What to Do If Beta Cannot Be Marked? - Chapter 15

Hearing this, Chi Jinxian immediately started walking toward Lu Zhi before Qi Suiyi could even reach out to stop him. Qi Suiyi could only stomp in frustration behind them.

He grumbled indignantly, “Who do you think you are, ordering him around like that?”

Lu Zhi’s gaze swept past Chi Jinxian who had come to his side, landing directly on Qi Suiyi with a hint of disdain, not uttering a single word.

Qi Suiyi glanced at him, then at his hopeless nephew who had already reached Lu Zhi’s side. He rolled his eyes in exasperation, trying to calm the frustration building in his chest, deciding not to humiliate himself further.

If not for his nephew’s inexplicable infatuation though Chi Jinxian’s affection made no sense to him, Qi Suiyi had always thought Lu Zhi was like some aloof fox spirit, captivating yet indifferent to everyone. During Chi Jinxian’s confession and pursuit, Qi Suiyi couldn’t interfere, or else this ungrateful nephew would tattle to his father about being bullied. Otherwise, Qi Suiyi would have definitely given Lu Zhi a beating.

“Lu-ge, what’s wrong?” Chi Jinxian asked, standing before him.

Lu Zhi instantly withdrew his gaze from elsewhere but still avoided looking at Chi Jinxian.

He lowered his eyes, seemingly staring at the ground or some distant point. Though he had been the one to call Chi Jinxian over, now that he was actually here, Lu Zhi fell silent. He didn’t know what to say or do, so he scrambled for words in his mind.

The process was uncomfortable. Though only five seconds had passed, his expression suggested he had been pondering for an hour. His brows slightly furrowed, visibly growing more agitated.

Noticing his mood, Chi Jinxian assumed it was about earlier and quickly whispered, “Lu-ge, I won’t do the ‘mwah’ anymore. Please don’t be mad.”

Lu Zhi didn’t respond immediately. After a brief pause, his gaze shifted from nowhere to focus on Chi Jinxian’s face.

They locked eyes for a few seconds, as if Lu Zhi had suddenly found a topic. He unconsciously tightened his grip on his backpack strap, his face darkening. “Hn,” he replied, his tone colder than ever. “There won’t be a next time.”

Without explaining why he had called Chi Jinxian over, he brushed past him and walked away.

Chi Jinxian’s heart clenched. His fingers twitched, wanting to grab Lu Zhi’s sleeve and explain further, but he didn’t dare. His hand remained obediently at his side.

In the time he hesitated, Lu Zhi had already moved several steps away.

Seeing Lu Zhi leave, Qi Suiyi immediately grabbed Chi Jinxian and pulled him along. Unexpectedly, Lu Zhi suddenly stopped ahead and turned back.

When Chi Jinxian noticed him stopping and looked over with slightly brightened eyes, Lu Zhi spoke inexplicably yet firmly, “Go home and wash your clothes. They’re too dirty.”

Without waiting for a response, he strode away with large steps, growing increasingly distant.

Chi Jinxian stood frozen in confusion. Only when Lu Zhi was far away did he murmur, “Huh?” and look down at his clothes in bewilderment.

His uniform was perfectly neat, the zipper pulled up to his neck. The light blue parts were as clear as the sky, the pure white areas as spotless as clouds not a single stain in sight.

After reading the front, he twisted his neck to look back, then even took off his backpack and handed it to Qi Suiyi to hold while he tugged at the back of his clothes, trying to stretch them forward to inspect.

After a while, Chi Jinxian muttered to himself, “I just changed into this new uniform today. It’s not dirty.”

Then, feeling like he was being overly critical, he looked up at Qi Suiyi and asked, “Uncle, is my uniform dirty? Can you check for me?”

Qi Suiyi was also puzzled and looked him over thoroughly. “No, it’s not.”

After answering, his heart skipped a beat, and it suddenly dawned on him. He thought to himself, could that bastard Lu Zhi have been referring to me?

There was no way to verify it, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed plausible. Qi Suiyi threw Chi Jinxian’s backpack back into his arms, his expression turning completely blank.

He thought again, in this lifetime, he and Lu Zhi were sworn enemies. As long as he was around, Lu Zhi could forget about stepping foot into the Chi family’s house!

Chi Jinxian didn’t notice the change in his expression. Unable to figure out where his uniform was dirty, he started asking, “You said I went viral on the forum again? How did it happen?”

Hearing this, Qi Suiyi handed him his phone. Chi Jinxian took it skeptically, but after just one glance, he was so startled that he threw the phone back!

[Some Chi pinned God Lu against the wall and kissed him hard, making loud smacking sounds mwah, mwah mwah, mwah mwah mwah]

OP: [Today’s forum brings you real-time reporting. The sound back then was like thunder meeting lightning, earth-shattering and explosive!]

Chi Jinxian only skimmed through the first, second, and third floors. He didn’t catch a single word of what was said in the thread, only that there were many replies.

But he clearly saw the title and the main post! Not a single word was true, but the “mwah mwah” sounds were indeed made by him. Infinite shame once again wrapped its arms around Chi Jinxian’s neck and kissed him, leaving him flushed and flustered.

“It’s fake! All of this is fake!” His cheeks burning, he exclaimed with visible frustration, “How can they spread such nonsense? Seriously.”

Fortunately, Chi Jinxian never browsed the school forum, or he would surely have been driven mad by the rumors.

“Anything that passes through hundreds of mouths can turn truth into lies and lies into something even more absurd,” Qi Suiyi put his phone away. Knowing that Chi Jinxian, despite being a relentless pursuer, still had his limits, he wasn’t as anxious anymore.

Over the past two years, rumors about Chi Jinxian among those who didn’t know him had become quite outrageous. Today was just another addition to the pile.

“But if Brother Lu sees this, won’t he be even angrier?” Chi Jinxian’s beautiful eyebrows drooped slightly, overwhelmed with worry.

After all, Lu Zhi had just warned him about this earlier, saying, “There won’t be a next time.”

Seeing him so spineless irritated Qi Suiyi, who promptly shut his mouth in frustration and resigned himself to silence.

Meanwhile, Chi Jinxian was only thinking about whether Lu Zhi would reply if he messaged him after getting home.

As it turned out, his worries were not unfounded.

He arrived home at seven, but by nine in the evening, there were still no new messages in Lu Zhi’s chat window.

Chi Jinxian stared at the chat page, where only his own messages were visible, and sighed dejectedly.

7:10 PM

Cash Pool: [Brother, can I try to make it up to you?]

7:20 PM

Cash Pool: [Brother, I won’t do it again next time. Please don’t be mad.]

7:30 PM

Cash Pool: [Brother? Can you reply to me?]

8:00 PM

Cash Pool: [How about I let you kiss me back tomorrow? [gently]]

8:20 PM

Cash Pool: [Another day without a reply from brother, so sad, so lonely. Sigh, brother still ignores me.]

8:30 PM.

Cash Pool: [Since you’re ignoring me anyway, I’ll confess. Brother, I really like you! (SUPER LOUD)]

9:00 PM.

Cash Pool: [Alright then, see you tomorrow brother. Goodnight, brother! (tucking myself tightly under blankets JPG.)]

Chi Jinxian lay on his bed playing with his phone, but there was no response from the other side. He wasn’t sad or upset, just troubled.

While worrying, he thought to himself: Ever since he started pursuing someone, Xiao Lu had always been the one giving him advice. For two years, Xiao Lu seemed to understand Lu Zhi exceptionally well, offering practical suggestions every time. So he never expected that Xiao Lu would ever make a wrong prediction!

Thinking this, Chi Jinxian opened his chat with Xiao Lu, planning to share today’s amusing yet troubling events.

But after sending the message,

It sank like a stone in the ocean.

Xiao Lu, who always claimed to have plenty of free time due to illness and would reply almost instantly, had suddenly vanished today.

A thread of worry began to stir in Chi Jinxian’s heart. He sat up straight and sent a few more messages to Xiao Lu, but still no reply.

Xiao Lu never mentioned where he lived. Xiao Lu refused to tell anyone his real name. Xiao Lu said he was sick.

For some reason, Chi Jinxian couldn’t stay calm any longer. He immediately started calling Xiao Lu.

When the abrupt ringtone pierced the enclosed gym, Lu Zhi was sprawled on the floor in a starfish position, surrounded by obvious sweat stains soaking through the mats beneath and around him.

His chest heaved violently. His lips, which weren’t particularly thin but looked utterly detached, were so dry they seemed about to crack. His forehead hair was completely drenched in sweat, clinging in wet strands to his temples, creating a kind of exquisite, near-death beauty.

The phone kept ringing. He didn’t move, appearing to have no intention of doing so. Finally, annoyed enough to furrow his brows, he perfunctorily lifted his wrist. The Smart Ring he wore during workouts to remind himself not to be too violent displayed the caller’s name.

Lu Zhi froze, as if about to stare at it blankly, but his body moved first, scrambling up to search for his phone.

The sound was clearly coming from his immediate vicinity, yet his phone was nowhere to be found not on the table, not on the floor, not on the equipment.

After searching for a few seconds, a visible hostility seemed to cling to his entire being. His face turned cold and grim. Finally, as if losing control, he kicked over the treadmill in front of him.

With a loud “BANG,” the entire floor seemed to tremble. The violence jolted some clarity back into his mind, pulling Lu Zhi’s thoughts away from the scene outside the school gates after classes ended that afternoon.

Qi Suiyi was his childhood friend. Qi Suiyi waited for him to walk home together. Qi Suiyi called him, and he went over immediately.

Before Qi Suiyi arrived, he had been saying, “You can be mad at me, but don’t be unhappy.” After Qi Suiyi arrived, his words had shifted to “Don’t be mad at me.” Did that mean he didn’t care if Qi Suiyi was unhappy anymore?

Lu Zhi no longer knew what he was searching for. Until his phone, which had somehow fallen into a corner and landed screen down finally revealed itself. Before entering the gym, he had taken off his school uniform and thrown it on the floor. The force might have caused his phone to slip out of the pocket. Only then did his entire body relax. Before the ringing completely stopped, he lunged forward, knelt on the ground, snatched up the phone, and fiercely pressed the answer button.

After pressing it, he realized that the Smart Ring could have answered the call.

A voice had already come through: “Xiao Lu!”

The tone was urgent, the emotion intense, as if the name he spoke was the person he cared about most in the world.

Lu Zhi remained silent.

Downstairs, Ai Duoyan was on the phone with Lu Wan in the living room when the loud noise from one of the rooms upstairs interrupted their conversation. His eyes glanced meaningfully upward.

The butler standing nearby said, “I wonder what’s wrong with the young master. Mr. Lu isn’t here. Would you like to check on him, Mr. Ai?”

Ai Duoyan withdrew his gaze as if he hadn’t heard anything and said, “If the son of your former master wants to see, then go see. Everyone in this house knows Lu Zhi can’t stand me.”

He spoke casually, yet it seemed somewhat deliberate.

After all, Lu Zisheng wasn’t home.

The voice on the phone asked, “What’s wrong, Dad?”

The butler bowed slightly and said, “You exaggerate, Mr. Ai.”

Ai Duoyan replied, “It’s nothing, Wanwan. There might be rats upstairs.” He then resumed chatting and laughing with Lu Wan, standing up from the sofa and heading upstairs to his bedroom.

The moment he closed the door, he muttered under his breath, “Lunatic.”

In the gym, Lu Zhi still hadn’t spoken. Chi Jinxian only heard uneven breathing on the other end, as if he were in pain. His heart tightened, and he said, “Xiao Lu, can you hear me?”

Lu Zhi lowered his head and scrolled through all the chat records of both accounts.

He had said goodnight to Lu Zhi but was now calling Xiao Lu.

Lu Zhi switched to the call interface, opened the Smart Ring, and as usual, tapped twice on the voice processor, raising the pitch of the tone by one degree.

The originally overly cold voice instantly became gentle and serene, as if it could overflow with warmth. Or perhaps it had truly become gentle.

“Yes,” he said. “Xiao Chi.”

Chi Jinxian and Xiao Lu rarely spoke directly on the phone, almost always communicating through messaging apps, Xiao Lu wasn’t particularly fond of calls. But they had spoken a few times.

Xiao Lu’s voice was very gentle, completely unlike his lively chatting style. Initially, Chi Jinxian had thought Xiao Lu’s personality was similar to his own, but after a failed attempt to meet and a phone conversation, he realized the other had a very mild temperament, speaking softly and gently.

Hearing the familiar tone, Chi Jinxian hadn’t yet had time to relax when he noticed something was off.

Xiao Lu was still gentle today, but his breathing was truly irregular.

Chi Jinxian said, “I tried to reach you, but you didn’t reply. You’ve been sick, so I was a bit worried. I couldn’t rest easy, so I wanted to call and check on you again.”

Lu Zhi replied, “Mm. It’s fine.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Chi Jinxian asked softly, as if afraid of disturbing his illness and causing him pain. “Are you busy?”

“Not busy.” After a moment of silence on both ends, Lu Zhi replied, “A flare-up. It hurts a little.”

His voice was very soft, but the adjusted gentle tone carried a slight tremble, as if all the grievances in the world had taken root and sprouted within him, and he himself was willing to lay bare this vulnerability.

Lay it bare for whom to see.

The moment the words fell, a thought flashed through the mind of the one willing to be vulnerable.

He thought,

Lu Zhi, you really are a lunatic.

But deep within this lunatic’s impenetrable heart, another thought followed He wanted even more.

Thus, he called out that name once more:

“Xiao Chi.”