最佳契合 (Perfect Match) – 十九瑶
Chapter 61
The flowers in Luotan Town bloomed on the ninth day after Yan Ning arrived.
Plain snow-white petals spread out in the silent darkness, like a young girl’s long, slender fingers holding out a bunch of goose-yellow stems.
Yan Ning’s reservation was only valid for ten days, and he was scheduled to go home tomorrow. It seemed to be a success because the flowers blossomed on the very last night—the timing was just perfect.
However, there’s some regret.
Yan Ning traveled to Luotan Town not only because he missed Linglan terribly, but also for selfish reasons.
His goal was to find a time when he could have a serious conversation with He An, pleading with him to come back to Zheng Feiluan. If this was too imposing, at least it was good to give some sort of hope for forgiveness; Yan Ning had spent the majority of his life alone, and the only people who truly mattered to him were his two children, Feiyi and Feiluan. In the end, it’s all about flesh and blood. He can’t stand to see Zheng Feiluan get weaker every day until the pheromone ends his life.
But once he got there, the more time he spent with He An, the less he could speak.
He An’s calm demeanor blends perfectly with the natural beauty of a small town. He could have a quiet, comfortable life here with Linglan, but what if they lived in Yuanjiang?
Just like a man who drinks water, he can tell if the water is hot or cold.1This implies that Yan Ning knows what is wrong or right.
Even with Zheng Feiluan’s unwavering support, Yuanjiang may not be enough to bring He An happiness. Besides, who can say for sure that Zheng Feiluan is the ideal partner for He An when there are so many alphas in the world?
This peace had been fought so hard for, and Yan Ning did not want to break it.
For him, being able to spend a few days as a tourist, embrace his granddaughter, whom he could hardly recognize, and breathe knowing that everything was fine made the trip worthwhile.
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Yan Ning put his bags together by himself and changed into pajamas. He didn’t want to sleep yet, so he made purple bamboo shoot tea and sat on the terrace to pass the time. Just then, someone knocked on the door.
After opening the door, He An was there.
Linglan cuddled up to her dad’s chest, hugged the chick plush, and called to grandpa in an affectionate and sweet voice.
Yan Ning poked her in the dimple and said, “Hello, Linglan.”
He then turned to He An and asked, “Are you still up this late?”
He An was slightly embarrassed, “You’re leaving tomorrow. I… I want to stay with you again for a bit.”
The small hole in Yan Ning’s heart appeared to be filled upon hearing this sentence. He smiled softly and said, “You got here just in time. I just made tea, and it’s still hot. Come in and take a seat.”
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On the terrace, there is a small table with two cups of tea. It’s wide open, and there is a view of the night sky that goes on for miles, covered in shining stars.
After taking a seat and watching for a bit, Yan Ning sighed and said, “It’s really peaceful in a small town. The city is shrouded in pollution, and I haven’t seen such beautiful stars in a long time.”
“Then…wouldn’t you have more time to see them if you extended your stay a little?”
He An held the tea and asked the question in a subtle manner. After saying that, he felt ashamed, as if he were forcing people to stay, and quickly corrected himself, “You don’t have to do that, of course. You’ve been out here for so long that your family must be missing you and waiting for you to come home.”
“No, no, no, it’s fine. My two little bastards are so busy that I can barely see them. They fly all around the world. It would be a sign of respect if they could come back home once a month.”
Yan Ning was visibly upset.
He An was surprised, “Are they so busy?”
Yan Ning nodded, “Both boys are alphas. Being ‘peaceful’ isn’t in their nature. They’ve been out and about since they could crawl. Even a rope couldn’t hold them down.”
He An couldn’t help but laugh, “So your family has been misbehaving for years?”
“Indeed, they have, and none of them are easy to worry about. Their strengths and weaknesses are so different from each other.” Yan Ning lowered his head and sipped his tea, thinking back, “The younger one is more favored, more talented, and more competitive. He’s also stubborn, like a reckless lion cub who appears intimidating to everyone. The older one is conceited, always keeps his feelings in check, and constantly wants to prove himself. There has always been tension between them. They’re not close, but they’re not distant either, and the open and secret fighting has never stopped.”
While Yan Ning was talking about this, he remembered something very interesting.
“My youngest son, who was learning fencing at the age of six, got mad after I praised him as ‘just as good’ as his older brother and refused to talk to me for two days. Finally, after months of training, he brought me along to see him perform. He didn’t say anything and didn’t ask me to praise him. As soon as it was over, he came up and said: Gege2Chinese term for elder brother. is still better.“
“Is it possible for an alpha to have such low self-esteem?”
He An was taken aback and couldn’t help but think that this mischievous little boy sounds like a younger Zheng Feiluan.
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”Then… if the boys aren’t home, your alpha must be, right?” He An added, “He calls you three or four times a day and cares about what you wear and eat. But he didn’t follow you out here. I bet he stays home all the time, looking forward to seeing you again.”
Without hesitation, Yan Ning waved his hand and said, “Please enjoy your tea and don’t ask about him.”
“Oh… “
They were having problems, as expected.
He An approached with a smile, “Did you have a fight?”
“…Sort of.”
He An was amazed, “I thought only young and inexperienced kids like us would fight.”
Yan Ning laughed and said, “Some people still don’t know any better, even when they’re forty or fifty.”
Hearing him say this aroused He An’s curiosity even more.
He had always assumed that Yan Ning was immune to emotions and anger. He couldn’t figure out what kind of alpha could win Yan Ning’s approval, let alone make Yan Ning angry.
Seeing how he looked like he was waiting to hear gossip, Yan Ning knew he had gotten it wrong. “Do you think I came all the way here to get some peace and quiet because I was mad after a fight with him a few days ago?”
“No… Isn’t it?”
“Of course not.” Yan Ning smiled gently, “The rift between him and me has gone on for decades.”
“Decades?”
He An’s smile suddenly froze, “H-how could it be possible? You’re clearly such a good person…”
“I was confused as a child. I believed I was great at many things and that everybody liked me, so just why couldn’t I get along with my alpha? Sometime later, when I was older, I realized one thing: disagreements are going to happen no matter how good of a person I am.”
Yan Ning lowered his head and took a sip of tea, staring at the green mountains and white fields stretching under the moonlight for a long time without saying anything.
It made He An feel extremely guilty that his “curiosity” had led to Yan Ning remembering an unpleasant past. Still, he stayed by his side. Whenever the teacup was empty, he would help fill it up until it was half full. If Linglan woke up, he would coax her with a soft voice.
“Would you like to hear a story?” After a brief silence, Yan Ning asked, “Stories from many years ago.”
“Well…” He An nodded, “I-if you don’t mind.”
“Don’t be nervous. So much time has passed. Life is going to be miserable if I still can’t let go.” Yan Ning stood up, smiled at him, and warmly said, “Hold on for a minute.”
After saying this, he walked back into the bedroom and then came back with a photo in his hand.
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It was a black-and-white photo that had yellowed with age; the frame had a once-popular wavy pattern. Although the photo is old, its surface is still clean and smooth, proving that the owner cares for it.
The photo’s main subjects are two young people, each about twenty years old and just starting to become adults.
They were inside an arched pavilion built near the lake. One of them sat on the railing, holding a book of poetry, looking out over the lake, smiling widely as he dangled his feet in the air, closed his eyes, and lifted his chin to the rising sun. With a hint of tenderness in the heart—
He An realized it was Yan Ning when he was young.
Yan Ning, at twenty years old, radiates an undeniable air of ease and lightness, like a cloud floating on the wind of the day, prepared to fly at a moment’s notice, free from the lines and wrinkles brought on by years of struggle and worry.
His dashing alpha stood behind him, hands in pockets, hunched and tilting his head slightly, as if he were going to plant a kiss on his cheek.
He probably didn’t like showing affection in public, but he couldn’t say no to his lover’s request for a kiss. His alpha gave him a hesitant look, but the corners of his lips couldn’t help but curve.
He clearly had strong feelings for him.
He An could tell they were madly in love in this frozen moment; how could two people so perfectly suited to each other have been miserable for so long?
He An couldn’t understand.
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“His name is Hongming, Hong as in great, Ming as in bright, and we met in college.”
Yan Ning looked at the old picture of the alpha and reflected, “At that time, I was only eighteen years old and studying literature and history. He was two years ahead of me and studying business. One evening, the school poetry club rented a classroom for an exchange meeting. When there were no other people in the classroom, I went there early and wrote the poem I was going to read on the blackboard. As I finished copying the last line, Hongming walked in, and guess what?”
For some reason, a movie-like plot came to He An’s mind as he raised his chin and said, “He happened to have read that poem and liked it, and just… became interested in you?”
“What’s romantic about that?” With a chuckle, Yan Ning said, “Hongming doesn’t read poetry at all.”
“Then what happened?”
Yan Ning continued, “He took the blackboard eraser and erased all the poems I had written without saying a word. He also told me very seriously that the classroom would now be used for an economics debate class. As the class president, he had to tell irrelevant people to leave and stop writing on the board. Of course, I wasn’t convinced. There was a formal process for the Poetry Club to borrow the classroom. Why did he just take it over? If he wants to hold a debate class, he should borrow one himself. So I wrote the poem over again.”
“He was next to me with a blackboard eraser in his hand. I copied a line, he erased a line, I copied a line, he erased a line… The two men went up against each other, and neither chose to give way first. I can still remember it; it was an eight-line William Butler Yeats poem called “After Long Silence.”
“It wasn’t until I made three copies that someone showed up to the classroom. Unfortunately, it wasn’t my classmate, but his. I was confused. I stood leaning awkwardly against the blackboard and thought about it for a while until it hit me—the poetry club’s exchange meeting was tomorrow. I remembered the wrong day.”
He An couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Even Yan Ning, who is as sophisticated and loving as he is, has such a childish history.
Yan Ning also laughed and said, “I was stubborn at that time. I knew I was wrong and embarrassed, but I didn’t want to admit it. He asked me to leave, right? I didn’t want to go, so I sat in the far back of the room and listened to their discussion. I hoped to put more mental pressure on Hongming by staring at him as he stood up to speak. During the defense, he said I was like a very strict team leader with daggers in my eyes. So just to beat me, he made things hard for me too by intentionally asking: Does the liberal arts student in the last row understand? Everyone in the class couldn’t help but laugh quietly as he emphasized every word.”
“Actually, he has no idea, but I understand. My father was a well-known businessman, and as a result of his influence, I’ve learned some business concepts without having to study them. And because I understand, I can’t lie to myself out of anger. To call him average would be an understatement. In fact, he’s top in his class and has a charismatic air about him whenever he speaks.”
While looking at the picture of the alpha, He An couldn’t help but agree.
Some alphas are born with an imposing presence and compelling charm, and omegas who aren’t highly compatible with them are perfectly fine with that. On the other hand, people who are extremely compatible are practically lured in with no way out.
He An had felt that way before.
“The Poetry Club finally got to hold the exchange in the same room the next day. As I walked up to the podium and looked down, Hongming came and sat down in the last row, where I had been sitting the previous day. He looked at me with a seductive look that said: I’d like to see what you can pull.
“Unfortunately, that class is all about love poetry. The mood is usually particularly pleasant when students who love poetry join in. But for those who can’t relate, this sensual, honest, and no-holds-barred mood is too embarrassing. Hongming worked hard to show how mocking he was, but it backfired. In the end, he was the most embarrassed and out-of-place person in the room, and he bolted from the scene, his ears red from embarrassment.”
Yan Ning had a small smile on his face when he said that.
“I thought it was over when each of us played one round and tied. Surprisingly, Hongming returned for a second visit during the second week of the exchange meeting. He got a book called “Econometrics” and sat down next to me to read a lesson. Over time, he proved himself as a reliable auditor for our poetry club. He learned to write poetry and sometimes read poetry with us, though his writing wasn’t very good.”
“Since he comes every week, I told him he could just fill out a form to join the club and get credit for it. He said, with a cold face, that reading poetry is so boring that he might not want to come again. He did say that some people don’t like it, but they still come every week.”
“What a cunning alpha.” He An blinked and grumbled, “He still denies courting you, even though it’s obvious.”
Yan Ning softly leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and smiled, “He said he liked my unrealistic romanticism and my needle-short temper. So I asked myself, what is it that you like about him? Hongming has a lot of good traits, which one do you like best? And I thought it’s probably his honesty and sense of humor that I like the most.”
“He’s not a humble person. He’s always been as cocky as he is talented. Those old-fashioned traditional sayings teach people to keep their heads down and behave themselves all day. They may be able to hold other people back, but not him.”
“My relationship with Hongming is like a mountain fire in the middle of summer. Several days were all it took for a mass of flames to cover the plains and forests. During that time, he wrote me a poem every day. The poems had strange phrases, used a lot of metaphors, and so on. He boldly wrote jumbled words. I wasn’t much better, and my aesthetic was completely lost. So I really enjoyed reading it and even thought… it was the best love poem ever.”
Yan Ning lay back with his eyes closed, his voice soft, and his lips curled into a smile.
He’s as calm as if he’s about to go to sleep.
He An then heard a low sigh, “I thought it was fate, and we would keep going like that for the rest of our lives, but it didn’t. Around the time I graduated, which was my fourth year with Hongming, I…”
A moment of hesitation passed before he continued, “I brought him to see my father.”
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Translated and edited by janemoyu (05/05/24)
