Warning: Depictions of child abuse

Ye Ci was unable to withstand the tricky maneuver and hurriedly denied: “I, I’m not angry with you.”

He couldn’t figure out where the panic was coming from, but it absolutely wasn’t anger.

“Really?” Huo Tinglan confirmed.

The two were so close that Ye Ci could almost feel that velvet-thin Adam’s apple vibrating when Huo Tinglan spoke.

He felt tingly.

Scratching his intolerably itchy ears, he was inexplicably worried: “Really. Hurry, hurry and get busy.”

“I’ll go. By the way . . . .” Huo Tinglan smiled, staring at Ye Ci’s little red ears. Ultimately, because those ears were so red that it broke his heart, he unhurriedly leaned against the door and asked in a low voice: “Dinner may be a little later today. Are you hungry? Should I have someone bring some refreshments? What do you want to eat, sweet or salty . . . .”

What he said was clearly serious, but whether it was because his tone was too gentle or what, it sounded like charming, sultry lovers’ talk.

“. . . .What? That, sweet . . . .” Ye Ci was confused and didn’t know what was going on. He only knew that voice made his ears numb, and he looked at Huo Tinglan as if begging for help. “Salty too . . . . either way is fine.”

The Alpha glands on the back of his neck were restless. Huo Tinglan became increasingly enthusiastic and teased with a smile: “Want something to drink? Tea? Juice?”

“Which, whichever.”

“Does Darjeeling black tea sound good at the moment?”

“Okay, Huo-shushu, I still have a lot of homework, and I have to hurry up and write.”

“. . . . . .”

Seeing that Ye Ci would collapse if he kept teasing him, only then did Huo Tinglan restrain his remarkable abilities, turning around and closing the door. The room was quiet. Ye Ci sat at the desk and hurriedly spread out the papers, writing at a tremendous speed. He rubbed his ears from time to time and the tip of the pen made a rustling sound.

After grinding through the questions for a while, Ye Ci’s mood gradually settled down and his attention was successfully focused on the paper. 

Thanks to Huo Tinglan’s guidance these days, he had made rapid progress. Both sets of papers were stage test papers, and the knowledge points targeted were the new content learned in the classroom in the past two months. Not many of the topics gave him trouble.

The midterm exam was a few days later, and the ranking was hard to predict. After all, a large portion of the second-to-last exam since the beginning of school had thrown him, but his score should improve a lot.

After finishing the two sets of papers, Ye Ci finally got back some sense of how it had felt to do practice questions before he dropped out of school. In a rare carefree mood, he shook his sore hand and intended to rest for a few minutes before starting on language and literature.

Just then, a few cries from a cat came from outside the door.

Ye Ci raised his eyes, opened the door, and anxiously looked around the corridor.

A chubby Napoleon Bantam cat was in the corner, its bright satin-like fur puffed up slightly with anger. Ye Ci’s “half-sibling” younger brother, Chu Rui, was shooting rubber bullets at it with a toy gun that he had obtained from somewhere.

Chu Rui was eight years old this year. He had inherited the vicious selfishness in Chu Wenlin’s bones and was very spoiled by his grandmother, so willful that not the slightest bit of cultured upbringing from a prominent family could be seen. Chu Wenlin and his mother, Ruan Jaiyi, were attending the tea party just now, and although he reluctantly pretended to be obedient for a while, as soon as he slipped out of the jurisdiction of the adults, he immediately revealed his true nature.

Ye Ci hadn’t spoken to him much. Leaving aside not wanting to, there was just no chance.

– – If one little thing went wrong, he would scream like a scalded pig.

Ye Ci glanced at Chu Rui and didn’t say a word. He quietly picked up the cat, rubbed the place where it was hurt by the rubber bullet, and turned back to the room. In his arms, the fat little cat acted coy. Seeing that Ye Ci was treating him kindly, he wiggled around and meowed, complaining tenderly.

The corners of Ye Ci’s mouth turned up as he ignored Chu Rui’s loud shouts behind him.

He was simulating the sound of gunshots: “Bang! Bang, bang, bang!”

Immediately after, a rubber bullet hit him in the back of the head.

His skull was struck painfully, feeling as if the little boy had punched him with all this strength in his defenseless state. There was even a moment of darkness in front of Ye Ci’s eyes.

The destructive power of this toy gun was incredible, and if aimed at the eyes, it could knock a person out.

“Hahahaha!” Chu Rui laughed excitedly and jumped around. The fat mounds of his face were stained with a few uneven patches of red, with a pair of tiny eyes sunk into the flesh.

Even more like a pig.

Ye Ci took a deep breath and didn’t dare to look back.

He could imagine Chu Rui’s disgusting appearance at this time, and feared that he would not be able to resist the urge to use violence against an eight-year-old child.

However, reasoning with this little beast would only bring shame on himself, not to mention . . . . he also needed the medical expenses provided by Chu Wenlin, so he couldn’t be impulsive.

Ignoring him was the only way.

He walked back to the room, and an insult suddenly came from behind him: “Bastard.”

The child’s voice was crisp and bright, but had a natural maliciousness.

As well as a sick excitement.

Seeing that Ye Ci didn’t attack and just walked back quietly, Chu Rui became more courageous. He smiled and sang like a children’s song: “Bastard, lowlife . . . .”

He was as excited as a novice experimenter who had stolen several dangerous reagents and thrown them into the cage, impatiently observing the reactions of the lab animal.

The eight-year-old child could say childish things, but was terribly cunning in some ways. He knew that this cheap brother couldn’t afford to offend him, and if he wanted to bully him, he would bully him.

Ye Ci closed his eyes and pretended not to hear.

Seeing that he was unmoved and ignoring him, Chu Rui was flustered and took out his trump card, shouting: “My mom said your mom was –”

“ ! ”

With just these few words, Ye Ci’s eardrums buzzed.

His mother was his weakness, the place he couldn’t let others trample upon him no matter how hard he swallowed back his voice . . . .

But at this moment, Chu Rui’s provocation stopped abruptly.

Huo Tinglan’s voice came from behind, calm and quiet, with no emotion to be heard: “Which family are you from?”

Ye Ci was startled and turned around.

Huo Tinglan stood beside Chu Rui, one slender-fingered hand covering Chu Rui’s fleshy head. Lightly and delicately, he directed Chu Rui’s face toward him and turned it left and right.

The gesture seemed less like identifying a dignified living person, than looking for a signature on a spherical handicraft.

“Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!” Chu Rui used his special skill and screamed loudly.

Huo Tinglan nodded knowingly and let go.

“Dad —-! Mom —-!” Chu Rui repeatedly bounced around and made an unreasonable scene, and then ran off to complain.

Ye Ci watched Chu Rui wailing away, his boiling blood cooled down, and he regained his sanity.

In fact, he had a very mild temper, and didn’t really get carried away by anger when he beat people up before, a habit that came from living in the slums. Most of the people there bullied the weak and feared the strong. If he didn’t fight and show his power when he encountered a challenge, he and his mother would live an uneasy life.

But Chu Rui wouldn’t really be able to affect him, there would be little chance to see him in the future, and the provocation just now had been interrupted.

So there was no need.

Taking a step back, he didn’t have the endless capital to get into it with someone just because of a few insults.

“Huo-shushu.” Ye Ci stood tall and straight, like bamboo that was impervious to wind and snow. He said with a calm tone: “Are, are you calling me to dinner?”

Huo Tinglan’s tall form stood quietly in the softly-lit corridor, looking at Ye Ci.

Ye Ci’s fingers on the cat’s ears were shaking.

He was pretending to be composed.

Seeking refuge and comfort in your own – if in name only – Alpha, acting like a spoiled child and complaining . . . . any of these things were justified in the eyes of an Omega. For Ye Ci, it was unimaginable.

In the face of difficulties, he always chose to be strong and brave.

After a moment of silence, Huo Tinglan smiled gently and said: “I just came up to see you . . . . you may have to wait a little longer for dinner, so why don’t you go back to your room and play with the cat?”

“Okay.” Ye Ci heaved a sigh of relief and hurried back to the room with the purring cat in his arms.

He had cat hair on his hands, and it was inconvenient to wipe his eyes.

Ye Ci turned his face to the side, rubbed the corners of his eyes on his shoulders, and then buried his wet face in the fluffy cat’s belly.

The cat’s body exuded the light fragrance of pet shampoo, and its soft, silky fur absorbed the scent well. Ye Ci was trampled on by those four soft feet for a while, and the knot in his heart dissipated a little.

At this moment, Chu Rui’s dying-pig squeal came through the floor from below.

He was probably being punished.

Ye Ci didn’t care, and was used to hearing it.

It was not necessarily the case that he was being punished – that kind of little brat could get into trouble eight hundred times a day.

But what was different from the past was that Chu Rui’s screams stopped abruptly after a few seconds. After a moment, the screams turned into howls. Even Meng Jiangnu^[1] couldn’t compete with that kind of grievance and sadness.

– – Chu Rui truly cried.

Not howling, shouting, or screaming, but crying.

As indifferent as Ye Ci felt, unimaginably, he wanted to know what was going on.

Afraid of scaring the cat, he put it on the bed and followed the sound to find it. He didn’t have to walk very far, and only after descending a few stairs, he saw a few people standing or sitting in a small side hall on the first floor. Chu Rui’s fat face was imprinted with two bright red symmetrical slap prints. Chu Wenlin’s face was as ugly as a pig’s liver, and he pointed at Chu Rui’s nose as he violently shouted: “Go ahead and cry! You cry one more time!”

Huo Tinglan sat on the sofa, calm and elegant. As if he disliked the specks of spittle that Chu Rui spattered when he howled, he wiped the front of his suit with a square napkin. After wiping, he threw the expensive silk scarf into the wastebasket with a light gesture.

Chu Wenlin’s wife, Ruan Jiayi, was crying and didn’t care about being dignified. She jumped up and grabbed Chu Wenlin’s raised palm, but was berated by her husband.

“It’s all the shit you taught him!” Chu Wenlin turned his head and pointed at Ruan Jiayi, performing for anyone to see and scolding her just as hard for not knowing how to teach her child.

The disturbance escalated again.

Ruan Jiayi couldn’t bear the humiliation, so with another round of crying, she left with Chu Rui and did not attend the dinner.

After his wife and son left, Chu Wenlin was humble and pleaded guilty. He patted his chest and promised that he would strictly discipline his son when he got home, for fear that the two families would be at odds because of the younger son’s unintentional remarks, affecting their future cooperation.

“. . . . Mr. Chu’s words are too much.” Huo Tinglan’s wording was estranged, no matter that this was his father-in-law. “Moreover, there is no need for you to apologize to me. The object of your apology should be my little gentleman.”

“Yes, yes, Mr. Huo is right.” Chu Wenlin bowed his back, bowed his waist, and nodded his head like he was mashing garlic.

“Xiao Ci . . . .” Huo Tinglan tilted his head and calmly swept a sidelong gaze towards the stairs.

The shadowy kitten who was squatting on the stairs a moment ago had slipped away, obviously unwilling to come into contact with Chu Wenlin and disdaining his false apology.

Huo Tinglan smiled lightly and, fearing that the little ears in the wall might not be able to hear it clearly, turned the conversation and raised his voice: “. . . . has a generous character and doesn’t bother to care about these little things. He might turn around and just forget it, so it can only be his husband who cares in his place.”

Husband . . . .

Ye Ci tripped and almost stumbled on the stairs.

. . . . . .

When Huo Tinglan went upstairs to call Ye Ci for dinner, Ye Ci had slipped back into the room and cuddled the cat for a while.

There was a lot of noise in the side hall, and unless one was deaf, it would be difficult not to hear it. But Ye Ci didn’t know what to say. Someone had helped him vent his anger and teach others a lesson for him. This experience was too unfamiliar, and his heart seemed to be in a ball behind his rib cage, so aching and warm that it practically melted him.

Huo Tinglan leaned against the door with his arms folded, thought for a moment, and calmly helped him broach the subject: “Did you hear that just now?”

“. . . . En.” Ye Ci’s thin eyelids twitched slightly.

“I was simply teaching them a few lessons downstairs,” Huo Tinglan mentioned casually. “The noise was a bit loud, did it affect your studying?”

‘Them’ obviously referred to the Chu Wenlin family of three.

In terms of friendly family relations, Chu Wenlin and Huo Tinglan were considered peers, and were at least ten years older than him. In terms of marriage relationship, the father-in-law was a proper elder, and the word “teaching” was used quite arrogantly and rudely.

Yet, it was enough to work off one’s anger.

Ye Ci’s lips thinned, and he defended the absolute legitimacy of Huo Tinglan’s actions: “No, it didn’t disturb my studies. I was playing with the cat.”

Playing with the cat . . . .

Huo Tinglan lowered his head to smile.

Immediately, he suppressed his smile and said resolutely: “A good family banquet was thrown into chaos because of me. It is also my fault that I have a bad temper and couldn’t hold back in public, and forgot to save some face for Mr. Chu . . . .”

He was doing the self-criticism review, but the tone was teasing, and in his dark eyes there was a sort of tacit mischief with Ye Ci.

“You won’t blame me, will you?” He asked knowingly.

He wanted to get some sweetness from his innocent little lover.

He was taking credit.

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[1] Meng Jiangnu is a folk tale heroine whose tears broke down a stretch of the Great Wall to reveal her husband’s body. ⮐

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Chapter Thirteen<< Table of Contents >> Chapter Fifteen

“Huo-shushu, I’m done.” Just as Huo Tinglan tried to contain all kinds of “too early” thoughts in his heart, Ye Ci had already put on his clothes, opened the curtain, and walked out.

Huo Tinglan didn’t choose a calm black and gray fabric for him, for fear that it would appear too mature. An eighteen-year-old boy was just right for the clear blue water of a lake. His naturally white skin was dazzlingly set off by the azure blue, and that black hair and smooth rosy lips were so vivid and thrilling. A vest of the same color as the jacket cinched a slightly thin chest, and the waist was so thin that it made one want to hold it in their hands . . . .

“. . . . Not bad.” As if to avoid suspicion, Huo Tinglan’s eyes jumped from his waist to the tie in Ye Ci’s hands. He said in a low voice: “Come here, I’ll tie it for you.”

Ye Ci had never worn this sort of clothing, so he tugged at the hem of his clothes cautiously, young and inexperienced. Purer than lake water, he approached him.

Huo Tinglan raised the collar of his shirt and wrapped the tie around his neck. His fingertips accidentally brushed the back of Ye Ci’s neck through the shirt and the flesh was soft, exuding unnatural heat around the glands.

With just an inadvertent touch, Ye Ci was so sensitive that his breathing even stopped for a moment, like a kitten caught by the back of his neck by a big cat.

This was an Omega’s stress response, not for just any Alpha, but for those with a high degree of matching and a trusting relationship. It was probably to make it convenient for the Alpha . . . . a physiological mechanism. Huo Tinglan noticed that the little bit of Alpha wickedness in his bones couldn’t be contained. He fastened the tie, put down the collar for Ye Ci, and the knuckles of his hand brushed the back of his neck again. Sure enough, Ye Ci froze again, and his eyes widened.

Like a kitten.

Huo Tinglan smiled inwardly.

If a finger lightly scratching his nape made him this silly, then what if . . . .

Huo Tinglan’s smile faded and he said quietly: “Go and look in the mirror.”

Ye Ci was ignorant and didn’t understand what was going on. He thought that Huo Tinglan didn’t notice his two moments of abnormal behavior, so he calmed down and walked over to look in the mirror.

An Omega who didn’t know anything . . . . could be bullied too easily.

Huo Tinglan, who couldn’t help bullying the little gentleman a moment ago, was a little worried.

Ye Ci tried out the formal suit, and Huo Tinglan added some small things to him, and taught him carefully –

Gentlemen should carry a handkerchief with them, the Astaire-style folding method was more casual, and the Kennedy style was more suitable for serious business people; Silk-knot cufflinks were not suitable for dinner parties, but the chain style was elegant enough; Black lace-up Oxfords were suitable for all formal occasions in life . . . .

“The little ring under the collar on this side,” Huo Tinglan turned up Ye Ci’s left collar and picked up a rose from the vase beside him. He passed the fresh, thin stem through the button and hooked the end of the stem into a small ring, “can be used to affix flower stems.”

His tone was gentle and slow. Although he said things that Ye Ci didn’t understand, he didn’t appear arrogant and showy. He just gracefully led a young boy into the world of men.

Ye Ci looked down at the corner of the mirror, appearing unaffected, but in fact his ears were pricked up to listen, and his clear eyes trembled slightly.

When Huo Tinglan finished speaking and Ye Ci raised his head again, there was almost a hint of admiration in his eyes.

Ye Ci felt that everything was fine with the first formal suit in his life, but Huo Tinglan still picked out a few flaws and asked the tailor to fix them. When he came to pick up the clothes a few days later, even Huo Tinglan couldn’t find anything wrong with them. It was a weekend off, and Ye Ci wore this outfit to attend the family banquet at the old house.

The old Huo residence was located on the outskirts of the city. It was a manor, where Huo Changyu brought his beloved wife to enjoy life after delegating power to his son. A private horse farm, hot springs, and a golf course were all readily available at the manor. In order to ensure that the ingredients used by the family were natural and of sufficient quality, Huo Changyu also divided an area as a small pasture and picking garden, and hired experienced farmers to take care of it all year round. Drones responsible for real-time environmental monitoring hovered over the manor.

There were nearly 100 guests at this family dinner. When Huo Tinglan and Ye Ci arrived, it was only two o’clock in the afternoon, and it was still early for dinner to start.

In the early summer, the sunlight was warm and the wind was mild. Lin Yao instructed the housekeeping team to arrange an open-air afternoon tea for the guests by the lake. The waves on the water were as bright as gold foil, the green of the pastureland was deep, and the dining tables were covered with crisp white tablecloths. Decorated with flowering vines and spread out along the bay of the lake, the array was comparable to that of a wedding.

Too extravagant.

Ye Ci had only seen this kind of situation on the 8 o’clock TV series about rich and powerful families.

For a long time, the family banquet he conceptualized was a few large round tables set up in a restaurant. Seeing this arrangement in the distance, he was so nervous that his expression went rigid, and he walked a few steps in a stiff, robotic manner without realizing it.

Wasn’t it just supposed to be afternoon tea?

Was afternoon tea . . . . so momentous?

Huo Tinglan saw Ye Ci’s dazed eyes, and he stopped to laugh at himself: “Compared to Lao Huo, the arrogant and extravagant capitalist, I am just a laborer who barely makes a living being exploited by Lao Huo every day . . . . “ After a pause, he teased, “You won’t hold that against me, will you?”

This was a strange humble-brag, but Huo Tinglan’s expression was so serious.

Having said that, Huo Tinglan’s daily duties were indeed heavy, which was different from the full-time lover presidents in the rich and powerful dog blood dramas. When he was busy, he would work at the desk until late at night, and he needed to attend various banquets and entertainment outings. He often went to sleep later than when he was in high school and could still lay around in bed.

His state was indeed different from the Huo Changyu couple who enjoyed life wholeheartedly.

In the terminology of laborers, it was more tiring than 996, and was already approaching 007^[1] infinitely.

The Huo family was occupied with their own business, but . . . .

Ye Ci couldn’t help but think of the young, bald and overworked programmers on the social news.

He had to quickly glance at Huo Tinglan’s head.

His hair . . . . was rather thick.

With such a good figure, he must exercise, and his heart should also be healthy.

Huo Tinglan’s self-pitying tale had evoked some random thoughts, and Ye Ci had no time to be nervous anymore. He looked down at the green lawn under his feet and pursed his lips: “Then, then when I have the ability in the future, I’ll try to help, help you share your burden . . . . so that you won’t be so tired.”

These words from a high school student were inevitably vague and general, but Ye Ci looked serious. Huo Tinglan was stunned, and a playful smile flashed through his eyes.

“. . . . Are you not nervous anymore?” Huo Tinglan had achieved his goal and gestured to the other side of the lawn, “Some of my elders are over there. I’ll introduce them to you later, you can just say hello.”

The corners of his lips twitch into a smile, his tone soft: “I will say everything else for you. You are responsible for nodding and smiling . . . . can you handle such an arrangement?”

“I can.” This was exactly what Ye Ci had wished for, and he nodded.

“Head nods, well done.” Huo Tinglan puts his hands in his pockets. Bending down slightly, he tilted his head to observe that cold little face, and joked, “How about a smile?”

Ye Ci was surprised for a moment. The layer of ice on his face melted, the corners of his lips raised shyly, and he adjusted his demeanor, walking to the lake side by side with Huo Tinglan.

Lin Yao was drinking afternoon tea with several elders of the Huo family. Seeing someone approaching, she got up to hold Ye Ci’s arm gently and affectionately, and led him to sit beside her.

There were not many people at the table, so Ye Ci followed Huo Tinglan’s lead to greet them one by one. After the courtesies were over, Lin Yao hurriedly pulled Ye Ci into conversation. She was well-maintained and didn’t look old at all. When she opened her mouth, her voice was soft and gentle as she complained: “Tinglan said that you are shy and that your school workload is heavy, so he kept preventing you from coming to the old house. I see, he’s just a petty cheapskate who doesn’t want other people to see his gentleman.”

Huo Tinglan groaned and let Lin Yao happily scold him, as if tacitly agreeing, and only half-rose out of his chair to pour tea for Ye Ci.

“Alpha newlyweds are just like this, drinking vinegar and being unreasonable, and wishing they could hide their wife away in a vault, safe from danger. Chanyu and I were the same when we first got married. I wanted to go shopping with my friend, and he stood inside the door acting like a doorman, forcing me to lose my temper with him . . . .” Lin Yao pretended to be angry, and Huo Changyu apologized and pleaded guilty. Several Huo family members who were drinking tea at the table laughed one after another.

The Huo family was prosperous. Although Huo Tinglan was the only son of Huo Changyu’s family, there were many uncles, aunts, and cousins. These people knew that his susceptible period was getting worse year by year, and that it was extremely difficult to find a matching Omega to produce offspring. The power in his hands would not last long, and would be divided sooner or later, so they were happy to see it happen.

Unexpectedly, an Omega that matched him 100% appeared out of thin air in the Chu family. Now Huo Tinglan was not only cured, but also had hope for descendents. They naturally couldn’t have a good impression of this Omega.

Due to this, it could not be avoided that some vitriolic rumors circulated in the family, saying that the Omega was born poor and was an illegitimate child, he didn’t know his heritage, and he was not qualified to remain in the Huo family. It was said that Huo Tinglan’s family of three didn’t even care – he was just a jar of medicine to treat a disease, and the relationship between the two was not good. The high level of matching was useless, the probability of conception was low, and it would be difficult to have offspring. It was even said that the degree of matching between the two was fake, and was in fact not that high. It was just that Lin Yao was not reconciled, putting on a show for the other Huo family members with helpless forbearance . . . .

Lin Yao was high-spirited, and had been pampered by Huo Changyu. How could she bear this grievance? She was fuming with rage about these slanderous rumors. During this period of time, she had been holding herself back, looking forward to the opportunity to finally vent her anger and act intimate and enthusiastic. What’s more, the child was good-looking and quiet, which was really endearing. Although she was acting, there were also seven or eight points of truth to it.

Lin Yao playfully embraced Ye Ci’s shoulders like a young girl, deliberately irritating: “The more you didn’t show him to me, the more I wanted to see him. This time you can’t stop it.” She turned to Ye Ci and said softly: “Xiao Ci, you must stay here for a few days and accompany me.”

Ye Ci was taken aback by Lin Yao’s enthusiastic offensive. Not understanding this sort of social rhetoric, he nodded honestly and said, “Okay.”

What a well-behaved child.

Lin Yao felt tenderness in her heart and liked him a little bit more.

Huo Tinglan smiled and shook his head: “He has to go to school tomorrow. He’d have to get up half an hour early to get to school from here, and there is a lot of homework on weekends . . . .”

“Xiao Ci, don’t listen to him.” Lin Yao interrupted and angrily lectured her son, “It’s a rare day out, and you’re still keeping an eye on people’s homework. Aren’t you trying to cause trouble, ah? Later, you take Xiao Ci to relax and ride horses and play golf. Making your gentleman happy is your duty, your obligation.”

Huo Tinglan smiled gently and raised his hands to apologize: “No problem, I’ll take him there when I finish marking his homework.”

“You . . . .” Lin Yao was so angry that she couldn’t speak, and Huo Changyu laughed on the side.

The atmosphere at the table was warming up.

In fact, Lin Yao’s performance this time was to express her position to the Huo family – She was satisfied with the marriage, and also with Ye Ci. The family of four had a harmonious relationship, and it was not for outsiders to turn and point the finger of blame. Huo Tinglan’s aunts and uncles at the table were all sophisticated people, so how could they not be happy? They all put on friendly smiles to talk to Ye Ci, and their mouths were full of praise.

As previously planned, Huo Tinglan was able to respond for Ye Ci with ease. It wasn’t until Lin Yao gently complained about him rushing to speak before Ye Ci could, thinking that he was being a bully, that Huo Tinglan defended warmly: “My little gentleman has a quiet personality and doesn’t like to talk. I’ll say a few more words for him.” Saying that, he turned to look at Ye Ci, looking henpecked but also loving, and sighed with a smile, “How could I dare bully him . . . .”

The tone was too ambiguous. Ye Ci looked up apprehensively, and his gaze collided with a pair of dark eyes that were smiling and full of deep love, tender and heart-pounding.

His heart felt like it was suddenly suspended in midair. Ye Ci’s fingers tightened, almost  crushing his teacup, and lowered his eyes in confusion and panic.

. . . . He didn’t know where Huo-shushu had found his acting skills.

Business, business negotiations must be how he practiced.

Lin Yao’s eyebrows curved as she pondered the two of them with interest. Something had suddenly changed about this image, and the corners of her mouth started to rise more obviously.

At this time, Chu Wenlin and his wife and young son came to the table and greeted the Chu family members.

Chu Wenlin’s youngest son was named Chu Rui, and was Ye Ci’s half-sibling. He had specially picked up his parents’ shortcomings and inherited them. Born stupid and fat, like a cut and fried sausage, people found him unlikable at first glance. Huo Tinglan glanced at the three with a cold attitude and only nodded slightly in greeting, then took Ye Ci to depart on the grounds of a heavy workload for the upcoming mid-term.

He led Ye Ci to avoid the crowd and walked into the main house from the secluded garden path, coming to the prepared guest room, where he stood at the door: “I brought your school bag. You don’t need to come out and socialize in the afternoon, just study with peace of mind, and let me check your homework after you finish it . . . .”

“En.” Ye Ci turned his face away and looked a little evasive.

Huo Tinglan looked at him for a moment, understood, and smiled apologetically as he explained: “I didn’t want to seem too estranged from you in front of the elders, so I acted a little more intimate . . . .”

“I understand.” Ye Ci’s ears were hot and red. “I, I’ll do my homework . . . . you go take care of business.”

When he was done, he reached out and closed the door.

The door was half-closed when it was firmly blocked by a forearm. Huo Tinglan suppressed his smile, made his voice soft, and said lightly: “Are you mad at me?”

At first glance, it seemed that he was about to apologize for the ambiguous remarks at the banquet, extremely upright.

When you looked closely, there were all kinds of love hidden in those eyes, as if he was clearly in the right and was only willing to plead guilty to indulge the little gentleman.

Taking advantage of Ye Ci’s unpreparedness, he secretly coaxed him.

Secretly overstepping the rules.

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[1] 996/007 references a nine-to-nine, six days a week working schedule and a midnight-to-midnight, seven days a week working schedule. ⮐

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Chapter Twelve << Table of Contents >> Chapter Fourteen

After the talk in the study room, Ye Ci didn’t know whether he had been influenced by it or was simply frightened of the phrase “move into my room to sleep.’ Not only did his work and rest routine become comparable to that of a robot, but he also followed Huo Tinglan’s instructions to set a medication reminder on his cell phone, and obediently followed the doctor’s orders to take his medicine.

The symptoms of reproductive cavity development had been relieved a lot. A few days had passed without a sign of fever, but there was still a subtle soreness in his lower abdomen. Although it seemed to be nothing, as soon as Ye Ci thought about what it was, he immediately fell apart and clenched his fists.

“. . . . Do you have a lot of homework today?”

Huo Tinglan held a folder, looking through the thick stack of different-sized lists inside, and asked this a bit nonchalantly.

“Quite a lot. I’ll write half of it today.” Friday plus two days on the weekend, a three-day workload was not ideal. Ye Ci took out his school bag and inadvertently glanced at the folder in Huo Tinglan’s hand.

Perhaps it was because he had accompanied Ye Hongjun to the hospital for so many appointments, but he felt that the paper Huo Tinglan was holding was a bit like a hospital medical report.

However, before he could take a closer look, Huo Tinglan had already closed the folder and set it aside, saying in an understated tone: “I had someone put something by your bedside, you can take some time to have a look at it.”

“En,” Ye Ci responded. Unable to hide his curiosity, he put his homework in order and went back to the bedroom to check.

In the room, there was a book beside his pillow.

Perhaps to avoid unintentional snooping by servants, the book cover was wrapped in solid kraft paper, its surface blank.

Ye Ci became more and more curious, picked up a book, and opened it unpreparedly. He glanced at the table of contents and blood rushed to his face.

This was actually an Omega-exclusive sex education book.

Like an encyclopedia, it was exhaustive and comprehensive.

“The first symptoms of an Omega’s fever,” “Self-protection during an Omega’s fever,” “Body structure changes brought about by the fever period,” “Precautions to take for the first fever.” These chapter titles had blue-black pen marks in front of them – – four little checkmarks.

– – Huo Tinglan had read this book and helped him identify the key points.

Ye Ci bit his lips white.

Like a red-hot slap to the chest, the secrets and shame in his heart evaporated into white steam.

After just flipping through the pages of the book, he was so embarrassed that his neck was flushed red.

In fact, he had never been able to accept his secondary differentiated glandular sex.

The sudden transformation from an Alpha, which symbolized strength and leadership, to the “soft and delicate” stereotype of an Omega, had caused a lingering sense of shame and displacement.

It was fine not to mention these things during ordinary times. He could deceive himself and pretend that there was no difference between being an Omega and being an Alpha. Once forced to face reality, he . . . .

In a daze, he turned another page.

There was one more pen-drawn “X” on the table of contents page. The title was “The Omega’s Character Guidance and Shaping.”

For some reason, Ye Ci first turned to the page marked with the X and glanced at it.

The content of this page contained mostly cliched advice like, “An Omega’s character is gentle, considerate, and demure,” and so on. Above the page number were two sharp and handsome penned characters.

– – Don’t read.

“. . . . . .”

Ye Ci turned another page.

– – Still reading.

It was like finding hidden easter eggs.

The corners of Ye Ci’s lips curved in amusement.

Aside from these two pages, most of the titles with a few sporadic X marks in the table of contents were in this pedantic style that made Ye Ci so annoyed that he wanted to tear up the book.

Huo Tinglan actually screened the book for him in advance. His work was obviously so busy, but he still took such responsibility . . . .

Ye Ci lightly sighed.

That small ball of warmth behind his ribcage reappeared, and the bridge of his nose went faintly tight.

He settled down and took a cigarette out of his pocket, lit it, and took a familiar drag from the filter.

After smoking more than half his cigarettes, he put out the butts, opened the pages that had been checked off, and bravely browsed through them.

. . . . . .

After mentally preparing himself, it was half an hour later that Ye Ci returned to the study.

Beside him at the desk, Huo Tinglan concentrated on his work and didn’t say a word.

Fearing that Huo Tinglan would ask him about his reading experience, Ye Ci stared straight at his paper but watched him out of the corner of his eye, feeling Huo Tinglan’s movements with his whole body.

After a stalemate, Ye Ci became more and more uncomfortable.

He felt that Huo Tinglan was staring at him.

Another illusion?

Ye Ci tilted his head stiffly, eyes flickering, and glanced at Huo Tinglan very quickly.

Huo Tinglan rested his chin on one hand leisurely, and caught his glance like a rabbit.

“. . . . . .”

Huo Tinglan was really staring at him.

After a moment of silence, Ye Ci retracted his eyes in shock. After hesitating, he glanced again.

Huo Tinglan’s lips curled into a cat-like smile, and he asked knowingly: “Why aren’t you concentrating . . . . do I have words on my face?”

“No, no words.” Ye Ci lowered his head down with a swoosh to read a question.

“Did you read the book?” Huo Tinglan asked to confirm.

“Uh, hm . . . .” Ye Ci answered vaguely.

He wanted to read it and insisted on reading a few pages. The problem was that the popular science book was too detailed. Not only were there detailed descriptions of Omega-exclusive organs, but even cross-sectional drawings and a description of permanent marking. He was so used to being an Alpha that he even took Physiology and Hygiene classes separately from Omegas when he was in junior high school. Not as full of yellow crap^[1] as some teenage alphas, the more he read, the more he blushed. Words like “knot,” “cavity,” and “lifetime mark” scorched his retinas.

He estimated that the yellow book^[2] was also like that.

He didn’t finish reading it.

Huo-shushu’s good intentions were wasted, and he stuffed the book into the bedside table with guilt and shame.

The atmosphere was awkward. Ye Ci was anxious to take the lid off the topic, and consciously told a small lie: “I, I finished reading.”

“Oh.” Huo Tinglan saw through it and smiled, but didn’t expose it.

He could almost picture Ye Ci’s mental journey in this short half hour.

His young lover was too pure and innocent.

That pure innocence made him . . . . ache.

It seemed that his science education still had to wait until the future.

“By the way, there is something I want to discuss with you.” Huo Tinglan stopped before going too far, and changed the subject. “You know, in name, we’ve been married for more than a month, and my mother is a little anxious . . . .”

Ye Ci was immediately tense, his eyes wide and vigilant.

The phrase, “we’ve been married . . . .”

Huo Tinglan’s mother was anxious . . . .

She wanted to urge, urge them to what?!

Ye Ci: “ ! ”

Before Huo Tinglan finished speaking, Ye Ci’s vigilance had turned into a pupil earthquake!^[3]

“. . . . Because we’ve never had a wedding, she plans to hold a simple family banquet, and the Huo and Chu families would get together for a meal. It could be regarded as a concession to the elders on both sides.” Huo Tinglan pondered Ye Ci’s demeanor while talking and endured, but couldn’t resist. Half in disbelief and half teasing, he asked, “Where did you think about going just now?”

“I didn’t, didn’t think that.” Ye Ci was afraid of spilling the beans, so he readily said, “I can do a banquet, no problem.”

Since getting married, all Huo Tinglan needed him to cooperate with was just a meal between the two families. Of course he wouldn’t refuse.

Ye Ci agreed straightforwardly, but the Huo family was a big family. No matter how small the family banquet was, there were still dozens of people, plus the people from the second branch of the Chu family who would attend . . . . there was no room for sloppy preparations in this last half of the month.

Huo Tinglan pondered for a moment, and said: “When you are free this weekend, I’ll take you to get formalwear for the family banquet.”

Ye Ci thought about the outfits in his closet – sportswear, sweaters, jeans. He really couldn’t wear those to the banquet, so he just nodded in agreement.

The next Saturday, Huo Tinglan took him to an artisan tailor shop. It was a time-honored brand, passed down from grandfather to grandson. Since its establishment in 1913, after years of turmoil, it was still stationed in a quiet and archaic site. The small two-story western-style building used as a storefront had a century-old history, and the courtyard gate was half-hidden behind lush sycamore trees. Disdainful of publicity, they only received familiar old customers, demonstrating a stubborn, aristocratic aloofness.

This was the first time Ye Ci had visited such a place. In his previous impressions, a tailor shop was a thing abandoned by the times, usually opened in a crowded downtown area, where people would change their clothes to be larger or smaller, or have buttons and zippers sewn on. He never knew there was such a tailor shop as this.

He cooperated with the shop owner to have his measurements taken, and sat on a soft velvet sofa while listening to the conversation going on beside him, almost suspecting that this was a black shop^[4] – there were tens of thousands of pieces of fabric, and the price of a set of clothes was enough for him to have to race for a month. He fidgeted like there was an open flame under his ass, trying to speak, and was afraid that he would have to intercede with Huo Tinglan in public. He finally got the chance after the shop owner left temporarily. Wringing his fingers in embarrassment, he whispered: “Huo-shushu, there’s no need . . . . this is too expensive.”

Huo Tinglan stood leisurely in front of the sofa with his hands in his pockets. He swept his eyes toward him when he heard this, and his tone was calm: “I don’t think it’s expensive, that kind of material suits you well.” After a pause, he said apologetically: “We’ve been married for more than a month, but I never thought to bring you out to buy you something. I hadn’t thought about it. If you refuse again . . . . I will feel that you are blaming me in your heart.”

‘Buy you something.’ Such intimate wording narrowed the distance between them automatically. Ye Ci was young, after all, and couldn’t handle it. His lips moved a few times, and he only denied: “I . . . . won’t blame you.”

Huo Tinglan tried to figure out his approach: “I’m taking you out to buy clothes, so you shouldn’t still want to pay me back.”

Ye Ci didn’t say anything, as if in tacit admission.

He was most afraid of being gratuitously favored by someone. Naturally, he was embarrassed to have such expensive clothes by relying on someone else’s charity.

Huo Tinglan was quiet for a moment, afraid of hurting his self-esteem, and teased softly: “I gave you a lot of lectures last night. Did I ask you to pay a tutoring fee?”

Ye Ci shook his head a few times: “No, that’s not what I meant.”

“ – It’s the same thing.” Huo Tinglan calmly herded him into his own territory: “Two people living together after marriage – if every account has to be calculated clearly, how is it any different from being roommates?”

A business marriage without an emotional foundation was indeed not much different from being roommates . . . . Ye Ci was dazed by Huo Tinglan, and wanted to refute, but the shopkeeper had already returned with several large books.

Huo Tinglan didn’t spend much time looking, and with an idle appearance, he discussed the style with the shopkeeper in a low voice and finalized the details: Lapel style, hidden pockets, clothing slits, the choice of buttons, even “dressing to the left or right”^[5] . . . . he usually left these trivial matters to Uncle He to worry about, but this was Ye Ci’s first formal suit after the age of eighteen, which was of great significance. In the last life, he failed to shelter Ye Ci from the wind and rain when he needed him the most. In this life, he naturally wanted to hold this person in the palm of his hand, pamper him, and take care of him properly. It was only that Ye Ci was still estranged from him, and he didn’t dare go too far. He had to make excuses when ordering a few sets of clothes, otherwise . . . .

Ye Ci looked at them for a while, but couldn’t intervene, and sat awkwardly on the sofa, using tea and refills to cover up his uneasiness at being cared for by others.

He had never experienced concern and care from a mature man. It was different from Ye Hongjun’s maternal love, and was a missing link in his upbringing.

His whole body was softened by the warmth, and gradually, he became less insistent on “drawing a line with Huo-shushu.” Huo Tinglan even whispered, “It’s okay,” when he was asked for his design opinions on some details.

“Anything will do,” Huo Tinglan said with a confident attitude. “Just listen to me.”

“. . . . En.”

Huo Tinglan turned his face calmly and glanced at Ye Ci.

His red ears were soft, and his expression was obedient.

Turning back before Ye Ci could notice his gaze, the corners of his lips lifted slightly.

. . . . . . 

It was a rare opportunity for Huo Tinglan to buy clothes for Ye Ci, and he ordered a lot in one go, filling the three-month schedule of the old shop owner. He purchased a special expedited service for the formal clothes to be worn at the family banquet, to have them made in a few days.

On this day, he took Ye Ci to try on the clothes. Knowing that the customer was an Omega, the shop owner avoided opening the dark red velvet curtain, and Huo Tinglan stood alone outside of it.

The expensive fabric rubbed together to make a pleasant sound, and Ye Ci fiddled with it for a while before suddenly opening the curtain a crack. Thin white fingers grasped a mess of black elastic cloth, and he hesitantly asked: “Huo-shushu, what, what is this?

Huo Tinglan maintained a dignified restraint. With a brief glance, he said: “It’s a shirt clip to prevent the shirt from slipping up.”

He, who had long been wearing formal clothes as naturally as if they were a second skin, had no habit of using shirt clips, but the owner of the shop was very thoughtful. Likely because Ye Ci was young, didn’t often wear formal clothes, and was a lively and active young man, he had prepared two.

Ye Ci was still confused and asked: “How do I wear it?”

Huo Tinglan turned his head and looked at the dark red gap in the dressing room curtain. Perhaps because of the static electricity when he took off his sweater, Ye Ci’s black hair was so disheveled that it was thought-provoking. The collar of his shirt was not buttoned tightly, and the vanilla scent of pheromones was getting sweeter in the diminutive dressing room, warmly pouring through the gap . . . .

Huo Tinglan was afraid that his eyes would reveal his secret, so he didn’t give himself a chance to look down at that neckline. He raised his hand and pulled the door curtain, covering the ambiguous gap.

“One goes on each side.” He closed his eyes and kept his composure. “Attach it to the leg band and pull the cloth strip with the metal buckle up to clamp the hem of the shirt.”

“. . . . En.” Ye Ci retracted his hand and fiddled with his shirt clip awkwardly.

The atmosphere outside the curtain was heavy.

Huo Tinglan fiddled with his cufflinks, thinking.

Ye Ci was not the same as he was more than a month ago.

It could be seen that his guard had been lowered a lot, probably because his good shushu wore his mask too well. Ye Ci had already welded labels such as “gentleman” and “noble” to him, and was sure that he wouldn’t have any crooked thoughts about him.

For better or for worse.

It was good to have a closer relationship, but he was afraid that Ye Ci would be accustomed to his role as an honest caregiver and guardian, and reject him with, “You’re a good person, but . . . .”

Once familial affection was formed, it was not easy to reverse it.

At this time, there was a “pa” sound from behind the curtain.

It was the slight sound of an elastic band on flesh, ambiguous and seductive.

The sound reminded him of the night Ye Ci came back from the police station. Ye Ci injured his ankle in a fight with someone, and he knelt down on one knee to check the injury, afraid that Ye Ci would step on the ground with his injured foot. He anxiously reached out to grasp it, but he couldn’t help but be unwilling to let go.

That grip was their only physical contact since they’d gotten married, and he couldn’t help but reminisce about it.

Those slender legs not lacking in strength, tough and lanky like a gazelle. He could feel the vigorous youth and vitality under that skin.

If such a pair of legs were restrained by the elastic band, no matter how firm the muscles were, they would inevitably be tightly bound . . . . 

Forget it.

After thinking about it but not being able to do anything, he was tortured in vain.

Huo Tinglan ridiculed those few colorful thoughts with self-deprecation.

The Alpha glands on the back of his neck were agitated again.

His susceptible period had been delayed by more than a month through pheromone pacification, and was almost reaching its limit . . . .

Ye Ci’s “you are very good” . . . . he couldn’t bear it. He didn’t want to bear it anymore.

---

[1] Yellow crap, 黄色废料, means having sex on the mind all the time. ⮐

[2] Yellow book, 黄书, means erotic literature. ⮐

[3] A pupil earthquake, 瞳孔地震, is an expression of extreme shock. There is also an emoticon for it: ( ; ; @_@ ) ⮐

[4] Black shop, 黑店, is an unscrupulous business, perhaps a front for something illegal. ⮐

---

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Chapter Eleven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Thirteen

Huo Tinglan arrived quickly, and when he took Ye Ci away from the infirmary, the self-study period was not over yet.

Accompanying Ye Ci to see a doctor was one of Huo Tinglan’s assistants, surnamed Lin, a middle-aged female Beta with a friendly face. A person with such an identification was convenient to accompany an Omega to see a doctor, so as to avoid arousing suspicion.

The three of them went to a private hospital. There were few people present, so there was no need to get in line.

Assistant Lin took Ye Ci’s arm naturally. Ye Ci didn’t have the strength to dodge, and followed her listlessly. She first accompanied Ye Ci to see the internal medicine department. After they did several tests, she followed the doctor’s advice and went to the gland secretion department. After the doctor finished a series of examinations, he saw that Ye Ci was very uncomfortable and didn’t say much. He opened an infusion order to quickly put him on an intravenous drip, and asked the family to enter the consultation room to talk.

Assistant Lin went to the pharmacy and brought back a paper bag stuffed with medicine. Handing Ye Ci a cup of hot water, she stood at his side to comfort him: “I asked when I passed by the clinic, and Mr. Huo said there was no big problem, so don’t worry.”

“En.” Ye Ci took the paper cup. “Thank you.”

“Sure thing,” Assistant Lin said amiably.

Ye Ci held the paper cup in one hand, grabbed the paper bag on the chair beside him, and gestured shortly: “Please sit down, today . . . . thank you for your hard work.”

“You’re very welcome.” Assistant Lin sat down according to his words, and a slight smile appeared in the corners of her eyes.

She was sent by Huo Tinglan to temporarily take care of the child, and thought it would be difficult to serve a rich and powerful young master of seventeen or eighteen years old, not expecting such a temperament. At first glance, he looked rather cold, but after showing kindness to him, he suddenly became very easy to get along with, well-behaved and polite.

The intravenous drip was obviously right for his symptoms, and after a while, the abdominal pain was relieved. Ye Ci took a sip of hot water, pretended to casually pull out a pill box from the paper bag, and looked down at the instructions.

[Indications:] Suitable for relieving symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain, etc. caused by the development of Omega reproductive cavity.

Ye Ci, who was seriously lacking physiological knowledge about Omegas, was stunned for a few seconds, then rubbed his eyes in disbelief: “!”

. . . . What cavity?!

Reproductive what?!

Ye Ci knew that Omegas had that organ, but he’d had an Alpha’s body until the second differentiation, and it hadn’t grown. He had thought . . . . that it wouldn’t grow.

Ye Ci’s hand shook and squeezed the pill box flat.

After Huo Tinglan learned about the situation from the doctor, he was about to return to the infusion room when he caught a glimpse of Ye Ci in the corner, looking like an embarrassed little tomato.

He had probably just read the instructions for the medication, and that little face was red as if it had been steamed. His eyes were perturbed and confused, but he still pretended to be calm, holding his chin and gripping a deformed pill box in his hand.

Huo Tinglan stopped and looked at him involuntarily, his heart swaying for a while.

Ye Ci was twenty-two years old when the two met in the last life. At that time, he had fully accepted his Omega identity, and Huo Tinglan could not accompany him through this confusing and shameful transition period.

The maturing of an Omega’s body would produce various physiological changes – – 

Hidden cavity development.

A belly that softens to protect the fertilization organs in the body.

Touch became more sensitive.

Suet-like skin, softer than an Alpha’s . . . . .

The Omega part of Ye Ci’s body was maturing.

Like an ovary tightly wrapped in a pod, swelling day by day, plumping up, growing like a round green bean splitting open from the pod.

And this whole process would be witnessed by him.

Huo Tinglan tugged at his neckline, and his throat tightened for a moment.

The Alpha glands, which had been soothed and suppressed for many days, started to become active again.

. . . . . .

In the infusion room, Ye Ci was fiddling with the pill box in a panic, and his thoughts went back and forth.

The number of male Omegas were few, and like female Alphas, they belonged to a sexual minority group. He didn’t know about male Omegas, and also lacked the real sense of being secondarily differentiated. During this time, aside from the scent of his pheromones going from cold pine to sweet vanilla, he had never felt anything, and felt lucky that the second differentiation would continue in this way.

In the end, he received a critical blow from reality.

He was caught off-guard.

He was a boy, and he actually grew a . . . .

And so forth . . . .

He seemed to have overlooked something.

Assistant Lin had said that Huo Tinglan was talking with the doctor in the consultation room.

At that moment, wasn’t Huo-shushu the one talking to the doctor about the growth of his new . . . . birth, genital cavity?!

“ !  ! ”

Ye Ci was horrified. His eyes widened, and he suddenly raised his head and looked out the door.

With this glance, he met a pair of eyes that were as dark as a deep pool. 

Huo Tinglan was standing outside the glass door of the infusion room, watching him.

Ye Ci couldn’t understand that look, full of desire, burning and ambiguous. Like a soft, silky hook, it gently took hold of the pit of his stomach . . . . just a glance, less than a second. The top of his head went numb, and he looked away in shock.

When he looked again, Huo Tinglan had pushed through the door, holding a folded medical report in his hand. He looked at Ye Ci calmly, still the proper gentleman. Due to the presence of outsiders, he downplayed the issue: “It’s only a small problem, don’t worry.”

Ye Ci’s throat was dry and his lips moved, but he didn’t know what to ask.

That glance just now . . . . was it an illusion?

He took the medical report with his head down. Thinking that one fold was not enough, he almost folded it into a tofu cube.

All the way back, he kept secretly shooting glances at Huo Tinglan from the corner of his eyes.

He seemed normal.

The moment they looked at each other by chance, Huo Tinglan raised his eyebrows. Innocent and confused, he asked him what was wrong, and his expression didn’t seem to be fake.

Ye Ci had to wave his hand vaguely. After being caught a few times like this, he didn’t even dare to take a peek, staring straight ahead, more disciplined than military training.

It must be his nerves.

He had misread it.

After sending the assistant back to the company, Huo Tinglan led Ye Ci home. He walked into the study on the third floor and closed the door, then tidied the desk and said warmly: “Come sit down, we need to talk.”

Ye Ci pursed his lips and sat down, but his face was tense, as if he was ready to leave at any time.

Fortunately, Huo Tinglan had already prepared the draft on the way back. He had repeatedly scrutinized every word, trying his best to avoid sensitive ones.

Really . . . . even business negotiations were not so meticulous.

“I had a brief talk with the doctor,” Huo Tinglan said calmly, controlling his tone. “This is a normal phenomenon, there’s no need to worry. But you need to take your medicine on time to relieve the symptoms, and take them for half a month before going in for a checkup . . . . do you have questions?”

Ye Ci’s tense shoulders relaxed, and he shook his head.

Huo Tinglan took a marker and wrote on a prominent place on each pill box as directed by the doctor, three times a day, one tablet at a time. “Also, the doctor thinks the reason your symptoms were so severe this time may be related to bad working and sleeping habits. Uncle He said that lately, the little lamp in your room sometimes stays on until two in the morning. Do you go back to your room and secretly study instead of sleeping?  . . . . Being motivated is a good thing, but if your body is overwhelmed and your eyes are strained, what will you do about the college entrance examination?” He slowly and deliberately counted out Ye Ci’s crimes. Seeing Ye Ci’s stubborn resistance, his eyelid twitched and he said in a low voice: “En?”

“. . . . I understand, Huo-shushu,” Ye Ci said reluctantly.

“Will you stay up late in the future?” Huo Tinglan put the several pill boxes into a paper bag, handed it to Ye Ci, and added, “I was afraid that you would take the medicine indiscriminately, so I marked them for you.”

Ye Ci lowered his eyes and looked at the sharply written instructions on the pill boxes. That warm feeling filled his heart again.

He was softened a bit by that warmth, and hesitated before whispering: “I won’t.”

Huo Tinglan was determined to get rid of Ye Ci’s problem of not caring for his body. Leaning back in the chair, he tapped the desk with his fingertips. As if negotiating in the business field, he carefully looked him over, putting pressure on him, and said solemnly: “Will you really change, or are you bluffing me?”

Ye Ci’s pupils shook slightly: “Really, I won’t. Also, also I’ll stop randomly taking medicine . . . . I’m not bluffing you.”

“So it’s settled. Staying up late until the middle of the night,” Huo Tinglan said in a threatening tone, “If I catch you again . . . .”

Ye Ci was just about to make a promise, when he heard Huo Tinglan add the second half of the sentence leisurely: “You’ll move into my room to sleep.”

Ye Ci was stunned for a moment, and was frightened into stuttering. He shook his head and waved his hands with a red face and ears: “No, no need! I definitely . . . .  won’t, won’t do it again!”

There were almost too many ‘no’s’ in that sentence. Huo Tinglan curved his lips: “Are you that afraid of me?”

“Not afraid,” Ye Ci automatically denied. They had been living together peacefully for a month. Huo Tinglan obviously didn’t mind him, and to be on guard against him acting like a scoundrel was just too . . . . He was afraid that Huo Tinglan would be disheartened, and urgently explained himself: “You are good and upright . . . . but I, I’m used to sleeping by myself.”

After saying this, without giving Huo Tinglan a chance to speak, he grabbed the medicine and fled.

His posture was as if a scoundrel was chasing after him.

As a scoundrel, Huo Tinglan was deeply regretful while recalling those little red ears hidden behind black hair.

After a few words, he just ran away.

And he still had a belly full of words that he didn’t get a chance to say.

– – According to his observations, Ye Ci’s knowledge of Omega physiology was close to nothing.

No matter how careless an Omega was, he wouldn’t be ignorant of the phenomenon of “cavity growth pain,” but Ye Ci was clearly a blank piece of paper. He was in pain for three days and was still taking anti-inflammatory drugs ignorantly. But Omegas were restricted by objective factors, and needed to pay attention to the most problems on a daily basis.

Personally giving a sex education class to a young lover . . . . several rogue thoughts flashed through Huo Tinglan’s mind, and he couldn’t help raising the corners of his lips.

It would be his pleasure.

But it was a pity that Ye Ci would die of shame, and maybe even run away.

Eighteen-year-old Ye Ci was much softer than at twenty-two, but he liked to pretend to be tough.

Like a mimosa, with its tough, slender stem – he was tall and straight, high-spirited, thinking that he stood like a small tree. As a result, as soon as he was scratched by a fingertip, he would curl up like a little cactus in a panic. If Ye Ci was repeatedly scratched and provoked, he feared that he could even squeeze out cactus juice.

This made people want to take pity on him.

But even more, it made people want to bully him.

Huo Tinglan hooked his index finger into his neckline and loosened his tie. His eyes were dark.

When the relationship between the two was closer, when Ye Ci trusted him more and was firmly tied to him, and it was difficult to take a tiny step away from him . . . . that would be enough.

He could coax and bully him at the same time.

---

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Chapter Ten << Table of Contents >> Chapter Twelve

Ye Ci flipped through the exercise book, found a few types of problems that Huo Tinglan had gone over, and did them independently.

After working on them for a while, his mood finally calmed down. Ye Ci raised his head and looked at Huo Tinglan several times, wanting to thank him when their eyes finally met, but Huo Tinglan was very focused on his work. Ye Ci stared so hard that his eyes were sore, and didn’t get an opportunity.

After hesitating for a while, Ye Ci called out softly, “Mr. Huo . . . .”

He had been in Mr. Huo’s house for so long and had hardly ever taken the initiative to speak to Huo Tinglan. During their few exchanges, Huo Tinglan spoke first and he replied, so he never addressed the man.

Huo Tinglan had been watching him for a long time from the corner of his eye, and sure enough, he was waiting for an awkward “Mr. Huo.”

In his last life, Ye Ci was also like this.

From the time they were acquainted, through the ambiguous courting period, it was always a polite and unfamiliar, “Mr. Huo.” After getting to know each other well, he couldn’t defeat Huo Tinglan and finally started calling him by his first name. But even during the most intimate times, he only used his name and refused to call him anything else. When he was ruthlessly teased about it, he blushed with a peach-like face, bowed his head, clenched his fingertips in embarrassment and said nothing. After many times, Huo Tinglan knew that he was really unable to speak, not only because of his personality, but also because of a speech impediment. He couldn’t bear to tease him like that anymore, so he had to settle for the next best thing, comforting himself by thinking that it was enough to go by his first name.

Huo Tinglan pondered for a while, put down the document, and leaned lazily against the back of the chair. He tapped the table with his fingertips but did not respond to the “Mr. Huo.” Instead, he changed the topic and said distantly: “It seems this is the first time you’ve called me.”

“. . . . Really?” Ye Ci became uncomfortable.

Huo Tinglan’s tone was neither hot nor cold: “Why so formal . . . . I thought you were going to talk to me about business.”

Ye Ci didn’t say a word and lowered his eyes, showing a hint of shame.

After all, they were married and living under the same roof. Calling him like that showed that he was estranged from Huo Tinglan . . . .

He felt that Huo Tinglan was a little unhappy.

But he really didn’t know how to address him.

“Next time,” Huo Tinglan pondered his expression. A smile appeared in his eyes, and he tentatively said, “Call me Huo-shushu.”^[1]

They were twelve years apart in age. One was a working man and the other was a student. In addition, the elders of the Huo and Chu families were of the same generation, so it was reasonable to call him “Shushu.” And the point was, Huo Tinglan had always been itching for this title.

On certain occasions . . . . it could work wonders.

“. . . . . .” When Ye Ci heard these words, his jaw clenched and the corners of his mouth flattened. There was an awkward aura of “there is no next time” all over him.

A few seconds went by.

He turned his face away and gave a very light, “En.”

The Ye Ci of this time had thawed his thin, cool shell of ice, and the little things hidden inside turned out to be so cute and soft . . . .

Huo Tinglan turned his gaze back as if nothing had happened, and looked at his documents calmly. The corners of his lips were barely visible, slightly raised.

. . . . . .

He deliberately didn’t ask Ye Ci what he had called him for. Five minutes later, Ye Ci had finally regrouped and stammeringly called: “Huo-shushu . . . .”

Huo Tinglan smiled, and a low syllable escaped: “Hm?”

Seventeen or eight-year-old boys, strictly speaking, were past the age of using the duplicate character address of “Shushu.” He thought that with Ye Ci’s awkward temperament, he would definitely find a way to address him more rigidly, but he didn’t expect it to be word-for-word.

The clear, youthful voice carried annoyance and embarrassment, but was obedient and called “Shushu” so softly . . . .

Huo Tinglan sighed tenderly in his heart.

It was really killing him.

“Thank you for your hard work today. You helped me with . . . . so many questions.” Ye Ci worked out the draft in his mind and completed it in one go. 

“You’re welcome.” Huo Tinglan settled down, closed one document, and opened another. “Feel free to ask me anytime.”

Ye Ci looked at the thick stack of documents by his hand. “Your work . . . . are you very busy?”

“It depends on the situation whether I’m busy or not,” Huo Tinglan said lightly.

Ye Ci understood, and thought he meant that he wasn’t sure when he would be busy or idle.

Huo Tinglan wrote a few words on a contract and completed the second half of his sentence: “Learning is an important matter, and if you come to me with questions, I won’t be busy.”

He looked calm, as if what he said was a normal thing, but Ye Ci seemed to have been hit by a critical blow. Dizzy, he squeezed out two words: “. . . . Mm, en.”

Even if he hadn’t seen much of the world, he had lived for eighteen years and except for Ye Hongjun, no one had ever treated him with such care.

He always knew how to handle people who didn’t welcome him – just compare fists and see whose was harder.

But no one had taught him how to get along with people who were nice to him.

He wanted to get close and wait to give the same kindness in return, but he was afraid he would be awkward and make a fool out of himself.

Huo Tinglan raised his eyes and saw Ye Ci stammering, unable to squeeze out the whole sentence, and his heart softened. He had finally received a miracle, and softly soothed: “It’s no trouble at all, it won’t bother me.” He flicked the paper in his hands and sighed with a smile: “Thinking about this stuff is more tiring than going over some questions . . . . just help me take my mind off it, okay?”

“. . . . Okay.” Ye Ci’s eyes shook slightly, and he nodded seriously.

With Huo Tinglan’s guidance, Ye Ci saw hope, and his enthusiasm for learning rose. In addition to the homework assigned by the school, he also had to make up for the progress lost when he took a break from his education. In order to complete the goals he had set for himself, he did not sleep until the early hours of the morning. After a continuous week of hunkering down, he was haggard. His skin was still as white and tender as bamboo shoots, but the bruises under his eyes were also very obvious.

Huo Tinglan was both relieved and distressed, afraid that Ye Ci would be overwhelmed. At eleven o’clock in the evening, he went to the study room to expel him, and personally watched him go back to his room to rest.

Ye Ci promised to be obedient, but secretly put the rolls of paper folded into small tofu cubes into his pockets, smuggled them across the border, and lit the lights in the bedroom. At night, when he was sleepy, he slipped out to the terrace to smoke a cigarette.

He had always slept very little, and his body could withstand the abuse. In order to raise money for Ye Hongjun’s medical treatment, he often worked day and night during that difficult year. When he was sleepy while working part-time, he took a nap at the cash register with his head up, and when he opened his eyes, he had the strength to work again.

However, it may be that Huo Tinglan had coddled him during this period of time. After staying up all night and studying hard for half a month, Ye Ci was really tired.

That Friday, Ye Ci routinely woke early, got out of bed, and dug out a few pills from his school bag.

Fatigue had likely led to low immunity, which was taken advantage of by a cold virus. He had not been feeling well for the past two days, with repeated fever, drowsiness, and fatigue. His stomach and intestines were also affected, and his stomach was inexplicably sore and swollen.

Ye Ci pulled out the pills, gathered a small handful in his palm, and swallowed them all at once.

Anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, fever-reducer, and pain-reducer . . . .

He had developed this kind of unreasonable drug habit in the past two years. While working several jobs a day, he had no time to go to the hospital. He simply adopted a broad-spectrum attack method and took all the medications that might relieve his symptoms, and got better early to avoid delaying work.

Unlike before, this cold was quite stubborn. Ye Ci took the medicine for two days and it failed to work. When he looked ill while eating breakfast, the truth was revealed.

“Is Young Master Ye uncomfortable?” Uncle He asked with concern.

“It’s nothing.” Ye Ci swallowed the porridge while holding back nausea. “It’s just . . . . a small fever.”

Uncle He looked at his flushed face and felt that it didn’t look like a low-grade fever, so he suggested: “I will tell Mr. Huo and ask him to request a half-day’s leave for you, and call the doctor again to take a look . . . . what do you think?”

“No, don’t bother him . . . . thank you.” Ye Ci got up and left.

He was afraid that Huo Tinglan would watch him more strictly to get him to sleep, but he really wanted to catch up to the school’s progress rate ASAP.

As a result, Uncle He spread the word quickly. As soon as Ye Ci arrived at school, Huo Tinglan called to confirm whether or not he was really okay.

“It’s really fine . . . . I’m on medication.” Ye Ci walked out of the classroom and into the corridor with his cell phone. Because of the fever, his voice was extremely faint.

“What medication?” Huo Tinglan asked.

In order to make him feel at ease, Ye Ci stammered out a long list of drug names.

Huo Tinglan was silent for a while, then took a deep breath before saying: “Excessive use of cold medicine may cause liver and kidney damage, do you not know?”

Ye Ci was stunned. He really didn’t know.

What liver and kidney damage . . . . he had never heard of such a thing, and knew that he was going to get better soon.

Huo Tinglan sighed softly and asked: “What’s your body temperature?”

“I haven’t measured it . . . .” Ye Ci sensed that Huo Tinglan was unhappy, and hurriedly said, “I’m, I’m sure it must be a low-grade fever.”

He said it was a low-grade fever, but in fact, he had no idea. Anyway, if it wasn’t burning hot, he would just sit back as usual and treat it as a low-grade fever.

“Low-grade fever . . . .” Huo Tinglan knew that Ye Ci’s definition of a “low-grade fever” was different from ordinary people. He furrowed his brow and instructed: “Go to the infirmary. After measuring your temperature, take a picture of the thermometer and send it to me. If the fever is serious, I will pick you up.”

“No need.” Ye Ci licked his lips. “This morning, it’s all, all major subjects, I, I want to be in school . . . .”

In a rare instance, Huo Tinglan interrupted him in a low, cool voice: “Want me to measure it for you myself?”

Ye Ci was stunned. After getting along together for so long, it was the first time he had heard Huo Tinglan speak to him in this tone. His heart thumped for some reason and he said hurriedly: “No, no need, I . . . . I will measure it myself.”

He dragged his steps to the infirmary, his head dizzy with fever and his legs weak due to the dull pain in his lower abdomen. His symptoms were worse than they were before taking medicine in the morning. He asked the school nurse for an electronic thermometer and sat down on the edge of the bed to take his temperature, absentmindedly fiddling with his phone. When his fingertips brushed the words, “Huo-shushu,” in the call log, an indescribable feeling suddenly surged in his heart.

Something like . . . . comforting warmth.

The whole of his person seemed to be miniaturized into a small mass and held securely by a pair of warm palms.

It was a totally unfamiliar feeling.

At this moment, the electronic thermometer beeped.

39.5. ^[2]

His heart was heated by that warmth. Ye Ci pursed his lips and hesitated for a while, but finally didn’t try to be brave. He honestly took a picture and sent it to Huo Tinglan.

It only took two or three seconds before the opposite side quickly replied.

[Huo Tinglan]: Wait for me.

A moment later, he was afraid that Ye Ci would be reckless, so he sent two more messages.

[Huo Tinglan]: I’ll take you to the hospital now. You can make up for the missed classes.

[Huo Tinglan]: Be good.

It was an unexpectedly coaxing tone.

Ye Ci was in a daze.

He was a school student . . . .

What was good or bad?

He was coaxed to the point of fidgeting, covering his face with one hand out of fear that the school nurse would see him.

The skin beneath his fingers was already growing red.

The author has something to say:

Mr. Huo has officially become Huo-shushu, and calling him ‘Shushu’ has miraculous effects on certain occasions. What are the specific occasions? The auditor stares and the editor, and the editor dares not say.

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[1] 叔叔: Shūshu is a term used for a person’s father’s younger brother, or a way of addressing a man around one’s father’s age or slightly younger. ⮐

[2] 103.1 degrees Fahrenheit. ⮐

---

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Chapter Nine << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eleven

Huo Tinglan took the ice pack and spray, and said softly, “Thank you.”

Seeing Ye Ci’s eyes flicker and look straight at the bridge of his nose, Huo Tinglan, who was suffering a crisis of trust, pondered for two seconds and mixed truth with falsehood: “There was a video conference just now, so I covered it up a bit.”

“Oh.” Ye Ci was startled. Knowing that Huo Tinglan had seen through his rude speculation, his shame immediately doubled and he nodded hastily, “I know, I’m aware.”

Huo Tinglan smiled and changed the subject. “Right, I forgot to thank you . . . . today’s treatment was very effective and I feel much better.”

“You’re welcome.” For the purpose of humanitarian aid, Ye Ci gritted his teeth and overcame his embarrassment, “Are those pheromones e–enough? I, I changed my clothes . . . . I haven’t washed them yet.”

Huo Tinglan burst into laughter and repeated with a bit of playfulness, “Haven’t washed them yet . . . .”

He really had no self-awareness of being an Omega.

Seeing Huo Tinglan’s profound and intriguing black eyes, Ye Ci suddenly felt bashful. The heat burned all the way from his cheeks to his butt, and he dug himself a deeper hole as he explained: “It’s the outer uniform, the jacket, and . . . . the shirt.”

“I know,” Huo Tinglan said gently. “What else?”

“Nothing, nothing else.” Ye Ci clenched his fists desperately.

This open mouth was truly unstoppable.

He stammered, so where did so many unnecessary words come from?!

Huo Tinglan smiled and didn’t overdo it. “I won’t use them for now. I don’t feel sick at the moment, your pheromones worked well on me.”

If he kept teasing . . . . Ye Ci might beat him up.

“. . . . That’s good.” Ye Ci nodded hastily, walking back in a mess.

Just a few steps out, Huo Tinglan stopped him again: “Wait a minute.”

Resisting the urge to start running, he turned around and asked, “Why?”

“We can change the way we do the treatment a bit.” Huo Tinglan folded his arms and leaned against the door frame, stroking the bridge of his nose to emphasize the injury and pretending to be magnanimous. “Otherwise my nose might not be able to take it.”

Ye Ci was apologetic, and deflated at once and honestly said: “You speak.”

“From next Monday, you should go home as early as possible after school every day and come to my study. I work, you do your homework, we spend a few hours in the same room together. This level of pheromone exchange can have the effect of treatment for me, and probably won’t make you uncomfortable either . . . .”

A few hours ago, he was still holding this person in his arms in the shade of flowers and trees, shamelessly sniffing and coaxing him, and even tore off the barrier patch and secretly put it in his pocket. Now he put on the mask of a gentleman again and asked in a warm voice, “Do you think this arrangement is okay?”

Ye Ci imagined the scene of the two of them busy in the study. It was much better than getting close for him to sniff the glands. He hastily nodded.

The only problem with going straight home after school was that there was no way to go to the racetrack. Fortunately, he had saved a lot of money during this time. And Huo Tinglan treated him so kindly. He didn’t have to take his mother away like in the worst-case scenario he had imagined before. Naturally, there was no rush to get money.

Moreover, he was no longer as resistant to Huo Tinglan’s highly aggressive pheromones as he was at first. Considering how few times they had spent time together, this kind of adaptation speed was already very fast. A 100% match was really not for nothing.

. . . . . .

This monday night, Ye Ci kept his promise and went home early. He spent a while alone in the living room, and did some mental preparations before he took the plunge and went into the study.

The door of the study was wide open. Huo Tinglan was sitting behind the desk reading a few documents, and when Ye Ci came in, he raised his chin and said: “Take a seat.”

He hadn’t asked anyone to set up an additional study desk. This desk was big enough for one person and a half, enough to not get in each other’s way.

“En.” Ye Ci nodded carelessly. Circling around, carrying a backpack on one shoulder and the other shoulder slightly relaxed to maintain balance, he strode coolly to the desk and sat down.

. . . . His performance was not bad.

Ye Ci unloaded his school bag, took out a set of papers, and tossed them on the desk. He took a deep breath and realized that his mental preparations were not in vain.

If he acted shy and embarrassed, the treatment’s atmosphere could also become complex rather than natural.

Huo Tinglan watched the whole process quietly with strong interest and a subtle smile. 

Ye Ci suddenly seemed to be aware that he was being watched. His eyes dodged away, and then glanced over vigilantly.

Huo Tinglan was a step ahead of him, having hidden his smile without a trace and lowered his eyes to read a document.

. . . . Phew.

Ye Ci sighed inwardly, feeling nervous.

The math papers were as difficult as ever. Ye Ci picked out a few simple questions and did them first, then took out his phone. While Huo Tinglan wasn’t paying attention, he took a picture of a question and used a search engine, patiently researching and analyzing the subject.

The explanation given by the application was not detailed enough, and the difficulty of the problem was high. Ye Ci was stuck on a key step and couldn’t understand it. Unwilling to copy the answer directly, he was so anxious that a few beads of sweat appeared on the tip of his nose. Just as he was feeling embarrassed, Huo Tinglan’s low voice suddenly sounded above his head: “What are you doing?”

He didn’t know when he had come over, or how long he had been standing there. As if it was premeditated, it seemed he intended to check his learning level.

Ye Ci’s hand shook. He locked the screen and said vaguely, “Nothing . . . .”

Huo Tinglan put one hand on the desk and leaned over slightly. He glanced at the large blanks on the paper and softened his voice, asking gently, “Is there anything you want to ask?”

Anything he wanted to ask?

There were blank spaces everywhere.

Ye Ci berated himself and clenched his hand.

The palm of his hand was moist, and he was in a hurry to understand the explanation.

He was anxious, and coupled with Huo Tinglan wanting to talk about the question, he almost blurted out a sentence.

– – How is this problem calculated?

When these words reached the tip of his tongue, Ye Ci suddenly remembered what Chu Wenlin had said when he introduced Huo Tinglan to him: Double degree from a first-class university, a top student in international finance. There was another specialized Master’s degree with a hard to pronounce name. He was the elite of the elite . . . .

To let Huo Tinglan teach him these simple high school math problems . . . . Ye Ci’s face suddenly became hot, and he felt a burst of shame.

“No.” He flipped over the exam paper, appearing to impatiently do his homework.

He would rather use rebellious behavior to camouflage his embarrassment and stupidity.

“If you don’t,” Huo Tinglan stretched out his hand and pressed his fingertips down on the paper on the desk with rare firmness, not allowing Ye Ci to hide it away in his school bag. His two eyes were dark, with a penetrating and difficult to fathom expression. “Then write it out yourself.”

Ye Ci couldn’t take the paper. Deeply worried, he grabbed at his hair and said very stiffly, “I usually . . . .  don’t write it out.”

Huo Tinglan stared at him for two seconds, then rolled his eyes and said slowly, word by word: “You should act like a student, and have the appearance of a student. You usually seem quite sensible, but I didn’t expect you to be so laissez-faire academically that you won’t even write out your homework . . . . although you are an adult, in this matter, I have to discipline you on behalf of your family.”

Saying that, he withdrew his hand from the paper and said lightly: “If these papers aren’t finished, you don’t leave today.”

Ye Ci, on the contrary, breathed a sigh of relief after receiving Huo Tinglan’s lesson, as if he had survived a catastrophe. He flattened the paper, turned his pen, and started to idle on the job under Huo Tinglan’s eyes.

If he couldn’t go, he couldn’t go.

Anyway, Huo Tinglan had to go back to the bedroom to sleep.

After a period of silence, Huo Tinglan leisurely passed judgment: “Peaceful protest?”

Ye Ci lowered his head and said nothing.

As if making up his mind to see this through to the end with the problem child, Huo Tinglan took a pen, tapped the paper with his knuckles, and said unhurriedly: “Then I’ll go through them with you one by one . . . . let’s start with this question.”

Ye Ci was startled, and hurriedly pricked up his ears to listen. He straightened his body unconsciously, and his sitting posture was inexplicably cute.

Huo Tinglan caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye. The corners of his lips curled into a smile, which was quickly concealed again.

As a top student in the finance department of a first-class prestigious school, Huo Tinglan played with high school math problems like they were a game. His level of explanation exceeded that of the search software by 100,000 miles. Ye Ci was good at mathematics and physics, but he had dropped out of school and abandoned them for too long. His brain was still bright, and he listened to Huo Tinglan for a while. Several difficult problems that had made him want to die before instantly became transparent.

“. . . . The foundation is weak, but your brain is smart enough to keep up with me talking so fast.” Huo Tinglan’s tone was a little gentler than before, and his eyes flashed with a trace of mischief. “You’re just deliberately not learning, aren’t you?”

“. . . . En.” Ye Ci pursed his lips.

He lied to keep from being embarrassed. Ye Ci’s face burned a little and he dared not look up.

“Still dare to say ‘En’?” Relying on Ye Ci being unable to look at him, Huo Tinglan raised the corners of his lips slightly, but his voice was serious, and he educated the child in deadly earnest.

Ye Ci hung his head and listened, listened, and listened. Doubts grew in his heart, and his thin and delicate eyebrows trembled slightly. He slanted a glance at Huo Tinglan, then looked away again. 

Somehow, he vaguely felt that . . . . Huo Tinglan was doing this intentionally.

He knew he had the character flaw of finding it difficult to calmly accept the gentleness and kindness of others. It would make him embarrassed; he was more comfortable with being treated harshly. And Huo Tinglan’s performance tonight was just the right degree of unnatural. Every word was smooth and deliberate, as if he had seen through him, so that he could accept help with peace of mind.

But could this be possible?

It was too self-indulgent. Why would he do such a thing?

Ye Ci rationally corrected his thinking.

Huo Tinglan leaned against the edge of the desk, his eyes lowered, studying Ye Ci’s ever-changing micro-expressions. Holding back a smile, he said solemnly: “You keep staring at me, why? . . . . Are you surprised I’m teaching you? You’re not convinced?”

Silly little gentleman. It was so much fun, it was hard to stop.

“I’m not,” Ye Ci had been caught, and stared back at the paper, “I’m not . . . . staring.”

Huo Tinglan tapped a few more sentences.

Like a frustrated thorny cactus who was tired of studying, so as not to disturb the peace, Ye Ci promised Huo Tinglan that he would try his best to complete his homework in the future, and would ask him if he didn’t understand something.

The goal had been achieved. Only one question was left on the paper. Huo Tinglan ended the conversation and tapped the question with a pen, saying: “Continue.”

His actions tonight were not so much to give Ye Ci a way to save face, but it would be better to say that he had improvised a way for Ye Ci to get ahead.

Failing the college entrance examination had always been the regret of Ye Ci’s previous life.

Perhaps due to Ye Hongjun’s serious illness, Ye Ci once wanted to apply to a medical school, but unfortunately encountered too many setbacks in his senior year of high school. He was unable to improve his grades, and the series of events that happened after did not allow him to try again. Later, he participated in races at the racetrack for a living. He didn’t give up on self-study during this time, but unfortunately, the adult college examination he took later was also a failure . . . .

Huo Tinglan wanted to make up for his shortcomings with his own hands.

He hoped that Ye Ci would have the power to make his own choices.

At the end of the paper was a big question with three small problems, which could not be answered within ten minutes. Huo Tinglan had been leaning on the desk with one hand for a while, and no matter how great his physical strength was, he felt a little tired. He read the question, grabbed the swivel chair, and sat next to Ye Ci. 

When he sat down, the distance between the two suddenly narrowed.

The aggressive alpha pheromones sunk in, and Ye Ci subconsciously licked his lower lip. His lips were smooth and red, and his saliva was filled with the sweetness of vanilla.

The lingering Alpha pheromones reminded Ye Ci that he had moved from the bedroom to the study in order to do homework – not to listen to Huo Tinglan’s lectures, but to provide him with pheromones to delay the arrival of his susceptible period.

After he returned home, Uncle He had also gently reminded him to rip off the barrier patch in order to facilitate the spread of pheromones . . . .

In other words, at this moment, Huo Tinglan was smelling him.

. . . . No.

How could normal treatment be like this?

Ye Ci couldn’t control his thoughts, and the more he thought, the more awkward he felt. As if wanting to rub his spine due to soreness, he covered the back of his neck with his hand and looked at Huo Tinglan.

As it turned out, Huo Tinglan looked unconcerned, and his profile was particularly handsome due to his focus.

At a glance, Ye Ci could see that he had made a blind conjecture.

Ye Ci was ashamed for a while, and listened carefully with a correct attitude.

The subject that caused Ye Ci’s scalp to go numb was quite simple for Huo Tinglan. He wrote down the arithmetic and explained his thinking, and half of his mind was still idle.

– – The half that was beginning to stir, his Alpha mind.

Without his authorization, it captured and analyzed every breath that escaped from Ye Ci’s body.

The vanilla-scented pheromones

Very sweet.

This plant was native to the tropical rainforests and was popular with European royal families in the old days. Its sweet scent was reminiscent of cream.

Huo Tinglan didn’t show any trace of his thoughts, looked at Ye Ci calmly and naturally, and asked him a question about formula substitution.

Ye Ci pursed his lips, afraid that his stammering would be annoying. With his left hand, he rubbed his neck in a daze, and with his right hand, he wrote a series of formulas. 

He exuded the scent of cream.

This person was indeed like a small spoonful of soft white cream.

Soft, quivering, trying in vain to hide its sweetness. Pretending to be tough, for fear of being licked.

But the more he tried, the more attractive he was.

An A+ grade Alpha’s sense of smell was too sensitive. Other than Omega pheromones, Huo Tinglan could passively smell something else.

Bleach from washing the collar and cuffs of his clothing, which smelled like disinfectant.

There was also a citrus-scented laundry detergent that exuded a warm, clean smell from his polyester tracksuit.

A small amount of sweat – not unpleasant, very light, hot and fresh like a small animal. It was soaked into the fabric of the pure cotton fabric inner layer, warmed up by the boy’s body temperature with a fresh, sweet sensuality . . . .

This was his eighteen-year-old lover.

Wearing a school uniform, holding a gel pen, his flesh white and tender as if glowing.

The Alpha glands on the verge of sending him into his susceptible period were soothed and became calm.

However, something else was just about to move.

Huo Tinglan quietly smelled Ye Ci’s scent. His eyes darkened, his love was surging, but his tone was level, as if he really didn’t have any evil intentions. He just adjusted his sitting position and folded his left leg over his right, blocking the eyes that might catch a glimpse from the side, and smiled: “. . . . The final answer is this, understand?”

“Understood.” Ye Ci nodded, so excited that he had stopped stammering. “This line of approach is very novel.”

Huo Tinglan’s problem-solving method was tricky and interesting, and saved steps. Ye Ci had never seen such wonderful work, and his eyes were shining. He couldn’t wait to pull out this exercise set from his school bag, wanting to find a similar problem to do independently while the iron was hot. However, as soon as the exercise set was opened, he realized that his “reform” speed was too fast, and his facade of a stubborn boy had collapsed before it could stabilize. He raised his eyes in embarrassment, meeting a pair of unfathomable dark eyes, and his heart thumped. Using his finger to straighten the curled corner of the exercise book, he knew he couldn’t conceal the truth: “Today, you . . . . you were right . . . . I will change.”

Huo Tinglan nodded, and said with a half smile: “Knowing your faults and making amends, that is very good.”

Ye Ci thoroughly understood his attitude.

Huo Tinglan did that on purpose, substituting discipline for mercy, quietly following along so that he could accept help calmly.

Ye Ci’s fingers on the pen’s grip turned white, and he lowered his head to flip through the exercise set. He seemed to be looking for a question, but in fact it was to conceal his stinging eyes.

Mr. Huo . . . . was really a very good person.

The author has something to say:

Dog Huo who adjusted his sitting position because he was sniffing the cub : Indeed

---

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Chapter Eight << Table of Contents >> Chapter Ten

It would be better if the layer of window paper was not pierced ^[1], but since it was pierced, the atmosphere immediately became ambiguous and strange.

Ye Ci lowered his head, squeezed the zipper pull of his sportswear, and pulled it down. The movement was painfully slow, the zipper teeth releasing one by one. Blood rushed to his face and painted it red.

Because he didn’t dare to look up, Huo Tinglan stared at him almost recklessly, like a falcon locking onto its prey. It wasn’t until Ye Ci’s shame reached a critical point and his fists loosened and clenched as if he was about to beat someone, that Huo Tinglan restrained his wicked foolishness and said:  “Hold on.”

Ye Ci’s eyes trembled, and he raised his head as if he had been rescued.

Huo Tinglan had returned to his usual gentle and prudent demeanor, feigning magnanimity, and asked softly: “Is there something like a throw pillow? Those can possibly be used.”

“There, there are throw pillows.” Ye Ci nodded hurriedly.

He had the habit of holding something to sleep, but he had been so panicked that he didn’t remember. Afraid that Huo Tinglan would regret it, he rushed back to the bedroom to get a pillow and hand it over. He lowered his eyes the whole time, not daring to look at Huo Tinglan’s face.

He thought this calamity was over, but when he was about to go out, Huo Tinglan stopped him again and told him euphemistically to come back early from school.

After all, a throw pillow couldn’t hold a lot of pheromones.

At night, he still needed Ye Ci’s help.

Ye Ci was so embarrassed that he was dizzy, and he barely remembered how he got out the door of the Huo residence.

This morning was so hard to bear.

If Huo Tinglan was as bad as he’d thought, and attempted to use treatment as an excuse to do something beyond the norm, the situation would have been easier. He was not afraid of confrontation with people.

But Huo Tinglan was really upright, restrained and polite, and strictly abided by the rules. The more he was like this, the more at a loss Ye Ci was. His emotions were held inside without an outlet, causing him to turn red from his hair to the soles of his feet.

He had been in a daze all day, and before he knew it, evening self-study was over and he had to go back.

In the inner courtyard of the Huo residence, Ye Ci was walking along the tree-lined path with his school bag on his back.

He had to treat Huo Tinglan, as he had agreed that morning.

However, his psychological cognition was still that of an Alpha, and if another Alpha pressed against the back of his neck to smell the glands . . . . 

“. . . . . .”

Ye Ci had to punch a tree.

The pain in his hand calmed him down.

In any case, he would have to help sooner or later. If you were going to die anyway, it was better to fight. It was better to be straightforward than to dawdle . . . .

Ye Ci clenched his fists, his heart in chaos, and was about to return to the main building of the Huo residence. When he looked up, he saw Huo Tinglan standing a few steps away and looking at him.

His shirt collar was unbuttoned, and he could see the undulating lines of his chest muscles. The tendons in his neck stood out clearly, and the hair over his forehead fell messily across the ridge of his brow. His pupils were dark, handsome and somber, and five fingers clamped on to a ravaged and wrinkled throw pillow . . . . obviously, his torment on this day was not light.

Alphas approaching their susceptible period would gradually become violent and jealous under the catalyst of pheromones, paranoid and clingy. They would show an outrageous and unbearable urge to monopolize, along with a morbid craving for a high-match Omega, and not be their usual self. With the official start of the susceptible period, these negative emotions would also reach their peak. The higher the Alpha’s level, the more obvious these personality changes were during the susceptible period . . . .

But Huo Tinglan’s had obviously not started yet.

It was just in the early stages, and the symptoms were already so serious?

It was no wonder that some A+ Alphas were so tormented that they abused themselves during their susceptible period . . . .

Ye Ci was startled and took a step back in a conditioned reflex.

“Pardon me, I came out to get some air.” Huo Tinglan hooked his collar. “Did I scare you?”

His eyes were still calm.

However, it was not the same as his usual composure. At this moment, Huo Tinglan seemed to be trying his best to hold something back.

Like viscous lava flowing under a slab of rock, the seemingly cold and hard obsidian had long been burned to the point of melting. That high temperature came from the illogical possessiveness of an Alpha’s susceptible period, and the fiery . . . . lust.

Ye Ci’s heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened. He wanted to take a closer look, but Huo Tinglan had returned to normal and was looking at him calmly with a pair of black eyes. The burning, thirsty eyes just now seemed to be Ye Ci’s fleeting illusion.

Ye Ci was startled, shook his head, and murmured, “I’m not scared.”

Huo Tinglan smiled gently, as if to make up for something, and there was even a bit of relief on his face. “You came back early today.”

“. . . . En.”

Huo Tinglan slowly confirmed the reason: “Is it because I asked you this morning or because racing isn’t fun?”

Even in an outdoor environment, Huo Tinglan’s pheromone concentration was still unprecedentedly high. Ye Ci held his breath and only opened his mouth a little as he muttered, “Because, because in the morning . . . . you asked.”

Huo Tinglan rubbed the soft, dry cloth of the pillow with his fingertips, stared at Ye Ci for two seconds with his handsome face half hidden in the dim shadow of a tree, and asked softly, “So, can I assume that you are mentally prepared to treat me?”

Ye Ci’s breath was shaking, and he was silent for a while before making a vague “En.”

It was already dark at this time, but the courtyard lights emitted warm yellow halos and there were servants passing by not far away. 

“Is it okay to do it here?” Huo Tinglan asked his opinion, like a patient hunter.

Compared to a closed room, a garden could obviously make Ye Ci feel more secure.

And a sense of security would mean relaxing his guard.

Ye Ci tried his best to put on a cold and indifferent face, and nodded casually.

“Then we’ll do it here.” Huo Tinglan still stood unmoving in his original place. “Will you actively release pheromones?”

“What?” Ye Ci raised his eyes, looking confused. “No, I can’t.”

How long had he been an Omega? His glands weren’t well developed, how could he do this . . . .

Huo Tinglan was silent for a while, giving Ye Ci space to breathe.

Like holding a slippery, timid little silver fish, the tighter you held it, the faster the fish would escape your hands.

He had to hold him neither loosely nor tightly, to avoid startling him and also prevent him from running.

After a while, Huo Tinglan said slowly: “Then I might need to be closer to you.”

Ye Ci slowed down a bit and forced himself to keep cool: “Whatever.”

Huo Tinglan took a few steps closer, walked around behind Ye Ci, and reminded him: “The barrier patch needs to be removed.”

“Oh.” Ye Ci’s hands trembled violently. Fearing that he would be found out, he said firmly, “You tear it.”

The barrier patch had been pasted on for several hours, and the corners had lost their stickiness, curling slightly. Huo Tinglan pinched it with his fingertips, carefully not touching Ye Ci, tore off the barrier patch, and held it in the palm of his hand. 

The moist, slightly warm sweat mixed with Omega pheromones penetrated into the lines of his palm, and Huo Tinglan’s eyes moved nervously.

Ye Ci’s neck had been stimulated by Alpha pheromones to become pink, and was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. The moment the barrier patch was removed, the scent of sweet, sticky, creamy vanilla spread out suddenly, and the comfort brought by the absolute match at the genetic level was like warm spring water. It wrapped around Huo Tinglan’s violent, manic nerves and painfully twitching blood vessels, and in an instant, those torturous symptoms disappered as if they had never existed . . . .

Sweet, happy vanilla.

It was the smell that had soothed him repeatedly in his previous life.

So familiar.

It made him yearn so much.

Huo Tinglan’s breathing suddenly became heavy, and the light blue blood vessels protruding from his temples were accompanied by the violent beating of his heart. Like someone on the verge of drowning breaking through the water’s surface, he panted eagerly. Shaking slightly, he leaned down, and the distance between him and Ye Ci immediately narrowed.

The hot, rough breath was repeatedly sprayed on the back of his neck. As if a salivating tiger had climbed onto his back, whether his bones would be ripped out to suck the marrow or if he would be eaten into its belly depended on whether the tiger still had a conscience.

Ye Ci suddenly went numb from his spine to the top of his skull. His skin was sore and itchy from the highly aggressive A+ pheromones, and from head to foot, the fine hairs on his body all stood up in horror.

“Wait . . . .” Ye Ci couldn’t stand it anymore. He took a step forward and instinctively wanted to run.

Huo Tinglan tried his best to regain his sanity and avoid scaring Ye Ci away.

He stretched out his arms to grasp the tree in front of Ye Ci, confining that person within the circle of his arms. His Adam’s apple trembled and his voice was hoarse as he almost shamelessly coaxed his young lover: “Don’t be afraid . . . . it’s just treatment . . . . don’t move . . . .”

Their limbs didn’t really touch, but they were too close. The Alpha’s muscles were hard and hot, burning his back like red-hot charcoal, and Ye Ci’s head and face were flushed. He’d thought he could grit his teeth and endure it, but it turned out that he couldn’t. His willpower and his resistance to another Alpha twisted against each other, grinding together with a tooth-aching metallic sound, and the battle between the two forces reached a critical point. Sparks shot out, and the ambiguous breath between the two bodies was detonated with a bang . . . without warning, Ye Ci jumped up like a wild cat.

The back of his head seemed to have hit something, making Huo Tinglan groan, but Ye Ci couldn’t care about anything. With his face so hot that he was almost cooked through, he disappeared without a trace.

The garden was quiet again except for the night wind.

The front of his shirt was stained with a few drops of blood. Huo Tinglan took out a silk handkerchief and folded it in half calmly.

He immediately used the silk handkerchief to cover his nose, which was hurt by that little head. He was obviously injured, but as if he had gotten a bargain, he gave a low smile.

. . . . . .

Huo Tinglan’s alpha glands, which had suffered from illness for many years, were highly sensitive to Ye Ci’s pheromones. Just a couple of sniffs up close, and the effects lasted for hours. He did not suffer from his various symptoms all the way through bedtime.

He leisurely leaned on the bed and flipped through a few less important documents. The screen of his mobile phone remained on, showing Ye Ci’s WeChat interface.

He was curious how long Ye Ci would maintain the state of “The other party is typing . . . .” this time.

Ye Ci really lived up to his expectations, and operated to no avail for more than 20 minutes.

Huo Tinglan sighed with a smile. After going back and forth between the choice of teasing the little gentleman or being chivalrous, he finally decided to maintain his current good image.

He took the phone and typed a few words to help Ye Ci open up the conversation.

[Huo Tinglan]: I’m not angry. Rest early after finishing your homework.

Perhaps he was finally relieved, because the reply came quickly.

[Ye Ci]: Sorry, did I bump into you?

[Huo Tinglan]: En.

[Ye Ci]: Where did it hit?

Another one followed.

[Ye Ci]: Are you hurt?

[Huo Tinglan]: The nose.

Huo Tinglan first responded to the previous query. Immediately, he stroked the bridge of his nose, savoring Ye Ci’s unintentionally revealed urgent concern, and thought.

After pondering for a while, he deleted “it’s not damaged,” smiled, and retyped three words.

[Huo Tinglan]: It’s bruised.

Ye Ci was silent for a while.

There was not even a “typing.”

Was he . . . . cruelly teasing him?

After getting no response for a long time, Huo Tinglan tapped the screen with his fingertips, intending to say something to give Ye Ci a way out, and opened the page.

But at this moment, a series of footsteps suddenly sounded in the corridor outside his bedroom. Cautious, the steps were lighter than those of a kitten, and normal people should not be able to hear it. However, as a top-level Alpha, Huo Tinglan’s hearing was so good that he could hear the rustling sounds clearly.

That person lingered in the hallway, stopped for a few seconds in front of the door, and ran away.

Back and forth, as if testing someone.

When this was repeated for the third time, Huo Tinglan finally couldn’t hold back the itch in his heart like sprawling spring grass. He took a deep breath, walked to the door, and took the initiative to open it.

The door opened without warning, frightening Ye Ci, who was almost standing against the door panel. Like a stressed cat, he almost gave Huo Tinglan a hard punch.

“Why are you here?” Huo Tinglan raised his eyebrows, pretending to be surprised.

“To give you, to give . . . .” Ye Ci glanced at the bridge of Huo Tinglan’s nose. He swallowed the second half of the sentence suspiciously, and only shook the ice back and trauma spray in his hand.

The ice pack and spray were prescribed by Huo Tinglan’s personal doctor when he injured his ankle last time. The spray was very easy to use, and the pain would go away after a while. Seeing as there was half a can left, he brought it. If he had a choice, he wouldn’t want to come even under pain of being beaten to death, but Huo Tinglan’s nose had been bruised by him. He had to be responsible, hmm, for hurting it . . . .

The question was . . . . where was his nose bruised?

In an instant, Ye Ci, the “perpetrator,” had a few heartless speculations flash through his mind.

The author has something to say:

His speculations were all right.

Dog Huo: No bruises, but it’s fractured QAQ

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[1] Piercing the window paper refers to shedding light on a subject or bringing it out into the open. ⮐

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Chapter Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Nine

The two left the police station. Huo Tinglan had been in a hurry when he left home. He didn’t send a second car, so he went around to the front and sat in the passenger seat, pretending to be a gentleman.

Twenty minutes later, the car drove back to the Huo residence and Ye Ci got out of the car, trying to hide his unnatural gait. He entered the door and sat on a stool to change shoes, but as soon as he took off his sneakers, Huo Tinglan stopped him.

“What’s wrong with your feet?” Huo Tinglan stood by the door and pointed at his feet with a frown.

Ye Ci pulled up the loose trouser legs of the school uniform and looked down.

He felt pain in his right ankle. In the previous melee, he had kicked the steel pipe with one foot, and at that time, the pain made his head buzz. He’d checked it himself at the police station, and didn’t take it seriously when he saw that it was just a bruise. He didn’t expect it to be swollen like a steamed bun now. It looked really scary.

“. . . . It’s fine.” Ye Ci took a perfunctory attitude and put down his trouser legs, about to go.

In his opinion, it was okay as long as it wasn’t broken. It was enough to apply ice. Children who grew up in the slums were not so delicate.

“Hold still.” Huo Tinglan squatted directly in front of him on one knee and said solemnly, “Let me see.”

The tone of the command was so powerful that Ye Ci was startled and forgot to refuse.

Huo Tinglan held Ye Ci’s bruised ankle with his left hand and pulled up his trouser leg with his right. There was no actual touch, but across that thin distance, the vigorous heat of the Alpha’s palm still baked his ankle that was extra sensitive from the swelling.

Ye Ci clenched the strap of his school bag tightly and stiffly stretched out his foot.

It was an Omega’s foot, with a slender arch. It was long and thin, tightly wrapped in pure white cotton socks. 

The cotton was half-worn but rinsed white. When it was lifted from the sneakers, there was no smell at all. The shape of his toes showed through the tip of his sock, slightly raised due to tension . . . . they were very cute.

“The swelling is so bad, a fracture can’t be ruled out.” In fact, the inspection process only took two or three seconds, or even shorter. To avoid suspicion, Huo Tinglan looked away with restraint. “I’ll take you to the hospital for an x-ray.”

“It’s not fractured . . . . I, I know these things.” Ye Ci noticed the subtle change in the atmosphere, and his right ankle that was held in the palm of that hand suddenly became numb. The shame and embarrassment was intolerable. He suddenly retracted his foot, pulled on his slippers, and was about to leave.

“Don’t step on the ground yet.” Huo Tinglan subconsciously grasped it.

He had already held this ankle a thousand times, not only holding it, but kissing and sucking on his shoulders. No matter his thoughts, today was not yesterday. Ye Ci was still estranged from him, and every second, he warned himself to pretend to be a gentleman. He wanted to avoid arousing suspicion, but it was also inevitable that there would be moments of forgetfulness and loss of perspective.

The sweatpants were made of smooth fabric and covered a nimble, gazelle-like calf.

Because of his thinness, it was slightly skinnier than before.

Since Ye Ci’s accident in the last life, until now . . . .

How long had it been since they had physical contact?

The one he longed for, his lost and found lover, was so youthful and lovely. Huo Tinglan’s heart throbbed with heat, and one of the tense strings in his brain broke. Not only did he not release his hold immediately, but he almost dragged that ankle in for a kiss.

At the same time, the pheromones of the A+ grade Alpha easily penetrated the fabric. Ye Ci was scalded as if by red-hot tongs, and the tension inside him that had been strung tight day and night since he moved into the Huo residence snapped with a ding.

Before Huo Tinglan could do anything inappropriate, Ye Ci had already pulled back his feet and shouted fiercely and embarrassedly, “Don’t touch me!”

Immediately, he limped back to the bedroom with red ears and slammed the door.

There was a loud bang.

“. . . . . .” Kneeling on one knee, Huo Tinglan came to his senses after a while, apologetic, and a riot of mixed emotions rose up.

Fortunately, he hadn’t had time to do anything yet.

However, even though he didn’t have time to do anything, he was still regarded as a scoundrel.

All of his previous efforts had been lost, ah . . . .

Huo Tinglan rubbed his forehead.

In any case, Ye Ci’s foot injury couldn’t be left alone. Huo Tinglan turned his head. Uncle He was already standing a discreet distance away, busily pretending to work, as if he hadn’t noticed the predicament of the child and Huo Tinglan “attempting to take liberties.”

Huo Tinglan inwardly laughed, and ordered him to call his personal doctor to see Ye Ci. He went back to the study by himself, reluctantly calmed down, and dealt with the work that had been interrupted earlier.

Huo Tinglan was very efficient when he was immersed in work, and the remaining contracts were finished quickly. After closing the last document, Huo Tinglan grabbed the phone and checked the time. Less than an hour had passed.

He estimated that Ye Ci had calmed down a little by now. He took the cell phone and wanted to explain that his actions today were not malicious. When he clicked on Ye Ci’s WeChat, the empty chat interface actually displayed, “The other party is typing.”

Huo Tinglan was curious as to what Ye Ci would say, and waited patiently. But three minutes passed, and the top of the interface still intermittently said, “The other party is typing.”

“. . . . . .” Huo Tinglan smiled and switched the app to his album instead. There were several clips of the surveillance video from the racetrack, which he saved at the police station.

The earliest clip had nothing to do with the fight. In the video, Ye Ci and another driver ended their race. Ye Ci straddled the rugged heavy-duty motorcycle in his school uniform, took off his helmet, and tossed his fluffy black hair. With a pretentious sophistication, he took a stack of banknotes from the other driver and tucked them away. The next few segments were videos of Ye Ci’s unscathed one against five fight.

Huo Tinglan watched the surveillance videos several times, and his lips twitched into a smile.

This was the Ye Ci that he failed to understand in his previous life. Hidden under that cold and fragile ceramic beauty was a little poplar boy. ^[1]

He just couldn’t see it.

When he switched back to the chat interface, the chat box was still empty.

The other party is typing . . . .

A pause for a few seconds to think about the wording.

The other party is typing . . . .

Pause, enter, pause, enter.

Over and over again.

Huo Tinlan felt sorry and also wanted to laugh a little.

Even an 800-character composition should have been finished by now, was Ye Ci . . . . impeaching him?

He wanted to send a message first, but he wasn’t sure about Ye Ci’s state at this time, afraid that a disagreement would cause the child to explode with shame and anger. Then he locked the screen. He would control himself and wait.

Over in the bedroom, Ye Ci didn’t know that Huo Tinglan had been waiting in the study for a long time. Wrapped in a quilt on the bed, he carefully crafted the words in the dialogue box. His forehead was sweating.

He knew he had overreacted tonight and was quite rude. After his stress response to the Alpha’s pheromones had subsided, he was so tangled up that he had twisted himself into a knot. He knew that he should apologize to Huo Tinglan, but he was ashamed to speak in person, afraid of the effect of stuttering three words out of nine. But typing didn’t seem to be any better, and communicating with others had always been his Achilles heel.

Ye Ci typed a bunch of words and deleted a portion of them. After dawdling for a long time, he finally closed his eyes, physically and mentally exhausted, and pressed send.

[Ye Ci]: I’m sorry about what happened today, I didn’t mean to yell at you.

Huo Tinglan, who was ready to accept the impeachment, looked at those words so weak in strength, and was stunned for a moment. Then he slightly curled the corners of his lips and wrote his response.

[Huo Tinglan]: It’s okay.

[Huo Tinglan]: I was the one who was careless. I want to say sorry to you too.

He was pretending to be very solemn and serious.

[Huo Tinglan]: Has your foot been seen by the doctor?

Ye Ci heaved a sigh of relief.

[Ye Ci]: He saw it, it’s been dealt with.

[Huo Tinglan]: Good, rest early.

There was silence from the other side.

Like he was frantically mulling over the wording again.

After a while, the message alert sounded.

Ye Ci: En.

Poised and leisurely.

For some reason, Huo Tinglan suddenly remembered the birds swimming on the lake . . . . the upper half was calm and composed, but a pair of small feet were desperately paddling underwater.

He smiled lightly and put down the phone.

He didn’t know what those little feet deleted, deleted, modified, and didn’t post.

. . . . . . 

The incident at the police station had increased Ye Ci’s trust in Huo Tinglan.

He was neither stupid nor lacking in experience. Gangsters often sought revenge and fought. Entering the police station was nothing more than some monetary losses to reconcile accounts. Huo Tinglan must have played a role in cleaning up those people on the charge of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

However, due to the subsequent misunderstanding, the relationship between the two did not ease significantly. It was true that Huo Tinglan had always behaved mildly and gentlemanly, but Ye Ci had terribly thin skin. The guy had three tons of baggage. Even if he had apologized, it was inevitable that his scalp would tingle with embarrassment when he remembered that scene.

Because of this, he was extra careful to stagger his living time with Huo Tinglan again. As a result, as soon as he entered the dining room that morning, he was taken aback to realize that Huo Tinglan, who should have woken up half an hour later than him, was sitting at the table drinking coffee.

Not only did he get up early, but he was also well-dressed in a navy blue suit with a straight half inch of eye-catching white on the cuffs. His fingers fiddled with the pearl cufflinks leisurely, as if he was deliberately stopping him here.

Ye Ci was stunned, then took a step back, trying to slip away.

“Morning.” Huo Tinglan raised his eyes and looked directly at him. “You should finish eating breakfast before you leave.”

“. . . . Morning.” Ye Ci paused. He bit the bullet and said, “I know.”

He moved diagonally to Huo Tinglan and sat down. Feeling vaguely aware of something, his nose twitched slightly.

Huo Tinglan’s body was filled with the light fragrance of tequila, a trace amount of pheromones escaping from the barrier patch. Ye Ci was already used to and familiar with this alcohol-like atmosphere, but he didn’t know if it was his own illusion that this morning’s aura seemed to be different from before. It was more intense than before, more aggressive, and also mixed with a wisp of something – the musky scent of a wild and savage beast.

The back of his neck became faintly hot, and Ye Ci felt so awkward that he poured a few mouthfuls of milk in a flurry, wanting a quick fix for breakfast.

Huo Tinglan looked at him quietly for a moment, took a sip of coffee, and said slowly, “There is something I want to discuss with you in person, and I got up early for fear that I wouldn’t be able to see you.”

The implication was that it was a special case for him to get up early today, so that Ye Ci did not have to put so much effort into getting up earlier to avoid him . . . . he was afraid that a certain child would get up in the middle of the night to go to school.

Ye Ci squeezed the cup of milk and sighed softly, asking, “What’s up?”

After speaking, he glanced at Huo Tinglan. Without knowing why, he didn’t think he had woken up early, but had instead had a sleepless night, his whole body radiating an exhausted excitement.

Indulgence . . . . overindulgence?

Ye Ci abruptly looked away.

It was extremely difficult for A+ grade Alphas to find an Omega, but they could use pheromone-insensitive Betas to vent their serious excesses . . . . so what?

“Actually, my susceptible period is about to begin,” Huo Tinglan interrupted Ye Ci’s wild thoughts. “Without intervention, it will probably just last these two days.”

The air was suddenly quiet.

Probably last just these two days . . . .  just these two days . . . . these two days . . . .

Ye Ci gulped and muttered, “Oh,” almost crushing the glass of milk in his hand.

Huo Tinglan tapped the tabletop with his fingertips. His eyes were sharp, scratching Ye Ci’s blushing face inch by inch. After two seconds of silence, he smiled self-deprecatingly: “I was afraid you wouldn’t be mentally prepared, and I didn’t want to tell you. But I’ve made do with medication for the past few days and feel there is little difference between eating and not eating. This susceptible period is more serious than before and may not be easy to control once it starts, so I still want to ask your intentions.”

During their susceptible period, Alpha hormones were secreted in excess, heart rate and blood pressure increased sharply, and the acuity of the five senses was raised to the limit of tolerance, and glandular activity was greatly enhanced . . . . In primitive times, this series of changes was to help the Alpha find, track, and capture the Omega that belonged to him.

Therefore, an Alpha’s susceptible period could be delayed if it could be eased by Omega pheromones, because the brain would think that he had found the right Omega.

This was not a long-term solution. At most, it could delay a susceptible period for a month or two, but there was no other way.

“If you can help me delay the arrival of this susceptible period, that’s not a bad thing for either of us . . . .” Huo Tinglan’s tone sank, “I don’t think you’d want to live with an Alpha who is at risk of going out of control.”

The intensity of an Alpha’s susceptible period was strongly correlated with their mental state.

Experiencing mental trauma caused by divorce, widowhood, being chronically single, or an Alpha with a strong desire for a particular Omega, could make the symptoms more severe and longer-lasting.

– – Unfortunately, Huo Tinglan met all of the above conditions.

So this time his susceptible period would be quite dreadful. Once started, the gentle and innocuous gentleman’s mask would be difficult to wear.

As far as the current state between the two was concerned, it was natural to delay as long as possible.

Ye Ci mumbled, unable to speak.

Huo Tinglan didn’t rush, and waited quietly for him to state his position.

The agreement had been signed, and Huo Tinglan had treated him with ample generosity these days. In light of reason, he should not refuse.

“What do you . . . . need –” Ye Ci’s fingers trembled, and he had to curl them up into the sleeves of his school uniform. “ – need to do?”

Huo Tinglan stared at the boy who was pretending to be calm, a little awkward. The following words, written out in black and white, were fine when written out as terms, but once he said them with his mouth . . . . it seemed that no matter the wording, it would be difficult to clear himself of the suspicion of being a scoundrel.

He wouldn’t mind playing a scoundrel properly . . . .

He was just afraid that Ye Ci wouldn’t like him as a scoundrel.

Seeing that Ye Ci was about to collapse while waiting, Huo Tinglan cleared his throat, making his tone sound businesslike: “According to the agreement, you can provide me with some pheromone-containing items.”

“. . . . . .” Ye Ci licked his lower lip, completely speechless.

Items containing pheromones seemed like nothing at first glance. However, those that could contain pheromones, other than the scent barrier patch attached to the back of the neck, were probably . . . . clothes.

Ye Ci subconsciously raised his hand and stroked the scent barrier patch on the back of his neck.

The square piece of non-woven fabric that rose and fell with his vertebrae felt smooth to the touch. Because it was so close to the skin, it was inevitable that it would be contaminated with sweat, so it felt slightly damp when peeled off. Soft, full of vanilla-scented Omega pheromones . . . . Thinking of giving such a private item to Huo Tinglan, Ye Ci’s hand shook and he retracted it as if he had received an electrical shock.

Barrier patches wouldn’t work.

Then only clothes were left.

Ye Ci squeezed the zipper of his school uniform and hesitated. His brain had been roasted by the fires of shame, and he asked in a daze: “You, you’re going to take it . . . . and sniff it?”

His IQ returned as soon as the words came out, and he wanted to sew his mouth shut in remorse.

“. . . . . .”

Things were complicated and couldn’t be explained in one sentence. Huo Tinglan was silent for a moment, trying to keep his voice as soft as possible: “What would I do otherwise?”

The author has something to say:

Huo Dog: Otherwise, could I lick it?

Young Ci: Pinching himself to wake up .jpg

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[1] Little poplar, 小白杨, refers to a Chinese military song where the male character grows from weakness into a soldier. ⮐

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Chapter Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eight

In order to avoid unnecessary contact with Huo Tinglan, Ye Ci did not dare to get up late from that day forward.

Huo Tinglan was in a high position but was extremely self-disciplined. If he hadn’t come home late, he would have woken up almost as early as Ye Ci, a high school student.

After figuring out Huo Tinglan’s daily routine, Ye Ci simply went to bed early and got up early. He got up at dawn, hurriedly grabbed breakfast, and went to school. The private high school ended early in the evening, so he took the initiative to go to the racetrack after two evening self-study classes. If he felt good, he raced a few more matches, and when he was in poor condition, he sat in the lounge and read a book.

The amount of medical expenses owed to Chu Wenlin was huge, and he would not pay it back in a year or two, but on the contrary, he was not in a hurry. Having more cash in his hand could give him some confidence in a situation full of uncertainty, not to be kneaded like dough by anyone. Although after entering a marriage relationship with Huo Tinglan, he could theoretically get astronomical assets from him, Ye Ci never coveted things that didn’t belong to him.

Seeing that Ye Ci was not at home all day, obviously hiding from him, Huo Tinglan was not in a hurry and only ordered the kitchen to remake the meal plan. He tossed out the excessively extravagant and expensive dishes, and mainly focused on nutritious and tasty home-cooked meals, letting Uncle He watch over Ye Ci every day when he ate and left for school.

An eighteen-year-old Omega, married to a strange older Alpha, with no protection from his family . . . . such behavior was normal.

Like a stray cat that had suffered too much and grown withdrawn and alert, when he saw people approaching, he would wave his small paws and posture, fierce and timid.

If he pursued Ye Ci at this time, he would only be regarded as a wicked scoundrel with bad intentions. Doing too much could have the opposite effect.

No matter how urgent he felt, how eager, he must be patient and give Ye Ci enough space to get used to it slowly.

However, some people thought otherwise.

When she heard that her son had quietly picked up a 100% matching little Omega from Chu Wenlin and placed him at home, Lin Yao swept away her usual elegance and made three calls that day. She anxiously urged him to take that person to the old house to show her. She also advised him between the lines not to miss an opportunity, and that “The purpose of marriage is to form a strong union between Huo and Chu, and to relieve the symptoms of the susceptible period.” Her entreaties were full of grievance, and she wholeheartedly believed that the real purpose of their shotgun wedding should be to give birth to a little heir to the Huo family.

That night, Huo Tinglan handled official business in the study alone, flipping through documents. At the same time, he listened with half an ear to Lin Yao speaking to him gently and tenderly.

“. . . . You are already thirty years old . . . .”

“. . . . The Huo family needs a legitimate heir. At your age, it is time to consider the matter of children . . . .”

“. . . . I heard that he is studying at Tiancheng, and his academics should be excellent. I don’t think it matters whether or not it’s the bloodline of the main house of the Chu family . . . .”

“. . . . It’s such a rare match, and you’re already married, why don’t you try going on dates? I heard that the two of you can’t exchange a few words all day long, so how do you know if you’re incompatible? I’ve seen the photos, it looks so painful, you shouldn’t be celibate . . . .”

Huo Tinglan just listened with a smile on the corners of his lips, occasionally making a gentle, “En.”

“At the very least, you have to give me and your father some face, don’t you? Even if the wedding is postponed, we Huo have to pick a time to hold a family dinner between our Huo and Chu families, otherwise, it’s inexcusable . . . .”

“A family dinner can be done.” It was rare for Huo Tinglan to agree, but then the conversation changed again: “We can wait to talk about it when I’m less busy.”

They were married, the wedding was postponed, and the family banquet was not held. It was truly unreasonable.

But Ye Ci had always resisted this sort of social situation, and Huo Tinglan didn’t plan to use these trivial matters to add trouble to Ye Ci before their relationship broke the ice.

It took a long time to bring him home . . . . what should he do if he was scared away?

“You . . . .” Lin Yao got angry and started lecturing him again.

After finally dealing with Lin Yao, it was half past nine, and Huo Tinglan rubbed his brow wearily.

He didn’t know when Ye Ci would be willing to get closer to him.

His next susceptible period was approaching, and for the past few days, he hadn’t even thought about how to make a request euphemistically so as not to scare Ye Ci.

He was thinking about this when there was a knock on the study door.

“Please come in.” Huo Tinglan raised his eyes.

“Sir.” Uncle He pushed open the door, looking a little anxious, holding the phone in one hand as he said in a low voice, “The police station called and said that Young Master Ye had beat up a few people at the racetrack. He’s now being held at the station for questioning. Do you want to send someone to get Young Master Ye out . . . .”

Huo Tinglan was stunned, and said, “I’ll go take a look.” He got up, grabbed his jacket, and hurried out.

He knew that Ye Ci could fight. After all, Ye Ci’s first differentiation result was an A-level Alpha. Before the second differentiation, his body had developed according to the genetic blueprint of a top Alpha. His muscle tone, explosive power, and reflexes were all excellent. Otherwise, it would be impossible to succeed in the realm of formula racing.

However, Huo Tinglan only “knew” that at a theoretical level.

In fact, he had never seen Ye Ci fight. First of all, such violent behavior might lead to an athlete’s suspension. Secondly, based on Ye Ci’s cool and indifferent temperament in his previous life, he seemed to not care about anything, and it was impossible for him to raise a fist to someone.

Now, it had been less than half a month, and he had just beaten someone up.

It turned out that the eighteen-year-old Ye Ci was like this.

Huo Tinglan’s heart jumped twice out of rhythm.

. . . . . .

At half past seven, the school bell rang.

Tiancheng Private High School advocated a free and independent learning atmosphere. Evening self-study was not compulsory, and half of the students had already dispersed.

In the last row of the classroom, Ye Ci was leaning his forehead on one hand. He turned his body slightly at an awkward angle and blocked his tablemate’s gaze with his arm.

The physics paper given out in his fourth class that morning was said to be for strengthening their foundations. The other student was in the same class and at the same table, but he filled out the paper as if he was playing during his lunch break. Not to mention those top students, who may not even bother to do such a simple task.

Ye Ci clenched the sweaty pen and skipped another question.

The large blanks on the paper made his scalp tingle – if this was the college entrance examination, he would have already failed.

Ye Ci had studied at an ordinary high school before dropping out. He could still rank in the top few grades even with his crippled English, and physics was his best subject.

However, the standard of teaching of the regular high school he had attended and this private school was vastly different. He had taken a long break from school before, and there were too many gaps in his knowledge. He didn’t know where to start when asking a teacher. A subject teacher had to be in charge of two or three classes of students, so how could he have time to waste accompanying him through so many questions? He could only muddle through books by himself, with poor results. As for his English, which was already crippled, the private school cracked down so hard on it that he was completely lost.

Ye Ci felt that he was not even good enough to be called a slacker student. He was now just a pinch of sand, which would dissipate with a gust of wind.

“Hey, excuse me, I’m going out.” His tablemate got up to leave, and his tone was neither hot nor cold.

Ye Ci had transferred over a month ago, and had hardly interacted with his classmates. Most of the children who could study there were wealthy and respectable people. They knew each other well and knew that there was no big family sunamed Ye in B city, so they didn’t take the initiative to communicate with Ye Ci – nor did they look down on him. It just wasn’t important. The few Alpha young masters who reached out to him all experienced his rejection. After that, his classmates knew that he was not easy to get along with, and fewer people talked to him.

Even in gym class, he would find a place to be alone.

His forehead was hot and damp. It was covered in red marks from the palm of his hand, but fortunately his hair was covering it. Ye Ci casually tossed his pen on the table, folded the paper leisurely, picked up his school bag, and walked out. It looked as if he didn’t intend to answer the questions at all, and was just wasting time there in order to appease his parents.

The more pitiful he was, the more he was afraid that people would pity him.

Unable to finish his examination paper, Ye Ci was restless and anxious. As a result, when it rained, it poured, and he encountered things at the racetrack that doubled his anxiety.

The last time, about half a month ago, he had beaten up a trash fish^[1] who had tried to make him crash on the track. He was in the right, he didn’t do anything excessive, and he didn’t accept the 3,000 yuan bet that he should have taken. After all, hitting someone generated medical bills. According to his previous experience on the streets, this could be considered as taking a step back, and anyone with self-respect wouldn’t become entangled again.

The problem was that the trash fish was shameless.

After disappearing for half a month, his injuries were healed, and the trash fish led a few other small trash fish in an attempt to come win back some face. Ye Ci had an impression of his cheap yellow hair, and recognized him at a glance. Huang Mao was carrying a steel pipe in his hand, and his mouthful of vulgar cursing could be heard across the track.

At that time, Ye Ci had just finished a lap with some people and his body was hot. His sports jacket was open, revealing the blue and white school uniform underneath, clean and youthful.

The drag racing had eased his mood a bit, and the lump of pent-up frustration in his chest was blown away by the strong wind that swept through his body as he raced at high speed. Unfortunately, his good mood did not last long.

He straddled the heavy motorcycle and quietly looked at the gang of people approaching from a distance.

There were many people, but their weakness was visible to the naked eye.

Either a skinny monkey like Huang Mao, or a stout, fat man stained with beer and barbecue, neither were useful.

Before anyone approached, Ye Ci took out a carton of cigarettes and a lighter.

He was not addicted to cigarettes, and even though the carton was wrinkled, it was only missing a few, but the posture was familiar. He tilted his head slightly, his thin eyelids drooping. The burning red butt of the cigarette lifted up as he took a draw, and his porcelain-like beauty was hidden behind the smoke. He just appeared like a ruffian.

In a fight, the one with the most imposing manner had already won half the battle.

“It’s that little bastard!” Huang Mao approached, spat thick phlegm on the track, pointed at Ye Ci, and the foul language that followed was too dirty to listen to.

Ye Ci casually glanced at the surveillance camera and finished smoking half a cigarette. He stepped off the motorcycle and pinched out the cigarette butt, a few sparks leaking from his fingers.

He rolled up the sleeves of his uniform, showed no expression, and didn’t say any harsh words. He just said concisely, “Come on.”

“I’ll come, mother**** . . . .” Several people cursed and grabbed at him. The first one sent a swipe at his shoulder, slamming down with the steel pipe.

Ye Ci deliberately gave him a heavy shove within range of the surveillance camera, then stepped sideways to dodge. Five fingers clasped the man’s wrist and twisted it skillfully. The main quivered in pain, and the steel pipe fell to the ground. Ye Ci stomped on it so that it bounced up, then grabbed it with a slap and slammed it into the man’s knee!

That man tumbled to the ground and bloodied his mouth.

This sequence of events only took two or three seconds, and the other people only understood what had happened afterward.

Ye Ci weighed the steel pipe in his hand, gave a slight nod to the bloody-mouthed bastard, and said, “Thank you.”

– – That person was considerate enough to come pick this thing up and provide a weapon for him.

He couldn’t speak well, and he was also disgusted by the provocative way others spoke, so he had developed the skill of expressing ridicule with the fewest words possible

“You mother****er . . . .” Huang Mao was stunned for a moment before he could react, so angry that his face twisted out of shape. With a wave of his hand, he led the collection of thugs to pounce.

. . . . . .

At the police station.

In the guard room, Ye Ci sat on the edge of the bed with an English book rolled up in his left hand, quietly reciting words.

He was not a frequent visitor to the police station, but was also no stranger to it, so he stayed calm and did as he pleased.

The gangsters who followed that guy to come looking for trouble tonight were arrogant and conspicuous, and someone had called the police before they even started. Ye Ci thoughtfully beat them one by one, and then the police car arrived. After checking his documents, the police saw that he was still in high school and said that they would inform his family and school. Ye Ci really didn’t want to see Chu Wenlin, so he struggled through reporting Uncle He’s phone number.

Not long after the call was made, the door of the guard room was pushed open. Ye Ci thought it was Uncle He and looked up unprepared, but was startled to find Huo Tinglan’s tall, straight figure at the door.

Huo Tinglan had a coat over his forearm, and a suit vest and black shirt emphasized his chest muscles and sharp waist. The collar of the shirt was open, his hair wasn’t combed, and there was an unfathomable look on his handsome face, a bit like a smile, but his lips were not curved.

He first inspected Ye Ci from head to toe, and saw that he was not injured and that his school uniform was even neat, and then said: “You can go home.”

Ye Ci put away the English book, distanced himself from Huo Tinglan, and walked out of the room slowly. Auxiliary police officers and a shrewd-looking man in a suit and leather shoes, maybe a lawyer, were standing in the corridor. Huo Tinglan nodded at him and went downstairs first with the guard in charge.

“Have you eaten tonight?” Huo Tinglan asked calmly.

“. . . . No.” Ye Ci paused, as if afraid of being cared for, and quickly added, “I’m not hungry.”

“Even if you’re not hungry, your stomach can’t be empty all the time. Let’s go back and eat something simple,” Huo Tinglan said warmly.

Ye Ci was preoccupied and didn’t answer him. After a moment of silence, he clenched his fists and asked: “You paid, you paid how much . . . .for medical expenses? I’ll pay you back.”

According to Ye Ci’s experience, if one could be so straightforwardly released after fighting and brawling, it was certain that he had spent money to intercede.

The money was nothing worth mentioning for Huo Tinglan, but he had to bear his own responsibility.

“There was no need to pay.” There was no one in the corridor. Huo Tinglan stopped and turned to look at him.

Ye Ci was only half a head shorter than him, which was considered tall among Omegas, but his physique was thin, and looked even smaller hidden under loose sportswear. The fingers that were clutching the strap of the school bag were pale and delicate.

“Why, why . . . . is there no need to pay?” Ye Ci asked.

“You are presumed to have been acting in self-defense based on surveillance and injury reports,” Huo Tinglan explained further. “On the contrary, the issue of fighting using weapons and provoking trouble are more serious.”

A charge such as provoking a fight was enough to make that group suffer for a while.

Ye Ci no longer said a word, but his tense shoulders relaxed.

“One against five.” Huo Tinglan recalled the surveillance footage taken from the racetrack and his smile finally couldn’t be contained, spreading shallowly to the corners of his lips. He controlled his tone and jokingly said, “Nice skills.”

Ye Ci quickly glanced at him, then lowered his eyes again.

He was a teenage boy, and the phrase “nice skills” sounded very good to him, but he quickly suppressed that proud and shy smile, and said, “En,” indifferently.

Huo Tinglan noticed Ye Ci’s brief micro-expression clearly, and an idea occurred to him.

This was an expression he would never have seen on Ye Ci’s face in the past life. Ye Ci, who was unmoved when he won the Formula Racing Championship trophy would, at the age of 18, actually jump for joy a little at being told, “Nice skills.”

So childish, and so cute.

The fierce impulses of an Alpha emerged faintly in his bones, scratching at the tip of his heart. Huo Tinglan was itched and tickled, but held back and suppressed that evil fire. Unable to tease Ye Ci, he only said warmly, “Let’s go.”

The author has something to say:

Smoking is harmful to your health, please do not imitate it. The smoker in this story is an adult.

(Recently I heard that when there is a smoking scene, I have to add a statement in my notes to save myself.)

【small theater】

Young Ci: Exhibit B.

Lao Huo: A standing ovation! ! !

Young Ci: (*///_///*)

(Super happy but pretending it doesn’t matter.)

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[1] Trash fish, 杂鱼, is an internet term that refers to a person with poor ability and no brain. ⮐

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Chapter Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter Seven

The Huo family’s main house was an hour’s drive from the Chu residence. It was closer to the city center, and also closer to the private school where Ye Ci was currently studying, making it more convenient to attend school.

The main building where the previous patriarch had lived was weathered. It did not show signs of decline, but instead embodied the weight of several generations of the family’s noble ancestry. Two annex buildings for servants were attached to both sides of the main house, hidden among fountains, pastureland, and well-manicured garden shrubs. Chu Wenlin’s house looked a little shabby in comparison.

Ye Ci got out of the car, and several servants trotted out to quietly carry the luggage. The housekeeper, Uncle He, smiled kindly. Afraid that Ye Ci would be uncomfortable, Huo Tinglan had instructed him to deliberately not use post-marriage addresses such as “Mr.”, but to instead call him “Young Master Ye.” He led Ye Ci into the main building and came to the bedroom specially remodeled for him.

The square footage of the bedroom was more than double that of his small room in the Chu residence. It was said to have been renovated, but the main changes were the furniture and decorations. All of the best environmentally friendly materials were used, and a professional team had also been hired to remove all harmful substances from the decorations. Even an Alpha’s dog nose could not detect the slightest odor.

The main colors of light blue and warm gray gave off a simple and clean sense of youth. Smart central air-conditioning was readily available, and there were separate areas for sleeping, playing, and studying in the bedroom. This was Huo Tinglan’s intent – Ye Ci was new here, and if something was lacking, or if there was something he wanted to do, he may not dare to voice it. If the functionality of the bedroom was more complete, he would feel a little less awkward.

There were several brand new skateboards hanging on the wall behind the bed, and on the left side of the display case was a row of star-autographed F1 models. There was even an autographed F1 helmet that was auctioned off at Sotheby’s in Paris last year. On the right side was a stack of painted models such as mecha race cars, still in the packaging. A huge projection screen hung on the wall opposite the bed, connected to several game consoles. A row of light-colored ash bookshelves stood against the wall in the study area, half full of books. Most were famous Chinese and foreign books, and high school study materials . . . .

There was a lot of stuff in the bedroom, but it didn’t feel cluttered. Every detail was an attempt to please a boy of Ye Ci’s age . . . . no, it was as if it was precisely made for Ye Ci himself.

Ye Ci was stunned as he looked around the room. He liked everything in here, but he just stood frozen in the doorway, motionless.

He didn’t truly think that such a well-decorated bedroom would have anything to do with him.

“This is your room, I got someone to redesign it.” The design plans were made by Huo Tinglan himself, and he was familiar with every corner of it. The furnishings in the room, the bedding and books, and even the clothing, shoes, socks, and underwear in the closet . . . . no matter how big or small, everything was chosen by him. In order to avoid Ye Ci’s suspicion, he looked around slowly, pretending to be unfamiliar with it. “I didn’t know what a boy your age would like, and time was limited. I’ll let you look around at the layout, and you can tell me if you need anything, don’t be polite . . . .” Seeing Ye Chi standing at the door, unmoving, his dashing black eyes look straight at him as he said, “Come in.”

Ye Ci didn’t want to appear timid, so he straightened up and stepped inside. It didn’t take long for him to lose his courage again, and he didn’t know where to place his feet.

He knew that according to the marriage agreement, he would live in the Huo residence long-term, and that before Ye Hongjun’s condition was stable, he would not file for separation. He calculated that it was necessary for him to live here for three to five years, and he also knew that for Huo Tinglan, renovating the room was just a matter of following the agreement. But in his opinion, this kind of treatment was still too . . . . elaborate.

The grandness of it left him at a loss.

Seeing that Ye Ci was so restrained that he was about to become a sculpture, Huo Tinglan thoughtfully did not linger. After a few simple explanations, he took Uncle He away and closed the door.

Ye Ci watched him leave, and noticed that the door frame was also installed with the kind of anti-theft latch commonly found in hotel rooms. He didn’t know if they were in every bedroom in the house or if Huo Tinglan saw past his defenses and put it there so that he could sleep at night with peace of mind. . . . as if emphasizing that he wouldn’t do anything at night.

It should be . . . . in regard to . . . .

Ye Ci grasped his hair, restless with anxiety and inexplicably embarrassed.

. . . . . . 

Uncle He left first to prepare dinner. Huo Tinglan had replaced a few chefs some time ago, and at present, all of the chefs were specially poached from elsewhere by Uncle He according to his instructions and given high salaries. Those people started work soon after, but Uncle He was not at ease and had a habit of monitoring them when they prepared meals in the morning, noon, and evening.

Huo Tinglan didn’t leave, but quietly stood outside Ye Ci’s room.

Through repeated coaxing and deceiving, he had finally brought him home.

. . . . It felt like kidnapping a child.

The corners of Huo Tinglan’s lips tilted up slightly, somewhat self-deprecating.

A little Omega in the early stage of secondary differentiation, his pheromones were still weak. Only a faint wisp of warm vanilla could be vaguely caught from the crack in the door.

The scent of Ye Ci in his memory.

Huo Tinglan took a deep breath and silently pressed his forehead against the door, caressing the door panel with his fingertips as if stroking the teenager’s emaciated spine.

As a top Alpha, Huo Tinglan’s five senses were extremely sensitive. He could clearly hear the slight noises Ye Ci made in the bedroom.

Ye Ci was walking around with the mentality of being under someone else’s roof. His steps were very light, like a kitten, stopping and going curiously.

He was very greedy for the things in the showcase, but just stood there looking at them for a while until he was satisfied. Then he conscientiously went to the writing table in the reading area and took reference books out of his school bag, stacking them on the table.

Then, there was a soft sigh.

The rustle of pages turning.

The crisp click of a ballpoint pen.

It was probably due to the new environment that he temporarily couldn’t read the book, and the movement in front of the desk stopped after a while.

Then, from inside the room came the small sound of a zipper sliding and polyester fabric swishing.

This was the sound of . . . . undressing.

Possibly to change into comfortable house clothes.

Huo Tinglan closed his eyes.

He shouldn’t be here anymore.

Five years of loving marriage had gone up in smoke and only existed in memory. To Ye Ci, he was now just an unfamiliar Alpha, but he was standing outside the door full of unspeakable love, eavesdropping on the subtle noises caused by the rubbing of fabric in the room. . . . it was rather distasteful, behaving like an old scoundrel. Huo Tinglan was self-deprecating, but his feet took root. In an ironed suit and trousers, he was firmly stuck in place, a neatly-dressed scoundrel.

At this time, Ye Ci was halfway through dressing and stopped abruptly.

More cat-like footsteps sounded, getting closer and closer.

Huo Tinglan held his breath and was about to back away, but suddenly there was a “click” from behind the door. Two crisp sounds rang . . . . the lock and the anti-theft latch, Ye Ci did it in one go.

“. . . . . .”

Huo Tinglan was stunned for a moment, and then snorted.

This . . . . was he afraid of him rushing in?

Huo Tinglan’s chest was hot and rapidly heaved up and down twice. It was like his unspeakable thoughts had been seen through.

– – He would like to.

. . . . . .

The next day, Ye Ci woke up late.

Seeing that it was almost time to leave and there was no movement in Ye Ci’s bedroom, the housekeeper, Uncle He, had to knock on the door himself to wake him up.

Breakfast was ready. Ye Ci hurriedly washed up and changed clothes, and sat down at the table, rubbing his foggy eyes.

He hadn’t rested well last night, and his sleep was light and fragmented.

Years of lacking a sense of safety in life caused him to take longer than the average person to familiarize himself with the new environment. His nerves were also tense after going to bed, and the first night in a new place was definitely not a good night’s sleep.

Ye Ci’s breakfast was already placed on the dining table.

Huo Tinglan knew Ye Ci’s preferences like the back of his hand: His appetite was larger than the average Omega, and he preferred meat. In particular, he liked to eat fish, shrimp, crab, and other seafood. He liked sweets and tropical fruits, and he couldn’t put the brakes on his mouth after a bite of ripe pineapple shakya^[1]. . . . the chef got a detailed list. The two small workers who began the work got up before dawn to dismantle the crabs, and brought three small pots of fresh crab material to the national first-class pastry chef specially poached by Huo Tinglan, and he steamed two drawers of xiaolongbao^[2]. Crab meat, crab roe, and soft crab shell were the three fillings, each with its own flavor. Uncle He originally wanted to take credit, but he didn’t expect Ye Ci’s lack of interest in the xiaolongbao. He controlled himself, averted his eyes from it, and only went to scoop up the fish filet porridge.

After scooping up a bowl, he drank the porridge and picked up a few side dishes with chopsticks.

“Young Master He doesn’t like eating crab?” Uncle He asked anxiously.

That wasn’t what Huo Tinglan put on the list for the back kitchen.

“. . . . it’s okay,” Ye Ci said vaguely.

Uncle He had served the Huo family for most of his life. He had a bright mind, and could see that the status of this young master in the eyes of the master was quite unusual. He didn’t dare to neglect him at all, persuading carefully: “This is what Mr. Huo ordered the kitchen to prepare for you, just thinking that you would like it . . . .”

Ye Ci hummed softly, still drinking porridge and eating vegetables.

Uncle He was in a dilemma when Huo Tinglan walked down from the second floor into the dining room.

He must have just rushed through a shower. The hair across his forehead fell naturally, and was particularly jet black because of the moisture. His face was handsome and dazzling, and the wrists extending from the cuffs of his bathrobe had distinct blue veins. This was his state after waking up in the morning and exercising.

– – Those desires that were particularly tumultuous in the early morning had to have an outlet.

Ye Ci immersed himself in eating and pretended not to notice his arrival, when in actuality, his ears were almost standing up like a rabbit in a hole who had spotted an eagle.

An Alpha’s pheromone concentration briefly increased after exercise, and the strong fragrance of tequila scorched Ye Ci’s exposed skin, irritating it and turning it excessively red.

Faced with the highly erosive pheromones of an A+ grade Alpha, even an Omega that matched him 100% needed an adjustment period.

“Morning.” Huo Tinglan’s gaze fell gently on the tip of Ye Ci’s hot red ear.

Ye Ci swallowed a big mouthful of porridge with difficulty, and pretended to be calm: “Morning.”

Huo Tinglan couldn’t bear to see Ye Ci so nervous that he couldn’t eat well. Just as he was about to withdraw, Ye Ci pushed the bowl away and stood up, saying inarticulately: “I . . . finished eating.”

In a hurry, he was reluctant to waste food and drank the bowl of porridge into which his spoon had been dipped. He gobbled down the last few sips, his cheeks bulging slightly.

“You’re finished . . . .” Huo Tinglan paused. Sweeping his eyes across the two drawers of xiaolongbao, he was slightly startled. He had conjectures in his heart, but didn’t show it on his face, and just said lightly, “How are you such a picky eater?”

“I’m going -” Ye Ci hurriedly grabbed his school bag. “ – I’m going to be late.”

He was used to living a poverty-stricken life. From a young age, resources had been deficient and his mother’s huge medical bills weighed heavily on his heart, the road ahead uncertain . . . . on the occasion that he saw such costly and exquisite food, he didn’t dare to move.

He was afraid of remembering the taste of good things, in case he would miss them often in the future.

The more desires someone had, the weaker they were.

“Don’t be in such a hurry, just ask the driver to drive faster.” Huo Tinglan looked at him with a soft heart. “Bring some milk and fruit to eat on the road . . . .”

Uncle He chased after him and stuffed the bottled milk and sealed box that had been prepared in advance into Ye Ci’s arms. In the box was sliced fruit, cored and peeled and cut into small pieces. Ye Ci took it in a daze and slipped away.

If it weren’t for manners, he feared he could have run a 100-meter sprint.

Huo Tinglan sighed deeply.

Ye Ci’s vigilance seemed to be stronger than in the previous life. But those pale eyes that kept stealing glances at him were also much more lively and bright than in the previous life.

Timid, but also bright. The flames burning in his eyes had not gone out.

. . . . . . 

On the other side, Ye Ci got into the car, sat in the back seat, and finally caught his breath.

Faintly, the aggressive fragrance of tequila still lingered in his nose.

He lowered the window a crack and looked down at the sealed box that he had received at some point.

He didn’t eat his fill that morning, and his belly was still half empty. After hesitating, he opened the lid and looked at the fruit inside.

The milky white lumpy flesh, which he had never seen before, smelled a bit like a pineapple.

Ye Ci picked up a piece doubtfully and turned it left and right.

. . . . What was this thing?

Ten minutes later, the car slowly parked diagonally opposite the school gate, and the driver went around back to open the door: “Young Master Ye, here we are.”

In the back seat of the car, Ye Ci glanced at the driver as if waking up from a dream.

Immediately, he wiped the milky white juice of the pineapple sakya from his lips and hurriedly stuffed the empty box into his school bag as if he was guilty of something.

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[1] A green-skinned hybrid fruit that tastes like pineapple mixed with other flavors. ⮐

[2] A kind of steamed dumpling. ⮐

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Chapter Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter Six