SL Chapter 10

Min Yang’s gaze turned cold in an instant.

The Tang family… Very well, he would remember this.

“Do they bully you often?” Min Yang’s voice was icy enough to make anyone shiver.

The little stammerer seriously pondered Min Yang’s question. Since the time he had “taken action,” the eldest young master of the Tang family hadn’t troubled him much. It was mostly the side branches of the Tang family, trying to curry favor with the eldest young master, who occasionally played some petty tricks.

Though, he always ended up beating them down.

But Min Yang hadn’t asked if he beat them down, so Tang Zhe thought for a moment and decided to answer exactly what he was asked.

Tang Zhe: “S-sometimes.”

Min Yang: “You don’t have to hide anything from me.”

Tang Zhe blinked his big eyes.

Min Yang thought that Tang Zhe must have been bullied a lot, and was trying to hide it to keep him from worrying. For some reason, this made something inside Min Yang feel a bit uncomfortable, so he decided not to press further. “Never mind, I understand.”

Tang Zhe: ???

Though Tang Zhe didn’t quite understand what Min Yang “understood,” Min Yang didn’t continue questioning him. The two chatted for a while longer, and Min Yang recalled the little village Tang Zhe had mentioned before.

Previously, Min Yang had already sent people to investigate the “village” Tang Zhe had talked about. Interestingly, when Min Yang was cornered by those mercenaries, he had also passed by a village.

Even more coincidentally, the timing matched up perfectly.

As Min Yang turned the ring on his finger, he realized that some things needed to be expedited.

The mess within the Min family should be cleaned up, he thought, a fleeting chill flashing in the Alpha’s eyes.

The warm touch on his fingers brought Min Yang back to reality. Tang Zhe was carefully changing the dressing on Min Yang’s hand.

After finishing, Tang Zhe stared at Min Yang’s fingers, his brows furrowed. Although Min Yang had applied burn ointment, the blister from the burn had not subsided even after two days, still looking quite serious.

“Mr… Mr. Min, does… does it hurt a lot?”

Min Yang: “I don’t—”

Min Yang was about to say he wasn’t afraid of pain when the little stammerer reached out to him. Tang Zhe’s thought process was simple: when he was little and practiced Muay Thai, he got hurt a lot, and it hurt terribly, but as long as Miss Tang hugged him, it didn’t seem to hurt as much.

Tang Zhe wanted Min Yang to feel less pain too.

So, Tang Zhe stammered yet earnestly offered, “If it… hurts, Mr… Mr. Min can… can hug me.”

The rest of Min Yang’s words lingered on his lips, but he didn’t say them.

Tang Zhe’s frame was small, and even though he was just a little Omega, he kept saying he wanted to protect Min Yang.

It was strange, but Min Yang didn’t find it unpleasant.

Fine, he thought, he might as well give in and hug him. After all, the little stammerer had already extended his hand.

Just… a reluctant hug.

During the hug, Tang Zhe lightly touched the scar on Min Yang’s brow. The scar, splitting his brow in two, could have been frightening, but Min Yang didn’t see a trace of fear on the little stammerer’s face.

Instead, it was filled with concern.

Tang Zhe genuinely felt sorry for Min Yang and truly wanted to protect him.

Tang Zhe’s knowledge of the Min family was limited to the hostile relationship between Min Yang and his stepmother.

Tang Zhe’s arranged marriage had been orchestrated by the Tang family, with plenty of scheming by both the eldest young master and Tang’s father. Their goal wasn’t Tang Zhe’s happiness but rather to curry favor with Min Yang’s stepmother by using a stammerer to disgust Min Yang.

Although Tang Zhe could have resisted the marriage, staying in the Tang family was worse for him than leaving.

Given his own experiences, Tang Zhe naturally assumed that Min Yang had been bullied or manipulated into this marriage. After all, in Tang Zhe’s mind, no one would willingly spend their life with a stammerer.

Though in reality, Min Yang was the one doing the manipulating.

The scar on his brow had been left by an “accident,” but those responsible for that accident had mostly been dealt with by Min Yang. The Min family might have appeared to be under the control of the old man, but only Min Yang knew what was really going on. As for the marriage, if Min Yang hadn’t deliberately played along for his own plans, not even his stepmother could have forced it to happen.

But Tang Zhe didn’t know any of this. Having suffered himself, he wanted to protect others from the same pain.

Especially after seeing the scar on Min Yang’s brow, Tang Zhe became even more determined to protect him.

From that day on, Tang Zhe began making careful plans.

He filled sticky notes with details he had learned from the butler, including Min Yang’s habits and dietary preferences.

Min Yang used to come home rarely. Sometimes he would return so late that Tang Zhe was already asleep, and the two would keep out of each other’s way. But at some point, even when Min Yang came home late after working overtime, Tang Zhe would always be there, sitting on the sofa, waiting.

The little stammerer must have been waiting for a long time, or perhaps he had napped for an hour or two, as there were still red marks on his cheek from where he had rested it on the sofa. Clearly exhausted, the little stammerer would still break into a sweet smile the moment he saw the Alpha.

Wearing light blue pyjamas, Tang Zhe would stand up from the sofa and say, “Mr… Mr. Min, you… you’re home…?”

Min Yang would still carry the cold from outside, but in the next moment, he would find his hands caught by the little stammerer’s outstretched ones.

—Tang Zhe had initiated the hug.

The soft, warm embrace chased away the cold clinging to Min Yang, leaving him momentarily stunned and a bit flustered.

After the hug, Tang Zhe turned and headed into the kitchen. He had been learning to make rib soup with the butler’s help. Earlier, when he was too tired, he had asked the butler to watch over the pot for a while, and now the soup was still simmering on the stove.

“Brother,” After spending so much time together, the two had grown close, and Tang Zhe now called the butler “brother” naturally. Smiling at the young butler, Tang Zhe said, “I… I can… take over now.”

When the butler stepped out, Min Yang was still standing at the door, lost in thought.

Like a statue, not moving at all.

The butler approached him, “Sir?”

Min Yang: “Why did he hug me first?”

The butler: “Mr. Tang has been waiting for you.”

Min Yang: “He hugged me first?”

The butler: “It’s time for dinner, sir.”

Min Yang: “But why did he hug me first?”

The butler: …

Min Yang turned to him, “Has anyone ever hugged you first?”

The butler smiled, “No, sir.”

Min Yang: “Oh,”

“He only calls you brother?”

Min Yang, satisfied, added, “Ahem, he hugged me.”

Min Yang glanced at the butler out of the corner of his eye and emphasised, “He hugged me first.”

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