LQDBA 05

Chapter 05

Wu Xing took a look around, buying back all the things that A-Qiang had sold off, feeling like a total sucker.

It’s alright, everything will get better.

Things will be fine once the wonton shop opens.

Wu Xing took a deep breath. He only allowed himself one minute to be sad before throwing himself into inspecting the renovations.

“Boss Wu, how is it? We have to rush to the next job.”

Wu Xing had been supervising the work throughout this period, and this renovation team was quite reliable.

Old Li walked Wu Xing through the final inspection on-site and even used a formaldehyde detector to test the air; everything checked out fine.

Wu Xing quickly regained his composure. He took the dust covers he had bought earlier and put them on everything that needed them.

The air in a shop that had just been renovated was never particularly pleasant, so he took two dust masks from the cabinet, put one on, and handed the other to the Alpha beside him.

“I’m going to install the camera first.”

“You come and help me steady the ladder.”

“Okay.”

The amnesiac Alpha put on the dust mask, leaving only his beautiful brows and eyes exposed, and used both arms to firmly stabilize the ladder.

The Omega climbed the folding ladder step by step, occasionally having the Alpha below pass him tools as he nimbly installed the camera.

A gentle breeze blew by.

The Alpha looked up to pass Wu Xing a small screwdriver; as he lifted his eyes, he saw the Omega’s body beneath the loose t-shirt. The fair, resilient waistline made his eyes wander, unsure of where to look.

“Done.”

Wu Xing turned on the camera’s Bluetooth and connected it to his phone. The image clarity was average, but the audio was decent—more than enough for a wonton shop.

If any trouble-making customers showed up, having a camera was always better than not.

The post-renovation cleanup was another expense.

Wu Xing was penniless, so he thought he’d save money wherever he could and decided to clean it himself.

“Xing-ge, what do you need me to do?” The Alpha clung to the Omega like a tail that couldn’t be shaken off.

Wu Xing thought for a moment; the other man was still injured, so he gave him the relatively lighter tasks like peeling off protective films and light cleaning.

He picked up a rag and scrubbed the counters and tables tirelessly, not stopping until the rinse water changed from dark gray to clear.

“Xing-ge, does this look okay?” The Alpha had finished peeling off all the plastic film.

“It’s fine.” Wu Xing glanced over and continued to bury himself in work.

The Alpha didn’t seem to have used a large broom before; his sweeping movements were stiff. Wu Xing didn’t say anything, assuming the man had never done such chores.

The wonton shop needed an apprentice. Wu Xing certainly couldn’t handle it all alone, but there would be plenty of time to teach him later.

By the time Wu Xing finished wiping all the countertops, two or three beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. Just as he was about to lift his t-shirt to wipe them off, a soft tissue was gently pressed against his face.

“Xing-ge, sweat.”

Because of the mask, the man’s voice was deeper and huskier, possessing a magnetic quality mixed with a touch of lingering tenderness.

Wu Xing looked up. The Alpha had managed to make the unsightly dust mask look surprisingly stylish. His beautiful eyes curved slightly as he looked back at him.

“Thanks.”

Wu Xing took the tissue, wiped his sweat away haphazardly, and started mopping.

The Alpha clearly wasn’t good at sweeping; the floor tiles looked clean, but in reality, they were still covered in a thin layer of dust.

Wu Xing used the mop to go over the floors—inside and out—twice with plain water, and then twice more with disinfectant. Only then did they look truly clean.

The amnesiac Alpha stood on the sidelines, watching Wu Xing mop, and felt like he hadn’t been much help.

Once he finished mopping, Wu Xing even used old newspapers to wipe down all the glass.

The Omega was very focused when he worked, just like the man himself: he radiated a sense of reliability and comfort.

By the time he finished everything, his entire body felt like he had been fished out of water.

Perhaps because the weather hadn’t turned fully hot yet, even though Wu Xing was drenched in sweat, there was no sour odor.

The t-shirt he wore was very old and had been washed until it was paper-thin. When soaked in sweat, it clung to his skin, faintly revealing the flesh beneath.

A few drops of sweat rolled to his Adam’s apple and slid down his neck to his slender collarbones.

His white skin flushed a warm pink, and the thin layer of sweat, crystalline and shimmering, hung precariously on his skin.

There were no mirrors here, so Wu Xing had no idea how alluring he looked at that moment.

The next second, the Omega took off his dust mask, leaving a few distinct marks on his face.

“Take it off, it’s stifling.”

“Oh.”

Hearing this, the Alpha seemed to snap out of a trance. He turned away and silently removed his own mask.

The work had made Wu Xing feel incredibly hot. He downed the water in his thermos in one breath, but still felt thirsty.

“Do you want to eat a popsicle?”

The Alpha, who hadn’t sweat much, replied, “Sure.”

Wu Xing stood up, intending to take some money and go to the shop across the street to buy two popsicles, but the Alpha stopped him.

“Xing-ge, I’ll go buy them.”

He’s quite attentive.

Wu Xing watched the Alpha’s departing back, rolled his sore neck, and grabbed some tissues to wipe his sweat.

Heat steamed up from the old street. Many shop owners had already turned on their fans, preparing for the height of summer.

With a bandage on his head, the Alpha walked over to the shop across the street.

For some reason, he didn’t want anyone else to see what Wu Xing looked like right now.

“Boss, what kind of popsicles do you have?”

The shop owner was an elderly woman who was lying on a recliner chair binge-watching a soap opera. She didn’t even lift her eyelids when she heard him, just pointed her arm toward the freezer.

The Alpha slid the freezer door open. Inside were all sorts of popsicles; the most expensive one was 15 yuan—more than the 12 yuan he had paid for his noodles at lunch.

He ended up choosing two of the cheapest milk popsicles and walked over to the boss.

“Hello, I’d like to pay.”

The landlady frowned, paused her show, and got up to ring him up.

“Five yuan total.”

When the landlady saw the young man’s face, she felt a brief moment of dizziness. In real life, someone actually looked like the male lead in a soap opera. She put on a smile.

“Hey, I haven’t seen you around here before.”

Holding the two popsicles, the Alpha didn’t know how to answer. He simply left behind the phrase: “I’m from the Wu’s Wonton Shop across the street.”

The landlady sat back down, thinking that the shop across the street had been under renovation for the entire spring; it seemed like it was about to open.

Wu Xing sat on a small round stool, taking the milk popsicle handed to him—it had been unwrapped in advance.

The Omega hadn’t eaten many snacks growing up; it wasn’t until his half-brother was born that he realized there were so many different kinds of snacks in the world.

Wu Xing reached out and licked the milk popsicle with the tip of his tongue. It was sweet—not strongly milky, but more like sugar water.

His red tongue licked the milky-white popsicle, now wrapping around it, now letting go. The coldness slowly soothed the heat lingering on the Omega’s body.

The Alpha sat across from Wu Xing, holding his milk popsicle, and took a bite.

Wu Xing liked sweets; even a cheap popsicle made him feel happy.

Perhaps because Wu Xing was eating slowly, the bottom of the cylindrical milk popsicle began to melt, almost dripping, until he tilted his neck and bit down on it.

This sight was somewhat stimulating for a hot-blooded young Alpha.

His cheeks burned. He turned his head away and bit into his popsicle a few times, making a “crunch-crunch” sound, before tossing the wooden stick into the trash can.

“You’re eating so fast. Isn’t it cold?”

Wu Xing remained focused on licking his milk popsicle, his red tongue curling around the milky liquid and drawing it into his mouth.

Not only did the Alpha not feel the cold, but he discovered that a certain unspeakable place on his body was on fire—burning hot.

Twilight was falling, and the faint sound of cicadas began to rise.

Clang—

Wu Xing pulled down the rolling shutter of the wonton shop with force and applied the lock.

“Xing-ge, where are we sleeping tonight?”

“Dr. Zhu has a place for rent.”

“Oh.”

The Omega rode his electric tricycle, taking them back to the original small two-bedroom apartment first—as expected, A-Qiang had ransacked it, though fortunately, there wasn’t anything valuable left.

He packed up what he needed and followed the route on his map app to the new place.

Dr. Zhu was waiting downstairs in long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, still wearing his gold-rimmed glasses, and helped them move their luggage.

“It’s inconvenient not having an elevator on the top floor, but they’ll install one during the upcoming old-neighborhood renovation.”

Wu Xing just gave an “hmm,” looked up at Zhu Qian, and said softly, “Having a place to stay is good enough.”

“Thank you, Dr. Zhu.”

“You’re welcome, Boss Wu.”

The Alpha walked in carrying the last bag of things. He saw Wu Xing and Zhu Qian standing side-by-side on the small balcony and pursed his lips.

Chapter 5: The Stove

Dr. Zhu’s top-floor unit was also a small two-bedroom apartment. The area was slightly larger than the previous one, and it was quite clean—only needing a bit of tidying up.

Wu Xing kept him for dinner. Zhu Qian, who was standing nearby, wanted to help out in the kitchen but was gently pushed out.

The Omega had been cooking for himself since he was a child and loved being in the kitchen. After growing up, he naturally entered a vocational school to study Chinese cuisine, later earning a second-level chef certification.

Sounds periodically drifted out from the kitchen: the clean, crisp thud of a cleaver hitting a wooden cutting board, the clink-clank of bowls and chopsticks, and the soft hiss of oil sliding into a heated wok.

This kitchen was also a size larger than the previous one.

Wu Xing touched the four-burner stove and felt as if he had returned to his home turf.

A gas stove with this configuration was perfect for a professional chef to cook multiple dishes in a short time: one for soup, one for stir-frying, one for steaming, and the last one held a frying pan.

The bright yellow, fierce flames licked the bottom of the wok, emitting a dazzling glow. Wu Xing held the spatula in one hand and tossed the iron wok with the other, his demeanor effortlessly natural.

He was always methodical when it came to cooking—when to cut, when to add seasoning, when to turn off the heat. It was as if his mind was coiled like a spring; he worked right on time, calm and unhurried.