The two men left the police station. Huo Tinglan was in a hurry to leave home and did not send a separate car, so he pretended to be a gentleman and went around to the front to sit in the passenger seat.
Twenty minutes later, the car drove back to the Huo residence. Ye Ci got out of the car, trying hard to hide his unnatural gait, and sat on the shoe-changing bench in the entrance hall. However, he was stopped by Huo Tinglan just as he took off his sneakers.
"What's wrong with your foot?" Huo Tinglan stood at the door, frowned and pointed at his feet.
Ye Ci pulled up his loose school uniform trousers and looked down.
He felt pain in his right ankle. During the previous melee, he accidentally kicked a steel pipe and his head was buzzing with pain. He checked it himself at the police station and saw that it was just a bruise so he didn't take it seriously. He didn't expect that it was now swollen like a steamed bun, which looked really scary.
“… It’s okay.” Ye Ci said perfunctorily, lowered his trouser legs and was about to leave.
In his opinion, as long as the wound is not broken, it's okay. At this level, just apply ice to it. A child who grew up in the slums and suffered a lot is not that delicate.
"Don't move." Huo Tinglan squatted down in front of him, touching the ground with one knee, and said in a deep voice: "Let me see."
The tone of command was so powerful that Ye Ci was stunned and forgot to refuse.
Huo Tinglan held Ye Ci's bruised ankle with his left hand and pulled up his trouser leg with his right hand. There was no actual contact, but the vigorous heat from the alpha's palm still warmed the ankle, which was particularly sensitive due to the swelling, through that thin distance.
Ye Ci tightly grasped the strap of his schoolbag and stretched out his legs stiffly.
It was an omega's foot, with a slender arch and a long, thin foot, tightly wrapped in pure cotton white socks. The cotton was half worn, but it was rinsed clean and white, and it had no smell when taken out of the equally clean sneakers. The shape of the toes was slightly raised at the tip of the socks, and it was slightly tilted due to nervousness... It looked very cute.
"… It's so swollen, we can't rule out a fracture." The inspection process actually only took two or three seconds, or even shorter. To avoid suspicion, Huo Tinglan restrained himself and looked away, "I'll take you to the hospital to take an X-ray."
"No fractures... I, I know." Ye Ci sensed the subtle change in the atmosphere. His right ankle, which was held in Huo Tinglan's palm, suddenly went numb, along with half of his body. He was so embarrassed that he suddenly retracted his foot, put on his slippers and was about to leave.
"Don't step on the ground yet." Huo Tinglan subconsciously shook his hand.
He had held this ankle thousands of times, not only held it, but also kissed and sucked it on his shoulder. No matter how he thought that today was different from yesterday, Ye Ci was still unfamiliar with him. He reminded himself every second to pretend to be a gentleman and avoid suspicion, but it was inevitable that he would forget himself and lose his sense of proportion.
The sweatpants were made of smooth fabric and covered a pair of slender springbok-like calves.
Because it's thin, it's thinner than the ones I've held before.
Ever since Ye Ci's accident in the previous life, until now...
How long has it been since they had physical contact
The lover he had been thinking about so much, who was lost and found again, was so young and lovely. Huo Tinglan's heart was beating hot and the tense string in his mind broke. Not only did he not let go immediately, he almost grabbed that ankle and kissed it.
At the same time, the pheromones of the A+ level alpha easily penetrated the fabric. Ye Ci felt like he was burned by a pair of red-hot tongs. The string in his brain that had been taut day and night since he moved into the Huo residence broke with a "ding" sound.
Before Huo Tinglan could do anything inappropriate, Ye Ci had already pulled his foot back and yelled fiercely, "Don't touch me!"
Then, with red ears, he limped back to the bedroom and slammed the door.
There was a loud bang.
“…” Huo Tinglan knelt on one knee and came to his senses after a moment. He felt apologetic and mixed emotions.
Fortunately, there was no time to do anything.
However, even though I didn't have time to do anything, I was still treated as a hooligan.
All the previous efforts have been wasted...
Huo Tinglan rubbed his forehead.
No matter what, Ye Ci's foot injury couldn't just be left there. Huo Tinglan turned his head and saw Uncle He standing far away with a tactful look, busying himself in a pretentious manner, as if he hadn't noticed the embarrassing situation of Huo Tinglan and the little boy's "attempted hooliganism" just now.
Huo Tinglan laughed secretly and told him to call a private doctor to check on Ye Ci. He went back to his study, forced himself to calm down, and deal with the work that had been interrupted before.
Huo Tinglan was very efficient when immersed in work, and the remaining contracts were finalized quickly. After closing the last document, Huo Tinglan took out his phone to check the time, and less than an hour had passed.
Probably Ye Ci had calmed down a bit, Huo Tinglan took the phone and wanted to explain that his behavior today was not malicious. He opened Ye Ci's WeChat and saw that "the other party is typing" was displayed above the empty chat interface.
Huo Tinglan was curious about what Ye Ci would say, so he waited quietly. However, three minutes passed and the intermittent message "The other party is typing" was still on the top of the interface.
"..." Huo Tinglan smiled and casually switched the app to the photo album, where there were several surveillance videos from the racetrack that he had saved at the police station.
The earliest video has nothing to do with the fight. In the surveillance video, Ye Ci had just finished racing with another driver. He was wearing a school uniform and sitting astride a rough-looking heavy motorcycle. He took off his helmet and shook his black hair, which was as messy as a fledgling. With a pretentious and immature look, he took a stack of banknotes from the defeated driver and put it in his arms.
The following few clips are videos of Ye Ci fighting five people at once without any harm.
Huo Tinglan watched the surveillance videos over and over again with a smile on his lips.
This was the Ye Ci that he failed to understand in his previous life, the young poplar-like boy hidden beneath the cold and fragile porcelain beauty.
I just can't get enough of it.
When he switched back to the WeChat interface, the chat box was still empty.
The other party is typing...
A pause of a few seconds, about the wording.
The other party is typing...
Pause, enter, pause, enter.
Over and over again.
Huo Tinglan felt sorry but also wanted to laugh.
Even if it was an 800-word essay, it should have been finished. Is Ye Ci... impeaching him
He wanted to send a message first, but he was unsure of Ye Ci's current state. He was afraid that a disagreement would make the child explode with shame and anger, so he locked the screen and waited patiently.
In the bedroom over there, Ye Ci had no idea that Huo Tinglan had been waiting for him in the study for a long time. He was curled up on the bed wrapped in a quilt, carefully crafting the words in the dialog box, with sweat on his forehead.
He knew that he had overreacted tonight and was quite rude. After the stress response to the alpha pheromone subsided, he was so entangled that he almost twisted himself into a knot. He knew that he should apologize to Huo Tinglan, but he was too embarrassed to speak in person, fearing that he would stutter nine words instead of three. But typing didn't seem to be much better. Communicating with people has always been his Achilles' heel.
Ye Ci typed a bunch of words and deleted a bunch of words, hesitating for a long time. Finally, he closed his eyes and pressed send exhaustedly.
[Ye Ci]: I’m sorry about what happened today. I didn’t mean to yell at you.
Huo Tinglan, who was ready to accept impeachment, was stunned at first when he looked at the weak words, then he slightly curled the corners of his lips and typed a response.
[Huo Tinglan]: It doesn’t matter.
[Huo Tinglan]: It was my fault first, and I want to apologize to you.
Extremely hypocritical.
[Huo Tinglan]: Have you seen a doctor about your feet
Ye Ci breathed a sigh of relief.
[Ye Ci]: I’ve seen it and have dealt with it.
[Huo Tinglan]: Okay, go to bed early.
It became quiet over there.
Probably he was frantically thinking about the wording again.
After a while, the message alert sounded.
[Ye Ci]: Yeah.
Calm and composed.
Somehow, Huo Tinglan suddenly remembered the birds swimming on the lake, which were also like this... The upper half of their bodies were calm and composed, but their pair of small claws were flapping desperately under the water.
He smiled faintly and put down his phone.
I don’t know what the words were that were deleted and revised by those little paws but not sent out.
…
The incident at the police station somewhat increased Ye Ci’s trust in Huo Tinglan.
He is not stupid and has experience. For ordinary gangsters who seek revenge and fight, they would just pay money to settle the matter if they were taken to the police station. But since he could use the crime of disturbing public order to deal with that group of people, Huo Tinglan must have played a role in this.
However, the misunderstanding that followed did not significantly ease the relationship between the two. Huo Tinglan had always behaved gently and gracefully. The problem was that Ye Ci was thin-skinned and had a heavy cool guy image. Even though he had apologized, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed when he thought of those scenes.
Because of this, he was doubly cautious to stagger his sleeping hours with Huo Tinglan, but as soon as he entered the dining room that morning, he was shocked to find something was wrong—Huo Tinglan, who was supposed to get up half an hour later than him, was sitting at the table drinking coffee. Not only did he get up early, he was also dressed neatly, in a crisp navy blue suit with half an inch of eye-catching white on the cuffs, and his fingers were leisurely fiddling with the pearl cufflinks, as if he was deliberately blocking him here.
Ye Ci was startled, and tiptoed back a step, trying to escape.
"Good morning." Huo Tinglan raised his eyes and looked straight at him, "Have breakfast before you leave."
"… Good morning." Ye Ci paused and said with a stiff upper lip, "I know."
He moved to sit diagonally opposite Huo Tinglan. He vaguely sensed something and his nostrils twitched slightly.
Huo Tinglan was filled with a faint scent of agave, which was a trace of pheromones released from the barrier patch. Ye Ci was already somewhat familiar with and accustomed to this strong liquor-like smell, but he didn't know if it was his illusion, but this morning this smell seemed to be different from before, stronger and more aggressive than before, and mixed with a hint of... the wild and savage musky smell of a male beast.
The back of Ye Ci's neck was slightly hot from the stimulation, and he felt extremely awkward. He hurriedly drank a few gulps of milk, trying to finish his breakfast quickly.
Huo Tinglan looked at him quietly for a moment, took a sip of coffee, and said slowly: "There is something I want to discuss with you in person. I was afraid that I would not be able to see you, so I got up early."
What he meant was that his early rising today was a special case, so Ye Ci didn't have to get up even earlier to avoid him, otherwise getting up early would lead to involution... He was afraid that a certain child would get up in the middle of the night to go to school.
Ye Ci held the milk cup and sighed softly, then asked, "What's the matter?"
After he finished speaking, he glanced at Huo Tinglan. Somehow, he felt that he didn't seem to have woken up early, but more like he hadn't slept all night. A kind of tired excitement emanated from his whole body.
…indulge, indulge|excessive sexual desire
Ye Ci suddenly looked away.
A+ alphas are extremely difficult to find omegas, but they can use betas with poor pheromone perception to vent their severe excess... well, that's it.
"Actually... my susceptible period is about to begin," Huo Tinglan interrupted Ye Ci's random thoughts, "If there is no intervention, it will probably be in the next two days."
The air suddenly became quiet.
Probably these two days... these two days... these two days...
Ye Ci swallowed his saliva in a daze, muttered "Oh", and almost crushed the milk cup in his hand.
Huo Tinglan tapped the table with his fingertips, his sharp eyes grazing Ye Ci's flushed face. After two seconds of silence, he smiled self-deprecatingly: "I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you weren't mentally prepared. But I've tried taking the medicine these past two days, and I feel like there's not much difference between taking it and not taking it. This time the susceptible period is more serious than before, and once it starts it may be hard to control, so I still want to ask what you think."
During the susceptible period, alpha hormones are over-secreted, heart rate and blood flow rate increase dramatically, the acuity of the five senses increases to the limit, and glandular activity is greatly enhanced... In the primitive period, this series of changes was to help the alpha sense, track, and capture the omega that belonged to him.
Therefore, if the alpha can be soothed by omega pheromones, his susceptible period will be delayed because his brain will think that he has found the right omega and does not need to be "susceptible" as much.
This is not a long-term solution. At most, it can delay the susceptible period by one or two months, but there is no other way.
"If you can help me delay the onset of this susceptible period, it will not be a bad thing for both you and me..." Huo Tinglan's tone became solemn, "I don't think you would want to live with an alpha who is at risk of losing control."
The intensity of the alpha susceptibility period is strongly correlated with mental state.
Alphas who have experienced the trauma of divorce or widowhood, who have been single for a long time, or who have a strong desire for a specific omega will have more severe symptoms and last longer.
—Unfortunately, Huo Tinglan currently meets all of the above conditions.
So his susceptible period this time will be quite terrifying. Once it starts, it will be difficult to keep the mask of a gentle and harmless gentleman.
Given the current state of the two, it would be natural to postpone it as much as possible.
Ye Ci stammered, unable to speak.
Huo Tinglan did not urge him and waited quietly for him to express his opinion.
The agreement has been signed, and Huo Tinglan has been very kind to him these days. It is neither reasonable nor moral for him to refuse.
"You need to... do something," Ye Ci's fingers trembled, and he could only curl up in his school uniform sleeves, "What?"
Huo Tinglan stared at the boy who was pretending to be calm, feeling a little embarrassed. It would be fine if these words were written down in black and white, but once they were spoken out loud... it seemed that no matter how he worded them, he would be suspected of being a hooligan.
He doesn't mind being a bit of a hooligan...
What he was afraid of was that Ye Ci would despise him as a hooligan.
Seeing that Ye Ci was about to collapse from waiting, Huo Tinglan cleared his throat and made his tone sound businesslike: "According to the requirements of the agreement, you can provide me with some items containing pheromones."
“…” Ye Ci licked his lips and was completely speechless.
At first glance, items containing pheromones may not seem like a big deal. However, apart from the odor-blocking patch you stick on the back of your neck, the only things that can contain pheromones are probably... clothes.
Ye Ci subconsciously raised his hand and stroked the odor-blocking patch on the back of his neck.
A square piece of non-woven fabric, undulating with the cervical spine, feels smooth. Because it is in close contact with the skin, it is inevitably stained with sweat. When it is peeled off, it often feels slightly damp and soft, full of vanilla-scented omega pheromones... Thinking of handing such a private item to Huo Tinglan, Ye Ci's hand trembled and retracted as if he had been electrocuted.
Barrier stickers won’t work.
That leaves only the clothes.
Ye Ci pinched the zipper of his school uniform, hesitating. Perhaps his brain had been dried by the burning fire of shame, and he asked dazedly, "Are you taking it to... smell it?"
As soon as the words came out of my mouth, my IQ returned and I regretted it so much that I wanted to sew my mouth shut.
"… "
Huo Tinglan was silent for a moment, then asked in a soft voice, "What else?"