Zuo Chi could feel his heart pounding incessantly.
Sheng Li’s palm was warm, and up close, Zuo Chi could smell the amber scent on him. For a moment, he got lost in the sound of “Ah, Chi” and didn’t want to let go of his hand.
Sheng Li had been calling him “Ah, Chi” since kindergarten. Zuo Chi had actually protested; his parents mostly referred to him by his full name, so he felt “Ah, Chi” was too intimate.
“I’m older than you. Isn’t it better to call me Zuo Ge or Chi Ge?” Zuo Chi suggested.
But Sheng Li, the top dog of the kindergarten, disagreed:, “Why are you more formal than me?”
“?” Zuo Chi replied, “You little brat.”
But Sheng Li didn’t listen. He kept circling around Zuo Chi, calling out “Ah, Chi” left and right. Zuo Chi got used to it after hearing it so many times and let him call him that way.
……………..
Sheng Li felt like he was still dreaming, with Zuo Chi’s face swaying in front of him. He smiled gently, his smile both innocent and silly, and held Zuo Chi’s hand tighter.
However, at that moment, Zuo Chi’s rationality returned. What were they doing?
He quickly pulled away from Sheng Li’s hand, suppressing his emotions and raising his voice, “Sheng Li, you fell off the sofa.”
Sheng Li was stunned for a moment before realizing it and slowly withdrew his hand, suspended in the air.
They fell into a brief silence. Sheng Li stood up and quietly looked at Zuo Chi in the darkness.
Zuo Chi turned his head, “Look, it’s uncomfortable to sleep on the sofa. If you went home to sleep, you wouldn’t fall off…”
“It’s my choice.” Sheng Li didn’t want to hear him repeatedly trying to push him away.
Setting aside his liking for Zuo Chi, they had been friends for many years. Should Zuo Chi really treat him like a stranger now?
Yes, things were different now. Zuo Chi had a boyfriend, so he needed to distance himself from him.
But Sheng Li felt a sourness in his heart. He had just been dreaming, and now that he was awake, he felt particularly empty. Zuo Chi was so close, the Omega he liked was right in front of him, he could reach out and hold him, but he couldn’t.
“You…” Zuo Chi’s mind was in turmoil. He blamed himself for not being calm enough when facing Sheng Li. Since he had decided to give up on Sheng Li, he should be resolute. Being soft-hearted would only lead to repeating the same mistakes. Besides, he had Qin Xu now, Qin Xu was his direction.
He wanted Sheng Li to stop being so stubborn, but he couldn’t say it. After liking Sheng Li for so many years, he naturally understood that feelings couldn’t be taken back at will.
But he still couldn’t stand this atmosphere. So he took a few steps and turned on the light, changing the subject, “Spray some more scent blocker.”
Sheng Li’s pheromones fluctuated with his emotions, making Zuo Chi feel the Alpha’s low mood.
“Okay.” Sheng Li picked up the blocker and sprayed a few times on himself without hesitation. He glanced at the time on the wall, “Let’s continue sleeping. If I fall off again, just ignore me.”
Zuo Chi got into bed, turning his back to the sofa, forcibly pushing Sheng Li out of his mind, counting countless sheep until he finally fell asleep.
……………
The next morning, after breakfast, Sheng Li and Zuo Chi each went to work on their computers. They didn’t mention last night’s events, although when Sheng Li woke up, he found himself lying on the floor again.
During this time, Sheng Li received a call from a friend saying they had investigated Qin Xu’s car’s movements over the past two weeks and sent the details to his email.
While holding his phone, Sheng Li opened his email, “Thanks, I’ll treat you to dinner another day.”
His friend joked, “Another day lacks sincerity, better set a date.”
Sheng Li replied, “I’m really busy lately. After I’m done with this period, I’ll definitely have a few drinks with you.”
“Deal.” His friend hung up, and Sheng Li turned to ask Zuo Chi, “Does Qin Xu usually drive this car that had the accident?”
Zuo Chi said, “I’ve seen a few cars, but I don’t think any of them were his. He hasn’t been in China for long, so it takes time to apply for a driver’s license and register the car. When I first met him, it was mostly the Qin family’s driver who drove.”
The more detailed Zuo Chi’s explanation, the more uneasy Sheng Li felt. How many times had Zuo Chi ridden in Qin Xu’s car? How many times had they gone on dates? Where had they been…
“What’s wrong?” Zuo Chi asked.
Sheng Li voiced his thoughts casually, “I investigated the lifestyle of the owner of the car involved in the accident. He’s a stranger to us, and he has no connection to Qin Xu. If it was intentional, there’s a ninety-plus percent chance someone told him to do it. To confirm the target of the attack, he definitely needed to observe, and typically, observation doesn’t just happen on the day of the action. So I want to check Qin Xu’s car’s movements, start from there, and judge any anomalies based on surveillance footage from various locations.”
Zuo Chi nodded, “I can have Qin Xu send me the car’s movements directly.”
“No need.” After some thought, Sheng Li believed Qin Xu was unlikely to be the mastermind. He leaned towards the possibility that someone wanted to target Qin Xu but didn’t expect Zuo Chi to be in the car. But even setting aside bias, he and Qin Xu weren’t close. Until the investigation results were out, he couldn’t completely rule him out as the culprit.
“It’s better for fewer people to know about the investigation to avoid alerting anyone prematurely,” Sheng Li said, “The friends I’ve contacted have no ties to the Qin family and hardly interact in this circle, so they can help keep it confidential.”
In a relationship, sincerity comes first. If there’s no trust, Zuo Chi wouldn’t be with Qin Xu. Until the evidence unmistakably pointed to Qin Xu, Zuo Chi would choose to believe in him. But he also understood Sheng Li’s concerns.
“Yeah.” he looked up, “Your friends… seem to be everywhere.”
“You know them too.” Sheng Li mentioned two names, “We used to play basketball together in college.”
Sheng Li had a talent for making friends. When Zuo Chi finished kindergarten, he couldn’t remember the names of a few classmates, but Sheng Li was already very familiar with everyone. While Zuo Chi’s friends in middle and high school were limited to his class and schoolmates, Sheng Li had a large group of friends from other schools. Even if they played the same game, after the game, Sheng Li could naturally hang out with others, something Zuo Chi couldn’t do.
He used to envy Sheng Li for this, but it also made him a bit resentful. He resented that Sheng Li controlled his circle of friends, while he never knew who Sheng Li would meet next.
Sheng Li seemed to sense his subtle emotions: “If you want, I can invite them to dinner next time, and you can come with me?”
After all, it was Zuo Chi who had the accident, and Sheng Li had to trouble others because of it. Zuo Chi felt it was only right to have a meal to thank them, but this would also entangle him more with Sheng Li.
He didn’t respond directly, “We’ll see when the time comes.”
At noon, Sheng Li went home and made crucian carp tofu soup according to a recipe. He brought it to the hospital in a thermos.
Zuo Chi drank the soup, ate the tofu and rice, but didn’t touch the fish.
Sheng Li liked watching Zuo Chi eat. When eating, Zuo Chi was relaxed, his cheeks puffing up, sometimes getting food on his lips, looking very different from his usual serious demeanor. He asked, “Why aren’t you eating the fish?”
Zuo Chi replied, “I can only use one hand, it’s inconvenient to pick out the bones.”
Only then did Sheng Li realize the issue. He had thought of the soup’s light taste and nutritional value but forgot about the many bones in crucian carp.
Sitting in a chair by the bed, he pouted, somewhat annoyed with himself.
“What are you doing?” Zuo Chi said, “I can’t eat the fish, but you can.”
Sheng Li was not happy: “Just eating tofu makes it seem so shabby.”
Zuo Chi: “Isn’t there still the carp soup? It’s much better than boxed meals.”
Sheng Li: “What do you want to eat tomorrow?”
Zuo Chi: “Tomorrow? Tomorrow you should go back to work as planned, right?”
Sheng Li thought for a moment, “I can ask Auntie to cook.”
“No need,” Zuo Chi refused, “Aunt Chen said she’ll bring food tomorrow.”
After eating, Sheng Li went outside to make a phone call. The nurse helped clean up the dishes. Having spent a day with Zuo Chi, she felt more comfortable speaking, “Mr. Zuo, your Alpha is really good to you, bringing you food personally and staying with you, always watching you. Honestly, I’ve been a nurse for a long time and seen all kinds of families. I’ve taken care of many sick Omegas. Some Alphas leave everything to the nurse once their Omega is pregnant, and most Alphas are impatient even to accompany their Omega for check-ups. They only show up on the day of delivery and then disappear.”
Zuo Chi was taken aback and explained, “He’s not my Alpha.”
The nurse was surprised, “Oh, you’re not together yet.”
“…” Zuo Chi said, “He’s not in that kind of relationship with me. I have a boyfriend.”
The nurse looked a bit awkward, “I spoke too much then.”
Just then, Zuo Chi’s phone rang, and he saw Qin Xu’s name on the screen.
What a coincidence.
He answered, hearing Qin Xu’s worried voice, “Chi, did you have a car accident? I sent you a message that day, why didn’t you tell me?”
Due to the time difference between Berlin and China, Qin Xu missed the first call from the insurance company and only found out about the accident a day later.
Zuo Chi said, “Don’t worry, it’s not serious. I’ll be discharged in a few days. I wasn’t hiding it from you; I wanted to tell you later. You just got back to Berlin, and I knew you’d have a lot to deal with.”
“But if you don’t want me to worry, I will worry more, thinking you might be hiding something to keep me from worrying,” Qin Xu sighed softly, “You got hurt, you don’t have to always consider me.”
Qin Xu asked, “Is it really not serious?”
Zuo Chi: “Hmm. My face isn’t scarred, and my legs aren’t broken.”
Qin Xu rarely interrupted, “Not funny. There’s a flight to S City tonight, but it’s late…”
“What about your mother? It takes over ten hours to fly from Berlin back here, are you going to keep running back and forth?” Zuo Chi said, “Let’s do a video call. Seeing me will put you at ease.”
The video call connected, and Zuo Chi stood up, holding his phone in his right hand, first showing his face to the camera, “See, no wounds.”
“Knock, knock.”
Qin Xu said, “It sounds like someone is knocking on the door.”
Zuo Chi was about to move the camera away when the door behind him opened, and Sheng Li appeared in the frame.
