Chapter 3: A Lifesaving Straw
Before actually coming to this blind date, Fu Rangyi had rejected this kind of arrangement at least five times. A few had come from his parents’ urging, some from his advisor, and even from the department leadership.
“I really don’t understand. Xiao Fu, your conditions are so good. There aren’t many Alphas like you. Those who are worse than you got married and had children ages ago.”
To be honest, he did not understand either. Why did people have such a strong desire to control someone else’s marital status? Single people seemed to have become heretics. As long as there was one married person nearby, they would rack their brains trying to save him from the irreversible path of this cult.
“Forget marriage, Professor Fu doesn’t even date. Is it because his standards for Omegas are too high that he’s stayed single all this time?”
No. He simply resisted contact with Omegas.
But now, because of certain reasons of his own, Fu Rangyi also had no choice but to walk down a path that went against his original intentions.
Upon learning that he was willing to go on a blind date, his parents’ first choice was naturally a marriage alliance beneficial to the family business. What was more, the father of this potential marriage partner was also a good friend of his advisor.
The warmhearted old professor acted as matchmaker and bridged the connection between them. Even with his eyes closed, Fu Rangyi knew how his advisor would praise his beloved student in front of the other family’s elders. He would most likely work even harder than a supermarket salesperson promoting unsold year-end stock.
But he was clearly a rebellious unsold product.
He secretly replaced the materials that were to be submitted to his blind date, removing the photos that the matchmaker had carefully chosen. He deliberately placed “thirty years old” and his profession in the most conspicuous first row, emphasizing that he was older than the average Alpha’s marriageable age, and that his life ran between two fixed points, monotonous and dull.
As for the information the other party sent over, Fu Rangyi could not even be bothered to open it. This was a waste of time. He would rather read one more paper or field report. But he could not avoid the message passed along by his advisor. The matchmaker repeatedly claimed that the other party was an eccentric, mischievous young master who loved to have fun.
Fu Rangyi felt even more at ease. Just hearing that, they were obviously incompatible.
However, based solely on those two descriptions, he still recognized this young master at once. Unfortunately, although the other party had a pair of bright, dark eyes, their functionality did not seem very good.
Clearly, judging from his ability to recognize people, they were also incompatible.
“Sir, do you mean this gentleman?”
Hearing the server’s voice, Zhu Zhixi froze for a second too.
He blinked, his gaze quickly switching between the two glasses of lemon water bubbling with tiny bubbles. Realizing something, he swiftly withdrew the hand that was about to be held. Then he pointed at himself and stared at the owner of the other glass of water with those big eyes that had been deemed not very useful.
Huh?
The other person did not look at him and took a sip of the lemon water on the table.
Zhu Zhixi lowered his head, glanced at the table number, then tilted his head and checked again. In a small voice, he asked the female server standing nearby, “Isn’t this 9?”
The girl held back her laughter and pointed at Fu Rangyi’s table. “Sir, this is table 6. That one is table 9.”
Ah. He had gotten it wrong.
If it had been before, he would have been extremely embarrassed. But now, not at all.
He was about to die. So what if he lost a little face? Could a blind date that fell through really go make a scene at his funeral hall, pointing at his memorial photo and accusing him of having mistaken the wrong person during a blind date at a café on December 10th?
Zhu Zhixi quickly stood up, squeezed out an apologetic smile at the guy across from him, told the server, “A cinnamon latte and a soufflé, please. Thank you,” then picked up that glass of lemon sparkling water and moved over to the real table 9.
At that moment, his real blind date was leaning against the blue booth sofa, watching him at leisure.
By any aesthetic standard, this face was impeccably handsome, reminding him of the plaster statues from the sculpture department back in school.
His skin was pale, without much color. His expression was indifferent too, as he stared fixedly at him, even more still than a plaster sculpture. Sunlight poured in through the window lattice. His snow-white coat, broad and straight shoulder and neck line, his forehead, brow bones, eye sockets, nose bridge—everything was sharp, everything was clean, as if he were a human figure carved out of snow by pale golden light.
Zhu Zhixi thought without the slightest apology that it was completely reasonable for him to have gotten the wrong person.
This was the first option he had ruled out after entering the café.
Who would come to a blind date with a face like that?
Conditions: thirty years old, single, doing archaeology at a university… What did any of that have to do with the person in front of him?
But since he had gotten the wrong person, he should apologize first.
Zhu Zhixi smiled. “Um, sorry. Just now, I…”
Before he could finish, the person across from him stood up directly.
“It’s fine. Let’s leave it at this for today.”
“Huh? I haven’t even introduced myself yet.” He blinked.
“No need. I don’t think we’re very suitable.”
The moment he heard this, Zhu Zhixi suddenly became a little rebellious. He crossed his arms, lifted his face, and looked at this strange man.
“Why?”
Excuse me, are you some kind of blind-date judge? One look and you’ve already sentenced me to death?
“You’re also using a suppressor?” Instead of answering, his blind date asked a question in return. His tone was extremely certain, more like a statement.
“What?”
No wonder he was single. Good-looking, but he did not speak like a normal person. How many sentences had they exchanged? Not one was on the same channel.
“You’re an Omega.” He stared at Zhu Zhixi’s face.
Zhu Zhixi laughed after hearing that. “How did you figure that out?”
Blind-date judge and gender judge.
The man stopped speaking.
The game of answering a question with a question came to an abrupt end.
Seeing that the man wanted to leave, Zhu Zhixi became unwilling again.
He also stood up, grabbed the man’s arm, and forcefully dragged him back into the booth. Then he took out his ID card and handed it over.
“I’m a Beta. A Beta who is the equivalent of sterilization if you marry me.”
Not just sterilization. A terminal illness too.
[56 days, 20 hours, 05 minutes, 20 seconds]
Right now, half my body is already in the grave. I’m a pre-made corpse. Whoever comes along will just be here to bring me luck before death. Two months later, they’ll be packed up and sent straight into the widowers’ camp with a bereavement label slapped on them. When he/she returns to the marriage market, their value will drop three levels.
Zhu Zhixi took a sip of lemon water and swallowed all these fragmented thoughts with difficulty.
But to his surprise, after reading his ID card, this icy blind date’s attitude made a complete one-eighty.
“Beta? That’s very good.”
Zhu Zhixi suddenly narrowed his eyes warily.
This Alpha doesn’t have some weird fetish, does he? We Betas already have it hard enough. Can’t you just torment Omegas? Must you stretch your evil claws toward us too?
“No, didn’t you just say we weren’t suit…” As he spoke, he took back his ID and prepared to put it away.
Before he finished, he suddenly froze, then violently wiped his palm several times with his sleeve.
[56 days, 20 hours, 05 minutes, 20 seconds]
Why did it stop!?
At that moment, the server came forward again. She was carrying the cinnamon latte and was about to place it in front of Zhu Zhixi when a customer passing behind her accidentally bumped into her, knocking over the cup of coffee.
Zhu Zhixi was still thinking about the countdown and failed to dodge in time. In that short moment, both his scarf and coat were stained with coffee.
Only after hearing a string of apologies did he react. When he reached out to grab a tissue, his fingers touched another hand that was also reaching for one.
A very pale, very cold hand, with a silver metallic suppression bracelet on the wrist. The instant their fingertips touched, there was a small snap, and a tiny pink spark flashed.
The bracelet also gave off a faint silvery-white glow, then quickly went dark.
The server recognized the brands of his coat and scarf and was terrified. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, sir. I really apologize. I-I’ll go get wet wipes and help you clean it right away…”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Zhu Zhixi waved his hand with a smile and wiped at it hard a few times himself, though his mind was still on what had just happened.
So he quietly opened his left hand.
The countdown was displayed at the mark of 5 minutes and 16 seconds, yet it did not continue changing.
It paused again?
He nervously waited silently in his heart for a moment. Sure enough, after a few seconds, the countdown changed again.
[56 days, 20 hours, 05 minutes, 15 seconds]
[56 days, 20 hours, 05 minutes, 14 seconds]
…
Zhu Zhixi furrowed his brows, and a risky thought flashed through his mind. Without another word, he reached out, threw caution to the wind, and grabbed the hand of the person across from him, holding it tightly.
Just like that, at the instant the countdown reached 5 minutes and 11 seconds, it froze.
For real… Am I saved?
So this is what they mean by there must be an antidote within three steps?
Zhu Zhixi, who had already been preparing to enthusiastically participate in the shroud-wrapping competition, suddenly realized at this moment that this was not a fantasy or horror film arranged by heaven, but a fairy tale. He was not the chosen one, but a princess who had eaten a poisoned apple and was about to die, waiting for the prince’s true-love kiss to revive him. Help, what a cheesy script.
But this prince’s hand was a little too cold, wasn’t it? Who exactly was the one about to die? Could this person have kidney deficiency? No wonder he had fallen to the point of going on blind dates.
As if sensing something, after Zhu Zhixi questioned him in his heart, this beautiful but icy hand began to pull away.
This time, Zhu Zhixi was genuinely embarrassed, because he discovered that he might not have to die.
“Um… Your hand is so cold. I’ll warm it for you!”
“No need.”
One second ago, Fu Rangyi had still been glad about his gender. Now he only felt that there was probably something wrong with this person’s brain. No wonder he had fallen to the point of going on blind dates.
He tried again to pull back his hand, but to his surprise, this person still had no intention of letting go.
“What were we talking about just now? Oh right, sterilization…” What a great topic.
Zhu Zhixi gritted his teeth and worked hard to steer the conversation back. “Actually, sterilization has its advantages too, right? Look, so many people don’t want children these days. They like being DINKs. Then they’d have to marry us Betas. I…”
Fu Rangyi still pulled his hand free.
“No need. I still think we’re not very suitable. The problem is mine. Let’s end this blind date here. I’ll go pay.”
Zhu Zhixi began to regret it. If he had known he was going on a blind date with his lifesaving straw, he should have listened to his dad, dressed more plainly, and behaved obediently. Maybe then he could have gotten rid of this damned countdown.
While he was regretting it, the picky and indifferent blind-date judge had already gotten up and left. He moved quickly, paid the bill, pushed open the café’s glass door, and walked away without the slightest reluctance.
Zhu Zhixi hesitated over whether he should chase after him first and try to salvage the situation, but then he heard a sound from the other side. Looking over, he realized it was the unlucky female server from earlier.
She was being scolded.
He glanced at the coffee stains on his body and understood. Taking his scarf, he left the booth and walked toward the shop owner and the server.
Anyway, his lifesaving straw was his father’s friend’s student, with a stable job too. He could not run far. These few minutes were precious, but not that urgent. Right now, there was something he needed to do more.
“You can’t even do such a simple thing right. New employees should be even more careful. Go talk to the customer yourself about dry cleaning, and you’ll pay the cost your—”
“No need.” Zhu Zhixi came up to the two of them and smiled. “Actually, just now, I wasn’t paying attention and lifted my hand, so I accidentally knocked it over. Are you okay? Did you get burned?”
His dental arch was narrow, and his front teeth were slightly longer than the rest. His eyes were also especially round, so when he smiled, he had a natural kind of affinity.
The server froze for a moment. After hearing him, she almost cried and shook her head while holding back tears.
Twenty minutes later, she sent Zhu Zhixi to the door with an apologetic expression.
“Thank you. This is actually my first day at work. If you hadn’t helped me out, I might have been fired. Your clothes… It would still be better to send them for dry cleaning. I’ll pay the cost. I know this coat is very expensive…”
Zhu Zhixi smiled and immediately said, “It’s fake. Doesn’t it look really real? Look at the cuff. The genuine version has embroidery inside.” As he spoke, he rolled up his left sleeve. The beaded bracelet on his wrist was also revealed, glacier-blue against his snow-white arm.
“You didn’t cause trouble, so why are you crying?” He lowered his hand, leaned a little closer, and reminded her softly, “Your suppressant patch is coming loose a little.”
The girl immediately reached up to touch the back of her neck, blushed, and pressed it back into place. In a small voice, she said thank you.
“You’re welcome.” Zhu Zhixi pushed open the glass door. Cold wind poured in, and he hurriedly wrapped his scarf around himself. “So cold, so cold. I’m leaving. You should go back in too.”
After closing the door, he even waved at her from outside.
The December wind seemed to be mixed with shards of glass. It scraped against the skin of his cheeks and soon reddened the tip of his nose. Zhu Zhixi sighed and turned around, only to discover that his blind date from earlier was actually standing outside the door.
Under the afterglow of sunset, his white cashmere coat gave off a faint sheen. He looked especially tall and outstanding.
As expected of an S-rank Alpha. His genes really were something else. If he actually married me, it would indeed be a pity. Zhu Zhixi found this feeling difficult to describe. It was like picking up a beautiful little cat and temporarily being reluctant to take it for sterilization.
“Why haven’t you left yet?” His curly hair was tousled by the wind, and there were obvious coffee stains on his body, making him look somewhat disheveled. But he himself did not feel that way at all.
“Couldn’t get a car? Want me to drive you?”
Fu Rangyi did not answer. He only walked toward him and stopped.
He knew that he was not very clearheaded right now. He could find many examples. For instance, after leaving the café earlier, he could clearly have walked away, yet for some reason, he had turned back. Perhaps the server who knocked over the coffee cup had reminded him of his own disheveled self from childhood, so he had spaced out and stood there for so long. He had also seen his blind date step forward.
The smiling eyes behind the glass door, and the pair of eyes before him now, slightly widened in surprise, both made this strange person seem less detestable.
During this pause, he had also seen the bracelet around his wrist.
On the street, the scent of hot mulled wine drifted everywhere, rich with citrus, apple, and cinnamon. The warm, fluffy alcohol seemed to steam the cold air into a slight tipsiness, also numbing Fu Rangyi’s nerves. Already not very clearheaded, he made an even more irrational decision.
“May I ask, would you consider a contract marriage?”
Author’s Note:
Xiao Xi, your blind date probably won’t make a scene at your funeral and accuse you of mistaking the wrong person, but he will, throughout your long remaining life, suddenly and “casually” bring up the old matter countless times—
“Hello, blind date. Are you nervous? I’m a very good person.”
But since there must be an antidote within three steps, you can say to him, “Beta? That’s very good,” and ask him whether he still thinks it’s good now.
