GBROTAH CH28

A painful Monday, a painful class meeting. The counselor stood on the podium with a stern face, asking the class committee to count the number of attendees and see who was absent.

When Xie Yuanxing walked into the classroom, Gao Yufei waved him over.

Gao Yufei: “Weren’t you in the dorm this weekend? I knocked on your door, but no one was there.”

“Was that really you walking out of the school gate with Shen Bianye?”

“Damn, a Bugatti! You just sat in it, so fresh and pretty. How did it feel?”

Xie Yuanxing tilted his head, recalling seriously, “It just felt like… riding in a car.”

Gao Yufei: “……”

Fang Zhi chuckled and interjected pointedly, “You seem to be getting along very well with Senior Shen.”

Xie Yuanxing glanced at him, his eyes unwavering. He simply said, “He needs my help with something.”

Fang Zhi: “The circle of rich people is different from ours. Little Yuan, you don’t feel uncomfortable, do you?”

“What circles and not circles, aren’t we all just classmates in school?” Gao Yufei said, sighing next to him, “I knew it, when you said you wanted to change dorms, I should have just dragged you to the counselor.”

“Otherwise, I’d be someone who’s ridden in a Bugatti by now.”

Fang Zhi looked at Xie Yuanxing, seemingly considerate as he changed the subject, “Are you that disgusted with me? No way.”

Gao Yufei waved his hand, sighing, “It’s different, it’s different.”

After a few minutes of talking and laughing, the counselor on the podium spoke: “Alright, everyone’s here.”

“Anyone who has endless things to say, either come up here and I’ll let you talk, or just listen quietly to me.”

“First, dormitory electricity safety. High-power appliances are strictly forbidden. Everyone knows this, so I won’t say more.”

Counselor: “Also, the school recently launched an activity to comprehensively cultivate students’ interests. Everyone has to choose an interest class online. The specific selection time will be announced in the class group.”

“Swimming, playing piano, painting, calligraphy, everything. You choose what you want. There will be an achievement exhibition in a month, and every class has to participate in the evaluation, so you must choose a course.”

As soon as these words came out, there was a buzz of discussion below. Gao Yufei lowered his voice and said, “We have to show results in a month? What do they think we are, reincarnated Van Goghs?”

Fang Zhi: “It should be because the higher-ups are coming to inspect. I heard a little about it in the student union.”

“Our paintings and works are just there to make up the numbers.”

He looked at Xie Yuanxing: “What are you going to choose, Little Yuan? Your handwriting is very beautiful, you could go learn calligraphy.”

“I can’t be the only one to discover Little Yuan’s good points.”

Gentle praise could no longer attract Xie Yuanxing. He liked more passionate, more sincere, more obsessed.

Xie Yuanxing said indifferently, “I’ll decide when it’s time to choose courses.”

His phone vibrated on its own, and he opened it to find a notification text message that his express delivery had arrived.

When the class meeting ended, a group of people came to find Gao Yufei to play ball. Fang Zhi, in front of Xie Yuanxing, turned down several people who came looking for him and asked Xie Yuanxing, “Little Yuan, are you going back to the dorm? I’ll go with you.”

Xie Yuanxing: “No, I’m going to pick up a package.”

Gao Yufei, who had just walked a few steps, slammed on the brakes and turned his head, “Good brother, I actually have a package too.”

Xie Yuanxing: “Send me the delivery code then.”

Before Fang Zhi could speak again, he quickly walked out, blending into the crowd leaving the classroom, and soon disappeared.

The class meeting ended at the same time as the last class of the afternoon. The school was full of people everywhere. Xie Yuanxing walked among them and didn’t feel pitiful at all.

He didn’t need Fang Zhi to save him, to condescend to be friends with him and stay with him, making him seem less alone.

Gloomy and silent people are also the most sensitive. He knew Fang Zhi’s thoughts from the very beginning.

Besides, he wasn’t without company.

His phone buzzed twice. Xie Yuanxing pursed his lips and smiled faintly.

X: “Baby, is the class meeting over?”

X: “So many things today, I didn’t even have time to talk to baby.”

Xie Yuanxing: “We talked this morning.”

X: “How can one or two sentences be called a chat? I like baby, I want to talk about everything with baby.”

X: “Oh, baby said you went out this weekend. Did you have fun those two days?”

X: “The stuff I sent to baby has arrived. Baby remember to pick it up.”

Over the weekend, Xie Yuanxing just changed places to do his homework and study. He didn’t know if Shen Bianye was happy, but he was quite satisfied.

Other than that, the environment was really good. When he was tired of studying, he could go out for a walk, soak in hot springs, and the bed he slept on was soft and wide, infinitely better than the hard, meter-wide beds at school.

With such conditions, it was normal for Shen Bianye to want to go out every other day after staying in the dorm for a long time.

Xie Yuanxing walked towards the school’s express delivery station with his bag, blending into the crowd, lowering his head and replying to messages, “It was okay. I stayed out for two days and slept in a very soft bed.”

X: “Does baby like soft beds?”

X: “Has baby heard of waterbeds? They’re even softer. Any little movement can make the bed sway. When I hold baby on it, I don’t need to use force, baby will tremble and cry.”

X: “Because the bed is soft, baby can’t grab onto anything, can only cling to me. Will baby be very pitiful, but also definitely very beautiful, enough to drive me crazy.”

X: “Sleeping on it is cool, suitable for summer. The bed is cold, we are hot.”

Surrounded by a bustling crowd and lively voices, with explicit words on his phone, even though he knew no one else could see them, Xie Yuanxing instantly snapped off his phone screen.

How could X… How could he say those kinds of things anywhere, anytime…

It’s still daytime…

Isn’t he embarrassed…

X said he would drive him crazy… If it was really, really that much love?

The one who typed these words was X, and the one who sent the messages was also X, but it was Xie Yuanxing who blushed with embarrassment.

Because he unconsciously imagined what X said: “The bed is cold, we are hot…”

The scene was blurry, veiled by ambiguity, and due to X’s overly specific words, it gained a humid, warm temperature.

Xie Yuanxing gripped his phone tighter, his earlobes turning crimson. A sense of shame welled up in his heart amidst the crowd. He kept a straight face, doing his best to remain calm, but the speed of his walking quickened.

The express delivery station was crowded, and the entrance was packed. Xie Yuanxing hid to the side, quickly switched his phone screen to the express tracking number, and then slowly shuffled to the entrance to queue.

His phone was on the express tracking number screen, but during the time he was queuing, the constantly popping up messages didn’t stop at all.

X: “Why isn’t baby talking?”

X: “So cold, baby, always throwing me aside.”

Xie Yuanxing inexplicably tasted a hint of sadness and grievance in that sentence, like an enthusiastic big dog drooping its head after being repeatedly rejected.

Now that their relationship was different, they were in love, it really didn’t seem right to leave his boyfriend aside.

Everything was mutual. He liked to be coaxed and praised, and X probably didn’t like to be neglected.

He knew he should reply, but in this situation…

There were people in front and behind him…

Xie Yuanxing held his phone like a hot potato, furtively turning the screen brightness to the lowest setting, standing ramrod straight but with his head down, shielding the phone with his body, secretly typing:

Xie Yuanxing: “I’m picking up a package, I’m not ignoring you.”

Xie Yuanxing: “It’s just that what you said…”

X: “We’re in love, it’s normal to fantasize about baby. Baby likes it too, right?”

X: “You like me obsessing over baby, right?”

X: “Bad baby, you hooked me, then threw me aside and ignored me.”

It was because Xie Yuanxing liked it that he praised.

He subconsciously ignored that Xie Yuanxing liked praise, and praise came in many different forms.

Xie Yuanxing mumbled that he didn’t, pursed his lips, and said embarrassedly, “I’m very stupid. Sometimes when you say those things, I don’t know how to reply.”

X: “Baby is not stupid at all, you don’t need to try to figure out how to reply.”

X: “I exist for baby.”

The other party retracted a message. The phrase “I exist for baby” flashed by and changed to: X: “Baby just needs to acknowledge me.”

Xie Yuanxing saw it but didn’t ask why it was retracted, not caring about that sentence.

His eyes curved into a smile as he typed: “Can’t talk to you now, I can’t reply to messages while holding the package.”

Xie Yuanxing found his package and reached for it on the shelf. The package box he had to pick up wasn’t heavy, but he also had to help Gao Yufei get his package, so he didn’t have a free hand.

He went all the way back to the dorm. When he reached Gao Yufei’s dorm door, he hesitated for a moment, didn’t knock, and went directly back to his own dorm with the package box.

No one was in the dorm. Shen Bianye was gone, Xie Yuanxing didn’t care, and even felt relieved.

He remembered X had said he would send him a collar. There was no one else in the dorm, so he could wear the collar and take a picture for his boyfriend.

Xie Yuanxing took out his phone and told Gao Yufei that the package was with him and to remember to pick it up later.

He wasn’t worried about Gao Yufei coming in the middle, because when Gao Yufei asked him to help pick up the package, he said he had a ball game scheduled for the afternoon and would be very busy.

After sending the message, Xie Yuanxing put his phone aside, found a pen without ink, and poked and poked at the tape on the express box.

Inside the box was another box, the packaging was very simple and casual. If you looked closely, you could even sense a hint of perfunctory effort.

Because it was just a mooncake gift box, like a leftover box from eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival that was forgotten and then remembered when it was time to send a package, reusing waste.

Xie Yuanxing, however, felt a sense of relief. With such packaging, the gift inside probably wouldn’t be very expensive. Hmm, he could accept it.

He opened the box, and a black collar immediately caught Xie Yuanxing’s eye.

The black leather collar was rigid. He picked it up and found that the buckle at the back, where it clasped behind the neck, formed a metal ‘X’.

If he wore this collar, the metal ‘X’ would press tightly against the back of his neck, at the position where Alphas make their mark.

The rigid collar wouldn’t leave bite marks or teeth indentations; the ‘X’ was a silent mark of possession.

Xie Yuanxing touched the buckle, picked up both ends of the collar, and with a soft click, felt a slight tightening around his neck.

It didn’t affect his breathing or cause any discomfort, but it was impossible to ignore.

There was also a cloth bag in the box. Xie Yuanxing put on the collar and then reached for it. It was filled with cotton, and inside was a watch.

The watch face was dark blue, adorned with a material Xie Yuanxing couldn’t name, golden and sparkling, very much like a starry sky, with a small moon hanging below, forming a star and moon motif.

It was very beautiful, but the outer circle looked a bit like a diamond bezel, which seemed rather expensive.

Xie Yuanxing hesitated for a moment, didn’t put it on, and as he looked down for his phone, the dorm door was pushed open.

Fang Zhi: “Little Yuan, Yufei said his package is with you, and he asked me to get it for him. You…”

He stared at Xie Yuanxing in astonishment, his eyes slowly filling with wonder.

Xie Yuanxing had a rare pale complexion, and black suited him well. He was slender, and his neck was delicate. The black leather clasped around his fair, soft neck, ascetic yet like desire itself.

Xie Yuanxing looked back at him. Fang Zhi was momentarily incoherent, “Little Yuan, you, aren’t you a Beta? Why are you wearing this?”

“What are you doing blocking the doorway?”

Shen Bianye’s voice came from behind Fang Zhi. He was tall, and his gaze could easily see the situation inside the dorm over Fang Zhi.

Shen Bianye reached out and gripped Fang Zhi’s shoulder, his expression calm, “Can you move aside?”

Fang Zhi’s dazed expression twisted instantly, cold sweat pouring out. He felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, as if it was being crushed.

He didn’t even dare to utter a word, instinctively backing away as Shen Bianye had told him. Shen Bianye stepped past him and entered. The next second, Xie Yuanxing’s dorm door slammed shut in front of him.

Staring at the tightly shut door, Fang Zhi felt a surge of humiliation, yet he truly dared not knock and enter again.

He then recalled the watch he had glimpsed in Xie Yuanxing’s hand earlier. Fang Zhi had seen it online; it was a Patek Philippe Starry Sky series, a watch worth millions, held so casually in Xie Yuanxing’s hand.

Deep down, he didn’t believe Xie Yuanxing could have a relationship with Shen Bianye on equal footing.

Was he Shen Bianye’s lover now?

What were they doing inside the dorm now? Kissing? Or already doing it?

The situation in the dorm was completely different from what Fang Zhi imagined. One person stood by the door, the other by his bed, neither speaking.

After a long pause, Shen Bianye’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he spoke in a low, deep voice, “What are you wearing around your neck?”

Xie Yuanxing calmly replied, “A collar. Don’t you recognize it?”

Shen Bianye: “Why are you wearing that?”

Xie Yuanxing: “My boyfriend sent it. He wanted to see me wear it.”

Shen Bianye took a step towards him, his scent of embers spreading further with his approach. He looked down at Xie Yuanxing, “My pheromone disorder is back.”

He curled his lips, his tone strange: “You should comfort me now, Xie Yuanxing.”

Shen Bianye reached out and unclasped the collar from Xie Yuanxing’s neck, slowly, as if unwrapping an exquisite gift.

He leaned in close to that pale neck, and the second before he bit, he chuckled to himself, murmuring, “Does your boyfriend know you’re wearing the collar he sent you, while I’m biting you?”

The body beneath his fangs tensed in an instant, but Shen Bianye felt a strange excitement.

Didn’t he like X and dislike him? Yet, it was him who was biting Xie Yuanxing now.

Xie Yuanxing gasped in pain, and felt a wave of guilt because of Shen Bianye’s words. He trembled as he pushed the man away resolutely, just as Shen Bianye finished biting and lightly licked the wound.

“My boyfriend is a Beta, he won’t be angry about this,” he said, but his fingers unconsciously clenched.

Shen Bianye’s eyes dropped, looking at the distance between them after Xie Yuanxing pushed him away, and sneered, “Is that so?”

“Then why don’t you tell him about this, and see if he’ll get angry.”

Xie Yuanxing pursed his lips and retreated, widening the distance until his lower back hit the edge of the desk, “This is between him and me, it has nothing to do with you.”

Shen Bianye scoffed, “Indeed, it has nothing to do with me.”

“Your Beta boyfriend is a weirdo who likes to put collars on Betas. You’re strutting around with a collar, if people misunderstand my relationship with you, you’re finished.”

Xie Yuanxing frowned, looking displeased: “You can’t say that about him, he’s not a weirdo.”

Shen Bianye ground his teeth, silently cursing, still defending him.

He tapped the table impatiently, “The point is, my relationship with you cannot be misunderstood by outsiders.”

“I don’t want people to know I bit a Beta.”

“Next time you wear these messy things, remember to lock the door. Today Fang Zhi saw it, tomorrow it could be anyone, Zhang San or Li Si. I share a dorm with you, so it’s easy for others to misunderstand.”

Xie Yuanxing nodded, quite in agreement: “Got it.”

“Next time it won’t happen. If Fang Zhi asks, I’ll say my boyfriend gave it to me.”

After saying that, he ignored Shen Bianye, clutching the removed collar, and went out to the balcony with his phone.

Shen Bianye watched him go into the bathroom, knowing what he was going to do.

Put on that tempting collar, take a picture, and send it to his Beta boyfriend.

Never mind, it’s fine.

Xie Yuanxing was foolish. At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before, thanks to X, he’d get a taste of something sweet.

In the bathroom, Xie Yuanxing put the collar back on and took a selfie in the mirror.

When he came out, Shen Bianye was gone, he didn’t know where he went. Xie Yuanxing didn’t care and sent the photo to X.

Xie Yuanxing: “Received the collar.”

“Image.jpg”

The photo was a mirror selfie. The person in it had their head slightly tilted, half their face obscured by the phone. A rigid black collar was around their pale neck, and through the mirror, the metal X-shaped clasp on the back of their neck was visible.

X: “So beautiful, baby.”

X: “Am I the first to see it?”

Xie Yuanxing was very honest and said truthfully, “No, Fang Zhi came in when I was putting it on. He was the first.”

The phone suddenly vibrated frantically. Xie Yuanxing looked at the incoming WeChat call, his eyes flashing with panic, but he didn’t answer.

X: “Baby, answer the phone.”

Xie Yuanxing: “I’m not convenient right now, can we just talk like this?”

X: “The photos were all taken in the dorm, and you say you’re not convenient, little liar.”

X: “Answer the phone, baby, I’m a little angry.”

The phone vibrated urgently again. Xie Yuanxing’s face showed a struggle. He took a deep breath and answered.

The voice on the other end of the line was deep and magnetic, a completely unfamiliar male voice, with a touch of gentleness: “Baby.”

Xie Yuanxing’s expression slowly relaxed. He held the phone and gently hummed, “What’s wrong?” he asked.

X: “The collar I gave to baby, why wasn’t I the first to see it?”

X: “Baby, I’m angry.”

X: “Baby, don’t show it to anyone else, okay? Only show it to me, only I can see it.”

His voice was gentle and low, but with repeated emphasis, it carried a strange stickiness, like clinging water weeds, seemingly not fatal, but capable of drowning someone at any moment.

It was like a plea of weakness, yet also relentless and subtly dangerous.

Xie Yuanxing: “I didn’t mean to, he pushed the door open when I wasn’t paying attention.”

X: “I’m not blaming baby, but baby, can you stay away from that person in the future?”

X: “I don’t like him.”

Xie Yuanxing found it amusing and said softly, “But aren’t you friends with him? Or did he give me your WeChat?”

X: “Who’s friends with him?”

X: “He saw my beautiful baby, can’t I dislike him?”

The male voice on the phone paused, then muttered, “Baby, don’t defend him.”

Xie Yuanxing leaned against the wall, talking to him in a soft, low voice, as if having an ordinary phone conversation with his boyfriend, “I’m not defending him.”

X: “Baby, arguing is a bad habit.”

Xie Yuanxing couldn’t help but laugh: “I was wrong, I won’t talk about him anymore.”

X: “Baby, don’t apologize.”

X: “Follow your boyfriend and say, ‘I will stay away from him in the future.'”

So childish.

But Xie Yuanxing, just as childishly, followed along, “I will stay away from him in the future.”

X chuckled, his voice gentle: “Good baby.”

He was praised again, and Xie Yuanxing’s eyes also curved into a faint smile, then he heard X say: “I’m looking at the photos baby sent. Take a few more, baby, this isn’t enough.”

X: “My name is on the back of baby’s neck, just like baby is my Omega. I like baby.”

Xie Yuanxing pursed his lips: “I’m not an Omega.”

X: “I know, I’m not an Alpha either, baby.”

X: “Sorry baby, I didn’t mean to compare baby to an Omega. Beta is good. Whatever second gender baby is, that is the best gender in the world.”

The slight emotion that had just risen in Xie Yuanxing’s heart quietly dissipated again. On one hand, he thought these words were too exaggerated, but on the other hand, he was truly comforted. He felt a little awkward, but he also liked it.

X: “The important thing is that when baby wears this, it’s like baby has my mark, baby is mine.”

X: “I want to be baby’s too. Baby, can you custom-make a muzzle for me, like an iron cage across my mouth, with baby’s name engraved on the front? Is that okay?”

X: “I want to try biting baby’s neck like an Alpha, but I’m afraid baby will hurt. With this, I can avoid biting baby, but still be able to lick baby’s name.”

This was the second time X had brought up the matter, as if he truly anticipated it.

Xie Yuanxing couldn’t imagine such a scene, his earlobes flushed crimson with heat, “No, that’s weird.”

To prevent X from persistently bringing it up, he changed the subject: “The watch you sent me, can you receive it if I return it to the sender’s address?”

The other end of the call paused, then X finally spoke, “Why, baby doesn’t like it?”

Xie Yuanxing: “The whole circle is diamonds, it’s too expensive, I can’t accept it.”

X: “We’re in love, baby, if you don’t want anything from me, I’ll feel useless.”

X: “And that watch isn’t expensive. Haven’t you heard, baby? Small diamonds are just碎钻 (crushed diamonds), not worth much.”

X: “Now there are even lab-grown diamonds, even less valuable.”

X: “My family’s financial situation is average. Even such a cheap gift takes a long time for me to save up to give to baby. Baby can’t dislike me for it.”

He wanted to say, wear it. If they break up later, these things will be left to baby, and the money from selling them will be considered compensation for baby.

After thinking about it, he swallowed those words.

Xie Yuanxing didn’t understand diamond prices or watches. Looking at the small diamonds around the edge, they did seem small. He decided to keep it for now, thinking he could return it if they broke up later.

He didn’t insist further, his eyes curving slightly, his voice soft, “I won’t dislike it.”

“No matter if you have money or not, as long as you keep loving me, I’ll always love you.”

Shen Bianye, who had unknowingly walked onto the sports field, stood with his back to the wall, the setting sun stretching his shadow.

He seemed to smile faintly, the voice changer making his voice very gentle.

“Is that so?”

“I believe you, baby.”

His closest relatives had given up on him when he was confirmed to have a short lifespan at eighteen. Xie Yuanxing, through the fake network, could shamelessly say similar words to a stranger—

“As long as you choose me, I will always firmly choose you.”

Endlessly foolish.