the city lights, lowered his gaze and lit a cigarette. The brightly lit building opposite him was like a giant, luminous beehive. Everyone working within it occupied a small grid, tirelessly moving back and forth, forming a part of the prosperous myth of Beijing.

Lin Chang slowly blew out a smoke ring and replied flatly: “Can’t I even ask?”

Wen Zhijie on the other end of WeChat fell briefly silent.

Then, Lin Chang heard his long-time friend’s calm, cold voice.

He said: “If you truly consider me a brother, stay away from Xiaoyi.”

Lin Chang smiled at his friend’s earnest and serious reply. He asked the other person calmly: “Am I that bad in your eyes?”

“No, you’re not bad,” Wen Zhijie firmly denied. “It’s just that you—”

“You don’t like him enough.”

“You are twelve years older than him, and you’ve experienced much more. You’ve tried everything interesting, fun, and new. Your threshold is already set, you know? Hand on heart, where does ‘love’ rank in your priorities? You have too many more important things to do and be invested in. Even if you were with Xiaoyi, where would you place Xiaoyi in your life?”

“I’ve known you for over ten years and been your friend for over ten years. I support you in always leaving three parts of reserve for yourself in everything, and I support you in being clean and decisive when you date, but the premise is that you cannot date my brother.”

From Wen Zhijie’s perspective, he couldn’t possibly feel safe handing Wen Zhiyi over to someone who loved him less than he himself did, and Lin Chang was clearly that person. He felt stirred, liked, and appreciated Wen Zhiyi, but it wasn’t yet deep love.

This wasn’t because Wen Zhiyi wasn’t good enough, nor because Lin Chang treated life as a game. It was because Lin Chang was no longer capable of investing such a high concentration of emotion. The impulses, pain, and recklessness caused by passionate love had been completely worn down in the twelve years he was older than Wen Zhiyi.

Lin Chang himself admitted this point.

He calmly flicked the ash, telling Wen Zhijie and himself: Love can be cultivated. Whether it was his love for Wen Zhiyi or Wen Zhiyi’s love for him, it could be nurtured through his “goodness” towards Wen Zhiyi.

…

The butler, sent to urge Wen Zhiyi and Wei Xingjiang to the dinner, came back empty-handed. The two who were supposed to be in the study had left the villa ahead of time.

Wei Yuzhi, sitting calmly in the dining room, did not show the expression Wei Zhao hoped to see on his face.

He remained cold, composed, and outwardly at ease, seemingly completely indifferent to Wen Zhiyi’s silent refusal made in front of everyone.

This is right. This is as it should be.

Wei Yuzhi told himself in his heart: It’s right that he doesn’t want to see you. You must be rejected countless times to get a second chance.

You must be prepared. You must not fear pain.

Edward is a small rabbit made almost entirely of china. He belongs to a little girl named Abilene. What amused Abilene’s parents was that Abilene treated Edward like a real rabbit, sometimes demanding they retell a story for fear that Edward hadn’t heard it.

“I love you, Edward.” Abilene would say this every night. She would then wait and wait, as if anticipating Edward’s reply.

Edward said nothing. The reason he said nothing was, of course, because he could not speak.

The reason he said nothing—was it truly because he could not speak?

In the soft, hazy light of the evening, Wei Yuzhi opened the adventure story of the porcelain rabbit named “Edward” for the first time. He read every word of the simple, childish prose, seeing the tears and joy, the love and sorrow contained within, and seeing what a proud, arrogant porcelain rabbit had to go through.

Edward felt a sharp, internal pain in his chest again. He thought of Abilene. He saw the twilight descending, and Abilene was running toward him.

Yes, Abilene had once loved him.

Edward felt a pang of grief—deep, intimate, and familiar grief. Why is she so far away from me? I wish I had wings, he thought, so I could fly to her.

This is just a fairy tale told to children.

This is just a fairy tale that is no longer suitable for Wei Yuzhi.

He recalled the well-protected porcelain rabbit on Wen Zhiyi’s backpack, suddenly realizing that the rabbit was not just Wen Zhiyi.

The porcelain rabbit, who never truly said “I love you” to the little girl, had to be sunk into the deep sea, thrown into the garbage dump, shattered into pieces, and wait alone in a shop window for many, many years before it could return to Abilene’s hands.

So, Edward had to go through so much to return to Abilene.

Wen Zhiyi—why would Wen Zhiyi choose this arrogant porcelain rabbit?

What kind of feelings did he hold when he took the ring Wei Yuzhi offered him in the cold, howling wind of Mount Kailash? When he looked up and accepted Wei Yuzhi’s kiss, when he shook his head at Wei Yuzhi in disappointment, when he finally decided to give up on Wei Yuzhi—what, exactly, what were his feelings?

Yes, Wen Zhiyi had once loved him.

Wei Yuzhi’s fingers resting on the pristine book page trembled uncontrollably. The deep, immense, unavoidable pain completely shattered his long-held arrogance and coldness. He finally understood that this was only the beginning.

His own deep sea, garbage dump, shattering, and waiting had only just begun.