章節 1: Limited Possession – 1
Tu Bao, if you steal any more, I'd run out of clothes to wear
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Warnings: Discrimination against people with disabilities
"Young master1 Tu, in the past half a year you've disappeared, I've been worried to death, you never answer any of my calls and never reply to any messages."
"Didn't I tell you I was fine?"
"But I was still worried."
Shen Fei circled around Tu Yan, examining him carefully and thoroughly, "Have you gotten a divorce with the disabled one from the Gu family? It has to be a clean break, don't leave any future troubles."
Tu Yan was lying on the curved sofa of the bar with his legs propped, holding a wine glass in his hand. He only looked at the liquid swirling inside, but not drinking it. When he heard the words "disabled", his brows wrinkled unconsciously. He then subconsciously retorted, "Not disabled, he only has a little leg condition——"
The person beside him shifted his gaze over. Tu Yan shut his mouth halfway through his explanation, then said, "Mn, we're divorced."
Guan Nan, who was sitting on the other side, gave a look of indignation as he said, "Your dad's also drunk; the company hasn't even collapsed and he's already eager to sell his son to pay off his debts."
The person beside him echoed, "The point is that your dad is too irresponsible and didn't want to choose. There are millions of alphas in the world, yet why did he fancy that disabled one from the Gu family? I heard that the disabled one is extremely ugly, his pheromone grade is also low, and even needs a cane when he walks. Ai, have any of you met him before?"
"No, he never shows up to any of the Hua Sheng banquets. God knows what he looks like."
"So it's reasonable to say he's disabled. He even has millions of assets, what's so embarrassing about meeting people? Don't tell me his face is disfigured as well?"
Shen Fei caught a glimpse of Tu Yan's face getting increasingly worse. He promptly made hinting eyes at everyone around, "You all stop talking. Young master Tu is about to throw up. He just regained his freedom, and you're here giving him more stress. Come come come, let's drink. To young master Tu's new life, cheers!"
Tu Yan lifted the corners of his mouth with difficulty as he raised his glass. The liquor slid down his throat like a knife, hard to swallow.
He didn't know what's gotten into him.
Reasonably, he should be happy that he had regained a new life.
However, as he listened to them talking about that person like that, he was boiling with anger and had the urge to vent, but could only endure it to save face.
After drinking halfway, Guan Nan approached him, slightly drunk. He didn't dare to touch Tu Yan, so he twisted his body to look at the back of Tu Yan's neck. Tu Yan became agitated by him and cursed, "What the fuck are you looking at?"
Guan Nan smiled, "I wanna see if you're completely marked. I'm asking on behalf of my ge. Don't you know? He's been secretly in love with you."
Tu Yan was taken aback. He unconsciously rubbed the bump of his glands at the back of his neck; it was still flat and smooth, like a fresh and tender fruit that hadn't been picked.
"No," Tu Yan answered, "But I don't like your ge, it's impossible."
Guan Nan mocked, "Okay, okay, I'm just asking for him, don't get mad. I know you have high standards and are still encountering your dad's troubling matters. You've suffered so much in the past six months for marrying a man like that, everything will be okay. Oh yeah, young master Tu, will you go back to filming in the future?"
Tu Yan only had a close relationship with Shen Fei and was only nodding acquaintances with the others. He didn't know where these people heard the news of him marrying then getting a divorce from, and even specially organizaed a bachelor's party for him. Tu Yan only came due to past friendships, but from the moment he sat down, he felt annoyed and perplexed for no reason and was unable to calm down. He put down his wine glass, poked a piece of fruit and shoved it in his mouth, nodding impatiently, "Mn."
"That'll surely stir up the entertainment industry!" Everyone gathered around Tu Yan again, raising their glasses and congratulating him for achieving rebirth.
"Young master Tu, since you're not in Jiang Hu, there's news about you everywhere in Jiang Hu. Last week, the media even said you went abroad due to being in labour, saying you were pregnant with the film emperor Qi He's baby, how hilarious."
Being Qi He's fan, Shen Fei immediately defended, "What's the problem? I think someone like Qi He is suitable for our young master Tu." He then narrowed his eyes and said sneakily, "I heard that Qi He's pheromone level is grade eight, that area is certainly powerful."
Everyone laughed, "How powerful?"
"It'll make you want to die!"
"Fuck, grade eight. At my age, I've only ever met two grade eights, really, you guys haven't experienced it before, even if a high grade alpha block their pheromones tightly with inhibitor plasters, you'd be able to feel a sense of suppression distinctively just by being close to them, it's extremely terrifying."
Talking about this topic, everyone became interested and started to exchange stories about famous alphas in the circle.
"I heard that the young master of the Gu family is also a top grade alpha."
No one knew who suddenly dropped this one sentence, but the entire venue immediately froze, turning utterly silent.
The young master of the Gu family had a pretty good pheromone grade, and this wasn't a secret. But the problem was that this question couldn't be raised in this situation, because the one Tu Yan married was the second young master of the Gu family; a mediocre cripple who never made an appearance, a disabled person who was laughed at by everyone behind his back. Just thinking about it, one would know that affair was…
Everyone glanced at each other, thinking that Tu Yan was definitely angry.
"Why are all of you running your mouths? What a load of nonsense." Shen Fei waved his hand to make them shut their mouths quickly.
Shen Fei had the strongest relationship with Tu Yan, so he was the only one who dared to add on. Just as he was about to joke and lighten up the place, he realized that Tu Yan didn't participate in their chat at all. He faced the fruit tray, lost in thought as he bit his lips, his cheeks were even flushed red!
He nudged Tu Yan, and only then did Tu Yan come back to his senses. Under everyone's surprised gaze, he sat up abruptly, "What, I'm a little tipsy, I'll make a move first."
The crowd watched his back and exchanged glances, both disdainful and confused. Guan Nan sneered and finished off the wine in his glass. Shen Fei wanted to send Tu Yan home, but he walked too quickly and had already left. Shen Fei felt a little doubtful and couldn't help but ask the rest, "Don't you guys think that young master Tu had changed a lot?"
Guan Nan leaned back, "He was forced to marry a cripple for half a year, could he not have changed?"
Shen Fei shook his head and wanted to refute, but he had trouble finding an adjective for it. After this round of drinking was over and he was about to pay the bill in a drunken state, a word suddenly flashed in his mind.
Soft.
Right, Tu Yan became soft. Although his body was still filled with thorns, he wasn't hard to get close to like before.
–
The manager assigned Tu Yan's comeback date on January 2nd.
There were only a few days left, but Tu Yan didn't panic, only feeling out of sorts all over. Inexplicable agitation almost covered every corner of his body, making it difficult to keep calm.
The manager thought he was nervous and even specifically went over to have a chat with him, but after chatting for a long time, she realized that Tu Yan wasn't worrying about his comeback at all; she told him that he had lost a couple thousand fans, but he wasn't the least bit concerned, he didn't even blink.
The manager thought for a while, then guessed, "Xiao Yan, is it almost your heat period?"
Tu Yan sat up sharply, his mind racing for a brief moment, then finally realized the crux of the problem.
That's right, his heat period was almost here.
To be exact, it was delayed, it should've come a few days ago.
"Do you need me to buy some heat suppression drugs?" The manager asked him quietly.
Apart from physiological combinations, heat suppression drugs are the most effective medicine that can solve omegas' heat problems at the present time; it even has no side effects.
Tu Yan shook his head, "There's some at home."
"Oh okay, make sure to take care of yourself."
The manager knew that Tu Yan's temperament had always been cold and indifferent to others. Even though she had been by Tu Yan's side since his debut, she couldn't get into his private life, so much so that even for something so important like going into an unexplained hiatus for half a year, Tu Yan only told her, "An urgent matter came up at home that could probably take up half a year, you can manage other artists during this period of time." He didn't divulge a single detail of the reason at all.
At first, the manager felt bitterly disappointed. The first artist she took over after graduating from university was Tu Yan. Naturally, she poured all her devotion into the job with painstaking effort. However, she didn't know if Tu Yan gave her the cold shoulder for her poor abilities or if there were other reasons, but he had always treated her with a layer of estrangement. But the manager had slowly gotten used to it now, because Tu Yan didn't only treat her coldly and indifferently, but to everyone else as well. Having temperamental issues was the least important thing in the highly wrapped-up environment of the entertainment industry. Tu Yan also had a rich family, excellent appearance, innate acting talent, and no shortage of topics nor films to shoot. Little by little, he had gained numerous fans over the past few years. The manager could also rise with the tide, so it's enough.
"If there's nothing else, I'll go first," Tu Yan flipped through his schedule, clarifying it with the manager for a while, then put down the file. He said, "Right, I'll drive home by myself, I don't need a driver."
"Okay, have a good rest these few days." The manager iterated again.
Tu Yan took the car keys and walked to his car leisurely. He sat in the narrow driver's seat alone and fell into a daze, intertwined in his thoughts for a long time. As a result, he still chose to follow his heart, and headed towards that place.
After signing the divorce agreement, he never thought he would come back to this place; a modest villa with a variety of winter flowers planted in the garden. When he left, the flowers hadn't bloomed, but now they were especially flourishing. Who would've thought that this would be his second time coming here in less than a month.
Wait, if he counted that one afternoon, it would be his third time.
That person definitely hadn't got off from work yet, as the villa was pitch-dark from outside. Tu Yan relaxed his hanging heart, pulled down the brim of his cap, and lowered his head as he walked to the door to unlock the passcode.
The passcode hadn't changed; it was stil Tu Yan's birthday, plus the date of their wedding anniversary.
Tu Yan snorted softly.
He walked in and first looked at the shoe cabinet and living room. There was only a pair of slippers on the mat by the door, and the sofa was clean and tidy, without a sign of guests coming in and out.
Not bad, Tu Yan raised his eyebrow.
When he entered the room, he could smell the faint woody scent that belonged exclusively to that person, quietly and lightly lingering in his nose. Tu Yan paused in his step, his eyes suddenly becoming wet. The events that happened in this room surged up in his mind; the image of them embracing each other appeared in front of his eyes.
But he knew that all this had ended by his own will, recollecting the memories was just causing distress. He sniffed, blaming all the fragile emotions on the oncoming heat period.
He walked to the wardrobe and opened the side where all the coats were kept. From the neatly arranged dark coats, he found a smoky grey cardigan. The beginning of autumn had long passed, and the temperature decreased day by day, it wasn't the season to wear cardigans anymore. Tu Yan thought: he surely wouldn't find out if I took this one.
He put the cardigan in his bag and thought for a moment, then reached out again and took out a plain shirt.
That person looked really good in a shirt and suit trousers.
The two pieces of clothing that Tu Yan stole last week were already wrinkled and creased from his sleep, even stained with his saliva. He hated it so much, yet desperately needed that person's scent to relieve the anxiety in his heart. Stealing clothes was an act that one really couldn't resist against instinctual compulsion.
This isn't my fault. Blame God for making me an omega, Tu Yan absolved his guilt in his heart.
He shut the wardrobe, and cleaned up the scene. When he was ready to leave, he curiously went into the bathroom to have a look.
There were only the toiletries used by one solitary person. The yellow square towel that Tu Yan forgot to take back was still hanging on the rack.
A slightly sweet feeling emerged in Tu Yan's heart, but it immediately turned sour. He didn't even know what he was trying to confirm. Even if he knew, he didn't dare to admit it. To avoid being caught on the spot, he fled out the door after a quick glance.
As a result, just as he was running to the gate of the courtyard, he heard that person's footsteps.
Tu Yan was so frightened that he almost lost his soul and couldn't stop himself in time. He tripped over his own shoelaces at the gate and staggered forward a few steps. Fortunately, his hands barely grabbed onto the iron gate so he wouldn't go sprawling on the ground.
That person hurriedly walked over. Before he could open his mouth, Tu Yan hid behind the low wall. Trying to cover up his own deception, he shouted, "Don't come in!"
Before his heartbeat could calm down, he felt so ashamed of his own stupidity. He was the one who made a fuss about getting a divorce, now he was the one who sneakily came back. That person was definitely laughing at him in his heart.
He heard the faint sound of keying in the passcode lock, and was instantly alarmed, "I said don't come in! You dare try and come in!"
How was there a hint of thievery conscience in this tone?
That person seemed to stop and take a step back. Tu Yan was very familiar with the sound of metal cane making contact with the ground. Not only was he familiar with it, it was like knocking on his heart, he even had a dream about it last night. Holding his breath, heat burned from his neck to his cheeks.
He then heard the man ask, "Did you get hurt just now?"
The voice was still as gentle as before.
Tu Yan answered honestly, "No."
They hadn't seen each other for a month. Now, across the low wall, Tu Yan unexpectedly felt a sense of uneasiness, as though he had a lot to say, yet not being able to.
A long time passed, long enough for Tu Yan's frantic heartbeat to return to normal, and long enough for the crimson orange sunset to slowly fade. But the man suddenly spoke, his tone carrying a smile as he said, "Tu Bao2, if you steal any more, I'd run out of clothes to wear."
Tu Yan's face heated in shame, he said hatefully, "I'll return them, you think I care?"
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Footnotes:
总 can mean boss/ director/ president, but will be using the term "young master" here for suitability and to clear any confusion as they're not really of that status
兔宝 Tu Bao: the nickname is actually baby rabbit/ bunny, a play on word with Tu Yan's last name "Tu" (涂)
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