The Popular/Charismatic Beta Always Thinks They Are Universally Disliked - Chapter 67

Chapter 67: Parting on Good Terms

The sound of dripping water continuously fell onto the application form in front of Wei Yuzhi.

He looked at the reason for divorce Wen Zhiyi had written on the application. He knew the other party had only scribbled a few words initially, but at this moment, only at this moment, he had to see the determination behind the request for divorce.

Otherwise, he would definitely make a choice he would regret.

He would disregard Wen Zhiyi’s wishes, he would disappoint Wen Zhiyi, and he would make Wen Zhiyi feel that he hadn’t changed at all.

But he truly had changed.

Wei Yuzhi looked at the words “Emotional Issues” written by Wen Zhiyi, almost choking up. He thought: I truly have changed.

He would respect, love, and cherish Wen Zhiyi for a lifetime, never again letting Little Wen feel unimportant. The overly inflated, overflowing parts of his “self” would never again be imposed on Wen Zhiyi. He knew that sometimes entering a relationship meant first killing off a part of one’s “self.”

Changing deeply ingrained cognitions that had lasted for years was difficult for anyone, and for someone as extremely self-centered as Wei Yuzhi, it was even harder.

Water marks, bitter to the extreme, soaked Wen Zhiyi’s strong, scribbled handwriting. Wei Yuzhi subconsciously used his fingertip to wipe away the water droplets, but his action only smeared the water everywhere. The entire application form looked increasingly worse with every wipe. His carefully constrained breathing finally let out an extremely brief, suppressed sob.

He clutched the paper, thin as a cicada’s wing, and slowly bent over. He was in too much pain to stand, clutching his stomach as if shot in the abdomen or having swallowed a knife and poison. At this moment of pain beyond endurance, the instinct of almost everyone seemed to be to curl up, attempting to simulate the security of returning to the womb.

Suddenly, he abruptly grasped a flash of insight in his mind, urgently and anxiously reaching for the suggestion book placed beside the work window. He remembered Wen Zhiyi had written a long paragraph in the suggestion book.

Wei Yuzhi’s movements were so desperate that his fingers trembled slightly. He only had one hand that could move freely; the other had to support the cane. But he truly couldn’t wait another second, so he simply threw the cane aside and leaned against the wall awkwardly and clumsily.

Forcibly ignoring the dull throbbing pain from his fractured lower leg, Wei Yuzhi frowned and rapidly flipped through the suggestion book. Only after turning past dozens of curled pages did he finally breathe a sigh of relief as he saw the familiar handwriting.

“I strongly suggest setting a marriage cooling-off period. Young people acting on impulse sometimes need guidance from society… But truthfully, an impulse that can be deterred probably isn’t called an impulse, right? Even if I had told my two-year-younger self that my marriage with him would end here, my past self would only have smiled and shaken his head, because I really wanted to marry him then. When I walked in here holding his hand, I thought it must be him. The person I was to spend the rest of my life with was already standing beside me.”

“A marital failure can’t be blamed on just one person. Maybe I truly made the wrong choice back then.”

He once walked in here holding Wen Zhiyi’s hand.

He was once chosen so resolutely by Wen Zhiyi.

He once… he once took off the ring Wen Zhiyi had personally placed on his finger, telling the other person that whether he loved him or not was unimportant. He once refused to back down for Wen Zhiyi no matter what.

The staff member sitting behind the divorce window cautiously observed the tall man who had suddenly lost all strength outside the counter. She had witnessed many such scenes. The tears shed by men and women in pain and regret during a divorce could form a river here. They would beg their partners for another chance, weepingly confess their mistakes, and even angrily lash out at the staff, unreasonably demanding that the divorce application not be processed.

But this kind of extreme silence was rare.

It was as if there were no tears left to shed and no words left to say, as if both the body and soul were no longer in this place, merely thinking silently and lost about why they acted that way before and what they should do next.

After an unknown amount of time, the man leaning against the wall fumbled to pick up his cane, forcibly controlling his limbs to stand upright again. He retrieved his documents and the divorce application receipt, and said to the staff member looking up at him:

“I… I have no objection anymore. After today, can we come to collect the divorce certificate?”

He spoke with great effort, as if every word was expelled stained with a little bit of blood and flesh.

The divorce certificate must be taken. We will need it for remarriage in the future, Wei Yuzhi told himself seriously in his heart.

The staff member looked up at the Omega standing before her. She had known his gender from the documents and was no longer surprised by it. She politely offered a professional smile: “Yes, you can.”

Wei Yuzhi nodded and left the premises, leaning on his cane.

But he didn’t want to go home yet. From this moment until midnight tonight, he felt like a fish being roasted alive over a fire, unable to find peace no matter what.

He returned to his car parked outside the Marriage Registry, staring expressionlessly and intently out the window. He felt he should quickly leave, otherwise, he might regret his decision the next second.

…

The heavy rain was always quick to arrive and quick to leave. Wen Zhiyi finished his presentation and found that the rain had stopped.

Everyone who came down from the presentation platform looked as if they had rolled through mountains of knives and seas of fire. Now, they were all in high spirits and full of pride, making plans to go out for dinner together. After all, the forum results wouldn’t be out for another week; the most urgent task was to eat well.

Even Wen Zhiyi, who was usually composed, let out a small sigh of relief. The primary task for the semester was complete.

He lowered his head to look at his phone, which had been set to “Do Not Disturb” for an hour. He found that messages from various people had accumulated to a terrifying 99+. A group of junior students from his lab sent congratulations, followed by a message of concern from Wen Zhijie. Even Ms. Zhao Mingzhu uncharacteristically initiated contact to ask how the forum went; he guessed Wen Zhijie had told her.

Chen Que, as always, asked if he wanted to have dinner together. He had reserved Wen Zhiyi’s favorite restaurant and they could talk about how his day went during dinner.

Gu Yansheng also walked over, smiling and striking up a conversation as if nothing was wrong. He said he wondered if Wen Zhiyi had time for a proper reunion that evening; he really wanted to know how Wen Zhiyi had been doing these past few years.

Although the fact that Wen Zhiyi could live well without him caused him immense pain, perhaps it was better that he was the one suffering.

For Wen Zhiyi, everything seemed complete. Family, friends, classmates… many people cared for him and accompanied him. It seemed like that was enough.

Wen Zhiyi’s fingers slowly tightened around his phone. He looked up at the crystal-clear sky outside the window. This obvious moment of inattentive distraction was undoubtedly impolite to the conversation he was having with Gu Yansheng. Gu Yansheng noticed this and slowly stopped talking, falling silent.

What is he thinking about? Who is he thinking about?

Gu Yansheng thought of a certain Omega who should still be lying in a hospital room. He certainly wouldn’t tell Wen Zhiyi the man’s current miserable state. They were getting divorced anyway. Whether dead or disabled, that person and Wen Zhiyi should no longer have any connection.

The phone in Wen Zhiyi’s hand vibrated briefly but noticeably—a text message alert.

He looked down and saw that the sender was an unfamiliar number.

It was naturally an unfamiliar number, as Wen Zhiyi had blocked all of Wei Yuzhi’s previous contact methods.

The message read: Wishing us a happy divorce.

Wei Yuzhi had not answered the question Wen Zhiyi posed earlier—that if either party objects during the cooling-off period, the divorce cannot be finalized—do you want to hold on forever or do you want Wen Zhiyi to be happy?

At this moment, Wen Zhiyi thought Wei Yuzhi had given his answer. He thought that after a week of careful consideration, the other party’s choice was to part on good terms.

But Wei Yuzhi wanted both. He wanted to hold on, and he wanted Wen Zhiyi to be happy. If, if Wen Zhiyi chose him in the first place, then why can’t holding his hand now make him happy?

The phone vibrated again.

The next message read: Can we have dinner together tonight?

So it was part on good terms and reunite on good terms.