Baby, You Should Break Up with Him - Chapter 4

The next day, the weather stood in complete contrast to Xie Zhizhi’s less-than-pleasant mood. As far as the eye could see, the sky was clear and boundless, filled with brilliant sunshine.

Spared the agony of an 8 a.m. class, Xie Zhizhi, despite a sleepless night, still managed to look somewhat alive.

With one hand in his pocket and the other scrolling through a forum on his phone, he instinctively took the smaller path toward the academic building, planning to slip in through the back door just as the class bell rang.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he did it—his mind just kept drifting back to yesterday: the alpha leaning down, lifting his gaze, staring straight at him, then smiling brightly and saying, “Thank you.”

…Even though he’d double-checked that his mask was securely fastened, he still felt a primal urge to minimize, or better yet, avoid any interaction related to Feng Wen—

As a result, he’d already skipped one of his twice-daily, clockwork-style “check-ins” with Shen Che.

Thinking of this, Xie Zhizhi couldn’t help but sigh, a faint frown etching worry across his features.

But his brooding didn’t last long.

As he rounded another corner, a small tuft of hair, shimmering gold under the sunlight, suddenly flashed into view. Like some kind of conditioned reflex, Xie Zhizhi’s NPC-like forward momentum came to a programmed halt before his brain even registered it.

—It was Shen Che.

He softened his steps and edged back slightly, hesitating between casually passing by to complete his daily “mission” or turning around to take the main road to the building instead.

To be honest, given his sour mood today, he really wasn’t in the mood to engage in this stupid, mutually irritating daily routine with Shen Che.

Two seconds later, Xie Zhizhi’s gaze went vacant. Leaning lazily against the wall at the corner, he settled on a compromise: stay put, observe quietly, and wait to see how things unfolded.

Around the corner, Shen Che wasn’t alone.

Beside the golden-haired alpha stood an omega dressed in white and gray—casual yet stylishly designed.

The omega was strikingly beautiful, with delicate features. At that moment, he kept his eyes lowered, body tense with obvious restraint. His slender frame trembled slightly from emotional strain and overexertion, as though the slightest touch might shatter him.

Shen Che took it all in, masking the sympathy in his heart as he called out coldly, “Wen Xuyan.”

Wen Xuyan looked up abruptly, hurt flashing in his eyes. In all the time they’d known each other, Shen Che had never used such a tone with him.

Shen Che added, “Have you made up your mind? Class is about to start.”

Under such treatment, the beautiful omega’s trembling became visibly more pronounced.

He lifted his gaze, glassy eyes fixed stubbornly on Shen Che. Within seconds, the rims of his eyes reddened. With a blink, tears—in the melodramatic style Qiong Yao would adore—spilled over and fell.

Tears weren’t exactly rare in Shen Che’s world.

After all, Xie Zhizhi sobbed and whined near him like clockwork twice a day, as regular as medication. But the truth was, Shen Che wasn’t immune to tears—it just depended on who was crying.

Without a doubt, Wen Xuyan’s tears were effective. They fell, drop by drop, striking straight at Shen Che’s heart.

As tears streamed down, Shen Che’s initially displeased expression finally softened into one of pity and heartache. He sighed, gently grasping the omega’s wrist, and asked in a whisper, as if afraid of startling him, “You have to give me a reason, Xuyan?”

Recalling being stood up, Shen Che leaned down to look into Wen Xuyan’s eyes and said with a hint of grievance, “I waited for you for a long time yesterday. You know how much I was looking forward to this date.”

“I… I…” Wen Xuyan’s lips trembled, but the next moment he seemed to sink into deep conflict, swallowing his words with a pained expression.

Shen Che pulled him closer, coaxing patiently, “Hmm? What were you going to say, Xuyan? Let me know, okay?”

Wen Xuyan closed his eyes and shook his head gently. “I don’t want you to know, A Che.”

Displaying remarkable patience, Shen Che pulled him into an embrace, soothingly stroking his back, and feigned a threat, “Why? Do you want to draw a line between us?”

Wen Xuyan’s expression instantly turned panicked and sorrowful, his hands tightly clutching the front of Shen Che’s shirt. “No, I don’t want that.”

Shen Che chuckled softly and coaxed, “Then tell me.”

After hesitating and mumbling for a moment, Wen Xuyan finally closed his eyes as if steeling himself and spoke, “Because… of Xie Zhizhi.”

In an unnoticed corner, Xie Zhizhi, who had been idly snacking on a sandwich out of boredom, suddenly froze mid-chew upon hearing his name.

“Xie Zhizhi?” Shen Che frowned.

Wen Xuyan nodded faintly. “Haven’t you seen the forum?”

Shen Che patted the omega’s back reassuringly. “I don’t usually read those.”

Wen Xuyan mumbled gloomily, “Everyone says you two are engaged. No matter what, he is your rightful fiancé.”

“What we’re doing… it’s actually…” Wen Xuyan choked back a sob and buried his face in Shen Che’s broad chest, “not right, is it?”

“What’s not right about it? He’s just being presumptuous.” Shen Che held the omega, comforting him, and said dismissively, “You know I don’t like him.”

Wen Xuyan reminded him pitifully, “But the engagement, A Che. The engagement isn’t fake.”

Shen Che’s frown deepened, and as if wanting to reassure him, he tightened his embrace.

The scent of refreshing lime and citrus filled the air as Shen Che said emphatically, “I won’t marry him, Xuyan. I promise.”

Wen Xuyan didn’t respond, simply resting quietly in Shen Che’s arms. After a long moment, he let out a soft, aggrieved “Mm” from his nose.

Sunlight filtered through the dense leaves of the beech tree, scattering into fragmented, golden specks on the ground.

A few minutes later, Xie Zhizhi rubbed his slightly numb thigh, stood up, and crumpled the remaining sandwich wrapper before stuffing it into his pocket.

He paused to listen—it seemed quiet now—then cautiously peeked out, just in time to see Shen Che and Wen Xuyan’s intimate figures disappear around the distant corner.

“Wishing you both forever,” Xie Zhizhi said sincerely, brushing crumbs from his hands.

With fifteen minutes left before class, Xie Zhizhi lingered for a moment, calculating the time, before finally continuing toward the academic building.

One minute before the bell rang, Xie Zhizhi stepped through the classroom’s back door.

He habitually glanced at Shen Che’s seat in the third row. After baring his heart in the hallway, the other had clearly received the response he wanted and was now in a rather good mood, his blond hair appearing exceptionally soft and glossy.

Xie Zhizhi stepped inside with great relief, genuinely feeling that their good relationship was more important than anything else.

That left only one problem—

As Xie Zhizhi walked toward his seat, Feng Wen, who was wearing headphones and scrolling through videos, noticed the figure stopping before him. He lifted his eyelids and met Xie Zhizhi’s gaze, his smoke-gray eyes calm and unreadable, not betraying even a hint of anything unusual.

“Morning.”

The alpha stood up with natural ease, his tone lazy.

Xie Zhizhi breathed an inward sigh of relief—he really hadn’t recognized him.

Xie Zhizhi’s mood shifted from light rain to partly cloudy. For once, he wasn’t sniffling and tearful while meeting his deskmate due to missing his daily routine with Shen Che. Instead, he offered a polite, gentle smile. “Good morning.”

The bell rang—

Advanced mathematics wasn’t particularly difficult for Xie Zhizhi to understand, but he still feigned confusion, propping his head up with one hand and staring seriously at the rapidly changing data models on the whiteboard.

Amid the calm voice of the male beta teacher, his mind quickly drifted away amidst the flood of data. Like a sheep grazing, Xie Zhizhi unconsciously replayed the old-school melodrama he’d encountered before class.

Starring: alpha Shen Che, omega Wen Xuyan.

Supporting role: himself.

Under the influence of Xie Xiaoshaoye’s stereotypes and subjective wishes, the memory underwent a distorted, exaggerated revision, ultimately deteriorating into an irredeemably malignant version:

Shen Che delivered a domineering wall-slam, his amber eyes locking onto the fragile, pitiful omega like a predator. In a deep voice tinged with seventy percent coldness and thirty percent displeasure, he said with overwhelming pressure:

“Hah, how dare you stand me up, man!”

The scene quickly shifted—

Wen Xuyan looked as if he were about to faint from anguish. His face was stubborn yet unable to conceal his sorrow as he said indignantly, “If you don’t break off your engagement with Xie Zhizhi, don’t even think about being with me!”

Shen Che instantly seemed as though his lifeline had been squeezed, cold sweat trickling down his handsome face as he cried out in pain, “No! Xuyan!”

The scene shifted again—

The tall, imposing alpha pulled the omega into a tender embrace, his expression a mix of fierce determination and deep affection. He declared firmly, “I will break off the engagement with Xie Zhizhi, Xuyan. Just give me a little more time!”

…

“Heh…” Faced with the incomprehensible string of advanced math equations, Xie Zhizhi couldn’t help but reveal a somewhat smug and wicked smile. When he accidentally let out a soft chuckle, he jolted awake from his fantasy and immediately straightened up, trying overly hard to act busy.

Beside him, Feng Wen had stopped his calculations at some point.

He gazed thoughtfully at Xie Zhizhi’s profile, and after witnessing everything, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Three seats away, Zhang Shuke, who had been secretly watching them since class began, pouted sadly, adding “so hard to woo” to her list of reasons for her failed confession.

Meanwhile, the omega sister Jin Ling, who had been involved in the previous apple gossip incident, also wasn’t paying attention in class. With a conspicuously sneaky demeanor, she scanned the room before lightly poking Xie Zhizhi’s back during a pause in the teacher’s whiteboard demonstration.

Xie Zhizhi leaned back slightly and cast a puzzled look in her direction.

Jin Ling flashed a mischievous, coquettish smile and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Zhizhi, did you know there’s basketball practice tonight~”

Of course, Xie Zhizhi knew—it was even part of his plan—but he still played along, shaking his head and asking, “What about it?”

Jin Ling: “Shen Che will be there too. Are you going to go?”

“A Che is going to be there?” Xie Zhizhi feigned surprise before immediately dropping his head as if struck by a sad thought, moping, “I didn’t know… He never tells me anything.”

Seeing the beta looking so lovesick and dejected, Jin Ling awkwardly rubbed her nose, quietly reflecting on whether she was being too cruel just for the sake of juicy drama updates…

She patted Xie Zhizhi’s shoulder reassuringly, then gritted her teeth and pressed on, “There’s a scrimmage this time, so they’re limiting the number of spectators.”

Tossing her flicker of conscience aside, Jin Ling grinned and pulled out her phone, waving a QR code in front of Xie Zhizhi. “Don’t worry, I’ve got tickets.”

Xie Zhizhi blinked, looking straight at the omega with hopeful eyes. “Jin Ling—”

Jin Ling, thoroughly pleased, smiled even wider. “Let’s go together, Zhizhi.”