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The sunlight passed through the glass and spilled onto Yan Yi’s sleeping face. Yan Yi turned over, crawling up and sat kneeling with his eyes closed. The fluffy rabbit tail squeezed out from lying flat under the thin woollen sweater after waking up for a while.
The numb feeling of the glands at the back of his neck had slightly faded; his body wasn’t as weak and frail as it had been for the past few days. It should probably recover back to the J1 differentiation level, and it would take another month for it to fully recover to its original state.
The rose stem on the windowsill had turned soggy from the water. He had already been living in this small inn for a week. He said he would go to the hospital during this time, but he got lazy day by day. However, he didn’t feel much discomfort now, only his combat strength was a little weak. It’s fine; rabbits should be a little delicate to be more worthy of alphas’ pity.
Yan Yi lifted his thin woollen sweater and looked at his little belly. It didn’t get any bigger than a small arch, only flattening out his abdominal muscles, and any change wasn’t noticeable under his clothes.
“Good baby,” Yan Yi gently touched his stomach and fantasized about what kind of baby he would have after ten months of pregnancy.
Not considering the type of variation awakening, there were only five possibilities of offspring combination from a peregrine falcon and a rabbit; peregrine falcon alpha, peregrine falcon beta, peregrine falcon omega, lop-eared rabbit omega and lop-eared rabbit beta, as the lop-eared rabbit race didn’t have alphas.
If a lop-eared rabbit was the mother, the probability of giving birth to a little bunny would be higher than that of a peregrine falcon.
“Definitely a very good and very cute little bunny omega,” Yan Yi hugged his lower abdomen and curled up into the quilt, gently caressing it. He pillowed his hands and murmured, “Come out quickly and accompany daddy…daddy knows everything. When you grow up in the future, daddy will find you an alpha who loves you the most, one who will send you flowers, hug you when it’s cold, and play the piano and sing for you, one who will like only you.”
Yan Yi tried his best to portray a sense of happiness from his heart.
Gradually, his smile faded. He whispered, “Forget it, daddy has bad eyesight, you should just find one yourself. If you can’t find one, you can just live with daddy, don’t do yourself wrong.”
“Be born quickly and talk to daddy,” Yan Yi gently caressed the baby bunny in his belly.
Xia Jingtian was driven out by Yan Yi to take the exam in school. No matter how many times he changed his number to call during this period of time, Yan Yi refused.
His compatibility level with Xia Jingtian was normally very high, and it would indeed be relaxing to stay together with that little lion. But he couldn’t carry someone else’s baby and pursue happiness with that little lion, it wouldn’t be fair to that child. As a good kid, he always deserved better—
Furthermore, for the few days that Xia Jingtian had stayed with him, Xia Jingtian’s QQ Wechat activity had never stopped; if it wasn’t the senior brothers and sisters chatting about business, it was comments from his good friends, “You fucked? Kitty, you’re really good at sucking.”
That kid must be chased after by thousands of people at school. Although Yan Yi didn’t deliberately look into it, he could more or less guess Xia Jingtian’s identity through the phone calls he had from time to time during these few days. The second young master of the Xia family of Hong Ye had good family background and appearance, his glandular type was even the ample and respectable M2 mountain lion, it didn’t make sense to hang around a little rabbit.
Carrying a little bunny, Yan Yi couldn’t get into the door of the Xia residence no matter how. It was also because Xia Jingtian had dug out the omega and caused a rift between the Lu and Xia families; it’d be fine, but still unnecessary.
His feelings from being in love with Lu Shangjin from 2009 until now had already become ash on a stove, lingering on with its last breath. He was so tired that his whole heart was filled with small wounds. If more were accumulated, he would need an opening to pour out all the negative energy. It would be unfair to Xia Jingtian, who was still a blank piece of paper, to mend these small wounds once he falls in love.
If Xia Jingtian was an arsonist of the romantic hearts who was cruel beyond redemption, Yan Yi would still be able to accept him a little more calmly. Who wouldn’t want an alpha who had a high compatibility with you?
He fell into bed and scrolled through Yuan Mi’s weibo. The reposts and comments had suddenly reduced a lot, who knew if something happened with Lu Shangjin’s business operation on that side.
There was no activity only on the 18th, and Yan Yi thought about the day he called Lu Shangjin, which was just on that day. He probably went on another island and brought an omega on a yacht for vacation.
“What’s so good about that,” Yan Yi went into a video streaming app and contributed one view to Yuan Mi.
The unexpected plot was not bad. The alpha playing the prince was quite likeable. He repeatedly called out to Yuan Mi who was playing a shadow guard and sitting on a beam, tossing him about.
“So It’s a pleasurable novel1,” Yan Yi watched with great interest.
The series had only been updated to episode seven and VIP membership was needed to watch further. It’s almost the part where Yuan Mi suffers a beating, and Yan Yi didn’t want to drop this drama.
Suddenly, a text message popped up on the top corner of his phone. He’d never seen the number before and thought it was Xia Jingtian again. However, the message only had three words, “Come home quickly.”
It’s Lu Shangjin.
Yan Yi fell into a daze as he held his phone.
If he had received this text that day on the 18th, he really would’ve been very happy.
Why was Lu Shangjin’s rhythm always half a beat slower than his? Was this the so-called incompatibility?
After thinking for a long moment, he still sent a reply, “Xiansheng, I’ve resigned.”
Instead of replying, the other party called directly.
Yan Yi sighed and answered the call.
Lu Shangjin’s voice wasn’t as deep and sexy as he’d imagined anymore. It was a little dry and hoarse, as though he hadn’t drank water for a few days, rough enough to prick his ears.
“Yan Yi, I’ll wait for you at home.” Lu Shangjin’s tone was exhausted, his voice thick with smoke.
“I have resigned, xiansheng.” Yan Yi repeated.
He didn’t know what Lu Shangjin was tired about, he’d probably been excessively indulgent last night. Yan Yi could also guess the reason why he received this call: He wanted to drink a fresh cup of milk after waking up in the morning, but the little rabbit who could serve it to him wasn’t around.
Lu Shangjin didn’t flare up, but he tried his best to soften his tone, “Don’t speak from anger.”
“What.” It seemed like Yan Yi heard a joke that caused no waves in the heart but he should laugh politely out of emotion and reason.
Yan Yi’s eyes turned sluggish as he asked him in a murmur, “You should hire another outstanding butler, it’s best if the compatibility fit is higher, someone who‘d wear an apron and let you drag them over for you to fuck comfortably.”
“Nonsense,” Lu Shangjin’s tone suddenly turned heavy. Realizing that he was too stern, he said patiently, “Come back first then I’ll explain, don’t act pretentiously.”
“I’m acting?” Yan Yi’s eyes widened, his rabbit ears trembling.
Lu Shangjin rubbed the bridge of his nose, “I’m acting, I’m acting, be good, hurry and come back.”
Yan Yi gritted his teeth and hung up.
He was so angry that his entire body tensed up, both his legs were shaking. He was thrown out of the house for so many days while he was pregnant and Lu Shangjin didn’t bother to care. It turned out that in his eyes, Yan Yi was acting pretentious like the bunch of omegas who sold their asses for money.
He lazed in bed for a while, then blacklisted Lu Shangjin’s new number as well. He got up to pack his things and checked out of the room before twelve o’clock.
He had been thrown out so hastily, so he didn’t have much luggage and money. He also didn’t want to be caught by Lu Shangjin and go back.
In fact, there were still a lot of things he wanted to take from the villa. It wouldn’t hurt to pick them up when Lu Shangjin goes on a business trip.
Yan Yi touched his stomach. He stood in front of the mirror to repeatedly make sure that he didn’t look like a pregnant omega, only then did he leave the inn.
“Let’s go, daddy’s going to make money for your milk powder.” Yan Yi whispered encouragingly to the baby in his belly. Tainted with Xia Jingtian’s pheromones that had yet to completely fade, he had to find a place where Lu Shangjin couldn’t locate him.
——
Lu Shangjin sat on the bench in the corridor of the hospital, changed into surgical clothes. The bullet wound on his left shoulder had been wrapped up with gauze. The bottle of antibiotics stuck into the back of his hand was still dripping slowly.
The smell of disinfectant in the corridor filled his nose. His phone screen showed the end of a call, returning to his wallpaper on its own lonesome.
He felt around for his cigarette box, but discovered that it was empty, so he threw it aside irritably.
This was the Lu family’s private hospital, abundant with the world’s cutting-edge medical equipment. The lights in the ICU were still on; Lu Lin and Ye Wan were still inside. Unfortunately, the one who should’ve died was still alive, and the one Lu Shangjin was sentimentally attached to had lost his breath.
The grief that he should feel didn’t come as he’d expected it to. Lu Shangjin only sighed for Ye Wan.
This was also Yan Yi’s first time hanging up the phone on him.
Lu Shangjin was so surprised that he didn’t know what to think for a long time.
Whether it was when they were dating or after breaking up, Yan Yi would always pick up his phone call at the first second and would be passionately reluctant to hang up the phone and end the call.
He never would’ve thought that Yan Yi would blacklist his number at all. He only thought about changing his number to try to call when Bi Ruijing reminded him about it.
The lights in the operating room suddenly changed. Lu Lin walked out first, expressionlessly following Ye Wan covered with a white cloth into the morgue.
The doctor who came out later sped to the elevator with the baby in the incubator.
Lu Shangjin was stunned. He ripped out the IV needle from his hand and hurried over.
He grabbed a nurse who was rushing with him, “The baby, is the baby still alive?”
The nurse nodded hurriedly, “Yes, young master Lu, it’s a little alpha, we’re now going to test his differentiative potential.”
Lu Shangjin’s eyes sank as he ran quickly down the passageway towards the differentiation laboratory upstairs. Seeing that Ye Wan’s baby was sent into the differentiation laboratory, Lu Shangjin dismantled the fresh air system and crawled into the inspection room through the vents.
There was only one differentiation laboratorian in the lab. As he was about to prepare for the disinfection test, the cold muzzle of a gun was pressed against the back of his head.
The differentiation laboratorian was an ordinary omega, having no power of resistance at all in the face of M2 alphas. Shivering, he raised his hands, “Y-young master Lu…”
Lu Shangjin didn’t say a word as he bent down to show the laboratorian a video.
In the video, Lu Lin’s younger brother, Lu Jue, was shot in the head behind the gambling table. It was in extremely high definition, the exploded brain splattered on the lens. The laboratorian was so frightened that his face turned pale and he couldn’t help but shut his eyes.
“This news seemed to not have spread yet,” Lu Shangjin bent over to lean against the table, whispering in the omega’s ear, “I was the one who shot the gun.”
The omega’s fingertips trembled, almost tearing up. He covered his ears and sobbed, “Young master Lu, I don’t know anything,… please let me go…”
“I’ll give you a chance, are you loyal to Lu Lin or do you choose me?” Lu Shangjin moved the ice-cold muzzle of the gun to rub the glands under the tip of the omega’s hair, “”You should be clear who has a hold of the future of the Lu family. Don’t ever stand in the wrong line before I cause a bloodbath in the peregrine falcon Lu family name.”
“Yes, yes…I’ll listen to you completely, young master Lu…” The omega’s voice was like a mosquito, choking with sobs as he ensured him.
“Issue a checklist to say that the baby has no differentiative potential. Find a baby that passed recently to replace him in the cremation.”
“Then send this baby to An Fei Ya hospital, let Xia Pingtian get someone to look after him.”
“Yes, yes… I’ll maintain secrecy… young master Lu.”
——
Yan Yi bought a ticket for a long-distance bus ride which followed along the main road towards the south. He took three trains, and after bumping around for two days, he arrived in the small town of Nan Qi.
There was a bar street he was familiar with in Nan Qi. The number of friends he had could be counted on one hand. He said they’re friends, but they’re one-sided.
Red-painted wooden fences hung on top of an irregular grey brick wall. The purple chrysanthemums were just in full bloom, and the fence was covered with postcards left by lovers.
The style of the entire street of bars were similar, filled with their respective literature and art styles. The walls were hung with hydrangea or camellias, some planted with saffron roots. Occasionally, there would be two additional tattoo shops, which would only have business in the evening. The nightlife here was quite lively.
Yan Yi touched the tip of his hair that hadn’t had a cut in a long time. He bought a rubber band from one of the nearby shops, gathered up his light-grey hair and tugged it into a little braid on the back of his head, then entered this bar called “Ruins”.
The lights in the bar were dim. There were only several irregular wooden tables coated with gloss. It had completely no business at all. Only an alpha in his twenties whose style was a mix of punk and hip-hop was singing selflessly with a guitar.
Once the alpha heard business coming in, he shook his hair and lifted his face, pretending to be in grief. His black eyes shone, appearing roguishly handsome.
“Are you hiring bartenders here?” Yan Yi hugged his arms as he gently rubbed them, feeling a little cold.
The alpha frowned and examined him up and down, “Hiring is one thing, but we’re only hiring alphas, not weak chickens.”
So it’s just a one-sided relationship. It looked like he didn’t recognize Yan Yi anymore.
Yan Yi smiled warmly, “Why does a bartender have to be an alpha?”
The alpha raised his chin, “Public security has been messy recently, there’s always someone who would cause trouble and smash the whole shop, so I have to hire an alpha who can fight.”
Supporting the counter with his hand, Yan Yi sat lightly on the bar stool and watched him with interest, “Aren’t you an alpha?”
He was a husky alpha.
“I…” The alpha pursed his lips, “Whenever I see someone smash the shop… I honestly want to smash it together with them…”
This husky alpha with the J1 differentiative ability:
‘Violent demolition’.
Footnotes
爽文: lit, “pleasurable text”, or online novels where readers relate to the characters and feel good from reading them