LQDBA 11

Chapter 11

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll ride slowly.”

In the curtain of rain, the street trees on both sides swayed with the wind. The tricycle, loaded to the brim with vegetables, meat, and seafood, made its way along the road. A thin poncho couldn’t possibly keep out the downpour, and within ten minutes of leaving the market, Wu Xing was soaked to the bone.

Wu Xing, now a “drowned rat,” estimated the time and realized he was running late. Worried that his apprentice, A-Jiu, would be waiting anxiously at the shop, he decided to take a shortcut.

In the stormy weather, the road was deserted. Wu Xing steered the electric tricycle into the narrow alley.

Rumble—

Another clap of summer thunder sounded, and bright streaks of lightning darted through the dark clouds.

Rain lashed relentlessly against Wu Xing’s face. He struggled to keep his eyes open, but he couldn’t see clearly what vehicles might be on the road, so he was forced to slow down. Suddenly, an electric scooter came rushing toward him head-on. Wu Xing tried to change direction, but it was too late.

Bang!

A delivery driver in a blue uniform and helmet was sent flying off the scooter, sprawling onto the wet road. The tricycle, already unsteady, flipped over from the impact, and the neatly organized vegetables and meat spilled across the ground.

In the dizzying tumble, Wu Xing’s poncho was torn, and he rolled off the vehicle himself.

Crack—

Immediately after, a sharp, undeniable pain exploded in the Omega’s ankle.

Raindrops fell incessantly, beating ruthlessly against Wu Xing’s face and slipping through the tear in his poncho, making him shiver from the cold. He lay on the ground for a moment to recover, feeling grateful he had worn a helmet, which provided a buffer when the back of his head hit the ground.

A few minutes later, the Omega stood up, struggled to push the tricycle upright, and walked over to the delivery driver. The young man in blue lying on the ground let out a few groans, but then sprang back to life, hopping onto his scooter—the weight causing the frame to sway twice.

“I was in a rush to deliver, sorry about that.”

Wu Xing was just about to discuss compensation when his phone suddenly rang. Seeing that Wu Xing seemed fine and having no intention of paying, the delivery driver sped off into the rain.

“Hello? Xing-ge, where are you?”

Even through the loud sound of the rain, he could tell A-Jiu was worried. Wu Xing glanced at the time on his phone; sure enough, he was late.

“I got hit by a vehicle. Hang out the ‘closed’ sign and wait for me to get back.”

Rainwater seeped into Wu Xing’s second-hand phone. The device hadn’t been working well to begin with, and now the screen went completely black.

“Xing-ge, where are you? I’ll come find you.”

A-Jiu had only caught that Wu Xing said he was hit; the rest of his voice was drowned out by the rain, causing A-Jiu’s heart to sink into a panic. What if something bad happened to Xing-ge?

He didn’t wait at the shop. He turned off the auto-accept orders on the delivery platform, locked the shop door, and grabbed the long-handled umbrella from the entrance. The landlady of the small store across the street stretched, and seeing A-Jiu running out in a hurry with an umbrella, she muttered, “Why is anyone going out in this storm?”

Back on the road, Wu Xing sighed at his broken phone. The rainwater slowly rose past his shins. Dragging his sprained foot, Wu Xing moved the ingredients that had rolled onto the ground back into the tricycle piece by piece.

Cars sped past, splashing filthy water everywhere; no one stopped to help the unlucky man. Wu Xing turned the key and set off toward the shop; he didn’t want A-Jiu to worry about him.

At the traffic light at the second-to-last intersection, the tricycle, which had been with the Omega for over two years, suddenly wouldn’t start. This made Wu Xing frantic. At this point, he and A-Jiu should have already been wrapping wontons.

It seemed he had no choice but to get off and push. Wu Xing pulled out the key and stood behind the tricycle in a disheveled state. Thinking about how late he must be, he felt an indescribable sense of distress.

In the boundless curtain of rain, the drenched Omega shivered twice. His injured ankle was swollen beyond recognition. His leg hurt, and he couldn’t muster any strength. Wu Xing gritted his teeth and continued to push the tricycle forward.

He hadn’t even gone a hundred meters when the pain in his leg became truly unbearable, forcing him to stop and rest. Wu Xing crouched for a moment and suddenly noticed that the rain seemed to stop falling on him.

Did the rain stop?

The Omega looked up and saw a large black umbrella tilted toward him, along with A-Jiu’s beautiful, reddened eyes.

“Xing-ge, why didn’t you answer my calls?”

Chapter 10: Gale

As A-Jiu finished speaking, the streetlights on both sides flickered on, their yellow glow reflecting off the puddles on the ground. The strong wind blew the Alpha’s hair into a mess. The man gripped the umbrella handle tightly, his long, slender fingers clearly defined, glowing with a soft, pale hue.

“Xing-ge, do you know that like this…”

“Like this, I get very worried about you.”

Densely packed raindrops hit the black umbrella canopy, quickly sliding off the edges. The umbrella was clearly tilted toward Wu Xing, shielding them within a tiny, separate world.

“The phone broke.” Wu Xing raised his eyes slightly, his low, weak voice drowned out by the sound of rushing water.

A-Jiu looked at the torn poncho on Wu Xing and frowned. He continued to ask, “What about the person who hit you?”

“Ran off.”

White mist shrouded the hazy world. A private car sped past, splashing up a massive wave of water. Fortunately, A-Jiu reacted quickly, turning sideways to block the spray for the crouching Wu Xing. His own chest was instantly soaked, and he cursed under his breath, “Damn it.”

He didn’t know if he was cursing the blind driver or the delivery man who had fled the scene.

Wu Xing’s legs were a bit numb from crouching. He stood up unsteadily and suddenly lost his balance, falling right into A-Jiu’s arms. The Alpha pursed his lips, finally seeing the Omega’s injured ankle clearly; the delicate, fair skin had become swollen and inflamed.

“Xing-ge, can you still walk?”

Wu Xing nodded, forcing a smile, and said calmly, “It’s fine. It should just be a sprain.”

“You don’t need to worry too much.”

He’s the one injured, yet he acts tough to comfort others.

For some reason, a burst of frustration rose in A-Jiu’s chest, and he raised his voice: “How can you say it’s fine!”

“This looks very painful!”

“What do you mean ‘it’s just a sprain’?” A-Jiu’s beautiful features became uncharacteristically sharp, looking different from his usual self.

The Omega, leaning on the Alpha’s shoulder with one hand and barely standing steady, was stunned.

“Pain is pain. You should say it out loud.”

Wu Xing remained silent, his behavioral patterns of many years being questioned for the first time. No one had ever confronted him like this, and no one had ever cared so deeply about his true feelings. His mother had no expectations for her useless son; Wu Xing only needed to be a well-behaved, obedient, and invisible person in the Zhao family. Since childhood, Wu Xing never had anyone to rely on and had long been accustomed to licking his own wounds in solitude.

He looked at A-Jiu, who was holding the umbrella for him, and felt an indescribable ripple in his heart. He took a deep breath and said, “I understand what you mean.”

“Xing-ge, did I say too much?”

A-Jiu realized his reaction had been a bit intense and lowered his head.

Wu Xing shook his head and said gently, “No, you’re absolutely right.”

“It’s just that I might not be able to change it right away.”

“Xing-ge, is the tricycle broken too? I saw someone pushing a cart from far away, and when I walked up, you were already crouching down.”

“Yeah.”

“You hold the umbrella, I’ll carry you on my back, and we’ll head back to the shop first?”

“How can I let you carry me back to the shop?”

A-Jiu raised an eyebrow and countered, “What of it?”

“Or do you think I can’t carry you?”

Wu Xing bit his lip, feeling he had hurt the young man’s competitive spirit, and explained softly, “That’s not what I meant. I’m very heavy, you’ll get tired.”

A-Jiu reached out to take off Wu Xing’s sodden poncho, draped it over the vegetables and meat, and then crouched halfway down. The Omega took the umbrella and walked behind the Alpha. After hesitating for a long time, he whispered, “A-Jiu, I’m coming up.”

Wu Xing lay on A-Jiu’s broad back. He didn’t press too close, partly out of shyness, and partly because he was soaked through. Wu Xing’s figure was well-proportioned—not particularly thin—so he wasn’t incredibly difficult to carry. If it weren’t for this godforsaken weather, A-Jiu felt he could have carried Wu Xing even faster.

Densely packed raindrops pattered on the umbrella. Wu Xing leaned forward with the umbrella, watching A-Jiu focus on pushing the tricycle, and decided to give the man a raise next month.

“Xing-ge, lean closer, I’m not tired.”

“Okay.”

Wu Xing reached out his arms to drape them around A-Jiu’s neck, pressing his upper body against the man’s back. The thin layers of clothing felt like nothing once soaked by the rain; this sensation of skin-to-skin closeness made the tips of the Alpha’s ears turn slightly red.

Wu Xing looked at the back of A-Jiu’s neck, where the Alpha’s gland was located, and out of sheer impulse, asked, “What does your pheromone smell like?”

“Want to guess, Xing-ge?”

He was a low-quality Omega with a poor sense of smell for Alpha pheromones. He tried hard for a long time before saying, “It seems to be some kind of plant, I can’t really tell.”

“It’s wormwood.”

The weather was damp, the earth wet; thunder and lightning raged. The phone was broken, the cart was broken, and the amnesiac Alpha accompanied the Omega as they waded through the murky, dirty water.

A-Jiu carried Wu Xing on his back, pushing the tricycle all the way to the door of the wonton shop. The Omega jumped off the man’s back, stood on one leg, shook the umbrella twice toward the outside, and slowly closed it.

“Little Wu, what happened to you?”

The landlady from the small shop across the way waved to Wu Xing through the dense rain, her words full of concern.

“I was hit by a delivery driver when I went to restock this morning.”