The Unattainable Flower Pulled Down from the Pedestal by Universal Dislike – CH7

Chapter 7

Talking about feelings in this kind of relationship was something Tan Ning couldn’t understand.

What baffled him even more was that Lin Song’an initiated a cold war with him because of this.

For a full two months.

That day, pinned on the bed by Lin Song’an, unable to struggle free, Tan Ning felt as if his shoulder blades would shatter under Lin Song’an’s grip. The fierce look in Lin Song’an’s eyes made him think this enraged alpha might tear him apart, but in the end, Lin Song’an still let go.

Tan Ning was grateful he was a beta. If he had been an omega, he would have been overwhelmed by the alpha’s pheromones, losing control and becoming limp and agonized. Fortunately, as a beta, no matter how intense the pheromones were, he didn’t care. Lin Song’an could only suppress him with physical strength but couldn’t make him submit.

They stared at each other for half a minute. The fierceness in Lin Song’an’s eyes suddenly faded; he curled his lips in self-mockery and then released his grip.

When letting him go, Lin Song’an didn’t forget to transfer money.

Two thousand yuan arrived, and Lin Song’an added, “Let’s not meet for the next two months.”

Tan Ning’s first thought was, Aren’t you the one who always arranges our meetings? His second thought was, How can we not meet? Aren’t you still attending the case study classes at the training base?

But over the next two months, Lin Song’an didn’t show up in Room 314 of the Business School even once.

Tan Ning was happy to have some peace and extended his paid college entrance exam consultation services to two weeks, earning nearly twenty thousand yuan.

He deposited all the money into his bank account and sat on a bench outside the library, looking at the balance. Sunlight poured down, making the heat unbearable. Perhaps it was going to rain; the air was still, with humid heat swirling above. Even the campus’s orange tabby cats found it too hot, lying lazily in the shade and stretching. The security guards had stopped patrolling, and there wasn’t a soul on the tree-lined path.

But Tan Ning just stared at his phone screen, gaze fixed, motionless until the screen automatically dimmed.

A few minutes later, Yue Ying sent him a message: “I was recently diagnosed with a gastric polyp. Going for minimally invasive surgery tomorrow.”

Tan Ning transferred fifty thousand yuan to her.

Moments later, the money was returned intact.

“Why would I need your money? Just letting you know.”

“Take care of yourself too, watch your diet. I’ve heard gastric polyps can be hereditary.”

“Don’t overwork yourself.”

He replied: “Okay.”

Continuing to bask in the sun, after a while, he transferred the money to Yue Ying again, without leaving any message.

Final exams were approaching; the dreaded exam week was coming, and even Tan couldn’t slack off. He negotiated with the parents of his tutoring students to concentrate the sessions on weekend evenings.

Children naturally love to play, and on weekend evenings, they are even more distracted—fiddling with toys, rolling them over and over, either lying on the desk or slumping on the chair, as if they had no bones, basically not wanting to do any exercises.

From time to time, the child glanced at Tan Ning, expecting Teacher Tan to scold him. But upon closer look, he found that Teacher Tan’s attention wasn’t on his exercise book.

Teacher Tan was daydreaming—a major discovery.

He leaned his face close to Tan’s and whispered, “Teacher Tan, Teacher Tan.”

Only then did Tan Ning come back to his senses, somewhat embarrassed: “Have you finished the exercises?”

The child sulked, “No.”

Usually, at this point, Tan Ning would get angry. His features weren’t gentle, and when he didn’t smile, he looked stern, making scaring kids effortless. He didn’t need to say anything; just a slight frown would make the child gulp in fear.

But this time, Teacher Tan didn’t seem to hear what the child said. Holding a red pen in one hand and the exercise book in the other, he said to himself, “Finished? Let me take a look.”

The child hurriedly snatched it back, “No, I haven’t finished yet.”

“Hmm?”

Hugging the exercise book, the child said, “I said I haven’t finished yet. Teacher Tan, what’s wrong with you today?”

Tan Ning was stunned. After a moment, he returned to his usual expression and said, “I was thinking about my exams. And you? You’re about to have exams too, but in half an hour, you’ve only done five math problems?”

The child shrank back into his seat, both angry and afraid: “Got it, got it. You’re so fierce.”

After a while, the child’s attention drifted again. He whispered, “But Teacher Tan, you were really distracted just now.”

Tan Ning glanced at him, “Yes, so?”

The child pouted, couldn’t think of what to say for a long time, and had to lower his head to do the exercises.

After the session, the child’s mother, Sister Yu, pulled Tan aside to inquire, “Hadn’t his performance improved a lot before? But in the recent weekly tests, problems have arisen again. The teacher said he made several mistakes on the simplest questions—” She suddenly stopped, pausing before saying, “Teacher Tan? Teacher Tan? What’s wrong with you today?”

Tan Ning snapped out of his scattered thoughts, apologized with a smile, recalled what she had just said, and replied, “Perhaps because his grades improved before, he became a bit complacent, leading to a lax attitude towards studying. I think you don’t need to keep emphasizing how much his grades have improved or constantly mention rankings. Just treat his performance fluctuations with a normal mindset.”

Sister Yu’s expression changed slightly, then she nodded and smiled, “Xiao Tan, you’re really a mature child. I’d love to know how your mother raised you. If I could learn from her, that would be great.”

Tan Ning was stunned, pondered for a while, then casually flipped through the child’s mistakes, saying lightly, “Just… free-range upbringing.”

“Really?” She looked at the child lying in front of the TV and sighed helplessly, “Seems I need to learn to let go too. Otherwise, he’ll drive me crazy before he grows up.”

Tan Ning didn’t respond, stood up, and said, “Sister Yu, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Okay, be safe on the way.”

When he returned to the dormitory, Zheng Yu had just retrieved his clothes from the laundry room. He shoved Tan Ning’s dry clothes aside to make room for his own. Noticing Tan Ning entering, he felt a bit guilty, stretched out his hand as if to pull back a couple of pieces to make amends, but Tan Ning, ignoring him, walked over, took down his own dry clothes, and carried them back to the room.

As if he hadn’t noticed Zheng Yu’s actions at all.

He folded them one by one and put them into the wardrobe.

Xu Qingyang and Zheng Yu exchanged glances, both seeing a kind of impatience in each other’s eyes. They felt it wasn’t their problem. After two years, anyone would be fed up living with someone who didn’t speak, didn’t chat, didn’t interact, didn’t confide in anyone—a solitary ghost so aloof it was scary.

If Tan Ning were uglier, fiercer, or more inconspicuous, they wouldn’t be so irritated.

But unfortunately, Tan Ning had delicate features and a tall, slender figure. If not for his long hair and overly casual attire, no one would believe he was just a beta. He was aloof but never had direct conflicts with anyone. He scored above ninety in every course, topping the GPA rankings… He was so annoying.

Yet people couldn’t help but want to ask him: “Tan Ning, why don’t you talk to people?”

Xu Qingyang didn’t have the worst relationship with Tan, so he couldn’t help but speak first, “Tan Ning, do you have a problem with us?”

Tan Ning gazed blankly at his wardrobe, seeming puzzled by the question.

“If you have something to say, just say it, okay?”

Suddenly, Lin Song’an’s voice echoed in his ears.

—”Tan Ning, speak up. Silence won’t solve all problems.”

But what problems were there?

What were they trying to express?

Turning his head, Tan Ning looked at Xu Qingyang beside him, “I have no problem with you.”

“If you have something to say, just say it. If you have any issues, bring them up. No need to be like this.”

Tan Ning’s expression became even more confused, “I don’t.”

Xu Qingyang’s breath caught in his throat, almost choking.

Zheng Yu impatiently stopped him, “Alright, don’t waste your time.”

Indeed, it was pointless. Xu Ning drank half a can of cola, then put on headphones to continue playing his game, “Just pretend I didn’t ask anything.”

Tan Ning sat silently at his desk for a moment, then took his change of clothes to the bathroom and turned on the hot water.

He untied the small elastic band holding his hair. Since Lin Song’an hadn’t come to find him recently, his neck was unharmed, and as the weather grew hotter, he had tied up his slightly long hair again.

The wounds on the back of his neck from Lin Song’an’s biting had long healed, leaving no marks. Some time ago, Tan Ning had accidentally fallen, getting a few scrapes on his arm and wrist. He hadn’t paid much attention, but after nearly a month, the scab marks hadn’t completely faded. In comparison, Lin Song’an’s bites hadn’t been that heavy. It was just that the alpha’s sharp canines always made him shudder, rendering him defenseless in bed—a terrifying feeling. But the actual pain wasn’t that intense.

With Lin Song’an, it was always thunder but little rain.

Lin Song’an.

He hadn’t thought of his name for several days. Feeling a bit disoriented, as if he couldn’t remember his name, he murmured it twice, “Lin Song’an, Lin Song’an.” His parents must have had high hopes for him to grow up safely and peacefully.

In the case study class the next day, as usual, Tan Ning occupied the seat no one wanted—the front row near the podium. Just as he took out his laptop and was about to retrieve last week’s notes, Lin Song’an walked in.

Lei Xin followed behind him.

Focusing on his computer screen, Tan Ning only sensed a familiar figure in his peripheral vision but kept his eyes on the screen.

Until Lin Song’an sat down in the front row.

Just like the first class, it was just the two of them in the front row, separated by two seats.

Instinctively, Tan Ning turned to look at him.

The teacher hadn’t arrived yet. After two months, students from the Law and Business Schools had become familiar with each other, so compared to the first class, they were more casual, and the chatter was louder. Everyone noticed Lin Song’an’s long absence. Even though he was dressed simply in a T-shirt and jeans, his entrance still brightened the ordinary classroom.

Many didn’t dare look at him directly, instead searching for Lei Xin to find out what Lin Song’an had been doing these two months and why he hadn’t attended the case study classes. They were so curious that they momentarily forgot to ponder why Lin Song’an was sitting in the front row again.

It was a girl sitting behind Tan Ning who muttered, “There are plenty of empty seats in the second and third rows.”

Tan Ning thought the same.

But Lin Song’an looked at him, appearing a bit tired.

Tan Ning turned away, not responding to the hesitant look in Lin Song’an’s eyes.

Today’s case study teacher wasn’t Yang Bingkai but someone else, focusing on the integration of law and business and the driving relationship between banking and insurance.

The course was highly specialized. The teacher started with a series of professional terms. Many freshmen and sophomores couldn’t understand, but Tan Ning was most concerned about matters involving money, so he took particularly detailed notes.

“For businesses without separation between family and enterprise, the main operational risk lies in shared accounts between the company and shareholders—commingled funds… From the perspective of banks and insurance companies, such high-net-worth clients have needs for the inheritance of wealth to their descendants, leading to a term that’s become popular in recent years: family trusts…”

He heard someone behind him whisper, “I heard that a few years ago, Lin’s father established a family trust in his name.”

Tan Ning’s focus on the lecture was interrupted again.

He made several typing errors.

Frequent backspacing made him seem more irritable than usual. Lin Song’an’s gaze was drawn to him. Tan Ning glanced at him and noticed that Lin Song’an was wearing a watch.

In front of Tan Ning, Lin rarely wore a watch. Occasionally, when he did, he’d take it off when they met.

A black strap, deep blue dial.

He hadn’t seen Lin Song’an wear this style before.

Suddenly, he recalled two months ago, when he was hiding in the wardrobe and vaguely heard, “Ta-da! Brother Song’an, happy birthday!”

An unwarranted association, yet it made sense.

Lin Song’an also noticed Tan Ning’s pause. Somewhat puzzled, he looked at his own watch. By the time he looked up again, Tan Ning had already nonchalantly looked away.

From Lin Song’an’s angle, he could see Tan Ning’s slender fingers swiftly typing on the keyboard.

But for some reason, Tan Ning’s speed suddenly slowed down.

Lin Song’an stared at him intently, vaguely feeling that Tan Ning’s gaze occasionally fell on him. He looked down at himself again, finding nothing amiss. Was it the watch?

It was a birthday gift from his mother.

Was Tan Ning curious about his watch just now? Curious about who gave him this new watch? Impossible. Tan Ning wouldn’t care about such things. Lin Song’an immediately dismissed this guess.

Then what was Tan Ning looking at?

Just as Lin Song’an was about to continue observing Tan Ning, his phone vibrated. He picked it up to see a new message notification.

[Little Sharp-Clawed Kitten]: Turn your head away. Don’t stare at me.