What to Do If Beta Cannot Be Marked? - Chapter 35

Five utterly ordinary words glared harshly in the bright light of the phone screen. Lu Zhi stared fixedly at the characters.

Perhaps because he had just woken up, his eyes hadn’t fully adjusted to the light yet. Soon, his pupils began to ache and swell, causing him to blink several times gently.

But it had little effect.

Two seconds later, a “buzz” notification indicated the message had been sent successfully, but this time no new message reached the other side the message had been recalled.

Only the text 【You have recalled a message [Edit again]】 remained there.

Lu Zhi turned off his phone, and the room instantly plunged into deeper silence. He lay on his side, closed his eyes, bent his legs, and curled his body slightly, the edge of the bed barely supporting him.

He surrendered himself completely to the darkness.

Until a sudden ringtone abruptly sounded, forcing his recently closed eyes to snap open.

Lu Zhi seemed somewhat dazed; even after the ringtone had sounded for dozens of seconds, he appeared not to have fully registered it. He just stared blankly at the lit-up phone on the bedside table, unmoving, his posture unchanged.

Just before the ringtone was about to end and fall silent, Lu Zhi, like a critically ill patient jolting upright, suddenly grabbed the phone and pressed the answer button without a second’s delay.

“Brother?” came a familiar voice from the other end.

Chi Jinxian’s tone carried a hint of softness and hoarseness, clearly having woken up just minutes ago.

Lu Zhi remained silent, quietly listening to his breathing. After a long moment, he finally responded with an “Mm,” and asked, “Why are you calling at this hour?”

“Oh.” Chi Jinxian let out a small yawn and said, “I got up to use the bathroom and habitually checked my phone when I came back. I saw you sent me a message.”

As he spoke, a touch of cheerfulness crept into his tone, as if receiving a reply from Lu Zhi was enough to make him happy all day, completely forgetting that the other hadn’t responded to any of the many messages he sent yesterday.

He seemed to be sharing something incredibly worth sharing, but Lu Zhi held his breath slightly, as if even the sound of his heartbeat was deliberately concealed.

“But I don’t know what you sent me. I didn’t see it before you recalled it,” Chi Jinxian said regretfully, then asked, “Brother, what did you send?”

Lu Zhi’s steady breathing gradually returned to normal, no different from usual. He said, “Nothing. I had some things going on yesterday and didn’t have time to reply to you. I just remembered and sent a quick response.”

Chi Jinxian sounded puzzled, “Then why did you recall it, brother?”

Lu Zhi replied, “I saw the time. It was too late. You were resting.”

“Ah, it’s fine,” Chi Jinxian chuckled softly and said, “I sleep very deeply. Unless I’m woken up by needing to pee, ordinary noises won’t wake me.”

Lu Zhi didn’t respond.

They often spent time together at school, and after school, Chi Jinxian would occasionally bother Lu Zhi on chat apps, but they almost never called each other.

Last night and early this morning, as if trying to overdraw something in advance, Chi Jinxian had called Lu Zhi twice in a row. But lacking experience, after a brief conversation, they both fell silent, unsure of what to say next.

Only the sound of each other’s breathing traveled through the receiver, reaching the other’s ears.

After a long pause, Lu Zhi was the first to speak, “Why did you call?”

If it were really because of the message, similar situations had happened before, but Chi Jinxian had never directly called him without a word like this time.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, Chi Jinxian stammered as he searched for words, clearly not having prepared a reason.

After a moment, he spoke softly first: “Brother, why are you still awake so late? Did you not sleep, or did you just wake up? Or are you also going to the bathroom?”

Lu Zhi said, “Going to the bathroom.”

“Oh.” Chi Jinxian thought for a moment and spoke honestly, “Earlier tonight, I felt like you weren’t very happy, so I thought if you were replying to my message at this hour, maybe you needed me for somethinghahaha, I’m just talking nonsense.”

As if afraid of being contradicted, he cleverly preempted any possible rejection by the other person and even tried to cover it up with a light laugh. After laughing, he turned serious and said very earnestly, “But I want to keep you company.”

Tonight was still too deep, so deep that it made one want to sink into it and never pull away. Lu Zhi remained lying on his side, his phone pressed between his ear and the pillow. After clearly hearing what was said on the other end, he subconsciously shifted his head slightly, as if this movement could bring him closer to the voice speaking at that moment.

“Brother,” Chi Jinxian said, “Let me talk to you, okay?”

After a long pause, Lu Zhi responded very, very softly, “Mm.”

That night, Chi Jinxian said a lot, and although Lu Zhi didn’t speak much, he earnestly responded to every word the other said.

Even though they still had classes the next morning, it felt as if the next day were a weekend. Chi Jinxian grew more and more excited as he talked, as if he would never get tired.

By the time he finally felt tired and started yawning, the clock had already struck four in the morning. Lu Zhi spoke in a commanding tone at last: “Go to sleep.”

Chi Jinxian felt he could still keep going and insisted, “I’m not sleepy.”

Lu Zhi’s tone was flat and unemotional: “If you dare sleep in class, I’ll deduct points from you.”

Hearing this, Chi Jinxian immediately wailed, “Ah, no, please! I’ll sleep, I’ll sleep right now. Actually, I was already sleepy just now. Did you notice? I’ve been yawning.”

Lu Zhi: “Mm.”

In truth, Chi Jinxian was just trying to make conversation in the final moments, convinced that he had suppressed his yawns almost silently. Logically, Lu Zhi shouldn’t have noticed, yet he had!

Afraid that Lu Zhi would truly wield his authority as class monitor the next day and mercilessly deduct points if he dozed off in class, Chi Jinxian didn’t dare to pester him any further.

Besides, he really was on the verge of exhaustion. After letting out another big yawn, Chi Jinxian mumbled, “Brother, you should sleep too. It’s past four now. Good morning.”

Less than a minute after he finished speaking, soft, rhythmic breathing sounds came from the other end—one after another, each beat precisely striking the heart of someone whose own heart was still pounding.

Carefree and thoughtless, Chi Jinxian fell asleep without even remembering to hang up the phone.

Lu Zhi, his dark eyes wide open, stared at the faint glow of dawn gradually appearing outside the window, not moving his phone. Then, accompanied by the almost imperceptible breathing sounds from the receiver, he closed his eyes and rested peacefully.

The early morning sun arrived punctually at half past seven. The Heat Period wasn’t an illness, and after stabilizing yesterday, there shouldn’t be any major issues. When Lu Zisheng returned from the hospital with Lu Wan and Ai Duoyan in the morning, Lu Zhi happened to have just finished breakfast.

He stood up from the dining table, pushed his chair in neatly, picked up his backpack from the sofa, slung it over one shoulder, and walked out without glancing sideways. Lu Wan turned pale at the sight of him, instinctively moving closer to Lu Zisheng as Lu Zhi passed by them, his hand clutching Ai Duoyan’s sleeve.

Ai Duoyan also took hold of Lu Wan’s arm, watching Lu Zhi warily.

But Lu Zhi acted as if he hadn’t noticed them at all, not even bothering to cast a sidelong glance their way.

Only when he reached Lu Zisheng did he lower his gaze slightly and say, “Father.”

Lu Zisheng acknowledged him, and just as Lu Zhi was about to open the door to leave, he said, “Xiao Zhi, I won’t be home every day. Keep your temper in check.”

His tone was stern, exuding the authority befitting a father.

Click. Lu Zhi opened the living room door without looking back and said, “Keep your mouths shut, and we’ll coexist peacefully.”

With that, another click followed as the living room door closed.

Although Fang Shou hadn’t been staying at the Lu residence these past few days, his task of escorting Lu Zhi to and from school remained unchanged. Unless his own Heat Period arrived, he would let Lu Zhi go alone; otherwise, he was always the one accompanying him.

As usual, he was already waiting outside the villa.

Once Lu Zhi got into the car, Fang Shou casually remarked, “I saw the General just returning with Lu Wan and the others. Isn’t it his Heat Period? Why was he out so early instead of staying home?”

Lu Zhi lowered his head to fasten his seatbelt. “They were coming back from the hospital.”

Hearing this, Fang Shou paused mid-turn of the steering wheel. Without Lu Zhi saying another word, he already understood the implication. He couldn’t help but sigh softly and said, “Xiao Zhi, I was only gone for one night.”

“Even if you were here, his outcome would have been the same,” Lu Zhi interrupted, his tone indifferent. He clearly had no intention of discussing the events of the previous night.

Given how far things had gone, it was evident that the other party had done something Lu Zhi deeply disliked, perhaps even detested. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have reacted this way.

After all, they had coexisted almost without conflict for nearly a decade.

Fang Shou said nothing more and focused on driving.

At 7:35, Lu Zhi placed his backpack properly and took out his phone from his pocket. When he turned it on, the screen immediately displayed a call that had been connected for four hours and it was still ongoing! Lu Zhi held the phone to his ear for a moment, his lips tightening slightly.

As he brought the phone to his ear, Fang Shou caught a glimpse of the call duration out of the corner of his eye and was startled. He was about to ask who he had been talking to for so long when he saw Lu Zhi suddenly speak expressionlessly, “Chi Jinxian.”

There was likely no response from the other end.

Lu Zhi called again, “Chi Jinxian.”

“…”

He repeated this nearly a dozen times, as if the name held some kind of magic. Even without a response, he didn’t seem annoyed. Fang Shou watched him with a mix of shock and suspicion from the corner of his eye. If he hadn’t needed to focus on driving, he would have demanded an explanation for the situation right then.

But just as Lu Zhi was about to call out the eleventh time, Fang Shou couldn’t hold back any longer and said, “Maybe his phone isn’t nearby.”

Lu Zhi fell silent before replying, “He’s still asleep.”

“Huh?” Fang Shou sounded puzzled.

Lu Zhi: “There’s no sound on the other end of the line except breathing.”

Fang Shou: “…”

So he held the phone to his ear not to listen to what someone was saying, but to hear their breathing?

Chi Jinxian kept thinking he heard Lu-ge’s voice, but it sounded somewhat distant. He thought to himself, it must be a dream.

But the name “Chi Jinxian” was being softly called out one breath after another, each syllable carrying Lu Zhi’s unmistakable tone a voice practically engraved in his DNA. Chi Jinxian couldn’t possibly mistake it.

Five minutes later, he hazily remembered that today was only Tuesday and he needed to go to school.

At this realization, Chi Jinxian’s eyes snapped open, successfully escaping the embrace of the Sandman.

Coincidentally, Lu Zhi called again: “Chi Jinxian.”

Rubbing his hair, Chi Jinxian turned his head groggily toward the sound, mumbling to himself in a daze: “Have I gone so crazy over my crush on my brother that I’m hearing his voice first thing in the morning?”

Lu Zhi on the other end of the line: “…”

Unlike the patient tone he’d used while repeatedly calling the name, this time Lu Zhi’s voice carried a hint of exasperation: “Look at your phone.”

Fortunately, the bedroom was quiet enough that the voice leaking from the receiver wasn’t completely muffled. Following this surreal instruction, Chi Jinxian instinctively glanced at his phone still lying on the pillow. Instantly, the call duration showing nearly five hours hit him with overwhelming impact.

Chi Jinxian was stunned, all traces of sleepiness vanishing completely.

He exclaimed in disbelief: “Lu-ge, I never hung up?!”

Seeing that he was truly awake now, Lu Zhi responded indifferently: “Mm.”

Chi Jinxian asked: “Then why didn’t you hang up either?”

Lu Zhi: “Forgot.”

“Then I ”

“Enough talking,” Lu Zhi interrupted abruptly, “Check the time. You’re going to be late.”

“Huh?” Triggered by the student-sensitive word “late”, Chi Jinxian pulled the phone away to confirm the time.

The next moment, his despairing wail echoed through the room: “Ah! How is it already this late! How could this happen!!”

Sensing his panic, Lu Zhi remained completely calm, asking: “Not sleepy anymore?” His tone even seemed teasing!

Chi Jinxian pleaded: “Ah, ge, stop mocking me.” As he spoke, he hurriedly stripped off his pajamas and dressed, saying, “Ge, are you already on your way to school? You go ahead, I’ll catch up soon. Ge, I gotta go now.”

Before hanging up, he started shouting toward the next room even before leaving his own: “Uncle, Uncle, stop sleeping! How do you manage to make me wake you every single day? Hurry up and get up, we’re going to be late !”

The call disconnected, the cheerful voice cutting off abruptly. Lu Zhi pressed his lips together and stared at his phone for a moment, as if pondering what he’d just heard.

Fang Shou, noticing his mood had been fine just seconds ago but now he seemed distracted, asked: “What’s wrong?”

After a moment of silence, Lu Zhi said: “He has an uncle.” After some thought, he frowned. “And he sounds about the same age, but I’ve never seen him at school.”

“Though I often see him with his childhood friend.”

His demeanor suggested he needed to catalog everyone in the other’s social circle as if he’d have reason to be displeased upon discovering anyone he didn’t like.

Fang Shou chuckled lightly, “Isn’t Young Master Jiang Jin also often staying with you?”

Lu Zhi pursed his lips and fell silent, though he didn’t seem to agree with Fang Shou’s words.

Chi Jinxian indeed arrived right on time, and so did Qi Suiyi.

The two of them, carrying backpacks, hurriedly dashed through the corridor and rushed to the classroom door. Before Chi Jinxian opened the back door to enter, he flipped off Qi Suiyi, who was running so fast he was practically a blur, and said fiercely, “I’m never calling you again.”

Qi Suiyi had already almost run past Class 10 of Grade 12 when he heard this. He quickly slammed on the brakes and even took a few steps back, standing by the window on Chi Jinxian’s side, saying, “Good Cash, Cash is good, I know you won’t abandon me.”

Chi Jinxian was angry and said, “Get lost.”

Class was about to start, so there wasn’t time to say much more. Qi Suiyi smiled apologetically, “Alright, alright, I’ll get lost. I’ll come back to apologize after class.”

With that, he dashed off like the wind.

His tone was disgustingly sweet. Even after he had been gone for a while, Chi Jinxian couldn’t help but shiver from the cringe.

Jiang Baixiao noticed that Chi Jinxian’s expression wasn’t great as soon as he arrived though it was feigned, the moment Qi Suiyi disappeared, his angry expression vanished. Still, Jiang Baixiao leaned in and asked, “What’s wrong? What did your childhood friend do to upset you?”

Mentioning this, Chi Jinxian got angry again! He said, “Yesterday, I was with Lu… and then I overslept today. This morning, I went to wake him up, and he even complained that I slept too heavily and scolded me for waking him up late!”

After venting, he added fiercely, “He’s too much. Let him fend for himself from now on.”

After all, without him, Qi Suiyi would definitely be late every day.

“You wake him up?” Suddenly, a slow and puzzled inquiry came from behind.

Jiang Baixiao was the first to turn and look. The moment his eyes landed on the speaker, he immediately turned back to Chi Jinxian, his gaze full of scrutiny and amusement.

“Um… huh?” Chi Jinxian hadn’t yet put his backpack under his desk and was still holding it in his arms. He turned sideways to look at Lu Zhi, who wore an indifferent expression and a look that demanded an answer. Chi Jinxian’s scalp tingled.

Then, Lu Zhi asked again, “Who is your uncle? Is he the same age as you?”

Chi Jinxian: “!”

“Bro, how did you know I have an uncle?” Chi Jinxian widened his eyes, his tone incredulous.

Lu Zhi replied expressionlessly, “I heard it this morning.”

Beside them, Jiang Baixiao straightened his face and focused on his book, secretly clicking his tongue several times.

“Oh, I see. He is the same age as me, but he doesn’t go to the same school. He’s at the high school next door,” Chi Jinxian didn’t dare to meet his gaze, but his lie was fairly coherent. “Usually, it’s my uncle who wakes Xiao Sui up in the mornings. Our families live very close… but today, my uncle had something to do, so I went to wake him up instead.”

Lu Zhi lowered his eyes and didn’t respond, his right hand holding a pen, his thumb rubbing the tip of the pen erratically.

“Bro, here’s your milk. I’m making up for yesterday’s too.” Chi Jinxian pulled two cartons of milk from his backpack and handed them to Lu Zhi with a smile.

Lu Zhi looked up and reached out to take them.

The class bell happened to ring just then. Chi Jinxian, who had wanted to say more, had no choice but to close his mouth, turn around properly, and sit upright in his seat.

With Lu Zhi no longer present to act as a buffer, it was finally possible to ask about the gossip. Before the teacher arrived, Jiang Baixiao rested his elbows on the desk and slid them quietly toward Chi Jinxian, whispering ambiguously, “What did our class monitor hear this morning? How did you hear it? Why was it in the morning? What happened between you two this morning?”

The barrage of questions left Chi Jinxian both exasperated and amused. He replied in a hushed tone, “Aren’t you the Martial Arts Alliance Know-It-All, omniscient and all-knowing? Go gather your own intel.”

Jiang Baixiao: “…”

He was beginning to realize that Chi Jinxian had become increasingly tight-lipped lately.

Jiang Baixiao clicked his tongue in frustration. “But intel can only be gathered if it happens in a public setting, right? This is a secret between you and God Lu. If neither of you says anything, am I supposed to gather information from thin air?”

Chi Jinxian curved his eyes into a smile. “Well, that’s not my problem.”

Jiang Baixiao: “…”

Seeing that the other had already opened his textbook and was quietly waiting for the teacher, clearly unwilling to divulge more, Jiang Baixiao gritted his teeth in frustration and hissed, “Chi Xianjin, you’ve changed.”

“Where?” Chi Jinxian replied, affecting a playful tone and blinking at him. “Sis, let’s stick together.” He even made a heart gesture with his hands.

Jiang Baixiao: “…”

Feeling utterly defeated, Jiang Baixiao quickly averted his gaze and focused on studying. He thought to himself that in this world, perhaps only God Lu could handle Chi Jinxian.

Senior year classes were primarily focused on review, with teachers mainly explaining past exam questions, so there wasn’t much novelty. To make himself more compatible with Lu Zhi, the top student in the school, Chi Jinxian studied diligently and never slacked off. Coupled with his natural intelligence, he never gave his parents or teachers any cause for concern in his studies.

For instance, today, while the English teacher was explaining difficult question types, Chi Jinxian was nodding off in his seat. The teacher only glanced at him briefly without reprimanding him, as if assuming he had stayed up late doing homework, a common trait among good students.

It wasn’t until Chi Jinxian’s forehead hit the desk with a soft thud, having completely given in to sleep that the English teacher looked up from her notes and stared at him for a moment. While she could tolerate dozing off in her class, if the administration caught wind of it, there would be no room for excuses.

Sensing the teacher’s gaze, Jiang Baixiao reached out to nudge Chi Jinxian, but the English teacher called out first, “Lu Zhi.”

Lu Zhi, who had been looking down at his book, raised his eyes and responded, “Teacher.”

The English teacher tilted her sharp chin slightly, gesturing toward the seat in front of him. “Handle it.” She added, “You’re the class monitor.”

This wasn’t the first time Lu Zhi had been singled out regarding Chi Jinxian, and as class monitor, he hadn’t been particularly effective at managing him. Hearing the teacher’s instruction, Lu Zhi half-lowered his eyes as if to feign ignorance, stretched his long leg over the footrest, and kicked Chi Jinxian’s chair.

The jolt woke Chi Jinxian abruptly, though he was still disoriented. Lu Zhi said in a voice only audible to their two rows, “One point deducted for sleeping.”

Chi Jinxian was fully awake now and hurriedly sat up. “…Ah, don’t do that.”

He had genuinely been asleep, and quite soundly at that his voice was slightly hoarse as he spoke, carrying a hint of a whine.

Lu Zhi’s tone was cold: “Who said you weren’t tired?”

Chi Jinxian quickly glanced up and made eye contact with the English teacher, offering an awkward smile. The English teacher had no choice but to let him be.

Seeing that the teacher was no longer watching him, Chi Jinxian turned around and whispered, “I won’t sleep anymore, I’m not tired, really.”

“If you call me in the middle of the night again, I’ll throw you out.”

“…” Chi Jinxian muttered, “But you answered the call too.”

Lu Zhi didn’t catch it clearly: “Hmm?”

Chi Jinxian refused to repeat it and quickly said, “I’ll pay attention in class,” then straightened up with a proper attitude for learning.

Jiang Baixiao thought to himself that he really needed to gather some intelligence the developments between Lu and Chi were becoming increasingly baffling to him.

As the deskmate of one party involved and the diagonal front-seat neighbor of the other, he actually knew no more than anyone else. The title of Alliance Know-It-All was on the verge of being lost, and he was deeply frustrated.

So he mobilized all his interpersonal connections to dig for information, and nearly got carried away shipping the couple in the process.

But this investigation turned out to be more significant than expected, Jiang Baixiao even uncovered something seemingly unrelated yet somehow connected to Lu and Chi.

The long break after the second morning class was nearly over. Lu Zhi was still playing basketball on the court and hadn’t returned, but Chi Jinxian came back early he was thirsty. However, he only bought one bottle of water, and it was for Lu Zhi.

So he came back to drink water, figuring class would start soon anyway.

“Cash, Cash, Cash Cash Cash !” Just as Chi Jinxian was tilting his head back to drink, the rear door slammed open accompanied by Jiang Baixiao’s frantic, rapid-fire calls, startling him so much he nearly choked on his water.

Abandoning his water, Chi Jinxian turned to look at the breathless Jiang Baixiao and asked, “What’s going on? Why the rush?”

“If you won’t tell me what’s up between you and the class monitor, I had no choice but to scour the forums and consult my own connections.”

Chi Jinxian: “…”

“And guess what else I found out!” Jiang Baixiao wore an expression that screamed he had major news to share.

Chi Jinxian felt a twinge of nervous curiosity: “What?”

Hearing this, Jiang Baixiao glanced around to ensure no one was paying attention, then threw an arm around Chi Jinxian’s neck and whispered with exaggerated seriousness, “I heard our senior year is getting a transfer student.”

Chi Jinxian: “Who? So what if someone’s transferring?”

“He’s the school heartthrob from the neighboring high school, and also the top student really outstanding,” Jiang Baixiao explained rapidly. “But that’s not the point! The important thing is his name is Ren Yiran, and he’s God Lu’s childhood friend!”

Chi Jinxian was indeed stunned, letting out an incredulous: “Huh?”

“Here’s the real bombshell!” Jiang Baixiao looked like he was about to stamp his feet in urgency. “He’s also God Lu’s early romance and his first love at that.”

Chi Jinxian was completely dumbfounded, forgetting even to blink.

“Click.”

The rear door was pushed open by a slender, strong hand as Lu Zhi entered and closed it behind him.

It was unclear if the subject had overheard, but Jiang Baixiao’s brain short-circuited, his neck stiffly craning halfway to look at Lu Zhi.

Chi Jinxian remained frozen, snapping back to reality upon seeing Lu Zhi enter. With blunt, almost resigned courage, he blurted out: “Bro.”

“Mm,” Lu Zhi cut him off, stating flatly, “Never had an early romance.”