GBROTAH CH14

In the lecture hall, designed to hold hundreds, a dense crowd was seated. When the bell for class break rang, the vast classroom erupted like water sizzling in hot oil, becoming incredibly noisy.

Most students stayed in their seats, some chatting, others engrossed in their phones. Xie Yuanxing, head bent, organized his class notes, blending into the background. He was quiet and reserved, but some people, driven by pure curiosity, were eager to pry into others’ personal woes.

“Hey, did you really go work at that bar?”

“Who owns that Maybach from the post? Are you sure you weren’t scammed?”

“That sugar baby thing, it’s fake, right? People are so boring now, just spreading rumors.”

The person in the front row, a completely unfamiliar face, turned around, tapped Xie Yuanxing’s textbook, and started asking questions. 

Xie Yuanxing shook his head, continuing to write notes with his head down, his dark, unruly hair falling over his somewhat gloomy eyes. The post had been deleted too quickly with no follow-up, leaving some people unsatisfied and prompting them to approach him directly. 

For two or three consecutive days, different individuals had come to ask similar questions, their tone seemingly concerned, but in reality, entirely fueled by gossip.

He wanted to slam the book in his hand onto the questioner’s face to silence them, to get up and leave the classroom, escaping the subtle, scrutinizing glances. In the end, Xie Yuanxing merely tightened his grip on the pen, and as he wrote, a dark ink blot spread on his notebook.

The person in the front, not getting a reply, grumbled, “Why aren’t you talking?” Fang Zhi, sitting in the same row as Xie Yuanxing, couldn’t take it anymore. 

“You know how packed freshman year courses are. If you want a part-time job, you can only find night shifts. Working four days and then being slandered and constantly questioned—if it were you, wouldn’t you be annoyed?”

The person gave a forced laugh. “Yeah, I guess.” 

Then he turned his head and added, “It’s really impossible for a Beta to work as a waiter in a bar for four days and then find someone to be their sugar daddy. It’s not like he’s a good-looking Omega.” His voice wasn’t quiet, and both Fang Zhi and Xie Yuanxing could hear it. Fang Zhi looked at Xie Yuanxing helplessly: “Don’t take it to heart; no one will ask about it in a couple of days.”

Xie Yuanxing hummed in agreement, then turned to Fang Zhi and softly said, “Thank you.” Fang Zhi paused, then smiled, and suddenly said, “Actually, you’d look better with shorter hair. Have you considered getting a haircut?” His gaze fell on Xie Yuanxing’s textbook, and he added, “Your handwriting is also very beautiful. They say handwriting reflects a person’s character. If you show your face, you’ll look good too.” Xie Yuanxing wasn’t ugly; he had a very clean and delicate face, but his complexion was pale and bloodless. Coupled with his long hair and a tear mole, he looked very gloomy, making people subconsciously avoid approaching him.

But Xie Yuanxing refused, his reason simple and direct: “No, I don’t have money for a haircut.”

Fang Zhi: ……

He had noticed these past few days that Xie Yuanxing was living on a very tight budget, never spending an extra cent where he could save. Occasionally, when he had no choice but to pay more, his face would reveal a pitiful, pained expression. Fang Zhi wanted to offer to pay, but he was afraid of hurting Xie Yuanxing’s pride, so he sighed and said nothing more.

Xie Yuanxing’s thoughts had already drifted far away. Ever since he found out that the car was a Maybach, he knew he had been tricked by Shen Bianye. No ride-hailing service would use a Maybach, and when he asked how much it cost, the driver initially stammered and couldn’t say. In other words, Shen Bianye had cheated him out of fifty yuan. Fifty yuan for just one ride in that car. He could take the bus twenty-five times for that amount. Twenty-five times! Even taking it once a day would last him almost a month!!

Shen Bianye hadn’t returned to the dorm in days. Even if he did, Xie Yuanxing would be too embarrassed to ask for the fifty yuan back. What’s lost is lost. In an unseen corner, the gloomy little mushroom pouted, his pen unable to write anymore, aching for the fifty yuan so much he wanted to sigh.

Further away, outside the classroom’s back door, Shen Bianye finished watching the two people talking closely together, then walked away with a dark expression. Was it really necessary to stand so close while talking? And that man, what was he smiling at Xie Yuanxing for? Smiling like what? Didn’t anyone tell him his smile was terrifyingly ugly? Xie Yuanxing claimed to be timid, yet now he wasn’t afraid of being scared, not knowing to keep his distance. He strode out of the teaching building, sent Xie Yuanxing a message, and went straight to the dorm to wait.

“Your nutritionist sent a meal. Come back to the dorm after class.”

…

Xie Yuanxing hadn’t even had a chance to return to his dorm to see if his fifty yuan had returned before he met an unexpected person on campus. He didn’t know the other person’s name, but he recognized the face—the man who had deliberately made things difficult for him and another girl at the bar.

Luo Chengjie was uncomfortable with this situation where he had to apologize to a poor guy. He rubbed his hands, suppressed his anger, and with a fawning smile said, “Student, I have something very important to tell you. Can we find a secluded place to talk, just the two of us?”

Xie Yuanxing nodded and said, “Follow me.”

In Luo Chengjie’s eyes, a place to talk would either be a coffee shop or a private room in a high-end establishment. However, he found that Xie Yuanxing led him to an empty classroom. A pauper is a pauper, doesn’t even know where a proper place to talk is. While looking down on him, he had no other option. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out a bank card. Luo Chengjie held the bank card with both hands in an ingratiating manner, his formerly arrogant face now plastered with a smile, “The post was my fault. I shouldn’t have slandered you online. I’ve already had someone post a clarification. Can you please tell Shen Bianye to stop targeting my family’s company?”

“Here’s five hundred thousand yuan. It’s all the liquid funds our family can get right now. It’s all for you.”

In the classroom, Xie Yuanxing quietly looked at him for a while, then suddenly asked: “Was the three hundred yuan deducted from my wages also because of you? Did you pay the bill back then?” His mind worked quickly. This person only had a brief encounter with him at the bar; there was no need to hire trolls to slander him, especially at such a coincidental time after the bar incident. This meant that his counterattack had displeased the other party, so the wage deduction should also have been orchestrated by this person.

“Paid, paid, it was all the manager’s idea,” Luo Chengjie no longer seemed as arrogant as before, speaking with a face full of remorse: “I’m truly sorry, I was momentarily possessed by evil thoughts. Can you please be lenient and forgive me this once?” He held the card out, his posture very low, clutching the small, thin bank card with both hands.

Xie Yuanxing didn’t take it, but calmly said, “Can you return my three hundred yuan?”

Luo Chengjie froze for a moment, then reacted with a slight panic, rummaging through his bag: “Yes, of course.” He pulled out a wad of cash, which looked like about a thousand yuan, and handed it all to Xie Yuanxing. Xie Yuanxing lowered his eyes, took three hundred yuan from it, and offered the rest back to Luo Chengjie. Sweat began to break out on Luo Chengjie’s back. He didn’t understand what Xie Yuanxing was doing, why he stubbornly refused to accept the bank card. As the remaining cash was offered to him, he said pleadingly and anxiously, “You take it, and this card too.”

Seeing that he wouldn’t take it, Xie Yuanxing casually placed the money on the table. That pale and gloomy face slowly showed a smile to Luo Chengjie, “Thank you.”

“But the rest of this and the five hundred thousand, they’re not mine, and I don’t intend to take them. Why should I tell Shen Bianye to stop? What happens to your family’s company has nothing to do with me.”

Luo Chengjie gritted his teeth and explained in a low voice, “Shen Bianye might stand up for you and target my family’s company, but he also stands to benefit from this. If you tell him to stop, you get this five hundred thousand. If he doesn’t stop, and my family’s company is swallowed by him, you’ll get nothing.”

“Do you think he’ll just give you money? Rich people aren’t stupid. Why would he give you hundreds of thousands?”

Xie Yuanxing smiled again, the corners of his lips curving slightly, and said, “It doesn’t matter if I don’t get five hundred thousand. The fact that you’re coming to me with five hundred thousand means your losses will only be much greater than that.” He chuckled softly, the black tear mole under his eye like a poisonous mushroom, “Using fifty thousand that doesn’t even belong to me to make you lose millions, tens of millions—what a profitable deal. I just want to see you cling to life.” He chuckled, “Do you think you can just bully people because you have money?”

“Now someone richer is stepping on your head. Is it fun?” Xie Yuanxing’s smile faded, and he said coldly, “I hope you enjoy it too.”

Luo Chengjie’s expression slowly turned savage. 

“You f***ing messing with me?” He panted heavily, his fists clenched tight. He suddenly raised his hand, his fist high, aiming straight for Xie Yuanxing’s face. Xie Yuanxing didn’t dodge. 

“Do you dare to hit me?”

The fist suddenly stopped in front of Xie Yuanxing’s eyes. He turned around and unhurriedly walked out of the classroom. In the classroom behind him, Luo Chengjie slumped onto the floor like a dead dog. It’s over, everything is over. He regretted for the first time why he had provoked Xie Yuanxing for no reason. Xie Yuanxing getting into A University’s science and engineering department had nothing to do with him; he didn’t need to be jealous of someone from a much poorer family getting into the school he wanted. Now, it was too late for anything.

Xie Yuanxing felt good for the first time in a long while. Seeing the fifty yuan in the dorm, his apology lost all reluctance: “I’m sorry, you know I shouldn’t have gotten angry at you for taking my phone.” Young Master Shen hadn’t seen him for days, and after waiting in the dorm for a long time, still seething from the scene he witnessed in the lecture hall, he heard Xie Yuanxing apologizing again and subconsciously opened his mouth to say something sarcastic. He hated Xie Yuanxing apologizing.

But before the words could leave his lips, he paused. His expression subtly shifted, as if he was conflicted. He turned his head away, his tone a bit awkward: “Why are you apologizing?”

Xie Yuanxing blinked blankly, thinking, Isn’t it because you’re angry?

Shen Bianye scoffed, then simply turned to look at him, “I took your phone and looked at your privacy without your permission. It was my fault to begin with.”

“Why are you apologizing?” “Why is it that every time there’s a conflict with anyone, even if it’s not your fault, you always apologize first?”

Xie Yuanxing looked at Shen Bianye with some surprise. His eyes were dark and soft, and when he was dazed, he looked surprisingly cute and innocent. Shen Bianye looked at the little white mushroom like this, his heart stirred slightly. He forgot his earlier awkwardness, raised a hand to brush aside Xie Yuanxing’s bangs, and sighed: “If you always apologize, everyone will come to bully you. Don’t make yourself so pitiful.”

Xie Yuanxing silently took a step back, hesitatingly asking: “You… is your pheromone disorder more severe?” There was no scent of Shen Bianye’s pheromones in the dorm; it didn’t seem like a disorder. 

“Or did you take the wrong medicine for your illness?”

Shen Bianye’s face darkened. Then he heard Xie Yuanxing say in a consultative tone, “Can you just talk normally like before?” Shen Bianye’s face completely darkened. He slammed the packaged meal in front of Xie Yuanxing and said stiffly, “Shut up! Eat.”