Chapter 63

Wen Ran fell asleep on the way. Gu Yunchi drove very steadily. Outside, raindrops pattered, the wipers swung rhythmically. Wen Ran watched until he felt sleepy, and finally slumped over his beloved Model Box and slept.

An hour and forty minutes later, the car turned off in a parking space outside Little Alley. Gu Yunchi unfastened his seatbelt and looked at the Omega still fast asleep in the rearview mirror—half a pale, thin, quiet face, long eyelashes lying docilely. On the whole, it was better than when he was awake anyway. At least he wouldn't show avoidance and fear at the sight of him, and that pretty mouth wouldn't say annoying things like 'you should go date someone else'.

He watched like that for two minutes, then opened his Mobile Phone, tapped into a certain page. After a moment of loading, a League map appeared on the screen, a little pig head resting quietly on it.

Dozens of locations were highlighted on the map, connected by a crisscrossing web of trajectory lines. Pinch to zoom—S City Aerospace University, Xun Aviation Co., Ltd., C State Aircraft Industry… Tap one at random, and you could see the number of times and duration the little pig head had stayed at that place over the past three years.

This map had always been filled in by bodyguards, encompassing all traces of Wen Ran's movements over three years. Sometimes it was a simple back-and-forth between two points for days on end, sometimes he was busy crossing long distances, traveling on business to factories or for training. That little pig head just jumped around the vast League map like a heart with no place to land, running hard, weaving a dense net with its travel lines.

Gu Yunchi typed the name of the Air Force Base into the search box above the map, found it, and clicked to add it—just like that, the little pig head jumped again, and a new trajectory line appeared on the map.

Gu Yunchi thought Wen Ran was quite like a little pig. In his teens, slow and dim-witted, occasionally clever, and ate a lot. He hadn't improved much now, either. Bodyguards had been tailing him for three years and he still hadn't noticed a thing. He seemed very careful and wary of him, but in reality, when he got tired, he couldn't help but fall asleep in the back seat.

He didn't seem to have changed much. His expressions, his gaze, his looks—still the way he was in his memories, in the videos, in his dreams. Still lit up at the sight of a military plane. Still couldn't afford very expensive models. Still loved a certain kind of bread.

And yet he seemed to have changed a lot. Like the night he flew from the North Theater Command to City S, standing inside the room watching Wen Ran come through the door, thinking Wen Ran would be like before—surprised and happy, sticking to him for a hug, asking 'why did you come find me all of a sudden,' then complaining about how he'd escaped, what kind of injuries he'd suffered, talking and crying sadly.

But there was none of that.

Wen Ran was just shocked, asking why he was there, and saying he was crazy.

Looked at this way, Wen Ran had saved all the changes just for Gu Yunchi alone. He just wasn't the same toward Gu Yunchi as he used to be.

Thinking Gu Yunchi came to sleep with him, advising Gu Yunchi to find some other high-compatibility Omega to date—Gu Yunchi thought the one who'd actually gone crazy was Wen Ran, and considered when he should take him to the Hospital for a check-up.

Gu Yunchi stared expressionlessly at the rainy scene beyond the windshield, his right hand habitually reaching for the cigarettes in the storage compartment. Halfway there, he glanced up at the rearview mirror, then withdrew his hand, resting it on the steering wheel, rubbing his thumb pad against it a few times.

A few minutes later, the person in the back seat stirred.

It took Wen Ran a dazed moment after opening his eyes to remember where he was. It was dark inside the car, and outside the sky was dark too, rain still falling. The streetlamps across the street looked like glowing night rivers in the rain streaming down the car window glass.

He rubbed his face and sat up, looking at the Alpha's blurred eyes in the rearview mirror, his tone apologetic. 'Did I sleep for a long time? Sorry.'

Gu Yunchi didn't speak. He opened the door, got out, got an umbrella from the trunk, came back to open the rear door, handed the umbrella to Wen Ran, then picked up the Model Box.

Wen Ran hurriedly got out of the car, opened the umbrella, and went to Gu Yunchi's side, raising it high to cover him, pushing the car door shut as he did.

Walking into the quiet, damp Little Alley, the patter of rain on the umbrella became distinct. The light and shadows were dim and indistinct. Wen Ran suddenly remembered rainy nights many years ago, when Gu Yunchi had carried a model like this, and he had held the umbrella.

He had never doubted all the kindness Gu Yunchi had shown him in the past. But kindness wasn't liking, and it might not even be any kind of feeling at all. He didn't need to probe Gu Yunchi's inner thoughts, because what Gu Yunchi said, the decisions he made, were already the answer.

Gu Yunchi had decided from the start to enter a military academy that forbade establishing marital relationships before graduation. He hadn't planned to inherit Boqing Group. The so-called marriage alliance was just to treat his illness and draw out Gu Chongze and Chen Shuhui's schemes. That's why he'd said 'it's impossible to marry you'.

Too bad he hadn't understood that hint.

Back to the present. Gu Yunchi hadn't been able to snatch a moment of leisure on the battlefield all these years, so he hadn't had time to get in touch with other high-compatibility Omegas either. Besides, he was inherently very picky. So after leaving the warzone, the first, most convenient person he thought of was Wen Ran, and so he found him.

Appearing so easily, breaking into Wen Ran's life, then leaving again, leaving him alone.

Wen Ran feared and resisted that outcome, so he firmly stated his position and proposed other feasible solutions to Gu Yunchi.

That was for the best. He hoped Gu Yunchi could listen.

Silence all the way. At the stairwell entrance, Wen Ran closed the umbrella. Not wanting to trouble Gu Yunchi further, he reached out to take the Model Box. But Gu Yunchi didn't even look at him, just walked straight upstairs. Wen Ran had no choice but to pick up the umbrella and follow.

Arriving at his door, the lunch bag was still hanging on the doorknob. Wen Ran took it down and said, 'I didn't eat it today, and I won't eat it in the future either, so there's no need to send any more.'

Gu Yunchi said, 'Open the door.'

Wen Ran bowed his head and opened the door, switched on the light. Gu Yunchi walked in and put the model on the table.

The front door was left open. Wen Ran restrained himself from immediately going to admire the model in detail, lest Gu Yunchi think he was still so unsophisticated after all this time. He went to gather up all the lunch bags that had accumulated over the past few days. The insulated containers inside were already washed clean. He picked them all up and placed them by the door.

His left shoulder and hair were a bit damp. Busy squatting on the floor, he exposed the snow-white nape of his neck, the seventh cervical vertebra slightly protruding under the skin.

Rain pattered irregularly against the window frame. Wen Ran stood up and turned around to see Gu Yunchi standing by the table watching him. He stopped abruptly, hesitated for a moment, wanting to remind him he could head back early.

But Gu Yunchi spoke before him, asking, 'Did it hurt when you got the mark removed?'

He didn't understand why he was suddenly asking this, and couldn't read any joy or anger from Gu Yunchi's face either. Wen Ran unconsciously rubbed his left hand lightly against his pants and said, 'I forgot.'

'Do you blame me.' Gu Yunchi watched him calmly, continuing to ask.

'Blame you for what, you didn't do anything wrong.' Wen Ran seemed not to understand this line of thinking. After a moment's thought, he realized Gu Yunchi was probably asking for reasons due to dissatisfaction with his attitude, so he said, 'I just think you could easily find someone more suitable, in terms of family background… and many other aspects, someone who matches you. I'll be fine on my own too, just like I am now…'

Gu Yunchi said, 'Stop dreaming.'

Wen Ran froze instantly, his face showing the expression Gu Yunchi was familiar with, the one he often wore in the past when his attempts to please failed or he suffered humiliation—somewhere between shock and confusion.

He very rarely felt a bit angry, feeling deeply looked down upon. He pursed his lips and declared in a muffled voice, 'Gu Yunchi, I already have my own new life.'

Standing in this cramped, old little room, saying he already had a new life—anyone would find it hard to believe. But if it was Wen Ran, Gu Yunchi thought, everyone would agree with that statement.

'So what, I didn't say I was going to ruin your new life.' Gu Yunchi looked at Wen Ran's tense little face, and the displeasure in his heart dissipated a few points quite immorally. 'I'm here to join your new life. Is there a conflict?'

Wen Ran froze again, realizing he could no longer communicate with Gu Yunchi—the other party simply wouldn't listen. He pushed the front door wider open and said, 'All the containers are here. Take them back to Cloud Bay. Don't send any more in the future. I'll buy my own breakfast.'

This Gu Yunchi knew. Wen Ran rarely shortchanged himself on meals, especially breakfast. He bought a lot every day and ate it all. But—

'That breakfast place you go to often—the buns are all made with lymph node meat,' he told Wen Ran.

Shocked to the point his face went pale, Wen Ran opened his mouth and said, 'Then I can go to other…'

'Eighty percent of the breakfast places in City S are,' Gu Yunchi shamelessly negated the work achievements of the city's Market Supervision Administration.

Wen Ran refused to believe it. 'How can there be that much lymph node meat? If that's the case, where does all the normal pork from other parts go?'

Gu Yunchi answered, 'Cloud Bay.'

He walked over, picked up the lunch bags, and said to Wen Ran, who looked deeply shaken and strange-faced, 'I suggest you still think carefully about whether you want to eat the breakfast I send. Eating lymph node meat every day is no good for your new life.'

Back in the car, Gu Yunchi didn't leave immediately. There was a meeting at the Military District that evening. He closed his eyes and napped for half an hour, woke up and smoked a cigarette. Just as he was about to start the car, his Mobile Phone rang. It was Cheng Duó calling.

'Didn't even dare call you on the comms, afraid the organization would intercept it,' Cheng Duó said. 'Did you take Engineer Li home?'

'What's it to you.'

'Nonsense, I invited Engineer Li to the Military Base, of course I care if he got home safe.' Cheng Duó fake-coughed a few times. 'You two… what's the situation now? Not good, is it?'

'If there's nothing else, I'm hanging up.'

'Hey, hey, hey! I won't ask anymore, okay!' Cheng Duó said. 'It's like this. In a couple days, a few of White Lion's former teammates are coming for a meeting—Lao Wei and them. I was thinking it's been a long time since we saw each other, why not get together. Coincidentally, Lao Wei said there's a bar having an anniversary masquerade party, opened by a friend of a friend, asking if we'd be interested in having a couple drinks. What's that bar called again… oh, Shi'er Point Bar.'

His index finger tapped lightly on the steering wheel. Gu Yunchi said, 'Fine.'

'Ah, I knew it. Is Lieutenant Colonel Gu thinking of drowning his sorrows in…'

Gu Yunchi hung up the phone.

After hanging up, he casually opened a messaging app and found the bodyguard had sent a message not long ago.

: He went out

: Arrived at Blue Glass

: Bought a bread

This was Wen Ran's unique celebration ritual. Whenever something happy happened, he'd go to Blue Glass to buy bread. He just didn't know which thing today was worth him going out in the heavy rain late at night.

Was it to celebrate obtaining the exquisite Fighter Jet Model, the only one of its kind in the entire League? To celebrate learning the truth about the lymph node meat in breakfast shops, thus taking his food safety to the next level? Or to celebrate finally speaking his mind about rejection to Gu Yunchi?

If it was the last one, Gu Yunchi could only say it was the first time he'd discovered Wen Ran had so little conscience.