The Popular/Charismatic Beta Always Thinks They Are Universally Disliked - Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Heavy Rain

A heavy rain suddenly began in the afternoon.

For the weather in late summer and early autumn, a downpour was quite rare. Rain during this season was usually lingering, gentle, and slightly cool, pattering softly and clinging to the heart.

Wen Zhiyi carelessly flipped through his presentation script. He was well-prepared for this forum, so he wasn’t particularly nervous at the moment. He couldn’t help but recall Gu Yansheng’s words just before the forum began.

Gu Yansheng had said that he had accepted that the past was completely over and was willing to return to the role of a childhood friend from now on.

Wen Zhiyi was highly skeptical.

In his memory, Gu Yansheng would show weakness, lie, and resort to any means necessary. Words like accept and give up were simply unimaginable for Gu Yansheng. This Beta, who was two years older than him, had been born with the obsession to win everything.

Seemingly sensing Wen Zhiyi’s noncommittal attitude, Gu Yansheng genuinely spread his hands, indicating he had nothing to hide: “…I just want you to be happy. As long as Zhiyi can be happy, I will deal with anyone who obstructs that.”

Wen Zhiyi showed a relaxed smile. He slightly raised an eyebrow, sizing up his childhood friend, who wore a gentle smile: “You don’t need to worry about that. Happiness is something that becomes harder to achieve if you talk about it all the time, right?”

He could already act incredibly relaxed and natural in front of Gu Yansheng, as if their relationship five years ago had never happened, as if Gu Yansheng had never deeply touched his heartstrings. Five years ago, Gu Yansheng had never imagined this, nor had Wen Zhiyi.

He had truly let go completely, and he genuinely no longer cared.

In any case, from Wen Zhiyi’s perspective, he had one more friend. This process was quite familiar to him.

The forum was about to begin. Gu Yansheng was already being urged by staff members to take his seat on the judging panel. He smiled politely at the staff, signaling that he would be right there, but he still had a few words for Wen Zhiyi.

“There’s something I’ve remembered for a long time… but it sounds too unrealistic, so I always suspect my memory is flawed,” Gu Yansheng stared into Wen Zhiyi’s eyes, carefully speaking, seeming to seek an answer from Wen Zhiyi’s expression. “When we were very young, you once told me that, just like playing a game, you could see everyone’s ‘Affection Value’ for you.”

Yes, seven-year-old Wen Zhiyi had once let it slip, and after that time, no matter how much Gu Yansheng asked, he insisted that the other person had misheard.

“…”

Little Wen calmly looked at the full gray progress bar next to Gu Yansheng and once again gave the same answer: “You must have misremembered, or you misheard. In any case, I never said anything so obviously childish.”

Gu Yansheng slowly curled a gentle and composed smile. Maintaining this elegant and proper smile, he said word by word: “Then, why do you always look to the side?”

“Since you were six, when we first met, you would often look at the empty space beside me. It wasn’t just me; sometimes it was others too. Is there really something beside us?”

Wen Zhiyi fell silent.

Since childhood, Gu Yansheng had maintained an almost terrifying keen observation ability. He could catch every minute detail and shift, quickly grasping the incomplete information these signs revealed, making Wen Zhiyi, who tried to lie to him, confess without being forced.

Wen Zhiyi could, of course, absolutely deny it. No matter how much circumstantial evidence Gu Yansheng gathered to support his point, without Wen Zhiyi’s personal acknowledgment, they were meaningless.

Gu Yansheng knew this too.

So he smiled and shook his head. The handsome, gentle face slowly shed the aggressive pressure. He looked at Wen Zhiyi calmly, sincerely, and completely openly. At this moment, he truly had no further deception; he just genuinely wanted an answer:

“If, if Zhiyi really can see Affection Values, then was my progress bar the highest among everyone?”

He believed he loved Wen Zhiyi the most.

But could the mysterious existence of love truly be measured by objective numbers? Did the progress bars Wen Zhiyi had seen since childhood necessarily represent love or lack thereof? Should Wen Zhiyi believe he or she loved him one hundred percent just because of this progress bar? And did the absence of this progress bar definitely mean he or she didn’t love him?

Wen Zhiyi had long stopped struggling with or believing in these numbers.

He looked into Gu Yansheng’s eyes. Through those dark, deep, abyssal eyes, he seemed to once again see the nineteen-year-old Gu Yansheng from five years ago. At that time, Gu Yansheng would certainly have struggled with this question too.

Thinking this, Wen Zhiyi smiled slightly. He could already look back on the past with this attitude of reminiscence. This was a gratifying fact.

He likewise told Gu Yansheng sincerely: “It used to be.”

In the eyes of seventeen-year-old Wen Zhiyi, you truly used to love him the most.

However, upon receiving the reply, Gu Yansheng was instantly stunned, as if struck hard. He wasn’t ecstatic or agonized by the reply itself; he was completely crushed by Wen Zhiyi’s relaxed and casual smile. Both the smile and Wen Zhiyi’s candid answer were telling Gu Yansheng that the person he was utterly unwilling to let go of truly did not care anymore.

He wouldn’t even deny it in shame, nor stammeringly conceal it. He was now able to face the fact that you once loved him the most.

Wen Zhiyi watched Gu Yansheng’s dejected back disappear. After a moment of silence, he lowered his head to look at his presentation script again.

Over the past week, he had fully dedicated himself to preparing for this forum, undisturbed by anyone or anything.

It was a peculiar coincidence that the two most significant events in his current stage of life both fell on today.

Today was the last day of the divorce cooling-off period, and since he had asked Wei Yuzhi that question last week, Wei Yuzhi had vanished completely, never reappearing.

Happy? Annoyed? Reluctant?

Wen Zhiyi couldn’t articulate exactly how he felt. He patted his cheeks, calmed himself, and focused his attention on the upcoming forum.

Once today passed, his marriage with Wei Yuzhi would automatically end, and either party could go individually to collect the divorce certificate.

…

A Beta woman with appropriate makeup glanced out the window, then was surprised by the rare heavy rain in early autumn Beijing. She touched the marble countertop and lamented to her colleague: “What heavy rain! The air isn’t so dry anymore. A few days ago, my face was peeling from the dryness, but today the desk is so damp it’s almost dripping.”

The Omega staff member at the adjacent counter also looked out at the heavy rain and laughed in response: “Heavy rain has its benefits. At least no one will come to process paperwork in this weather.”

If people were so determined to apply for a divorce even in such heavy rain, then ending the marriage sooner would probably make both parties happier.

The staff member mused casually to herself.

Clack. A remarkably crisp sound of an umbrella closing came from the entrance, followed by the heavy sound of water-soaked leather shoes stepping on the tiles, one light, one heavy, slow but extremely regular steps.

The Beta woman, startled, leaned out of her window. She was slightly curious to know who would venture to the Marriage Registry in such a heavy rain.

Maybe it wasn’t for a divorce, but for a marriage.

She thought to herself, harboring a faint hope.

It was said that two years ago, someone had even camped outside their door all night just to get married.

In the torrential rain, a tall, well-built man walked expressionlessly toward the divorce window.

She recognized this Omega. He had come to apply for divorce registration with a Beta gentleman twenty-nine days ago. Their appearance and demeanor had left a deep impression on her, and she could easily recall them from memory.

The handsome man stopped at her window, handing over his ID and the divorce application receipt. His voice was low as he said: “…Twenty-nine days ago, my partner and I applied for divorce registration here.”

She noticed that the man was leaning on a cane with his left hand, seemingly transferring most of his body weight onto it. The veins on the back of his left hand were visibly strained, yet his facial expression remained cold and composed.

Even with wet hair and half his body soaked.

The person who held the umbrella for him seemed to have been terrible at it. This Omega named Wei Yuzhi had been drenched by a lot of rain. Large, embarrassing water stains spread across his expensive, fine gray suit jacket, and there were even streaks of water dripping from his wet hair onto his cheeks.

The staff member handed a Notice of Objection form to Wei Yuzhi: “After filling out this form, your divorce application with Mr. Wen Zhiyi will automatically be voided.”

Wei Yuzhi’s hand trembled for a moment.

A drop of extremely light, faint water landed on the clean Objection Form.

It seemed like rainwater.

Wei Yuzhi noticed the water mark and quickly raised his hand to wipe his cheek.

He looked at the form with restraint, silence, and gravity. Because his head was slightly bowed, the Beta woman couldn’t see his expression and thus couldn’t guess his mood.

Whether to grant the other person freedom, whether to defy the other person’s will, whether to let go now… The wound on the back of his neck, which had been rained on, was inflamed. Wei Yuzhi could feel his excessively high body temperature. He was running a high fever, and every breath burned, making him feel like weeping.

His will and his physical body had never been so vulnerable.

After a few short, burning deep breaths, Wei Yuzhi slowly lifted his head. His eyes were somewhat red, but his expression was overall calm. Only his slightly trembling hands and tightly clenched jaw revealed the intensity of the ordeal he was currently facing.

He suddenly said softly: “May I look at—what my partner, Wen Zhiyi, wrote on that original divorce application form?”