最佳契合 (Perfect Match) – 十九瑶
Chapter 26
“I’m not egotistical, I’m…”
Zheng Feiluan tried to explain but couldn’t think of the right word. After a brief pause, he raised his head, looked Yan Ning in the eyes, and firmly declared, “Dad, I’m not egotistical.”
He undoubtedly has a grown man’s face and a serious attitude, but there was a hint of youthful stubbornness between his eyes.
Yan Ning burst into laughter.
More than twenty years ago, when Zheng Feiluan was still a kid, he violated the law and was mercilessly punished by his father. He was full of complaints but could not talk to others, so he looked for him with angry puffed cheeks, wanting himself to be comforted, but also persistently said, “Dad, I was right.”
How did that hardheaded little alpha boy grow into his thirties, meet his omega, and become a father to a sweet baby girl?
Yan Ning caressed Zheng Feiluan’s hair and spoke in a gentle voice, ”If that’s not egoism, what else could it be? If what you say is true, and you are worried that you won’t be able to do justice for him, then why don’t you let him have the chance to share his feelings with you? Ask yourself, Feiluan, will you respect his views and marry him if he says he doesn’t care if it’s fair or not as long as he’s with you?”
Zheng Feiluan became tense.
Of course… I won’t.
He could no longer recall He An’s looks, but he did recall the expression on He An’s face. Those eyes were gentle and sensual, laying out a love so pure that he could see no flaws in it. It was gentle, kind, and selfless to the point of sacrifice.
This omega is willing to stick by him no matter what.
How could Zheng Feiluan not realize that every decision he made in that café was for himself, and not a single one was for the omega?
Yan Ning said with a sigh, “You shouldn’t have made up some self-justifying lies just to put your mind at ease, nor should you have made false accusations and put blame entirely on your omega.”
He reached out and took Zheng Feiluan’s hand, pressing it gently.
“If you ask me, you still have the same attitude as when you were a child: you don’t want anything, but your alpha pride has to be tightly held; no one can mess with it.” Yan Ning continued, “In your heart you tend to look down on people; you dislike him for caring for dogs and delivering flowers and having a poor background; but your body refuses to listen to you, and you always love taking the initiative and nag people—when have you, Feiluan, ever been so frustrated? Haven’t you always been the dominant one, never having to settle for second place? How did an ordinary omega manage to take charge of you today? You couldn’t let go of your anger and needed to prove that you couldn’t be defeated, so you pushed him away and acted like nothing was wrong until now. Isn’t that right, Feiluan?”
Zheng Feiluan gritted his teeth and averted his hurting gaze.
No matter how much he tried to cover up, he couldn’t hide it from his biological omega father who knows everything. He felt far more humiliated by Yan Ning’s calm and meticulous pointing to his face, sentence by sentence, than by Zheng Hongming’s harsh criticism.
Yan Ning pulled him up and made him sit next to him, handing him a slice of chestnut cake from the plate.
“Eat.”
It’s like a piece of rainbow candy that brought him comfort when he was a kid.
Zheng Feiluan’s brows knit together like a pair of blades as he folded the pastry in his palm. He attempted to clear his head so he could think with ease, but his thoughts were jumbled, every path led nowhere, and nothing worked.
He stroked his hair irritably for a while and asked, with obvious anxiety, “Dad, should I just surrender myself to my fate? It’s easy for me to stay on course because I know exactly where I want to go. God tossed an omega at me like a crafted ball without asking if I wanted it, and now I’m supposed to simply accept it sitting still and not put up any sort of fight?”
A small smile crossed Yan Ning’s face as he said, “Feiluan, you still don’t understand what I mean. Words were created because humans had to have a way to convey their thoughts and feelings to one another, and there is nothing that people cannot talk about with an open heart. Whether you acknowledge it or not, you already have a relationship with him. Things that affect both parties, such as how to move forward, whether to get married or split up, should be the result of negotiation between the two people involved, not just your words, especially… you have a daughter.”
Speaking of the grandchild he will never meet, Yan Ning’s heart sank. If not for his son being too much of an asshole, it wouldn’t be so awful that his granddaughter was almost a year old and he hadn’t embraced her yet.
“Is the child… doing well?”
Zheng Feiluan didn’t have a front photo of his daughter, so he could only whip out his phone and show Yan Ning a back view of the father and his daughter.
Yan Ning raised the phone to his ear, analyzing Linglan’s soft back and the tiny braid that sticking out from her head. His admiration grew as he stared, and he eventually reached out to gently touch the screen, saying, “She is going to turn out to be an exceptionally beautiful child for sure.”
Even the omega that was holding her was slim and lean, looking like he could get blown away by the slightest breeze—oh, what hardships he must have suffered.
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Yan Ning felt an awful pinch in his chest.
Just now, as he talked about He An, he focused his emotions on a hazy imaginary figure of an omega and was barely able to keep his composure. Now that there was a photo, the sense of sadness and pity toward someone real merged into one, and it was far more intense.
Feelings that had been buried for a long time began to surface and flow out.
“They are clearly two people who are meant to be with you. How could you not want them?” Hands shaking, Yan Ning gripped the phone and said, “An omega is also a human being and has a sense of self-worth. Feiluan, you were born an alpha, and with your sharp pheromones as a shield, you’re used to feeling invincible, so when you accidentally let a little skin show, you feared the world was crumbling. But what about your omega? Have you ever thought about the fact that he was born without any kind of protection? If so, does he deserve to have his heart pushed and tortured by someone like you?”
“Zheng Feiluan, you can’t take advantage of 99% of the pheromones but refuse to pay even 1% of the price.”
Yan Ning’s voice had become too raspy for him to speak anymore.
He sat for a while, handed back Zheng Feiluan’s phone, stood up, and headed for the door.
He walked out with a tiny wobble in his step, his tone still gentle, “Go take a warm bath, change out of your damp clothes, and have lunch at home. It’s extremely rare that you get some time off, so try not to feel too down about it.”
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As noon approaches, the snowy mountain blizzard settles down, leaving behind snow-covered bushes and trees outside. When the wind blows, the thick snow seems like leaves being swept by a broom.
Daylight breaks behind the clouds, casting a few rays and shining light on the Zheng family dining room.
The long, fancy marble table was set aside, and a small, simple oak round table took its place. A light and tasty soup was served to the three Zheng family members as they sat down to a meal. In the dish sat the silver crucian carp, which Zheng Hongming had caught himself; the fish roe was fresh orange; the green onion looked bright green; and the soup was a thick, creamy white that was bubbling away in a cloud of steam.
Mama Xu handed Yan Ning a little half-bowl, Yan Ning thanked her, set apart the ginger slices using the soup spoon, scooped them up, and then took a sip.
Zheng Hongming seemed to be focused on his own meal, but he was actually watching Yan Ning closely for any sign of approval so that he could openly take the credit. It came as a shock to everyone when Yan Ning didn’t offer any feedback on the fish soup and instead moved his chopsticks to another dish.
Zheng Hongming was at a loss for words but managed to speak, “Yan Ning, what do you… think of this soup?”
Yan Ning gave a satisfied nod and said, “It’s very good.”
Zheng Hongming felt good right away, “Yes, actually, this fish here—”
“It’s just that the fish is slightly bad.” Yan Ning’s face was blank as he reached for a napkin and wiped his mouth, and once he was done, he realized his expression wasn’t precise enough and stated, “No, it’s really bad.”
For a split second, Zheng Hongming was stunned, and his aged face showed some embarrassment.
He glanced up at Mama Xu, worried that she would expose the truth in order to defend his “present” and quickly agreed, “Ah, yes, it is a bit awful. The kitchen is becoming increasingly sloppy in choosing ingredients, so we have to cut some money from wages.”
Zheng Feiluan’s hand, which was holding his chopsticks, froze in mid-air.
He watched Zheng Hongming and wondered: Do you actually believe a man as wise as my dad wouldn’t have known if this fish was caught or bought?
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Zheng Hongming kept his expression gloomy throughout the entire meal, while Yan Ning was in such a good mood that he laid down his chopsticks when he was half full to talk to Zheng Feiluan about how things were at school.
Even though Yan Ning was well over fifty, he looked like he was in his early forties. Elegant and graceful with a warm voice, he teaches in-depth specialized courses as well as interactive general electives and is incredibly popular with students, holding the most popular place on the Yuan University Elective Course Guide for ten years straight.
The young students looked up to him and would bring him gifts of paper, incense, and red seal clay while taking the brush and lovingly writing love letters to him in the hopes of gaining his favor and starting a year-end love that resonated with their souls.
All the students in the Literature Department are little saints of love, quoting the classics and Chinese chapters and writing love letters on paper that are more sincere than any thesis. All Yan Ning had to do was bring a small book into class, remove his coat and scarf, and adjust his eyeglasses, and he’d have five pages blown in no time.
In the dedication section of a graduation thesis, a doctorate student who had previously been taught by Yan Ning wrote the following inappropriate yet endearing confession: Professor Yan, your pheromones are pure and elegant, just like an aged thread-bound book in an old bookstore. To be your pupil is a great honor, and I admit that I have flipped through a few pages with some hesitation just to get a glimpse of your profound ideas. I hope that in the far future, time will still remain pleasant for you.
Despite their devotion, none of the students had ever succeeded.
There are two explanations for this.
The first was that Yan Ning himself had graciously declined, and the second was a little strange.
Every now and then, a word spreads from an unknown source, claiming that Professor Yan has been married for over thirty years and is still in love. The alpha is also a well-known business magnate, with a prestigious family background and tens of billions of assets to his name.
The students at the school, who were motivated but less fortunate, were so humiliated by the news that they left one by one.
Yan Ning was actually aware of the identity of the person who had leaked the news, Zheng Hongming, who had been using Yan Ning as a decoration for the past twenty years. When he came to his senses, he joined a group of young men in a contest of jealousy and wits. It truly was a strange sight.1Their story will be in the extra chapters after the main story.
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After finishing his meal, Yan Ning yawned lazily and looked into the hazy sunlight, saying that he was sleepy and wanted to return to his room for a nap. Zheng Hongming, seeing a chance to get close, followed right next behind, but was politely stopped before he could step inside.
The scene made Zheng Feiluan laugh.
But the laughter didn’t last long, and he slumped back in his chair with a stern expression, glanced out the window at the layer of plain white snow, and rubbed his cramped temples.
Twelve years had gone by since he entered Jiusheng at the age of eighteen. During those twelve years, he had devoted himself to Jiusheng far more than anyone else. However, the empire that he ruled over was now under new leadership because of an omega.
How ironic.
For twelve years, he had put his career above everything else, taking very few days off. Now, at long last, he would be able to take a vacation that was never going to end.
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Translated and edited by janemoyu (11/17/23)
