Chapter 4 IN WHICH TODAY’S PUPPY MEETS THE PARENTS
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47
“Hi, Assistant Liu.”
Carrying two thermos buckets, Zhen Xin excitedly walks into Liang Ren’s company and easily navigates past the front desk to reach the Director’s Office.
A few days ago, during a scorching hot day with a heatwave advisory, Zhen Xin has been busy running from house to house before dashing back to stand guard outside the building. While fiddling with his mini handheld fan that refused to turn on, the friendly receptionist offered him water and a seat in the lobby. With sunburnt cheeks, Zhen Xin happily drank the boiled water, and sat comfortably for two hours before heading back home as usual.
From the following day, Zhen Xin had been allowed to wait in the lounge of the lobby. With his flattering ways and honeyed mouth, he soon broke into the front desk, gradually making his way upstairs without issue, like leveling up in a game, breaking through the defense line bit by bit.
Although he never gets to see Liang Ren, Zhen Xin is satisfied enough to stew him soup every day. He even bought two thermos buckets so that he could replace the previous day’s thermos bucket for a fresh one the next day.
Every time he comes the next day, the thermos would have been cleaned. He never asked if Liang Ren drank it or poured it out. It doesn’t matter, he still brought new dishes over every day.
“Mr. Zhen,” Assistant Liu bids him welcome. “You can rest in the waiting room.”
“I know, I know, don’t mind me. I’m sure you are busy. Finish your work so you can go home early,” Zhen Xin urges with a smile. He puts down the thermos, and goes to the pantry to make tea for himself.
“What’s up with that beauty who comes to see Mr. Liang every day?”
Zhen Xin swears that he only wants to get some hot water, not intending to listen to gossips, but he ends up overhearing gossip about himself.
“Who knows. He comes here every day, but Mr. Liang neither sees him nor chases him away. He just gives him the cold shoulder. Quite pitiful, if you look at it.”
“What cold shoulder? Even though Mr. Liang doesn’t want to see him, he’s taking care of him. I saw Assistant Liu received him in person last time. Assistant Liu is Mr. Liang’s right-hand man. Seeing Assistant Liu is like meeting Mr. Liang himself.”
Zhen Xin pauses. In a flash, his eyes curve with a smile as he retreats.
——————
Liang Ren finishes today’s work at 8:20 PM. Due to their company’s ongoing mid-year summary, he has been extremely busy. Finishing work at this time is considered early.
He rises to his feet and stretches himself a bit. His eyes drop on the thermos bucket lying aside.
His assistant brought it to him earlier. He walks over and unscrews the lid. Inside, the tremella and red dates are stewed soft and chewy. It’s quite obvious that a certain puppy wants to please him.
Liang Ren frowns, then closes the lid.
——————
Liang Ren now lives in a condominium so close to the company that he doesn’t even need to drive. It’s almost nine o’clock when he finishes sorting the files and is ready to go home. When he opens the office door, he finds that the lights in the reception area are still on.
He walks over to turn them off, but just as he approaches, he sees Zhen Xin curled up on the couch.
Liang Ren briefly closes his eyes and turns around.
Unexpectedly, after three minutes, he appears again carrying a thin quilt.
He just doesn’t want someone to freeze to death in his company and make the building haunted.
As Liang Ren bends down to cover him with the quilt, someone suddenly pulls his wrist and pins him down.
“You!”
Catching Liang Ren off guard, the clear-eyed Zhen Xin takes the chance to loop his arms around Liang Ren’s shoulders and give him a sweet lingering kiss.
Slurp!
48
The puppy’s attack takes Liang Ren by surprise.
Zhen Xin is really not playing. This person used to blush after kissing for a long time, but now he doesn’t even need to catch his breath.
He also feels weird. He knows that this is an ordinary beta with no pheromones, but why is his scent so appetizing? It’s not the scent of pheromones or laundry detergent, but rather a distinct and exclusive smell that belongs only to him.
Subconsciously, Liang Ren embraces the person’s waist, but then abruptly springs back as if shocked, extending his hand to push the person away.
Betas have never been able to match the strength of alphas. Zhen Xin can only achieved much by launching a sneak attack. Now that Liang Ren has come to his senses, he has no strength to fight back and can only be pushed away.
Zhen Xin partly closes his eyes, not wanting to see Liang Ren’s angry face.
He knows that he’s in the wrong. Liang Ren will surely scold him now, but he just can’t bear to hear Liang Ren say something bad about him. Even a glare from him makes him feel incredibly wronged.
Zhen Xin wants to plug his own ears, but also can’t bear to release Liang Ren whom he has managed to hold onto. He can only listen to Liang Ren’s admonishment.
“You can really go out your way for a rich man. Do you always pounce on them like this?”
Regretful and happy, Zhen Xin’s eyelashes flutter lightly. He is sitting astride Liang Ren’s lap, and the latter doesn’t push him away.
“I do no such thing. You’re the only one, and you threw me away…” Zhen Xin reaches a hand and rubs his face tenderly. “And my skills are too poor. You don’t care about me throwing myself into your arms at all.”
Liang Ren snorts coldly. “Honey in one’s mouth, dagger in one’s heart.”
Zhen Xin manuevers his position, licks his lips that are still stained with the sweetness of tremella syrup, and leans forward to bite Liang Ren’s ears.
“True.”
Honey-mouthed and dagger-hearted.
49
Everything is difficult at the beginning. Ever since Zhen Xin’s surprised attack, he is now able to snuggle up and kiss his husband every now and then.
Although Liang Ren is full of reluctance, he has no idea what to do about him. Occasionally, he would subconsciously pout his lips when being kissed, making Zhen Xin very happy.
He shamelessly calls Liang Ren “husband” all the time that some people around him started to address him the same way too. Liang Ren can only send him a baleful glare as he cannot possibly put a gag in his mouth. Zhen Xin sticks to his husband every day, and with Mr. Liang’s indulgence, the people around him soon look at him differently. While some are polite, others are gossiping about him. But Zhen Xin doesn’t give a hoot, he only wants to stick close to his beloved husband.
——————
“What are you following me for?”
Sooner or later, Liang Ren will be driven crazy by Zhen Xin. These days, the naughty puppy has become even worse. He used to stay in the company for only two hours just to give him food and drinks, but now he stands by the door of his office, insisting on waiting for him to get off work, and then follows him to the parking lot.
“The parking lot is a public place. I can go here as much as you can.” Zhen Xin quickly trots to Liang Ren’s side. “I’m not doing anything wrong. You go your way, I’ll go to mine. I won’t even dare to talk to you if you don’t want to talk to me.”
He really isn’t doing anything wrong. Zhen Xin doesn’t even chase him to his home. He merely trails behind him to the parking lot every day, silently watching him drive the car away. Through the rearview mirror, Liang Ren sees the sad puppy gazing at the receding tail lights of his car. It’s really annoying.
“Where did you learn these tricks?” Liang Ren sighs as he rubs his forehead. “Even a god won’t be able to withstand your persistence.”
“I just want to be with you,” Zhen Xin whispers. He firmly tugs Liang Ren’s sleeve and does not let go. “I also want to talk to you. Husband, don’t ignore me.”
“What do you want me to do?” Liang Ren drops his arms and doesn’t shake off the puppy’s paw on his sleeve. He asks angrily, “Take you home so I can keep being your fool?”
Zhen Xin stands on tiptoes and kisses Liang Ren on the corner of his mouth.
“My husband is not my fool, but my perfect match.”
He really is a master of shamelessness and persistence.
Xin Xin: (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧
50
“Teacher Zhen, it’s really hard to meet with you,” Feng Fan says, sitting at his desk with a cold face while stirring coffee.
“Sorry, sorry.”
Zhen Xin puts his hands together and makes a slight bow. He has been so busy pursuing Liang Ren every day after work, leaving little time for socializing. Every time Feng Fan seeks him out, he’d only turn him down. This time, Liang Ren is engaged in some business, so he takes the opportunity to talk with Feng Fan. After all, Dr. Feng’s aloofness is really adorable, and Zhen Xin can’t bear not to keep in touch anymore.
“I’m busy pestering Liang Ren these days, so I really couldn’t spare the time to make plans with you.”
“Excuses,” Feng Fan huffs, looking so cute in this temper. “I never expected you to be that little boyfriend whom Liang Ren can’t forget.”
Zhen Xin shyly turns his head and speaks in a low voice, “He mentioned me to you?”
“More than that.” Feng Fan shrugs. “You know, in those years when I was abroad with that idiot Li, we heard him mention you from time to time… Oh, by the way, Liang Ren also asked me to proofread your self-study materials. They were very precious to him. He was afraid that if they were too simple, it would not help you pass the exam, and if they were too difficult, it would dampen your enthusiasm.”
“I see.” Zhen Xin is completely ignorant of this information. His cheeks flush and his lips curve. “He has always been very good to me. No one treats me better than he did.”
“Then why did you split up?” Question marks clutter in Feng Fan’s mind. “We had all the red envelopes ready back then. We were just waiting to buy plane tickets and come back to toast you. How could you just call it off all of a sudden?”
“I……” Zhen Xin trails off.
He had been caught up in the web of lies he had spun out of his own sensitivity and insecurity. The better Liang Ren treated him, the more he felt afraid and uneasy, thinking that all the love was just a castle in the air, a fantasy bubble that would burst when the truth of the deception was revealed, leaving him with nothing.
If only he had no ulterior motive from the very beginning, it would have been nice to meet Liang Ren by chance. If only he never thought of deceiving him for money, nor did he lie about being an omega, he really would have a precious love, no longer wandering and no longer homeless. How wonderful it would have been to really have a home.
But there are no “ifs”. A fraud is still a fraud.
“Nevermind. My own porridge is hot enough. I didn’t come here to listen to your drama.” Feng Fan flinches after taking a sip of the bitter coffee. “You are stupid if you ask me. He has so much money. In any case, the fact that you’re an unmarked beta is not a significant issue and wouldn’t cost much to deal with, so even if you were to stabilize your relationship with Liang Ren by marrying him before divorcing him later, you could still make a considerable profit.”
Zhen Xin is shocked.
“You know I’m a beta?”
“I know. Liang Ren and his little beta boyfriend,” Feng Fan states matter-of-factly.
Everyone knows.
51
Liang Ren has drank some wine at the table today. It’s already past ten o’clock when he got home.
He is still sober, but he doesn’t feel comfortable. He never liked drinking, but sometimes it is unavoidable to have a few sips in the business world.
The alcohol has a slightly numbing effect on his nerves, and his usually calm face relaxes a bit.
He used to love to laugh and look at the bright side of everything, but the older he gets, the more naive he feels. Many things are beyond his control, how can there be so many happy endings in life?
The driver originally wants to take him to the underground garage as usual, but Liang Ren asks the driver to drop him off at the entrance of the community.
He’s a little tired and wants to get some fresh air.
This house is supposed to be their marital home, which he prepared with boundless enthusiasm, only for Zhen Xin to pour a lot of cold water on it.
Zhen Xin’s family background and academic qualifications were inconsequential to him. He could even overlook Zhen Xin’s lie about being an omega.
He just couldn’t accept the fact that the person he wholeheartedly loved and treated like a treasure only regarded himself as a tool for making money.
Liang Ren laughs.
Zhen Xin’s sincerity was never with him.
——————
Zhen Xin rubs his arms, feeling a little too impulsive. Unable to settle his buzzing mind due to Feng Fan’s disclosure, he rashly runs here to find Liang Ren.
Shivering slightly, Zhen Xin looks at the house in front of him.
This is the new house they prepared for their marriage back then, but they never got to move in.
He has broken up with Liang Ren a long time ago, and Liang Ren has other properties. There’s no reason why he would want to live in this place, yet he doesn’t know why he still wants to come here and wait.
Zhen Xin sniffs, rubbing her arms that has been chilled by the wind.
This house should have been their home.
52
Liang Ren sees a dark figure squatting near the doorplate at the gate of the courtyard. A little tipsy, his composure is a little less stable than usual. As soon as he takes a step forward, he stretches out his hand to catch the person.
The person starts at his stern reprimand, but he doesn’t run away, just let himself be grabbed like a lump of dough.
Zhen Xin calms down when he realizes that it’s only Liang Ren.
“Husband, you’re back.” Zhen Xin’s arm tightly held by Liang Ren hurts, but he just endures it with a smile. “I’m so happy. I thought I wouldn’t be able to wait for you today.”
Snapping back to his senses, Liang Ren loosens his grasp. He pressed his palms against Zhen Xin’s cool arms, and subconsciously says, “Your arms are cold. Aren’t you cold standing in the wind?”
Zhen Xin’s teary eyes curve. He stuffs himself into Liang Ren’s arms, his mouth saccharine and coquettish, “I miss you, husband. I…”
He had already prepared a good draft of sweet nothings in his mind, but when he voices out his longing, his control flies to the wind, and he dissolves in a bout of tears.
Liang Ren furrows his brow, cautioning himself not to be taken in by smooth talk, but he finds himself unable to ignore the person’s distress and becomes concerned.
Liang Ren exhales helplessly.
But what can he do? Who told him to be a sucker?
He just can’t help but ache for him.
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