Chapter 12: A Heart as Still as Water

On Friday afternoon, Fu Rangyi was in his office guiding two students on revising their thesis proposals and discussing progress with his own master’s student.

As closing time approached, the students still hadn’t left. A professor from the next office came over to chat, and as they talked, the topic landed on Fu Rangyi.

“Professor Xiao Fu, the wedding candy you gave us last time was really delicious, and the packaging was beautiful too. My kid loved it. I searched online but couldn’t find the same one. What brand is it?”

Upon hearing “wedding candy,” several students immediately exchanged glances and pricked up their little ears.

Fu Rangyi gave a faint smile and said gently, “Sorry, I’m not very clear on that either. My partner prepared it.”

A lie. Zhu Zhixi knew nothing about the wedding candy. He had asked Li Qiao to help find someone to custom-make it.

But as soon as he said this, the other two professors immediately started joking.

“Oh my, being married really is different. So happy.”

“Well, they’re newlyweds, after all. But Professor Fu hid it so well. There wasn’t a single whisper before, and then suddenly he’s married.”

“Exactly! The marriage was so sudden. When I saw Professor Xiao Fu’s Moments post that day, I thought it was an April Fool’s joke! You should bring your wife out for a walk, let’s all have a meal together and get to know each other.”

Fu Rangyi remained faint. “He’s rather introverted and doesn’t handle crowded situations well, so we haven’t even had the wedding yet.”

Introverted. Fu Rangyi himself wanted to laugh at the thought.

“Really? So shy? Or is Professor Fu trying to keep a treasure hidden away?”

“Either way, next time we have a gathering, Professor Fu must bring his family. Otherwise, we won’t agree.”

Fu Rangyi smiled gently but didn’t actually agree. After the two professors left together, he turned his chair to face his student, only to find her holding her phone, typing away furiously.

“Are you done with the revisions I mentioned?” Fu Rangyi asked.

Startled by the professor’s sudden voice, the student jumped, and her hand loosened, dropping her phone. But Fu Rangyi reached out and caught it. He placed the phone back on the desk, on top of the student’s thesis proposal.

“Thank you, Professor.”

“It’s fine, be careful.” Hold on to your incriminating tool.

Everyone knew Fu Rangyi’s personality—gentle, friendly, and could even joke around sometimes. So even when caught, she wasn’t afraid and instead grinned cheekily.

“Professor Fu, what kind of wedding candy did your wife buy? It’s so delicious. Can you give us a few pieces too?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Even the graduate student nearby chimed in, “Professor, I want to eat wedding candy too, and I want to meet your wife. Can we see her at the next lab gathering?”

The several students chattered away, calling “Professor’s wife” one after another, giving him a headache.

Fu Rangyi was quiet for a moment, then looked up at the girl who had asked first. He asked gently, “You’re so witty and eloquent when you chat, your two hands can barely keep up with your typing. How is it that when it comes to your thesis proposal, you’re struggling so much?”

Hearing this, the student’s eyes widened, and she exchanged a look with another student standing behind the Professor. What’s wrong with Professor Fu today? Isn’t he the gentlest, most Bodhisattva-like advisor in the whole department?

I don’t know? Who pissed him off?

The office fell silent at once. Everyone went back to their own work, and no one dared to ask any more questions. The topic of wedding candy ended there.

Fu Rangyi wiggled the mouse, opened the 3D model his graduate student had sent him, and discussed the details with him. “Regarding the lead element tracing of this bronze statue, Professor Zhu Min’s team published a paper last year. They used isotope analysis. I’ll send it to you, you can take a look.”

As he spoke, he opened his email but suddenly found ten unread messages. This was very rare and unbearable for someone like him with red-dot-notification OCD. So Fu Rangyi opened [All Unread], but as soon as he saw the neat row from the same sender, his temple throbbed, and he closed the email client directly.

The graduate student beside him said nothing, just watched his expression.

“I’ll find it for you later.” Fu Rangyi glanced down at his watch, opened a drawer, took out a box of allergy medicine, and stood up to leave. “I have something to do today, so I’m leaving first. You all should go get dinner early too.”

In terms of work, Fu Rangyi was quite diligent. Even when he didn’t have classes, he spent most of his time working overtime on research and had almost never left his post early. Unlike those advisors who were always elusive, being his student was quite fortunate; you didn’t need to hunt him down in a classroom according to a schedule. If you wanted him to revise a paper, you didn’t even need to send a WeChat message; just knocking on his office door was enough. He was also very willing to spend time guiding students and never left right on the dot.

This was the first time he had ever left early. The students were all surprised and couldn’t help but share the gossip in their small group chat, guessing if their advisor was going on a date.

However, as Fu Rangyi struggled to escape the evening rush hour traffic and arrived at the museum entrance ten minutes early, he began to regret his decision. He saw Zhu Zhixi standing at the entrance, talking and laughing with an Alpha.

Zhu Zhixi was thinly dressed, wearing a mustard-green sweater under a short, dark brown leather jacket, and that was it for his top half. Valuing looks over warmth had always been his dressing habit. The Fendi monogram scarf around his neck was already his sign of respect for the late-December temperature.

The sky was already dark, and his sunglasses were pushed up on his head. He was a bit shorter than the other person, so he would tilt his face up slightly when speaking, his round eyes quite focused, unblinking, and even brighter than the diamond earring dangling from his ear.

The wind was really strong, blowing his scarf open, but it didn’t dissipate their enthusiasm for chatting outdoors.

Zhu Zhixi, naturally friendly, loves physical contact, and lets his guard down around people. No principles, no sense of boundaries, no self-control. He signed the contract quickly and made promises easily, but outside, he still had no self-awareness of being a married man.

The bombardment of emails, harassing text messages, and the gridlocked traffic had lowered Fu Rangyi’s mood to freezing point, and the scene before him gave him an outlet for his emotions. So, he temporarily parked his car across the street and walked over directly.

Before he even stepped onto the stairs, he was hit by the pheromones and frowned. How much did he release? A pity the person opposite was a Beta; it was like casting pearls before swine. A strange eucalyptus scent. So unpleasant.

Perhaps because he was in a bad mood and couldn’t bear to see others happy, or perhaps out of a mischievous whim, Fu Rangyi deliberately played the part of a loving partner, shattering the heart of this suitor.

“You’re already married?”

Hearing Fu Rangyi’s words, the shock on Zhou Ming’s face was hard to hide. He hadn’t sensed much of any pheromones from Zhu Zhixi, only a very faint scent of vetiver and agarwood, which he assumed had been picked up by accident. Plus, Zhu Zhixi hadn’t mentioned it, so he had naturally assumed he was single.

However, now, Zhu Zhixi nodded very openly. “Yeah.” He even smiled and hooked his arm through Fu Rangyi’s, smiling at Zhou Ming. “Just got married recently. You couldn’t tell, right?”

The unexpected intimacy stunned Fu Rangyi for a second. He looked down and glanced at Zhu Zhixi’s hand. His knuckles were red from the cold. Why on earth were they chatting in the cold wind? Dressing like this for a date, he deserved to freeze to death.

“Speaking of which, his work is quite related to the museum,” Zhu Zhixi said enthusiastically. “He teaches at the School of Archaeology and Museology at S University, and his research is in prehistory, Neolithic archaeology.” He had aptly used the information from the previous questionnaire and was quite proud of it. So he looked up at Fu Rangyi with a smile, even gently bumping his shoulder and whispering, “Right, husband?”

An indescribable emotion welled up in Fu Rangyi’s heart. He glanced at the clearly frustrated Alpha opposite them and nodded with a smile. “Mm.”

“So are the three of us considered semi-colleagues now?” Zhu Zhixi was as enthusiastic as before. “Let’s have dinner together sometime!”

Zhou Ming’s smile was clearly a bit bitter, and his form of address became much more formal. “Okay. I didn’t expect your husband to be an expert. What a surprise. In the future, if I encounter any highly professional issues, I can ask for your guidance directly.”

Fu Rangyi’s smile remained very slight, and his tone was gentle. “You’re too kind. I’m no expert, just happen to be doing research in this area, but I’m happy to discuss it together.”

After speaking, he reached out, pulled up Zhu Zhixi’s scarf that was about to fall to the ground, and wrapped it around his shoulders.

“We really should have had dinner together. I’ll have to trouble Director Zhou to take care of him in his work in the future.” Fu Rangyi was very polite, pausing slightly. “But unfortunately, it’s not convenient today. We have a family dinner and can’t be late.”

“Oh right, I almost forgot.” Zhu Zhixi shrugged with a hint of regret, waved goodbye to Zhou Ming, and said with a smile that he’d see him next time and chat on WeChat, before finally leaving.

And Fu Rangyi also ruthlessly pulled his arm back, maintaining a safe distance that was very unsafe for Zhu Zhixi.

Back in the car, Fu Rangyi took out his phone for navigation, but as soon as the navigation voice came on, it was shockingly loud, startling them both.

“Why is your phone volume so loud?” Zhu Zhixi buckled his seatbelt. “Anyone who didn’t know better would think you’re using a phone for the elderly.”

Whose fault is it that I turned the volume to the max? Wasn’t it for your ‘happiest minute in the world’?

Fu Rangyi said nothing, lowered the volume, and started the car.

Zhu Zhixi leaned back comfortably in his seat. Just as he started to feel warmer, the driver inexplicably turned on the external circulation and lowered the windows. Cold wind rushed into the car.

“Why’d you open the window?” Zhu Zhixi raised his side. “It’s so cold. Are you getting back at me? Was it just for that one comment?”

“I thought you weren’t afraid of the cold.” Fu Rangyi’s tone was faint, skipping his first question.

“How is that possible? I was freezing to death. Good thing you came quickly.”

As soon as Zhu Zhixi finished speaking, the windows all went up again, as if voice-controlled. The car heater was also turned up, and the temperature rose quickly.

In the warm, dry space, he smelled the car’s air freshener, wisps of the sandalwood scent that Fu Rangyi liked, the same as in their home.

Remembering what Fu Rangyi had said earlier, a little bit of pleasure bubbled up in Zhu Zhixi for no reason, even though he knew it was just Fu Rangyi being polite to outsiders. But there was no harm in taking advantage of it.

“You just said I could ask you for guidance on work matters,” Zhu Zhixi leaned towards the driver’s seat. “Is that true?”

As he got closer, Fu Rangyi couldn’t help but frown.

Seeing him remain silent, Zhu Zhixi boldly reached out a finger and poked his shoulder, creating “necessary” physical contact in the process. “Can I hire you as my professional consultant? This is my first time curating an ancient artifacts exhibition, and I really need an expert like you to help guide me.”

“No.”

“How can you be like this?” Zhu Zhixi stopped putting on a soft voice. “You’re so good at pretending to be a nice person outside.”

“Mm, you’re right. So if there’s anything you don’t understand, just ask the deputy director more.” Fu Rangyi turned the steering wheel, looking very detached, his heart as still as water. “But I’d advise you to be a little more guarded against Alphas. Don’t be like a fool who knows nothing.”

He thought Zhu Zhixi would retort without hesitation. However, Zhu Zhixi was quiet for two seconds, leaned back against the passenger seat, tilted his head against the window, but kept his eyes on him.

“I know,” he said softly. It was unclear if it was because of the wind, but his enunciation was sticky, with a hint of a nasal tone.

“What do you know?” Fu Rangyi raised an eyebrow.

“Zhou Ming has a good impression of me,” Zhu Zhixi said in a light and flat tone, as if stating a fact that had nothing to do with him.

This took Fu Rangyi by surprise. “You sensed him releasing pheromones towards you?”

“Not really. You forgot, I’m a Beta.” Zhou Ming wasn’t a top-A either. The suppressive power of his pheromones was limited, and releasing them in a wide-open outdoor space wasn’t enough to make a Beta feel a physiological sense of submission.

“What do his pheromones smell like?” Zhu Zhixi looked at Fu Rangyi and blinked.

Fu Rangyi gave him a cold glance, saying nothing, looking completely unwilling to answer his question. Zhu Zhixi noticed and knew clearly that Fu Rangyi was a man of principle. Discussing another’s pheromones was an offense to this person. But he somewhat enjoyed testing Fu Rangyi’s principles; this mischievousness made him happy. So he tugged on Fu Rangyi’s arm again, signaling him to answer.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Fu Rangyi freed one hand and loosened the button at his shirt collar, not looking at Zhu Zhixi’s face. “Don’t you ask every new friend you make? What, you don’t consider Director Zhou a friend?”

Zhu Zhixi was at a loss for words for a moment. That’s right. “I forgot, I only remembered after getting in the car,” Zhu Zhixi pouted. “Just suddenly got a little curious.”

Fu Rangyi was quiet for a few seconds. While waiting at a red light, he turned his face to Zhu Zhixi and said, “Eucalyptus.”

It took Zhu Zhixi a moment to react, then he said with a dawning realization, “Ah, so I smell like eucalyptus now.” It doesn’t sound very pleasant. It’s not as good as… A sentence popped into Zhu Zhixi’s mind, but he felt it wasn’t right and immediately stopped himself. It’s not as good as Xiao En’s pheromones.

Fu Rangyi made no response and quietly drove through the intersection. This reaction made Zhu Zhixi feel bored, so after a brief silence, he returned to the previous topic on his own.

“Actually, you can often judge a person’s good feelings without relying on pheromones.”

Surprisingly, Fu Rangyi didn’t ignore him. “For example?”

“For example… the eyes? When people see someone they like, they get puppy-dog eyes. Their tone of voice changes too. For some people, it’s very obvious. Their face turns red as they talk. I see it and think to myself, wow, it’s so magical. It turns out you can actually see people blush with the naked eye.”

As he spoke, Zhu Zhixi kept looking out the window. White mist condensed on the glass. He raised his hand, drew a small heart, and then wiped it away.

Fu Rangyi said nothing. The more he got to know him, the more he discovered that Zhu Zhixi’s true self was completely different from what he had imagined. He seemed naive, but his perception of emotions was not dull. On the contrary, he saw things very clearly, but used his Beta status to pretend to be oblivious, using this decent method to cover up his lack of feelings, so the other party wouldn’t get hurt. He seemed like the type who was very unwilling to hurt others.

“Do you often have people showing interest in you?” he asked again.

Zhu Zhixi was quite honest. “I guess so. Alphas, Betas, Omegas, all of them. To be honest, more Alphas. But they’re all the same to me because I can’t sense the existence of pheromones. It’s like being colorblind; everything looks the same color, there’s no need to distinguish.”

In that moment, he displayed a rare indifference, a side that the cheerful and enthusiastic Zhu Zhixi usually never showed. And this inexplicably made Fu Rangyi feel a shared frequency, a kind of weariness when faced with being liked and pursued.

They both fell silent, then spoke at almost the same time, the synchronicity a bit eerie.

“So I actually feel very relaxed getting along with you.” / “I’m actually quite envious of you.”

After speaking in unison, Zhu Zhixi turned his head to look at Fu Rangyi. “You’re envious of me? Envious of my gender that doesn’t have to take responsibility?”

Fu Rangyi didn’t answer, instead thinking about the words that had slipped out of his mouth.

Driving through the dark, tree-lined road, he stopped the car at the gate of the Fu family villa. After honking, he waited for the butler to open the gate. In the deep blue night, the car’s headlights shone straight on the gunmetal-black gate panels. Dust motes spun and danced in the beams of light. It was silent all around.

After a short while, the gate slowly opened to both sides. The light from the headlights extended, and Fu Rangyi drove into the garage.

After turning off the engine, he asked in a deep voice, “You think it’s easy because we can’t possibly fall in love with each other?”

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Author’s Note:

—Little Theater of the Student Group Chat—

[OMG!! I got some gossip in Professor Fu’s office!]

[What what? Spill the tea, quick!]

[Just now Professor Wang came over to chat and said the wedding candy Professor Fu gave was delicious. Professor Fu said his “partner” bought it. Oh my god…]

[Help, need oxygen.JPG]

[Professor Wang also asked Professor Fu to bring his wife out for a meal next time. Professor Fu smiled so gently.]

[Professor, professor, we like you. Can we meet your wife?]

[After class, I saw the professor texting while walking. Is this still our Professor Fu?]

[You missed something! I also saw the professor watching cat videos! His wife must have sent them. He didn’t wear earphones and held the phone to his ear with the sound on, and he just stood still in the hallway, his expression was super cute, so serious!]

[I’m really so curious. What kind of person managed to conquer a celibate, ascetic fanatic like Professor Fu? And they’re married, must be super sweet.]

[Professor Fu said his wife is very introverted. So surprising.]

[Huh? Do they even talk when they’re dating? Is it like a silent movie?]

[Well, they definitely won’t fight~]

[Hey? Where did my gossip source go? Why did they suddenly disappear?]

[Help, I just got caught by Professor Fu… almost dropped my phone, luckily the professor caught it for me.]

[It’s fine, Professor Fu won’t get angry.]

[The weird thing is, he did get angry… he was even being sarcastic. I thought I was dreaming.]

[How is that possible? It’s Professor Fu!]

[For real! I suspect it’s because we kept saying “professor’s wife.” The professor wasn’t happy.]

[You’re done for. The professor’s possessiveness must have exploded! Now I believe he’s a top-A. This possessiveness is engraved in his genes. His wife is so lucky…]

[Even the most ascetic person can’t sit still when it comes to their wife ().]

[I have a feeling the professor will transform during his susceptible period. His wife, take care… The more restrained an A is, the more terrifying their susceptible period.]

[Professor Fu left early, friends! For the first time ever!]

[Is he rushing to a date before the evening rush hour!?? Professor, you’re not even in the mood for work!]

[An old house on fire, everyone please be understanding (Professor, I’m speaking up for you, please don’t fail me).]

[Professor, don’t go, let us see your wife…]