GBROTAH CH42

The day the verdict came down was a clear day, rare for winter. Although the temperature was low, seeing the sun always brought a warm feeling.

When Xie Yuanxing found Xie Zhuowu, he was wandering outside the school like a lost soul.

The verdict had come down, and his parents were both in jail. It was over, everything was over.

“Xie Zhuowu.”

When Xie Yuanxing’s voice sounded behind Xie Zhuowu, Xie Zhuowu suddenly turned around at the alley entrance, his expression momentarily shocked.

Xie Yuanxing was wearing a short, off-white down jacket today, with a light blue hood peeking out from his hoodie. Casual trousers wrapped around his straight, well-proportioned legs, making him look clean and youthful.

Like the grown-up version of Xie Yuanxing that Xie Zhuowu had first seen.

But soon, the shock on his face turned into a grimace. “Xie Yuanxing, you still dare to come find me?”

“Look what you’ve done to my family, and you still dare to show your face?”

He took a few quick steps, ready to hit him. The next second, a hand reached out from the side, its grip so strong it almost crushed his wrist.

“You f***er…” Xie Zhuowu’s face, flushed red with anger, subtly filled with terror after he recognized who it was. “Aren’t you Xie Yuanxing’s classmate? Why are you here too?”

Shen Bianye: “No choice, I enjoy helping others.”

He glanced behind him, and immediately two tall, burly bodyguards rushed up, directly grabbing Xie Zhuowu. A third bodyguard from the side handed a baseball bat to Xie Yuanxing.

Xie Yuanxing: …….

If the timing wasn’t so inappropriate, he would really think he was acting in some kind of triad young master TV drama.

Xie Yuanxing: “Didn’t you say to wait until he attacked, then use self-defense as a reason to retaliate?”

Shen Bianye: “He already made a move, do you want him to hit you?”

“Just beat him up. Why should he hit you?”

Xie Yuanxing was silent for a moment, not saying anything. He turned back to look at Xie Zhuowu, who was pinned to the ground, unable to move. “You should know by now, your parents, one got three years, one got six years.”

Xie Zhuowu: “You ungrateful wretch! My parents did hit you, but they also raised you. If your mom knew you sent all your relatives to jail underground…”

Xie Yuanxing: “Then my mother would only be happy for me.”

Xie Zhuowu’s expression was grim and twisted, his once presentable face now somewhat frightening. “Why weren’t you in the same car as your mother when she was hit and killed?”

Shen Bianye’s eyebrows furrowed repeatedly. He gave the bodyguard a look, and the bodyguard understood, landing a sharp punch on Xie Zhuowu’s stomach.

Xie Zhuowu’s body hunched like a shrimp, constantly dodging, finally lying on the ground like a dead dog.

Seeing this, Xie Yuanxing turned to Shen Bianye, “Can you wait for me aside? I have something to say to him.”

Shen Bianye: “Just say it, what is there that I can’t hear?”

Xie Yuanxing didn’t speak, just looked at him, meeting his gaze.

Shen Bianye was a head taller than him. When he looked at people, his gaze was from top to bottom, yet the one looking down was the first to give in.

“I’ll wait for you at the alley entrance.”

Though he said alley entrance, the alley wasn’t deep, nor was it far. Xie Yuanxing could still see the expression on Shen Bianye’s face from where he stood.

Never mind.

He probably couldn’t hear anyway.

Xie Yuanxing thought he would fiercely beat Xie Zhuowu to vent his anger, but actually, once he was there, he had no intention of striking him, only feeling disgust.

“You used to call me a jinx, call me a beggar without parents, then called me retarded, ugly, said my voice was unpleasant.”

“When my hair was short, you called me ugly. When it was long, you called me a ghost. If I forgot to trim my nails, you said I was effeminate. If I trimmed them, you said I was falsely refined, a sissy.”

“In junior high, you said if I differentiated into an Omega, I’d only be able to pick up clients on the street, to sell myself, to be a male whore. You said if I differentiated into an Alpha, I’d still be the one getting fucked.”

Xie Yuanxing smiled. “Truly unpleasant.”

“Xie Zhuowu, we will never see each other again in this life. And I will forget you very quickly.”

“But tell me, if your parents, who are now in prison, knew that you often instigated, deliberately smashed things and blamed it on me, said I looked down on you, all because you liked me, what would your parents think?”

“After all, they hit me, seven out of ten times, because of what you said.”

A few sentences made Xie Zhuowu, who was lying on the ground covering his stomach like a dead dog, and Shen Bianye at the alley entrance, suddenly look at Xie Yuanxing.

Xie Zhuowu’s face flushed crimson, his eyes widened as if they were about to fall out. “You’re full of shit!”

“Xie Yuanxing, who the hell likes you? Don’t flatter yourself.”

Xie Yuanxing said faintly, “Are you afraid to admit it because we’re cousins, or because you’re insecure?”

“It doesn’t matter whether you admit it or not. I just want to tell you, your parents were sent to prison by your own hands.”

Sent to prison by his own hands, ha, haha. Xie Zhuowu’s face turned ashen. He clutched his injured stomach and suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Annoyance and regret mingled, along with a continuous stream of fear. Did he still have a future?

…

At the alley entrance, Shen Bianye’s phone suddenly rang. He quickly hung up with a whoosh, but saw that Xie Yuanxing had already come out.

Young Master Shen’s words were rare for him, stumbling a little: “You… this… you’re already done? What did you say?”

Xie Yuanxing hummed, “Finished. Let’s go, I still have many problems to do.”

His attitude was indifferent, as if those unsolved problems in textbooks were more important to him.

Xie Zhuowu, left behind by him, lay sprawled on the ground, disheartened like a stray dog. But no matter how much regret he felt, it had nothing to do with Xie Yuanxing anymore.

“You…” Shen Bianye had just uttered a word when his phone rang again. He looked at the caller ID, clicked his tongue in annoyance, and walked to the side to answer.

Betas didn’t have the physical qualities and senses of Alphas, so Xie Yuanxing couldn’t hear what Shen Bianye was saying to the other party. He could only vaguely see that Shen Bianye’s expression wasn’t good, as if he was very annoyed.

On the other end of the phone was Shen Zheng, his tone initially calm, “I heard from the doctor that your condition has improved.”

“Well, that’s good. Your school should be on holiday in a couple of days. Your father is considering finding a suitable person for you to get engaged to. You should come back and meet them.”

“What kind of Omega do you like? Male or female is fine. Male Omegas can have children anyway.”

Shen Bianye said coldly, “I’m not meeting them.”

“If you want children, go have them yourself.”

Shen Zheng’s voice also deepened: “This is choosing a wife for you. You better fix your attitude.”

Shen Bianye: “I won’t live past thirty, so I’ll marry someone just to make them a widow?”

“Do some good deeds.”

Shen Zheng: “The doctor said your condition has improved.”

Shen Bianye frowned in annoyance: “Uncle Li isn’t certain he can cure me, and even if he does, he can’t guarantee I’ll live past thirty.”

“Improvement just means I can act like a normal person during my susceptible period without going crazy.”

“I don’t plan on getting married, and I won’t meet anyone you arrange. Anything else can wait until I’m thirty.”

As he spoke, Shen Bianye unconsciously glanced at Xie Yuanxing. The person in beige clothes was looking down, kicking small pebbles by the roadside, as if bored waiting.

Shen Zheng’s tone showed no grief for his son not living past thirty, but rather indifference: “What’s there to fear? It’s best if you live past thirty. If not, your wife can still leave you a child within these few years.”

Shen Bianye’s expression shifted repeatedly. Finally, he coldly threw a single word at his father on the other end of the line: “Idiot.” Then he hung up.

Xie Yuanxing’s face was flushed from the cold wind. He looked at Shen Bianye, who was walking towards him, and asked, “Are you leaving?”

He stood on the slope, looking at the person with a tilted head. Shen Bianye always felt like he was seeing those round bear ears again, and his hands felt a little itchy, wanting to touch them.

But Xie Yuanxing wasn’t actually wearing a bear hat right now, so reaching out to touch Xie Yuanxing’s head would be too strange.

He cleared his throat and said, “Mhm, let’s go.”

Walking down the road, Shen Bianye looked at Xie Yuanxing several times, wanting to speak but hesitating. It was rare for him to be so conflicted. He opened his mouth several times but said nothing, until they got off the plane, into the car, entered the school, and returned to the dorm. He still hadn’t asked.

The entire process lasted two hours. His expression grew darker and uglier. He wanted to ask, but for some inexplicable reason, he was blocked and couldn’t.

Back at the dorm, Shen Bianye thought for a moment, then turned and left.

Asking Xie Yuanxing directly wasn’t good, but he still had friends for whom falling in love was as simple as drinking water.

Besides, if he stayed with Xie Yuanxing any longer, he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t do something.

Shen Bianye made a call and just asked two questions, “Where are you, free or not free?”

Zhou Chao: “I’ll send you an address. You can decide whether you want to come after you see it.”

It was a fireworks factory, quite far and a bit remote.

But Shen Bianye felt his own state wasn’t right, so he still went there.

When Shen Bianye arrived at the location, Zhou Chao had just finished dealing with matters at the fireworks factory, with Lu Qiang accompanying him.

Seeing Lu Qiang, Shen Bianye didn’t think much of it and instead asked Zhou Chao, “Why are you at such a remote factory?”

Zhou Chao was exhausted and took a puff of his cigarette: “I don’t care about these small factories. I got messed with by the old man’s illegitimate son, and the old man sent me here to get some experience while studying.”

“What’s up?”

Shen Bianye knew about his family’s messy affairs and said, “Here? Let’s go, I’ll buy you a drink.”

Lu Qiang stood up and said, “I won’t go, I have something else to do. I just came to help him this time.”

Zhou Chao also stood up, lazily saying, “Let’s go, but first, no pineapple beer.”

Shen Bianye asked Zhou Chao out because he had something to ask, but once they were properly seated at a nearby bar, he fell silent again.

On one hand, he didn’t want to bring up Xie Yuanxing’s scars. On the other hand, he hadn’t figured out his own thoughts.

Shen Bianye hesitated, then began, “Xie Yuanxing has a cousin who has always bullied him.”

Zhou Chao waited, and when nothing followed, he wondered, “And then?”

Shen Bianye: “Then Xie Yuanxing said that his cousin actually always liked him.”

Seeing that he stopped talking again, Zhou Chao had no choice but to ask, “And then what? What does that have to do with you?”

Shen Bianye: “I always used to think that as long as I acted cold towards Xie Yuanxing, he wouldn’t misunderstand anything.”

“Now, with this business about his cousin.”

He worriedly said, “Xie Yuanxing wouldn’t also think I’m that kind of person who says one thing but means another, would he?”

Zhou Chao: …….

Shen Bianye paused, “Of course, I’m not like his cousin, that scum. But Xie Yuanxing can’t misunderstand me either.”

Zhou Chao: …….

He grabbed his clothes, ready to get up. “I want to go home.”

The next second, he was pressed back down by Shen Bianye, who clicked his tongue and said, “You’ve been in so many relationships. If I don’t ask you to analyze it, who will?”

Zhou Chao wiped his face. “Can I please never date again?”

“During the time you and Xie Yuanxing are together, I will cut off all contact with all my ambiguous partners.”

Shen Bianye: “Say something sensible, I haven’t even bothered you.”

Zhou Chao was amused by the blame being shifted. “I’m not talking sense? Everything you just said, I want to find a translator to translate it.”

“Meaning, if you’re good to Xie Yuanxing, you’re afraid he’ll misunderstand that you like him. If you’re bad to Xie Yuanxing, you’re also afraid he’ll misunderstand that you like him, is that right?”

Shen Bianye pondered for a moment, then nodded.

Zhou Chao: “I think you’re overthinking it, really.”

“And you haven’t bullied Xie Yuanxing, have you? How have you bullied him?”

Shen Bianye: “You don’t understand, he has a notebook where he’s written down all the unpleasant things he thinks I’ve said.”

Zhou Chao: …….

Zhou Chao wearily rubbed his face, “I think, sometimes, you two are quite a match.”

“Didn’t you create a fake identity and online-date him? He shouldn’t be the kind of person who’s two-faced, right?”

Shen Bianye was strangely silent for a moment and said, “I found out today that Xie Yuanxing is actually quite smart.”

“What I’m still worried about is whether he’s known all along that the person he’s online-dating is me?”

Zhou Chao casually said, “I don’t know, why don’t you test him?”

Test him, how?

On the way back to the dorm, Shen Bianye kept thinking about this question. Seeing the flickering streetlights by the roadside, he suddenly thought of the fireworks factory where Zhou Chao had just been.

Perhaps he could take Xie Yuanxing to see fireworks.

Shen Bianye had seen online that there was a fireworks town where, every festival, fireworks were set off everywhere in the town, able to cover the entire sky.

Xie Yuanxing also needed to say goodbye to the past. Taking him to see a fireworks display in a city of fireworks was just right.

However, he would be busy preparing for final exams recently, so it wouldn’t be too late to go after the exams.

So how else could he test him?

When Shen Bianye returned to the dorm, Xie Yuanxing seemed to have just showered. The air conditioner was on in the dorm, and he was wearing a close-fitting sweater that perfectly outlined his waistline. His lips were moist with water vapor, looking hydrated and beautifully colored.

His hair was semi-wet, and he was looking down at a book.

Shen Bianye had been with Xie Yuanxing long enough to know that Xie Yuanxing was far from as good-tempered as he seemed, and he was lazy, not even bothering to blow-dry his hair.

“Why aren’t you drying your hair?” Shen Bianye walked in, saying coolly, “If you catch a cold and start coughing, who are you planning to annoy to death?”

He reached for the hairdryer and plugged it in.

He had something on his mind and didn’t ask. His fingers went directly through Xie Yuanxing’s soft hair, and the hairdryer’s air outlet whooshed, making his hair sway.

The ticklish sensation of someone else’s fingers running through his hair made Xie Yuanxing silent for a moment. He reached for the hairdryer in Shen Bianye’s hand. “I can do it myself.”

Shen Bianye dodged his hand and scoffed, “You do it yourself? You can’t even do something as simple as blow-drying your hair, what can you do?”

Xie Yuanxing silently unplugged the hairdryer and said, “Then I won’t dry it.”

It was Shen Bianye’s turn to be silent. He plugged the hairdryer back in, handed it to Xie Yuanxing, and stiffly said, “Dry it yourself.”

In his mind, however, he was already thinking.

If Xie Yuanxing knew he was X, he wouldn’t be so hesitant about him blow-drying his hair.

This test still wouldn’t work.

Shen Bianye watched Xie Yuanxing, deep in thought. The warm light illuminated Xie Yuanxing’s face, making it appear lustrous and white. As he lowered his head to blow-dry his hair, there was a sense of obedience. From the side, his philtrum looked small and shiny under the light, he couldn’t tell if it was adorned with water droplets or saliva.

X had said he would kiss him next time they met…

Shen Bianye’s gaze gradually deepened, his eyes becoming profound, staring intently at Xie Yuanxing’s rosy lips, unconsciously swallowing.

When Xie Yuanxing finished drying his hair and put down the hairdryer, Shen Bianye suddenly pulled his chair, turning him around.

Shen Bianye looked at Xie Yuanxing, and Xie Yuanxing looked at Shen Bianye.

Would he refuse, would he refuse…

If Xie Yuanxing knew in his heart that he was X…

He wouldn’t refuse, would he?

Shen Bianye knew what Xie Yuanxing was like when he was well-behaved—utterly obedient when drunk. The hand that moved to stroke his back slipped to touch his tender nipple, and Xie Yuanxing thought he had done something wrong. He didn’t cry even when it hurt, only whimpering softly in pain.

He could try…

Try to see if Xie Yuanxing would refuse when sober…

He’d lean in a little slower, just slow enough to give Xie Yuanxing time to react.

Xie Yuanxing was disoriented when his chair and he were turned. Seeing Shen Bianye staring at him without speaking, he subtly frowned.

Thinking that Shen Bianye had accompanied him on an errand today, Xie Yuanxing pondered for a moment, then remained silent, waiting to see what Shen Bianye wanted to say.

The next second, Shen Bianye suddenly leaned in close. Before Xie Yuanxing could react, his lips felt a sudden warmth. Xie Yuanxing’s hand moved faster than his brain, instinctively slapping back.

A soft smack sound.

The already quiet dorm became eerily silent.

Shen Bianye rubbed the left side of his cheek, licked his lips, his gaze suddenly darkening, hinting at danger. “You slapped me?”

The initial irritation that had been suppressed seemed to instantly dissipate, replaced by another kind of excited pleasure.

Xie Yuanxing: ……

Shen Bianye chuckled, a dangerous, sneering sound: “With strength like a kitten, can’t even hit properly?”

Xie Yuanxing: ……

He pursed his lips, then, under Shen Bianye’s increasingly dangerous gaze, quickly relaxed. His pale lips were pressed crimson by his own action, and Xie Yuanxing’s expression became even more complex.

Xie Yuanxing: “…Is it your susceptible period?”

“You haven’t released your pheromones for a long time. Just release them.”

He was really quite scared that Shen Bianye’s pheromone disorder wouldn’t be cured and he’d go crazy first.

The scent of embers after a fierce fire, which he hadn’t smelled in a long time, permeated the dorm. Xie Yuanxing suppressed a cough, but his eyes welled up with moisture as he asked Shen Bianye, “Do you want to bite?”

Shen Bianye didn’t answer the question, his eyes dark as he looked at Xie Yuanxing and said, “Baby.”

Xie Yuanxing paused, then slightly tilted his head. “Just bite. The sooner you bite, the sooner you’ll return to normal.”

Return to normal?

Xie Yuanxing’s reaction just now clearly showed he didn’t think he was X.

So not only could he not return to normal, he had to go even crazier.

Shen Bianye couldn’t say whether it was acting on impulse or for some other reason, but he had truly, truly held back for a long time.

The pheromones, long suppressed by inhibitors, were stirring with what could only be called excitement, invisible pheromones brushing heavily and slowly against the back of the beta’s neck, desperately seeking a gland to unleash upon.

Shen Bianye ignored his pheromones. Instead, he gripped Xie Yuanxing’s wrist, his voice husky and sticky: “Baby, which hand hit me just now?”

His well-defined fingers traced down the wrist, like a steaming, strange snake, half-enclosing the hand. “This one, right?”

He suddenly smiled, half-crouching in front of Xie Yuanxing, forcefully pulling Xie Yuanxing’s hand, not allowing it to retract. His thumb rubbed Xie Yuanxing’s palm twice, then he lowered his head and kissed it.

Xie Yuanxing’s eyes widened. He propped himself up with one hand on Shen Bianye’s shoulder, then suddenly pulled his hand back, trying to withdraw it. “Don’t… mmh…”

He let out an unexpected gasp, then abruptly looked down.

Shen Bianye was half-crouching, his gaze focused and obsessed, as if he was doing something long-awaited. When he kissed it, Xie Yuanxing’s palm was already warm, and now it was scalding.

A crimson tongue tip extended, licking the soft palm. The wet trail was like fluid left by a crawling snake.

He kissed, his tone strange and excited: “Baby just showered, right?”

“Did you use soap? Baby’s palm smells sweet. Did you run out of milk-scented soap?”

He licked hard, smiling pleasurably: “Baby, it’s pomegranate flavored.”

Xie Yuanxing’s ears flushed hot, half from shame and half from anger. He growled in a low voice, “Shen Bianye, what the hell are you doing?”

Shen Bianye looked up, his thin lips slightly curled. “Baby, if anyone else dared to do this to me, just ten days to half a month in the hospital would be considered merciful by me.”

Xie Yuanxing gritted his teeth, “Let go, I’ll let you hit me.”

“How can I do that?” Shen Bianye sighed, “Baby will be in pain.”

“Let me just lick, hmm?”

“I’ll calm down after a lick.”

Seeing him about to bury his head again, Xie Yuanxing grew anxious. “Don’t lick, are you a dog?!”

Shen Bianye’s movement paused. He abruptly looked up, his eyes dark, like a suppressed storm, startlingly intense. “Baby, I’m trying very hard to hold back.”

He half-crouched in front of Xie Yuanxing, his hand stroking Xie Yuanxing’s face with undeniable force, allowing no resistance. “My heart aches for baby, baby should also care for my heart, okay?”

Injecting so many suppressants, his flesh felt like it was tearing apart from the impact of the pheromones surging within his body.

He didn’t want any future with Xie Yuanxing and had always suppressed Xie Yuanxing’s attraction to his pheromones, lest he do something bad under the impulse of his pheromones.

If he were a person without morals, he would have just taken Xie Yuanxing.

Pheromones had a significant impact on Alphas, an impact Betas could hardly imagine.

But Shen Bianye’s upbringing did not allow him to do so, so he could only endure, enduring to the point where he could only lick Xie Yuanxing’s neck under the guise of biting it.

And because Xie Yuanxing had been burned by fire and feared fire, and anything associated with its scent, he took even more suppressants, suppressing his pheromones even more tightly.

When he heard that Xie Zhuowu liked Xie Yuanxing, an inexplicable fear welled up in Shen Bianye’s heart. He tried his best to suppress it, but still wanted to vent through testing.

As the air became almost stagnant with the scent of embers from a blazing fire, Shen Bianye stared intently at Xie Yuanxing and suddenly spoke again, “If you let me kiss you, I won’t bite you.”

“Aren’t you afraid of pain, baby? Let me kiss you, gently, and I’ll let you go, okay?”

His gaze was sticky and focused, like a hungry wolf staring at its destined prey, faintly showing desire.

Xie Yuanxing looked at him too, and calmly said, “No, I have a boyfriend.”

“You can bite instead, even if you bite it raw.”

Shen Bianye’s movement stiffened. He ferociously lowered his head and kissed Xie Yuanxing’s fingertips.

Annoying.

Damn it.

Says he has a boyfriend, but the boyfriend doesn’t show up. How can he kiss his boyfriend if he won’t meet him?