The tiny room fell silent, and the sound of insects grew louder. For a while, neither of them spoke.
Eventually, Lu Heyang asked, “Did you lose on purpose tonight?”
Although he couldn’t see clearly, he could sense Seventeen’s surprise, which was probably due to the fact that he asked this question instead of asking about why he appeared in the alley or why he saved him—that sort of thing.
“Yes,” Seventeen replied.
Lu Heyang hadn’t expected him to be so honest.
“You bled quite a lot,” Lu Heyang said.
“It’s always like this,” Seventeen paused, lowering his voice as he asked, “Is this… your first time coming here?”
It was actually the second time, but Lu Heyang answered, “Yeah, this is my first time here, so I don’t know anything.”
There were light footsteps outside. Seventeen immediately turned his head toward the door to listen for a few seconds. After confirming that it was just a passerby, he faced Lu Heyang again and said, “This place is dangerous, you shouldn’t come here in the future.”
“Really?” Lu Heyang asked.
Seventeen was hesitant. It was difficult to imagine that someone would ask such a question immediately after being robbed. However, the other person’s tone was so sincere that it sounded almost innocent, which made him believe it.
“It’s not safe here and the security is poor,” Seventeen explained.
Lu Heyang responded, “Okay, got it.”
After nearly a minute, Seventeen put his hand on the door lock and slowly unlocked it. He whispered, “I’ll go first. If there’s no commotion in five minutes, you can come out. Go to the right, and at the end of the alley go to the left, where you can get back to the parking lot.”
“All right.”
Seventeen seemed to glance at Lu Heyang in the dark, then slowly opened the door. The light from the streetlamp fell sideways on him, and the brim of his cap completely concealed his profile, revealing only a high nose bridge with remnants of unwiped smudged paint and bloodstains.
“Thank you,” Lu Heyang finally said.
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.
Vfnfcaffc’r wbnfwfcar qjerfv. Ktfc tf gfqilfv klat jc “Zc” jcv kjixfv bea, mibrlcu atf vbbg yftlcv tlw.
Lf gfaegcfv ab atf rlvf fcagjcmf ktfgf atf lcmlvfca tjv bmmeggfv jcv obecv atja cb bcf kjr atfgf. Vfnfcaffc kjixfv bnfg ab atf kjii jcv yfca vbkc ab qlmx eq atf kjiifa lc atf mbgcfg.
The wallet looked expensive and new. The thugs had probably been so busy chasing them that they had left it behind. Seventeen tucked the wallet into his jacket pocket, pulled down the brim of his cap, and walked straight out of the alley without entering through the side door.
—
After waiting in the room for a few minutes, Lu Heyang opened the door and stepped out. He turned right, then left at the end of the alley, and then stopped. He looked at the three panting alphas in front of him and asked, “Looking for me?”
The leader of the alphas stared blankly, then spoke into his earpiece and said, “We found him.”
“It shouldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes since you lost me, right?”
“We were just about to report in,” the alpha replied in a low voice.
Lu Heyang smiled, “Then let’s make a deal.”
The alphas across from him showed slightly confused expressions, and Lu Heyang continued, “I won’t say anything about my disappearance, and neither will you.”
“Just this once,” he continued, “I went out to make a phone call and got lost while walking. Nothing happened. There’s no need to make a big deal out of it, right?”
The alpha hesitated for a few seconds before nodding, “Understood. We’ll be more careful next time.”
When He Wei and Gu Yunchi came out, Lu Heyang was standing by the car. He Wei took a step forward and asked, “What happened?”
“Let’s talk in the car.” Lu Heyang opened the car door.
The three of them got into the car. He Wei turned the steering wheel and looked back, “What happened? Didn’t you say you were going to make a phone call? Why didn’t you come back to watch the boxing match?”
“I got robbed,” Lu Heyang said.
He Wei slammed on the brakes and his whole body twisted around to look at him, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I just lost my wallet.” And even though the wallet was gone, the money inside was crumpled up in his pocket, so the loss could be disregarded. Lu Heyang smiled, “It was my own carelessness to go to a remote place to make the call.”
“As long as you’re all right,” He Wei sighed in relief and started the car again, “If anything happened to you, Uncle Lu and my dad would definitely kill me first.”
“Where were the bodyguards?” Gu Yunchi asked.
“I walked around the club for a long time before going out, and they lost me.”
He Wei immediately asked, “Then does Uncle Lu know?”
“No, I negotiated with them.” Lu Heyang rubbed the back of his neck, “I told them that I just got lost, and they shouldn’t report it. Otherwise, they’ll be punished, and we won’t be able to come here again.”
He Wei clicked his tongue, “They usually follow you everywhere, but when something really happens, you can’t find them.”
Growing up under the constant watch of bodyguards, the three of them had become accustomed to being monitored at all times. Just like this time, when they came to the Westside, they knew that there were at least three bodyguards following each of them. They just pretended not to notice, as they had done for so many years.
Gu Yunchi frowned slightly, “Do you want to investigate and catch who did this?”
“It’s fine, no need.” Lu Heyang played with the crumpled bills in his hand and said, “I’m not interested in this.”
On Saturday morning at 9:30, Lu Heyang went downstairs to have breakfast. Ten minutes later, footsteps echoed on the staircase. Lu Heyang looked up and saw an omega in a deep blue silk nightgown, with her long hair loosely tied up, revealing a delicate but tired face.
“You only slept for three hours,” Lu Heyang said, taking a sip of milk.
“I have to catch another flight in the afternoon, time is tight so I can only sleep less,” Lu Qingmo replied, sitting down at the dining table and rubbing her forehead, “Besides, I’m used to not sleeping much.”
“I can go to Luanshan on my own. We can go together the next time you are free.”
Lu Qingmo smiled, “Who knows when the next time will be? It’s been almost three months since the last time.”
“You’re putting too much pressure on yourself.” Lu Heyang buttered a piece of toast and put it on the plate in front of Lu Qingmo.
“There’s no pressure, I just want to go visit.”
“Okay,” Lu Heyang said, “I’ll drive so you can rest on the way.”
After having breakfast and changing clothes, Lu Heyang asked the driver to bring over an ordinary car. Lu Qingmo got into the front passenger seat and held a long gift box in her hand. Lu Heyang started the car and asked, “What is it?”
“A paintbrush,” Lu Qingmo said, “Custom-made, I waited a long time for it.”
Lu Heyang looked at the road, “He’ll be happy to get it.”
“I hope so.” Lu Qingmo put her hand on the gift box, leaned back on the seat, and closed her eyes.
To get to Luanshan, they had to pass through the old town, not far from the Preparatory School. Every time Lu Heyang reached this area, he would slow down the car because the road was not very wide. It was crowded with cyclists and pedestrians, which required extra caution.
There were many breakfast shops open on the roadside, but not many people came out to buy breakfast at this hour. Lu Heyang inadvertently glanced in that direction, and upon turning his head away, he paused briefly before looking in the direction once more.
An alpha in a white T-shirt was holding a bottle of soy milk and a bag of bread. After paying, he pushed an old bicycle along the sidewalk. His posture was upright, and because of his habit of looking at the ground while walking, his head was slightly lowered. He was dressed in ordinary clothes but still had a strong sense of detachment about him. He seemed out of place in the bustling crowd, as if he had accidentally passed by and didn’t belong there.
Lu Heyang turned his head back and continued driving. After a few meters, the tire rolled over a shallow pit as the car was turning at the intersection. As a result, a noticeable object became lodged under the tire, causing a creaking sound as the car continued to move. Not long after, the dashboard displayed a tire pressure warning.
Lu Heyang stepped on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road.
Lu Qingmo opened her eyes and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Something’s wrong with the tire.” Lu Heyang activated the hazard lights and unbuckled his seatbelt, “I’ll go check it out.”
Author’s note:
Seventeen (serious): Don’t come here again, it’s dangerous.
Lu Heyang (agreeing): Mm-hmm, okay, I won’t come.
But next time, keeps on going anyway.
Protective wife × “Okay you can protect me” husband