80: Extra 5 - Red Wine
Shen Jin’s face was about to burn up. He wanted Qian Kun to pay attention to the environment.
However, he already knew what Qian Kun would say. He would say he was paying attention enough, that this time it was only a few seconds.
By the time they argued it out, it usually ended in Shen Jin’s crushing defeat.
Shen Jin was thin-skinned, so he could only let the Alpha push his luck inch by inch.
He thought none of their classmates saw anything, but the moment he turned around, he met You Jia’s gaze.
You Jia had been sleeping earlier, but the movie music woke him up a little. He realized the whole classroom had gone dark, and everyone up front was watching the movie.
When You Jia stretched his neck, he happened to see two overlapping legs beneath the curtain. The whole thing was quick. It wasn’t until Shen Jin stepped out from behind the curtain that he realized what the two of them had been doing.
The light was faint, but Jin-ge, who was usually like a snowman, now had a hint of allure to him, so pretty it was shocking. Even as an Omega, You Jia felt embarrassed just looking.
Seeing Shen Jin’s stunned expression, You Jia blinked rapidly and put on a pure, innocent smile, as if he hadn’t noticed a thing.
He knew Shen Jin was unusually tolerant toward him, and he assumed Shen Jin thought he was simple, that he didn’t understand things like this.
It was exactly because of that that You Jia could use his gender advantage in front of Qian Kun now and then, stealing a bit of Shen Jin’s attention. He could be like a thorn, occasionally poking that Alpha with the overflowing possessiveness.
Who told that guy to expose him time and again?
So what if he had a little bit of scheming? Who was he hurting?
Hmph. Don’t think he didn’t hold grudges.
Omegas are petty, okay?
Besides his high-paying part-time job with Xielier, You Jia would sometimes go help out at the coffee shop where he used to work.
The pay wasn’t great, but when he was at his lowest point, the shop owner had advanced him several months of wages.
What Xielier gave was plenty, completely enough for him to cover all his high school expenses.
Now that he had extra time, he kept thinking about going back to that coffee shop to help out.
Once, he ran into some classmates from Class 9, and after that, they often come by to support his business. So this weekend, when he saw a whole group of classmates show up to study, he went over to greet them.
Everyone ordered their drinks. They sat in a circle and started talking about the follow-up to Hu Shengqiang’s blind date.
They were all curious about it, even Shen Jin looked up.
Zheng Zhipeng whispered, “That girl’s first sentence was asking whether our homeroom teacher has a house in this city, whether it’s paid off or mortgaged, what kind of car he drives, and how much he makes a year. The moment she heard Old Hu still sends money back home every month, she finished eating and left immediately.”
“Isn’t that a bit much? We were so excited for him too.”
“It gets worse. She picked the restaurant, and it was seafood, the super expensive kind. That one meal ate up almost half of Old Hu’s monthly salary!”
“My fists are getting hard just hearing it!”
“That sounds like she went just to freeload a meal. Old Hu’s such an honest man and he still paid a huge amount. They should’ve split the bill!”
“I’m so mad. I want to introduce my aunt to Old Hu.”
“My family has an aunt too. Does Xiao Qiang like male Omegas or female Omegas?”
“I’m more curious, Xiao Yueyue, how do you even know the details of Old Hu’s date?”
“Hehe. When I went to the office, I overheard the other teachers talking.”
Liu Qimai’s attention veered off. “Maruko, are you Omegas all that pragmatic?”
Luo Ying was instantly annoyed. She swung her fist. “Peh, peh, peh. Don’t drag gender into it. You want to get beaten again?”
The two bickered a few lines. Luo Ying ducked behind Shen Jin and stuck out her tongue.
Liu Qimai reached over and hauled her out. Luo Ying protested, “Don’t grab my clothes, I can’t breathe, ow!”
Liu Qimai said, “I’m doing this for your own good. Stop getting so close to Jin-ge.”
Shen Jin replied to a message from his boyfriend, then lifted his eyes slightly. “What does that have to do with me?”
But Luo Ying seemed to snap back to reality, remembering something. She nodded hard, her expression still a little… savoring.
Seeing Shen Jin’s confusion, Liu Qimai sighed dramatically. “Haven’t you been busy with the student council lately? Do you remember that time a first-year junior stopped you and confessed?”
Shen Jin thought for a moment. “I remember.”
He remembered because that junior introduced himself the moment he walked up, and even bragged that he had S-rank mental strength, hoping Shen Jin would consider him. He was way too enthusiastic, and it was in public. Of course Shen Jin remembered.
Shen Jin handled it the same way he always did and rejected him cleanly.
That little underclassman wouldn’t accept it. He heard the rumors about Shen Jin and Qian Kun and figured that since Qian Kun had only differentiated so late, his level couldn’t be high. With that, the junior thought he could easily crush him. He didn’t believe any of that bullsh*t “Qian Kun’s level is insanely high” crap.
So the junior went to the track to challenge Qian Kun. Nobody took it seriously. They figured someone as laid-back as Qian Kun wouldn’t even bother dealing with a kid’s provocation.
But Qian Kun agreed. What really happened was known only to the few Alphas who stayed behind.
They said the game went on until late, and that junior ended up crying, begging Qian Kun to let him off.
Qian Kun tossed the ball into the hoop with one hand, then turned back with a faint smile. “Wasn’t it you who said you wanted to compete? Get up. Keep going.”
After that incident, everyone realized just how much Qian Kun loved Shen Jin, and how absurdly strong his possessiveness was.
The number of people with designs on Shen Jin decreased considerably. Liu Qimai was extremely relieved he pulled back in time and saved his own life by stopping that tiny flutter of interest.
He spoke earnestly to Shen Jin. “Jin-ge, you should be a little colder to him too, like dead of winter. I’ve known Kun-ge since we were kids. An Alpha like him has ice and madness in his bones. The moment he loses restraint, he’s like an unbroken wild horse that can’t be controlled at all.”
Shen Jin said, “He has a sense of proportion.”
Recently, Qian Kun did occasionally do things that crossed the line.
It was already very excessive. It couldn’t possibly get more excessive than that, right?
Liu Qimai said, “That’s because he’s still holding it back.”
Jin-ge, are you spoiling him too much? Maybe you should look for the problem in yourself!
Who would’ve thought that Shen Jin, who looked aloof and untouchable, was actually incredibly considerate to the people he recognized as his own.
Now that they were familiar, even someone like Liu Qimai, just a regular friend, could get a carefully organized wrong-answer compilation from Shen Jin. Before exams, flipping through it once was shockingly effective.
Not just him. A few of the closer ones all had one.
Taking benefits like that, Liu Qimai felt like if he didn’t switch sides a little, he’d be conscience-stricken.
But why was Shen Jin so confident about Kun-ge?
When You Jia came over to serve coffee, Shen Jin said, “During your lunch break later, want to come over too? I’ll explain a few big questions from this month’s exam.”
You Jia noticed that wife-obsessed maniac wasn’t here, and he agreed happily. His grades had improved. Not by much, but it had still made his mom happy for a long time.
He also knew Shen Jin had been using this natural way to help him integrate into the class. This was the first time You Jia had ever been in an environment with no discrimination and no disgust. He liked these new classmates a lot.
He had no idea what crooked black magic that Alpha used to win Shen Jin over. A Beta could date Omegas too, you know.
Qian Kun had been dragged by his grandpa to a construction site, under the noble name of “inspection.”
In reality, the old man was showing off that forty years ago he acquired a piece of land. Back then, everyone said he’d lose everything. Who would’ve thought its valuation would rocket into the sky today?
The old man wanted to hear the younger generation’s admiration and praise, but Qian Kun was different from everyone else. He exposed that his grandpa had been fooled back then, signing the contract in a muddled state. It was just a classic case of a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.
This grandson should be thrown away.
He wanted to toss him. Where was his grandson-in-law? Why hadn’t Shen Jin taken this scoundrel away yet?
Shen Jin went to the restroom halfway through. When he returned, he found the usually quiet café filled with arguing.
It was actually You Jia, who looked soft and gentle, and a handsome young man. Shen Jin recognized that young man. It was Yan Bin, the original novel’s third male lead. Shen Jin had seen him from afar a few times.
Shen Jin sat back down and watched his classmates freeze at You Jia’s state.
They hadn’t expected that the Omega who usually seemed fragile could explode with such force in front of an Alpha far taller and bigger than him.
Jiang Yifan leaned over and whispered, “That handsome guy came in and asked if You Jia only likes rich people. You Jia probably got pissed and said, ‘Yeah.’ Then they started arguing like this.”
Hou Ruixing nodded. “You can’t judge people by their looks. I still remember the first time You Jia talked to me, his voice was like a mosquito. Turns out when he gets fierce, he’s really fierce.”
Luo Ying said, “This teaches us one thing, don’t casually provoke an Omega.”
Jiang Yifan said, “Stop staring. Should we break it up?”
Everyone couldn’t decide. In the end, they stayed where they were.
Matters of the heart. Outsiders shouldn’t interfere, right?
After You Jia was kicked out by his landlord, he moved into Yan Bin’s house.
In a moment of gratitude, You Jia agreed to try dating Yan Bin. Yan Bin knew You Jia liked rich people. Because of that, he wanted to drop out and join a high-tech company that offered a very impressive salary. However, Yan Bin’s parents didn’t approve. They believed no matter what, he shouldn’t drop out. So they went to talk to You Jia. They thought Yan Bin’s sudden, irrational decision had something to do with You Jia.
After struggling for a while, You Jia moved out of the Yan household and broke up with Yan Bin.
Yan Bin couldn’t understand why he had changed his mind so quickly. He went to find You Jia at Xielier’s place, only to happen to see You Jia leaving with a well-known rich second-generation heir.
This heir was someone You Jia had once had an ambiguous relationship with when he worked at a bar. These days, You Jia’s desire to seek out rich men had faded a lot, but the moment that rich kid saw him again, his interest reignited.
You Jia wanted to cut off the past completely, so he got into the car.
It was a scene Yan Bin had seen many times before.
You Jia was terrified of being poor. He’d fight with everything he had to climb out of the slums. For that, he was willing to pay any price.
Yan Bin understood that mentality too well. That was why he came today, to get a clear answer.
It was just that in his agitation, his tone had gotten a bit heavy.
The moment You Jia saw the faintly judging look in Yan Bin’s eyes, his heart went cold.
He sneered and blurted out, “You’re only realizing what kind of person I am now? You’re so poor, yet you still want me to live with you in a rental apartment. Don’t you ever think about whether you deserve me?”
Yan Bin stopped asking. He looked at You Jia deeply.
His gaze carried bone-deep disappointment and sorrow before he quickly left.
You Jia stared in place for a long time before he finally walked toward the back door.
Everyone exchanged looks, then all of them turned to Shen Jin.
Shen Jin went through the back door and found You Jia curled up by a flowerbed.
When You Jia saw him, tears suddenly welled up and streamed out. He cried so hard he could barely breathe.
Shen Jin quietly sat beside him and handed him tissues.
You Jia took them and struggled to breathe. He wanted to hold back his sobs, but the more he held back, the more it hurt.
He turned and pressed his forehead against Shen Jin’s arm. In the past, most of his crying had been an act. He knew exactly how to cry so Alphas would feel sorry for him.
This time, he wasn’t acting for anyone.
When You Jia finally calmed down, he was sniffing noisily, completely unconcerned about his image.
For some reason, Shen Jin thought of the little crybaby at home. His tone softened a lot. “If you can’t bear it, then go after him.”
You Jia gave a bitter smile. “He’s a year older than me. It’s already the most important time in senior year, yet he wants to drop out now. I’m basically a walking disaster, right? Jin-ge, there aren’t many people who are good to me. I just… don’t want to ruin him.”
Seeing You Jia fall into self-blame, Shen Jin glanced up at the cloud-packed sky. Lightning flickered faintly inside the clouds.
Shen Jin suddenly thought, by novel logic, wasn’t this where some “torturous deep love” tag would kick in, with a reunion years later?
“Have you ever thought about making it clear?”
“Huh?”
“Your real thoughts. If you don’t say it, he can’t guess it.”
“But…” You Jia had never considered solving it like that. Shen Jin’s words were like a door opening to a new world. You Jia suddenly stammered. “I… I’m afraid he’ll still decide to drop out. His family…”
“When he left just now, he was thoroughly disappointed in you.”
“…” That hit right in the place that hurt the most.
“He’s an adult and has his own judgment. You should trust him.”
“If he—” You Jia wanted to say he had reasons, that he’d pushed him away because he had no choice. But he also felt like what Shen Jin said made too much sense.
“Give him the right to choose once, and give yourself one chance too.”
You Jia fell silent for several minutes. Shen Jin’s way of thinking clashed violently with You Jia’s long-ingrained habits.
After a fierce internal struggle, You Jia finally made up his mind. The gloom on his face cleared.
He suddenly stood up. His low blood pressure made him dizzy for a second, but soon his face was full of liveliness again. He wanted to chase him back.
You Jia took a few steps, then looked back and asked, “Jin-ge, last time you said you could introduce a teacher to me, and there’d even be a discount. Is that still possible now?”
That was after Shen Jin helped You Jia that time. Shen Jin had suggested he try changing the mindset that Omegas must always wait to be protected.
You Jia had always believed the biggest use of an Omega was to marry into something better. For a very long time, it was a belief he’d clung to stubbornly.
The sky shifted. The dark clouds dispersed, and rosy clouds dyed the heavens.
Reflected in the Omega’s eyes, everything looked startlingly clear.
Shen Jin smiled. “It’s possible.”
You Jia couldn’t even be bothered to take off his café uniform. He only wanted to catch up to Yan Bin before he got far.
Shen Jin watched for a while. When he turned around, he saw an Alpha leaning against the wall.
“When did you get here?!” Why were you appearing like a ghost?
“Around when someone said their first sentence.” Qian Kun’s expression was half-smiling.
So he’d been watching for a long time.
Shen Jin also knew that his man loved to sour himself with jealousy. Sometimes he even thought that Omegas like You Jia had ulterior motives.
Shen Jin said, “Didn’t you say you were eating with your grandpa today, and you’d come late?”
Seeing Shen Jin smoothly change the subject, with that evasive look that was a bit lively and a bit guilty, Qian Kun couldn’t bear to nitpick. He went along with it. “I got kicked out.”
“What did you do this time?”
“What do you take your husband for? He’s the one who’s moody and unpredictable.”
Hus… what did you just say?
Shen Jin moved like a rabbit whose tail had been set on fire, bolting away in an instant.
Qian Kun watched Shen Jin’s slightly flustered back.
If you can’t even handle that, what are you going to do about everything else?
That weekend, Xie Ling’s body clock still made him open his eyes on time.
He stared blankly at the ceiling. He looked like he was spacing out, but in truth, he was running through every work task for the day in his head. Only after confirming he’d missed nothing did he get up to wash.
When he came home late last night, he ran into Shen Jin getting up to use the bathroom. The two of them agreed to eat breakfast together in the morning.
Xie Ling hadn’t run into Shen Jin at all for an entire week. He’d been cleaning up the mess his second younger brother, Xie Jisheng, left behind. To recover the losses, he had to work overtime nonstop.
Although Xie Jisheng was a member of the Xie family and didn’t come home often, Xie Ling still gave him the position he should have. He even handed several departments to him to “test the waters.”
One of them was the film and television division. The Xie Group’s film division had always been running at a loss.
There was a celebrity Xie Jisheng wanted to make famous, named Gu Xi. However, Gu Xi didn’t care about his investment and instead chose to star in a detective comedy film that was originally considered doomed to flop. The director had transitioned from documentaries to commercial films and wasn’t favored by the industry. The key point was that he was stubborn. Gu Xi said he didn’t want any other investors involved, and the director truly only accepted Gu Xi’s personal investment.
Xie Jisheng immediately lost even the route for pursuing him. To make Gu Xi regret it, he secretly diverted an entire year’s investment budget from the film division and poured it into another same-release-slot romance movie starring a traffic celebrity.
He invested too much and couldn’t recover it. Now he was drowning in debt. Xie Jisheng was someone Xie Ling had pushed into position. Now that something happened, Xie Ling had to bear responsibility.
When Xie Ling went downstairs, he saw Shen Jin busying himself in the kitchen. He stopped and watched for a long time.
This home finally had warmth and everyday “human life” to it. It was a scene he’d imagined for a long time, which was why he never wanted to disturb it.
It wasn’t until the butler caught him red-handed that he walked over to the dining table, putting on a composed look.
He picked up the newspaper beside him and read current events while waiting for Shen Jin to bring breakfast over.
Shen Jin carried the bowls and plates over. Xie Ling set the newspaper down and saw thin-skinned soup dumplings, snowy-white tofu pudding with a few drops of oil floating on top, a small pinch of scallions sprinkled there, a dish of pickles Shen Jin had pickled himself, and a bowl of sampan congee.
Everything was steaming hot, making one feel comfortable just looking at it.
It looked simple, yet everywhere you could see Shen Jin’s care.
Xie Ling’s emotions churned. “In the future, don’t spend so much time. Just make something simple.”
“It didn’t take long. I cook fast.” Shen Jin liked doing things efficiently.
Shen Jin looked at his cousin, hesitating as if he wanted to say something.
“Ge, you didn’t forget what day it is today, did you?”
“Today?” Xie Ling thought for a moment. It wasn’t the day his younger cousin came to the Xie family, and it wasn’t his birthday either. There was no way he’d forget those as well. So was it… “World Asthma Day?”
“It’s your birthday.” Xie Ling remembered everyone else’s birthdays yet never remembered his own.
Xie Ling didn’t celebrate birthdays.
In his early childhood, Xie Ling had envied others, but Grandfather had said he was an Alpha, the Xie family’s first heir. He couldn’t put too much attention on trivial things like that.
Xie Ling understood his grandpa’s thinking.
His father chased women, his mother died early, and the Xie family was declining. Grandpa no longer had the energy to manage the vast Xie Group.
Grandpa also wanted to give him a carefree and happy childhood, but he couldn’t.
Xie Ling needed to grow up fast. The Xie Group needed him, and the Xie family needed him.
Xie Ling understood that far too early, and he deliberately forgot this day.
He wanted to celebrate for his younger brothers. Perhaps it was also compensation for his own regret. What he didn’t have, he hoped they could have.
During a holiday, Shen Jin was helping the butler clean the attic when he found a slip of paper wedged between wooden boards. On it was childish handwriting, the same date written over and over. From the handwriting, it belonged to Xie Ling.
To write it that many times meant the person who wrote it cared.
Only after Shen Jin repeated questioning did he learn that date was Xie Ling’s birthday.
Shen Jin didn’t know that besides him, apart from a few elders, no one else knew either.
Shen Jin didn’t care about Xie family rules. Rules were set by people, so they should be broken by people too.
In his heart, if he wanted to celebrate Xie Ling’s birthday, then he would. That was all.
Shen Jin didn’t like beating around the bush. “Ge, tonight I want to make a big feast. Can you come back?”
Xie Ling was silent for a long time. After a while, he said, “…Mm.”
Xie Ling felt a little awkward. He grabbed a soup dumpling at once. Shen Jin saw how he was eating it and tried to stop him. “Wait, you can’t just—”
Xie Ling had already bitten into it. The broth splashed all over his face, and he lost every trace of his usual cold composure.
Shen Jin held back a laugh and handed him tissues. “It’s soup-filled.”
After Xie Ling wiped his face, he realized his younger cousin was holding back laughter. His expression stayed flat. “If you want to laugh, then laugh.”
Even as he said it, Xie Ling couldn’t help curving his lips faintly.
The two brothers exchanged a smile and finished a peaceful, warm breakfast together.
Before leaving, Shen Jin reminded him, “Ge, don’t eat or drink anything someone gives you, even if it’s someone close to you.”
Last night’s “chance meeting” at midnight wasn’t a coincidence at all. Shen Jin had been waiting for Xie Ling to come home.
Qian Kun had always kept someone watching Xie Jisheng. A few days ago, he discovered Xie Jisheng secretly entering a pheromone research institute.
Because the trip was kept secret, it looked suspicious. Qian Kun paid a high price to buy a bit of information. Xie Jisheng was suspected of purchasing some newly synthesized drug that just a few drops could be lethal.
Shen Jin didn’t know what Xie Jisheng wanted poison for. He wasn’t at ease.
In the novel, Xie Jisheng could torture the original host mercilessly even though the original host posed no threat. What about other people, then?
Xie Ling had been preparing a real estate project for half a year. Recently, whenever he went out, he took Xie Jisheng with him. If the contract could be signed successfully, it would recover part of the losses. Then he would hand the credit to his second younger brother.
Although anyone with eyes could tell Xie Ling was shouldering everything and cleaning up the mess for his brother, who could do anything about it? Xie Ling doted on his younger brothers. No one could deal with Xie Jisheng.
Xie Jisheng still went to work every day, full of swagger.
The project was about to be finalized. To show thanks, Xie Jisheng brought a bottle of red wine, planning to share a small drink with Xie Ling during lunch break.
Xie Ling didn’t suspect anything. He even felt a bit comforted, thinking his second brother had finally grown up.
Xie Jisheng poured half a glass and handed it to Xie Ling with a smile. “Ge, this time it’s all thanks to you.”
“There won’t be a next time.”
“Ge, don’t be so serious. I won’t be that impulsive again.” Xie Jisheng leaned in with a playful grin. “Ge really is the best.”
Xie Ling swept his younger brother with a cool glance, helplessness rising in his chest, and took the glass.
Just then, an internal line call came in. Xie Ling gave a few instructions. When he turned back, he saw Xie Jisheng staring fixedly at the wineglass in his hand.
Xie Ling suddenly remembered Shen Jin’s reminder that morning.
He stiffened for a second, then slowly looked down at the red wine.
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