The Unattainable Flower Pulled Down from the Pedestal by Universal Dislike – CH30

Translator Note:

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Thank you so much for your support and understanding, and I hope you enjoy the journey ahead!

Chapter 30

On his way back to the dormitory, Tan Ning received a message from Yue Ying.

[Xiao Ning, did you give money to your grandfather before you left for summer vacation? He has a pension, which is enough for him. If you give him money, he’ll just use it to play mahjong, wasting your filial piety.]

[You’re still a student. Even if you earn money from tutoring, that’s your hard-earned money; you should keep it for yourself.]

[You’re still young; don’t burden yourself too much.]

[Think more about yourself.]

It seemed his grandfather hadn’t used the money wisely—either gambled it away or got tricked into buying health supplements again.

Tan Ning felt helpless but also indifferent; he considered it repayment for his grandfather’s years of raising him.

His gaze lingered on the last message Yue Ying sent.

Think more about yourself.

Yue Ying was a faithful practitioner of these words. Her entire life had been guided by this principle. Clearly, after weighing the pros and cons, she had excluded Tan Ning as a burden from her considerations.

Returning to the dormitory, at the stairwell corner, he heard He Qingrui talking on the phone in the hallway.

His voice was clear, and he often amused himself; Tan Ning recognized him immediately.

“I’m doing pretty well, Mom. It’s just that I’m having a bit of trouble keeping up with some courses. A few classes are particularly fast-paced, and there’s this Administrative Litigation Law class—the teacher is just a lecturer, not very good, and his Mandarin is terrible. I’m totally lost. But I found a senior sister who lent me her notes. Don’t worry, don’t worry. Who’s your son? These little difficulties are nothing!”

As soon as he hung up, he saw Tan Ning and greeted him proactively: “Tan Ning, you’re back? Didn’t you go to the library tonight? I didn’t see you.”

“I went to do some tutoring.”

“Oh.”

Tan Ning raised the kraft paper bag in his hand and asked He Qingrui, “Want some? Handmade baked cookies.”

“Wow, where did you get these?”

After a pause, Tan Ning said, “A student’s parent gave them to me.”

“Really? Let me try.”

Actually, they were from Lin Song’an. He said a friend of his was opening a niche dessert shop, about to have a trial opening, and had sent samples of their signature cookies to all their friends, hoping they could help promote after tasting them.

Tonight, because of Lin Qi’s sudden differentiation, both of them felt stirred. In fact, Lin Song’an had always been wearing a strong inhibitor patch, so even if Lin Qi differentiated in front of him, it might not have affected him. But Tan Ning didn’t understand these things; he just felt that he had omega pheromones on him and wouldn’t let Lin Song’an touch him.

After standing in the evening wind for a long time, when Lin Song’an took a step forward, Tan Ning still retreated.

He didn’t take Lin Song’an’s car back to school, and Lin Song’an didn’t insist, only giving him the cookies to share with his roommates.

When he said this, Tan Ning suddenly thought of his grandfather.

When his grandfather bought him walnut pastries, he would also say, “Buy a bit more and take them back to share with your classmates.”

His grandfather always forgot that Tan Ning didn’t have any friends.

But now, the situation seemed to have improved. Tan Ning seemed to have friends, although he wasn’t sure whether someone as friendly as He Qingrui truly considered him a friend.

“Have a taste,” Tan Ning said, then went straight into the dormitory.

As soon as he entered, He Qingrui did Tan Ning a favor by saying, “Zheng Yu, Qingyang, Tan Ning brought some freshly baked cookies. Do you want to try them?”

Xu Qingyang couldn’t resist the temptation of delicious food and proactively reached out, but Zheng Yu pretended not to hear.

Zheng Yu lay on his bed, listening to He Qingrui and Xu Qingyang enthusiastically discussing the calories of the cookies. He felt a surge of frustration. He didn’t understand why these two suddenly didn’t dislike Tan Ning anymore. When they talked about Tan Ning, their tone was relaxed, as if the dormitory had always been so harmonious.

Clearly, Tan Ning hadn’t done anything. Just after summer vacation ended, the dormitory had still revolved around him.

He Qingrui’s arrival had disrupted the balance of the dormitory.

Zheng Yu had instead become the one being ostracized; Zheng Yu felt that he couldn’t let things continue like this.

“Zheng Yu, want to try one?” He Qingrui turned and asked Zheng Yu again, “Tan Ning brought them.”

He sneered, “No thanks. How dare I eat his stuff? Before you came, he never shared anything with us. Qingyang, you dare to eat? Aren’t you afraid it’s poisoned?”

Tan Ning’s hand, which was packing his bag, paused for a moment but soon continued as if he hadn’t heard.

He Qingrui and Xu Qingyang were both stunned; the dormitory atmosphere instantly plummeted.

Xu Qingyang frowned, glanced at Zheng Yu, and didn’t know where to put the half-eaten cookie in his hand. “I—”

“I get it now. So he looks down on the two of us. We’ve been roommates for two or three years and haven’t exchanged many words. As soon as He Qingrui comes, he becomes all sociable. Did you see that, Qingyang? It’s us who aren’t good enough, not qualified.”

Tan Ning continued as if he hadn’t heard, sitting at his desk writing the case study assignment for his Law and Business class.

“If this doesn’t work, the two of us should move out.” Zheng Yu sneered.

Seeing Tan Ning acting indifferent, Xu Qingyang also felt annoyed, regretting that he’d been greedy and eaten his cookie.

“Zheng Yu, just say less,” Xu Qingyang said in a low voice.

“What did I say? Weren’t you the one always saying he’s autistic?”

“I—” Xu Qingyang’s face turned red.

Zheng Yu completely tore into Tan Ning; his only goal was to drive Tan Ning out of the dormitory.

He just didn’t like Tan Ning—didn’t like that Tan Ning had taken his Tianhe Scholarship, didn’t like that Tan Ning acted like a clown in class, raising his hand to answer questions so his participation scores were higher than others’; He didn’t like that during the insurance company internship, when everyone’s attention was on him, and the next second, because Tan Ning was the tutor of the manager’s child, everyone started paying attention to Tan Ning.

He hated being referred to by students from the Business School as “that roommate of Tan Ning.”

Who did Tan Ning think he was?

Zheng Yu got off his bed and said to Tan Ning, “I’ve said it many times. Why don’t you go to the counselor and ask to change dorms?”

“Zheng Yu, are you sick?” He Qingrui’s angry shout broke the stalemate. He stood in front of Tan Ning and said, “If anyone’s moving out, it’s you!”

Tan Ning’s fingers rested on the keyboard; he was a bit dazed.

But He Qingrui, like a little firecracker, couldn’t stop once he started: “This dorm isn’t messed up because of Tan Ning; it’s because of you! Tan Ning is really unlucky to have a petty person like you as a roommate! You’re just jealous of him!”

Zheng Yu was stunned. “What did you say?”

“I said you’re jealous of him! Tan Ning is better-looking than an omega, better-looking than you. He’s the top among betas. His grades are better than yours. What are you dissatisfied with? So what if he doesn’t like to talk? How does that affect you? Are you sick, always acting shady and playing palace dramas here? You want me and Xu Qingyang to be your little followers? Who do you think you are? Do you think you’re Lin Song’an? How ridiculous!”

Hearing Lin Song’an’s name at the end, Tan Ning couldn’t help but curl his lips.

“Are you crazy, He Qingrui?”

“You’re the crazy one! If you have the guts, go tell the counselor! Let’s see who should get out of the dormitory!” He Qingrui folded his arms, chin raised, looking contemptuous.

Xu Qingyang watched in shock. It wasn’t until Zheng Yu stormed out, slamming the door, that he finally recovered and gave He Qingrui a thumbs-up.

“But I heard his uncle is an associate professor in the Literature Department,” Xu Qingyang couldn’t help but worry.

“Just an associate professor; what’s the big deal?” He boasted, then turned to glance at Tan Ning, thinking that half of A University belonged to Tianhe Group. No matter how capable Zheng Yu was, could he compete with Lin Song’an?

He Qingrui waved his hand. “Don’t worry!”

Xu Qingyang felt that he hadn’t done much good in the past two years, so he proactively apologized to Tan Ning, “Sorry, Tan Ning.”

Tan Ning didn’t respond but suddenly stood up and said to He Qingrui, “Could you come out with me for a moment?”

“Huh?”

As He Qingrui followed Tan Ning downstairs, he suddenly remembered something and pleaded with Tan Ning as they walked, “If Zheng Yu retaliates against me, you must ask Lin Song’an to help, Tan Ning. Please, you must protect me then!”

Tan Ning led He Qingrui to a bicycle shed not far from the dormitory, where there were some flower beds. Tan Ning sat down, and He Qingrui sat beside him.

“Thank you,” Tan Ning said, lowering his head.

He Qingrui scratched his head, “Hehe, it’s nothing. I couldn’t stand him for a long time!”

“Not just for tonight.”

“Uh?”

“Thank you for not keeping your distance from me because of my personality.”

“No way. I think you’re quite interesting like this. Tan Ning, I think you’re super cool.”

Tan Ning rubbed his hands; he didn’t know how to continue the conversation. He had never had a conversation lasting more than two minutes with anyone other than Lin Song’an.

He lacked basic social skills; He felt he should say something but didn’t know how to start.

Fortunately, He Qingrui spoke first.

“Tan Ning, are we friends now?”

For a moment, Tan Ning felt a lump in his throat. He had always thought he didn’t long for friendship, but it turned out that the weight of the word “friend” was much heavier than he had imagined.

He bumped Tan Ning’s shoulder with his own.

Tan Ning nodded, “Yes.”

He Qingrui looked up at the night sky. “You answered me so easily; why won’t you admit that you like Lin Song’an?”

Tan Ning turned his face away.

“Okay, I was being nosy.”

After a long time, He Qingrui felt a chill around them and was about to return to the dormitory when Tan Ning suddenly said, “Because I’m a beta. The rumors you heard from Zheng Yu are true. Lin Song’an can’t be with a beta.”

He told He Qingrui about the frustrations that had accumulated in his heart for over a year. Although he didn’t reveal much in a few words, He Qingrui could feel that the string in Tan Ning’s heart was stretched too tight, making him mentally and physically exhausted.

“But it’s not your fault that you differentiated as a beta, Tan Ning. Don’t belittle yourself.”

He counted on his fingers, “Look, you’re good-looking, have the highest GPA in your year, and in the future, you can choose to go abroad for graduate studies or get a guaranteed spot. When you return, you can join a top law firm, maybe even become a partner earning millions a year. You’re already better than 99% of betas in the world. And most importantly, you’ve even dated the future heir of Tianhe Group.”

He patted Tan Ning’s shoulder and sighed, “Oh my god, Tan Ning, you have the best 21 years!”

Tan Ning was stunned for a long time.

After his heartfelt speech, He felt a bit embarrassed and concluded, “If you still feel you can’t date Lin Song’an, can you wait until the issue with Zheng Yu is over before breaking up? I’m afraid he’ll retaliate against me. Oh, by the way, my brother is a senior this year in the College of Physics. If you break up, I can introduce you. My brother is quite handsome too. That’s it; I’m cold. I’m going upstairs first.”

Tan Ning watched He Qingrui’s back and almost laughed out loud.

After a long time, He Qingrui’s words echoed in his mind. His right hand, acting on its own, dialed Lin Song’an’s number.

Lin Song’an’s voice came from the other end, somewhat low.

“Ning Ning?”

Tan Ning didn’t speak.

“Ning Ning, did something happen?”

“No.”

Most of the time, the two of them didn’t communicate well, but at this moment, they had a kind of mutual understanding. Listening to each other’s gentle breathing, neither spoke again until Tan Ning said, “It’s getting colder tomorrow.”

Mind-reader Lin Song’an quickly replied, “Okay, I’ll wear more clothes tomorrow. Ning Ning, you should wear more too.”

Tan Ning hung up the phone.

He rubbed his phone screen with his thumb, suddenly recalling a time long ago in Lin Qi’s garden, in a hidden corner behind the garden house where sunlight couldn’t reach. Tan Ning leaned against the glass, his waist held by Lin Song’an.

They were very close—closer than ever before.

While tutoring Lin Qi, Tan Ning had intentionally or unintentionally glanced at Lin Song’an, finally teasing him to the point where he couldn’t resist. But when things were about to get serious, Tan Ning became afraid.

His breathing was erratic; even through his sweatshirt, Lin Song’an could feel Tan Ning’s thunderous heartbeat.

He leaned in slightly and asked Tan Ning, “Is this your first kiss?”

Tan Ning shook his head with a straight face.

He stared directly into Lin Song’an’s eyes, as if determined to compete, not showing any timidity, never admitting he was a novice. But his heartbeat had already betrayed him. Lin Song’an held back his laughter, pretending not to see through his lie.

He leaned in closer and asked, “Then I’ll give you my first kiss, okay?”

Tan Ning was stunned, and in the next second, his lips were covered by something soft.

Actually, Lin Song’an wasn’t very experienced either.

In fact, Tan Ning knew that Lin Song’an’s apparent ease came from his background and upbringing; the gap between them couldn’t be bridged.

At that moment, during those few minutes when Tan Ning opened his mouth and let Lin Song’an explore, his rational mind said: See, without much effort, Lin Song’an fell into the trap.

But he clearly heard his heart saying: Lin Song’an, I’m giving you my all; please never leave.