What to Do If Beta Cannot Be Marked? - Chapter 38.1

“What did you say?” Ren Yiran uttered these words extremely softly, as if asking a question but more like a whisper.

But Lu Zhi wouldn’t answer him, because he had already turned and walked away. Probably feeling somewhat similar to Ren Yiran’s current mood, Chi Jinxian was completely stunned. He stood there dazedly as if unable to process what happened, only snapping back to reality when there was no one around him and hurriedly rushing downstairs to catch up with Lu Zhi’s retreating figure.

Driven by agitation and panic, Chi Jinxian descended the stairs recklessly, his long legs effortlessly covering three or four steps at a time without changing expression.

Noticing from the corner of his eye how fast Chi Jinxian was chasing after him, Lu Zhi stopped and waited for him.

“Bro.” Chi Jinxian was slightly breathless when he reached him. He seemed to want to say something but hesitated, finally just saying, “Let’s leave school together.”

Lu Zhi: “Mm.”

There was no difference from usual after school today. Boarding students went to the cafeteria for dinner, while day students carried their backpacks home. The sight of Lu Zhi and Chi Jinxian walking together remained particularly conspicuous.

However, today Chi Jinxian seemed preoccupied. He closely followed Lu Zhi’s pace, head slightly lowered, not initiating conversation.

Only when they reached the school gate, with parting imminent, did Chi Jinxian seem unable to hold back anymore. He looked up and called out softly: “Lu-ge.”

Lu Zhi glanced at him sideways and asked: “Have you suddenly forgotten how to say ‘brother’?”

“…” Chi Jinxian felt his brother had been acting somewhat unusual lately, his words becoming increasingly bold and unrestrained, becoming more uninhibited like himself, somewhat spoiled by favor.

Chi Jinxian looked up and said: “Don’t provoke me, I can say anything. I’d be even happier if you asked me to call you husband. Want to try?”

“…”

Lu Zhi seemed genuinely intimidated by Chi Jinxian’s enthusiasm. He remained silent, lips pressed together, staring unblinkingly at the person before him from head to toe.

As if blinking would make the figure in his pupils disappear, so he needed to preserve it a little longer.

But prolonged direct gazing caused the meaning in his eyes to shift from calmness, carrying an indescribable secret desire as if wanting to strip Chi Jinxian bare from inside out.

Chi Jinxian was the first to yield, completely unable to handle Lu Zhi’s “provocation.” He raised his hand to rub his hair and earlobes, not daring to voice those extremely bold words, instead clumsily changing the subject: “Bro, what did you mean by what you said to Ren Yiran earlier?”

“Which part?” Lu Zhi’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, dispersing the light in his pupils as he asked impassively.

“It’s just.” Chi Jinxian said very quietly, “that you only like Betas.”

Fang Shou was already waiting by the roadside. Lu Zhi started walking in that direction and replied: “I was lying to him. He’s too annoying.”

Hearing this, Chi Jinxian’s previously anxious heart suddenly relaxed, and he felt a wave of relief.

Logically, he should be happy that Lu Zhi said he liked Betas, but when he first heard those words, Chi Jinxian’s initial reaction had been shock and doubt.

Perhaps it was because Lu Zhi had personally admitted to him that he hated Betas, and Lu-ge had said he wouldn’t lie to him.

Or maybe it was because Lu Zhi’s exclusive standard of “hating Betas, but not you” made Chi Jinxian too dizzy-headed he didn’t want to share it with anyone.

Everyone has their selfish desires.

“Oh.” Chi Jinxian let out a breath, a smile reappearing on his face as he said, “Well then, goodbye, brother.”

“Lu Zhi !” Suddenly, a startling cry rang out from behind, swallowing up Lu Zhi’s “Mm” in response to Chi Jinxian.

Ren Yiran had clearly been running, his backpack had slipped down to his elbow, and the hem of his school uniform flapped backward from his frantic sprint.

He shouted again, “Lu Zhi!”

This time, his tone carried a hint of anguish. Lu Zhi finally stopped walking, and Chi Jinxian also turned to look.

Ren Yiran’s eyes were red-rimmed, as if he might have been crying earlier. He halted in front of the two, panting heavily, yet he didn’t dare bend over to catch his breath. Instead, he stared at Lu Zhi with an almost resentful intensity, his chest heaving irregularly.

“What do you mean by this?” After a moment of silence, the wind that had rushed into his vocal cords now reflected in his slightly hoarse voice.

Lu Zhi stood silently in place, seemingly puzzled.

Ren Yiran pressed on, his tone growing more aggressive, “What do you mean, you just like Betas?”

“Before my secondary differentiation, when I was still a Beta, wasn’t it you who told me you hated Betas the most? That you would never like me and never be with a Beta?!” His voice had risen to an accusatory pitch as he voiced his deepest grievances. “Do you really want to see me humiliated that badly? And in front of an outsider, no less you’re shaming me like this! Even if things are strained between us, you wouldn’t normally disregard over a decade of friendship like this!” As he spoke, he angrily pointed at Chi Jinxian. “What has he been telling you?! What has he done to you?!”

“You should think about what you yourself have done,” Lu Zhi retorted coldly, unmoved.

His gaze, however, sharpened into a tangible force fixed on the hand pointing at Chi Jinxian.

This was a private matter between the two of them; outsiders shouldn’t be present.

Chi Jinxian had no desire to listen further. He would find out when Lu Zhi was ready to tell him, but in a situation like this, which kept repeating, he wasn’t suited to stay.

“I still have homework to finish, Lu Ge,” Chi Jinxian said. “I’m heading home first.”

Lu Zhi glanced sideways at him, then lowered his eyes and responded, “Mm.”

“What have I done?” Ren Yiran murmured to himself, then raised his voice again. “All I did was fall for my childhood friend, what’s so wrong about that?”

“Just because you don’t feel the same, because you don’t want anything to do with me, I didn’t even dare go to the same school as you and went to the one next door instead. But Lu Zhi, is who I fall for something I can control? What have I done wrong?”

As he spoke, his voice choked up slightly. Chi Jinxian, walking away with his back to them, still caught every word he didn’t want to, but he wasn’t deaf either.

Realizing this, Chi Jinxian quickened his pace, breaking into a run, and soon disappeared around the corner.

“Maybe I’ve made some mistakes, but they don’t deserve this kind of punishment,” Ren Yiran said. “For you to cut off over a decade of friendship just like that for more than two years, you haven’t been willing to say a single word to me. And now, when you finally speak, it’s because of a Beta!”

Lu Zhi withdrew his gaze from the corner where someone had vanished. He adjusted the strap of his single-shoulder backpack, his expression icy.

“Yiran,” he said without looking at him, his voice detached, “your family has truly spoiled you rotten.”

After speaking, he didn’t want to linger for another moment and immediately turned to leave.

Despite the person behind him calling his name several times, he acted as if he hadn’t heard, taking large strides to the car parked by the roadside, opening the door, and getting in.

As the car’s engine started, Ren Yiran remained standing there, glaring resentfully at their vehicle.

Fang Shou observed them from head to toe through the car window. When Lu Zhi got in, he asked, “So the young master of the Ren Family really transferred here?”

Lu Zhi replied, “Mm.”

“With you here, didn’t Ren Guanming try to talk him out of it?” Mentioning Ren Yiran’s father, Fang Shou seemed to understand and continued on his own, “Their family spoils their only son excessively. It’s no surprise they can’t control him.”

The scenery outside the window blurred, making it somewhat dizzying. Lu Zhi said, “He didn’t come here for me.”