The Coveted Gloomy Beta Roommate Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Topic: Only playing with him, not playing with me?

“Such bad luck. How did I end up in a group with Tang Xingye? I only signed up for this project to get some easy credits.”

“Sigh, a jinx Beta. I really don’t want to be in a group with him.”

“My friend said last time he just glanced at Tang Xingye and ended up taking a fall.”

Tang Xingye heard this conversation as soon as he put his hand on the door. He pursed his lips, his gaze cold, then pushed the door open.

When he stepped into the classroom, the surroundings fell silent for a moment.

The young man’s features were cold and clear, his skin so white it was nearly transparent. His black hair hung slightly low, his eyes distant and indifferent. The shirt outlined his thin figure, a silver school badge pinned to the collar.

Tang Xingye turned a blind eye to their scrutiny and walked straight to a corner seat.

“Classmate, did you go to the wrong place? This is for the AB group meeting…”

Tang Xingye didn’t lift his eyelids, his tone cold. “Tang Xingye.”

The air stagnated for a moment.

Tang Xingye? The unremarkable, bad-luck-ridden Tang Xingye?

The Beta who climbed into an Alpha’s bed at a young age, only for his husband to die a violent death?

The young man was different from the rumors. He was as clean as winter snow, cold and distant.

That faint melancholy between his brows made one want to cup him in their hands until he melted into water.

It was still early before the group meeting started. Tang Xingye took out a textbook, his long fingers turning the pages. University courses were more strenuous than he had imagined; others had a deeper foundation in basic knowledge than he did. There were many smart people here; if he slacked off even a little, he might be overtaken.

He and the second-place student were neck and neck in scores, with barely any gap.

Tang Xingye automatically ignored the outside voices and entered a flow state. He read very fast, automatically imprinting the content of the book into his brain, connecting related knowledge, and gradually building a system.

He was overly focused on reading, undisturbed by other people’s gazes. Tang Xingye didn’t need to guess to know what they were thinking—fear of the jinx rumors, worrying that if he looked at them once, trouble would come knocking on their door.

Group Chat:

[Tang Xingye is an Omega, right? He’s so beautiful.]

[Oh my god, that… can he slap me? Of course, I’m not a pervert.]

[He’s a widower, and he causes the death of his husband. Stop looking.]

[ causes the death of his husband, right? Didn’t say he causes the death of his lovers.]

[You guys are truly muddled! You can’t sleep with a widower. If you sleep with him, disaster will surely follow. But then again, if he has needs… I absolutely won’t refuse!]

[He’s already a widower; I can’t let him be a living widow.]

This topic was originally a rotten project that had changed hands several times in the school. Those pulled in were all unlucky ones. Students who wanted to slack off for credits were naturally even more dissatisfied with being assigned to the same group as Tang Xingye.

After this interlude, they forgot the legend that getting involved with Tang Xingye would bring bad luck.

It wasn’t until the group leader patted the podium that Tang Xingye reluctantly closed his book.

He noticed that a stack of small notes had appeared on his desk at some point. He scanned them roughly.

[Are you and your husband doing well recently? Is he abusing you?]

[Did your husband not come to keep you company again? It’s been a few days…]

[Being widowed at such a young age, my heart aches for you.]

Tang Xingye: “…”

Heh, reminding me about causing the death of my kin?

He had heard similar harsh words many, many times, so many that Tang Xingye couldn’t generate any emotion and was too lazy to argue. He couldn’t be bothered to pay attention; those people were unimportant in his eyes, their faces blurred into gender symbols. Thus, they instead looked at him with eyes full of spite and dissatisfaction.

He crumpled these papers into a ball and stuffed them into the drawer, planning to throw them into the trash can when the group meeting ended.

A boring-as-hell group meeting.

Tang Xingye watched expressionlessly as the Beta group leader fumbled to switch the PPT in front of the projector. This person couldn’t even clarify the most basic direction of the topic. The so-called brainstorming was just letting them sit here for two hours, pretending to search for information, and engaging in meaningless discussions.

He scanned the room calmly. The group members were either secretly playing on their phones, stealing glances at him, or stealing glances at him while playing on their phones. Only that Alpha sitting in the corner was somewhat serious, looking down and taking notes.

Following the plan they were discussing, this project was doomed to fail sooner or later.

Tang Xingye lowered his eyes, organized his thoughts, and spoke up. He packaged his words as much as possible, euphemistically conveying some of his opinions.

After finishing, Tang Xingye asked for their opinions. Each one was so nervous their faces turned red and they couldn’t speak. He got a bit annoyed and turned to look at the note-taking Alpha on the side. “What do you think?”

The Alpha seemed very thirsty, drinking water from time to time. Hearing the question, his movements paused. Tightening the water bottle, he summarized Tang Xingye’s opinions. On the whole, their opinions were consistent. Reasonably smart, Tang Xingye thought sharply. Alphas aren’t complete idiots.

The meeting ended, and Tang Xingye stayed behind to continue reading. After reading for about two hours, Tang Xingye felt a bit hungry. He prepared to grab his bag and leave.

When he looked up, he froze. There were many boxed meals placed near him, neatly arranged at the corner of the table, still steaming, with notes clipped to them.

[Baby, hurry up and eat.]

[Why didn’t your husband bring you food? Does he not care about you? If it were me, I would definitely bring you food on time.]

[Wife, besides looking okay, being 190cm tall, having a rich family, and being an only child, I have no other merits. Besides studying, I just like cooking and keeping my wife company. I have no other friends; no one talks to me except you.]

[Baby, you can’t just eat others’ food and not mine. If you eat, you have to eat it all.]

Tang Xingye didn’t open the lunch boxes. Instead, he scanned the conference room. Those idiots were still stealing glances at him, their eyes full of secret expectations.

His gaze fell back on the lunch boxes. Those carefully handwritten notes now became suspicious sugar-coated shells in his eyes—just like on TV where someone smiles and feeds stray cats and dogs with exquisite food, and when the guard of these cats and dogs is lowered, they hide needles and stones in the rice, watching the cats and dogs struggle in pain.

He sneered and picked up his backpack, preparing to pack up and leave. Before he even stood up, the precarious band-aid fell off with a snap.

Before Tang Xingye could bend down to pick it up, someone had already picked it up and handed it to him.

“Xingye, your inhibitor patch fell off. Are you planning to go back and rest soon?”

Tang Xingye looked up with slight confusion.

The Alpha who hadn’t had much interaction with him throughout the whole process was still there, his gaze falling on the back of Tang Xingye’s neck.

Another Alpha who mistook him for an Omega.

Tang Xingye’s original bit of appreciation instantly turned into annoyance. He pulled the corners of his mouth coldly and said, “Thank you, I’m fine.”

“No, I mean…”

The Alpha’s expression seemed a bit flustered.

“Is your gland injured?”

Very direct.

Tang Xingye looked at his face for the first time, while he had been looking at Tang Xingye all along.

The moment he saw it clearly, Tang Xingye’s pupils contracted slightly. It was a very sunny and handsome face, with smiling eyes, very youthful, making people happy just by seeing it. Yet, he felt a certain sharp threat from it, and his nose finally caught a fresh scent.

It was lemon.

Tang Xingye’s gaze shifted slightly to avoid recalling certain terrible facts. He should have noticed; no matter how useless the group project was, his emotions shouldn’t have been this irritable.

“No, throw it away for me,” Tang Xingye remembered his surname was Pei, but couldn’t recall the first name. He smiled faintly, “Classmate Pei.”

The other party carefully put away the band-aid instead. As if sensing his subtle pause, he quickly added, “I’m Pei Lian, ‘Lian’ as in pity/love. You can call me by my name directly.”

“Okay, Pei Lian.” Tang Xingye nodded, not dwelling on such small matters as forms of address.

“Group members added each other. I haven’t added you yet. If we encounter problems with the topic, I’ll have to trouble you for guidance. It’s my first time participating, so I don’t know many things very well.”

Hindered by the politeness just now—one doesn’t slap a smiling face—Tang Xingye rarely explained: “Busy with schoolwork, forgot to check phone messages.”

Pei Lian curled his lips, revealing a small tiger tooth. “That’s perfect, we can add each other now.”

He took out his personal QR code for Tang Xingye to scan.

Tang Xingye: “…”

Can’t this person hear the subtext of my refusal?

He took out his phone and added the friend somewhat reluctantly.

The legend of the “Jinx” constitution resulted in him not being close with anyone in the class. Tang Xingye didn’t have that much energy to spend on useless people. Every day there were SMS bombardments to disgust him—things like wanting to be his dog, wanting to be his Alpha, and other crude language.

[Baby, I get so hot as soon as I think of you… Baby, what did you add to me? I thought of you and beep-beep-beep many times.]

[Wife, your gland is so pink. Don’t expose it to seduce me next time. I’m still a virgin, I won’t be able to control myself.]

[It’s all your fault. The way you looked at me this morning… I got hard just looking at it…]

[Baby, why do you have dark circles? Were you tormented badly last night?]

After reading them expressionlessly, Tang Xingye blocked them directly. Before, he would call back to curse the other party a couple of times, but their emotions would just get even higher:

[Baby, stop cursing, I’m even harder.]

[Wife, curse me again, okay? Sorry I’m too stupid, it was too fast just now, didn’t record it.]

[Hah… Baby, let’s video call, okay? Let me see your face… Hah…]

Tang Xingye, feeling disgusted, felt a sense of powerlessness like slapping someone only to have his palm licked, so he stopped paying attention to this kind of message.

Pei Lian smiled brightly. “Fate brought us to the same project group. I’ll treat you to a meal; I haven’t eaten either.”

Tang Xingye’s gaze swept lightly over Pei Lian. Cream-white linen shirt, light khaki casual pants, the fabric glowing with a soft luster.

When Pei Lian smiled, his eyes curved like sun-warmed crescents. Revealing a small tiger tooth, his smile was defenselessly clean, carrying a bit of the spirit unique to young people.

A pair of clear eyes, seemingly filled with fragmented starlight, always looking at Tang Xingye with a smile.

Having stayed with those rich roommates for a long time, Tang Xingye could more or less tell something from clothing. Pei Lian was not in the same class as him.

With those sparkling eyes blinking at him, Tang Xingye couldn’t say anything harsh.

Tang Xingye attributed Pei Lian’s enthusiasm to a naive young master wanting to make friends widely, rather than a frivolous attitude. Once this young master heard about his deeds, he would probably lose interest, but that wasn’t his concern.

“I still have things to do. Let’s talk about it next time.”

Pei Lian’s eyes dimmed for a moment, then, thinking of something, lit up again. “Then I owe you a meal. Next time you’re free, I’ll make it up to you.”

Tang Xingye: ?

How did it become him owing me?

Over the years, those who wanted to make friends, hit on him, watch him make a fool of himself, or scam him, all liked to use treating him to a meal as an excuse. True or false, what Tang Xingye lacked was never those one or two so-called “eye-opening” meals.

Pei Lian’s tone was full of sincerity. Compared to the attitude of others badmouthing him behind his back, it could be considered gentle.

Tang Xingye didn’t know what part of him attracted Pei Lian. Perhaps he felt he was also an unlucky guy in the project group who didn’t slack off and could work?

Tang Xingye raised his eyes, looking slightly serious. “In the anonymous section of the campus forum, there are many popular posts recommending restaurants for check-ins within the threads. You go back and browse first, pick a location.”

When he first logged into the forum, he browsed every popular post as if studying materials seriously. The content displayed inside was eye-opening for him—melodramatic gossip, deep confessions, discussions on obscure knowledge. The variety was endless; it was like peering into a kaleidoscope.

In the dazzling colors, because of his experience, he was also a conspicuous black block among them, a spurned Beta.

“Okay, I’ll go look.”

Pei Lian agreed with a heart full of joy.

Tang Xingye watched his expression, his heart cold, his eyes deep and calm.

“You eat his food, but not mine?”

Tang Xingye followed the voice. Lu Zhi was standing at the door, staring at him with an unreadable expression.

Sunlight spilled in from behind him, gilding his silhouette with a sharp golden edge, the play of light and shadow blurring his expression.

Tang Xingye paused, feeling a dull ache in his gland.

Lu Zhi: Turns out you only eat his food, not mine [Melted]