Chapter 40 [VIP]
Pei Xingzhi left decisively; he was always this efficient in his actions, a trait Xie Nanyi used to admire. But now, looking at the dormitory without Pei Xingzhi, Xie Nanyi suddenly felt a pang of resentment towards his ruthlessness.
His things were still here, but there was no trace of anyone else. He didn't understand why such a routine check would make Pei Xingzhi want to leave.
He was just teasing Pei Xingzhi during the inspection; compared to his previous persistent and harassing behavior, this was nothing serious.
Perhaps this idea has always existed, but it just came to a head because of this small incident.
Xie Nanyi pounced on the bed where Pei Xingzhi had slept like a stray dog, rolled around in it, and sniffed the scent Pei Xingzhi had left behind.
But he was a Beta, so he couldn't leave any pheromones. The strongest scent in the room was just the aromatherapy that Pei Xingzhi usually used. No matter how hard Xie Nanyi tried, she couldn't smell the faint citrus scent on him anymore.
Why isn't he an Omega? That way, he'd have a strong reason to request a forced binding from his superiors.
No, no, no.
Even if he is a Beta, as long as he can prove the existence of the mark, he can still force Pei Xingzhi to bind with him.
As long as the existence of the mark is proven, as long as the mark on Pei Xingzhi's body is revealed...
Such a thought flashed through Xie Nanyi's mind for a moment. He suddenly sat up, clutching Pei Xingzhi's blanket, somewhat surprised that he had such an idea.
He initially approached Pei Xingzhi to distance himself from him, but reality often contradicts expectations. Not only did he fail to keep Pei Xingzhi away, he himself became increasingly entangled in the ocean of Pei Xingzhi's affections. Only when he realized it did he be shocked to discover that he seemed to have fallen in love with Pei Xingzhi.
He didn't understand the true meaning of the word "like." The people around him used the word "like" so easily that he felt it wasn't an emotion worth caring about. It was just "like," and as long as it went from "like" to "dislike," that was enough.
He attributed his pursuit of Pei Xingzhi to the novelty factor – all his feelings stemmed from the existence of the imprint, from the presence of Pei Xingzhi's name on his body, which naturally led to a unique attitude towards him. This was all normal, and he didn't need to deliberately do anything to Pei Xingzhi.
But when he saw the markings appearing on Pei Xingzhi's body, he began to believe in the word "fate."
He seemed to genuinely have feelings of "liking" Pei Xingzhi.
This emotion was too fleeting; he hadn't yet been able to fully comprehend it.
He shouldn't have developed feelings for Pei Xingzhi. Wasn't his initial goal to keep Pei Xingzhi away from him? Now that he's achieved his goal, why is he angry?
Pei Xingzhi was right to leave him. The one who needs to be imprinted is an Alpha, never a Beta. Pei Xingzhi can live a good life even without him.
He should be happy.
*
After finishing his exams, Pei Xingzhi began his first vacation of university.
What should have been a day of universal celebration turned into a day of unhappiness due to various minor incidents. Even after returning home, he was still in a bad mood.
Pei's parents were still in the hospital, and his brother was nowhere to be found. The house, which should have been lively, was now empty except for him. He rarely felt this down, and the long-awaited vacation had lost its appeal.
Pei Xingzhi spent almost all of his time in bed during the days he was back home. He didn't actively socialize, and few people came to visit him; he seemed to have isolated himself from the world.
Thinking of this, Pei Xingzhi couldn't help but glance at his phone again.
His communication with Xie Nanyi had stopped a week ago when he sent him Pei Yuan's information, asking him to help find out where his brother was. Now his brother hadn't returned, and he had even argued with Xie Nanyi.
Pei's parents had been away on a business trip for a while, and Pei Xingzhi had been home for four or five days before they returned. Pei Xingzhi had prepared dinner early in the morning, and when they came back, he was lying on the sofa playing games. Come to think of it, apart from the "chance encounter" they staged at the restaurant last time, they hadn't seen each other for a long time.
Children tend to become spoiled when they are with their parents. Pei Xingzhi went up to his mother and acted coquettishly, wanting to get comfort from them.
"What's wrong? Did something unpleasant happen at school?" Pei Xingzhi wasn't a person who kept his emotions to himself; whatever he was thinking was written all over his face. Others only needed to glance at him to know what he was thinking at that moment. Qin Wanyang was even more perceptive in noticing that something was wrong with her son.
"No," Pei Xingzhi said in a muffled voice, resting his head on his mother's shoulder.
His words and actions clearly contradicted each other, so Pei's father and Qin Wanyang naturally didn't believe his evasive explanation. Their son was obedient, sensible, and academically outstanding; they couldn't let anything else trouble him. Since it wasn't about academics… they exchanged a glance and simultaneously thought of the Alpha they had encountered at the restaurant.
If it's not academics, then it can only be relationships.
"Are you dating someone?" Pei's mother asked bluntly.
"No! What are you thinking? I'm not in a relationship!" Pei Xingzhi hurriedly refused, but the more he refused, the more it seemed like he was trying to cover something up.
Seeing his parents' knowing expressions, Pei Xingzhi turned his head away and reluctantly admitted it.
"I'm not in a relationship. It's just... I have a slight crush on someone, but he doesn't seem to like me that much, so we had a fight. It's that simple." Pei Xingzhi knew he couldn't hide it from his parents, so he could only admit it in despair.
"What happened between you two? Can you tell your mother?" Qin Wanyang patted his shoulder gently, gave Pei's father a look to let him leave first, and then led Pei Xingzhi to sit down on the sofa so that he could tell her slowly.
Pei Xingzhi's mind and language system were in a mess. He rambled on for a long time, with few useful keywords in his words. He left a few words unsaid, not telling them about the imprint. This was the point of conflict between him and Xie Nanyi, but he didn't want anyone to know.
Qin Wanyang listened patiently to his complaints, and after thinking for a while, she said, "So, you're wondering whether he likes you or not, right?"
“I don’t know…” Pei Xingzhi looked away. “I don’t know what’s bothering me, but I just feel like he’s not pursuing me because he likes me. I know this thought is contradictory, but… Mom, I just really mind it.”
Qin Wanyang patted his hand reassuringly, and after he calmed down, she continued to ask, "So, do you like him?"
“I…I think I like him…He’s very good to me, and I enjoy being with him. But when I think that he’s with me not because he likes me…I…I feel really uncomfortable.”
"If you're not feeling well, don't force yourself." Qin Wanyang patted her youngest son's head and suddenly realized that he had grown up so much.
"If this dilemma is causing you pain, then just let it go. The person who loves you wouldn't bear to see you suffer. Even without him, you still have your loving parents and brother, and you will meet other people who love you and whom you love. You have many other encounters and destinies to share; he is not your only one."
Baby, you have a long life ahead of you; there's no need to linger at this fleeting juncture.
Pei Xingzhi had always admired his mother's eloquence. What had troubled him for so long seemed like a trivial matter when Qin Wanyang spoke of it. Relationships are inherently complicated, and after talking for a while, the conversation eventually returned to Pei Xingzhi's grades and awards.
Once grades were mentioned, Pei Xingzhi had no time to think about Xie Nanyi anymore; his mind was only focused on how to deal with his mother. If Pei's father hadn't been so hungry that he couldn't stand it anymore and came out to urge them to eat quickly, Ms. Qin probably could have kept talking to Pei Xingzhi for a while longer.
Pei Xingzhi's holiday was both fulfilling and uneventful. His brother wasn't home, and his parents were busy with work, so he was practically the only one with free time during the entire holiday.
He spent his days at home either playing video games or harassing Chu Ling. After a while, he realized that he hadn't thought about Xie Nanyi for quite some time.
See? Forgetting it doesn't seem so hard after all.
When school resumed, Pei's father asked someone to help him change dorm rooms.
It was still the same four-person room. Although it wasn't as spacious and free as Xie Nanyi's, Pei Xingzhi was already quite satisfied.
After all, he originally lived here, and now he's just coming back.
Xie Nanyi seemed to have disappeared from his life as well. Apart from the usual romantic rumors, Xie Nanyi was no longer by his side.
Even the rumors about him and Xie Nanyi from the first semester disappeared overnight, as if the two of them had never met.
Pei Xingzhi knew that Xie Nanyi must have been involved, since it seemed that no one else could have done this.
But this is fine too. The two of them never had any relationship to begin with, and now it's just that the timeline has been brought back to normal.
Medical students are busy every day, especially since he missed a few courses last semester because he was lazy, and he has to make up for them this semester in order to earn enough credits.
Upon closer inspection, Pei Xingzhi's weekly schedule was almost entirely full; you could only spot a gap if you looked under a microscope.
Just when Pei Xingzhi was busy as a spinning top, he was kidnapped.
That day, he was just returning to his dormitory after finishing his experiment in the evening, as usual. To make things easier, he took a shortcut and went into the woods. He had only taken a few steps when someone suddenly appeared behind him, covered his mouth and nose, and then he passed out.
When he woke up again, his hands and feet were bound, and his eyes were covered with a strip of cloth. He tentatively called out a few times; the place seemed very large, and he could even hear his own echo.
No one paid him any attention, so Pei Xingzhi simply shut his mouth and closed his eyes to rest. Those people must have a reason for kidnapping him. Pei Xingzhi was very curious: what use would kidnapping someone who had no money, no power, didn't harm anyone, and had no family background?
Could it be illegal organ trafficking?
Pei Xingzhi's heart skipped a beat as he suddenly remembered the scene he had witnessed in the alley—an Omega whose glands had been removed and who was then brutally murdered.
Although he, as a Beta, doesn't have glands, his heart, liver, spleen, stomach, and kidneys can still be sold for some money. It's not impossible that those people would disembowel him while he's still alive.
"What are you doing tying me up? Illegal organ trafficking? Are you stupid? Artificial organs aren't much more expensive than fresh organs these days, and they're actually better. Human organs can have a rejection reaction, and if it's severe, you can still die. But artificial organs are different; they don't cause any rejection. I'd still recommend you buy those! Besides, I don't exercise much, so my organs are very unhealthy. You wouldn't get much money from them... Ugh! You..."
His kidnappers probably thought he was too noisy, because Pei Xingzhi was gaggled shut with tape halfway through his sentence.
Unable to speak, Pei Xingzhi could only continue to make "woo-woo" sounds to protest his injustice.
Blindfolded and unable to keep track of time, Pei Xingzhi had no idea how long he had been locked up or if anyone had noticed his disappearance. He sometimes slept in the lab while busy with experiments; what if his roommates assumed he was living in the lab without thinking?
Who on earth is so immoral as to kidnap someone in the middle of the night? Is the school's security really that bad? They were kidnapped themselves, and there wasn't even a security guard to stop them!
So, if he dies here, will no one even know?
As Pei Xingzhi was lost in thought, someone finally came over and said something to him.
"Young Master Pei, please come with me."
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