What to Do If Beta Cannot Be Marked? - Chapter 48.2

Chi Jinxian didn’t respond.

“If they encounter someone with highly compatible pheromones, they become destined partners, even the law facilitates their marriage. In the Alliance, those who remain unpartnered by age 50 are automatically matched by the system with the person sharing the highest pheromone compatibility,” Yuan Si Bai asked him, “Remember?”

“Mm.” Chi Jinxian nodded.

“But Betas are different. Since Betas don’t have pheromones, relationships between them often face trust crises,” Yuan Si Bai’s voice was soft, as if afraid his tone might make these words feel heavier, so he spoke gradually. “Yet Alphas are the gender with the strongest possessiveness, territorial instincts, and desire for control. The stronger their pheromones, the more pronounced these traits become. If they can’t sense their partner’s pheromones, they may experience extreme insecurity and potentially act irrationally.”

“Your dad’s telling the truth just ask me if you don’t believe it.” Chi Sui suddenly chimed in from the side, not even looking up from his computer.

“Once I bit your dad’s scent gland until it bled lost control.”

Chi Jinxian’s attention was caught by this statement, and he asked curiously, “Why?”

Chi Sui kept his eyes fixed ahead: “Yuan Yuan was ignoring me.”

“Chi Sui.” Yuan Si Bai called out softly, his tone urgent as if warning him not to speak recklessly.

But Chi Jinxian grew even more curious: “Why was my dad ignoring you?”

“He couldn’t speak.”

Chi Jinxian: “…”

What did that mean?

But Yuan Si Bai became angry. This time, his tone carried genuine warning along with a barely detectable hint of flustered embarrassment: “Chi Sui!”

Chi Jinxian glanced between them, running scenarios in his mind.

Because of certain circumstances, Yuan Si Bai couldn’t speak, but Chi Sui kept complaining that he was being ignored, which made him so angry he bit Yuan Si Bai’s scent gland until it bled, this must have happened during Chi Sui’s Heat Period, since he’s not usually this unreasonable.

But even considering it was his Heat Period, imagining this scene shocked Chi Jinxian.

He thought to himself, Is this how Alpha instincts manifest when they take over?!

Isn’t that a bit excessive?

“Don’t listen to your father’s nonsense he can be quite annoying sometimes,” Yuan Si Bai poked the pillow in Chi Jinxian’s arms, bringing him back to attention. “Listen to me. I haven’t finished yet.”

Prompted by this, all of Chi Jinxian’s thoughts instantly snapped back to the present.

Thus, in today’s society, as if fully aware of this unbreakable “instinct” that Alphas and Omegas are naturally complementary, perfect matches most Betas only choose other Betas of the same gender, whether male or female.

Since there are no pheromones involved, when neither party has them, trust crises stemming from pheromones simply don’t occur.

But Chi Jinxian had previously refused to accept this reality, stubbornly charging headfirst against the wall until Lu Zhi finally asked him, “Can you comfort me during my Heat Period?”

He couldn’t.

“I know, Dad,” Chi Jinxian said.

“So,” Yuan Si Bai’s eyes curved as he reached out to touch Chi Jinxian’s head, smiling gently, “Mine and Chi Sui’s precious child, don’t be sad, okay?”

Upon hearing this, Chi Sui immediately looked over and said to Chi Jinxian, “Come here, my dear, give me a kiss.”

“Mwah. Daddy loves you.”

Chi Jinxian: “…”

“Pffft hahahahahaha ” After a moment of stunned silence, Chi Jinxian burst into laughter. He collapsed onto the sofa and spoke with irreverent glee, “Chi Sui, are you insane?”

Chi Sui’s face stiffened. He retracted his doting gaze with feigned indignance and grumbled, “You ungrateful brat.”

Seeing how both fathers genuinely believed he was heartbroken, Chi Jinxian sat up properly, caught between amusement and exasperation. “Oh, I’m not that devastated. It was always me having one-sided feelings for Lu Zhi anyway, I just need some time to process things.”

“And right now the most important thing is the college entrance exam. I haven’t even been focusing on this at all.”

“Really, Dad, believe me.”

He’s always been like this since he was little if he felt wronged, he wouldn’t keep it to himself, and if he was truly upset, he wouldn’t hide it either.

That smiling expression and state of mind really proved that he understood priorities. Right now, his focus was on the college entrance exam.

Not on anything else. Even if something deserved attention, it would have to wait until after the exam.

Yuan Si Bai said with relief, “It’s good to be someone who doesn’t overthink things.”

“You can let go of a lot of matters that way.”

Chi Jinxian nodded with a smile. “Yeah, yeah.”

From the 3rd until today, just as he had said, Chi Jinxian truly hadn’t thought too deeply about the matter.

Because he knew what was important and what wasn’t he understood which matter took precedence.

If his mindset weren’t stable, he wouldn’t have kept liking Lu Zhi for two years despite being rejected, and he never asked for too much. Because what’s meant to be yours will be yours, and if it’s not, no amount of persistence will change that.

But tonight, perhaps because he had heard Yuan Si Bai say so much, Chi Jinxian couldn’t help but recall what Lu Zhi had told him that day.

He had known all along that he was a Beta but didn’t tell him he just wanted to watch him love without being able to obtain it.

That was a mindset of revenge.

He said he was toying with him. That was also a mindset of revenge.

But why would Lu Zhi have such thoughts? Because.

They knew each other as children, Chi Jinxian thought to himself, but he was the one who actively left Lu Zhi, abandoning him all alone.

Chi Sui had said that the Lu family wasn’t a good place.

With that in mind, it made sense for Lu Zhi to resent him.

Even if Chi Jinxian didn’t want it to be that way.

On top of that, Lu Zhi was an Alpha, and he was a Beta they really weren’t a good match.

Chi Jinxian thought, well maybe it’s time to stop persisting.

He wanted Lu Zhi to be well and didn’t want to become a burden to him.

Long before leaving school, each senior class had distributed lists showing which school and examination hall every student was assigned to for the exams.

Chi Jinxian wasn’t taking the exam at First Interstellar Alliance High School but at another school.

“Uncle, wake up! I can’t believe you, how can you sleep so soundly even on the day of the college entrance exam?” After washing up, Chi Jinxian went next door to wake Qi Suiyi. Seeing him still asleep, he took off his slipper and gave him a kick on the butt.

Qi Suiyi had been sleeping right on the edge of the bed, and with that kick, he rolled straight off onto the floor. Accompanied by a loud “thud!”, he scrambled up in a panic, shouting, “What happened? What happened?!”

“The college entrance exam. Are you going or not?” Chi Jinxian stood by the bed, looking down at him.

“Huh? What?” Qi Suiyi ran a hand through his hair and said, “It’s exam day already? Today’s the 7th?”

Chi Jinxian gave him a look of utter disbelief and, too lazy to engage further, turned and walked away.

Qi Suiyi hurriedly scrambled up behind him and started getting ready at lightning speed, asking, “Which school am I at?”

“Same as me.”

The two of them rushed headlong to the exam site.

They arrived too early and had to wait.

Qi Suiyi yawned and said, “Look at you, why did you have to wake me up so early? I could’ve slept a bit longer.”

“Aren’t you nervous at all?” Chi Jinxian looked at him, speechless.

Qi Suiyi rebutted this, saying that sufficient sleep was the most basic guarantee of a person’s health.

After saying that, he asked again, “An, which university are you applying to? Have you decided? I want to go with you.”

Hearing this, Chi Jinxian was momentarily stunned.

Regarding university matters, he hadn’t really given it serious thought before. He’d always assumed he would just follow Lu Zhi wherever he went, but now he suddenly found himself without a goal.

He felt somewhat adrift.

Finally, he said, “Whatever. Once my scores come out, I can go anywhere I want.”

His confident tone and demeanor made Qi Suiyi’s expression go completely blank.

“But aren’t you trying to become a celebrity? Why follow me around?” Chi Jinxian glanced at Qi Suiyi.

Qi Suiyi replied, “I didn’t take the arts track in high school. If I want to be a star now, I’ll have to rely on scouts discovering me. So what does it matter where I go?”

Chi Jinxian said, “That’s true.”

“If all else fails, I’ll go find Second Brother and use connections to get into the industry.”

“Save it. Second Uncle is incorruptible and won’t help you.”

Qi Suiyi: “…”

As they were talking, more students began filling the campus. Shortly after, the school announced that students should enter the examination halls in an orderly manner.

Two consecutive days of exams had everyone’s nerves stretched taut. Once it was over, an overwhelming exhaustion immediately set in.

The sense of relief was indescribable.

Right after the final exam, Chi Jinxian’s phone buzzed as he left the exam hall. It was a message from Qi Suiyi.

Before the exams, Chi Yuan Shen had said that once Qi Suiyi finished, the whole family would go on a trip together, and the tickets were already booked.

They were scheduled for the afternoon of the 8th. So Qi Suiyi didn’t even wait to go home with Chi Jinxian, he rushed off by himself right after the exam.

Chi Jinxian slung his nearly empty backpack over his shoulder and strolled leisurely down the road, completely unhurried.

Suddenly, someone called out to him from behind.

“Cash.”

Chi Jinxian stopped and turned around, smiling. “Brother Jiang, you’re at this school too?”

“Ah, no, I’m not,” Jiang Jin said, catching up to him with long strides. “I’m at the school next door. The two campuses are close, so after the exam, I came over to see a classmate and spotted you here.”

Chi Jinxian said, “Oh, I see.”

“How did you do on the exam?” Jiang Jin asked.

Hearing this, Chi Jinxian smiled. “I feel like I performed better than usual.”

It was true this year’s questions seemed unusually easy. He hadn’t encountered any difficult problems and sailed through smoothly.

Moreover, Chi Jinxian didn’t let himself get overconfident. He tackled every question with extreme care and found them all straightforward.

“That’s really great.” Jiang Jin smiled too, his expression genuine and sincere.

But for some reason, after that, they seemed to run out of things to say. Jiang Jin felt a bit stifled. He walked alongside Chi Jinxian for several meters before saying, “Hey, Cash.”

“Brother Jiang.” Chi Jinxian suddenly interrupted him, stopping in his tracks.

Jiang Jin immediately said, “Go ahead.”

Chi Jinxian lowered his gaze slightly, then reached into his backpack and pulled out a plain envelope.

“It’s his birthday today,” he said, handing it to Jiang Jin. “Can you give this to him?”

Jiang Jin opened his mouth as if to say something, but hesitated and didn’t take it.

“It’s not a love letter,” Chi Jinxian added, as if sensing a misunderstanding. “It’s the last letter.”

At those words, Jiang Jin’s brow furrowed slightly, as if he didn’t want to hear Chi Jinxian talk like that.

He said, “Cash, maybe you should give it to him yourself Hey, Cash!”

Chi Jinxian shoved the envelope into his hands, turned, and walked away.

He showed no intention of stopping and didn’t seem to hear the calls from behind, just trudging forward with his head down.

Jiang Jin chased after him for a few steps before giving up. He stood there, holding the envelope Chi Jinxian had given him, watching the retreating figure until it disappeared from sight.

The exams were over, and the next three months would be quite leisurely. Chi Jinxian wondered if Yuan Si Bai and the others would agree to his idea of going out to gain some experience. Lost in thought, he walked alone on the road.

When he snapped back to reality, he realized he hadn’t been heading home but had instead wandered toward a sparsely populated area.

Although it was the day of the college entrance exams, it wasn’t a holiday. Adults were still at work, and students were still in class.

Before him lay a vast lake, a small natural scenic spot. Because it was labeled as “natural,” the Alliance hadn’t made any deliberate embellishments there were no railings, arched bridges, or other structures along the lakeshore.

During holidays, this place would be packed with people, but now, hardly anyone was in sight.

Adults were all busy striving for their lives and futures, with no time to look back.

It was just a part of the past, a fleeting moment.

Chi Jinxian walked to the edge of the lake and crouched down, gazing at the clear water where his reflection appeared.

Perhaps because the surroundings were so quiet, even the tiny fish in the lake weren’t afraid of potential dangers by the shore. A few slender shadows darted swiftly beneath the water’s surface, their fins moving so fast they were almost a blur.

The reflection of his handsome face in the water was churned into chaos.

Chi Jinxian observed them with curiosity for a moment, seemingly drawn to their carefree, unburdened existence.

He thought, they’re a lot like me.

But the next moment, he thought, if only Lu Zhi didn’t like him but didn’t hate him either.

But Lu Zhi hated him.

Just then, as if the tiny fish had finally noticed someone nearby, they flicked their tails in alarm and swiftly dove deeper into the water.

The ripples they left behind expanded in rings, then gradually shrank, until they finally settled and disappeared.

The lake returned to its calm state, and Chi Jinxian’s face reappeared on the water’s surface.

As if he had just learned how to look in a mirror for the first time, he stared unblinkingly at his reflection in the lake.

In that moment, he really wished Lu Zhi were standing beside him, saying nothing, just keeping him company for a while.

He didn’t know why he was being so pathetic, but he couldn’t help it. He had no control over it.

After an indeterminable silence, Chi Jinxian reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He thought, maybe I should just send him a “Happy Birthday.”

Just one message.

It would be a way to give himself some closure.

But the phone, which had been with him for so long, failed to understand its owner’s feelings today. Without a second thought, Chi Jinxian held it in his palm. Today, it seemed to have developed a temper of its own. Just as Chi Jinxian’s fingers brushed its edge to take it out, his fingertip slipped. Instantly, a “plop” sounded in his ears,

The phone had fallen into the lake, sinking out of sight in just a second.

Chi Jinxian stared blankly at his shattered reflection in the water, unable to even make out where his eyes were.

Then, in the next moment, a clear “ding-dong” rang out.

It seemed like rain had started to fall.

Another “ding-dong” followed. The rain fell swiftly and fiercely, quickly blurring Chi Jinxian’s vision.

After a long while, Chi Jinxian still didn’t feel any raindrops on him. Puzzled, he lifted his head.

Immediately, the tears that had been falling straight down due to his lowered head now slid swiftly across Chi Jinxian’s cheeks, gathered at his chin, and dropped into the lake with the same sound as before.

Only then did Chi Jinxian realize that tears could come so fiercely.

But after days of settling, this sorrow had finally carried him through the most important college entrance exams, so now the most pressing matter had become the grief itself.

There was no more avoiding it, no more hiding it.

Crouching there, Chi Jinxian looked down into the lake, as if trying to see how ugly he appeared at that moment, but he couldn’t make anything out clearly. He only noticed that the small fry had returned to the lake, though he wasn’t sure if they were the same ones from earlier.

The little fish swam about cheerfully, bearing witness as Chi Jinxian buried his face deeply into his knees, crying with trembling shoulders like a three-year-old child denied candy.

Even as the sun set and the sky darkened, he was still softly sobbing.

It seemed that, aside from crying, he couldn’t think of anything else to do.

“Stop waiting. He’s gone home.” At the entrance of First Interstellar Alliance High School, Jiang Jin found Lu Zhi still standing by the school gate in the dimming light and said, “I thought you’d gone home too. I went to your place, but you weren’t there. Why are you still here?”

Lu Zhi ignored him, glancing down at his phone.

No messages.

“Even if you keep looking, he won’t wish you a happy birthday,” Jiang Jin snatched the phone away, frowning, “and he certainly won’t ask if you want to date.”

Lu Zhi still didn’t look at him, his gaze fixed on Jiang Jin’s hand as he said, “Give it back.”

The two stood in a stalemate for a moment before Jiang Jin, unable to resist, handed the phone back.

He asked, “He didn’t take the exam here. What’s the point of waiting?”

Lu Zhi murmured softly, “I went there. Didn’t see him.”

Hearing this, Jiang Jin understood that Lu Zhi had gone to the school where Chi Jinxian had taken the exam.

“So you thought he’d come back? Lu Zhi, you were the one who said you wouldn’t see each other again.”

Lu Zhi lowered his eyes and didn’t respond.

“Move on,” Jiang Jin said after a pause. “You two aren’t right for each other.”

Still, there was no sound from beside him.

In the deepening dusk, Jiang Jin reached out and handed something over.

Lu Zhi’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, a bit dazed.

Jiang Jin relayed Chi Jinxian’s words exactly as they were: “It’s not a love letter. It’s the last letter.”

Lu Zhi blinked again, but didn’t reach out to take it. Instead, he took a step back.

The next moment, he even seemed about to turn and leave, but Jiang Jin quickly grabbed his arm and forced the item into his hand.

That letter was opened in the depths of the night in his bedroom. The paper was the same as what he had used for love letters over the past three years, and the words on it were just as sparse, but this letter was different from any before. There was no sincere longing, no excited anticipation.

Only two sentences were written:

Lu Zhi, you will have tomorrow and roses.

I’m leaving now.