The Popular/Charismatic Beta Always Thinks They Are Universally Disliked - Chapter 36

Chapter 36: Young Love – Wen Zhiyi Understands…

More than anyone, Wen Zhiyi understood what it felt like to ponder day and night a question with no answer. Therefore, at the age of twenty, he vowed never to be consumed by internal struggle for anyone, and never again to dwell on questions whose answers would not change the outcome.

On this day, at the end of August, when he was twenty-two, facing Qi Jianian’s straightforward, unwavering confession, little Wen, who was no longer thinking after being tormented by various issues, finally realized that the unresolved problems of the past would continue to appear in the future, and would be more painful and more difficult to solve each time.

Regarding the core subject of love, all the answers he had obtained in the past were insufficient, which is why he continued to be troubled by it in the future.

He had received a lot of objective love, but love is fundamentally subjective; it cannot be quantified, nor is it objectively visible like a sunrise or sunset. What Wen Zhiyi could feel was what he truly received.

He repeatedly questioned this, hoping to get an unshakeable objective evidence to outweigh his own feelings and judgment.

Wen Zhiyi possessed excellent scientific thinking, adept at induction, inference, and deduction. He firmly believed that the progress bars he could see must represent some kind of meaning, and therefore, he had to give them an explanation no matter what.

They must have some meaning. If it’s not love for him, then it must be dislike for him.

But was this really the case?

After work, little Wen returned home preoccupied. He used the key with the acrylic tag of his cat, Zhuangzhuang, to open the door. After changing into slippers, he sat alone in the living room, quietly thinking that Wen Zhijie probably wouldn’t be home for another three hours.

He knew Big Wen was busy with company listing matters recently.

So, he sat on the sofa, bored, watching the cat squatting by its bowl, and then randomly stroked the cat a few times before starting to scroll on his phone.

Since revealing his feelings to Wen Zhiyi yesterday, Wei Xingjiang’s chat box had fallen into a rare silence, not a single message sent until now, seemingly regretting his momentary impulse.

At 8:30 PM, Wei Xingjiang, who had been silent for a long time, finally couldn’t hold back. He casually mentioned that he had bought an automatic feeder for Zhuangzhuang, which would likely be delivered to the apartment where Big Wen and little Wen lived tomorrow night. So, would Wen Zhiyi be home tomorrow night?

Wen Zhiyi stroked the increasingly chubby cat on his lap and replied: “I will be home.”

On the other end, Wei Xingjiang breathed a sigh of relief, not feeling there was any issue with his rather calculating probe.

Young Master Wei, who was lying on his bed, subconsciously cleared his throat, then realized they were texting, and the other party couldn’t hear his voice at all.

The young Alpha, with intense brows and eyes, grabbed a pillow and placed it behind him. After sitting up straighter than usual, he thought for a moment and chose to send a voice message.

He paused slightly. The expression on his face could hardly be called gentle; rather, he was deeply frowning, seemingly enduring some kind of agonizing torture, yet his tone was so calm and casual that it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

He said to Wen Zhiyi:

“About yesterday’s thing, what do you think?”

He didn’t specify what “thing” he meant, trusting Wen Zhiyi would know.

Wen Zhiyi, of course, knew.

The way he held his phone didn’t change at all, and the line of sight focused on the screen didn’t shift much, as if he were genuinely trying to recall what “thing” Wei Xingjiang was referring to.

He calmly listened to the voice message from Wei Xingjiang. His other hand, resting on Zhuangzhuang, was deeply buried in the cat’s soft, smooth fur. While distractedly petting the cat, he meticulously pondered the question.

What does Wen Zhiyi think?

He thought Wei Xingjiang was probably acting on an impulse.

So, he needed to calmly and rationally reconsider.

And since he was four years older than Wei Xingjiang, he should naturally be calmer and more rational than the other party.

He couldn’t be like a certain someone, indulging the recklessness of a younger person.

However, for someone of Wei Xingjiang’s age and background, most decisions were made casually on a whim. Among all those things, his declaration of “I like you” to Wen Zhiyi was perhaps the most serious and earnest.

Only this sentence, once spoken, could not be regretted or taken back.

He proactively brought up the sentence, then immediately threw his phone to the end of the bed with a pained expression. He busied himself inspecting his room, first finding the curtains too heavy, then deeming the mattress not soft enough, and finally, pretending to be nonchalant, he slowly picked up his phone, as if lifting a cage covering a timid bird.

He saw Wen Zhiyi say: “Okay, let’s go together this Friday to take Zhuangzhuang for surgery.”

?

Wei Xingjiang took a deep breath, sending a sixty-second voice message in a fit of near-anger.

He was exasperated by the Beta’s dark humor and had to tirelessness repeat his feelings, emphasizing that he was serious and demanding a direct answer.

He didn’t even ask Wen Zhiyi to accept him, but asked what Wen Zhiyi thought.

“…”

Little Wen let go and placed the plump cat on the floor. After washing his hands, he deeply grabbed a handful of his hair. This issue was too serious to be solved by petting a cat; he had to physically pull his hair to find the answer.

Little Wen, a science student at heart, adopted the classic thinking posture of a logic war god.

He concentrated for a moment, then also sent a voice message back to the other party.

The voice in this message was peaceful and calm. Wei Xingjiang could hear the other’s thought process and careful consideration in the subtle pauses and shifts in airflow. He figured Wen Zhiyi must have had a faint smile when saying this, and the reason for that smile was easy to guess: the other party was smiling at his youthful audacity, and also softening his heart because of his youthful audacity.

Wen Zhiyi frankly stated that he currently had no plans to start a new relationship, and Wei Xingjiang’s age was also inappropriate. As a tutor, he naturally had the responsibility to guide the other party, but this responsibility would definitely not extend to romance.

He had the advantage in age, experience, and knowledge, and naturally wouldn’t take advantage of that to date a high school student.

Wen Zhiyi didn’t say this aloud, but Wei Xingjiang clearly understood.

He slowly relaxed, sneering as he kicked the crystal floor lamp by his bed, lazily fiddling with the beautiful tassels hanging from the lampshade with a visible air of casual defiance, and a subtle, indefinable intensity slowly emerged in his eyes.

Except for bedroom matters, young Master Wei, who had seen all the things to be played with and those not to be, was being treated as an inexperienced novice for the first time. He slowly said to Wen Zhiyi through the phone in a hoarse voice:

“…I heard that the best way to get over a breakup is to start a new relationship. I want to help you move on. Are you willing to give me this chance?”

He looked at the tassel fringe wrapping around his fingers and recalled Wen Zhiyi’s slightly smiling eyes. He suddenly abandoned the prepared words of weakness he had thought up, and instead slowly revealed a gentle smile, one whose meaning he himself couldn’t quite explain. He continued:

“I believe that no matter what ending you give me, I must at least fight for a beginning for myself. Even if it’s just a memory of yours, as long as I can make you happy, as long as you are willing to accept me, this is a perfect story.”

He was still too young. Even when unsure, he subconsciously used the word “perfect” to describe the imagined love between himself and Wen Zhiyi.

Love at this age is perhaps fiery, shy, and heart-stirring. It disregards the outcome and the pain; as long as the liking is strong enough, as long as the passion is great enough, it can be initiated with solemn vows and no hesitation.

This was another person who liked Wen Zhiyi, a youth standing on his own eighteen-year-old life track, reaching out his hand to Wen Zhiyi.

No one stays eighteen forever, but there are always people who are eighteen.

Wen Zhiyi gained a profound understanding of this statement.

Listening to the other party’s voice, which was desperately calm yet unable to suppress its anxiety, he finally could no longer lightly brush off the matter with an attitude of using minimal force to deflect a huge weight.

Four or five years didn’t seem long, but he always felt he had changed so much that he couldn’t recall how he thought when he was eighteen.

While aimlessly searching his memory for his past self, he shook his head and exited the chat box with Wei Xingjiang. He knew that whatever answer he gave would not stop the other party’s current resolve.

The only thing that could stop an eighteen-year-old Alpha was his own gradually cooling interest.

Thinking this, little Wen did not realize that some people and things never truly pass; they are destined to shine eternally in the memories of the person who engraved them there.