最佳契合 (Perfect Match) – 十九瑶
Chapter 56
He An fought back tears and wiped them away with his sleeves multiple times, terrified of showing his unexpected vulnerability. Once he had dried them, he lifted his head and smiled at Zheng Feiluan as best he could, but the redness and puffiness of his eyes remained.
His short stature and naturally curly hair gave him the look of a naïve young man, as if he were around the age of seventeen or eighteen years old.
This young man has, unfortunately, been through a lot of bad luck and injustice. Zheng Feiluan wished he could offer some additional words of comfort, but his heart was pounding like a knife. Just as he was about to speak, the rain stopped, and two people’s rowdy voices broke the silence.
“Couldn’t you have gotten a bigger umbrella? I’m completely drenched! Look at my arms, look at my pants!”
Powerful and menacing, it sounds like Dai Xiao.
“Is this not big enough? Just how big do you want it to be?”
The voice was clear, and there was a faint sound of umbrellas rustling in the background. That was Cheng Xiu.
Dai Xiao: “If you could just tell me which piece of cloth is dry on my body, that would be great!”
Chiang Xiu: “Underwear! Your underwear is dry, right?”
Perfectly reasonable.
The two people in the living room exchanged glances, and He An burst into tears and smiled. Meanwhile, Dai Xiao, holding his anger, said, “Cheng Xiu, I have a question for you.”
“What is it?”
“Why don’t you pick a mushroom and use it as an umbrella for the dinosaur?”
“Screw you! You’re so self-absorbed!” Cheng Xiu immediately went off like a fireworks display and yelled, “You think I’m okay with holding a small umbrella? You’re the one who’s at fault here. You’re the one who only bought two umbrellas for such a big inn. What can I do when Zheng Feiluan takes the big one without saying anything at all? Get it from him? Do I really want to die?”
Dai Xiao groaned, “Shit, enough with your babbling.”
While arguing, they made their way into the living room.
Cheng Xiu was taken aback when he saw that Zheng Feiluan and He An had already returned. Upon seeing the two people on the sofa, who appeared completely dry, he briefly froze, then grinned mischievously. He then turned to Dai Xiao and casually said, “See for yourself. There are also two of them, and they even brought Linglan along, yet they managed to stay completely dry. Isn’t it because the umbrella was big enough?”
There is enough evidence to say that the facts are true.
Dai Xiao stood by the door with two buckets of paint in his hands. His sleeves and pants were dripping with water.
Cheng Xiu spoke loudly, and the cat nest in the corner shook in response. He An quickly reached out and made a silent gesture toward him with his finger. He then pointed to the cat nest, put his hands on his cheeks, and tilted his head to signal that the child was sleeping.
Zheng Feiluan furrowed his eyebrows and shot him a warning glance.
Cheng Xiu immediately stopped talking.
Dai Xiao wasted no time taking advantage of the situation by teasing, “The umbrella may not be big, but that voice is pretty loud—ow.”
The pointy end of the umbrella poked at the sensitive skin on the side of his waist.
Cheng Xiu pulled back his umbrella, placed it on the umbrella stand, and whispered under his breath, “You’re all talking without considering other people’s feelings. Do you think I don’t have one? Just having someone come get you is already a huge favor, so don’t be so shameless.”
“Alright then, thank you.”
Dai Xiao grumbled, bent down, placed the paint cans against the wall, said hi to He An, and went to his room to change.
After such a commotion, the intimate atmosphere was disrupted, and the time alone was over. Zheng Feiluan had no choice but to say goodbye and leave. When he stepped out of the living room, Cheng Xiu hurried over to be by He An’s side and asked, “What’s going on? Are your eyes red because you cried? Did he bother you?”
“No.” He An wiped the tears from his eyes and said, “I think about things too much.”
Cheng Xiu was still concerned, “Is everything okay?”
“Mhmm.”
Cheng Xiu carefully looked all around the coffee table and saw the ginger tea pot that was only half full and the cup next to it that was clearly empty. He took it in his hands and weighed it, “You made him tea… Are you going soft on him?”
He thought He An would say no right away, but instead, He An hugged his knees and asked, “Cheng Xiu, how am I soft?”
“For example, let’s say…” Cheng Xiu paused for a moment before giving an appropriate example, “He wants to take you back to Yuanjiang right now, are you willing to go with him?”
He An shook his head and said, “I don’t find it irritating when he’s by my side. But the thought of leaving with him never crossed my mind.”
Not too soft, that’s fine.
Cheng Xiu let out a sigh of relief and asked again, “What if he stayed in Luotan Town and said he wanted to live with you for the rest of his life? Would you be okay with that?”
“A lifetime…”
He An lowered his head, looked down at his exposed toes on the fleece blanket, and said softly, “He’s an alpha. He’s intelligent and ambitious. For a long time, he was in a position of authority and could do whatever he wanted. He has felt that way for a long time, and he won’t be willing to spend his entire life running a pastry shop in a small town. Once the thrill is over, he’ll go back to his own life.”
“What if…” Cheng Xiu asked.
He An replied, “You can’t assume that.”
Cheng Xiu looked confused and asked, “Since you don’t see a way out… are you just waiting for him to grow tired of you?”
Instead of nodding or shaking his head, He An simply smiled gently at Cheng Xiu and said, “Our compatibility is already too low. Sooner or later, he’ll grow bored. It’s something I’ve thought about, whether I reject him completely from the start. If he leaves, he will still think about me and won’t let go. Soon, he’ll be back to bother me once more. But if he stays for a long time, he’ll grow tired, fed up, and homesick for the bustling world outside. He’ll leave on his own… People who leave probably won’t come back, right?”
Cheng Xiu’s mouth widened as he listened more closely, “You… you really hope so?”
“Yes, really.”
“But why do I get the feeling that you… don’t know what you’re talking about?” Cheng Xiu moved closer to He An, who always seemed to be hiding a trace of sadness behind his smile.
He An laughed out loud and asked, “Do you know that when you complain about Dai Xiao, you don’t really mean what you say?”
How can anyone ask this casually?!
Cheng Xiu told himself, “I don’t care!” He was about to defend himself passionately when he realized there was a mistake in He An’s sentence, “Wait, what–?”
He An asked, “Huh?”
Cheng Xiu repeated for him, “You just said, ‘You don’t really mean what you say.’“
He An was shocked, and his face looked a little stiff.
However, he quickly recovered and reached out to push Cheng Xiu on the shoulder, pretending to be angry and saying, “You’re so smart, why don’t you let others make mistakes sometimes?”
Leaning against the wall in the hallway outside the living room, Zheng Feiluan smiled softly.
He didn’t mean to listen in; Cheng Xiu was just impatient and kept asking He An questions, so He An had to stop him before they got far. He thought that he was slowly winning He An’s heart and that, with time, he would be accepted, but what he heard through the wall really hit him hard. He didn’t think that He An was just waiting for his interest to wear off.
But… but He An, you underestimated my determination to get you back.
How could I ever get tired of it?
Even if our pheromones are no longer a match, the only omega I want is you.
⋮
The rain stopped, and the short period of cool weather went away with it. It stayed humid for a long time, and Luotan Town’s summer days got hot again.
In the blink of an eye, June has arrived, and the summer sun is as fierce as a tiger. Cranberry Pastry House has put up a big ad for “Ice Cold Drinks” that come in three flavors: blueberry, matcha, and raspberry. They also offer freshly squeezed juice, crushed almond ice cream, and oolong tea cake. All three owners of the Olive Inn are treated like elites, and every morning when He An wakes up from his daily nap and opens the fridge in the living room, he sees three cups of drinks with the cranberry logo neatly placed inside.
After picking out a cup, he stuck the straw in it and drank from it. It was really sweet and refreshed him after being hot.
But his heart kept getting confused.
After six months, Zheng Feiluan still doesn’t seem to want to leave, and he seems to have invested a lot of time and energy into this little pastry house, as if he intends to keep it running for quite some time. Just recently, in a conversation, Zheng Feiluan discussed his plans for the upcoming fall and winter seasons. He mentioned that he was thinking of expanding the menu by adding Chinese osmanthus cake, red bean glutinous rice cake, and some hot beverages. He went so far as to research next summer’s plans, planning to bring in fresh additions. So this year’s menu won’t be repeated.
Next year…
Is moving to Luotan Town really what he wants?
Leaning on the cooling mat, He An rubbed his cheeks and looked anxious. As Linglan swung the little chick around like a roly-poly on the other side of the table, he poked her foot and asked, “Linglan, he’s not leaving. What should we do?”
“Ack.”
As soon as Linglan felt tickled, she quickly pulled her foot back. She then lost her balance and fell backwards in an unpleasant roll.
⋮
During the summer, the inn is crawling with bugs and insects, and being so close to the river makes it even worse.
Right after Zheng Feiluan finished washing and changing clothes earlier today, he went outside. As he went down a few stairs, the door across from him opened all of a sudden. He An ran out of the room with a pale face, and when he saw him, he couldn’t help but shout, “Fei… Feiluan!”
“What’s wrong?!”
Fearing something terrible had happened, he grabbed the handrail with one hand, jumped down the stairs, and landed hard on the ground. When he ran into the room and looked in the direction He An pointed, he almost found it funny: a round beetle about the size of a chestnut had fallen on the lamp shade of the bedside lamp. It was black and shiny, and it was slowly crawling sideways.
After turning around, Zheng Feiluan asked, “Are you scared of this?”
He An was too scared to even look. With his hands over his eyes, he leaned down by the door and stammered, “T-take, take it away!”
After pulling two tissues from the tissue box, Zheng Feiluan folded them in his palm and chuckled hoarsely. He carefully wrapped the beetle in his bare hands, then set it free outside the inn. As he walked past He An, he shivered with fear, his eyes fixed on Zheng Feiluan’s hand, and he backed five steps, as if the beetle were breaking free from its enclosure.
Zheng Feiluan saw this and wanted to ruthlessly tease He An.
When he got back from letting the bug go, he put his left hand behind his back and made a fist, as if he were hiding something in his palm. In order to get He An to let his guard down, he approached him and, out of the blue, put his hand under his eyes as if to open them.
“Ahhh!”
Thwack!
The omega was so startled that he screamed, raised his hand, and slapped him.
In a slightly embarrassed tone, Zheng Feiluan covered his cheek and said, “I… I was joking.”
As he talked, he slowly opened his hand and saw that there was nothing inside. He An was shocked and just stared at him while he breathed heavily. His face turned red, then white, and he slapped him again with his backhand, this time with greater force.
Zheng Feiluan’s face had been swollen all morning.
He An glared at him throughout the entire day until night.
Zheng Feiluan was ready to kneel the next day at noon to renew his stay. He still doesn’t know what he ate yesterday that he even dared to prank He An. If He An still doesn’t forgive him and won’t let him stay, all of his hard work over the past six months will be wasted over that stupid joke.
Thankfully, He An, who was frowning and clenching his jaw, still granted him a day.
The situation caused Zheng Feiluan to feel extremely anxious. He was worried that He An would get angry one day and reopen old wounds, which would make his life less stable in the long run, so he first said that he wanted to finish the check-in steps for the second half of the year all at once.
He An instinctively knew what he was thinking and told him, “You said it yourself—one day at a time is enough. I’m worried that if I give you too much, it’ll mess with your discipline.”
Zheng Feiluan fell into the hole he dug and was hurt, “I think that I… am already very self-disciplined.”
“Oh, really?” In a cold voice, He An asked, “That includes scaring me with bugs?”
Zheng Feiluan quickly lowered his head and said, “I was wrong.”
“Here.”
He An put out his hand and gave Zheng Feiluan’s ID back. His chin was slightly raised, as if this couldn’t be argued.
As a witness, Cheng Xiu laughed so hard on the living room sofa that Liubailiu, who was resting on his lap and licking his fur, got affected, causing his belly fat to shake in waves.
⋮
Zheng Feiluan went back to the Cranberry Pastry House, but as a result of his failure, he felt quite a bit frustrated.
When a customer placed an order, he was making coffee but wasn’t paying attention. For a moment, he missed He An’s attractive looks and thought that his angry and mean face was especially cute. A while later, his mind went back to the bedroom he had the pleasure of entering yesterday and thought that the home where the father and daughter lived was very cozy and welcoming.
He remembers…
The bed was a creamy white and full of brightly colored dolls, like a tiger plush, a fat chick, a hippopotamus with a big head, and a deer with horns… Along with the toys, there was a fleece blanket and a bunch of kid’s clothes that were all neatly folded. It was made of cotton in elegant colors that are childish but beautiful.
There was a faint scent of omega pheromones in the air, not his preferred type, but the type-3 that could be found everywhere.
He An’s current smell.
The milky scent of lily of the valley is mixed with the omega pheromones and is very refreshing. Just taking a whiff is like having a child’s gentle fingers brush over your face.
Wait a second.
Zheng Feiluan’s hand trembled, and the boiling hot water spilled from the filter pot.
He picked up on an important detail: an alpha’s smell wasn’t there. There were no signs of an alpha living in the room at all, not in the daily items, the furniture, or the atmosphere. He An wasn’t living with Dai Xiao like he had said before.
He lives by himself.
From the beginning to the end, there was no “third person” between them.
Zheng Feiluan was ecstatic, and his body was on fire with delight. The boulder that was blocking his chest had been crushed to pieces with a hammer, and the wind blew away the mist above his head. From that point on, he felt refreshed as he saw the sun shining through the clouds.
A lot of things that he had been avoiding before were now laid out for him to think about, and it all became crystal clear.
There was never any doubt between Dai Xiao and He An, was there?
He had noticed Dai Xiao’s consideration for He An over the last six months or so, but it was closer to caring for a friend than an alpha displaying affection to an omega, and half of it had been given to Linglan. Looking at the little things they do together every day that aren’t out of jealousy, there isn’t really a connection between them.
When it comes to being close, Cheng Xiu and Dai Xiao might be far ahead because they talk to each other all the time.
Simply put, if Dai Xiao and He An were together, an alpha’s jealousy would have sent him thousands of miles away to cool off. He let him chase He An for more than six months. How could he just stand there and watch?
It’s clear to others, but it’s not clear to those involved.
The situation was so simple, but he was so lost that he couldn’t understand it.
⋮
The news that He An has been single for quite some time brought Zheng Feiluan joy throughout the afternoon. However, he was oblivious to the fact that this unexpected turn of events would also stir up the beasts hibernating in his subconscious. The omega that lives alone is weak and tempting, like a fat and juicy lamb that can’t defend itself, making the hungry wolves uneasy.
At around midnight that particular day, something happened at the inn.
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Translated and edited by janemoyu (03/28/24)
