TAO | Chapter 71

Sure enough, Wei Xiaochi was still in the classroom studying.

He was completely lost in his own world—when Xu Yang passed by his desk, Wei Xiaochi didn’t even notice. Not so much as a glance up.

Earlier, the PE teacher had made them do a 1,000-meter interval run, and Wei Xiaochi was struggling a bit. After silently reviewing his Chinese textbook for a while, he started feeling unwell and reached into his pocket for a piece of candy.

He lay on his desk with the candy in his mouth for a bit, waiting for the dizziness to pass before picking the book back up.

Still dizzy.

Wei Xiaochi chewed the candy thoroughly and swallowed it, then popped another piece into his mouth.

After that second one, he finally started to feel better. He stood up and walked to the back of the classroom to throw the candy wrapper in the trash.

Just as he turned around—bam!—he saw Xu Yang standing there. The scare made him stumble back, eyes wide as if he’d only just noticed Xu Yang’s presence.

Looking at Wei Xiaochi’s pale face and lips, Xu Yang suddenly remembered—about two months ago, Wei Xiaochi had fainted from low blood sugar.

He didn’t remember the event too clearly, and honestly, neither did Wei Xiaochi.

Back then, Xu Yang happened to be standing behind him when he passed out. Catching him wasn’t a noble gesture—it was pure reflex, not some heroic act.

Xu Yang wasn’t exactly the helpful, friendly type. Even now, he kept a noticeable distance from most classmates. Unless someone came to him first, he didn’t get involved in other people’s business.

But Wei Xiaochi was an exception.

After realizing this beta had hypoglycemia, Xu Yang had bought two chocolate bars. When he left the campus shop with them, he even stood in silence for a couple seconds, dumbfounded by his own action.

When he placed the chocolates on Wei Xiaochi’s desk, Wei Xiaochi’s expression was utterly blank and confused. His silence was practically shouting how weird this was.

Wei Xiaochi couldn’t understand Xu Yang. And he definitely couldn’t understand why two chocolate bars suddenly appeared on his desk.

A normal person might be confused for a second or two, then realize it was a gesture of kindness.

But not Wei Xiaochi.

He stared blankly for a good seven or eight seconds, then panicked and started digging through his desk. He pulled out a stack of subject-specific practice workbooks and handed them to Xu Yang.

Xu Yang took them in bafflement, then realized—Wei Xiaochi thought he was here to copy homework.

Speechless, Xu Yang glanced at him. The beta was trembling a little, nervously watching him.

Xu Yang didn’t say a word. He took the workbook back to his seat.

Only then did Wei Xiaochi visibly relax. He stared at the chocolates on his desk for a moment, then hesitantly reached out with his fingertips and slowly dragged them over.

Xu Yang didn’t react at all from behind. That’s when Wei Xiaochi was finally certain—they were meant for him.

⸻

Wei Xiaochi was just that kind of strange, inexplicably attention-grabbing person.

He had an odd thought process, a quiet personality, was timid, and a little slow on the uptake.

Xu Yang didn’t know how to describe the feeling. He wasn’t even sure what kind of feelings he had for Wei Xiaochi. He just couldn’t help watching him—like a kid stumbling upon a marching line of ants, curious about their little world and the paths they followed.

Yes—curiosity.

Xu Yang decided that’s what it was. His interest in this withdrawn beta had grown out of pure curiosity.

It was like conducting a scientific experiment—analyzing Wei Xiaochi’s thoughts and behaviors, trying to understand, to dissect, to reach a conclusion.

Because Wei Xiaochi was always so wrapped up in his own world, Xu Yang had to take certain “measures” to break in and figure him out.

Like that one PE class—while everyone else was playing games outside, enjoying the last golden days of autumn and bonding with classmates, Wei Xiaochi had already slipped back to the classroom.

So had Xu Yang.

Back then, Zhang Mingyang didn’t even bother acknowledging Wei Xiaochi’s existence. Heck, he didn’t even take Li Suilin seriously. He thought he’d rule No. 2 High the same way he ruled junior high.

So his focus wasn’t really on studying yet. He was aiming for class president, which meant cozying up to everyone so they’d vote for him next month.

But none of that involved Wei Xiaochi. He was always alone.

And Xu Yang followed him back to the classroom.

Wei Xiaochi was doing his usual—copying down vocabulary words. He had a strict study routine, piling tasks on himself nonstop, class or no class.

His diligence even got him mocked by Zhang Mingyang, who said he was just a dumb bird trying to fly first—only managing to look like a good student by sheer time spent.

Back then, Wei Xiaochi never talked back. No matter how Zhang Mingyang laughed at him, he just kept his head down and said nothing.

Xu Yang stood at the classroom door for a while, quietly watching.

And just as he expected—no reaction whatsoever. The guy was like an ancient single-celled organism. You could poke him with a needle today and he’d probably feel the pain next year.

Xu Yang walked over.

Wei Xiaochi was silently mouthing vocabulary while writing them in the back of a used notebook.

A shadow fell over his page, but he didn’t notice until he finished the word. Only then did he see the silhouette of a head on his notebook.

Wei Xiaochi blinked, adjusted his glasses with one hand, and slowly looked up.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw the stern-faced Alpha. He immediately ducked back down, pretending to focus on writing—though in reality, he had no idea what he was scribbling. He was hyper-aware of Xu Yang’s every move.

Then Xu Yang lifted his foot and gently nudged the leg of Wei Xiaochi’s chair.

Wei Xiaochi’s internal alarm blared. His neck shrank in like a terrified quail’s, his chin practically glued to the desk.

Seeing the beta still refusing to look at him, Xu Yang frowned. Then he gave the chair a firm kick, tilting it backward.

With the back leg lifted, Wei Xiaochi slipped off the low end of the seat and bumped into the cold wall beside him.

It didn’t hurt, but Wei Xiaochi froze like a startled deer, wide-eyed and paralyzed.

Xu Yang couldn’t describe the expression on his face.

There was no yelling, no resistance, not even a flicker of anger. Just silence. His long lashes trembled like brittle leaves in the winter wind. Slowly, his pale lips pressed into a tight line.

His eyes… they held a kind of hopelessness. As if someone had crushed the last bit of light he was holding onto.

Wei Xiaochi had been bullied by Fang Zhixin for three whole years in middle school. He studied with everything he had just to get into the Experimental High School’s elite class—to get away from Fang Zhixin, to escape that hell.

And now, Xu Yang’s aggression had given him déjà vu—another Fang Zhixin.

He could already see what the next three years would be like.

That sudden surge of despair from the beta stabbed deep into Xu Yang’s chest, like a sharp needle piercing some hidden part of his heart.

And in that moment, he finally realized—his feelings for Wei Xiaochi weren’t just curiosity. There was a softness to it. A kind of sympathy.

The world was bright and full of promise. They were young, in the prime of their lives.

But Wei Xiaochi was the exception.

He lived alone in his own world, blind to the sun outside, deaf to the laughter on the sports field, unable to smell the scent of flowers.

So quiet.

So heartbreakingly quiet.

Xu Yang lowered his foot and slowly walked back to his seat. From that day on, he never deliberately messed with Wei Xiaochi again.

Only when someone else accidentally offended Wei Xiaochi would Xu Yang quietly step in to smooth things over.

He watched as Wei Xiaochi slowly started to talk more. When Zhang Mingyang picked on him, he didn’t stay silent like before—he talked back.

Xu Yang would even help him out occasionally during their arguments when he saw Wei Xiaochi losing ground.

But the change in the beta was subtle.

He still lived in his own little world, as if no one else existed in his eyes. He was just… a little more cheerful. Like he was finally stepping out of that long, dark shadow.

Watching that change, Xu Yang sometimes couldn’t resist brushing against his desk on purpose as he passed by, or asking to copy homework.

Sometimes he’d act a bit mean—but he always kept it within limits. He never wanted to scare him like that first time again.

Xu Yang wasn’t the childish type who bullied people he liked.

But in those brief moments, when Wei Xiaochi looked up, stepped out of his bubble, and actually saw him—

Xu Yang felt something.

He never intended to disrupt Wei Xiaochi’s life. And he definitely didn’t want to entangle himself too deeply in it. He couldn’t. There was something too big between them.

But sometimes… he just wanted a glance from Wei Xiaochi.

Xu Yang had thought Wei Xiaochi would stay like that forever—buried in books, letting study dominate his school years.

He never expected someone like Jiang Zhan to come in and change everything.

⸻

Author’s Note:

This wasn’t just to write about Xu Yang, but more to help you understand Chi Chi from another angle.

He went through three years of bullying. At first, he didn’t even dare talk back to Zhang Mingyang. His slow reactions are a defense mechanism—when you grow up in a repressive environment, the only way to protect yourself is to dull your senses.

Sigh.
I hope someday the world will be free of bullying.