The Popular/Charismatic Beta Always Thinks They Are Universally Disliked - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: One, Two, Three

Wen Zhiyi specifically requested a full week of leave.

For this long-planned trip to the snowy mountains, although Wen Zhiyi was not fully prepared in terms of physical training, he maximized the duration of his time off.

In the two weeks from when Lin Chang proactively suggested training Little Wen until the day before departure, Wen Zhiyi underwent a total of six rigorous training sessions and two less serious ones. Overall, he was barely qualified for long-term outdoor activities.

Everything was ready; all that remained was for Wen Zhiyi to embark on the journey himself.

His unusual leave request was quickly passed to Gu Yansheng. As Wen Zhiyi’s nominal direct superior, Lawyer Gu approved it swiftly and personally came to the general office with a smile in his eyes, tapping the glass of Little Wen’s cubicle partition.

“Going alone?” Gu Yansheng never spoke with Wen Zhiyi in the busy main office. He was always accustomed to leading Wen Zhiyi into his territory, then meticulously asking about Wen Zhiyi’s intentions, layer by layer.

Wen Zhiyi stood by the window facing the sun in Gu Yansheng’s office, not surprised that the other party would come looking for him.

Perhaps because he had a good night’s sleep last night, Little Wen felt extremely refreshed at the moment, and even looking at Gu Yansheng’s face was less annoying. He realized that many things were not as difficult to move past as he had thought.

At least this one, he had truly moved past.

Wen Zhiyi shook his head: “With friends.”

Gu Yansheng slightly furrowed one eyebrow, feeling a little surprised by Little Wen’s straightforward answer.

His surprise was clearly visible on his face.

For Lawyer Gu, whose guardedness usually worried people that they might offend him inadvertently, this was a rare failure in expression management.

With his straight, high nose bridge, thick and relaxed long eyebrows, gentle and deep eyes, and an expression that was almost always smiling, Gu Yansheng’s remarkably outstanding appearance had always been a handy tool for his profession. Even though the partnership status was only a temporary stepping stone for him, he had achieved conventional excellence in the field.

The senior partner now smiled, considering how to extract more information about Wen Zhiyi’s plans.

This was indeed a more important issue than any work currently on his desk.

He desperately wanted to hear Wen Zhiyi speak about his own affairs, even if it couldn’t be like five years ago, even if they could never return to how things were five years ago, as long as—as long as it was still Wen Zhiyi.

Gu Yansheng would slightly lower one side of his brow when he thought, a habitual sign of concentration when relaxed.

Wen Zhiyi, standing by the window, turned his head to look at him due to the long silence. The beautiful, flowing light illuminated Little Wen’s face in shifting patterns of bright and shadow. Standing quietly, Wen Zhiyi was like the most dazzling sign under a neon light; anyone passing by would stop and look up, compelled to pause even without intending to, because he was too brilliant and too intense.

Gu Yansheng maintained eye contact with Little Wen, and suddenly felt a strange pang in his chest.

He had been proud and self-esteemed since childhood, never knowing fear. The few times his heart had fluttered were almost always related to Wen Zhiyi.

He recalled teaching Wen Zhiyi to ride a bicycle in elementary school. Little Wen was determined to learn how to ride an adult bicycle without training wheels, so he practiced diligently every day after school. Wen Zhijie, who was ten years older, was in high school and couldn’t spare much time to accompany him, so the task naturally fell to Gu Yansheng.

Beginners feared falling the most.

The person accompanying the beginner feared falling the most, too.

Gu Yansheng had learned martial arts since he was a child, falling and scrambling countless times. Although he was a Beta and lacked the naturally strong physique of an Alpha, he wasn’t overly sensitive to pain like an Omega. Thus, he had a better-than-average understanding of the level of pain a Beta could endure.

But he dared not apply this standard to Wen Zhiyi.

He certainly dared not watch Wen Zhiyi fall, so he refused to let go of the hand controlling the handlebar.

Wen Zhiyi absolutely insisted he let go, urging Gu Yansheng to release his grip repeatedly.

Gu Yansheng asked him: If I let go, you’ll fall. Zhizhi, are you sure you want me to let go?

Little Wen, teary-eyed from fear, nodded firmly.

Gu Yansheng nodded in agreement, telling Wen Zhiyi he would count to three before letting go, so Little Wen needed to be prepared, hold his breath, maintain balance, and silently recall the balance secret he had repeatedly reminded him of.

Two, three.

Gu Yansheng still didn’t let go.

By then, he had known Wen Zhiyi for over a year and had begun taking care of the small and large details of Wen Zhiyi’s life: going to school together, eating together, doing homework together… He would sit outside while Wen Zhiyi attended interest classes, waiting for him. When Gu Yansheng underwent other training, Wen Zhiyi would often be watching through the glass as the coach took him down again and again.

Childhood love is not worn down by trivial matters. On the contrary, it grows precisely from this daily companionship and witnessing.

So Gu Yansheng was unwilling to let go of anything concerning Wen Zhiyi.

But Wen Zhiyi insisted that he let go.

Wen Zhiyi insisted that he let go.

Whether it was the meticulous companionship of the past or the entirely unjustified attempts to win him back now.

…

“Twenty-three is not a child, Little Yi knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s happy to take a risk and go have fun, so stop nagging.”

Though Wen Zhijie said he wouldn’t go home, his body was honest, and he quickly rushed back to have a heart-to-heart talk with his parents about his brother’s life choices.

Big Wen tried to make the Wen parents understand that Wen Zhiyi was a twenty-three-year-old adult—whose birthday was recently passed—and therefore fully responsible for any choice in his life.

Zhao Mingzhu was still bothered by her younger son’s flash marriage two years ago. She believed that under her earnest guidance, Wen Zhiyi should know better than anyone how important decisions regarding major life events are.

“What’s so important?” Wen Zhijie retorted casually while munching on an apple. “It’s not like you can’t live if you get divorced. Little Yi is doing just fine now, isn’t he? If he wants to test the waters, let him try. I’m his older brother; I’m not dead. Why can’t I cushion his fall?”

“Don’t you need to get married?” Zhao Mingzhu angrily poked her long, fair finger hard onto her elder son’s forehead. “Will you still be the same after you get married? Don’t you need to consider what your wife thinks?”

As the conversation turned, Zhao Mingzhu finally realized that her elder son was also thirty-three, yet far from being married, he hadn’t even had one serious relationship. Compared to her younger son, who was divorced once by age twenty-three, they were two extremes.

Wen Changming, who was pretending to be deaf while holding a book nearby, also looked up at the mother and son chatting in the living room.

The couple exchanged glances, and simultaneously began sizing up their elder son.

While his looks were not as outstanding as his younger son’s—the type to draw a crowd from half a mile away—he was quite handsome and refined. Moreover, he was an A-class Alpha, and his career was steadily rising, yet he had not a single potential partner around.

Wen Changming put down his book, suddenly feigning interest in the potted landscape by the window. With his hands clasped behind his back, he paced around the living room, casually issuing an instruction to his elder son: “A daughter of an old friend of mine happens to be visiting Jing City soon. You can be her tour guide, show her around different places. It won’t take much time. The girl is pretty, just a little spoiled. That’s normal, though; she’s an only Omega daughter, so a little娇气 (delicacy/pampering) isn’t a bad thing.”

Zhao Mingzhu coughed: “I remember there’s a Beta named Lin Chang at your company who has been to our house a few times. I think he’s mature and stable. If nothing else, finding someone familiar is better than grasping in the dark.”

“…”

Suddenly being rushed into marriage, Wen Zhijie frowned and pushed away the teacup Zhao Mingzhu held out to him. He was politely unresponsive to his mother’s carrot-and-stick approach, so speechless he wanted to laugh. Lin Chang is interested in your younger son!

He chose his words carefully, wanting to reason with them, but seeing the equally eager faces of Wen Changming and Zhao Mingzhu, he simply gave up on speaking properly to his parents. He raised an eyebrow and casually blurted out a lie: “Who said I’m not dating? I am. I date a lot; you just don’t know it. I have a partner right now. Do you really want to know who it is?”

The Wen parents, who deeply understood their elder son’s nature, exchanged glances again, suddenly having a very bad feeling.

To be honest, the elder son, who had been showered with more affection, was actually less worry-free than the younger son in their presence. Perhaps this was the nature of the favored being fearless.

Wen Zhijie touched his chin, feigning seriousness as he spoke nonsense: “The reason I didn’t tell you is because he’s an Alpha. It was love at first sight for me. So what if he’s an Alpha? Wait, did I tell you? I only like Alphas. I don’t care if they’re male Alpha or female Alpha, as long as they’re an Alpha, I like them.”

Wen Changming, still refined and handsome in his fifties, rose with a grim face and moved farther away.

He held back, held back, but finally couldn’t help it: “…When did you find out you liked Alphas?”

Zhao Mingzhu snapped impatiently at her husband: “Can’t you tell Little Jie is joking? If you have nothing to say, walk away and stop being a nuisance.”

The beautiful and elegant Ms. Zhao turned to stare intently at her elder son: “Don’t joke with your parents. If you don’t want to find someone, then don’t. We aren’t pressuring you, are we?”

Wen Zhijie lifted his chin, shaking his head with interest: “I’m not joking, Mom. It’s fine if you don’t believe me. I have a picture of him here; I’ll show you.”

He scrolled through his phone album and showed them the most recent picture of himself with an investor: “See? Hard evidence right here. I should state first that I’m the one crushing on him; he doesn’t know it yet. So, Mom and Dad, give me some advice? Mom, you definitely know how to chase an Alpha. Can you tell me how?”

The investor representative in the photo was Mr. Wu, the driver for Wei Yuzhi, the eldest young master of the Wu family who had been sent to the Wei conglomerate for training. He was a distant relative on Wei Yuzhi’s grandmother’s side. Of course, in Wen Zhijie’s eyes, he was just the representative sent by the long-term investment fund to sign the agreement.

The handsome, innocent-looking Young Master Wu in the photo was tall and long-legged. That was why Wen Zhijie chose to show this picture.

If Mr. Big Wen was going to claim he was chasing someone, he had to choose someone who looked like an exceptional talent to be convincing.

The reason he said “looked like” was because after a few rounds of negotiations, Wen Zhijie had found this investor representative to be a bit dull.

Zhao Mingzhu, who was already speechless with anger, pointed at the photo for a long time, unable to utter a word.