Chapter 14
Today’s lunch at the orphanage was particularly lively. Bai Yan ate dumplings with the children, a meal that symbolized family togetherness, and played with them for a while before preparing to leave.
Before he left, one child couldn’t help but shed “golden beans,” and soon, more and more sobs followed. The older children tried to comfort them at first, but then they couldn’t help but start crying too.
The crying grew louder. The children couldn’t bear for him to go and rushed out, begging him to stay. “Brother Bai Yan, don’t go, wuwu.”
“We’ll miss you, Brother Bai Yan. Can you stay just one more day?”
“Just one day is enough, wuwu. Brother Bai Yan, please go back tomorrow.”
The children chased him all the way to the gate, their faces red from crying, their small, round hands waving at the departing Bai Yan. They refused to go back, no matter how Grandma Lin and the director tried to comfort them.
Bai Yan’s heart ached hearing them. His eyes were red, but he kept walking away without stopping, not once looking back.
The first thing the children of the orphanage had to learn was to be sensible, and the second was to say goodbye. These were their unavoidable lessons.
If he stayed, the children would start to look forward to the next time.
But their expectations couldn’t always be met, and then the children would only be more disappointed and sad.
They couldn’t even understand the feeling of a hug. Volunteers who came to Huixin were told in advance not to kiss or hug them, because the aunties at the orphanage couldn’t provide that for everyone.
Rather than letting them be disappointed, it was better not to give them hope in the first place.
This was the survival rule Bai Yan had lived by since he was a child.
Pei Corporation Twin Towers, CEO’s Office
Song Jian, in his crisp suit, stood as straight as a pine tree, his tone steady as he reported on the project’s progress in an orderly manner.
The Alpha in front of him had an indifferent expression, one hand resting on the massive solid wood desk, occasionally giving brief opinions.
When the man’s face was devoid of expression, he looked particularly oppressive.
If it weren’t for the wedding ring on Mr. Pei’s ring finger, Song Jian would have really suspected that the morning’s trip to register the marriage had been a complete dream.
Who gets married in the morning and can be fully immersed in work in the afternoon?
Oh, except for his boss.
Song Jian finished his report. Facing his boss’s impatient “Is there anything else?” expression, he was just about to offer a reminder when a knock came at the office door.
“Enter.”
A gentle-looking blonde woman in a pantsuit walked in gracefully from outside.
Seeing her, Song Jian’s face changed. He had a premonition that his bonus for this month was about to go down the drain.
As expected, the woman’s first words were a bombshell. “Mr. Pei, I heard you have a big happy event today? I just got back and managed to catch it. According to your customs here, should I be saying congratulations?”
Kiana flashed a big smile. She was from Maple Leaf Country and a distant relative of Pei Tingyu. She was straightforward and had always believed in saying what was on her mind.
Pei Tingyu said nothing, only giving Song Jian an icy glare. The elite Assistant Song felt as if he were on pins and needles and secretly shot Kiana a look.
Kiana was completely bewildered, simply assuming there was something wrong with his eyes again. She continued, “Your marriage is a big deal. If you’re having a wedding, the secretarial department needs to plan in advance, and the public relations department needs to be contacted as well…”
“I wonder what style of wedding Mrs. Pei prefers: Western, Chinese, traditional, or on a lawn? Do we need to have the summer island prepared in advance…”
The Beta woman had a personality completely at odds with her appearance. She tended to ramble when she got excited and was also slow and oblivious, unable to pick up on others’ subtleties.
“Enough,” Pei Tingyu said, pinching the bridge of his nose and cutting her off in a deep voice. “His identity is special. No wedding for now.”
Kiana’s mouth fell open in an “O” shape.
She highly suspected that her boss had suddenly had an epiphany and seduced some Omega’s wife, or perhaps had forcefully taken some beauty and was keeping him as a canary at home, in a love-hate, unrequited love-style drama.
Just as her eyes were shining and she was itching to offer her boss a better plan, she saw Pei Tingyu’s face darken. He said, word by word, almost through gritted teeth, “He’s still in school. A sophomore at Haicheng University. It’s not convenient to have a wedding right now.”
The atmosphere in the office instantly became strange, so quiet it was unnerving.
But Kiana, as if nothing had happened, didn’t notice a thing.
“Oh.” The Beta woman had a sudden realization and nodded sagely, replanning her schedule.
“That’s true. I understand, I understand. You Huaguo people value education the most. Then we’ll wait for your notice in the future.”
Her gaze fell on the silver glint of her boss’s wedding ring, and she smiled mischievously. “Well, since today is your big day, I think you should get off work early. So you can go home and be with your wife.”
Song Jian sucked in a cold breath, trying to make himself as small as possible.
Kiana left happily with her files. For a moment, the spacious office was left with only Song Jian and the small green potted plant on the desk, bearing the brunt of the CEO’s low pressure.
An elite was an elite, after all. The assistant cleared his throat with a fist to his mouth and asked tactfully, “Mr. Pei, do we need to disclose the news of the contract marriage to the secretarial department?”
“No need,” Pei Tingyu said, pressing his temples, his expression dark and unreadable. “Have the secretarial department continue to follow up on the project’s progress. If they don’t do a good job, they’ll all lose their bonuses this month.”
“Kiana just got back. Let her handle this.”
“Also,” the man said, looking up, his tone cool and laced with a warning, “in the future, don’t bring this kind of thing up to me again.”
Song Jian secretly wiped away a cold sweat and replied, “Yes, Mr. Pei.”
The Alpha glanced at his watch and changed the subject, asking casually, “Has he returned to Yǎyuán?”
Song Jian immediately understood who “he” was. He checked his tablet and answered cautiously, “Mr. Pei, the driver has not yet received Young Master Bai Yan’s location.”
The man’s well-defined fingers tapped on the desk, indicating that he understood.
“Mm, get the car ready. You can get off work too.”
“Yes, Mr. Pei.” Song Jian breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, put away his tablet, and went out.
Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling window, dark clouds roiled. The stream of traffic in the distance converged into a brilliant ribbon of color. Though it had been cloudless this morning, it now looked as if it were about to rain.
Pei Tingyu glanced at his personal phone. The cartoon sun smiled from the message bar.
The dark clouds in the distance grew thicker. The Alpha’s brow furrowed slightly. He crossed his hands and rested his chin on them, his gaze dark, his emotions unreadable.
For the first time, the man felt as if things were slipping out of his control. This feeling, born of responsibility, was both foreign and new.
But it wasn’t unpleasant.
Before long, a heavy rain began to pour from the sky.
When the rain started, Bai Yan was lucky enough to duck into a roadside coffee shop, his hair and clothes barely getting wet.
After being out all day, his “old” phone had used up most of its battery. After paying, it completely shut down and went on strike. No matter how he poked the screen, he couldn’t restart it.
It was the shop owner who noticed his actions and kindly brought over a charger, finally solving the problem.
Bai Yan thanked him. After the owner left, he curled up on the sofa and sighed softly in frustration. He had been wearing his formal suit this morning, and the pockets were small. He had put the ring box in one, so he hadn’t brought a power bank.
The phone needed to be charged to a certain level before it could be restarted, which would take at least half an hour. He didn’t have Uncle Zhao’s number memorized, so he couldn’t contact him now. He didn’t know if Uncle Zhao would be worried.
This place was remote. Even the nearest subway or bus station was more than ten kilometers away. If he ran there in the rain, he would definitely get sick and have a fever again.
I’m hopeless. I can’t even do this little thing right. The young man buried his face in his hands, his spirits low.
The rain poured down in sheets. Droplets slid down the windowpane, leaving sticky, wet streaks.
The street outside was shrouded in a hazy fog. The world was dim, the rain blurring the boundaries of the world.
Bai Yan hated this sticky, cold, rainy weather the most. The rain was wet and cold and clinging. The city was reflected on the other side, and you couldn’t see the world clearly, nor could you see yourself.
The gloomy weather blurred his vision. Walking on the road, it was easy to get splashed with water, and the wet clothes sticking to his body made it easier to get sick.
A group of high school students who knew each other had gathered at a table nearby. They were completely unaffected by the sudden rain and had taken the opportunity to play a board game. Their cheerful laughter echoed in the shop.
In the end, even the young shop owner couldn’t resist and joined in the fun. Since there were few customers on a rainy day, it was better to pass the time.
The vintage wall lamps cast a warm yellow light. The Omega was half-slumped over the glass table, his head buried in his arms. A faint pheromone scent drifted from his scarf.
Bai Yan’s cheek brushed against the soft scarf, unconsciously drawing in the scent. The last trace of bitter orange blossom lingered at the tip of his nose, like being surrounded by sunlight, warm and reassuring.
However, due to the heavy moisture in the air, this last bit of pheromone soon dissipated.
The hair falling across his forehead obscured his vision. The young man’s eyelashes fluttered lightly, falling onto his pale cheeks like two translucent-winged butterflies briefly landing in the snow.
Perhaps it was a pheromone dependence brought on by their high compatibility, but when Bai Yan lifted his head from the scarf, a sudden sense of loss and grievance washed over him.
It was as if he had returned to the past, to every other rainy day.
His small rental room was lonely behind the curtain of rain, with no lights on and no one waiting for him inside.
The world was once again just him.
His heart swelled with panic, yet felt empty. Tears welled up in Bai Yan’s eyes, rising and falling with the sound of the rain outside.
The young man lowered his head in misery, wiping the wetness from the corner of his eye with the back of his hand. But his gaze suddenly caught a glimpse of a license plate flashing by outside the window.
The Omega’s pupils widened in shock, a glistening teardrop poised at the corner of his eye.
At that moment, Pei Tingyu’s searching gaze from inside the car happened to catch this faint line of sight.
Their gazes collided through the distant curtain of rain.
Bai Yan couldn’t help but hold his breath, his beautiful eyelashes fluttering like a butterfly.
In that instant, the noise of the coffee shop, the laughter, the sound of the rain, the sound of cars—all faded away. Even the sound of his own breathing and heartbeat disappeared without a trace.
He existed only in the Alpha’s gaze.
