DABGBTF 4

Lu Lu drove steadily. Xie Zheng took out his phone, wanting to reply to a message from the manager about a new project, but his fingers wouldn’t listen to him, and everything popping up on the keyboard were typos. 

Xie Zheng grew impatient and casually tossed his phone forward.

The phone landed on the dashboard, hitting something with a clack. 

Xie Zheng looked over and realized it was a blister pack of Alpha suppressants.

There are many types of Alpha suppressants, including patches and oral medications. The car owner’s suppressants were syringe injections. 

Nowadays, the vast majority of Alphas wouldn’t choose syringes, because it simply hurts too much when pierced in, unless they were under financial pressure or in an emergency. 

However, Xie Zheng had always used this type of needle. First, the effect was the best; second, he actually really liked the sensation of pain.

It was very thrilling.

Xie Zheng’s gaze shifted from the suppressants to Lu Lu’s face. 

The streetlight faintly illuminated the young man’s features. 

Lu Lu was completely the type of look Xie Zheng liked—upright and refined, with just the right amount of toughness, not soft at all.

If there was one bad thing, it was that he looked too innocent. Xie Zheng couldn’t imagine that someone like Lu Lu would actually have a susceptible period like other Alphas. 

Xie Zheng’s cravings were huge during his susceptible period. Even after taking a shot, his whole body would still be agitated, his teeth itching fiercely. Sometimes when he woke up, his arms would be covered in bite marks he made himself.

Xie Zheng had also seen what other Alphas looked like during their susceptible periods. Even if they had marked partners, most of them were like him, revealing a look of unfulfilled desire from the corners of their eyes and brows. 

Xie Zheng stared at Lu Lu’s face and wickedly fantasized about what Lu Lu would look like during his susceptible period.

Immediately after, a fire abruptly flared up.

The smell of pepper and tobacco gradually permeated the small beetle. According to textbooks, an Alpha releasing pheromones toward another Alpha wasn’t polite behavior, and even carried a sense of provocation. Yet in real life, everyone had times when they couldn’t control themselves, just like how Xie Zheng had just smelled the pomelo scent Lu Lu accidentally leaked out.

The suit pants constricted Xie Zheng so much it hurt. Xie Zheng hadn’t expected his reaction to be this intense. He gritted his teeth, chuckled, and cursed, “F*ck.”

Lu Lu looked back at Xie Zheng. “Uncle Xie…”

The moment he spoke, Xie Zheng only felt he hurt even more. The alcohol made it somewhat hard for Xie Zheng to control himself. He held back the urge to thrust his hips, his tone surprisingly still carrying a smile. “Don’t speak.”

Lu Lu probably hadn’t realized what Xie Zheng was fantasizing about him in his head. Thinking Xie Zheng was embarrassed, he opened the car window with a tiny crack. The night breeze poured in, and the smell in the cabin finally faded a bit.

Lu Lu didn’t say anything about this, quietly driving the car. It wasn’t like back then, when Xie Zheng’s parents discovered that after presenting as an Alpha, he actually had reactions to other Alphas, showing expressions of utter shock.

When Xie Zheng got back, Song Qingyuan was sleeping in the bedroom. 

Xie Zheng felt that doing manual labor next to his good friend with only a wall separating them was a major turn-off¹Literally means to wither or wilt. In this context, it’s slang for losing an erection or losing one’s mood/arousal.. He took a cold shower, leaned on the balcony, and smoked two cigarettes before finally calming down quite a bit, only then lying back down on the sofa.

The next day, he was woken up by the noises Song Qingyuan was making. 

The impotent Alpha had nothing to do after waking up in the morning, and was tossing about making breakfast in the kitchen.

Seeing Xie Zheng awake, Song Qingyuan said, “I finally managed to buy a ticket.” 

Song Qingyuan’s hometown was very remote. There were very few scheduled trips back, and it required taking a boat.

Xie Zheng asked, “Which day are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow.” Song Qingyuan carefully shifted the fried egg onto a slice of bread. “I’m going to the school later to grab some things.”

Xie Zheng was languid. “Need any help?”

“No need, I still remember that time you flirted with a student. I’m really afraid you will get kicked out by the campus police.”

Xie Zheng: “…”

Although his words were said like that, Xie Zheng still followed Song Qingyuan to the school. 

He had arranged his second meeting with Hu Qizhi and the others today, and it was really too inconvenient without a car. Song Qingyuan took the initiative to offer his car to Xie Zheng, asking him to follow him to the school to pick it up.

Xie Zheng first accompanied Song Qingyuan to pick up the drawing board and some other things used for drawing and making sculptures, and then went to the parking lot to get the car.

Even though it was early in the morning, when they passed the basketball court, there were still quite a few students playing basketball, making a noisy clamor.

Song Qingyuan said in a very nostalgic tone, “I remember we also used to play basketball all the time back in the day.”

Xie Zheng couldn’t help but let out a mocking snort. “Patting the ball with your hands isn’t called playing basketball.”

“…I’m different now.”

Watching the basketballs flying back and forth on the court, Xie Zheng felt his hands itch to play, and slammed on the brakes. He tipped his chin toward the court. “Want to try?”

Therefore, Song Qingyuan got out of the car to ask the boys on the court if they could join. 

There happened to be art students on the court who recognized Song Qingyuan and had played with him before, so they readily agreed.

The students also had their own little motives—Mr. Song was good-looking, the mature and older type, which especially attracted young O. When playing ball with him, the number of O watching from the sidelines would increase. 

Not to mention that Xie Zheng was added to the mix today. Both adult men were very attractive. With male and female Omegas gathered around to watch, even though the students on the court weren’t the center of attention, they still received some of the spotlight. Because of this, they played even harder, like peacocks spreading their tails.²A common Chinese idiom used to describe men showing off, puffing up their chests, or trying to attract the attention of potential partners (much like a male peacock trying to woo a peahen).

Xie Zheng’s suit jacket and tie were thrown on the edge of the court, the cuffs of his white shirt rolled up. He had some sweat on his forehead, his damp, broken hair sticking to his brow.

The hearty, dripping-with-sweat exercise completely extinguished the last bit of fire in Xie Zheng’s heart. His whole body felt comfortable, and he looked at Song Qingyuan with a very happy smile. “You lose.”

—

“You lose. Pay up, pay up.”

The speaker was a lean man. He smiled, opened his payment QR code, and pushed it toward Lu Lu. “One hundred and fifty, transfer it over.”

Lu Lu smiled. “Sent it over, Wei-ge.”

The man went to urge the others again, “And the rest of you, if you bet, accept the loss. Be quick and straightforward like Xiao Lu.”

The man’s name was Wei Chao, a distant cousin of the boss of “One Cup,” serving as the foreman for waiters like them. 

Wei Chao liked to gamble for money. Saying things like a little gambling is pleasant around payday. He was always willing to drag others into playing cards. However, he didn’t like to lose. Once he lost, he would give people attitude or drag them into playing cards continuously until he won.

Many people were unwilling to give away their hard-earned wages as soon as they got them, and they were tripped up by Wei Chao both openly and secretly. There were also those who couldn’t stand it and just resigned directly.

Lu Lu, on the other hand, wouldn’t go against him. Every time, he deliberately went easy on him, losing two or three hundred to Wei Chao and paying up readily. Having coaxed Wei Chao into a good mood, Wei Chao would assign any good tasks to him. Just like last time, when a colleague was sick, Wei Chao called him to cover the night shift—he got 1.5 times the daily wage of a day shift, and even met Xie Zheng who came to drink.

Thinking of Xie Zheng, Lu Lu opened his chat history with Cui Songbai.

[Cui Songbai]: I saw Teacher Song and Xie Zheng playing basketball on the court!

[Cui Songbai]: Xie Zheng plays quite well, so many people are watching him!

[Cui Songbai]: When will I be able to become a rich person like that?! D*mn it!

[Cui Songbai]: Image.jpg

He had been keeping Wei Chao company playing cards just now and had no time to click it open. Now that he was alone, he downloaded the original image and zoomed in to look at it carefully.

The first one he zoomed in on was Xie Zheng. He raised his arm, turning his head to wipe the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. A section of his lower abdomen was exposed, and one could vaguely see the V-lines extending deep into his waistband.

Parked in the corner of the photo was a blue car. Lu Lu recognized that it was Song Qingyuan’s car. It was probably that Xie Zheng felt it was inconvenient without a car, so he borrowed one from Song Qingyuan.

There was a black drawing board bag in the backseat of the car. Did Song Qingyuan go to the studio to grab his drawing board before leaving? Is it because he finally bought a ticket back to his hometown?

When Lu Lu was alone, he didn’t smile much, remaining expressionless. He saved the picture, and after exiting the chat interface with Cui Songbai, conveniently glanced at his balance.

7189.5

He transferred four thousand five hundred to a person noted as “Doctor Li,” leaving him with two thousand six hundred. 

Lu Lu actually rarely had times when he was this well-off, mainly because the school had distributed the scholarships a couple of days ago. Therefore, even after buying a new jacket, he still had a surplus.

He briskly walked out of the corridor and saw the person who made him very happy.

Xie Zheng had arrived at some unknown time and was still sitting in the same booth as last time. 

The people sitting in the booth with him were still those lecherous middle-aged men from last time, who, even though they had tried hard to dress up, still exuded a greasy³A very common modern Chinese internet slang term. When applied to older or middle-aged men (油腻大叔), it describes someone who is sleazy, overconfident, visually unkempt despite trying, or gives off a creepy/lecherous vibe. vibe. Compared to them, Xie Zheng was practically sparkling.

Lu Lu dug a hair tie out of his pocket and using the reflection on the wall, tied his loose hair back at the back of his head. Pretending not to see Xie Zheng, he walked out holding a tray and menus. 

He still wasn’t sure what kind Xie Zheng actually liked, but he definitely wouldn’t like an idiot who enthusiastically threw themselves at him without regard for the occasion while he was discussing business.

Xie Zheng, however, spotted Lu Lu at a glance. 

Or rather, he had set the meeting place with Hu Qizhi here today specifically because he wanted to take a few more looks at Lu Lu’s face, which perfectly hit his aesthetic preferences.

The young man was wearing the uniform Western-style outfit, with a fluffy little tail at the back of his head, making one want to reach out and give it a tug. 

Xie Zheng hooked the corners of his mouth and snapped his fingers twice in Lu Lu’s direction. “Come.”

Seeing Xie Zheng, Lu Lu walked up with a smile. 

Xie Zheng reached out and took the menu, lazily flipped through a couple of pages, and ordered a few signature drinks for himself and the bosses.

Lu Lu noted them down one by one and left, bringing the drinks over a short while later. One of the glasses Xie Zheng didn’t remember ordering; a clear, pale yellow liquid, placed in front of him by Lu Lu. 

Xie Zheng furrowed his brows, and just as he was about to ask Lu Lu if he made a mistake, his sharp eyes caught sight of the pulp floating up and down in the liquid.

Xie Zheng raised an eyebrow, picked it up, and took a sip.

It was like a segment of pomelo bursting in Xie Zheng’s mouth. The citrus flavor was fresh and domineering, suddenly pushing away the other mixed smells in the club, refreshing the heart and mind. 

Xie Zheng chewed the pulp in his mouth with a crunching sound and lifted his eyelids to cast a glance at Lu Lu.

—

Xie Zheng’s Diary

[Fourteen years ago]

Hospitalized with a fracture, so bored.

If I had known, I would have brought a game console to play.

• 1
  Literally means to wither or wilt. In this context, it’s slang for losing an erection or losing one’s mood/arousal.
• 2
  A common Chinese idiom used to describe men showing off, puffing up their chests, or trying to attract the attention of potential partners (much like a male peacock trying to woo a peahen).
• 3
  A very common modern Chinese internet slang term. When applied to older or middle-aged men (油腻大叔), it describes someone who is sleazy, overconfident, visually unkempt despite trying, or gives off a creepy/lecherous vibe.