GBROTAH CH53

At 7:00 AM, Xie Yuanxing arrived at Dorm 603 to grab his books.

Some of his new roommates were still asleep, while others were already awake. A tall, thin guy nodded at him as he tiptoed in.

Xie Yuanxing just nodded back, not wanting to disturb the others.

Even for an 8:00 AM class, they wouldn’t get many more minutes of sleep, though some could manage to sleep until 7:50 AM and sprint to class in ten minutes.

After packing his books for the morning, Xie Yuanxing was about to leave when the tall, thin guy patted his shoulder. “Wait for me, I’ll go with you.”

Before this guy moved in, Young Master Shen had specifically told them to include Xie Yuanxing in whatever they did, but not to force him if he didn’t want to.

Young Master Shen had said it all, making their dorm sound like some kind of kindergarten daycare.

But they couldn’t help it; they had all benefited from the Young Master’s generosity. How did the saying go? Taking money from others to resolve their problems. Pah, it wasn’t about resolving problems, just taking care of a somewhat introverted classmate.

The classmate was quite good-looking, and after carrying things back and forth during the move yesterday, he seemed to have a good personality. They were quite willing.

The tall, thin guy thought this as he quickly packed up and walked over to Xie Yuanxing. “Okay, let’s go.”

Xie Yuanxing pointed at the motionless figures still in bed, hesitating as he quietly asked, “Shouldn’t we wake them up?”

When he used to live with Shen Bianye, Shen Bianye was full of energy and woke up even earlier than him, going for a run around 6:00 AM. Xie Yuanxing had even reflected on whether he was too lazy.

Now, it seemed that wasn’t the case.

The tall, thin guy said, “Don’t worry about them, they’ll probably get up around 7:30 AM.”

At 7:10 AM, Xie Yuanxing and the tall, thin guy pushed open the door and left the dorm.

The door diagonally opposite was open, and Shen Bianye walked out. The hem of his black trench coat billowed as he moved, his long legs straight. Three people, two directions, they crossed paths.

Xie Yuanxing wanted to talk to Shen Bianye about the house; it was too expensive, and he couldn’t accept it for no reason.

So, seeing Shen Bianye walk out, he began, “Shen…”

The tall figure walked past him without pausing, as if he hadn’t heard, or as if he didn’t care.

His new roommate’s strange gaze fell on Xie Yuanxing. Xie Yuanxing paused, pursed his lips, and said nothing.

He took out his phone and sent Shen Bianye a message.

“I can’t just accept that house. Can I pay you back in the future? We can sign a contract, I promise.”

“It might sound a bit weak now, or maybe we can sign after I graduate and find a job?”

Shen Bianye: “No need. My life is worth more than the house.”

“Just keep it. Don’t contact me about anything else in the future.”

Having waited for an hour, only to finally see the person who then fled at first sight, Shen Bianye was already in the elevator. He put away his phone, and as the elevator descended, his heart sank with it.

He shouldn’t appear in front of Xie Yuanxing anymore, lest every time he saw him, Xie Yuanxing would want to talk about money and houses. He did all this precisely because he didn’t want Xie Yuanxing to be so tired in the future.

If Xie Yuanxing still insisted on giving him the money, then everything he had done would be meaningless.

Shen Bianye’s phone vibrated. He took it out, looked at it, and touched the screen, a round one-yuan coin avatar.

He remembered a long time ago, the nickname X used for Xie Yuanxing: Yuan Yuan.

Yuan Yuan, yuan yuan (far away). Indeed, it was too far, so far that Shen Bianye dared not reach out.

He spoke harshly to Xie Yuanxing one last time. “You’re annoying. I told you my life is worth far more than the house.”

“Who cares about the twenty million you can’t even save in ten or twenty years? Don’t bother me anymore.”

After typing these words, Shen Bianye paused, clicked the three dots in the upper right corner, his hand hovering over the glaring red “Delete,” and pressed it.

Xie Yuanxing froze, seeing the red exclamation mark. He was briefly silent, then put his phone away.

His new roommate next to him was asking, “Are you going to the cafeteria? Cafeteria A or Cafeteria B?”

Xie Yuanxing snapped back to reality, his lips slightly pursed, and said, “Cafeteria A, I guess.”

His new roommate asked as they walked, “By the way, you and Shen Bianye were living together perfectly fine. Why did you suddenly move out?”

Shen Bianye had told them not to mention caring for Xie Yuanxing to him. This morning, when Shen Bianye ignored Xie Yuanxing and just walked away, he almost thought their relationship was terrible.

Xie Yuanxing shook his head, unwilling to say more: “Maybe he’s just used to living alone.”

The two bought breakfast and parted ways at the academic building. The new roommate was a sophomore, and he and Xie Yuanxing weren’t in the same classroom for class.

As Xie Yuanxing entered his classroom, the person in the opposite corner also turned, the corner of his black trench coat disappearing around the bend, walking towards his own classroom.

At 12:00 PM, Xie Yuanxing’s class ended.

His new roommate asked him on WeChat if he wanted to go to the cafeteria for lunch.

He said he would wait for him at the entrance of Comprehensive Building A, telling him to walk over after class.

Xie Yuanxing had class in Building C. The buildings were connected by long corridors. To get to the cafeteria, he had to walk from Building C to Building A.

His new roommates were very enthusiastic, so enthusiastic that when Xie Yuanxing arrived at Building A, all five of them were waiting for him at the entrance.

At 9:00 PM, Xie Yuanxing returned to the dorm. He walked into the dorm building’s main entrance from outside, stepping from darkness into the brightly lit dorm lobby. The black tear mole under his eye seemed to shimmer in the light.

How beautiful you are, Xie Yuanxing.

Even your tear mole is so lovely.

He thought, If I had known, I would have licked it the last time I bit Xie Yuanxing. Xie Yuanxing is so delicate, he can’t hit hard, and he only repeats a few words when he scolds. Trading that for a lick of that tear mole seems like a fair deal.

He regretted it again, the kiss that never happened when X’s identity was revealed.

Shen Bianye sat quietly by a flowerbed hidden in the darkness for a while before going upstairs and returning to his empty dorm.

His desk was adorned with various figurines, and a top-tier computer guaranteed smooth performance for any game Shen Bianye played.

He sat in front of the computer, staring at the dark screen, and let go of the mouse.

After washing up, he got into bed. On the narrow single bed, there was an additional piece of soft, faded clothing.

Shen Bianye climbed into bed, unconsciously curling up, holding the piece of clothing. His pheromones spread uncontrollably through the dorm.

Perhaps he knew there was no possibility between him and Xie Yuanxing.

Shen Bianye was nesting, but he didn’t realize it.

There were too few clothes left for him, just one, not enough to pile up. So, Shen Bianye didn’t connect it to nesting at all.

He just felt he was sleeping while hugging Xie Yuanxing’s clothes, which wasn’t very polite, but thankfully no one knew.

“You should come home this weekend. There’s something I need to tell you.”

Shen Bianye received Shen Zheng’s call on his third day of following Xie Yuanxing.

He had no patience for Shen Zheng, saying coldly, “What can’t you say over the phone?”

Shen Zheng: “Come back when I tell you to. I’m your father, would I harm you?”

“It’s very important, urgent.”

Shen Bianye found Shen Zheng incredibly annoying, but he suppressed his irritation and said, “Got it.”

He couldn’t think of anything urgent Shen Zheng might have. So, when he returned to the old family home and saw a new Omega standing beside Shen Zheng, looking at him with a shy, tentative gaze, Shen Bianye immediately spoke, “Is your comprehension okay, Shen Zheng? I said I’m not going on a blind date.”

Shen Zheng: “Who said I’m setting you up on a blind date?”

“She’s not for a blind date.”

?

Shen Bianye frowned, highly impatiently, “Are you okay, Shen Zheng? You called me all the way here just to tell me you have a new girlfriend?”

“Do you want me to congratulate you? Or is she pregnant?”

Shen Zheng’s face held an expression of quiet authority, and he said in a deep voice, “Something like that. Soon.”

“And respect your attitude. Stay for dinner tonight, a family meal.”

Something like that?

Shen Bianye had never heard of “something like that” for whether someone was pregnant or not. Damn it, insane.

The servants were already setting the table for dinner. Shen Bianye simply sat down.

Dinner was lavish, accompanied by wine.

Shen Zheng looked at Shen Bianye with a complex expression. “When you were just born, you were so small. I was present for all your growth. Why do you hold such great resentment towards me?”

“I admit I’ve had shortcomings, but I believe I’ve fulfilled my responsibilities as a father. But now, you call me Shen Zheng, Shen Zheng, and rarely come home. It’s become very difficult for me to see my own son.”

He spoke very gently, with a hint of a sigh, appearing quite pitiful at that moment.

Shen Bianye felt nauseous hearing it and took a sip of wine to suppress it. “How about we talk about this: when I was fifteen, you diagnosed my pheromone disorder, treated it for only a year, and then abandoned me to find other women and have another child?”

Shen Zheng wasn’t angry. Instead, he said, “The group needs an heir. I poured my heart into it, I can’t just watch it fall into someone else’s hands.”

“But I still love you. You are my son.”

Shen Bianye scoffed, raising his glass in a toast. “May you soon have a son to your liking.”

With that, he stood up and went upstairs to his room.

Shen Zheng remained seated, giving the Omega beside him a look. The latter took the hint, stood up, and followed him.

For all these years, he couldn’t have another child, and he later found out it was due to drugs Shen Bianye’s mother had given herself before she died.

But it didn’t matter. If he couldn’t raise a son, a grandson would do. His hard work must be passed down to someone of his bloodline.

He had wanted to wait a bit longer, to see if the new treatment plan would be effective, but now the treatment had stopped, and the results were unsatisfactory. It was better to plan early.

If Shen Bianye wasn’t willing to go on blind dates or marry, he would have to use other methods.

If the first grandchild wasn’t intelligent, he could quickly prepare for the next.

Shen Bianye returned to his room and immediately felt a warmth in his body and a slight dizziness. He didn’t pay it any mind, attributing it to the alcohol.

His body was feverish, and the tear mole in his mind kept flashing, making Shen Bianye’s mouth dry.

His breathing grew heavier, his eyes constantly flickering with struggle. His hands clenched into fists, digging into his palms where the ring had once scratched him. He endured and endured, but still couldn’t resist taking out his phone.

There was a photo inside, taken in a hotel.

It was a stolen photo of Xie Yuanxing wearing a black lace eye mask, peacefully asleep.

Xie Yuanxing was too fair; the clash of black and white on his face, and the sensual lace, made the tear mole under his eye even more alluring and tempting.

Shen Bianye stared at the photo, licking his lips. His handsome face was tinged with a wild, primal desire.

He still had a sliver of rationality left. At this moment, he didn’t feel it was impolite, but rather too sudden, too unusual, which prevented Shen Bianye from doing anything else except staring at that photo, making his mouth water.

The pheromones in the room were overwhelming. The Omega’s legs turned to jelly as soon as she pushed open the door. Although she was arranged to have a child with Shen Bianye, she had liked him the moment she saw him.

He was very handsome; sleeping with him would be no loss at all. After getting pregnant, perhaps Shen Bianye would fall in love with her and marry her.

She released her own pheromones, almost impatiently walking towards the densest concentration of pheromones in the room.

Shen Bianye watched her walk in, his eyes blazing red from the drug, and suddenly laughed.

Damn it, the old bastard.

The Omega’s heart pounded at his laugh, and she slowly walked towards him. “Mr. Shen said that…”

“I don’t hit Omegas, and I certainly don’t hit women.” The Omega was momentarily stunned when Shen Bianye cut her off, not fully grasping his words. “What?”

The next second, she was pressed down and tied up by Shen Bianye, her mouth gagged.

Shen Bianye didn’t bother with the person he had thrown onto the floor. He walked into the bathroom and turned on the cold water.

Fortunately, Shen Zheng had a tiny bit of conscience and gave him a drug that could be relieved with cold water. An hour later, Shen Bianye walked out of the bathroom, radiating coldness. He put on his clothes, dragged the Omega on the floor, and walked out.

The Omega panicked, making muffled sounds, but Shen Bianye ignored her. He dragged her like trash and dumped her at Shen Zheng’s door.

He raised his hand, standing right at Shen Zheng’s doorway, and called the police. “I suspect someone here is harboring illegal drugs. Please come and investigate.”

“I can cooperate with a blood drug test.”

The door was suddenly thrown open, Shen Zheng’s face livid. “Shen Bianye, there’s a limit to your antics! You’re calling someone to investigate your own father?”

While this wouldn’t have any real impact on him, Shen Bianye was practically trampling his reputation into the ground.

Shen Bianye looked at him coldly. “Father? What do you take me for? A breeding machine?”

Shen Zheng: “Do you think I want to bother with you? How many years do you have left? Wouldn’t it be good for me to leave behind a successor through you?”

“You talk so nicely about not wanting to go on blind dates and marry to avoid delaying others,” he said, pointing at Shen Bianye, furious. “Isn’t it just because you fell for a male Beta?!”

Shen Bianye’s pupils constricted, his expression growing colder. “You’re meddling too much in my affairs.”

Shen Zheng sneered. Father and son didn’t look like father and son; they looked like enemies. “If you weren’t my son, who would bother with you?”

“Liking a Beta is fine, but a male Beta, really, Shen Bianye, are you planning for our family line to end?”

Shen Bianye had been disappointed in this man too many times to count. He had long experienced the feeling of being abandoned by his own father, and now his heart felt no ripple of emotion. The conglomerate was more important than anything else, more important than his wife, more important than his son. All this talk of continuing the bloodline was just a desire for someone to inherit his so-called life’s work.

He looked at Shen Zheng and said unceremoniously, “Not necessarily.”

“Go marry a wife, let her cheat and give you a child. A bastard is still a child, and a bastard father is still a father.”

The Omega lying on the ground no longer dared to listen. The entire old house was silent; no one dared to come out. Shen Zheng’s face was flushed with fury. He suddenly pointed to the front door on the first floor. “Get out! Get out of my sight!”

Shen Bianye scoffed, turning and leaving without a backward glance.

Outside, the sky was dark. Shen Bianye’s speeding sports car headlights illuminated the dark road ahead, only to be swallowed by the deeper darkness beyond.

His desire hadn’t completely subsided. He suddenly yearned to see Xie Yuanxing.

Xie Yuanxing had said that as long as X chose him firmly, he would also choose X firmly.

Firm, unchanging, never abandoning.

But that was said to X, not to him.

“Shen Bianye?!”

“Are you f*cking crazy?!”

Zhou Chao burst into Shen Bianye’s room so fast that the auntie who let him in couldn’t keep up.

Shen Bianye was packing his things. Seeing Zhou Chao, he calmly greeted him, “Why are you here?”

“Why am I here?!” Zhou Chao scoffed, amused by his own anger. “If I didn’t come, you’d be gone, vanished abroad.”

“Life’s going perfectly fine, what are you going abroad for??”

Shen Bianye remained nonchalant: “A change of life.”

If he stayed any longer, he felt like he would go mad. A normal person wouldn’t stalk their former roommate day after day; only a pervert would.

A normal person wouldn’t desperately want to lick their former roommate’s tear mole, craving it so much that it filled their dreams, wanting to kiss it, lick it, and ejaculate against that mole.

He walked to the door and told Zhou Chao, “Move.”

Zhou Chao was highly annoyed: “What are you doing now?”

Shen Bianye: “Going to the tattoo parlor.”

He wanted to get this done before he left.

Zhou Chao: “No, I mean, what exactly do you plan to do abroad?”

He was puzzled: “And what are you going to the tattoo parlor for?”

Shen Bianye said nothing, walking out on his own.

Zhou Chao followed him like an old mother hen, earnestly trying to persuade him, “Your illness is cured now; this is your best time. What are you running abroad for?”

“Your dad is so eager to have another son for you, don’t you want to go back and inherit the family fortune?”

“Why let someone else get a bargain?”

Shen Bianye’s attitude was indifferent, and he said casually, “Who knows how many years I have left? Why bother with all that trouble?”

Zhou Chao paused. “What do you mean?”

Shen Bianye briefly explained what the doctor had said. Zhou Chao was shocked: “This kind of thing, why didn’t you say something sooner?”

He grew anxious, rambling incoherently, “I always thought you were better, and I was so happy! Are we brothers or not? You, you kept such a big thing a secret?”

Shen Bianye: “It’s not a big deal. Haven’t I always known this was a possibility?”

He got into the car in the garage, and Zhou Chao quickly opened the passenger door and followed. “That’s one way to put it.”

Shen Bianye floored the accelerator, and Zhou Chao was thrown back by the sudden acceleration, then suddenly realized, “No, this has nothing to do with you going abroad.”

“You said it yourself, it’s the last few years of your life, are you going to die alone abroad?”

Shen Bianye remained silent. When they arrived at the tattoo parlor, he got out of the car. The ready tattoo artist warmly greeted him and led him inside.

Just as Zhou Chao was about to follow, Shen Bianye stopped him. “You stay outside.”

?

No?

“What’s there for me not to see about you getting a tattoo?” Zhou Chao was puzzled, still trying to go inside. “You get your tattoo, I’ll sit here and talk.”

Shen Bianye was a little uncomfortable. He didn’t want anyone else to know about this kind of tattoo, lest his long-time friend misunderstand him as a pervert.

So, he didn’t say much, simply reached out and pulled the door shut.

Zhou Chao, standing at the door, heard the distinct click of the lock. He gave up, found a chair in the reception area, and sat down to wait.

Shen Bianye was acting very unusually. He had almost no bad habits. He drank, but didn’t smoke, and he wouldn’t inexplicably get a tattoo.

Zhou Chao’s narrow, fox-like eyes flickered. He had actually noticed some things a long time ago, but he didn’t want to say anything. Shen Bianye’s family would never allow him to be with a Beta.

Shen Bianye was directly involved and couldn’t see it clearly, and Zhou Chao didn’t want to expose it. But now, it seemed unavoidable.

Zhou Chao was still thinking about what to say when Shen Bianye came out.

He had been puzzled from the start, and now his face was etched with even more confusion. “No, you’re done with your tattoo so fast?”

“What did you get tattooed?”

“Did the tattoo artist even put the needle in before you came out?”

Shen Bianye snorted, “None of your business.”

Zhou Chao’s head was splitting. He ignored Shen Bianye’s secretive tattoo. “Why are you going abroad? Tell me!”

“Because of Xie Yuanxing?”

Shen Bianye fell silent.

Zhou Chao: “You like him?”

Shen Bianye looked up at him, wanting to say something but held back. In the end, he just said blandly, “No.”

The sky could fall, and Shen Bianye’s mouth would hold it up.

Zhou Chao was speechless.

He sighed and said, “Stop pretending, okay? The moment you saw Xie Yuanxing at the bar, I knew you liked him.”

Shen Bianye angrily retorted, “You’re talking nonsense.”

“At that time, I just pitied him, understood? Pitied him?”

“He was cleaning tables in a bar right after military training, right after freshman year started. Wasn’t he pitiful?”

“At that time?” Zhou Chao slowly asked, “So, now it’s love?”

Shen Bianye paused, then, unusually, flushed with anger: “Are you looking for a fight?”

Zhou Chao spread his hands. “If you like him, go find him. What are you going abroad for? Is Xie Yuanxing abroad?”

His good friend’s words cut deeper and deeper. He said, “Are you afraid of dying young, so you don’t dare to pursue him?”

Shen Bianye’s fists clenched.

Zhou Chao: “If you only have a few years left to live, and you can’t even make yourself happy, what’s the point of living?”

Shen Bianye gave him a cold look. “So, I should only make myself happy? Not consider others?”

Zhou Chao scoffed, “He doesn’t think you’re better, does he? When you feel like you’re about to die, just break up. Heartbreak will be forgotten after a while.”

He then paused. “Wait, are you two acting out some tragic melodrama here?”

Shen Bianye was speechless and sneered, “Very imaginative, but Xie Yuanxing doesn’t want to be with me. He probably hates me too.”

Zhou Chao: “You don’t say anything about what you’ve done, so why would he like you?”

Shen Bianye: “Nothing to say. I didn’t do anything special.”

He spent some money, but he wouldn’t live long anyway, so keeping the money was useless to him.

Other than that, there was nothing worth mentioning.

“Others do five parts and say ten parts; you do ten parts and deduct one part.” Zhou Chao knew a little about Shen Bianye and Xie Yuanxing’s dynamic. He chuckled, full of sarcasm: “Pure clown.”

Shen Bianye’s fists truly tightened, completely so. He gritted his teeth and said, “You wait. I’m going to list all the people you’ve dated that I remember and send them to Lu Qiang.”

Zhou Chao: …

“Wait, how do you know?”

Shen Bianye sneered, “I’m not an idiot.”

That’s debatable.

Zhou Chao internally retorted, but said aloud, “You’re not sensitive, so you might not have noticed, but what Xie Yuanxing wants might not be what you think.”

“Perhaps you could observe him. If you leave, will Xie Yuanxing truly be that happy?”

Shen Bianye subtly paused, then said uncomfortably, “What do you mean ‘observe’? Isn’t that just stalking?”

Besides, he had already observed him. Xie Yuanxing was doing very well now.

Xie Yuanxing had already lost his parents, his home, and suffered abuse for six years. If he were to make Xie Yuanxing experience the pain of losing a loved one again, then he would be the worst person in the world.

After vaguely realizing his feelings, he told himself that Xie Yuanxing couldn’t like him.

Perhaps his subconscious had been thinking this for a long time, which was why he instinctively chose a way of interacting with Xie Yuanxing that would make him disliked.

Zhou Chao, after much persuasion, temporarily convinced Shen Bianye, who was planning to go abroad, to observe for a week. Then, he turned around and messaged Xie Yuanxing on WeChat.

Zhou Chao: “Are you there?”

He stared at those two words, then fell silent. Forget it, he thought. It’s not like I’m trying to date Xie Yuanxing, so who cares if the opening is cliché?

It was already noon when Xie Yuanxing saw the message. Roommates crowded the dorm, some playing games, others watching videos. Everyone was relaxing, trying to squeeze in some leisure before afternoon classes.

Xie Yuanxing swapped the books in his backpack for the ones he needed for his afternoon classes, then got up and went to the library. It wasn’t about being different, but rather a habit; he didn’t find those games or videos particularly interesting.

He walked towards the library while replying to Zhou Chao’s message.

Xie Yuanxing: “I’m here. What’s up?”

Zhou Chao: “Do you know Shen Bianye is going abroad?”

Xie Yuanxing’s steps faltered. He stopped by the pond in front of the library and slowly sat down. He seemed very slow to react, and his typing speed was also very sluggish.

Xie Yuanxing: “No.”

Zhou Chao: “Before he goes abroad, there are some things I think you should know.”

“Shen Bianye doesn’t look down on you for being a Beta. You might not believe it, but can you recall if he ever did anything that showed contempt for Betas?”

“Someone who even finds it unprincipled to casually use power to pressure people wouldn’t discriminate against Betas just because he’s an Alpha.”

Xie Yuanxing’s eyelashes fluttered as he stared at that sentence for a long time.

Zhou Chao, seeing no reaction in the chat box, and unsure what Xie Yuanxing was thinking, simply spilled everything.

He recounted how Shen Bianye had been so enraged by Xie Zhuowu’s verbal abuse towards Xie Yuanxing that he drank and cursed a person he had never met for three hours straight in front of them.

He told how Shen Bianye insisted that the two-hundred-mile distance for the snowflake crisps was because he made someone else buy them.

He explained how Shen Bianye, using his online identity, tutored Xie Yuanxing. Some of the topics he had long forgotten, so he hired an algebra tutor late at night to teach him online, and then he would teach Xie Yuanxing.

He talked about how Shen Bianye didn’t want Xie Yuanxing to be gloomy, wanting him to receive applause, so he went to the school gate and worked as a doorman, which they mocked him for a long time.

He mentioned how Shen Bianye inexplicably ordered a batch of fireworks from his fireworks factory, without saying for whom. However, on one particular night, fireworks were set off for a long time over A University of Science and Technology.

He said Shen Bianye complained to them about a family, saying he couldn’t even remember the decorations from six years ago. When he asked two more questions, that family acted like quails, as if he would eat them.

Zhou Chao hadn’t known about the fireworks incident at first, but since he had just taken over the fireworks factory, he saw fireworks inexplicably being set off for so long in the direction of A University of Science and Technology that night. He asked his subordinates, and it turned out they were indeed ordered from their factory, so he knew who ordered them.

Shen Bianye also didn’t say the decorations were related to Xie Yuanxing; Zhou Chao guessed it.

He also brought up the tattoo.

However, Zhou Chao himself wasn’t sure about this. He was puzzled. “I feel it should be related to you, but the reason I’m telling you about the tattoo is…”

“If you get a chance, and you find out what he tattooed, can you tell me?”

“I’m really curious.”

Shen Bianye was mostly broad-minded. Zhou Chao grew up with him and was a bit more cunning. Zhou Chao knew most things about Shen Bianye, and of course, he wouldn’t shy away from telling Shen Bianye his own affairs either.

Shen Bianye was secretive about the tattoo, and it was done so quickly, which made Zhou Chao both puzzled and intensely curious. It was really bothering him.

Xie Yuanxing didn’t go to the library for two hours that afternoon. He just sat by the pond in front of the library, staring at the messages that could be read in two minutes, for two whole hours.

Finally, he slowly typed a reply: “Got it.“

“If I find out, I’ll tell you.”

Zhou Chao looked at such a bland reply and also couldn’t tell what Xie Yuanxing was thinking. Shen Bianye didn’t want to talk about these things. If no one had told him, many of these things Xie Yuanxing might never have known in his lifetime.

So it was up to him to tell him.

Perhaps there was a slight hint of trying to make Xie Yuanxing feel indebted, to make him touched by Shen Bianye’s efforts, but there was no helping it—he and Shen Bianye were friends.

Zhou Chao felt a little emotional thinking about it. Speaking of which, he and Xie Yuanxing only added each other on WeChat during the last New Year’s Eve, when Shen Bianye asked for red envelopes on Xie Yuanxing’s behalf.

What did Shen Bianye say at the time?

That he coincidentally met Xie Yuanxing, who had just gotten off work, when he came to the restaurant.

Shen Bianye chose the restaurant, and he knew its location better than anyone. Coincidentally meeting? There’s no such thing as that many coincidences. Who knew how long he had waited at someone else’s workplace?

He felt Xie Yuanxing was lonely spending the New Year alone, and insisted on calling his concern “pity.” They exposed him, but Xie Yuanxing was unaware.

Shen Bianye told lies, and probably believed them himself.