GBROTAH CH29

On Friday night, twenty minutes before course registration began, the student login page for A University’s Institute of Technology official website was already incredibly slow.

He clicked and clicked on the “Login” button, but the page wouldn’t budge.

Xie Yuanxing wasn’t originally very concerned about course selection, but he was worried that in the end, only interest courses he wasn’t good at or didn’t want to participate in, like swimming or javelin, would be left.

The final grades for interest courses would also be included in GPA calculations. Although the proportion was small, it could still affect scholarship evaluations.

To be safe, Xie Yuanxing wanted to grab a piano class, which he had some basic knowledge of. This way, he wouldn’t have to spend much time on this course, freeing up more effort for subjects he wasn’t good at, such as linear algebra.

A message from Fang Zhi popped up at the top of his phone screen, asking him what he planned to choose.

Xie Yuanxing didn’t reply. Since agreeing to X last time, he had gradually grown more distant from Fang Zhi.

X didn’t like it, so Xie Yuanxing didn’t like it.

He ignored the message, one hand still stubbornly poking at the dead login interface.

Xie Yuanxing didn’t dare to refresh, afraid his old phone would freeze the page after refreshing.

While hesitating, he saw a small floating call icon next to the screen and felt like hanging up…

Maybe it was this WeChat call that was slowing down his internet speed.

It was very possible.

The person on the other end of the line was oblivious and still asking, “How’s it going, baby? Did you get in?”

Xie Yuanxing clicked login again, slightly guiltily. The screen froze for a moment then jumped in. His eyes lit up, and he said in surprise, “I’m in!”

X seemed infected by his tone and chuckled: “What course is baby planning to choose?”

“Do you have a favorite?”

Xie Yuanxing: “I’ll choose piano. I have a little foundation, so I don’t need to spend time learning it.”

X’s reaction was normal, as if he was hearing about it for the first time, his voice filled with admiration, “Baby can play the piano too, that’s so impressive.”

Xie Yuanxing, while keeping an eye on the available course selection time, said, “I learned it when I was little, started when I was five. I wasn’t even as tall as the piano back then.”

X smiled gently, then said with a hint of wistfulness, “Baby must have been so cute back then, unfortunately, I didn’t get to see it.”

Xie Yuanxing propped his chin with one hand, looking down at his phone, a soft remembrance in his dark eyes, “I actually wasn’t cute at all when I was little.”

“I had a terrible temper. Three different piano teachers were so frustrated by me that they quit.”

“When I was seven or eight, I met a very good piano teacher, but I annoyed him so much he didn’t want to teach anymore. To keep him, my mom punished me by making me play the B minor sonata all day.”

“I sat at the piano, playing and crying, but I refused to give up, so I cried with a straight face.”

Xie Yuanxing’s eyes softened even more, and his voice became gentle and light, “My mom said I was a peacock, that I had to cry with my neck stiff.”

X’s voice also lowered, as if afraid to disturb the person on the other end, “So the little peacock didn’t cry all day?”

Xie Yuanxing: “No, I only played for a little over an hour, and then I made my teacher laugh.”

“My mom actually couldn’t bear to see me suffer. She wanted to keep the teacher because I liked the piano. As soon as the teacher relented, she stopped it and even took me out for a big meal that night.”

He loved the piano, and his mother loved to see him perform for an audience. She was always generous with her praise, even if he had just passed the beginner’s piano exam set by his teacher, she would pick him up and spin him around.

During the six years he was belittled and deemed worthless at his aunt and uncle’s house, Xie Yuanxing learned to play the piano on drawn keys. The paper piano keys made no sound, so he hummed Do-Re-Mi softly, encouraging himself.

X: “Besides piano, does baby have any other interesting courses?”

Xie Yuanxing shook his head, then remembering the other person couldn’t see, he said, “No, it’s not possible. I chose piano because I know how to play, so I can free up time for my major courses.”

“I want to get a scholarship.”

On the other end of the phone, Shen Bianye, sitting in the student union office, fell silent.

From the moment Xie Yuanxing mentioned his childhood, his heart sank little by little. He felt Xie Yuanxing was a bit pitiful.

How did a person who even had to cry with a stiff neck as a child, whom his mother called a peacock, gradually become so lifeless?

Choosing piano as an elective was no longer for love, but to free up time, to work hard for that ten thousand yuan scholarship.

Xie Yuanxing was only eighteen, not yet nineteen, but he seemed to have completely lost all his hobbies and interests.

To save money on data, he never watched online videos, refused to leave campus because it cost money, had no friends, rarely socialized, and gloom became his underlying tone.

As X, he didn’t know Xie Yuanxing’s mother had already passed away. Should he bring it up, would he bring it up?

X: “Baby is so motivated. After choosing courses, come and do some practice problems. If you don’t know anything, just ask me, your boyfriend will help you.”

He didn’t bring it up.

Xie Yuanxing hummed lightly, his tone cheerful. While waiting for the course selection results, he simply found his test papers. He wrote and drew, occasionally whispering a few words to X.

Finally, he successfully selected the piano elective, filling the last empty slot on his weekly schedule, which now had only Monday afternoon free.

Looking at his packed class schedule, Xie Yuanxing sighed.

Who said college was supposed to be easy?

On Monday afternoon, before the last class started, half the school’s population began to move, densely flowing towards the comprehensive building. Xie Yuanxing didn’t squeeze into the elevator but took the stairs next to it.

Many people were already seated in the music classroom. Xie Yuanxing entered through the back door and found an empty piano to sit at.

The pianos used for teaching were slightly different from ordinary ones; they were all electric pianos, with headphones hanging on each panel.

The number of pianos in the classroom and the people continuously walking in were clearly mismatched. When latecomers stood confused in the front row, a long-haired music teacher walked in.

“The benches in front of the pianos are for two people per seat. Find a place to sit.”

Xie Yuanxing instinctively tilted his head and lowered his gaze, looking at the long bench beneath him. He slowly shuffled his bottom towards the outer edge.

The next second, the bench lost its balance and tilted to one side. Xie Yuanxing’s heart skipped a beat. Just as he was about to fall off the bench, a hand timely pressed down on the other side.

“What’s wrong?”

“So modest, are you going to let me have the whole bench and sit on the floor to listen to the lecture?”

“That’s right, with such a perky bottom and plenty of flesh, it probably wouldn’t hurt to sit on the floor.”

Xie Yuanxing looked up blankly, only to see Shen Bianye’s handsome face looking at him with a half-smile.

Xie Yuanxing: “You…”

Shen Bianye nodded, “Me.”

Xie Yuanxing: “Aren’t you a sophomore?”

Shen Bianye: “These interest courses are open electives for freshmen and sophomores, don’t you know that?”

He raised an eyebrow, “It’s my bad luck to have chosen the same course as you.”

Xie Yuanxing pursed his lips: “I played the piano when I was at the villa. It’s normal for me to choose piano. It’s my bad luck.”

Shen Bianye clicked his tongue: “To avoid you, I specifically chose piano, which you know how to play.”

“Since you already know how to play the piano, shouldn’t you be taking other electives? But we ended up in the same class anyway, so it’s still my bad luck.”

This logic was unbeatable.

These two sentences left Xie Yuanxing speechless, making him feel that Shen Bianye stood on unconquerable ground.

Shen Bianye sat down next to him. The small chair was now squeezed with two people, and the space immediately became cramped.

Especially since Xie Yuanxing had chosen a spot against the wall, he was now trapped between the wall and Shen Bianye, with no way to retreat.

Shoulder touching shoulder, leg against leg.

Xie Yuanxing shifted uncomfortably, nearly half his body extending beyond the chair, just to create a tiny bit of distance.

Shen Bianye watched from the side. Once he had regained his balance, he suddenly spoke, “Do I need to hold that half of your butt for people to believe I’m not ostracizing a classmate?”

Xie Yuanxing’s hand, which was propped against the wall, slipped. He almost fell to the ground again, startled by the remark.

He slowly inched over, “I’m not used to being too close to others.”

Shen Bianye: “I didn’t hear you say that when Gao Yufei was walking with his arm around your shoulder.”

“You’re so close to other Alphas, does your boyfriend know?”

To say he wasn’t annoyed would be a lie, somewhat.

But it was purely that he couldn’t stand people who had boyfriends but still went around with others arm-in-arm, just as he couldn’t stand Zhou Chao’s playboy behavior.

This was mainly his sense of justice, and it had nothing to do with Xie Yuanxing.

Xie Yuanxing ignored him, listening to the ringing of the class bell, concentrating as if he were learning stave notation for the first time.

“In your free time, write the short musical passages on the blackboard into numbered musical notation. Bring them to the next class, I will check them.”

The dismissal bell had been ringing for a while. The music teacher hastily finished, leaving homework and departing.

Xie Yuanxing and Shen Bianye were about to leave when a blushing Omega stood in front of Shen Bianye.

The person handed over a small, pink card, barely concealing their shyness, and said, “This has my pheromone scent on it. Senior, if you like it, could I add your contact information?”

Freshmen rarely had the chance to meet Shen Bianye. Many didn’t expect to see Shen Bianye walk into the piano elective class.

Bold people seized the time after class and walked straight up to him.

There were many others itching to move in the back. There was a “trend” of giving Shen Bianye love letters, and if rejected, they could just laugh it off with the crowd.

But…

What if Shen Bianye agreed?

It was hard to say that the Omega who handed over the pheromone card didn’t have this intention. From family background to appearance, Shen Bianye was attractive enough.

Moreover, he was exceptionally generous.

Shen Bianye looked at the card in front of him. His pheromone disorder was unpredictable, but at this moment, it was fine, and he could smell the scent on it.

It smelled of peaches, a faint sweetness, but he stood up and said lightly, “Actually, I’m not very interested in becoming a perfumer.”

“These scented cards are more suitable for professionals.”

Xie Yuanxing saw that he finally got up and cleared a path, and quickly detoured past him. Shen Bianye was about to leave when he was stopped again by the Omega.

The Omega, blushing, asked, “Then, Senior, do you think my scented card smells good?”

Shen Bianye’s previous words were already a polite rejection, but he seemed to have not understood, or perhaps he took Shen Bianye’s courtesy as a form of gentleness towards him.

Moreover, because of this interruption, Xie Yuanxing had darted away like a rabbit in three steps, disappearing without a trace. Shen Bianye’s eyebrows slightly furrowed, showing a hint of impatience.

He brushed past the Omega, his voice calm and somewhat cold: “Peaches with artificial flavoring are inferior.”

The Omega’s blushing face behind him instantly turned pale. A friend who was observing from the side awkwardly approached and said:

“You shouldn’t have stopped him a second time. The posts all say that if you stop Senior Shen in public, he only gives face the first time he rejects someone.”

The Omega crumpled the pheromone card in his hand. Being directly evaluated as “inferior” made him lose face, and he burst into tears.

Shen Bianye couldn’t hear the Omega crying behind him, but when he came out, he couldn’t find Xie Yuanxing either.

He suspiciously glanced at the distant staircase and the group of people waiting for the elevator next to it. In just a word or two, where did he go?

Shen Bianye walked a few steps around another corner. As soon as he got close, he heard voices.

It was Xie Yuanxing and Fang Zhi.

Shen Bianye stopped with interest, standing in a corner where the two couldn’t see him, ready to listen to what these two were secretly saying while hiding in the corner.

The smile on his lips was merely a slight curve, more like a forced, insincere grin.

Xie Yuanxing had just been called here by Fang Zhi. He looked at the person in front of him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Fang Zhi was there because there was a winding corridor connecting Building A and Building B of the comprehensive building. The two buildings faced each other, allowing them to see each other’s situations.

He was in calligraphy class, in Building B. He happened to see Xie Yuanxing enter the piano classroom in Building A. As soon as class ended, he went straight outside to wait. Luckily, Xie Yuanxing came out relatively late, and he happened to run into him, not missing him.

Fang Zhi’s gaze couldn’t help but linger on Xie Yuanxing’s neck. The alluring leather collar was no longer there, but he still remembered how the person in front of him looked wearing it.

Originally, after Xie Yuanxing rejected him, he didn’t take it to heart; being just friends wouldn’t be a loss for him.

But after seeing Xie Yuanxing wearing the leather collar, he regretted it a bit. Before, he thought Xie Yuanxing would look good dressed up, but he didn’t expect the black leather collar on his jade-like neck to be so… alluring.

It was simply alluring, like the embodiment of desire.

Fang Zhi’s thoughts became active again. Xie Yuanxing liked to be praised, so he used that to try and close the distance between them again, but he found that Xie Yuanxing was no longer talking to him.

Messages went unanswered for several days. When Gao Yufei called them to sit together, Xie Yuanxing would also sit next to Gao Yufei, avoiding him.

If he hadn’t noticed something was wrong by now, Fang Zhi would have been a fool.

With no other choice, he simply seized the opportunity when Gao Yufei and Xie Yuanxing were both out of the dorm and Shen Bianye wasn’t around, and went directly to Xie Yuanxing.

Anyway, at most, Xie Yuanxing was Shen Bianye’s lover, and he seemed unwilling to make their relationship public. What if Xie Yuanxing was only in it for the money?

Moreover, he had observed since then that the atmosphere between the two was very cold, occasionally even tense.

It seemed like Shen Bianye paid Xie Yuanxing to do something. Judging by the band-aid on Xie Yuanxing’s neck, it should be that Shen Bianye paid for Xie Yuanxing to be bitten.

But which Beta liked being bitten? Xie Yuanxing should dislike Shen Bianye, perhaps even hate him.

Xie Yuanxing had never worn that Patek Philippe watch. Perhaps it was originally Shen Bianye’s, and Xie Yuanxing just picked it up for a moment. Now that he thought about it, Shen Bianye casually giving a five-million-yuan watch would be close to insane.

Perhaps he wasn’t even a lover, so he had a chance.

Someone as insecure and introverted as Xie Yuanxing would foolishly believe anything if praised and coaxed a few more times.

Fang Zhi said softly, “Little Yuan, you seem to have been unhappy since I stood you up at the library last time.”

“Can I explain?”

Xie Yuanxing frowned, interrupting him, “I’m not unhappy.”

Fang Zhi smiled, gentle as if looking at a sulking child, “Then why have you been so opinionated about me lately?”

“You don’t reply to my messages anymore, are you angry?”

Xie Yuanxing said seriously, “No, it’s my boyfriend who told me to stay away from you.”

Fang Zhi’s smile froze on his face, doubting his ears, “Boy… boyfriend?”

Could it be that Shen Bianye was really dating Xie Yuanxing?

Impossible, how could that be?

He forced a smile and said, “Who is your boyfriend?”

Xie Yuanxing: “He’s a Beta.”

The Beta Xie Yuanxing knew… wasn’t it just him?

Fang Zhi meticulously recalled, confirming that Xie Yuanxing’s quiet personality hadn’t led him to make any new friends.

He had a feeling that Xie Yuanxing was indeed bothered by the library incident.

It wasn’t his self-confidence, but Xie Yuanxing’s social circle was too simple; there were no other possibilities.

Fang Zhi felt a little relieved, but also vaguely felt that something wasn’t right. He still said, “You’re still angry with me because of the library incident last time, right? Ever since the library, you’ve been colder and colder towards me, and now you completely ignore me, aren’t you?”

“Listen to me, last time it was because of Shen Bianye.”

“Fang Zhi!” Xie Yuanxing interrupted him forcefully, his voice dangerously cold.

In the corner, Shen Bianye almost rushed out.

In that brief moment, all three of their hearts tensed. Fang Zhi saw Xie Yuanxing so angry for the first time and became even more convinced that Xie Yuanxing was angry with him. Regardless of what Xie Yuanxing thought, he blurted everything out.

Fang Zhi: “It was Shen Bianye who told me not to teach you. Weren’t you on bad terms with him before? He was deliberately playing a trick on you.”

“I didn’t want to offend Shen Bianye, but I also knew that your linear algebra wouldn’t work without someone tutoring you, so I pushed my friend to you.”

He dared to say this for a reason: that last phone call made him realize Shen Bianye hadn’t told Xie Yuanxing about it.

Although he didn’t know who that WeChat contact he pushed was, Xie Yuanxing’s linear algebra had indeed improved compared to before. After realizing this, he had asked Xie Yuanxing, who said he was no longer in contact with that person.

In the corner, Shen Bianye wanted to laugh, but his eyes were tinged with a hint of malice.

He really had no way to explain this matter, so he could only let Fang Zhi throw dirt on his head.

When had a young master ever suffered such humiliation? Several ways to deal with Fang Zhi had already flashed through his mind, but then he heard Xie Yuanxing speak.

“If Shen Bianye tells you to do something, do you just do it?”

Fang Zhi: “You know Shen Bianye’s family background and status. If I don’t help him, I’m afraid he’ll retaliate against me.”

Xie Yuanxing: “Really? But when Shen Bianye’s car door was broken, he didn’t even find the person to make them pay, but paid for the repairs himself.”

“Would he really retaliate against you for such a small thing?”

He suddenly spoke, saying, “He gave you money, didn’t he?”

Fang Zhi subtly stiffened, “He gave me fifty thousand yuan. I bought you a gift, ready to give it to you if my confession succeeded.”

“But you became more and more distant from me, and I couldn’t find an opportunity.”

Xie Yuanxing lowered his eyes, his gaze beneath his dark bangs showing impatience, “Fang Zhi, I got into A University of Technology.”

“My IQ is fine.”

In the corner, Shen Bianye was in agony trying to suppress his laughter, pinching himself.

Fang Zhi didn’t expect Xie Yuanxing, who was usually good-tempered and silently listened to everything, to say such words. He approached Xie Yuanxing precisely because he felt such a person would be easy to manipulate.

At this point, he was also a little annoyed and said, “I don’t think you don’t understand what fifty thousand yuan means to an ordinary family.”

“You can even work part-time at a bar for a few hundred yuan, so why do you think I’m wrong for taking money?”

“Fifty thousand, fifty thousand easily obtained. If you think I’m wrong, is it because you haven’t suffered enough in life, still so naive?”

Haven’t you suffered enough in life?

Xie Yuanxing felt like laughing, and he truly did laugh.

He leaned into Fang Zhi, his voice low, as if speaking softly would lessen the pain:

“When I was twelve, carrying a twenty-pound oil drum, the lid wasn’t closed tightly, and oil spilled everywhere. When I was hung up and beaten, I thought I had suffered all the hardships in this world.”

What he didn’t say was that at that time, his mother had just passed away half a month prior.

Xie Yuanxing shook his head, “I was wrong.”

“Turns out there was still the hardship of having to be dragged into a corner and mocked by an idiot like you, just to maintain a superficial classmate relationship, waiting for me.”

Xie Yuanxing: “Your ‘love’ is quite distasteful.”

“From now on, I’ll tell Gao Yufei that I won’t do any more group assignments with you, and I won’t bother to say another word to you.”

Fang Zhi’s expression was awkward: “Do you have to be so absolute? Since you’ve been so poor, you should understand me.”

Xie Yuanxing pursed his lips and shook his head, “Actually, none of that matters.”

“Mainly, my boyfriend doesn’t like you.”

Footsteps sounded from the corner. Shen Bianye, with furrowed brows, walked out from around the corner, “Xie Yuanxing, what are you doing here?”

“I didn’t bring my dorm key, I’ve been looking for you for ages.”

Xie Yuanxing walked two or three steps towards him, then, as he got closer, pulled back to a normal social distance, “I’m here.”

Fang Zhi was left behind by them, ignored by both. Shen Bianye completely ignored him from beginning to end.

As for Fang Zhi’s unusually pale face when Shen Bianye appeared, no one bothered to ask.

Walking out of the comprehensive building, Shen Bianye raised an eyebrow and said, “I just heard you say your boyfriend doesn’t like Fang Zhi, so you won’t associate with him anymore?”

He scoffed, “No backbone.”

As he said this, Shen Bianye’s eyebrows were smiling, and the curve of his lips hadn’t gone down.

He knew Xie Yuanxing well: mild and enduring, even if he disliked Fang Zhi, he could maintain superficial peace.

But now, Xie Yuanxing could say such absolute words because of X’s casual remark.

He had to admit, Shen Bianye felt a little…

Satisfied.

Xie Yuanxing: “That’s not having no backbone.”

Whoever chooses him, he chooses. Whoever abandons him, he abandons.

X respected him, and he should also respect X, not doing things that would upset his boyfriend because of an outsider.

Besides, Fang Zhi was inherently annoying.

Shen Bianye: “Before you said that, what else did you say to Fang Zhi?”

That sentence, Xie Yuanxing was very close to Fang Zhi, and his voice was very low; he didn’t hear a word.

Xie Yuanxing, however, shook his head, his tone casual, “Nothing much.”