Chapter 55 [VIP]
His words to Xie Nanyi yesterday were not entirely venting. Before meeting Xie Nanyi, he had always wanted to find a suitable opportunity to leave this place and escape to a place where no one knew him.
That's right. Although he talks about becoming a Beta who's on par with Alphas and Omegas every day, he doesn't actually have such lofty ambitions. The reason he keeps repeating this view and conveying it to everyone around him is simply because of his parents' demands.
If he had just been an ordinary Beta from the start, his parents might not have had such "high hopes" for him. But since he has demonstrated this ability, he must rise to the position that belongs to his abilities.
He didn't want to get involved in these sensitive political topics; he just wanted to study what interested him and live a peaceful life. From the moment he accepted his brother's suggestion, Pei Xingzhi was preparing to leave.
His departure had to be logical; he couldn't leave with a stigma, he couldn't upset or worry his parents, he couldn't attract excessive attention... There were just too many things he had to consider.
But before he could find a suitable time to leave, Xie Nanyi suddenly appeared in front of him.
He was quite familiar with the word "engraving".
When Pei Xingzhi first discovered he had the mark, he had a high fever for a week. In high school, he chose to go to a boarding school to escape his parents' surveillance, and the only people he lived with on a daily basis were his classmates and teachers.
He tried almost every fever reducer on the market that week, but none of them relieved his symptoms. Sensing something was wrong, he immediately called his brother and asked him to ask for leave for him without their parents' knowledge. Together, they went to a remote small clinic after several detours.
From childhood to adulthood, he and his brother rarely got sick. It wasn't because they were exceptionally healthy, but simply because whenever they did get sick, all their health data would be uploaded to their mother. They had no privacy whatsoever. Pei Xingzhi often wondered what he was in his parents' eyes. Probably just personal possessions that could be manipulated at will, since he and his brother couldn't learn to rebel.
Where there is oppression, there will be covert maneuvers. If they can't go to big hospitals, can't they go to small clinics? Because they are remote enough, their diagnostic records won't be uploaded to the data network. Although the small clinic is outdated, it still has basic testing equipment. The doctor, who is over fifty years old, patiently asked him about various things and took his blood for testing.
While waiting for the results, Pei Xingzhi looked at the spinning pointer on the wall and vaguely guessed what was going on.
While secondary differentiation in Beta is not common, even a small probability can become a regular occurrence in a city with such a large population. Pei Xingzhi was naturally familiar with this, and had even witnessed his classmates differentiate themselves.
He looks almost exactly the same as he does now.
Pei Xingzhi bit his lip and nervously told his brother his guess.
Pei Yuan listened to his words and remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.
Do you want to differentiate?
"In no mood."
Without any hesitation, Pei Xingzhi answered Pei Yuan's question.
He didn't know what life would be like for a Beta, but he had seen Omegas being forcibly brought into heat by Alphas in their estrus cycle.
Omegas seem to have completely lost themselves, becoming puppets who only exist by depending on Alphas. All their connection is solely based on pheromones. Omegas have completely lost their dignity; they are like walking, giant suppressants, needing to immediately fulfill their role whenever their Alpha needs them, regardless of the situation.
Omega's existence seems solely to make Alpha's life more comfortable.
The same is likely true for Betas, who may even become less humane due to their inferiority in terms of their base gender.
He dared not imagine how overjoyed his parents would be if they knew he had leaped from a regular Beta to a Marked Beta. In their eyes, a Marked Beta was no different from an Omega.
He was afraid that this would happen.
"Brother...I don't want to differentiate...I don't want to differentiate..."
Pei Xingzhi's trembling hands gripped Pei Yuan's arm as if he were grasping at his last straw.
"Xiao Zhi, stopping differentiation may cause irreversible damage to your body. Are you really sure you want to stop differentiation?"
"I don't want to be divided." Pei Xingzhi kept repeating this sentence.
Seeing that he had made up his mind, Pei Yuan gently patted his shoulder, got up, and walked into the consultation room.
"The results are in, and there are indeed signs of differentiation." The doctor was looking at the test results when he saw him come in, and handed the results to him.
"Did you get the medicine I asked you to prepare last time?" Pei Yuan asked, his voice resolute and cold.
"Have you thought this through? This medicine has side effects. Are you really going to give it to your own brother? Why would a Beta not want to differentiate? Differentiation is so much better. Being a Beta is almost the same as being an Omega. If you also meet a rich Alpha, you'll never have to worry about anything for the rest of your life." Although the doctor said this, he still took out the medicine that he had prepared in advance and handed it to Pei Yuan.
"You should tell your brother to think it over. Once he takes this medicine, there will be no chance of differentiation."
"I know." Pei Yuan took the medicine, turned around, and left. Pei Xingzhi sat in a chair, his body trembling from the intense pain.
"The side effects of this drug will be even more painful than differentiation, and it will also cause other side effects, such as loss of taste, which are minor issues. Have you really thought this through?"
"Hmm." Pei Xingzhi nodded, took the needle from Pei Yuan's hand, and injected it into himself.
The medication took effect quickly; within minutes, an even more excruciating pain swept over him. Pei Xingzhi gripped Pei Yuan's hand so tightly he almost dislocated his bones.
The painkillers had no effect on Pei Xingzhi under the influence of the medication. He fainted several times and only woke up slowly the next morning.
The doctor checked his other physical indicators and found that differentiation had been forced to stop; he had not become a Beta. However, similarly, because he had violated the natural laws of differentiation, Pei Xingzhi's sense of taste began to become somewhat strange.
But this is a minor issue compared to other side effects; his differentiation inhibition can be considered a perfect success.
Without differentiating into a Beta with an imprint, Pei Xingzhi's life continued as uneventfully yet passionately as it had been for the past decade or so, until Xie Nanyi appeared and made him realize that an imprint was not a one-sided contract and would not be completely eliminated simply because one party disappeared.
He satisfied his own needs, but it seems he indirectly harmed Xie Nanyi. Forcibly suppressing differentiation without authorization is a serious crime. Although he did not differentiate, his physical indicators do not lie. A thorough examination would reveal that he had differentiated in the past.
He prided himself on being a model student, but behind the scenes he did everything that was both permissible and impermissible...
If it were just him who was arrested, that would be one thing, but this matter also involves his brother, which in turn involves the doctor, who in turn involves other people. In the end, he alone can cause a huge mess.
Therefore, he couldn't let Xie Nanyi know that he had actually differentiated. In order to protect himself and his family, he could only try to stay away from Xie Nanyi.
But then the Xie family used his family members to blackmail him...
He buried his face in the blanket and pondered for a while, but still couldn't come up with a good solution.
He used to not understand why the protagonists in novels would choose to die instead of trying to solve their problems. Now he understands, because these problems are full of contradictions; if you focus on one thing, you neglect another, and if you try to manage one thing, another problem arises.
If he could, he would also like to escape this problem by faking his death!
*
Pei Xingzhi's holiday ended quickly. The school gave him three days off, but he only stayed at home for one day and spent the other two days at school.
His parents were busy with work and not home. His older brother came back briefly to see him before returning to the military base to report on his work. Pei Xingzhi was just idling at home by himself, so he decided to go back to school to keep Chu Ling company and finish up the data he hadn't processed properly last time.
He wanted to stay with Chu Ling, but Chu Ling was also engaged. He sent several messages and made several phone calls, but received no response. Pei Xingzhi assumed he was asleep and hadn't heard him. When he returned to school, he didn't go back to his own dormitory but went straight to Chu Ling's place.
He had a key to Chu Ling's dorm room and opened the door without saying hello. When he swaggered in, Chu Ling was carrying his burly roommate out of the room, the two of them entwined and seemingly oblivious to the world around them.
Pei Xingzhi had guessed that they might have this kind of relationship, but there is a difference between guessing and seeing it with one's own eyes, especially when one stumbles upon such an embarrassing scene.
His hand, which was gesturing to greet Chu Ling, froze in mid-air. He didn't bother with any more pleasantries with Chu Ling and rushed back to his dormitory at the fastest speed he had ever been.
He stared blankly for a while after returning to his dorm, until Wuyun impatiently patted his face with its paw, bringing him back to his senses. Pei Xingzhi shook his head at the empty living room, got up, and filled Wuyun's bowl with dog food. Wuyun's eyes lit up the moment it saw the food, and it buried its head in the bowl and started eating. Pei Xingzhi stroked Wuyun's fur and then sat back down on the sofa, lost in thought.
When he was alone, all his desires were at their lowest. Pei Xingzhi opened the refrigerator, stood there for a few minutes, and then closed the refrigerator door with empty hands.
He had little appetite and didn't want to go anywhere to clear his head. He didn't know what he was being dramatic about; shouldn't he have gotten used to this kind of life by now? Why was he sighing now?
Having something to do is annoying, but having nothing to do is also annoying.
Chu Ling already had someone to keep him company, so he didn't want to disturb their time together. Pei Xingzhi was left all alone again.
He logged on, intending to play some games to kill time, but his daily tasks had already been completed by a third-party service. Few of his game friends were online. Pei Xingzhi ran a dungeon, his lone little character wandering aimlessly across the grasslands, before finally logging off out of boredom.
Isn't he on vacation? How can he be so bored?
He suddenly missed Xie Nanyi.
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