What to Do If Beta Cannot Be Marked? - Chapter 40.2

The person called seemed slightly stunned and said, “What’s wrong?”

Chi Jinxian looked at him and asked, “Did you get close to me because of Ren Yiran?”

After these words, the atmosphere between them grew even more awkward. Nan Mengbai didn’t speak.

Chi Jinxian then lowered his gaze and said, “You knew him from the start.”

After a long pause, Nan Mengbai replied, “Yeah.”

“The reason?”

“I made a bet with him.”

They had met in a flower shop during the summer break of their first year of high school. Ren Yiran, dressed in pure white, was surrounded by the shop’s colorful flowers, as if crowned with the most sacred halo.

Humans are the most straightforward visual creatures; they appreciate beauty.

Teenagers even more so. Driven by passion, they love what they perceive as beautiful without understanding its past. Nan Mengbai fell in love at first sight with that sacred figure.

But that person had an indelible figure in his heart. At the start of their second year, Nan Mengbai began paying attention to Lu Zhi.

And Chi Jinxian.

The more he chatted with Ren Yiran, the more Nan Mengbai realized he had an unpleasantly stubborn side. His infatuation gradually faded, and he felt it wasn’t right. But since this was the first person he’d wanted to like, giving up just like that felt somewhat unwilling.

Moreover, whenever he sensed any hesitation, Ren Yiran would respond to him.

Ren Yiran would always take a very small step forward, laying out bait, and Nan Mengbai would invariably take it.

Yet in reality, most of their conversations revolved around Lu Zhi.

As their final year of high school approached, Nan Mengbai finally grew weary. Ren Yiran told him, “Human emotions are truly the cheapest things. Declaring affection is just a sentence, and giving up is just another. I want to see if Chi Jinxian’s feelings are the same. How about a bet?”

Seeing his own affection being evaluated with such sharp remarks, Nan Mengbai endured the pain and resolved to let go. He had no intention of engaging with Ren Yiran’s games, nor did he understand Chi Jinxian well. Thus, he rashly agreed with Ren Yiran’s words and accepted the bet.

He too wanted to see whether Chi Jinxian would shift his affections when he started liking him, and if so, how long it would take.

But he regretted not learning more about Chi Jinxian beforehand. In this shift of affections, Nan Mengbai ended up being the first to fall, becoming the one who surrendered and lost.

Perhaps, just as Ren Yiran had said, his feelings were indeed cheap, capable of liking someone new at every turn.

“Jinxian,” Nan Mengbai’s voice was extremely dejected, as if he were too ashamed to speak, yet he desperately wanted to justify himself, “I didn’t mean to hurt you, and I never intended to. I just.”

“Chi Jinxian.” Suddenly, a cold voice echoed from the hallway.

Chi Jinxian immediately turned to look. Lu Zhi’s eyes were dark, his gaze sweeping over both of them for a moment before settling entirely on Chi Jinxian. Instinctively, Chi Jinxian walked over and called out, “Brother.”

“Mm,” Lu Zhi replied. “Do you know class is about to start?”

“Huh?” Chi Jinxian was puzzled, tilting his head to ask, “Brother, did you come looking for me specifically?”

Lu Zhi remained silent, but before turning to leave, his eyes signaled for Chi Jinxian to follow.

The latter promptly broke into a light jog to catch up, glancing back to wave at Nan Mengbai and say, “See you later.”

With Lu Zhi’s large hand reaching out to press against the back of his neck, guiding him forward, Chi Jinxian snapped back to attention and pretended to protest, “I’ll walk properly, I promise. Brother, don’t pinch me.”

Nan Mengbai couldn’t suppress a bitter smile at the corner of his lips, thinking to himself: Even knowing the other had approached him with ill intentions, he could still bid farewell so lightly, without holding a grudge.

Back in the classroom, Nan Mengbai still couldn’t shake the ache in his heart. Noticing this, Ren Yiran asked, “What’s wrong?”

Nan Mengbai didn’t respond. After sitting at his desk for a moment to collect himself, he said quietly, “Yiran, I warned you before you transferred here not to come. I don’t know what happened between you and Lu Zhi, but it’s clear you’re no longer on speaking terms. And after you arrived, once I got to know you, Jinxian would have easily guessed that my initial approach to him was suspicious.”

The words were straightforward, without any preamble. Ren Yiran was stunned for a moment before letting out a sudden cold laugh. “Are you blaming me?”

Nan Mengbai: “No.”

Ren Yiran scoffed, his tone laced with sarcasm. “Do you like him now?”

Nan Mengbai stayed silent.

In the midst of this silence, Ren Yiran understood everything. He picked up a book from the desk and threw it at Nan Mengbai, saying, “You like him because he’s a Beta?”

Perhaps too enraged to think clearly, he blurted out whatever came to mind, barely controlling his volume: “You Alphas, why reject perfectly compatible Omegas for something without pheromones?”

“Say that again?” Qi Suiyi pushed the door open just before class started, his tone icy.

Ren Yiran turned his head sharply, the cold glare snapping him back to his senses. “What’s it to you?”

“If you weren’t talking about me, then it really has nothing to do with me,” Qi Suiyi replied as he returned to his seat, chuckling lightly. “But say one more word about Chi Jinxian, and you’re dead.”

Ren Yiran raised an eyebrow. “You think I’m scared of you?”

Qi Suiyi retorted, “You’re only this arrogant because of your dad, aren’t you?”

Ren Yiran shot back, “Got a problem with that?”

Qi Suiyi was almost amused by his anger. He thought to himself, Damn it, my ancestors have contributed countless merits to the Alliance. Forget your father, Ren Guanming, just a Lieutenant General, even General Lu Zisheng would lower his head before my dad.

What a fucking idiot.

Fuming, Qi Suiyi started thinking again, why wasn’t he an adult yet? Once he came of age, the fourth son of the Chi family could be publicly acknowledged. The incident with Xiao An as a child had left the adults with too much psychological trauma. Before him and Chi Jinxian, the Chi family never had a rule about not revealing their children until they grew up.

Otherwise, Qi Suiyi would have “slapped” Ren Yiran’s face swollen by now!

“Fine,” Qi Suiyi said, his tone excessively polite. “You can try it, you know.”

His attitude was so confident that Ren Yiran couldn’t quite grasp his meaning.

But after this interruption from Chi Jinxian’s “childhood friend” Qi Suiyi, Ren Yiran became even more convinced that Chi Jinxian was like a fox spirit, a Beta who specialized in seducing Alphas.

He wondered if these people were specifically attracted to his Beta gender or something else. If it was just about gender,

The tension between them had been palpable, and the other students in the class held their breath while stealing glances.

Now that Qi Suiyi had taken the first step toward “friendliness,” they quietly relaxed.

Just then, the class bell rang right on schedule.

And so, Friday arrived in the blink of an eye, like the bell signaling the end of class.

The sports field was packed with students that day juniors, sophomores, and seniors all gathered together.

With only one day for fun, Jiang Jin had already claimed one of the basketball courts early in the morning.

The sports event kept recycling the same few activities. The underclassmen still enjoyed them, but the senior students were long bored.

They’d rather play basketball.

The only downside was how noisy the field was. They didn’t want to go to the dedicated basketball gym either, it wasn’t near the senior-year building, and they didn’t feel like walking that far.

They decided to put up with it. Besides, the underclassmen’s cheers of “Go, go!” were pretty energetic and full of vigor.

“How are we playing today?” Jiang Jin spun the ball on his fingertip and casually asked the person beside him.

The other two classmates from their class waited for God Lu to speak.

Lu Zhi said, “Whatever. It’s not like you can win anyway.”

Jiang Jin: “…”

Hearing this, class monitor Zhong Qing couldn’t help but snicker. His laughter set off the rest of the seniors from Class 10.

But Class 11 was extremely unwilling. Feigning protest, they said, “It’s always like this, how boring. This time, why not let Old Zhong and the others follow Brother Jiang, and we’ll follow God Lu?”

Before both agreement and opposition could coexist, Jiang Jin immediately grabbed the person who had made the suggestion, gritting his teeth as he threatened, “What did you say?”

“Hahahaha, nothing, nothing! We’re in this together, Brother Jiang. We won’t abandon you, even though we’ve never won a single time following you.”

Jiang Jin: “…”

Chi Jinxian sat on the grass watching them fool around, as if infected by the uplifting atmosphere, he couldn’t help but curve his eyes into a smile.

Soon, they agreed on the rules and the match began. Everyone played with intense focus, and unless deliberately looking, few would occasionally glance outside the court.

Chi Jinxian openly took out his phone, zoomed in on the basketball court, and captured every pose of Lu Zhi in his device. Meanwhile, he waited for Jiang Baixiao the “sisters” had gone to the restroom and hadn’t returned yet.

The surroundings were filled with the enthusiastic cheers and shouts from the sports meet, fierce and passionate.

The sunlight these two days wasn’t too harsh, accompanied by a gentle breeze, making Chi Jinxian so comfortable he felt like lying straight on the ground.

Until a small shadow fell over him.

Thinking it was Jiang Baixiao back from the restroom, Chi Jinxian was about to ask why it took so long when he saw Ren Yiran, wearing a baseball cap, sit down slightly behind him.

The grass was crowded with people; by keeping a low profile like this, even if Lu Zhi looked over, he might not spot him immediately.

“Did Lu Zhi really like you just because you’re a Beta?” Ren Yiran asked in a low, quick whisper.

“What?” Chi Jinxian replied, his tone serious. “Brother Lu doesn’t like me. Don’t spread unfounded rumors.”

“Even if he did, it wouldn’t be just because of my gender. If you have more to say, speak properly.”

Chided by the stern tone, Ren Yiran wasn’t angered, just shrugged with a faint smile and said, “Believe it or not, Lu Zhi and I had a near-relationship once.”

Chi Jinxian frowned, staring straight at him.

Thinking to himself, Brother Lu wouldn’t lie to him.

Sure enough, Ren Yiran continued immediately: “But seeing how close you two are now, even if I tried to deceive you, he’d probably tell you. So I’ll be the one to inform you.”

“Rest assured, he didn’t almost get with me out of liking me. I used a little trick, borrowing someone else’s name. You know, when Lu Zhi saw that person’s name, even before meeting him, he started making limitless promises.”

Here, as if to emphasize the gravity, Ren Yiran deliberately paused before adding, “And from what I’ve learned, that person knew Lu Zhi from way, way back, but neither Jiang Jin nor I, as Lu Zhi’s childhood friends, have ever met him. It’s like he thought we’d snatch him away if we saw him,” he looked at Chi Jinxian and asked, “So, do you understand how important that person is to Lu Zhi?”

The breeze brushed past their ears, but Chi Jinxian seemed stunned by some immense shock.

Speechless.

Ren Yiran lifted his face, revealing half of his features under the cap, smiling to show a few teeth: “It’s not that strange, is it? In this rapidly developing Alliance era, who doesn’t have a white moonlight?”

“But the white moonlight in Lu Zhi’s heart no one could ever replace.”

Just half an hour into the game, Lu Zhi suddenly stopped, coldly gazing toward the sidelines.

Jiang Jin asked him, “What’s wrong?”

“You guys keep playing.” Lu Zhi tossed the ball to Jiang Jin, strode off the court, and headed toward Chi Jinxian.

Jiang Jin followed his gaze and saw Ren Yiran just standing up and walking away.

He furrowed his brows and inwardly clicked his tongue in annoyance, his face taking on a troubled expression.

“What did he say to you?”

Chi Jinxian was lost in thought and jolted upright at the question. Seeing Lu Zhi looking down at him somewhat imperiously, he was still a bit dazed as he replied, “Nothing.”

Before leaving, Ren Yiran had said, “Lu Zhi cares deeply about the person in his heart so much that it doesn’t even seem like him. I just wrote that person’s name, and he cut ties with me. I’d advise you not to ask him about these things, lest you provoke his wrath.”

Logically, Chi Jinxian didn’t believe a single word of it, but his heart refused to listen. The thought of Lu Zhi having someone he liked made him unbearably upset.

Lu Zhi had once said that he could ask him anything, but considering what happened to Ren Yiran, instinct made him hesitate as soon as he opened his mouth, and he ended up uttering something trivial instead.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Lu Zhi’s brows furrowed sharply, and a flicker of ferocity flashed in the depths of his overly dark pupils.

He asked again, his tone noticeably deeper and more intense this time: “Chi Jinxian, what did he say to you?”

Oppressive words often compel people to reveal things they’d rather keep hidden, but the tension here felt misplaced. Chi Jinxian retreated further into himself, seeking refuge in a deeper part of his mind.

Feeling both aggrieved and fearful, he thought to himself, He’s already this fierce without me even mentioning that person. If I actually brought it up, wouldn’t Lu Zhi pin me against the door again?

Lowering his head and letting his eyelashes droop, Chi Jinxian murmured softly, “Brother, it’s really nothing. If there were anything, I’d tell you.”

Lu Zhi pressed his lips together. The two of them remained locked in a stalemate one standing, the other sitting, until the standing figure seemed unable to bear it any longer. He bent slightly, gripping Chi Jinxian’s wrist with a fierce, unyielding hold, and pulled him up from the ground with no gentleness whatsoever. The latter stumbled from the force, not even having time to ask in shock, “Brother, what’s wrong?” before being dragged along by Lu Zhi’s hurried steps.

“where are we going?” Chi Jinxian used his free hand to tug at Lu Zhi, trying to slow him down.

But it was useless.

Lu Zhi said coldly, “Back to the classroom.”

But he was playing basketball with Jiang Jin and the others just now. Why go back to the classroom all of a sudden?

As if reading his mind, Lu Zhi paused mid-step and glanced back at Chi Jinxian, his lips parting slightly. “The classroom is empty. I’m not worried you won’t talk.”