Chapter 01
Trouble
It was early summer, and the electrical equipment in the slums was often faulty, causing the streetlights along the road to flicker incessantly.
Gray mist gathered around the rusty streetlamps, and the yellow halos of light dissipated into the air, with tiny particles floating within them.
In a dark alleyway, Wu Xing rode a bright blue electric tricycle, passing through rows of dilapidated streetlights.
On the tricycle were a few broken wooden boards, along with some leftover tiles and paint from a renovation, all neatly organized.
“Buzzā”
The secondhand phone Wu Xing had picked up vibrated twice, and the name “Uncle Zhao” flashed on the screen.
He stared at the screen for two seconds, then remembered what day it was, and answered the call.
“Hello, Uncle Zhao.”
Wu Xing held the tricycle’s handlebars with one hand and pressed the phone to his ear with the other, the dim light from the rectangular screen reflecting on his cheek.
The manās features lacked sharp, striking lines; taken individually, none of them were outstanding, but together, they looked quite comfortable and pleasing.
“Little Xing, how have you been lately?”
The person on the other end of the line was an older man, his concerned tone carrying a rare touch of warmth.
Since Wu Xing had left home to make a living on his own, he hadn’t received a call from home for a long time. He pursed his lips, not knowing what to say.
Wu Xing had no blood relation to Uncle Zhao; he was the “baggage” his mother had brought to the Zhao family, and he had always been an invisible presence in the household.
In all fairness, Uncle Zhao had treated his mother well, and he had even bought him food or toys once or twice when he was a child, but these gestures couldn’t change his awkward situation.
It was better this way; at least it was peaceful.
“I’m fine. How are you all?”
Zhao Chong gave an “hmm” and said, “Your younger brother got into A University.”
“The school has an exchange program that looks really good. We want your brother to go, but your mother and I aren’t exactly well-off right now…”
Wu Xing blinked. His half-brother, who shared the same mother, was an Alpha and had been pampered by the Zhao family since he was a child.
Wu Xing, on the other hand, was a low-grade Omega with pheromones so faint they were almost non-existent, causing quite a bit of trouble for the mother who had remarried.
“How much money do you need?”
Zhao Chong hadn’t expected the other person to be so direct; it was as if he had suddenly been choked. He knew in his heart that this child didn’t have it easy, and he had hesitated for a long time before opening his mouth.
“Uncle Zhao, just tell me.”
After graduating from vocational school, Wu Xing had struggled in society for several years, saving up a sum of money through extreme frugality.
It wasn’t much, but it was just enough for him to open a wonton shop.
Wu Xing didn’t have any grand ambitions; he just wanted to earn a little money steadily, and it would be even better if he could have someone to share the warmth of life with.
On the other end, Zhao Chong coughed twice and, as if making up his mind, stated a number.
Silence fell on both sides of the phone.
When Wu Xing was in vocational school, the family had only paid for his tuition; he had earned his own living expenses for five years through part-time work, saving bit by bit.
He didn’t know what kind of program this was or why it required so much money, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
His brother getting into A University was a remarkable accomplishment, unlike himself, who only knew how to busy himself with pots and pansāhe had no real future.
The Zhao family had raised him, so he should repay them, but he also desperately needed this money.
The rent and renovation costs for the wonton shop had already taken a large chunk of his savings, and he had even hired an apprentice who was to be provided with room and board. If he wasn’t making money every day, he was losing it.
“I don’t have that much money right now.”
Zhao Chong let out an “oh,” sounding slightly displeased, and said, “He is your brother, too.”
Wu Xing frowned, took a deep breath, and said, “I can give half at most.”
“You guys will have to figure out the rest.”
Zhao Chong turned to look at his wife who was mopping the floor and said, “Alright. I’ll send you the bank account number. Make sure to transfer it to that one, don’t get it wrong.”
The call ended quickly.
Wu Xing sent a message to his mother to verify, and after getting confirmation, he decided to make the transfer the next day.
After finishing the mopping, Mrs. Zhao looked at the old calendar hanging in the living room, feeling like the date looked familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.
“Old Zhao, whose birthday is it today?”
On the balcony, Zhao Chong was smoking. He replied vaguely, “Whose?”
In the darkness, Wu Xing looked at the time flashing on his phone screen and murmured to himself, “It’s almost midnight.”
The time when Cinderella turns back into a servant girl.
“Ha.”
Wu Xing was successfully amused by this useless association. He stopped thinking about whether anyone remembered his birthday and continued riding his electric tricycle forward.
A dark shadow suddenly darted out.
“Skreechā”
The Omega squeezed the brake levers tight, and the tires of the tricycle made a jarring, harsh noise against the rough ground.
Within a fan of bright light, the man stood frozen, appearing to be a novice at “ē¢°ē·” (staging a fake accident for compensation).
Wu Xing was one hundred percent sure he hadn’t hit anyone, but the streetlights in this area barely worked, let alone the surveillance cameras.
It was hard to say.
The Omega sat in his seat, staring at the dark figure, and asked, “Are you okay?”
Normally, a person would start groaning “ouch, ouch” and demand money to settle it privately.
But the person lying on the ground didn’t speak; instead, he reached out and touched the headlamp of the electric tricycle.
The man was filthy from head to toe, but there was no smell of alcohol. He wasn’t one of the local drunks, so he might be a homeless person.
Suddenly, a very pleasant scent wafted over, faint but distinctāa clean, soapy fragrance.
The Alpha struggled to lift his head and look at Wu Xing in the light. He felt incredibly dizzy and blinked his eyes heavily.
Wu Xing pulled a crumpled bill from his other pocket and handed it to the homeless man.
“Take this and go buy something to eat.”
The voice wasn’t particularly gentle, but it was strangely comforting.
Just as a dirty hand was about to touch the banknote, it suddenly slumped down, and the whole person fell backward.
The man’s head hit the ground with a dull “thud.”
“Hey, are you okay?”
Wu Xing, who had been planning to turn around and leave, quickly parked his tricycle and jumped out of the seat.
He reached out to check the man’s breath; he seemed to be alive. He stood there, at a loss for what to do.
Save him or not?
Wu Xing, an honest man, let out a long sigh and skillfully lifted the filthy man onto the tricycle.
The man had long arms and long legs; if he stood up, he would likely be a head taller than Wu Xing, who was an Omega.
The filthy Alpha lay on the tricycle, surrounded by wooden boards and paint, being transported to the clinic entrance like a piece of trash.
Wu Xing parked the tricycle and went to knock on the door.
“Bang, bang, bangā”
The clinic’s door was very thin and couldn’t withstand Wu Xing’s knocking for long. Soon, the doctor on duty came to open it.
The doctor was wearing a white coat but no mask. He pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose and opened his squinting eyes.
“Dr. Zhu!”
Zhu Qian moved his neck, looked at Wu Xing in front of him, and asked curiously, “It’s not your day to pick up medicine today, is it?”
“It’s not for me.”
Although Wu Xing was a low-grade Omega, he still had heat cycles, so he often came to Dr. Zhu for heat-suppressant medication to avoid affecting his work.
Over time, the two of them had slowly become familiar with each other.
