The Beta from the Countryside (08)

They had only eaten dinner together, yet the progress bar that had not moved in ages had suddenly shot forward.

Xue Ci's eyes lit up.

In his eyes, Xin Yue now looked like a little sheep about to be fleeced... no, a big sheep.

Xin Yue really was much bigger than Xue Ci.

His habit of exercising regularly had given the Alpha a tall frame, long legs, broad shoulders, and a straight back. The contours of his muscles were clearly visible beneath his loose jacket.

"Xin Big Sheep" gathered up their trays. As if afraid Xue Ci might run off in a few days, he said, "There's another restaurant on the north side of campus. Its sweet-and-sour ribs and stir-fried tea tree mushrooms are both good. I'll take you there some... tomorrow, and you can try them."

He had carefully changed his words halfway through, and only breathed a sigh of relief when Xue Ci nodded.

He was secretly delighted about their next meal together, too.

It was just a meal with a transfer student. Perfectly normal. This was what a roommate should do.

"Let's go back." Xin Yue sounded cheerful as he picked up their trays and started toward the door. But Xue Ci said he did not want to go back and eagerly asked if Xin Yue could walk around campus with him.

The Beta was standing too close, and his shoulder accidentally bumped Xin Yue's arm.

So soft... I wonder if that bump will leave his skin red.

Xin Yue's face flushed, and his back quickly grew hot, as though it were on fire.

Pheromones began to seep from his gland.

The Alpha looked polite and handsome, but his pheromones were an intensely aggressive liquor, mixed with a hint of peppery spice. Fortunately, there were hardly any people left in the restaurant at this hour, so not many were affected.

Xue Ci could not smell pheromones and thought Xin Yue was simply feeling unwell. He immediately leaned closer and asked anxiously, "What's wrong? Do you feel really bad?"

That faint fragrance drifted over with him.

Even hotter.

Xin Yue gritted his teeth. His pheromones were tormenting him, leaving his whole body hot and restless, but his voice remained gentle when he spoke to Xue Ci. "...Help me get the suppression band out of my pocket."

A suppression band? Xue Ci immediately understood what was happening. He reached over, but Xin Yue's jacket was made of soft material, making it difficult to retrieve, so he had to wrap an arm around Xin Yue's waist.

The friction of the fabric and the occasional brush of Xue Ci's fingertips against his abs made Xin Yue begin to regret what he had just said. At the same time, he was immensely glad he usually kept himself in shape.

The suppression band slipped onto his wrist just in time.

The rise and fall of Xin Yue's chest gradually steadied. He avoided Xue Ci's concerned expression, feeling that he had thoroughly embarrassed himself.

Among his friends, he was one of the few Alphas who could control their pheromones, yet today he had actually lost control in front of Xue Ci.

Would he be put off by the smell of sweat on me?

Xin Yue's wispy black hair hung over his eyes, whose outer corners drooped like a puppy's. Looking rather disheveled, he glanced at Xue Ci. He had expected to see disgust, but instead he saw... affection for a certain kind of animal?

It looked as if, in the next second, Xue Ci might reach over and stroke his hair.

No matter what.

As long as he doesn't hate me.

After that incident, Xue Ci planned to cancel their walk around campus, but Xin Yue insisted again and again, and they ended up walking halfway around the academy.

Before they even set out, Xin Yue had gone back for a shower, saying he had worked up a sweat and was afraid he smelled bad.

It seemed he was very particular about maintaining his image.

Xue Ci had not sweated, but he instinctively sniffed himself anyway.

"You don't need to shower. You smell... really nice."

Only after saying it did Xin Yue realize what he had said.

What kind of sleazy thing was I saying to Xue Ci? What was that about how he smelled? It makes me sound like a pervert who holds him on my lap every day, presses my nose against his skin, and takes deep sniffs.

Imagining that scene, Xin Yue immediately stopped.

What nonsense am I thinking? I just want to be friendly to my new classmate. I don't have all those strange thoughts.

Smack-

He put another suppression band on his wrist.

The first week of school went more smoothly than Xue Ci had expected.

With so many things piling up at once, Xue Ci had thought he would be run off his feet. But he was fairly lucky, and the progress bar was coming along nicely.

He stuck to Xin Yue relentlessly every day, and the two of them could just about be considered friends.

But even he thought he was too much trouble. He was much slower than the Alpha and sometimes made him wait in the morning before class. At this rate, Xin Yue would probably get tired of him before they reached the skin hunger plotline.

As for Gu Xu, no new tasks had appeared for him yet, so Xue Ci did not need to do anything.

However, Gu Xu was afraid he would embarrass the Gu family at school, so he would message him to ask what he was doing and who he was with.

Sometimes, when Xue Ci did not have time to reply, he would receive notifications that Gu Xu had transferred him money.

Even with spending money now, an ordinary person surely could not escape being ostracized at an elite school full of rich people like this. Xue Ci had quietly observed that whenever he went to class or ate at a restaurant with his roommates, everyone else stared at him. But the moment he looked up at them, they all immediately lowered their heads, unwilling to meet his eyes.

They must be laughing at me behind my back.

Xue Ci had thought everyone except Xin Yue would ostracize him, but it seemed he had not been ostracized quite so thoroughly yet.

His roommates had pretty good personalities.

Duan Xingyan seemed to be a bit of a clean freak. When he cleaned, he would tidy Xue Ci's desk as well. Sometimes, he would also fold the clothes he had dried for Xue Ci and put them neatly in the wardrobe.

Class monitor Xie Yishu helped him with his studies.

Xie Yishu was a fairly important character in the plotline. He came from a good family, excelled in both character and academics, and was even more mature than his peers. Ninety-nine percent of the people in the department respected him.

The remaining one percent was Gu Xu.

There was no particular reason; he simply disliked the way Xie Yishu conducted himself. Later in the plot, the protagonist would suffer a major setback in his studies because he had not listened to Xie Yishu's advice. Only after that would he put aside his prejudices and take a fresh look at Xie Yishu.

Xue Ci did not understand why Gu Xu disliked Xie Yishu. As far as he was concerned, Xie Yishu had helped him a great deal over the past few days.

He helped Xue Ci catch up on the classes he had missed, taught him how to choose electives, and lent him his notes. He always spoke in a measured manner, and even when Xue Ci deliberately pretended not to understand for a task, he showed no impatience. He even wrote out every solution and picked one Xue Ci could understand.

What impressed Xue Ci even more was that Xie Yishu was excellent at mental arithmetic. He could give the answers to many calculations with just a glance.

He must be a genius, right?

Xue Ci glanced at Xie Yishu's head, then touched his own.

They both had thick heads of hair, so why was he not smart?

Noticing Xue Ci's gaze, Xie Yishu smiled. "Do you want to take archery as an elective?"

He put the notes he had stayed up late organizing into Xue Ci's schoolbag, then zipped it up with his long, pale fingers. "I'm taking it too. We can go together."

Of course Xue Ci was willing. He nodded several times in a row.

He had already planned it out: if even Xie Yishu could not teach him, the other students would surely laugh at him.

Sitting on Xue Ci's other side, Xin Yue heard that he had chosen archery and asked hopefully, "Are you really not going to consider swimming? Summer's almost here, and the pools are indoors, so it won't be hot."

Xue Ci shook his head. "Archery's indoors too. It won't be hot."

There were three elective classes a week, each two hours long. That meant six hours when he would not see Xue Ci.

That was a little hard for Xin Yue to bear.

"I heard archery is exhausting. The arrows are heavy, and they can scratch your hands." The more he spoke, the more worried he became. "Your fingers are so slender, they'd definitely get hurt with the slightest knock."

I'm not that delicate.

Xue Ci told him the truth. "I'm no good at swimming. I sink as soon as I get in the water."

"It's fine, I'll-"

Xin Yue swallowed the words "hold you." He did not try to persuade Xue Ci any further, instead dropping onto his desk, the roots of his ears burning red as he thought about who knew what.

Maybe it's better if he doesn't take swimming.

Otherwise, if Xue Ci put on that little bit of fabric, I wouldn't know where to look.

"Ow-"

The pain in his arm dispelled quite a few of his jumbled thoughts. Xin Yue looked up and saw that his bro had bumped into him.

They often collided physically while playing hard on the basketball court, so he did not take it to heart. He asked Gu Xu, who had just sat down, "Where did you go?"

"The office."

"Did you cause trouble again?"

Gu Xu gave him a cool glance.

Xin Yue's casual tone was no different from usual, so why did it annoy him so much?

Was he deliberately stirring things up in front of Xue Ci, making me out to be a troublemaker?

From across the aisle, his gaze passed over Xin Yue and landed on Xue Ci, who was surrounded by several Alphas.

The Beta had a small frame, and Xin Yue almost completely blocked him from view, leaving only a hand holding a pen and a small portion of his pale profile visible. Perhaps the problem was too difficult, because he was speaking to Xie Yishu again in that sweet, pleading voice. "Can you... go a little slower?"

How can he say something like that to an Alpha? Does he think Xie Yishu is some kind of good guy?

And Duan Xingyan-didn't he always sit in the back row during class, pretending to be deep? Why has he moved to the middle now? He's sitting there in a daze with his chin in his hand, so why can't he keep his hand to himself instead of touching Xue Ci's head? When Hu Shenglan mentioned the engagement agreement to him before, didn't he look as though he couldn't care less, as if they could do whatever they wanted and it had nothing to do with him?

Every one of them is acting like they're close to Xue Ci.

Gu Xu opened his chat with Xue Ci and scrolled up through their messages from the past few days.

The more he scrolled, the more he felt something was off.

Every time, he was the one who sent the first message. His messages had grown longer and longer, and sometimes he even sent several in a row. Xue Ci had only replied to him promptly once, and even on that one occasion, Gu Xu had replied within seconds.

Something's not right.

Looking at it this way, I seem like a simp.

His remark from a few days ago, mocking Xin Yue for being the type to "lick someone's fingers even after they slapped him," had now come back like a boomerang and struck him in the heart.

Gu Xu could not accept it.

He swore-

He would never message Xue Ci first again.

It would take another day or two for the electives to be entered into the system. Aside from half a day of required classes, the rest of Xue Ci's time was free.

Duan Xingyan and Xie Yishu both had classes, so they left after class.

Xin Yue had a friendly basketball game.

Xue Ci was just about to go watch him play when he was stopped.

"You're ostracizing me," Xue Ci accused.

He tilted his face up, his fair cheeks puffed out and his round eyes raised. His light, tea-colored irises looked like beautiful glass beads in the sunlight.

This... is way too... unfair.

Xin Yue resisted the urge to reach out and rub that fluffy head and cleared his throat. "How could I ostracize you? This afternoon's game is outdoors, and the sun's really strong. There's an indoor one next week. I'll definitely ask you to come then."

"Oh," Xue Ci said. "Then I'm going back."

Xin Yue asked, "Back to the dorm?"

Xue Ci hesitated. "I want to check out the hot spring hotel."

In the brochure, one hot spring hotel looked quite nice. The owner's two lucky cats were very friendly, and students could not only soak in the hot springs for free but also pet the cats.

Eleven had said that, as a Beta from the countryside, being curious about a luxurious lifestyle and trying it out was in character.

But Xin Yue's expression changed, and his voice grew tense. "What are you going there for?! Did someone trick you into going?!"

"?"

Xue Ci waved the brochure in his hand. "It tricked me into going."

Xin Yue breathed a sigh of relief, though he did not relax completely. The hotel's private hot spring baths were expensive. The regular baths were free, but they were mixed, and the thought of those disgusting people staring at Xue Ci annoyed him to no end.

"That place isn't good at all. Lots of people go there after working out and get in without even showering. They make the water stink. You definitely wouldn't like it."

After spending a week together, he had begun to understand Xue Ci and knew what to say to persuade him.

Sure enough, a look of disgust appeared on Xue Ci's little face.

"Let's go outside campus this weekend. I know a really good hot spring." Xin Yue felt he had to make it up to him somehow. "But I always bathe alone. I've never gone with anyone else."

Xue Ci did not catch the meaning behind that last sentence. In a troubled tone, he said, "I have to go home with Gu Xu this weekend..."

Xin Yue froze for a moment.

He had almost forgotten that Xue Ci and Gu Xu had been engaged as children.

Xue Ci was engaged.

Xin Yue realized he had grown greedy. At first, he had only wanted to help his bro look after Xue Ci, but now he always wanted to monopolize his time.

But how could Xue Ci stay with him forever?

The hair hanging over the Alpha's forehead made his bright black eyes look dim, but they soon returned to normal.

"Then... next time, okay?"

Xue Ci agreed. The two of them walked out of the academic building into the blazing sun. When Xin Yue saw the little snowball marching straight ahead, he immediately pulled him back.

Wouldn't the sun melt him?

"Hm?"

Xue Ci blinked and looked at him in confusion.

Xin Yue took off his jacket and handed it over. "The sun's strong out there. Put this on before you go back, and don't sneak off to the hotel for a soak on the way. No, better not even go near it."

Not only was he ostracizing him, he had even started threatening him now.

Xue Ci slowly said, "Oh," and took the jacket.

Xin Yue's jacket was much too big on Xue Ci. The hem fell to the tops of his thighs, and the sleeves were long enough to hide his fingers completely. Rather than looking cumbersome, its looseness made the Beta look slender and frail, with so much room around his waist that a single hand could encircle it.

Despite all his warnings, Xin Yue still seemed worried about letting him return to the dorm alone. In the end, he walked him to the building before hurrying off to the basketball court.

As soon as Xue Ci entered the dorm, Eleven reminded him that Gu Xu had transferred him money several times that afternoon.

More transfers?

But I'm wearing the new clothes Big Brother bought me today. Am I still embarrassing him?

Xue Ci did not understand what Gu Xu was thinking, but he politely replied anyway: [Thank you.]

Less than two seconds after he sent the message, his phone vibrated several times in succession.

The vibrations left Xue Ci's palm numb.

He opened the chat-

Gu Xu: [My mom told me to transfer all that money. It wasn't my idea.]

Gu Xu: [Is it enough? Is there anything else you need?]

Gu Xu: [My family told me to take good care of you. I have been a little busy lately and neglected you. Are you in the dorm now? I'll come over and bring you the clothes.]

Gu Xu: [I saw you wearing Xin Yue's clothes earlier. Did you run out of jackets? I have plenty here, all in your size. They're all new. I haven't worn any of them.]

Gu Xu: [I'll come over once I'm done packing.]

Gu Xu: [Reply when you see this.]

Xue Ci: "?"

So many words...

If he couldn't find a job in the future, Gu Xu could perhaps consider becoming a typist.

When Li Xun came to the dorm to see Gu Xu, Gu Xu was sorting through his wardrobe.

"Brother Xu, are you throwing clothes away? But these look new."

Gu Xu didn't have time to look at him, his hands moving quickly. "If you need something, say it."

"Oh." Li Xun had indeed come for a reason. He held out his phone. "Brother Xu, this doesn't look good. Is your arranged marriage from childhood still on?"

Gu Xu stopped what he was doing.

He took the phone. A post on the academy forum was open on the screen.

The original poster was an art student who loved photography. While taking pictures of the scenery around the academy recently, they had accidentally captured a very good-looking young couple.

"This post has been really popular lately. Everyone replying thinks Song Xueci and Brother Yue are a couple, and they're all egging them on."

Most of the photos were actually scenery, with Xue Ci and Xin Yue taking up only a small part. In some of them, their faces were a blurry mess when the images were opened and zoomed in.

But even so, Xue Ci's face had a hazy, ethereal beauty.

A whole crowd in the comments had started calling him wife.

Li Xun considered himself Gu Xu's number one underling, so naturally he knew about the relationship between Song Xueci and Gu Xu.

Seeing Gu Xu's brow furrow more and more tightly, his face dark enough to drip water and the chill around him cold enough to freeze someone to death, Li Xun had no time to wonder why Gu Xu was angry. "But I've already asked my friends to go clear up the rumor in the comments. How could Song Xueci possibly be Brother Yue's wife?"

The words "Brother Yue's wife" made Gu Xu's eyelid twitch sharply.

"But, Brother Xu..." Li Xun hesitated, then ventured cautiously, "Song Xueci seems to be sticking to Brother Yue all the time lately. Could it be-"

He didn't dare say the rest, afraid Gu Xu's sidelong glance would kill him.

"What nonsense." Gu Xu's voice was icy cold. "He's not the kind of person who changes his affections on a whim. If anyone's to blame, it's the person tempting him."

Li Xun: "?"

How did you manage to say something so lovestruck in such a fierce tone???

Author's note:

Gu Xu, stop simping. You're scaring me.