Backing him up

Xu Shi's wheedling voice carried a hint of sobbing. He rarely showed weakness like this, and it softened anyone who heard him.

Xie Yanci instinctively reached for Xu Shi's waist and drew him into his arms.

His brows tightly furrowed, he lowered his eyes and gently brushed warm fingertips against the Beta's cheek. "Let me see."

Xu Shi reluctantly moved his hand away and stared up at Xie Yanci with weak, pitiful eyes. His right cheek was as fair as ever, without any sign of having been struck.

Xie Yanci raised an eyebrow. "?"

Only then did the tight furrow between his brows ease a little. His cold gaze swept lightly over the disheveled woman opposite them.

Who had hit whom?

He'd thought there was no way someone as mischievous as Xu Shi would let himself be bullied.

Xie Yanci chuckled softly and lowered his eyes. When his gaze fell on Xu Shi's eyes, pleading for someone to back him up, he seemed to understand.

His fingers tightened a little around the Beta's slender waist. His dark eyes narrowed, his sinister gaze settling on Lin Yuxiang. "She was the one who hit you, right?"

"Yes!"

Xu Shi buried himself in Xie Yanci's arms and choked out a few more sobs.

"Who hit you?!" With half her face red, Lin Yuxiang pointed at Xu Shi's face and cursed in fury. "You can't just twist the truth like this!"

Xu Shi raised an eyebrow, holding Xie Yanci's hand with a perfectly righteous expression. "Then are you saying I hit you?"

"Are you saying Xie Yanci's wife bullied you?"

He, Xu Shi, might only be an obscure, vicious cannon fodder character, but his husband was no ordinary man!

At that, Xu Xingjian finally couldn't sit still any longer. He hurriedly offered an ingratiating smile. "Of course not, Shi. That isn't what your mother meant."

He signaled to his wife with his eyes. "Hurry up and apologize!"

Lin Yuxiang couldn't swallow her anger. "There are surveillance cameras here. Would you like to see for yourself what an awful person your wife is, Mr. Xie?"

*[!]*

[Don't...]

Xu Shi trembled a little.

Xie Yanci gave a cold laugh. With slightly curled fingers, he gently pinched Xu Shi's cheek twice, signaling for the person in his arms to relax.

He had long known what sort of person his wife was.

Xie Yanci didn't want to waste words on them. He had abandoned the business partners he was signing a contract with and rushed straight here.

"My wife was hit. How do you intend to resolve this, Mr. Xu?" His voice was icy.

"Well..." The man hesitated.

"Xie Yanci! Being rich doesn't mean you can be this unreasonable!" The woman's furious shriek was piercing.

Xie Yanci had seen plenty of scenes like this. He covered Xu Shi's ears, his voice as indifferent as ever:

"I didn't make a special trip here to reason with you."

The grievances Xu Shi had suffered in the Xu Family over the years were far more than a single slap could settle.

There were things he could turn a blind eye to, but now that this had happened right in front of him, he couldn't possibly ignore it.

[Daddy...]

For some reason, Xu Shi felt his nose sting. He buried his head in Xie Yanci's arms, and a tear fell with a plop.

So this was what it felt like to have Xie Yanci openly favor him.

Would Wen Yu get to experience this thing he yearned for so much every day in the future?

"..."

Xie Yanci gently brushed the reddened corners of Xu Shi's eyes. Lowering his head, he coaxed softly, "How do you want to handle this?"

Whatever Xu Shi said now would go.

Generations of effort had brought his Xie Family to its present position. If he still let his wife be bullied, he would be far too useless.

Xu Shi tightly gripped Xie Yanci's hand and turned to glance at the trembling woman opposite them.

He said nothing.

If he was going to hate anyone, he should hate the man who had abandoned his wife and child even more.

Some things weren't suitable to say here. Xu Shi hadn't suffered any real grievance anyway, so he said softly, "We'll talk about it later."

[I want the Xu Family bankrupt!]

[I want that bastard to kowtow to my mom.]

[Audit their taxes! Audit them!]

Xie Yanci understood and committed each one to memory.

The farce finally ended with Xu Shi triumphant.

Making a scene at the Xu Family's home really was refreshing. He had vented all his anger, and most importantly, Xie Yanci had protected him.

[I'm never saying anything bad about Xie Yanci again.]

Xie Yanci: "?"

Was he finally not angry anymore?

[Tsk, tsk. Why do I like throwing my weight around with a dog backing me up so much?]

Who was the dog?

[A beautiful Beta with an awful personality like me belongs with an all-powerful Daddy.]

[He has to spoil me!]

Xie Yanci lowered his eyes, a few muffled chuckles escaping his thin lips.

At the Xu Family's dining table, no one dared make a sound. They cautiously sized up the unpredictable Mr. Xie.

Xu Shi had said he wanted to stay for dinner.

So the entire Xu Family had to keep him company. It was also Lin Yuxiang's birthday.

Xu Xingqi clenched his chopsticks, his gaze fixed on the two sitting close together opposite him.

Xie Yanci had been bullying his mother all along, and he had bullied his older brother before too. This Alpha was so loathsome.

He would rescue Xu Shi from this man's clutches.

Xie Yanci suddenly looked up.

His eyes immediately met Xu Xingqi's murderous gaze, and a disdainful sneer escaped his thin lips.

Someone like this didn't deserve to be his romantic rival.

Because of him and his mother, Xu Shi had suffered plenty of bullying back then.

Xu Xingqi had first moved into the Xu Family's home as a relative's son. At the time, everyone was saying he was an illegitimate child who would take Xu Shi's place.

Aloof and proud by nature, Xie Yanci had always disdained such rumors. None of those people had anything to do with him.

He had been busy preparing for a physics competition and was always the last to pack up and go home.

It happened to be pouring that day, and Shen Che had finished basketball practice early. "Oh, you're still here. That wife of yours from your childhood betrothal got bullied."

Xie Yanci's hands paused over his books for a few seconds before he corrected him. "It's already been called off. He has nothing to do with me."

After Xu Shi differentiated into a Beta, their childhood betrothal had been called off.

"Oh." Shen Che shrugged. "He's over by the garbage dump, if you feel like sticking your nose in."

With that, he mimed a jump shot and left the classroom, drenched from head to toe.

"..." Xie Yanci lowered his head and packed his things.

The early spring rain was truly heavy. He looked up at the gloomy sky, holding a small wad of scrap paper.

Suddenly, he felt like throwing away some trash.

There was no one left at school. On the silent sports field, all he could hear was the pattering of raindrops against his umbrella. Xie Yanci stopped.

From a distance, he looked at Xu Shi curled up on the steps.

The Beta was filthy, as though he had been in a fight.

He didn't know whether he had won.

Xie Yanci's eyes darkened. He walked over and stopped beside him, tilting his umbrella slightly.

He said nothing.

Only after a long, long time did Xu Shi look up, his face wet with what could have been tears or rain.

Through the mist, he couldn't make out the Alpha's face, but he knew Xie Yanci was the only person who would come looking for him now.

Xu Shi's lips turned down, and his emotions instantly slipped out of control. "They said my mom and I are going to be kicked out. Is that true?"

Xie Yanci didn't know. "I'll take you back."

Xu Shi stared stubbornly at him, refusing to nod. "I don't have a home anymore, Xie Yanci."

"..."

Xie Yanci couldn't remember how he had answered back then.

All he knew was that the rain had been so heavy that day, and he had carried Xu Shi on his back from the city center to the south of the city.

The Xu Family's door hadn't opened.