There was no telling how long Huo Tinglan had been standing at the entrance of the venue. After all, everyone’s attention was focused on Ye Ci just now, and no one was looking towards the door.

But at this time, following Ye Ci’s line of sight, all eyes turned in that direction.

The families of the students who came to Tiancheng were probably all wealthy and respectable people. Some of them had business contact with the Huo family and visited during New Years and the holidays. Someone recognized who this was and let out a soft, suppressed exclamation.

“I’m dead! So handsome –”

“Ah, ah, ah, he seems to be looking over here.”

An excited Omega whispered to his companion, the two of them so thrilled that they were about to twist into pretzels.

“Why is he here?”

“He seems to be one of the school’s directors. I remember that the Huo family has shares in Tiancheng……”

“Even if he is a school director, why is he here?”

“……”

As a group of students whispered, Ye Ci had already started running towards Huo Tinglan, and the corners of his blue and white school uniform suddenly rose.

From the back, his figure was inexplicably joyful.

“Huo-shushu, why, why are you here?” Ye Ci ran so fast and braked so hard that the soles of his shoes made a sharp noise on the gymnasium floor.

He hadn’t fastened the button on his collar. When Huo Tinglan lowered his eyes, he saw two collarbones that were white and straight like polished birch wood, covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

Like flower dew, tempting people to touch.

……No wonder that brat from the Cheng family kept looking at his neckline.

“The driver had asked for leave the day before yesterday, as there was an urgent matter in his hometown.” Huo Tinglan looked down and frowned slightly. “He didn’t tell you?”

“He did!” Ye Ci blurted out first, fearing that he would deduct the driver’s wages, and then remembered what the driver had said when he sent him to school the morning before yesterday. At that time, he used the drive to school to ponder an ingenious competition-level physics problem in the back seat, his soul trapped in the electromagnetic field, and had forgotten after casually agreeing.

“He did say that,” Ye Ci stated firmly. “I forgot.”

“……So I’m here to pick you up today.” Huo Tinglan smiled and said gently: “I waited for you at the school gate for more than half an hour, but no students came out. Then I sent you a message and didn’t get a reply. I was worried about what might have happened to you, so I came in to take a look.”

“Sorry, Huo-shushu.” An eighty-year-old man wouldn’t be as forgetful as he was. Ye Ci apologized with drooping brows. “As soon as I started playing, I forgot and didn’t look at my phone.”

“There’s no need to apologize for such a small matter.” Huo Tinglan smiled. His black eyes were slightly sullen, but the corners of his mouth were raised and his tone was gentle. After confirming Ye Ci’s safety, those previous words were unimportant. He was concerned about other things, so the conversation turned a little abruptly. “Hot, baby?”

“Ah,” Ye Ci was taken aback, “kind of……”

It wasn’t hot before, but his nerves were somewhat tense when confronting Cheng Xiao.

“Take off your jacket since it’s hot, and I’ll hold it for you,” Huo Tinglan said softly. “Go play with your classmates for a while, I’ll wait for you.”

“It’s not for fun, it’s just for the, the sports competition in a few days. There is a basketball game and our, our classmates want to learn how to play……” Ye Ci explained, taking off his jacket and handing it over.

With this natural handover, the Omegas not far away were so excited that they let out suppressed screams like the steam from a boiling kettle.

“Ah, ah, ah, ah, he also took clothes from XiaoCi!”

“I’m dead……”

“Did he call you ‘Baby’ just now? Was it ‘Baby’, or am I deaf? !”

“It was ‘Baby!’ Let me tell you that they are not relatives! That look couldn’t come from a relative! I ship them, you guys are wasting your energy.”

“Shipping teacher!”

“Good shipping teacher!”

“……”

Ye Ci’s face turned red, and he turned his head to gesture at the group of Omegas whose eyes had turned into gossip searchlights, explaining: “They’re all Omegas, don’t think too much about it.”

“En.” Huo Tinglan’s smile was warm like a spring breeze. “That one looks pretty strong.”

His eyes locked onto the suspicious Chen Xiao.

Ye Ci: “……”

It shouldn’t be too hot after taking off the coat, so Huo Tinglan fastened the button on Ye Ci’s shirt for him.

“He’s an Alpha.” Ye Ci’s Omega self-preservation skills were still slow, and only then did he realize something, dropping his head. “We’re just, just competing, and he really annoys me.”

“All right.” Huo Tinglan didn’t want to lose face in public, and he accepted everything that Ye Ci said with a smile.

He looked very good-natured.

But Ye Ci sensed that something was wrong.

“I played ball just, just now. Did you see it all?” Ye Ci asked in a low voice: “Did I……look cool?”

“Cool, baby.” Huo Tinglan smiled and leaned over slightly. He whispered in his ear in a voice that only these two people could hear: “Go first, don’t keep your classmates waiting……we’ll talk about this matter when we get home.”

We’ll talk at home.

This was like what parents might say after a parent-teacher meeting, “See how I’ll deal with you when we get home.”

But this “dealing with” was obviously not of that kind. Ye Ci, an impure male high school student whose mind had been polluted, instantly conjured up several unsightly scenes. On the way back to his classmates, his face turned increasingly red at a pace visible to the naked eye.

Chen Xiao was quite displeased with those jeering Omegas, and even more displeased that Ye Ci acted cool and confident in front of him, but the moment he was next to Huo Tinglan, he became soft like a ball of rice cake. He pretended not to notice this little episode and asked while dribbling: “Finished talking? Still want to play?”

“No.” Ye Ci shook his head faintly. “He won’t let me.”

Damn.

Why were these words so ambiguous?”

Half curious and half reluctant, Cheng Xiao said: “No way, Huo Tinglan won’t let you play ball?”

Huo-shushu was listening!

Ye Ci defended with a strong desire to survive: “He’ll let me play, but, but not with you.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Relying on Huo Tinglan not lowering himself to bother with him, Cheng Xiao scoffed and glanced at the door with bravado. “Your surname isn’t Huo, ah, and he still called you ‘baby, did I hear that right……” He thought for a moment about what elder would have a different surname. “What kind of uncle is he?”

As far as Cheng Xiao knew, Huo Tinglan had several cousins.

As soon as he spoke these words, an inexplicable chill ran down his spine.

Cheng Xiao cringed in fright.

The arrogance from a moment ago deflated like a punctured balloon.

Ye Ci glanced at him silently, clenched his fists, and said in a voice that was not loud, but could be heard by all the students present: “He is my husband.”

“……Ah?” Cheng Xiao slowly opened his mouth wide. His jaw almost unhinged in shock.

“Aaaaaaah!”

The little Omegas stomped their feet and made a racket.

In fact, some time ago, a few well-informed students had passed on some of Ye Ci’s family affairs, saying that he was actually the third eldest grandson of the Chu family, with his mother’s surname. As for further gossip, since Ye Ci had long stopped dealing with the Chu family and the Huo family had always kept a low profile, even the marriage of the family head had been kept secret and no one was able to find out.

It was inconvenient to ask about other people’s family affairs directly. Besides, these little Omegas who were close to Ye Ci hadn’t befriended him because of his family background. Gossip was not always accurate, so nobody took heed of what others had to say, and didn’t pay attention to it.

This time, it was almost like being struck with a hammer. It was unlikely that the head of the Huo family would marry an ordinary person with no background.

Of course, that wasn’t important. The important thing was –

“Xiao Ci is married?!”

“Wuwuwu, I was bent because of him. Wow, I feel like the boss is staring at me, I’m joking, I’m a straight Omega……”

“How come you never told us!”

“When did this happen? Last Spring Festival, my parents took me to the Huo family’s house to give New Year’s greetings, and I didn’t see you at that time. No, you were underage at that time……”

“……..”

Everyone chattered continuously.

With Ye Ci’s communication skills, he would have to grow ten more mouths to deal with these little Omegas. Thankfully, Huo Tinglan had already stepped into the gymnasium gracefully and looked over at him with a smile on his lips. 

It would be too embarrassing to gossip in front of others, so the little Omegas kept silent and pulled Ye Ci to shoot ball. However, all of them had an excited gleam in their eyes. There was no more he could teach them, but Ye Ci taught perfunctory for ten minutes and announced their dismissal on the spot, letting them practice freely. Then he left the venue with Huo Tinglan under the teasing eyes of his classmates.

The car was parked across from the school gate, and Ye Ci obediently followed behind Huo Tinglan, tightly holding his breath.

Walking to the car, Huo Tinglan sat in the back seat as usual.

The driver didn’t get out of the car, and he opened the door by himself. Ye Ci was ill at ease, but he didn’t sense any abnormalities. He assumed that since Uncle Zhang had gone back to his hometown to run some errands, Huo Tinglan had temporarily changed to another driver who was not as proficient in the business. He also sat in the back seat.

As soon as he sat inside, he found that the driver’s seat was empty.

Ye Ci licked his lower lip: “……Where’s the driver?”

Huo Tinglan smiled: “Without a driver, I took the rare opportunity to pick you up. I drove today.”

“……” There was a moment of silence.

“Then why, why did you sit in the back seat?”

The fragrance of tequila was getting stronger, and Ye Ci had a bad feeling. He went numb all the way to his tailbone and almost followed his instinct to escape by opening the door and jumping out of the car.

“I’m getting old,” Huo Tinglan said calmly. “I can’t turn the steering wheel anymore.”

Ye Ci: “…….”

Was this not him playing the scoundrel?

It was a pity that the dignified formula one racer in the previous life was now broken down on the side of the road because of his lack of a driver’s license, unable to move an inch.

“You, how old are you, you’re only thirty, your life is just beginning……” Ye Ci clumsily coaxed that vat of vinegar. “Even Cheng Xiao can’t compare to you.”

Huo Tinglan flexed and clenched his fingers, and said with a smile: “It seems that I have a little strength.”

Huo Tinglan: “Continue.”

Ye Ci: “……”

That was all there was to say.

Ye Ci blushed. The window shades of the car were drawn, it was dark outside, and there was no one on the road……

It was absolutely safe!

Ye Ci felt relieved, and leaned forward to honestly kiss Huo Tinglan’s cheek and thin lips. While kissing, he softly asked: “Huo-shushu, do, do you have the strength now?”

“It’s a little better,” Huo Tinglan said in a low voice. “Kiss me a little more?”

“……”

After an hour:

Huo Tinglan returned to the driver’s seat and started the car.

The window was open a small crack for ventilation, and the summer wind outside was clean, with the smell of fresh, moist vegetation.

But it couldn’t hide the sweet and fishy scent inside the car……

It was inconvenient for Ye Ci to get out of the car, so he simply remained in the back seat. There was no one in the passenger seat, just a pile of laundry waiting to be washed.

A blue and white shirt, trousers, white cotton socks, a school uniform tie.

They were all dirty and sticky with sweat, unable to be worn anymore.

The only thing still clean was a pair of sneakers.

“Don’t get out of the car when we get home,” Huo Tinglan said leisurely. “I’ll go get something for you to wear first.”

“……”

Ye Ci was so embarrassed and indignant that he didn’t want to reply.

Did it need to be said?

Who was the one who couldn’t get out?!

“Did you hear me?” While waiting at a red light, Huo Tinglan turned to look at him.

“Don’t, don’t look back, just focus on the light……” Ye Ci curled up into a ball, hugging his schoolbag. Above the pair of clean white sneakers were distinct ankle bones, tight calves, knees……

“I heard you, turn back around!” 

He was so embarrassed that he wanted to slam his head on the back of the car seat and die.

He could never, ever let Huo-shushu get jealous again! ! !

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Extra One: Sports Competition << Table of Contents >> Extra Three: Sports Competition