Evil Love Appears chapter 21

On the weekend, Fu Xiaoyu arrived at B University very early. However, when he reached the auditorium, Xu Jiale was already there. The Alpha stood behind the podium, preparing materials with his head down. When he looked up and saw Fu Xiaoyu, he showed a slightly surprised expression. But after a quick glance at him, he just nodded and continued adjusting the PowerPoint on his computer.

Fu Xiaoyu felt a bit stifled but immediately pretended to lower his head to fiddle with his phone, avoiding looking at Xu Jiale.

As he played with his phone, the atmosphere in the B University auditorium gradually became lively. Probably because Valentine’s Day was approaching, college students were very interested in this matchmaking-like promotional event and came in groups.

Fu Xiaoyu turned around and roughly estimated the number of people, silently nodding to himself.

When the main speaker, Wen Ke, arrived, the auditorium was already filled to capacity. For a foundation level promotion event, this level of enthusiasm was quite extraordinary.

The presentation began on time.

Wen Ke appeared more humorous that day. He cracked jokes about love with the college students, playfully mentioning that with over 2,000 students present, it was a sign that their university education had some issues, resulting in so many single people. Amidst the laughter of the audience, he smoothly transitioned into the discussion about modern love.

He seemed much more relaxed.

Relaxation was a good thing; a nervous speaker was a big no-no. However, humor needed to be balanced with maintaining the right pace.

Fu Xiaoyu sat in the front row, watching Wen Ke at the podium with a keen eye, like a teacher reviewing students’ presentation reports. Even though he had been away for some time, getting into work mode was something he could do in an instant.

He not only observed Wen Ke but also checked the PowerPoint presentation that Xu Jiale had prepared.

The style of Wen Ke and Xu Jiale’s PowerPoint had changed significantly. Fu Xiaoyu still remembered the first proposal they showed him. He had almost frowned in disbelief at the time, as it was filled with long paragraphs of text, resembling materials a professor would provide to students. He could easily guess that Xu Jiale had prepared the presentation in the style of a teaching plan.

At that time, he was so frustrated that he had considered deleting the entire PowerPoint and had written pages of comments. In the final comments, he had written bluntly, “This type of PowerPoint can’t even hold the audience’s attention for 10 seconds.”

He had even worried that Wen Ke and Xu Jiale might not be able to accept his criticism. However, today’s PowerPoint was completely different from its initial form.

Dozens of slides contained no long sentences or paragraphs, only concise images, symbols, and the app’s beautifully designed UI. It was commercial to the extreme.

From beginning to end, there wasn’t a single slide that made Fu Xiaoyu furrow his brows.

It was at that moment that he suddenly realized that when Wen Ke had said yesterday that this product already had a lot of his influence, it wasn’t just a polite phrase.

Even though he had left later on, the entire team had adhered to the principles he had set forth and had created this presentation material: to grasp the audience’s attention tightly, leaving no room for distraction. Any part that could be explained with visuals and videos should have no text, not even an extra word.

Even as strict as he was, he gave this presentation material an 80 out of 100.

The atmosphere in the auditorium was even more enthusiastic than Fu Xiaoyu had expected. During the first half of the presentation, Wen Ke suddenly turned around. He actually showed the gruesome scars repeatedly bitten on his neck to everyone.

Omega’s scent glands were such precious and delicate areas. Anyone could tell that someone who had once ruthlessly bitten Wen Ke’s neck didn’t truly love or cherish him.

Fu Xiaoyu was taken aback. Yes, he had advised Wen Ke to turn his experiences into a valuable story, but he hadn’t expected him to reveal his scars so candidly.

He finally couldn’t help but sit up straight, and his arms, which he had crossed while sitting with an evaluative mindset, fell to his sides.

He truly hadn’t expected that in this mini company where he had reluctantly joined to help out, his opinions would be genuinely respected.

“I used to be a failed omega,” Wen Ke held the microphone and said calmly, “My scent level was the lowest, E grade, I should have been considered a leftover in the marriage market. So, in my previous marriage, I always complied and tried to please. I used to believe that, as others said, endurance would lead to happiness in a marriage. But…”

“I wasn’t happy,” Wen Ke said each word deliberately, “Even though my scent told me that my ex-husband and I were compatible, it wasn’t the case. For a long time, I felt like my life was becoming emptier, as if my spirit was being hollowed out. I was confused. I was following society’s standards, so why was I so miserable?”

Wen Ke held the microphone and, at this point, finally smiled. “It wasn’t until after my divorce, when I removed my scent mark and met my true alpha love, that I finally understood – scent glands are just organs. Remove them, and we can see with our eyes; blindfold ourselves, and we can still touch with our hands. Scent compatibility is just a calculation system. It’s efficient, it’s utilitarian, but efficiency often isn’t the key to happiness. So, with this dream in mind, my colleagues and I created this app. We want to offer a different path to our peers in the prime of their dating years, one that doesn’t rely on scent compatibility but comes from the heart.”

“At this age, you should be brave and fearless, don’t take shortcuts. Follow the path you love, no matter how rugged or remote it may be. Never, ever give up on that path.”

Wen Ke finished this speech with a deep bow.

This part of the speech wasn’t in the PowerPoint presentation.

Fu Xiaoyu almost instinctively felt that this part of the speech had been crafted after Wen Ke had met him yesterday.

He suddenly sat up straighter and turned his head towards the back.

The entire auditorium was in a frenzy, with many students even standing up and cheering.

Although every word Wen Ke said challenged his long standing beliefs about marriage and love, and his value of efficiency, at that moment, he didn’t feel offended.

Amidst the thunderous applause, he just felt… a little lost.

These past few days, he had watched “Eat Drink Man Woman” several times, and with each viewing, he became a bit more bewildered.

That daughter of the family, Jia Zhen, who had been rigid and serious her entire life, and who would get angry at the sound of a cat in heat, suddenly kissed her school’s physical education teacher in front of everyone. And one evening, she jumped onto the teacher’s motorcycle and sped away.

Was the road on that motorcycle also rugged?

That image had made him watch the movie repeatedly over the past few days, a scene where Jia Zhen suddenly applied bright red lipstick and her recently permed curls wildly danced in the wind.

Could that road also be… truly happy?

During the intermission, the auditorium was noisy, with students coming and going.

Fu Xiaoyu decided to leave early, especially since the second half would focus more on the practical aspects of the project. But before leaving, he wanted to say a few words to Wen Ke, as he remembered that Wen Ke had mentioned his admiration for him yesterday. He felt a sense of duty, as if a teacher needed to offer some words of encouragement to a student.