Ling Yi looked at himself in the mirror.

There was no change in his appearance after his transformation from an Alpha into an Omega, but he felt like the person in the mirror was different from before.

After thinking about it, the only change was that his hair had grown longer. If his hair had grown to this length in the military academy, he would inevitably be deducted points for appearance.

He found the medical scissors again and measured the length up and down his neck.

Should he cut it all at once to save trouble, or leave some of it and tie it into a small braid?

In his hometown, both men and women grew their hair long. Men liked to cut most of their hair and leave a long, thin braid at the end, and pulling braids with his friends was a happy childhood memory.

Xi Lei came to the ward, but didn’t see Ling Yi. The bathroom door was open, and someone in a pure white hospital gown was holding a pair of sharp medical scissors to his throat.

Xi Lei was so frightened that he rushed over without thinking and snatched the murder weapon, throwing it far away.

The scissors hit the wall and bounced back, spinning across the smooth bathroom floor.

“You want to commit suicide?! Are you crazy?!” Xi Lei yelled wildly.

“……” Ling Yi glanced at the innocent scissors that were still spinning. His expression was calm and steady. “Xi Lei.”

“What were you doing!”

Ling Yi waved his hand, showing him the strands of hair tucked between his fingers.

Xi Lei’s face went slack: “Ah?…..oh……”

“Now do you understand what I was doing?”

“You want a haircut…..”

Ling Yi faced the mirror again with a look of contempt.

“We’ve known each other for so long, and you only know me this well? I’d rather be an Omega in order to live, and you think I’d commit suicide?”

Xi Lei had to admit that he’d overreacted. He rushed to pick up the scissors.

“Can you blame me for misunderstanding? Who cuts their own hair?”

“Who else will do it? You?”

“Me.” Xi Lei mimed cutting his hair. “How short do you want it?”

Ling Yi looked at his hand in disbelief, then back up at Xi Lei.

“Are you sick? Handing my hair to someone who doesn’t like me? How crazy would I have to be?”

“It’s better than cutting it yourself. What kind of dog-chewed look could you make?”

“Come on, let’s see your skills, Teacher Tony.” ^[1]

Xi Lei’s movements were swift and skillful. Strands of silver hair fell to the floor.

“You’ve actually practiced this?” Ling Yi was surprised.

Xi Lei kept a straight face in the mirror throughout the entire process: “I’m the one who cuts everyone’s hair in our dormitory. You don’t know that much about me.”

Ling Yi looked left and right in the mirror: “Not bad, Xi Lei. I didn’t expect you to have this skill. If you open a business, I’ll definitely apply for a membership card.”

Xi Lei didn’t want to talk. Only praise from Ling Yi could sound so sarcastic. It sounded like he was mocking him as an outstanding military student who could only open a barber shop after graduation.

When the scissors reached the last of his hair, Ling Yi hurriedly spoke up to stop him: “Ai, ai, ai, don’t cut the back, I want to keep it.”

“Keep it?”

“Why, do state regulations prohibit the consort from having long hair?”

Xi Lei’s face darkened: “You’ve adapted to your new role quickly, ah.”

“Are you jealous? I’ll applaud you from the stands at the National Day parade…..a little shorter on the left, a little farther left…..you passed it. A little to the right……”

Growing impatient of his commands, Xi Lei threatened him by placing the scissors at the top of his head: “I should give you a Mediterranean-style haircut. See if you can seduce His Highness Oser then!”

Xi Lei was clearly just trying to scare him, but when Ling Yi thought of that scene – Oser’s expression of wanting to eat but not knowing where to start – he couldn’t help but laugh.

“What are you laughing at, ah? What’s so funny about this?”

“Haha, you reminded me, give me a pill, hahahaha!” Ling Yi hooked his finger at Xi Lei with a smile.

Xi Lei’s hand shook, and he almost made a cut: “Another?”

“Yes, hurry, in case someone comes.”

“You just took one yesterday. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours!”

“Do you not believe in my charms, or do you not believe in your idol’s ability?”

Xi Lei’s expression turned serious: “This is still a drug. Is it okay for you to keep taking it like this? Why can’t you just have a good talk with His Highness?”

Ling Yi disagreed with this advice: “His Highness is like a reproductive cancer. All he thinks about is having children. I really don’t understand – does he have to have a family to inherit the throne?”

After saying this, he went momentarily silent.

“Oh. It seems that really is the case.”

“Ai, never mind.” He shook his head and returned to his senses. “Are you going to give it to me or not?”

Xi Lei reluctantly dropped one into his palm.

“Just one?”

“I read the instructions. You only need to take one at a time.”

“Is it reliable? What if it doesn’t absorb well?”

Xi Lei roared: “Just one! Take it or leave it! No more!”

“No more what?”

Ling Yi quickly swallowed the medicine, then looked up to see Oser standing at the door with a curious look on his face. 

“Your Highness, where have you been? You weren’t there when I woke up this morning.” He began with a complaint.

Oser’s gaze swept over Ling Yi, Xi Lei, and the scattered hair on the floor in turn. There was an unfathomable smile in his voice.

“What’s going on? Can someone explain this to me?”

“My hair was too long, so I asked my brother to help me trim it.” He turned his head. “You’re done, go ahead and leave.”

But Xi Lei felt as if he were nailed to the ground, and was so frightened that he forgot to greet Oser.

Ling Yi knew him well. From childhood to adulthood, whenever he did something wrong, his guilt would be exposed at a glance.

How many times had he disguised himself perfectly, only to be exposed because Xi Lei overreacted?

“What do you mean by ‘no more?’ Your Highness must have heard wrong.” Ling Yi blinked innocently.

“I wasn’t asking you.”

Oser just stared at Xi Lei, waiting patiently for his explanation.

Xi Lei stammered: “It’s…..it’s……”

Oser folded his arms. The concentration of Alpha pheromones in the room steadily increased.

Beads of sweat visibly rolled down Xi Lei’s forehead, and his trembling hand slowly reached into his pocket.

Ling Yi stared at that hand intently, waiting for him to take out the thing he shouldn’t have. Then he would decisively knock him unconscious.

Xi Lei finally pulled his hand out of his pocket, and Ling Yi made a knife shape with his hand.

“…..Candy. It’s candy.”

Xi Lei opened his trembling hand, and there was actually a piece of candy lying inside.

“Ling Yi loves to eat them, but there’s only one left. No more.”

Ling Yi: “……”

Ling Yi looked away unblinkingly, his knife hand turning into a fist.

He didn’t want to knock him unconscious; he wanted to beat him up.

Oser leaned against the bathroom door frame with folded arms: “Heh. Giving candy to his brother. What touching brotherly love.”

Ling Yi quickly snatched the candy: “Only one left. Bring more next time, you’re so stingy.”

Xi Lei lowered his head, saying: “Your Highness Oser, if there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.”

He hunched over, fearfully walking sideways around Oser.

Oser’s eyes tracked him across the room until he entered the bedroom.

“Wait a minute.”

Xi Lei froze, then turned around mechanically.

“Was there something else, Your Highness?”

Oser held out his hand: “Hand it over.”

The two men’ s hearts, which had just settled down, jumped back into their throats.

“Hand over what…..I don’t……”

“Where are you taking those scissors?” Oser asked.

Xi Lei’s legs trembled, and he almost fell to his knees. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the grateful look on Ling Yi’s face behind Oser.

The surface of the silver metal was covered in sweat. Oser frowned.

“Go.”

Xi Lei fled as if his life had been spared.

Oser stood in Xi Lei’s place, gazing at Ling Yi through the mirror.

“You let him get so close to you. And touch your hair.”

Ling Yi thought he was joking: “What are you talking about, Your Highness? He’s my brother.”

“He’s 87.77.”

“What?”

Oser lifted the tips of his hair and saw the teeth marks on the back of his neck, just inches away. His eyes darkened.

“Where has he cut?”

Ling Yi had a sinister premonition: “You don’t have a hidden talent for haircutting, do you?”

In the mirror, Oser’s tongue slowly slid from one canine to the other.

“Right here?”

. . . . . . .

Ling Yi sat on the bed with a brand new hairstyle and an unfriendly expression on his face.

According to scientific statistics, nine out of every ten people who walked out of a barber shop would have such a look on their face.

Oser came out of the bathroom and sat next to him, his expression happy and satisfied.

“Are you angry, ah?”

Ling Yi didn’t even look at him. He replied stiffly: “Who would dare to be angry with you, Your Highness?”

“Are you not satisfied with your new hairstyle?”

“Your Highness asks a question he already knows the answer to. What Teacher Tony would press a customer against the mirror mid-cut?”

“Teacher Tony? What do you mean?”

This touched on a blind spot in Oser’s  knowledge, and he took out his cell phone to research.

“I see. Civilian slang is quite interesting.”

Ling Yi couldn’t stand it any longer, and glared at Oser from the corner of his eye.

When he did so, the slender, upturned corners of his eyes were full of fatal temptation.

Because of the fact that he had seen those eyes red with tears, even the sharpest look from him enchanted Oser.

“You’re cute even when you’re angry.”

“If Your Highness says so, I won’t be modest. I have many ways of losing my temper.”

Oser’s smile reached the bottom of his eyes. “Okay, show me the many ways you can lose your temper.”

Ling Yi jumped off the bed, picked up the haircutting scissors, and returned to Oser with murderous intent.

Oser lowered his eyes toward the scissors that were held near his throat. The point aimed at him was incredibly sharp. If Ling Yi exerted force, it would pierce his trachea in a second.

He was seated while Ling Yi was standing. The two of them looked at each other, still and silent.

The air in the ward seemed to stagnate.

When Tang De came upon this tense scene, he unthinkingly drew his gun and aimed it at Ling Yi.

“Put the scissors down.”

Ling Yi ignored him. Oser spoke first: “Put the gun down.”

Tang De steadied his weapon and took aim again.

“Ling Yi, please put down the scissors.”

“I told you to put down the gun.”

Tang De wavered: “But Your Highness…..”

Oser’s gaze remained glued to Ling Yi’s face.

“Don’t scare him.”

Tang De slowly lowered the gun back to his waist, but he didn’t dare relax for a moment.

Ling Yi finally took action. His right hand moved the scissors gradually upward to the top of Oser’s head, where he cut off a strand of hair.

He tossed the scissors aside and said: “Alright, that’s it.”

Tang De: “……”

Oser turned his head and said: “Who told you to draw your gun?”

Tang De was full of grievances. Who could have thought that you two use weapons in your flirting?

He searched for a topic to ease the awkwardness: “Ling Yi’s new hairstyle is quite…..”

Halfway through praising it, he realized that he couldn’t continue in good conscience: “….Unique, ha.”

Ling Ying scoffed: “Hmph.”

Tang De gulped, thinking to himself that he had good foresight. The urn he’d purchased was going to come in handy very quickly.

Ling Yi looked bored as he played with the lock of hair in his hand, wrapping his fingers around it and letting it go.

That indifferent attitude was a sign that he was still angry.

Oser: “I asked you to find Ling Yi’s phone. Did you get it?”

Tang De: ? ? ?

Oser: “You found it, but you won’t take it out?”

Tang De had originally planned to hand over the phone while Oser was away so that he could curry favor with Ling Yi.

But now, he could only reluctantly hand it over and watched Oser pass it to Ling Yi. Such an action still allowed the middleman to make a profit from the price difference.

“I thought you would be bored, so I told Tang De to retrieve it. Take a look and see if it still works?”

Ling Yi took it, and it lit up as expected when he pressed the power button.

Tang De weakly made his presence felt: “It was me. I charged it.”

After a few swipes, Ling Yi found that everything was the same as before. There were countless unread messages, and it seemed that no one had touched them. Ling Yi’s mood visibly turned from gloomy to bright.

He smiled sweetly at Oser: “Thank you, Your Highness.”

Oser was moved by his smile and his ‘thank you, Your Highness,’ delighted at being able to coax him. It turned out this kid was so easy to coax. Just a cell phone could make him happy.

Tang De: No, I’m here too. I went to find the phone and even charged it…..

Meanwhile, a dozen kilometers away from the medical college stood an old castle. It was evident that it had once been magnificent when it was constructed, but with neglect and the passage of time, it had gradually become dilapidated.

A young blond Alpha was reading a stack of medical reports, and lingered on a particular page for a particularly long time.

“Du Bin, do you think what’s written in this report is true?”

The man called Du Bin was around the same age as him, and wore a stern expression, as if he was attending a flag-raising ceremony.

“This report was printed by the doctor sponsored by His Highness Oser. Based on the data analysis, it is highly plausible. It appears that the medical college has found an Omega who matches His Highness Oser.”

“If this report is true, then that means there is an Omega who’s a 99.65% match for me. This person is currently at the medical college. Aren’t you curious about who he is?”

“What do you mean…..”

“From the looks of this, I’m due for my annual checkup. Go make the arrangements.”

Du Bin nodded respectfully: “Yes, Your Highness Disi.”

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[1] “Teacher Tony” is a reference to many barbers having English names such as Tony, Kevin, Alan, etc. This sort of barber has wide-ranging skills, from washing and cutting to dyeing. ⮐

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Chapter 21 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 23