“Xiao Yiheng, stop the nonsense! Who needs your pheromone??”
It’s the same again.
Li Cheng thought, Why am I reacting like this again? Xiao Yiheng could always easily instigate his mood swings with just a sentence. He would get worked up and be on an emotional roller-coaster which was totally unlike himself.
Xiao Yiheng thought, Why is he reacting like that again? Li Cheng had an extremely vigilant heart. He had already clearly shown his goodwill but Li Cheng would still fly into a rage every time, brandishing his claws and stopping anyone to approach him.
They simultaneously thought, Why haven’t I been angered to death by this (LC: big) (XYH: lil’) rascal?
Xiao Yiheng bluntly pointed out the truth, “Am I wrong? You’re going to participate in the provincial competition early next month. You can participate in the national team’s training as long as you win the championship in this competition. However, the nearing of your estrus had caused your condition to terribly decline. You don’t want to miss this competition, right?”
Just now at the restaurant, Tang Zhi had deliberately revealed this information to Xiao Yiheng vaguely. Xiao Yiheng was extremely intelligent. Even though he only heard fragments of information, he quickly connected the clues together and found out the truth. This truth made him impulsive and caused him to say these words to Li Cheng.
Whether it was a ‘temporary marking’ or a ‘lifelong marking’, they were very intimate acts between an alpha and an omega. As science and technology became more advanced, inhibitors and inhibitor patches were invented thus the omegas’ estrus was no longer difficult. It was no longer necessary for them to marry an alpha so there’s an increasing number of omegas choosing a beta or another omega to marry. Even if it was a marriage between an alpha and omega, marking was no longer necessary but instead became something that couples do for fun.
Note this well. It’s something that couples do for fun!
When Xiao Yiheng thought of how Li Cheng would rather spend money to find another alpha who was a complete stranger and didn’t intend to look for him, fury that couldn’t be extinguished went ablaze inside him.
Li Cheng was unwilling to give in.
“Why should I find you?” Li Cheng sharply retorted, “It’s my problem so I’ll solve it myself. We’re not close so what does my estrus have to do with you? Besides, if I were to look for an alpha from people I know, don’t I already have a lot to choose from? Lil’ Hu is an alpha. Wei Rong is an alpha. I can also catch several alphas in the swimming team at once⸺Why should I look for you?”
“Because you wouldn’t dare find one from those people.” Xiao Yiheng smiled faintly. His gaze was so aggressive, as if he could strip off Li Cheng’s clothes layer by layer with just his eyes, “Because your gland isn’t located at the back of your neck, right?”
“……!!!”
Li Cheng was startled. He wasn’t adept at concealing his emotions. When he heard Xiao Yiheng’s words, his heart suddenly felt constricted and his expression instantly became unnatural. If Li Cheng really had a tail, his hackles would definitely be raised from the crown of his head all the way down his back to his tail.
Seeing his obvious reaction, Xiao Yiheng heaved a sigh of relief.
⸺It seems like I was right.
When they had been hiding inside the locker, Xiao Yiheng had noticed that there wasn’t any trace of a glance on Li Cheng’s nape even though he had smelled pheromones from Li Cheng the day before.
It was written in the first lesson of the 《National Health Education Course》 that the majority of the omegas’ glands are located at the back of their neck. Their glands will be hot and swollen during estrus. However, one out of every hundred thousand people has their gland at an unusual location.
Xiao Yiheng thought that it was fitting for the unique Li Cheng to have such a unique gland.
The boy spoke neither too fast nor too slow. The odds were already in his favour so he no longer had to speak without thinking, “If you want to participate in the competition, you must find an alpha to give you a temporary mark but because your gland is at a special location, you don’t want to expose it to the people around you. Thus, you wanted to find an alpha whom you didn’t know… But I heard that hiring an alpha can be quite costly. Li Cheng, do you have that much money?”
His last words completely poked Li Cheng’s weakness.
Li ge was currently empty-pocketed and the most valuable possession he had was the duck in his arms. However, his only chance to ‘sell the duck to save the father’ had been curtailed by Xiao Yiheng.
Seeing Li Cheng’s expression soften, Xiao Yiheng finally laid down his last bargaining chip, “Since I’m also a parent of lil’ Lemon, for its sake I’ll help you fr… with a discount.”
He wanted to say ‘free of charge’, but he thought of something as he was speaking half-way so he changed it to ‘discount’.
Although he and Li Cheng had only met a few times, he understood the character of this lil’ firecracker too well. If he said that it was free, Li Cheng would definitely be displeased and would even reject his kindness right there and then.
Li Cheng was extremely prideful so he didn’t want to bow his head to others, let alone owe others a favour.
Xiao Yiheng was right again this time.
When Li Cheng heard the words ‘discount’, his eyes brightened and he seemed moved.
However, he was the most vigilant wild cat in the world. If others showed him kindness, he would still overly suspiciously brandish his sharp claws and fangs, ready to fight back at any time.
“Help me with a discount?” Li Cheng’s eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened, enticing others to pet his head. The blonde boy’s eyes were filled with doubts, “We’re not friends so why would you be that kind?”
“I……” Xiao Yiheng was slightly startled and he suddenly realised that he couldn’t answer Li Cheng’s question.
He didn’t know why he became so angry after hearing Tang Zhi’s words that he got carried away and recklessly offered this deal.
When clearly, he didn’t even know how to inject his pheromones into an omega’s body.
Xiao Yiheng dispelled his murky thoughts for the time being and lightly pursed his lips,
“Just think of it as me doing a good deed every day.”
……
Li Cheng didn’t immediately accept Xiao Yiheng’s offer. Even though the discount that Xiao Yiheng had mentioned was very attractive, he insisted that he still had to consider it.
He really needed to consider it carefully.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
His gland was very unusual. It wasn’t at his nape like other omegas but somewhere that he was too shy to talk about.
Every estrus, he would have to put a non-transparent inhibitor patch on his nape even though his real gland is hidden elsewhere.
He could still remember that when he had just differentiated, he had been terrified. He was lying down at the orphanage’s dorm when his whole body felt burning hot. It was at that time that he understood why estrus was called estrus.
He was so hot that he lost all his strength, like a snowflake melting at his fingertips and like a dewdrop evaporating under the sun. He seemed to have disappeared yet he seemed to be everywhere.
He differentiated late thus the omega pheromones that had accumulated inside his body instantly burst out and the refreshing scent of sweet orange drifted everywhere, causing all the children to quiver.
The orphanage’s omega teacher hurried over, turned Li Cheng over, exposed his nape and was about to place an inhibitor patch which stopped pheromones from spreading⸺However, his nape was spotless and the red and swollen gland that should’ve been there was not there.
The teacher had never seen such a scene before thus Li Cheng was rushed to the hospital. After arriving at the hospital, the nurse took off his clothes and finally found his glands.
From that day on, Li Cheng no longer wore briefs and only wore long pants to sleep.
Even if he didn’t have common sense, he knew that the alpha’s mouth would touch the gland when making a temporary mark. At that time, he didn’t want…..
With this thought, Li Cheng couldn’t help but carry the ducky in his arms and pet it fiercely.
The innocent lil’ lemon quacked when it was being petted, its fur looking like weeds after.
Just when Li Cheng was wavering, he received a call.
He picked it up and found that it was Youyou’s adoptive parents!
Li Cheng grunted inwardly.
Ever since Youyou had been adopted by them, Li Cheng had not had any contact with them except when he visited their house during the holidays. He knew that the couple disliked him for being undisciplined and acting like a rogue. They didn’t want him to keep in touch with Youyou thus he always went and left secretly every time he went to find his sister.
Why would they call him out of nowhere?
Could it be…
When an idea hit him, Li Cheng hurriedly picked up the phone. As expected, as soon as the call was connected, the sound of Youyou’s adoptive mother grievingly crying came through the speakers.
“Li Cheng,” the adoptive mother asked while crying, “Did Youyou go to see you?”
“No, she didn’t.” Li Cheng asked hurriedly, “What happened? Has Youyou gone missing??”
“Her grades had declined recently so I couldn’t tolerate it anymore but she ran away from home after I scolded her with just a few words!” The adoptive mother tried to keep her tears from falling and choking with emotions, she said, “I’ve already gone to her school and to the house of the classmates she’s close with. I’ve also called the police but she still couldn’t be found. I think she’s quite close with you. Did she come to find you? If she did, you must tell us. Don’t- don’t hide it from us……”
“Auntie, she really didn’t” While Li Cheng was talking to her, he jumped off his bed and put on his clothes, “I’ll come over now and help you find her together!”
After speaking, he hung up the phone, entrusted lil’ Lemon to his roommate, and quickly ran out of the dormitory.
His mind was a mess at that moment.
Youyou was an obedient and well-behaved child. She was very dependent on her adoptive parents and she cherished them a lot. She was also very filial towards them. Moreover, she was only ten years old. Why would she run away from home when she still was not in her rebellious stage? Was it only because her adoptive mother scolded for not scoring well? That’s too strange!
Li Cheng ran out of the school like a gust of wind.
He first went to meet with Youyou’s adoptive parents and listened to them re-tell the story. They insisted that the reason for the quarrel with Youyou was because of her grades declining but Li Cheng noticed that the eyes of Youyou’s adoptive mother were evading his gaze in shame as if she was avoiding something.
An idea popped into Li Cheng’s mind, It couldn’t be that they beat Youyou up because of her exam grades, right?
However, there was no use to blindly guess at that moment.
Li Cheng called his Lil’ Tigers army to come. Each of the lil’ brothers had colourful hair and their clothes had prints of tiger heads, leopard heads and dog heads. They were the epitome of ‘society’s idlers’.
Li Cheng sent them a picture of his sister and commanded them to split up and ask people.
He even called Wei Rong. Wei Rong went wild with joy when he received Li Cheng’s call. He fawningly asked Li Cheng what he could do for him.
Li Cheng said, “My sister ran away from home and I don’t have enough manpower. Ask your lil’ brothers to help me look for her.”
Were it not for Wei Rong’s still being in a plaster, he would have already gotten up and helped Li Cheng find her, “Sister-in-law is missing? This is a big matter! Don’t worry. We’ll definitely find her!”
Li Cheng gloomily asked him, “You call her sister-in-law?”
“Um, lil’ sister-in-law is fine too.” “Wei Rong immediately changed his mind.”
Li Cheng didn’t want to lower down to his stupidity so he angrily said, “Listen clearly, I’m your grandfather so she’s your grandfather’s sister!”
Li Cheng’s demeanour was fully exhibited at that moment. He was clearly still not an adult yet he had the bearing of someone who commanded thousands of troops. He asked the lil’ brothers to find his sister separately according to their regions and they kept calling their ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ in other regions.
Seeing that he was so skillfully commanding his younger brothers, Youyou’s adoptive parents subconsciously wanted to stay away from him but stopped upon remembering Youyou.
Li Cheng saw their movements from the corner of his eyes but he didn’t say anything.
Youyou’s adoptive parents had disliked him since long ago but their top priority right now was to find his sister as soon as possible.
The adoptive mother waited at home while the adoptive father went to the police station and monitored with the police. Li Cheng followed his lil’ brothers to search for her.
They went to the orphanage, to Youyou’s school and to the park that she often went to. It was only at ten o’ clock in the evening that they heard good news.
“Li ge, we’ve found her!” Huang Yelun called, “Your sister is in the school’s security room right now. The security guard found her!!”
Li Cheng was stunned, “School security room? Is it HC1’s security room?”
“Yea!” Huang Yelun confirmed, “Your sister came to school to find you!!”
It turned out that Youyou ran away from home to find her brother after quarrelling with her adoptive parents! However, she had never been to her brother’s school before. She only knew that her brother was studying at Huacheng No.1 Senior High School thus she walked and walked cluelessly for three hours before she could find it.
Li Cheng was quickly going crazy. He immediately took a taxi back to school.
As soon as he got out of the taxi, Youyou, who was leaning on the window of the security room, saw him and rushed towards him like a swallow that had learnt how to fly.
Behind him, Huang Yelun and the other lil’ bros. The security room was full of snacks, toys as well as takeaway fried chicken and milk tea. It seemed like the girl had been attentively attended to.
Li Cheng hurriedly caught his sister and lifted her up into a hug.
He was anxious and angry deep inside: He was anxious since his sister had been missing for several hours and there were many cars at night. She was lucky that she didn’t get into danger this time. If she encountered a bad person, how could she resist? Even if she didn’t meet a bad person, she could’ve been hit by a car; He was angry that she ran away from home without thinking of how it made everyone worried and caused a lot of trouble for everyone.
With these thoughts, Li Cheng immediately became unsmiling and with the manner of an elder brother, he asked her in a serious tone, “Youyou, do you know how many people were worried about you tonight? Have you ever thought of what you should do if you didn’t meet big brother and met a bad person instead??”
Even his lil’ brothers were afraid of his serious face, let alone Youyou who was only ten years old.
Youyou thought that her brother would definitely praise her after going through all the hardships to find him but she didn’t expect that the first thing her brother would do was scold her!
With this thought, the girl’s grievances, sadness and the fear that had accumulated as she walked through the dark were like a flood that started flowing out in the form of tears.
“Youyou, d-don’t cry!” Li Cheng couldn’t keep up his ‘elder brother’ front for even a minute as it collapsed under the onslaught of her sister’s flood of tears.
Youyou lay on Li Cheng’s shoulders, crying until she was gasping for breath. Her face was utterly red and her hair was sweatily sticking to her forehead after crying.
Since young, Li Cheng rarely cried except when his parents had passed away. He was a person who could shed blood and sweat but not tears but his sister was a crybaby who could cry endlessly.
Seeing his lil’ brothers casting condemning glances at him, Li Cheng quickly patted his sister’s back and comforted her, “Youyou, brother is sorry. Brother shouldn’t have been mad at you….”
He wanted to place his sister on the ground but unexpectedly his sister’s small fists clung onto his shirt, refusing to let go.
The little girl’s tears and snot dripped onto his t-shirt, leaving a huge wet patch.
Youyou sobbed, “Brother, I-I miss you.”
“I miss my baby sister too.” Li Cheng surrounded his sister with his warmth, “Did you run away because you missed brother?”
Youyou shook his head first before nodding, looking as if she was feeling conflicted.
Youyou wailed, “Brother, I want to stay with you.”
“……” Li Cheng was stumped for words as he felt the bitterness and agony in his heart slowly arising.
He was still a student and could only afford to sustain himself. If he could, he really wanted to take his sister to come live with him. However, there are some things that he couldn’t have even if he wanted it. His sister’s adoptive parents had adopted Youyou using completely fair and legal procedures and they had been doing their best to take care of her. Even though Li Cheng was Youyou’s biological brother, he couldn’t take her away from them.
“Youyou, why don’t you want to live with your uncle and aunt?” Li Cheng didn’t let himself get carried away. Instead, he asked her reason, “Are they not good towards you? Could it be that…. they beat you?”
Youyou finally lifted her head from his shoulder. She shook her head and wiped her red eyes with the back of her hands, “Dad and mom are very good to me.”
“Then why?”
“Because……” Youyou lowered her head as she burst into tears once again, “Because mom talked bad about you.”
“……” Li Cheng was speechless.
He asked her in detail and finally figured out the reason his sister had ran away.
Li Cheng extremely doted on Youyou so he gave her a game console for her birthday. A child of her age lacked self-control the most. She hid the game console and secretly played every night. As a result, she always slept in class and her grades declined.
When Youyou’s adoptive mother learned the reason, she was so angry that she confiscated Youyou’s game console. She also spoke thoughtlessly, saying a lot of bad things about Li Cheng.
For example, “Li Cheng is just a hooligan. He has bad morals and also wants his sister to learn from him, interfering with her studies.”
Another example was “Only weak students like Li Cheng who can’t pass the college entrance examinations would train to be athletes. He’s all brawn and no brains. It’s really shameful.”
One more example, “Li Cheng always bragged about how good he is in swimming. If he’s really good, why don’t I see him on TV or in the newspaper? He haven’t even won the world championship. I really don’t understand why Youyou kept on talking about her brother.”
After listening to his sister’s ‘tattle’, Li Cheng was simmering with rage.
He knew that Youyou’s adoptive parents looked down on him but was it necessary for them to slander him in front of his sister?
He had always shown them respect and had never interfered on how they educated his sister. Sure, it was true that he shouldn’t have given his sister a game console but he was her real brother after all. His intention was the same as them which was to give her all the love he could! Why do they look at him with such prejudice?
As this question rose within him, Li Cheng made a decision in his mind.
“Youyou,” He wiped away his sister’s tears and firm determination for the future could be seen in his eyes as he continued, “Once you go back, tell them that your brother is someone you could be proud of. I will let them see me on TV and I will win the world championship.”
……
In the Xiao family.
It was late at night. At his desk, Xiao Yiheng was writing an A on the English exercise booklet in full concentration.
Mother Xiao came to take a look at him and nodded with satisfaction upon seeing her son concentrated on studying. Then, she gently closed the door and went out.
As soon as the door closed, Xiao Yiheng immediately closed the book, revealing the phone hidden beneath it.
On the web page, the question he had just searched could be seen.
⸺ How does an alpha temporarily mark an omega?
He looked extremely serious. He even took notes as he read through the answer.
He was simply more attentive than when he was in class.
At this moment, a phone call came. Xiao Yiheng’s eyes turned darker when he saw the name of the caller. He silently counted a few seconds before he impatiently answered the call.
“Hello?” He cleared his throat before saying, “Li Cheng?”
On the other side of the phone, there was only the youth’s clear and shallow breathing.
Extremely soft, extremely quiet.
Xiao Yiheng had an intuition so he didn’t rush him, remaining silent as him.
After a few minutes, or perhaps several worlds, the person at the other end of the line finally spoke.
“Xiao Yiheng,” the youth seemed to have made a major decision. His voice trembled but he forced himself to remain calm as he asked a question, “……When are you free?”
“Why?” Xiao Yiheng asked in a calm voice but in fact he was already sitting tensely at his desk.
“Don’t fucking act stupid with Laozi!” Li Cheng’s voice suddenly rose as if he felt indignant for being put in a difficult situation; Then his voice suddenly became soft, like a cat that was hiding in its secret place on tiptoes, “It’s……” His voice was extremely faint as he uttered out, “When are you free for the temporary marking?”
Although he had already expected it, it seemed like he had heard a firework explosion when Li Cheng said the words ‘temporary marking’.
Xiao Yiheng completely had no idea how he was still able to respond in such a calm tone, “I’m free anytime.”
Even if Li Cheng said that he needed him now, he would probably climb out of the window just to give the blonde cat a temporary marking.
“Then tomorrow.” As if afraid that Yiheng would regret it, Li Cheng hurriedly explained, “You know, I’m competing early next month so I want to quickly adjust my condition so the faster I can get this temporary marking, the better it is!”
“Mn.” Xiao Yiheng thought, Tomorrow? I have to give him a temporary mark tomorrow? But I haven’t figured out how it’s supposed to be done. Xiao Yiheng finally understood how it felt like for mediocre students to go to the examination room without doing any revisions.
“……Then I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“……Mn.”
“……Good night.”
“……Mn.”
Xiao Yiheng definitely wouldn’t have a ‘good night’ tonight since he’d have to study all night.
Just as the call was about to be hung up, Li Cheng suddenly said,
“Ah, don’t hang up yet. There’s something I still need to discuss with you!” The boy’s tone was terse.
“Say it.” Xiao Yiheng thought, No matter what it is that you want to discuss, I’ll agree to it.
Li Cheng paused for a while before finally saying, “That, I’m a bit tight on money so can I pay in installments?”
Xiao Yiheng: “……”
T/N: This was supposed to be yesterday oops. I’ll release a bonus chapter tonight!
Hahahaha! Nice bargaining!
I don’t like Youyou’s adoptive parents….they are so rude…
Thanks for the chapter~
Indeed, it feels like parental alienation only with a sibling instead 🙁
Agreed regardless of how they feel about him he definitely treats his sister like a precious treasure!
I wonder where his gland is.. hmmm
Thanks for the update! 🙇🏻♂️
I’m gonna guess on his inner thigh or something since he changed from wearing briefs to long pants…plus it’s kinda erotic! 😀
Ooh that’s kinky. I was thinking it’s somewhere around his upper butt or the back dimples. 🤭😳
My money is also in inner thigh 🤪
i feel ashamed of my first thought now… 😅
Ay, Xiao Yiheng still hasn’t figured it out, all the best. Youyou’s adoptive parents deserve a slap on the face, poor girl, she’s only 10.
Thank you for the chapter!!!
Ahh, the little sister was so brave… Li Cheng must make her proud. Sacrifice your private parts for your sister! 😅
Thanks for the chapter!
How can parents slander the most important person in Youyou’s life?
Let’s see if these two can get through a temporary mark and not go full mark >->Thanks for the chapter <3
Hahaha! The end was unexpected
Thank you for the chapter
Ah her adopted parents make me so upset 😣
I can’t wait for the markingggg!!!
Thanks for the chapter!!
Bet his gland is on his thigh or his BUTT! the second half is a joke but the thigh should be correct.
Li Cheng glands is near his d**k if I’m guessing it correctly~
Thank you for the chapter<3
I really love LC’s character. I respect him actually.
I feel sad about his sisters adoptive parents. Bad mouthing her brother right in front of her is not something a responsible adult should do and I think it’s very sad that they would adopt 1 sibling and not the other in the first place. It might be very… Idealistic to say, but I feel that siblings shouldnt be forced to separate like this…
Wtf even if the parents don’t like Li Cheng (which is already questionable in itself), why tf would they insult him in front of his freakin sister?!?!
And oooh, temporary marking, here we go! That bit about him changing briefs to long pants… I’m guessing he has his gland on one of his thighs? Hhhh this is gonna be hilarious if so xD
Thanks for the chapter! 🙂
AAAAHH i really love the dynamics of XYH and Orange ❤️ I cant wait for their temporary marking!!! Also XYH researching and taking notes 😂
Thanks for the chapter~
HAHAHAHAH
Thanks for the chapter ❤️
….. I dislike her parents. It seems to be the kom doing all of the talking though. But how stupid and thoughtless can she be. Here is the boy you didn’t adopt. Training and doing his best. But you only see the bad in him.
Erm, Youyou’s adoptive mum should be more considerate with Li Cheng after this running away scare 🤨
Xiao Yiheng staying up late to ‘study’ up on how to do a temporary marking is hilarious 😆
Thanks for the chapter 💕
Thank you for the chapter!
If his gland is in his butt cheeks, that would be funny 🤭🤭
Kay ‘lil tyrant lang marupok! Lol Yiheng hahahhaaha
Omg it’s so cute how willing Xiao Yiheng is, hahaha! Thanks for the translation!
I am a bit conflicted about several things in this chapter.
First, if Li Cheng was really serious about taking care of Youyou, he wouldn’t be so careless with the little money he earned.
Second, the adoptive parents are douchebags.
Thanks for the chapter <3