The Beta from the Countryside (30)

When Xue Ci returned to the dorm, everyone was out.

Xin Yue had a swimming class, Duan Xingyan was out working a part-time job, and Xie Yishu, as class monitor, was even busier with his duties.

Xue Ci had no classes that evening, so he planned to shower and rest early. After coming out of the bathroom, he couldn't be bothered to dry his hair, so he returned to the bedroom and turned on the air conditioner.

After sitting down, his gaze fell on a certain desk.

It was Xie Yishu's desk, and the drawer underneath it was half open.

Xue Ci put down his towel and walked over to close it for him. But when he accidentally saw what was inside, his pupils contracted slightly, his pale gray eyes filling with panic and disbelief.

How could this be... Were those all photos of him?

Xue Ci bit his lip and picked up the photos with slender fingers, their sharp edges pressing his fingertips white.

He was asleep in the photos. They had been taken from very close up, almost right in front of his face. His hair was tousled, and his mouth was slightly parted.

Had Xie Yishu secretly taken these while he was asleep?

Unable to believe it, Xue Ci took out the stack of photos and flipped through them one by one.

The farther he went, the more his eyelashes trembled.

Eating, sleeping, just out of the shower, standing on tiptoe to hang up clothes... Almost all of them had been taken without his knowledge.

He was sensitive to heat and would unconsciously lift his pajamas in his sleep during the summer. In one photo, his chest and stomach were both exposed to the camera.

There was even a line of small print written along the edge-

"Baby smells so good here. Would it swell up if I sucked on it?"

Blood rushed to Xue Ci's head, and his eyes widened in embarrassed anger.

11 timidly reminded him, [Host, there seem to be words on the other photos too.]

Xue Ci's eyelids twitched, and his chest heaved with embarrassment.

Sure enough.

"Baby is so cute when he sleeps."

"Just rub him gently with a finger, and his mouth turns red."

"I want to drink up all of baby's drool."

Seeing that his host was too angry to speak, 11 immediately censored the words with mosaics, sparing him the sight.

[Host, it looks like we've run into a perverted stalker.]

[Besides secretly taking photos, Xie Yishu seems to have collected your things too.]

Xue Ci lowered his eyes. A jumble of objects lay scattered in another corner of the drawer-pen caps, earphones, discarded paintbrushes, mineral water bottle caps...

Perverts might secretly photograph and stalk the people they admired, but Xue Ci had never been able to tell that the gentlemanly and courteous Xie Yishu had such a dark side.

He released his lip, which hurt a little from being bitten, and his shoulders trembled slightly. The photos in his hands felt unbearably hot to the touch.

His head buzzed. Xue Ci was both angry and afraid.

Why was Xie Yishu like this? He was completely different from the character described in the information.

Lost in thought, he failed to notice the footsteps behind him.

A hand suddenly seized his slender wrist. The photos scattered from Xue Ci's hand, and when he looked up, Xie Yishu's sharply defined jaw was right in front of him.

"You..."

Xue Ci uttered the faint syllable and could say no more.

Xie Yishu looked at him, complicated emotions swirling in his dark eyes, so deep they seemed capable of drawing a person in.

"Xue Ci, you're trembling."

His voice was gentle, much the same as usual.

Even more frightened, Xue Ci tried to pull his wrist free, but couldn't break his grip at all. The corners of his eyes turned red. "Did... did you take all of these?"

Xie Yishu stared at the Beta's wrist, which was already turning red, and loosened his grip. As he gathered the photos on the desk, he nodded, showing none of the embarrassment one should have when caught doing something wrong.

Xue Ci took a deep breath, trying to keep his voice from shaking so much. "How could you do this?"

Xie Yishu's voice was faint. "Are you afraid of me, Xue Ci?"

Xue Ci watched him put the photos back into his pocket. His voice shook, but he was very bold. "You... give me the photos."

Xie Yishu finally turned around. Xue Ci backed away in fright, only to be quickly driven into a corner.

The corners of his eyes and the tip of his nose were red, and his eyelashes were wet. He looked pitiful, as though he was on the verge of tears.

"I like you so much, Xue Ci." Xie Yishu's eyes darkened. "So much that I want to hide you away."

For the first time, the Alpha's expression turned vicious. "When those people look at you, I want to gouge their eyes out. When they touch you, I want to break their arms."

"Please don't be afraid of me, Xue Ci, okay? I really like you."

Xue Ci didn't want to provoke him and wanted to calm him down. But when he looked up, he was frightened by the mad love in the other man's eyes.

He was a lunatic.

Xue Ci had never imagined that the roommate who was usually so good to him, whom he relied on so much, was actually a lunatic.

His lips were already wet from being bitten, and he looked like a helpless little animal.

He didn't know what to say, only trembling nonstop.

"You've been ignoring me lately, Xue Ci. You don't even reply to my messages." Xie Yishu bent down and rested his head in the crook of Xue Ci's neck. He could faintly feel the pulsing blood vessels and warm skin there.

It seemed that the skin would break at the slightest touch of his teeth.

"As long as you're willing to pay attention to me, Xue Ci, I won't do it anymore." Xie Yishu spoke to himself. The madness in his eyes was plain to see, yet his words were restrained and pleading. "I won't do those things again."

"Xue Ci, your lips look so kissable. Can you kiss me?"

Wh-what...

Xue Ci couldn't understand how they had jumped to the subject of kissing him.

No one had ever taught him how to talk to a lunatic.

After hesitating for a long time, Xue Ci could only sniffle and refuse with a frown.

"No."

Xie Yishu's expression became unreadable. "You really don't like me. Why don't you like me? Then who do you like? Who do you like to cling to? They're all fantasizing about you. None of them are good people. Can't you like me? You're safest by my side, Xue Ci."

His words came so thick and fast that they seemed to steal the oxygen, leaving Xue Ci nearly suffocating.

"You... you, don't be like this, Xie Yishu. Be normal."

Xie Yishu's expression turned sinister. "I'm not normal."

"Otherwise, even though I've scared you this badly, my head wouldn't be full of how pretty you'd look when I made you cry."

What...

"Your voice would definitely sound lovely then too, Xue Ci."

Xue Ci was already stunned with fear. His eyelashes were damp and soft, and faint whimpers escaped his throat uncontrollably.

When he was nervous, he would bite down hard on his lower lip.

It only made him look more tempting to tease.

Xie Yishu's dark shadow completely enveloped him, but Xue Ci frowned and turned his face away, refusing to meet his eyes.

He was unwilling to pay attention to him either.

"Don't ignore me, Xue Ci. If you ignore me, I'll go mad."

People needed oxygen and water to survive, but Xie Yishu depended on Xue Ci.

When Xue Ci hated him or got close to others, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to go mad.

In particular, after learning that Gu Xu was going to confess, he had fallen into a deep slump. However mad he went, he never dared show it in front of others. He was always just Xue Ci's caring roommate, and their relationship went no further than that.

"Don't ignore me..." Xie Yishu's chest was filled with jealousy and fear. "I've done many terrible things to you. If you want to know, I'll tell you everything."

Xue Ci's eyelashes trembled, as though he had remembered something. "You... during our painting competition, did you pretend to be asleep on purpose so you could kiss me?"

Xie Yishu said, "Yes."

Xue Ci hadn't expected him to admit it so openly and was stunned. His fear gradually turned to anger. "What else?"

Xie Yishu listed his crimes one by one. "Secretly taking photos of you, following you, sending you harassing messages, and stealing kisses while you were asleep."

It was too much to take in. It took Xue Ci quite a while to process it before his round eyes slowly widened.

Saying his skin was sensitive, saying he wanted to drink his drool.

Those lewd words deliberately meant to provoke him had all come from Xie Yishu.

He had deliberately frightened him.

Then pretended to be a good person.

It was as though he had watched him grow weak with fright and flee blindly, then taken the opportunity to earn his trust.

After pretending to sleep and tricking him into a kiss, he had deliberately acted as though he knew nothing.

What a terrible person.

The heat in Xue Ci's face made the corners of his eyes damp and red. He breathed in short gasps, and the soft flesh of his lips, bitten again and again, had turned a deep, overripe red.

His eyes drooped, and he felt he needed to give the other man a thorough scolding to vent his anger.

But he was poor with words and didn't know what to say. In the end, he could only force out a sentence in frustration.

"You're really awful. I don't want to talk to you anymore."

He was genuinely angry. Once Xie Yishu realized it, his heart gave a dull ache, but he didn't release the young man's wrist.

He wanted to simply carry him away like this and lock him in a room.

From then on, there would be only the two of them together.

Yet when his gaze fell on Xue Ci's face, those dark thoughts could only remain hidden.

All that remained was willing supplication.

"...Don't ignore me."

Xie Yishu wanted to say something to make it up to him, but the next moment, the door was slammed open with a tremendous bang.

Xue Ci's breath caught. Before he could even see who had entered, he saw Xie Yishu being dragged aside by the collar and slammed into the wardrobe with a dull, heavy thud.

"What the fuck did you do to Xue Ci?!"

Gu Xu shielded Xue Ci with his body and looked at Xie Yishu, his expression dark. His face was full of hostility as he looked at the man opposite him as though he were already dead, his fists creaking as he clenched them.

He was just about to punch Xie Yishu in the face when someone took hold of his arm.

He turned around. Xue Ci's eyes were a little red.

"Don't fight..."

Xue Ci's voice was soft, but Gu Xu immediately unclenched his fist. The Alpha said coldly to Xie Yishu, "The Gu Family won't let this go. Don't ever show your face in front of Xue Ci again."

Only after Gu Xu had led Xue Ci away by the hand did Xie Yishu slowly straighten up from where he was leaning against the wardrobe. His clothes and hair were in disarray, and he looked especially bedraggled.

His expression was even more desolate.

It was as though his life force had been drained away in an instant.

A gloomy pervert who survived on love couldn't find love if he couldn't see Xue Ci.

What would he live on?

That night, Xue Ci was taken back to the Gu Family villa.

On the way, he learned from Gu Xu what had happened. His old phone had been repaired, and Gu Ling had seen the harassing messages saved on it. He had then traced the number to its owner.

When Xue Ci learned that Xie Yishu was the one harassing him, his thoughts had been in such a mess that he hadn't had time to think it through. Now that he had calmed down, he noticed something strange.

He had always thought those messages were sent by the invading virus. How had it suddenly become someone from the main cast?

11 jumped into Xue Ci's arms to comfort him. [I just went to headquarters. The latest news says the invading virus has incredible powers. It can travel freely between small worlds and become anyone in them.]

[I heard its spiritual power was so strong that its vessel couldn't withstand it, so it split into countless fragments.]

[But don't worry, Host. Its power is divided among its fragments, so they can't beat the protective talisman. And after you complete your task and leave the small world, you can collect the invading virus's fragments. They're worth a lot!]

Xue Ci was thoughtful.

The progress bar hadn't dropped.

It remained at 82%.

That was some comfort after the shock.

Now that he knew the person was Xie Yishu, Xue Ci was actually less afraid. Sitting in the back seat, his eyes drooped as he worried about how the plot would develop from here.

Gu Xu thought he was afraid and held his hand tightly. His voice was gentle as he asked, "Would you like some water?"

Only when Gu Xu mentioned it did Xue Ci feel thirsty. He licked his dry lips and nodded.

The Gu Family's cars were always stocked with snacks and drinks. Gu Xu poured some warm water into an insulated cup. Xue Ci was about to reach for it, only to find that Gu Xu had brought the rim directly to his lips.

Was he going to feed him water?

The progress bar rose to 85%.

The protagonist had grown again.

Xue Ci didn't take the cup himself. He simply took a few sips from Gu Xu's hand.

After they arrived at the villa, Grandpa Butler called Xue Ci to the study, saying that Gu Ling was waiting for him.

Seeing his hesitation, Gu Xu said, "I'll go with you."

Xue Ci was a little nervous, so he tugged on Gu Xu's clothes and went upstairs with him. Only after entering the study did he discover that Duan Xingyan was there too.

He was holding Xue Ci's old phone, his brows tightly furrowed.

Gu Xu also walked over, his eyes sweeping across the screen.

The messages scrolled past one by one.

He could hardly believe his eyes. Xie Yishu had actually sent Xue Ci messages like "so wet down there," "pink," and "eat your tongue."

"...What a pervert."

He cursed under his breath and glanced toward Xue Ci out of the corner of his eye.

The young man's skin was fair, but now embarrassment had turned his whole body pink. He silently lowered his head and stared at his toes.

Gu Xu followed his gaze downward.

Xue Ci had changed shoes when he came inside. He was now wearing a pair of soft white slippers with rabbit designs.

The edges of his socks hugged his ankles, and the soft flesh made one want to take a bite.

The lewd words he had just read surfaced in his mind. Gu Xu ground his back teeth, suppressing the heat in his body as he angrily condemned Xie Yishu's perverted behavior.

"Brother, let's call the police."

"Even if the number's registered to him, can we be sure it was really him?" Duan Xingyan was more meticulous than Gu Xu.

With that, he set his phone on the table, walked over to Xue Ci, and gently rubbed the little Beta's head. "Don't be afraid. Your big brothers are all here."

Xue Ci curled closer to him.

He said quietly, "It was him... He admitted it to me."

The others all looked slightly surprised. Two seconds later, Gu Xu spoke first. "Did he... deliberately try to scare you in the dorm just now too?"

Xue Ci thought about what Xie Yishu had said. "He didn't scare me..."

Xie Yishu was part of the main cast and had an important role later on. If they called the police, there was no telling whether the plot would continue to progress as scheduled.

Xue Ci was deeply worried and ultimately asked everyone not to call the police.

Gu Xu was the first to object. It was most frightening when the perpetrator was someone you knew, especially since Xue Ci had genuinely considered Xie Yishu a friend.

"Xue Ci, if you let him off this time, what if he does it to you again?"

"Think about when he sent you those texts to scare you."

Xue Ci pressed his lips together and instinctively looked to Gu Ling for help.

He glanced at Gu Ling. The man's expression was unreadable, and he looked much more serious than usual.

"Big brother..." His voice was pitiful.

The Alphas couldn't say no to Xue Ci. They decided not to call the police, but they couldn't act as though nothing had happened either. After discussing it, they had Xue Ci rest at home for a few days, take bodyguards to school afterward, and change dorms as well.

Gu Ling said, "Shengxuan has a fine arts department too, or if you want to study abroad, that's an option."

Xue Ci shook his head. There was no need to go to all that trouble.

If the plot progressed smoothly, he would be leaving the Gu Family and returning to the countryside in two months.

Since Xue Ci had been close to Xie Yishu before, and Xie Yishu could regain his trust with a few coaxing words, Gu Xu watched Xue Ci block all of Xie Yishu's contact information before he could rest easy.

Xue Ci was very sleepy and had no energy to reply to the constant messages from Xin Yue. He quickly washed up and went back to his room to rest.

He stayed home for a few days, keeping a close eye on the progress bar every day without daring to let his guard down.

Fortunately, everything remained unchanged.

On the third day, a bodyguard took Xue Ci to school.

He had thought he would have to change dorms first, but when Gu Xu and Duan Xingyan came to pick him up, they told him Xie Yishu had taken an extended leave from school.

Xue Ci froze.

When he reached the dorm, Xie Yishu's bed and desk were empty.

The drawers were completely bare. Xie Yishu hadn't even left the photos or the worthless discarded items Xue Ci had used.

The plot progress bar mainly depended on the protagonist's growth and development, so Xie Yishu's leave hadn't affected it.

Xue Ci didn't apply to change dorms. Every day, he repeated the dull routine of going to school, listening obediently in class, and returning to the dorm afterward.

Only now, whenever he left the classroom, bodyguards followed behind him.

Gossip posts about him kept appearing, and somehow, someone had even leaked the photos from his summer vacation shoot.

The photo set was posted in a thread titled "A look back at the years our white moonlight campus belle was followed by simps." The original poster was clearly using an alt account and hadn't even filled in a nickname. They first admitted to being one of the simps, then hinted that several of the academy's campus heartthrobs had fought viciously over a Beta.

The story was half truth and half fiction, but the photos were undeniably worthy.

The replies were full of comments like "I want to simp," "so fair," and "my wife is so beautiful." The thread quickly grew long, and the photos even spread beyond the forum. They were made into short videos and posted online, racking up millions of views in a single night.

Later, the thread and videos were taken down by an unknown person. No one dared dig into Xue Ci's background anymore, so they simply admired his looks in the photos they had saved every night.

Xue Ci still thought he was being isolated. He had no idea how many eyes fell on him every day, or how many people from other schools went to great lengths to get Shengxuan student IDs just to see him in person.

Those who had thought the photos were misleading were proven wrong the moment they saw Xue Ci. Afterward, they said the photos didn't capture a tenth of his beauty, and that he was the campus belle among campus belles, the goddess among goddesses.

That only made everyone more curious about Xue Ci.

They also spread the title "white moonlight campus belle" by word of mouth, and someone started the thread up again.

With so much talk behind his back, it was inevitable that someone would occasionally slip up. Once, when Xue Ci went to the gym to watch Gu Xu play basketball, someone suddenly called out to him from behind... "joke"?

That was a little rude...

Still, it was a kind of acknowledgment of how hard he had worked to remain isolated.

There were too many people coveting him. The Gu family members saw it and quietly spread word that Xue Ci was already engaged to an Alpha from the Gu Family, though they didn't announce which Alpha it was.

Intimidated by the Gu Family's power, everyone only dared covet Xue Ci in secret. A few bold ones occasionally appeared, but before they could get within a few meters of him, bodyguards surrounded them.

Xue Ci knew nothing about it. He only noticed that the progress bar had slipped back a notch and thought Gu Xu had been slacking off in his studies. He passed him more notes to encourage him and even bought him a few jars of honey lemon preserves to soothe his throat.

Gu Xu treasured them and couldn't bear to open them. But their shelf life was too short, and by the time he finally opened them, they had gone sour.

He couldn't bear to throw them away. He washed the glass jars clean, stuffed the notes inside, and put several pink cat stickers on the outside.

Li Xun was stunned by his behavior, like that of a young girl in the throes of love.

When a cool guy fell in love... it was fucking scary.

Time passed quickly, and a month later, the midterm exams arrived.

Gu Xu's results came out. Driven by the hormones of love, he had made rapid progress and achieved the score he had aimed for.

The next step was to confess.

Gu Xu spent several days preparing, with roses and star-shaped lights, but then decided they were too tacky and unoriginal.

It seemed more straightforward just to give him money.

Gu Xu transferred all his allowance onto one card. On a sunny weekend, while Xue Ci was taking a break from trimming flower stems, he slipped the bank card into his pocket.

Xue Ci: "?"

He blinked.

"What are you doing?"

Gu Xu gave an affected cough. "Giving you money."

Confused, Xue Ci said, "Oh," then turned back and paid him no more attention.

But half a minute later, Gu Xu suddenly leaned closer, lowering his voice until only the two of them could hear. "Whatever I earn from now on is all yours."

In the sunlight, Xue Ci's pale eyes looked like beautiful glass marbles. His apron was trimmed with lace, making him look as exquisite as a doll in a shop window.

He looked at the Alpha in confusion.

The next second.

"Will you go out with me?"

As soon as Gu Xu said it, the sound of the progress bar moving backward followed.

Xue Ci: ＞﹏＜

Xue Ci didn't know why the protagonist had suddenly confessed either. He had clearly been so focused on studying before.

The progress bar had moved backward, but constrained by his character setting, he couldn't directly reject him and save the plot.

In the end, he did as 11 told him. Like a scumbag, he threw out an "I need to think about it" and retreated to his room.

Where exactly had things gone wrong? Why had Gu Xu suddenly fallen for him?

11: [Of course! Host, just look in the mirror and you'll find the reason~]

Xue Ci looked in the mirror for a few minutes, and his eyes suddenly lit up. [I know!]

[It must be because I always wear the clothes big brother buys me. They're not tacky enough!]

11: [Huh? Hmm... Yeah!]

Xue Ci had read the information. Gu Xu's dislike of him could be boiled down to two points: his tacky taste and his frivolous behavior.

He really had been neglecting those lately...

Xue Ci planned to work on both and make Gu Xu dislike him again.

He changed back into his old clothes and deliberately wandered around the villa. When Gu Xu saw him, his ears turned red, and he stammered as he asked whether Xue Ci could change into something else.

Here it comes!

Xue Ci was excited, but he pretended to be upset. "Why should I change? Don't you think this looks good?"

Even Gu Xu's breath grew hot. After agonizing over it for a while, he handed Xue Ci his jacket.

"Your clothes... are a little see-through. I can see everything underneath."

"Now I definitely won't be able to sleep tonight. I'll have those kinds of dreams."

Once the Alpha started talking, he forgot all about his embarrassment. "Ever since you sent me that picture of your legs, I've often dreamed about kissing you at night. Sometimes I kiss and bite you, and you say you like me and call me husband."

"..."

What is he talking about...?

Xue Ci's face burned. He gave the jacket back to him and went upstairs in his slippers.

After what Gu Xu said, he didn't dare wear those old clothes anymore, so he turned to the second point-frivolous behavior.

But that tactic didn't work very well either. At school, the most he could do was cling to Xin Yue's and Duan Xingyan's arms; there was only so far he could go. Gu Xu seemed to have grown immune and didn't think he was promiscuous. Instead, he asked him to the amusement park every few days.

Xue Ci was troubled. He only spent time with those few people, so in the end, he had no choice but to turn his attention to Gu Ling.

Perhaps he had grown used to being pampered by him, because Xue Ci didn't realize the consequences of provoking him.

On Friday night, after he was brought back to the villa, he took advantage of Gu Ling being in the living room, ran straight over, and sat on the man's lap.

Gu Ling's body froze, his muscles tensing. The documents in his hand nearly fell to the floor.

"Xiao Ci?" His voice was low and husky, carrying a barely perceptible hint of danger.

Xue Ci gave an innocent "Hmm?" "Big brother, what are you looking at? I want to see too."

It was as though the gesture was perfectly ordinary and they did this all the time.

Gu Ling's prominent Adam's apple bobbed as he placed the documents in front of Xue Ci.

Looking at them made Xue Ci dizzy.

He was actually a little uncomfortable too. Big brother's body temperature was so high, and his body was very hard.

He kept looking for two minutes before 11 reminded him that Gu Xu was about to come downstairs.

Xue Ci heard footsteps, and his heart thumped. Once Gu Xu had walked into the living room and Xue Ci was sure he had seen his frivolous behavior, he pretended to panic and got off his big brother's lap.

His head was lowered, his earlobes round and plump. His short breaths made his chest rise and fall slightly.

If Xue Ci had looked up then, he probably would have been frightened out of his wits.

Both brothers were eyeing him like predators, their two tall, strong Alpha bodies trapping him in the corner of the sofa.

As though, in the next second, they would join forces and do something.

Author's note:

Wuwuwu, baby will break.