Chapter 13
The air freshener worked silently, sweeping away the lingering pheromones. People came and went in the Marriage Registration Center, and soon, the very last trace of the orange blossom scent had vanished without a trace.
The young man stared blankly in the direction the man had left, his cheeks burning uncontrollably.
The scarf around his neck was soft and comfortable, the fine tassels framing his face. The scent of orange blossom on it was still strong, rushing straight to his nose.
Thump, thump—
Bai Yan clutched his racing heart, unable to help but marvel at how good Mr. Pei’s acting was.
At such a close distance, speaking to him in such a gentle tone—what Omega could possibly resist?
If this weren’t a contract marriage, he wouldn’t be able to take it if it happened a few more times.
Mm, it seems my self-control isn’t strong enough. I need more practice!
The young man rubbed his face vigorously and let out a deep breath, clearing all the chaotic thoughts from his mind. After several more deep breaths, he finally calmed down and went outside.
Next to the Marriage Registration Center, there was an inconspicuous little alley. If you walked all the way down it, turned right at the fork at the end, and walked for another ten minutes, you would reach the back door of Huixin Orphanage.
The residential buildings on either side blocked the light, making the long, narrow path seem endless.
Bai Yan had walked this narrow, secluded path, only wide enough for pedestrians, for a full six years.
There was a public elementary school nearby where the orphanage children used to go. But now that school had been demolished due to its age and replaced with several new office buildings.
Stepping on the leaf-strewn path, the soft soles of his shoes made a crisp crunching sound.
Clear sunlight fell through the sparse branches. Bai Yan squinted and looked up, then put his hat back on. He wasn’t wearing his protective glasses today, but thankfully the light wasn’t too harsh.
It was almost lunchtime, and pedestrians occasionally hurried past. Some noticed the young man’s skin and hair color and stared for a moment with curiosity before quickly looking away.
Bai Yan hadn’t walked this path in a long time. As he walked, he observed the changes. The greenery outside the walls had been replaced with new plants, the old walls had been repainted, and the old promotional slogans had been erased along with the memories of the past.
For the children of the orphanage, this little alley held many precious memories.
After school, when they didn’t want to go back to the orphanage just yet, the winding depths of the alley became a temporary secret base.
Bai Yan walked quietly along the path. By the time the “Huixin” sign came into view, he was carrying two large bags of apples, which he had just bought from a fruit stall at the intersection.
Among the several orphanages in Haicheng, Huixin was the most inconspicuous.
The city’s economy was developed, and social donations were plentiful, but most of the funds flowed to the other two large orphanages. They had more children, and more of them grew up to present as AOs, making them more likely to be adopted.
Over time, they had gradually tended to accept children who were healthy and more likely to present.
And Huixin, because it was willing to accept children with disabilities, had become marginalized. The funding it received decreased year by year, and this year’s pre-New Year allocation was almost not enough to cover expenses.
If they couldn’t find a stable source of funding, Huixin might face the risk of closing. The director had no choice but to appeal to all sectors of society for donations.
At that time, it was the children who had grown up in the orphanage who stepped up, each contributing their own meager strength to barely keep Huixin afloat.
Fortunately, the storm had finally passed.
When he entered, the security guard greeted Bai Yan with a cheerful smile. She was a retired police officer who had been guarding the orphanage since Bai Yan was a child. Now, her hair was almost completely white, but her body was still strong.
The Alpha smiled and told Bai Yan that she was planning to officially retire this year. With the orphanage’s stable funding, they planned to recruit a new security guard in the spring.
Bai Yan was happy for Grandma Lin, but also sad to part with her. Only after learning that she would still come back to see the children after retiring did he happily go inside. Before leaving, he didn’t forget to take out two apples and secretly place them on the table in the security room.
Although it was called an orphanage, Huixin wasn’t actually very large. A few clean and tidy little houses, plus the concrete yard, made up the children’s simple campus.
When Bai Yan walked in, the director was in the yard with the children, making dumplings. Before she could even speak, the children swarmed toward the young man.
“Brother Bai Yan is here!”
“Brother Bai Yan, I missed you so much! Look at my new children’s watch, isn’t it nice…”
“Me too! My new clothes, Brother Bai Yan, look, they’re from a pretty auntie and uncle!”
The excited children, wearing brand-new down jackets, surrounded the young man like a flock of little yellow chicks, chirping non-stop, but none of them took the initiative to get close to Bai Yan.
Bai Yan crouched down as usual, his eyes smiling into two crescent moons, as he opened the bags.
When the children saw what was inside, their eyes lit up, and they jumped up and down with joy.
“It’s apples!”
“We just ate them yesterday, can we eat them again today?”
“Wow, we can eat fruit every day now, yay!”
“Don’t worry, little ones,” Director Jiang finally managed to get a word in. She wiped her hands on her apron and walked over with a smile. “Hurry up and thank Brother Bai Yan.”
So the children all turned their heads and thanked Bai Yan in their clear, crisp voices, “Thank you, Brother Bai Yan!”
This was the rule at the orphanage. If a kind stranger came to donate, they had to tidy their clothes, bow politely, and express their thanks.
If it was their older brothers or sisters who came back, they also had to remember to say thank you, but they didn’t have to bow.
The slightly older children spontaneously helped Bai Yan distribute the apples, holding the hands of their younger brothers and sisters as they went to the washing area to wash the apples.
Only one remained where he was, not speaking, just staring silently at Bai Yan with his big, dark eyes.
Bai Yan walked over to him, crouched down, and handed him a single green apple. The young man’s soft lips curved up as he whispered, “Here. Lele only likes green apples. Brother Bai Yan remembers.”
After a long moment, the child named Lele nodded lightly, took the apple, and walked away slowly, holding it with both hands.
After he was gone, Bai Yan stood up and said to Director Jiang with surprise, “Is Lele’s condition better?”
Lele had mild autism and had been sent to the orphanage when he was two or three years old. Children like him were not uncommon at Huixin Orphanage.
“Yes,” Jiang Rong said, her eyes crinkling with a smile, her voice much lighter. “Someone made a donation not long ago and even specially invited a group of professional doctors to come for check-ups.”
“Lele and the others have all received professional treatment, so there’s a greater chance for improvement in the future.”
“That’s great news. When was this?” The Omega took off his scarf and folded it on the side.
He deftly rolled up his sleeves, walked to the table, and skillfully picked up a rolling pin to get to work.
The director’s smile was so wide the fine lines at the corners of her eyes seemed to fade. She kneaded the dough and said to Bai Yan, “A little over half a month ago, people from the Pei Corporation came with a donation. The one leading them was some kind of presidential assistant. He looked young and very refined, but he was very meticulous in his work.”
Bai Yan froze, the motion of his rolling pin pausing. His eyelashes trembled, shielding his eyes from view.
A presidential assistant, and refined-looking—that must have been Assistant Song. He came to Huixin over half a month ago. So Mr. Pei started this so early…
The orphanage was mostly filled with children, and there were few people Jiang Rong could talk to. This was a happy occasion, and once the director started talking, she couldn’t stop.
“From now on, Huixin will receive monthly donations from the government and the Pei Corporation. In the spring, we’re going to build a new dormitory and activity building. All the tables and chairs will be replaced, too.”
A shimmer of tears appeared in Director Jiang’s eyes, and her voice choked. “CEO Pei is a truly good person. If it weren’t for his help, Huixin might not have gotten the attention of the higher-ups.”
Bai Yan’s gaze unconsciously fell on the folded scarf beside him. Yes, Mr. Pei is truly a good person.
In places he didn’t even know about, Mr. Pei had done so much.
But he had never once mentioned it to him.
Realizing her loss of composure, the Beta director smiled and wiped the tears from her face, asking casually, “What made A-Yan think of coming back today?”
It was a casual question, but in an instant, she noticed the complex emotions in the young man’s eyes.
Specks of sunlight scattered down. The Omega’s skin was as clear and lustrous as jade, and the light and shadow flickered in his cherry-pink pupils, revealing an indescribable meaning.
The director sighed to herself. The quiet, obedient little boy from back then had grown into an adult in the blink of an eye, with his own worries and secrets.
Jiang Rong smiled, her tone suddenly becoming much gentler. “Is something on your mind, A-Yan?”
Hearing the director’s words, Bai Yan instinctively looked up. After living in the orphanage for so many years, he couldn’t hide his expressions from the gentle and strong Mama Jiang.
Bai Yan’s resolve wavered. He pressed his lips together and found the courage to speak. “Director… um, if I receive help from an Alpha and want to repay him, what should I do?”
The young man’s question was naive, his eyes filled with innocent confusion, just like when he used to ask her how to be obedient to his new parents in a new home.
But Jiang Rong could see that this Alpha’s relationship with A-Yan was likely not ordinary.
For a moment, a mix of emotions churned within Director Jiang.
Bai Yan’s physical condition was special. Because of his albinism, he had been abandoned at the orphanage gates at birth.
It had been a rare day of heavy snow, and the piled-up snow had buried more than half of the orphanage gate.
Jiang Rong had been sweeping snow in the morning when she saw the baby abandoned outside the gate.
This wasn’t a rare occurrence at Huixin, but to choose a day of heavy snow meant they didn’t even want the child to live.
When Jiang Rong got closer, she found that the baby’s face was already turning purple from the cold, and even his faint cries had nearly ceased.
Her heart sank. She immediately rushed him to a nearby hospital, and it was there that she learned of his physical condition.
Congenital albinism. It would be very difficult to raise him, and the chance of him presenting was close to zero. This was probably why his parents had abandoned him.
Later, this baby was cared for at Huixin. Although he had been sent to the hospital in time that day, he had been just moments away from not being saved, and it had left a lasting mark on his health.
The child had been frail since he was young, often getting sick. Fortunately, he had a quiet and sensible personality. But even though he was cute, he would never be the first choice for adoptive parents.
To this day, Jiang Rong still remembered little Bai Yan, standing on a small stool, his face pressed against the windowsill, his big eyes filled with tears as he watched his companions being taken away by adoptive parents, both happy for them and lonely.
But he never said anything. He would even sensibly comfort the other crying children. But Director Jiang understood that he was very sad inside, too.
And when he was finally adopted, he was…
Jiang Rong understood Bai Yan’s personality. A-Yan was a reserved child who liked to keep everything to himself. The fact that he was willing to ask meant that this Alpha was an extremely important person to him.
Even if he himself hadn’t realized it yet.
The Beta woman looked at the gentle, soft young man before her and asked with a light laugh, “Our A-Yan has grown up. You have an Alpha you like, don’t you?”
Bai Yan froze.
Director Jiang, I’m not, I don’t, please don’t say such things!
He was just thinking that Mr. Pei had done so much for him and for the orphanage, and he should show his gratitude.
Flustered and shocked, the Omega’s face quickly flushed a light red, the color spreading even to his slender, white neck. He opened his mouth but didn’t know how to answer.
To Jiang Rong’s eyes, the young man had been hit right on the mark and was now too shy to speak.
The smile on her face widened. Ignoring the flour on her hands, she pinched Bai Yan’s soft cheek and said teasingly, “A-Yan, don’t be shy. I was young once, too.”
“Back in the day, I was the belle of the village. People from miles around would walk for miles to my doorstep just to talk to me.”
Jiang Rong suddenly winked, her lips curving up. “There were even Alphas among them, you know.”
“To love and be loved are both happy things. If A-Yan wants to try, if you want to build a family with the person you like, I will be happy for you.”
“But A-Yan must remember,” the Beta paused for a moment before continuing, “people who are worthy of love are good in and of themselves.”
“They don’t become good because of love.”
Director Jiang deftly wrapped the meat filling in the dumpling wrapper, pinching the edges into beautiful folds and placing it in the steamer basket beside her.
Bai Yan quietly made dumplings beside the director, and their finished products soon filled the steamer.
“Love makes people blind. Over time, you even forget what that person was originally like.”
Jiang Rong’s voice was very soft. “Sometimes, it’s better to look from an outsider’s perspective and see if that person is truly worthy.”
The Omega had a soft and pure heart. She didn’t want her child to get hurt.
The wind picked up.
The breeze rustled the evergreen trees. The green trees bathed in the light, their dappled leaves like the fluttering wings of butterflies.
The light and shadow wove a poem on the young man’s beautiful face. Bai Yan seemed to understand, yet not fully. After a long moment, he gave a slow, dazed nod.
