SDT 80

Chapter 80  Going to Jiang City

Time passed quietly, and early autumn came. After a fall rain, the sea breeze at night carried was cool. The two of them walked along the beach. The streets were lined with tropical trees unique to Manjing. Across the road stood many seafood stalls filled with lights. On both sides of the street, vendors set up open booths, and tourists in bright clothes moved among them.

Yu Xiaowen carried his sandals, kicked at the sand, and laughed so hard he almost bent over. “When I went to throw away the coconut shell just now, I saw a foreign tourist walking along the sea crying, and I got so scared that I hurried to follow and ask. Turns out he’s from inland and saw the sea for the first time. He said he was moved.”

Lu Kongyun let out a small laugh. “When you get the chance to go to Jiang City and see snow, you can feel if it’s the same.”

“…” Yu Xiaowen didn’t answer.

After that, he slowed down, he wanted to say something but hesitated.

“What’s wrong?” Lu Kongyun stopped and looked at him. “Say it.”

Yu Xiaowen rubbed his hands together. “Hey, I got a mission. It’s related to that transnational crime organization from before.”

He saw Lu Kongyun’s face change, and he quickly said, “It’s safe this time! Just coordination work.”

He studied Lu Kongyun’s face again. It seemed to ease a little, so he continued. “That transnational organization didn’t just harm our country. It harmed many surrounding countries too. They pretended to be travel agencies, lured people abroad, imprisoned them, and made them do illegal smuggling. In C Country’s Jiang City, many citizens have been tricked recently. They think multiple countries should cooperate in joint law enforcement, help each other, and strike the crime more effectively.”

Lu Kongyun was silent for a while. “Then what?”

“…This mission in S Country was assigned to our Manjing City Bureau’s Major Crimes Division. Because we’ve had a lot of experience fighting that organization, especially me. I even got the Silver Conch Medal recently for a related case, so I’m the most suitable for this task. The Bureau Chief wants me to go to C Country’s Jiang City and assist the local police with the investigation.”

Lu Kongyun said, “Did you agree?”

“No.”

“Why?”

Yu Xiaowen said, “Before, I would’ve agreed right away. But now I have you. That organization’s big, and the case’s complicated. It might turn into a long battle, and I can’t bear to leave you. But the others all have families, or they don’t have enough experience. They’re even less suitable than me, so finding someone is tricky. Even if I refuse, I might still have to go for a few days to fill in. Once Chief Li finds someone more suitable, I’ll come back immediately. I wanted to tell you first.”

Lu Kongyun said, “What if they never find anyone.”

“How could that be?” Yu Xiaowen said, “I’ll make Chief Li hurry. Manjing can’t possibly have not a single officer suitable for overseas assignment.”

Lu Kongyun started walking again. Yu Xiaowen followed.

“You like Jiang City a lot,” Lu Kongyun said. “You said before your last wish was to travel there.”

“…Yeah.” Yu Xiaowen got embarrassed when his blackmailing talk came up. He swung the shoes in his hand. “Yeah, I want to see it. The scenery in the posters looks beautiful. And my informant recommended it too.”

He said this, then suddenly looked at Lu Kongyun, eyes bright. “He said people from other places who’ve had unhappy lives will find happiness and belonging there.”

Lu Kongyun said, “You believe that.”

Yu Xiaowen said, “It’s true. My informant didn’t have an easy life. Because of his family background, he got dragged into a lot of things. But after he went to Jiang City, he turned himself around, got married, and even had a kid. I couldn’t believe it!”

Lu Kongyun said, “That’s the result of his own effort to change.”

Yu Xiaowen grew serious. “I’m serious. There’s a bridge there, the one from my photo. You know it, right.”

Lu Kongyun said, “Wangjiang Bridge.”

“Right, that one!” Hearing the name like a signal, Yu Xiaowen almost jumped from the sand. “There was a stray dog from another place, abandoned by its owner. It wandered all over and somehow ended up under that bridge. Then it became the Purple Star and lived a life even the gods would envy.”

Lu Kongyun said, “…You even know a stray dog’s backstory. Did it tell you itself?”

Yu Xiaowen said, “It’s true. On the cruise ship, a few rich guys who love going to Jiang City for fortune readings all said so.”

Lu Kongyun said, “….”

After a while, Lu Kongyun asked, “So you’re not going to that lucky place because of me.”

Yu Xiaowen kept swinging his shoes. “I can work anywhere. What matters most is not wanting to leave you.”

Lu Kongyun said, “Only for me? What about your colleagues. Don’t you want to see Xu Jie or Chen Zihan.”

“Ah, what’s there to miss about them?” Yu Xiaowen looked relaxed. “I’ll see them when I get back. That’s not even close to how much I want to see you.”

He looked at Lu Kongyun and saw the result was clearly good.

Lu Kongyun said, “I think Jiang City’s a great place too. The pheromone sensitivity there’s weak. Even strong Alphas and Omegas don’t affect others easily. For you, it’d be a comfortable place to live.”

Lu Kongyun turned his head to look at Yu Xiaowen. His eyes already saw through the real reason Yu Xiaowen liked Jiang City. It wasn’t because of the scenery or the stray dog under the bridge.

Yu Xiaowen stopped moving and didn’t know what to say.

Lu Kongyun looked ahead again. “Chief Li already told me you might need to go to Jiang City for work.”

Yu Xiaowen said, “Wha—”

“He asked what I thought. I said fine, it’s up to you.” Lu Kongyun’s tone carried faint irritation. “But he only told me Jiang City’s public safety’s way better than Manjing, like no one shoots on the street there. He didn’t say the case’s connected to that transnational organization again.”

Chief Li knew about their current relationship, so when he issued an overseas assignment to Yu Xiaowen, he talked it over with Second Young Master Lu as a matter of courtesy. But Yu Xiaowen didn’t expect Lu Kongyun to say “no problem” so smoothly.

“…You think it’s no problem?” Yu Xiaowen said. “If that happens, I’ll stay in Jiang City for a long, long time, and I’ll only see you when I come back to Manjing to report work. Won’t you miss me?”

“I can go to the lab in Jiang City as a visiting expert and help set up a project team. They invited me a long time ago, and their standards and hardware are very good, so I should adapt fast.”

Lu Kongyun laid out the plan he had prepared. “Our institute has an external-posting policy. If you decide to go to Jiang City, I’ll file for an external post while keeping my position, but I have to finish and hand over my current projects before I go.”

“That won’t work,” Yu Xiaowen said without hesitation. “You’re not like me. My status won’t change over there, but in S Country you’re a Lu family member and a top Alpha. If you go there, your status drops…”

“You think once I lose the Lu family label and the top-A label, my status drops?” Lu Kongyun glared at Yu Xiaowen.

“Of course not!” Yu Xiaowen denied it at once. “…It’s just, your family probably won’t approve of you running off abroad for no reason…”

“I’ve never asked them,” Lu Kongyun answered as if it were natural. “Why should I need their approval?”

“…”

Yu Xiaowen started thinking fast again. Then he said, “Your research level here sits at the national level. Over there it’s only Jiang City’s.”

“That lab’s famous internationally. It’s first-tier,” Lu Kongyun said.

“…I heard it can get extremely cold over there, and you have to keep heating devices in rooms to live,” Yu Xiaowen said.

“Yu Xiaowen, I’ve been there. The one who hasn’t is you. You don’t need to brief me on this.”

Yu Xiaowen fell silent.

“I want to live there,” Lu Kongyun said. “I want it myself. Don’t worry for me.”

Yu Xiaowen set his sandy hand on the other’s arm and spoke earnestly. “Sweetheart, if you go there, your class level drops in a real way. I’m afraid you’ll feel wronged.”

Lu Kongyun glanced at the sand stuck to his arm. “What annoys me is the swarm of Alphas around you every day. If we go to Jiang City, I’ll finally relax.”

“…They don’t swarm me every day? I even picked a Beta for my new trainee on purpose,” Yu Xiaowen said.

“If we’re in Jiang City, I’m basically a Beta too,” Lu Kongyun said.

“…Yeah,” Yu Xiaowen said.

In Jiang City, he wouldn’t need to fend off sudden, uncontrollable, passive heats, and he wouldn’t need to worry about his defect of being unable to have a mark, because no one could mark there and choices rested only on personal preference. He thought that if he could live as equals with Lu Kongyun in that beautiful city without pheromone ranks, then from every social and personal angle, for the inferior Omega Yu Xiaowen it might be like a vacation in heaven. But for the top Alpha at the very tip of the pyramid in this rank system, Lu Kongyun, it would be nothing like that.

He had everything in Manjing, so why should he go to Jiang City and start being a Beta for Yu Xiaowen’s sake.

“When we get there, I can test whether you’ll still like me,” Lu Kongyun said. “If it turns out you only like my pheromones, I’ll then…”

He thought for a moment. “I’ll take you back to Manjing and get even with you.”

“I like everything about you, and that includes your pheromones,” Yu Xiaowen said. “But I like you as a person even more. I want you to live well most of all. I want you to think about yourself more. Don’t think about me all the time. Don’t change your life for me. I’ll come back as fast as I can. I promise.”

“Not enough,” Lu Kongyun said.

“What isn’t enough? What else do you want,” Yu Xiaowen said. “I can give you anything.”

Lu Kongyun walked many steps without a word, until Yu Xiaowen deliberately rubbed the sand stuck on his arm with his hand and made him very uncomfortable.

He weighed his words, then finally spoke the most important part of his plan. “If we go live in Jiang City together, I need to tell you something about C Country customs.”

“Huh? Hold on, sweetheart. We haven’t even decided to live in Jiang City together,” Yu Xiaowen said.

“It’s not like here,” Lu Kongyun said. “Because pheromone influence runs weak, two men in a close relationship will be very unusual.”

“I’ve heard a bit. I don’t care,” Yu Xiaowen said with a shrug.

“But if it’s proper and legitimate, they’ll accept it,” Lu Kongyun said. “They care a lot about reputation, so they’ll respect a foreigner’s customs.”

Yu Xiaowen stopped swinging his shoes and narrowed his eyes to think.

After a while, he said, “I don’t get it. What are you trying to say?”

Lu Kongyun’s steps slowly stopped again.

He looked like he wanted to say more, but in the end, he only grabbed Yu Xiaowen’s sandy hand and stuffed it inside his own clothes.

“Ugh ugh! You brat!”

“Then think about it carefully. Hm?”