Chapter 9
When his clothes were removed, Tan Ning belatedly realized that he and Lin Song’an had… reconciled?
Why were they giving each other the cold shoulder in the first place?
He couldn’t remember.
The small grove wasn’t concealed enough, so after his repeated requests, Lin Song’an took him to the parking lot. In the car, his body was tossed back and forth; even trying to recall was difficult. Once he finally adjusted, his thoughts began to clear.
How did their cold war start? It seemed to be because he had said, “Between us, it’s just a monetary transaction. If you want to end it, you can do so at any time.”
As soon as he uttered those words, Lin Song’an’s gaze turned cold.
But even now, with Lin Song’an pressing down on him and acting wantonly, Tan Ning still felt there was nothing wrong with what he’d said.
What was wrong? That was how they’d agreed from the beginning.
The air inside the car was stagnant, mixed with an unnamed heat and dizziness. The tinted glass blocked out the moon; no one outside could see the boundless passion inside. Several times, Tan Ning tried to open the window. His pale wrist trembled as he reached for the button on the car door, only to be pulled back by Lin Song’an.
An alpha’s pheromones couldn’t be allowed to leak out.
They could only be fully released to a beta who couldn’t perceive them.
Not sure how much time had passed, Tan Ning propped his hands against Lin Song’an’s chest, barely lifting himself. His neck was covered in sweat, and his eyelashes were damp. He steadied his breathing and tried to stop him: “Lin Song’an, you… what’s with you today…”
Lin Song’an didn’t pause at all. “You owe me a rutting period.”
What kind of alpha was Lin Song’an, needing a rut every two months, each time as intense as an earthquake.
“That’s not something I owe you; I have no obligation.”
Lin Song’an suddenly buried his face in Tan Ning’s chest. “You ignored me for two whole months.”
Tan Ning was speechless.
“Two whole months. If I don’t contact you, you absolutely won’t reach out to me.”
“You don’t even care why I didn’t come to class.”
“We’ve known each other for over a year, after all.”
“I even had some expectations of you.”
Lin Song’an kept rambling, and all Tan Ning wanted was for him to finish quickly.
Who talks so much during this kind of thing?
“Did you really not miss me at all?” Lin Song’an continued to ask.
Tan Ning couldn’t stand it anymore and interrupted him coldly: “Shut up and hurry up.”
This seemed to have the opposite effect.
He dared not say “hurry up” again.
When it was finally over, Tan Ning stared blankly at the car’s ceiling. In the dim light, the gem-blue dial of the mechanical watch on Lin Song’an’s wrist reflected a faint cool light. Tan Ning shifted his gaze to the car window; the moonlight was bright.
He often felt conflicted. Was the shameless Lin Song’an before him really the same as the dignified and proud Lin Song’an in the classroom earlier?
He even often wondered if the Lin Song’an at this moment was the same person he met over a year ago.
*
Over a year ago.
One day in early March, the temperature hadn’t warmed up yet.
A cold wind blew dry leaves off the branches, presenting a bleak scene.
After leaving a student’s home, the wind seeped into his collar. Tan Ning took a scarf from his bag and wrapped it around his neck. This was his last tutoring session for the week.
He was somewhat tired, but he wanted to replace his old second-hand laptop with a new one, which cost over 5,000 yuan. So after finishing the tutoring, he casually asked the student’s parents if they knew of any other students needing tutoring whom they could introduce.
The parent thought for a moment, then clapped his hands and said, “Yes, there’s one in eighth grade this year. The family is super wealthy, and they’ve gone through several tutors without success. Do you want to give it a try?”
An eighth-grade student attending a private high school, surname Lin, whose father was the deputy general manager of Tianhe Group. This was all the information Tan Ning had before meeting Lin Qi.
After contacting Lin Qi’s parents—thanks to the previous parent’s referral—he smoothly passed the screening by Lin Qi’s mother. That day was particularly cold. Following the map app, it took Tan Ning over two hours to find the villa district. He rang the doorbell, and a housekeeper came out to greet him.
Lin Qi’s mother stood up from the sofa and said apologetically, “Teacher Tan, I’m sorry, but Lin Qi hasn’t gotten up yet.”
Hitting a snag right from the start, Tan Ning suddenly understood why Lin Qi’s mother had hesitated after accepting his self-recommendation. It wasn’t that she feared the child wouldn’t agree but that she feared the tutor would give up when faced with difficulty.
He waited in the living room for a full half-hour before Lin Qi reluctantly got out of bed and went to the dining room for breakfast.
A child who hadn’t fully grown, with very delicate features, wearing black cartoon-striped pajamas—probably not yet differentiated—with messy hair and a bit of baby fat. But his gaze was cold, fiercer than his age warranted, clearly a spoiled rich kid.
He might differentiate into an omega, Tan Ning mused distractedly.
He didn’t look directly at Tan Ning, and Tan Ning didn’t mind. He calmly took Lin Qi’s midterm and final exam papers to analyze his weak areas.
But Lin Qi started by giving Tan Ning a show of defiance. He pushed the test papers and notebooks aside, propped his chin on his hand, and said to Tan Ning, “If you want to make money, don’t bother me. Just sit here every day, and my mom will pay you on time.”
He snorted, “But if you meddle, don’t blame me for being rude.”
Tan Ning found it amusing, suppressed a smile, and asked, “How will you be rude?”
Lin Qi squinted, mimicking a gangster from a movie, even raising an eyebrow, and said fiercely, “I’ll make your life miserable.”
Tan Ning remained expressionless and replied, “Alright.”
He sat there, occasionally looking at the test papers and his phone, completely ignoring Lin Qi, as if he were in his own home. Ten minutes later, Lin Qi coughed twice and tentatively asked, “You’re really not going to teach?”
Tan Ning retorted, “Didn’t you tell me not to?”
“Oh.” Lin Qi lay back on the bed.
After ten more minutes, Lin Qi asked, “Aren’t you worried my mom will come in and see you playing on your phone instead of teaching me? Aren’t you afraid she’ll think you’re irresponsible and not pay you?”
Tan Ning turned a page in his book and said, “She’ll at least pay me for today. At worst, I won’t come next time. Anyway, I don’t need you as a student.”
Lin Qi suddenly sat up, then angrily lay back down, unsure what he was upset about.
He kicked the quilt off the bed forcefully; Tan Ning ignored him.
So Tan Ning calmly and comfortably played on his phone for three hours. When time was up, he got up and left.
Leaving Lin Qi alone in the room, bewildered.
Before leaving, Tan Ning said to Lin Qi’s mother, “Mrs. Lin, could we adjust the next session and postpone it by a day? Please don’t tell Lin Qi yet.”
“Why is that?”
Tan Ning simply said, “I have my methods. I assure you he’ll listen.”
Mrs. Lin seemed skeptical, smiling helplessly, “Making him listen is harder than climbing the sky. This kid only fears his cousin; he doesn’t listen to anyone else. He doesn’t even pay attention to us. Thank you for your effort, Teacher Tan. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.”
Tan Ning reiterated, “He’ll listen. Trust me.”
The second time he came, Tan Ning again sat down and played on his phone. Lin Qi walked in holding a game controller, gave Tan Ning a sidelong glance, and asked in a strange tone, “Why didn’t you come yesterday?”
Tan Ning put down his backpack. “Oh, another student needed urgent help with their studies, so I adjusted the schedule.”
Lin Qi was astonished, pointing at himself, “So you postponed tutoring me to make extra money elsewhere?”
Tan Ning replied calmly, “Yes. Since you don’t study anyway, what’s the difference if I’m a day early or late?”
“You—” Lin Qi was furious, nearly smashing the game controller.
He had never been ignored like this before. The first time, this person pretended to be afraid of his threats but was actually indifferent, even playing on his phone the whole time, completely disregarding him. This time, he even said things like “What’s the difference if I’m a day early or late?”
“Who do you think you are? Get out! I don’t want you tutoring me!” Lin Qi threw a small alarm clock from his bedside table onto the floor.
Tan Ning remained expressionless, put his notebook back into his bag, and said, “Alright, then I’m leaving. Your mother said she’d pay me per session. Thank you.”
Lin Qi was even more enraged, almost spitting blood. He blocked Tan Ning’s way, glaring at him, “Don’t even think about it! You’re not allowed to leave!”
Tan Ning frowned, “What do you want?”
Lin Qi acted as if having a tantrum, flailing on the bed, “I’m sick of you tutors! So annoying! Ahhhhh!”
Sharp screams echoed in his ears. Tan Ning calmly took out his phone and browsed the news. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the bedroom door was half-open, and someone seemed to be standing there. He guessed it was Lin Qi’s mother, so he continued looking at his phone.
“I won’t let you have it easy,” Lin Qi glared at Tan Ning.
“Oh,” Tan Ning responded lightly.
That day, Tan Ning continued to play on his phone, ignoring the tantrum-throwing Lin Qi.
On his third visit, the situation improved somewhat.
Lin Qi wasn’t playing games anymore. He sat cross-legged on the bed, face stern, confronting Tan Ning. Tan Ning glanced up at him once, then continued reading bilingual news on his phone. Lin Qi was so angry his face turned red.
By the fourth visit, there was finally progress.
When Tan Ning entered the bedroom, Mrs. Lin gently said to him, “Teacher Tan, Lin Qi took a long winter break and has forgotten all his knowledge points. Please make an effort to tutor him. Always playing on your phone isn’t good.”
Tan Ning said, “Alright.”
Lin Qi sneered from the side, “Play on your phone again, and get lost.”
He actually took the initiative to sit at the desk, holding a pen, twirling it in his hand. His eyes were full of mischief, taking Tan Ning being reprimanded by his mother as a significant victory.
Tan Ning exchanged a glance with Mrs. Lin, then slightly curved his lips. Spoiled children always look a bit foolish.
He took out the knowledge outline he’d prepared and sighed, putting on a somewhat helpless expression, “Alright then, I’ll help you review last semester’s knowledge points.”
Lin Qi was satisfied after getting his way.
It wasn’t until after Tan Ning finished teaching that he realized something was off.
Why did he seriously listen to the lesson?
But he didn’t want to let Tan Ning off easily, so he continued to listen.
Tan Ning lectured for an hour and a half and felt a bit thirsty, so he took his cup and left the bedroom. Mrs. Lin and the housekeeper were nowhere to be seen, so he tried to find the kitchen based on his memory. Just as he descended the stairs, he saw someone wearing a black turtleneck sweater and a dark brown coat, leaning against the kitchen island, waiting for the coffee machine.
The person lowered his head, glanced at his phone, and then set it down.
A few strands of hair fell over his forehead but didn’t hide his handsome features, especially his high nose bridge. His figure was tall and strong, relaxed yet exuding a sense of pressure—the aura of an alpha seemed to overflow.
Tan Ning was a beta and had no physiological perception of alphas, but strangely, the first time he saw Lin Song’an, he concluded he was an alpha.
Hearing footsteps on the stairs, Lin Song’an looked up and met Tan Ning’s gaze from afar.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the cold wind howled, leaves rustling.
The warm indoor lights inexplicably flickered twice.
He felt even thirstier.
It was Lin Song’an who spoke first. He said, “Would you like some water? There’s some here.”
*
Author’s Note:
Guess who fell in love first?
