Unpopular opinion
Shen Wenlang isn't stupid.
I see so many comments saying he is stupid, but he is not actually. He runs his own multi-million dollar company (well Hua Yong's but it's still under his leadership) and he has been doing it for years now.
He isn't stupid, but Wenlang is the type to trust blindly.
He has known Gaotu for over ten years, they have spent one third of their lives together (assuming they are in their 30s) and never in those ten years did Gaotu ever give Wenlang a reason to doubt him. Not even once. For ten years straight Gaotu has been hiding his secret, using every and any available means to hide his true self and he has never given Wenlang a reason to doubt his beta status. It is not Wenlang's fault that it took him so long to realize that Gaotu was an omega and even when he was presented with facts how was he supposed to trust them? Ten years spent with someone who carries no scent at all, ten years spent getting to know each other, of trust building between them how could Wenlang ever doubt him? If Gaotu said something Wenlang would trust it immediately because they are friends, because they know each other, because they have built trust. Even if Gaotu does not think that way Wenlang trusts him completely.
If Gaotu says he has a partner what right does Wenlang have to doubt it? Just because Wenlang is not capable of finding a mate does not mean that Gaotu isn't. Wenlang knows that he is hard to love, impossible even, but it does not mean that his friend cannot find someone. Even when Gaotu started breaking and his scent leaking why would his friend lie to him? Why would Gaotu ever lie to him?
If we are talking about Wenlang not understanding his feelings we have to understand that he grew up in a loveless family. It was an arranged marriage, a marriage filled with manipulation and when his omega father left him behind he was forced to stay with an alpha father who didn't love or care for him. Wenlang having trouble with emotions makes complete sense as he had no one to teach him, nobody cared about him when he needed love more than anything.
