最佳契合 (Perfect Match) – 十九瑶
Chapter 41
When He An returned to Olive Inn, the young guests had just settled in and were taking selfies in the center of the courtyard.
Along the swings, laurels, hydrangeas, and the handsome alpha.
Dai Xiao, the aloof innkeeper, was forced to display his sex appeal while cutting flower branches, wearing a gardening apron, holding garden shears, striking various poses with them to flaunt their looks in front of the camera. After snapping pictures, the girls huddled close to look at the photos, log onto social media, and like each other’s posts. After moving around, they left for the film and television set.
Dai Xiao was glad to see them leave, and when he saw He An laughing at him from the door, he shrugged and laughed at himself as well, “It’s not easy to make money.”
He An laughed even more and nodded a few times to express his sympathy.
Dai Xiao is a person with clear boundaries. When He An didn’t take the initiative to bring up Zheng Feiluan, he assumed that the issue had been resolved. He remained silent and cheerful, asking no further questions. The two of them turned over this unpleasant page with an unspoken agreement.
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“Linglan’s done with crying and now asleep in bed, go check.”
Dai Xiao gestured in the room’s direction while turning around and bending down to pick up a two-eight-bar bicycle from the far corner.
“Where are you going?”
Dai Xiao’s face soured instantly as he replied, “I’m going east to the Quality Supervision Bureau. It’s almost the end of the year. I started gathering wool as a means of making money. Yet, despite spending all day looking, I came up empty-handed, so I have to go and clarify.”
“What was the penalty this time?”
“Noise pollution.” Dai Xiao’s already sour face grew even redder with rage. “Those who caused disturbance in our place, did they really not have an idea?”
Olive Inn’s noise problems have existed for a long time.
Across the river, opposite the front door, is a pub where people sing and dance until the early hours of the morning, except on holidays, where they party until daybreak. Any noise source within twenty meters of someone’s room is prohibited by the town’s inn regulations. Logically speaking, the numerous rows of pubs alongside the river should be penalized annually for causing noise pollution; however, their business was kept safe and sound. Instead, it was the row of inns near the river that was fined every year.
Due to its close proximity to the bars, Olive Inn received the most fines.
“The ones who are guilty don’t care; all day glancing at the victims of the penalty, those violators don’t give a damn about what’s right or wrong.”
Dai Xiao said angrily, then paused when he remembered something and asked in a gentle tone, “He An, is there anything you want to talk about? The bureau can wait.”
“I’m fine, you can go.” He An instructed him, “Talk calmly when you get there, don’t argue again like last time. We still have an inn to run, so the money is the least of our concerns.”
“I didn’t mean to argue, but I’m really not happy about it. I worked hard for a year but didn’t make too much money, so I figure I might as well give it to them and use the rest to get Linglan some new dresses.”
Still quite unconvinced, Dai Xiao dragged his bike toward the door and rode off to the eastern side of town.
Alas.
After he left, He An sighed softly.
In spite of its many strengths, Luotan Town continued to suffer from the chronic sickness common to isolated small towns: talking about everyone and everything except the rules.
Dai Xiao, like countless idealistic photographers, was drawn to Luotan Town for its scenery but was unprepared to deal with the “locals”. All sorts of challenges emerged after the inn opened, and it was then that he realized he had learned the lesson of the real world in the midst of his worries.
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As He An pulled open the door, he saw Linglan sleeping soundly on the bed, wrapped in a flannel blanket.
The child’s face was wrinkled with bitterness, and the ends of her eyelashes were still stained with broken tears from the trauma she had just witnessed.
He An’s heart ached so much that he sat by her side, comforting himself by holding her tiny hand.
A long time ago, when he was still a normal omega, if the child cried, he could immediately soothe her with concentrated pheromones. But now he could take dozens of times as long, waiting for the steady concentration of pheromones to waft out, one by one, to slowly bathe the child.
Fortunately, Linglan was right next to him, so just a whiff was enough.
When He An saw that the little girl had begun to relax, he gave her a kiss, tucked her in a blanket, and left the room quietly.
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Dai Xiao and Cheng Xiu’s room was on the right of He An’s, and the inn’s spacious living area was to the right next to theirs.
About 40 square meters in size, the living area is furnished with couches, bookshelves, televisions, an enormous Mediterranean flat-weave carpet in the middle, and a cabinet full of fascinating artworks such as bamboo cloth baskets, stoneware vases, succulent plants, silver-plated mammoths, families of puffy puffer fish, and an entire wall of Dai Xiao’s original photographs. The pieces by Dai Xiao give the gallery wall a unique touch.
In the evenings, guests from all over the world gather here to watch television, have tea, and engage in conversations. During the day, when tenants are out, the space is empty, leaving Cheng Xiu to doze off and count money behind the desk.
“I’ll do it.”
Cheng Xiu was about to hit his head against the table, but He An woke him up first.
Cheng Xiu shook himself from his nap for a few seconds and stepped aside, allowing He An to come up to the counter. He An then took over, looked through the records, and swiftly tapped the keys on the computer.
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Now Cheng Xiu was the one wondering.
He has even thought of a few words of comfort and is simply waiting for He An to bring it up. On the contrary, He An is behaving in an unfazed manner, showing far more calmness than the uninvolved outsider and showing only a little trace of redness and wetness in the corners of his eyes, like the remnants of tears or a gust of wind.
Leaning against the counter, Cheng Xiu takes a minute to consider He An’s expression, a moment to allow his brain to figure it out, but eventually he can’t help but gossip.
“…Just ask.” He An said in a hopeless tone.
Cheng Xiu’s eyes quickly lit up and asked, “Where’s Zheng Feiluan?”
“Back to Yuanjiang,” He An replied.
“He’s gone?!” Cheng Xiu was surprised, then continued, “He flew all the way out here to have a brief conversation with you and then just left?”
He An chuckled, “Of course it was more than just ‘a brief conversation’.”
“Then what else did he do?”
“He wished to pick me up and take me back to Yuanjiang, insisting that he’d figured it out, liked me, and that he’d treat me properly in the future.”
“You refused?”
“I’m not an idiot.” He An paused with his work, his eyes down, and he bit his lip slightly as he said, “What reason does he have to like me?” He admitted, “He said so himself that he admires those kinds of elegant omega; I’m not gorgeous, lively, or able to make my way into his social circle… I’m not that kind of person.”
“If he doesn’t like you, why would he take you back?” Cheng Xiu asked, confused.
“Probably… for my pheromones.”
The mate-seeking disorder didn’t improve as much as he’d thought when Zheng Feiluan had him leave Yuanjiang. The alpha’s life and career are in jeopardy after a year of pent-up anger, so he unwillingly puts his foot down and flies to Luotan Town in hopes of deceiving the omega into returning as the antidote.
But he was having none of it.
He had grasped that blissful feeling by its tail; how could he just let go?
Still unable to believe it, Cheng Xiu asked, “So… Zheng Feiluan also agreed to go back alone?” Have you… gotten over him?
“Well, it ends here.” He An pointed out, “The pheromones don’t even match anymore, what else can we talk about?”
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The sunlight emanating from the courtyard seeps in through the doors and windows. The inn was cozy and peaceful, and a halo of dust surrounds the air.
Cheng Xiu was so relieved to hear that Zheng Feiluan had returned to Yuanjiang that he rolled onto the sofa, snatched the puffing and panting fat orange cat from the side, and kneaded it as if the ball of fur was a dough.
While being coddled and petted, Liubailiu’s chubby waist twisted, his four paws spread out, and the tiny furball became a fluffy cushion.
“Honestly, when Dai Xiao and I got back just now, right before we entered the inn, he said that there was an extremely powerful alpha pheromone inside. When I opened the door… I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought my sight was playing tricks on me.” He continued, “Do you know what was the first thing that came to mind at that time? I was afraid his mate-seeking syndrome had flared up again, and he flew over here to assault you.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”
He An kept his head down as he carefully verified each guest’s information.
Fearing that because He An had just finished dealing with Zheng Feiluan and wouldn’t be able to recover his mood for a while, Cheng Xiu thought of ways to cheer him up and said, “He An, you instructed Zheng Feiluan to go back home this time in just a few words; do you know how many alphas can only dream of this achievement? You should set up a workshop; they’ll surely line up to learn from your skills.”
“Oh, stop it.”
There was an entire box of lollipops on the counter, and He An threw one at Cheng Xiu in a playful way.
Cheng Xiu caught the candy, excitedly peeled off the wrapper, and exclaimed, “He An, I’m going to sue Dai Xiao. After you guys left earlier, he scolded me.”
He An asked, “Scolded you for what?”
Cheng Xiu was grumbling. “It’s just… when we first arrived here at the beginning of the year, didn’t I lie to him and say you were widowed?”
“Yes.”
Cheng Xiu, with a lollipop in his mouth, said, “Earlier, when he and Zheng Feiluan were in a pheromone war in the yard, like they were cockfighting, and he didn’t win—I mean, how could he win? Zheng Feiluan was four levels higher than him! After that, he still blamed me, saying that they had equal strengths but that his mind had been affected by being close to Zheng Feiluan’s terrifying face. All alphas are sick in the head, don’t you think?”
When He An finally laughed for real, his eyebrows raised and a dimple formed on his cheek.
Cheng Xiu realized his work was done, so he leaned back and petted the cat comfortably.
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The two of them chatted as one, and the depressing vibe lifted quickly.
After finishing verifications, He An rebooted the guest room system. There were a total of twelve rooms listed on the screen, with eight of them filled; this calculated to an occupancy rate of 66.6%, which was impressive during the off-season.
But…
The large room on the second floor is still empty.
He looked at the clock, and seeing that it was ten twenty-two, much past the guest’s original check-in time of nine o’clock, he asked Cheng Xiu, “Has the guest who booked the room last night not come yet?”
“Nope.”
Cheng Xiu nibbles a lollipop as the “Match Game” sound effects chimes from his phone, “Don’t wait, I’m telling you, it’s likely a system bug. Hurry up, cancel that reservation, and make it available again just in case someone is interested. It hurts my eyes to look at Dai Xiao, and now competition is so serious that we can’t afford to lose any more rooms.”
He’s obviously adopted 90% of Dai Xiao’s petty ways.
After giving it some serious thought, He An reserved the room for now. Maybe the guest missed the check-in window, which is usually in the afternoon or evening.
Let’s be patient and wait for them for a while longer; who knows, maybe they’ll show up soon?
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Translated and edited by janemoyu (10/25/23)
