The Beta from the Countryside (18)

Xue Ci spent the entire weekend in the villa, neither going out nor checking his phone much.

He wasn't bored, though-Gu Ling had sent his assistant over with comics, puzzles, games...

He found that Gu Ling really was a very good older brother. To treat his skin hunger, he hadn't even gone to the office.

It was just... he was a little too cooperative.

Xue Ci had only gone into the kitchen to wash some fruit, but when he turned around, Gu Ling was already behind him.

The man was tall, and Xue Ci tilted his face up to look at him.

He had seen that expression, the one that said Gu Ling wouldn't let him through, often enough to understand it.

Time for treatment again.

Xue Ci released his lower lip and gently told him, "I already had an episode on Friday, so the symptoms won't come back so soon. I'm not feeling uncomfortable either. Treatment like this... will take up a lot of your work time, big brother."

He knew Gu Ling was a workaholic, and that everything else took a back seat whenever work came up.

To his surprise, however, Gu Ling didn't think it interfered with his work. He even brought up the doctor's instructions. "Xiao Ci, the doctor said desensitization therapy isn't just for when you're having an episode. You need plenty of contact even when you don't have symptoms. You have to go back to school on Monday. If you aren't cured and have an episode at school with no one around, what will you do?"

Xue Ci lowered his head, cheeks puffed out, and murmured inwardly, There's still Xin Yue.

Of course, he wasn't complaining about Gu Ling.

It was just...

They had hugged more than a dozen times in a single day.

Wasn't that a little too frequent?

What if cuddling and hugging stopped working someday? Would he have to kiss for a long time to ease his skin hunger?

"I took a shower, and I didn't use any strange perfume." Gu Ling sounded as though he were eliminating every possible reason for being turned down. The freshly showered man's bangs fell across his forehead, softening the sharpness of his features. Unlike his usual buttoned-up style, his shirt was open at the collar, two buttons undone, and his sleeves were rolled up his arms, as though to expose as much skin as possible.

Xue Ci looked troubled.

He was still wavering when he suddenly felt someone pinch his finger. Gu Ling squeezed the soft pad of his fingertip once, then again, looking ready to keep it up until Xue Ci agreed to treatment.

Xue Ci gave in.

He gently pulled his finger free, and as soon as he leaned forward, he felt himself enveloped in Gu Ling's arms.

The Alpha's body was hot, and his embrace was tight and forceful. He didn't let go until Xue Ci could barely breathe.

Am I really not going to suffocate to death in the end?

Xue Ci thought as he obediently let Gu Ling lead him by the hand to the sofa.

He sat down in a daze, and a game controller was placed in his hands. He clearly didn't give the question any more thought.

Gu Ling sat at the other end of the sofa, head lowered as he worked, occasionally glancing at Xue Ci's profile.

He felt as though Xue Ci had a magnet in him, drawing Gu Ling in without any reason at all.

[Host! I'm baaack, sob, sob! Did you miss 11, host? Sob, sob!]

The familiar voice rang out in his head, and Xue Ci's eyes lit up.

[11, you're back!]

He rubbed 11's round, fluffy little belly. [I missed you so much.]

Seeing that the host was still wearing the protective charm it had given him, 11 was delighted and immediately reported, [Host, the people at headquarters said some of the small worlds have been affected by a spiritual-entity virus, causing deviations in the plot. They're already investigating, and plot deviations caused by this interference won't be held against us.]

[You can ignore the text messages, host. The protective charm came from headquarters, so outside spiritual entities can't get near you.]

Xue Ci nodded to show he understood.

11 immediately issued another task. [Gu Xu will be back soon. You need to take the initiative to talk to him. Also, why is Gu Ling sitting so close to you? Sob, sob, sob!]

Xue Ci patted it, soothing it as he explained why.

11's fur bristled with anger.

Isn't that old man taking advantage of the host?

But remembering that the host had only just stopped feeling tense, it chose to keep quiet.

Soon, there was a sound at the door. It seemed Gu Xu was back. Xue Ci immediately put down the controller and ran over.

Gu Xu, who had been called to the old family home to spend the day with relatives, instantly felt better when he saw Xue Ci's round eyes.

He asked in a cheerful tone, "What are you doing at home?"

"Playing games." Xue Ci dutifully carried out his task. "Do you want to play?"

"Oh," Gu Xu said.

He quickly changed his shoes and took off his coat, then walked eagerly over to the sofa, only to find someone else there.

"Brother?"

Gu Xu was surprised. His brother had indeed taken to working from home lately, but he always stayed in his study. Why had he moved to the living room today?

Or was he keeping Xue Ci company?

No matter how oblivious Gu Xu was, he could tell something was off. But when Xue Ci held out the controller, he said nothing and sat right down in the middle, separating Xue Ci from Gu Ling.

How old is my brother already?! I absolutely refuse to let Xue Ci become my sister-in-law in the end!

The two brothers' dislike for each other was mutual at that moment. For the first time, Gu Ling found the aloof, taciturn Gu Xu so noisy. Did he need to talk to Xue Ci so much just to play a game?

Can't he see that Xue Ci's lips are already dry?

Gu Ling reached out, speared a piece of fruit, and held it to Xue Ci's mouth across Gu Xu.

Xue Ci only realized what had happened after he had instinctively taken it into his mouth.

Did big brother just feed me fruit?

He glanced at the man, who had already sat up straight and returned to work, his expression serious and proper.

He glanced at Gu Xu, too, but his face was expressionless as usual.

Xue Ci thought no more of it and turned his attention back to the game.

Huh?

When did Gu Xu's character die?

Gu Ling glanced at the TV.

Still immature.

Xue Ci needs a mature person to take care of him.

Gu Xu is completely unsuitable.

Gu Ling didn't take Xue Ci to the academy until Monday morning. If Xue Ci hadn't insisted on going, Gu Ling would have had him stay home until the final exams.

He had even offered to buy an apartment near the academy and have Xue Ci move out of the dormitory.

That would make it impossible to guarantee progress on the progress bar.

After tactfully declining his kind offer, Xue Ci had to listen to reminders like "Don't wander off" and "Call anytime if something happens" until he could practically recite them by heart, before he finally managed to get out of the car and return to the dormitory.

Perhaps the desensitization therapy really was effective, because Xue Ci's skin hunger didn't flare up again that week.

With final exams approaching, the results of the previous week's mock exams came out. Xue Ci ranked tenth in his class, about the same as in the original plot. During a break, the subject representatives brought the test papers from the office and handed them out to each student.

Xue Ci had lost most of his points on the last few long-answer math problems.

He stared at the problems he had gotten wrong and sighed in dismay.

Xin Yue leaned over from beside him. "Which one can't you do?"

Xue Ci glanced at Xin Yue's score, which was even lower than his own, and pushed him away. "I don't want you teaching me. I'll fail next time."

"..."

Xin Yue sheepishly rubbed his nose, taking the opportunity to pinch Xue Ci's cheek. "You look down on me?"

Xue Ci shook his head, his voice muffled. "No, I don't. You're good at sports."

The compliment nearly sent Xin Yue floating. He cleared his throat. "I really am strong... but I can do well at these subjects too."

Xue Ci glanced at Xin Yue's test paper, covered in red marks, and decided not to discourage him.

After the papers were handed back, they had to correct their mistakes, but he spent five minutes scribbling on his scratch paper without making any progress.

His fluffy head drooped listlessly onto the desk.

Across the aisle, Xie Yishu sat in his seat with his math paper spread open.

Xue Ci saw that he had gotten a perfect score.

He looked at him longingly for a while, but decided not to risk going over to talk to him.

Xue Ci took out his phone and used a mini app to search for the problem, but perhaps it was too complicated; the search turned up nothing.

Before he could turn off his phone screen, two messages popped up.

[Baby looks so cute when he frowns.]

[Photo.jpg.]

The unknown number hadn't sent any messages that week, and Xue Ci had almost forgotten about it.

The photo the sender had sent showed the steps for solving the problem he had gotten wrong, in great detail, with the key points and tricky parts marked in red pen.

Although this invading virus was always calling him "baby" and was very annoying, it was also very smart.

Xue Ci wasn't as afraid of it now.

He opened the full-sized image and studied the handwriting in the photo. It was unfamiliar.

Soon, the sender sent more messages.

[Which other problem can't baby do? Number 13?]

[Photo.jpg.]

Xue Ci pursed his lips.

He didn't reply, but he saved the photos to his album so he could correct his mistakes back at the dormitory.

The sender kept going on.

[How about I teach baby from now on? Baby shouldn't go to that Xie Yishu. Everyone baby hates deserves to die.]

When Xue Ci saw the last sentence, his breath caught.

That tone was frightening.

His lips went pale. After anxiously going back and forth over it, Xue Ci finally replied.

[What do you want to do?]

The sender didn't answer, asking instead: [Does baby care about Xie Yishu that much?]

Xue Ci pressed his lips tightly together.

He was very afraid Xie Yishu would get hurt because of him.

He was a little angry.

But he didn't dare provoke the sender, so he sent only one sentence.

[You can't hurt him.]

There was no reply.

Xue Ci waited anxiously for two minutes before his phone finally vibrated-

[I'll do as baby says.]

[Then how about giving me a little reward, baby?]