TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 16

“Wow…” Xia Tong had never seen anything like this and was completely amazed. “The netizens are so sweet!” His eyes sparkled with excitement.

Shi Ya was quick to grab the moment, snapping a photo of Xia Tong’s blushing face through the camera, then editing and uploading it to Weibo, satisfying the eager fans.

“You’re really good at riding the wave of popularity,” Lin Mingfei leaned against the car, browsing Weibo. He watched the comment section rapidly fill with responses to Shi Ya’s post and took a deep breath.

“Running a business account is an art, don’t you think?” Shi Ya chuckled, replying to a few popular comments. “I swear I can hear the sourness in your words.”

Lin Mingfei didn’t reply, his attention fixated on the pinned comments.

In addition to praising Xia Tong for his cuteness, many of the comments gossiped about his relationship with Shi Ya. Shi Ya was skilled at teasing, and by only replying with “outsiders” a few times, he raised the discussion to a new level.

Xia Tong’s photo, taken by Shi Ya, was so perfect that it could be used as wallpaper. His skin was flawless, and his large, surprised doe eyes filled most of his face. Shi Ya even added a fitting filter, making him look pure and sweet. Lin Mingfei squinted, silently right-clicked to save the photo, and secretly removed the watermark in the bottom corner.

“I’ll drive when we go back,” he said as he sat in the driver’s seat, a heavy low-pressure atmosphere surrounding him.

Bo Yu was fiddling with Shi Ya, both of them looking into the unexpectedly hot-selling bad-tasting big plums to figure out how to handle them. Xia Tong, sitting in the backseat, swung his legs, his gaze flickering. He suddenly jumped out of the car, opened the front passenger door, and climbed in.

“!”

The little Omega suddenly snuggled close to him. Lin Mingfei glanced sideways, a little surprised.

Xia Tong lowered his head and pulled the seatbelt, seriously asking, “Are you unhappy, Zero?”

The question struck a chord deep inside him, and Lin Mingfei froze for a moment—he was indeed a little unhappy.

To explain why: it was because Shi Ya’s actions on Weibo made it seem like Xia Tong and he were overly familiar… This little thing that he had picked up was liked by everyone, and he, in turn, became the insignificant one.

But it wasn’t a big deal, and yet he felt unsettled by this. Lin Mingfei even thought that he was being ridiculous.

The Alpha lowered his eyelids, grinding his back teeth in self-derision.

“I’m not unhappy.”

“I’ll sit with you for a bit! Don’t be unhappy, hehe!” Xia Tong shook his arm, grinning widely with a silly look on his face.

Lin Mingfei’s gaze fell on the little Omega’s fair hand, and his body seemed frozen in place, unable to move. After a long pause, he weakly said, “I said, I’m not unhappy.”

“Then I’ll sit with you for a bit!” Xia Tong insisted.

Unexpectedly, his concern for his feelings made Lin Mingfei’s mood shift from cloudy to sunny, like he was enveloped by the sweet fragrance of osmanthus in autumn. Lin Mingfei suddenly chuckled to himself, his chest vibrating.

“Let’s go home,” he said, stepping on the gas and turning the wheel.

“Take me to level up, Zero,” Xia Tong said, shaking his head.

“Sure, call me ‘brother,’” Lin Mingfei responded.

“Brother, brother!” Xia Tong eagerly repeated, like a little monk chanting. Then he suddenly said, “Hey, isn’t there someone missing from the car?”

Zhou Yanjun had chased the car for a while and was finally allowed in. He climbed into the backseat, panting, and ruffled his messy hair, exclaiming in frustration, “You actually made me, a delicate and helpless little man, stay in the fields for so long!”

Shi Ya: “??? Delicate little man? Should I go first and let you lead the way!”

Zhou Yanjun: “Hypocritical! Too hypocritical! So brotherly love really disappears between us, huh!!”

Bo Yu: “Brotherly love… sounds so forbidden.”

Lin Mingfei coldly remarked, “Just to clarify, our relationship is a mutually beneficial employment one. If we lose the match, we won’t have anything, not even love. Thanks.”

Zhou Yanjun: “??? You guys!”

Meanwhile, Xia Tong in the front passenger seat turned around happily, pointing at his nose with excitement. “Fatty, fatty, fatty, look at me! We have brotherly love! I remembered there’s someone missing in the car!”

Not wanting to mention it, but once it was brought up, Zhou Yanjun felt even more embarrassed and muttered, “Go away, I don’t want to have brotherly love with an Omega.”

Xia Tong: “Aww!”

Perhaps because most of the former Polaris team members were together again, the atmosphere in the car was filled with a lively, relaxed vibe. The conversation flowed easily, and Lin Mingfei, driving in front, said, “Tomorrow I need to go to the notary office for some paperwork, and I’ll recruit a new team manager.”

“I’ll go instead of you to the Saber-Tooth Tiger side,” Shi Ya said. “Once Ping Shuai is back, we can start rehab training.”

“Who’s Ping Shuai?” Xia Tong asked.

“He’s our team’s original wizard,” Zhou Yanjun answered casually. “You’re staying in his room right now.”

The car went eerily quiet for a few seconds, then Zhou Yanjun realized, quickly covering his mouth, receiving Lin Mingfei’s deep, silent stare from the rearview mirror, and shrinking back in embarrassment.

Lin Mingfei furrowed his brow, afraid that Xia Tong might think he was being kicked out. He was about to say something comforting when he saw Xia Tong clap his hands excitedly. “Ah! So, I’ll get to see professional players play ‘King’s Tomb’ with my own eyes! Can I learn how to play wizard from him? He must be really good, right?”

Lin Mingfei paused and chuckled, helplessly amused.

“… Yeah, everything you said is right.”

This little Omega’s open and innocent personality sometimes really made people feel sorry for him.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yanjun let out a long breath in the backseat, feeling a little guilty.

Bo Yu suddenly nudged him with his elbow.

“What’s wrong with you?” Zhou Yanjun asked in confusion, only to see Bo Yu subtly flipping his phone face down and holding it up in front of him.

The phone showed several blurry photos with no captions, but Zhou Yanjun immediately recognized them as the “evidence” from the online smear campaign accusing Lin Mingfei of being involved in inappropriate behavior.

It was a classic case of one photo starting a rumor, and though the situation had blown up quickly, the attacks on Lin Mingfei’s reputation didn’t get much of a response, which made the issue lose its momentum. However, it was still occasionally dragged up for mockery, linking Lin Mingfei’s successful career to scandalous rumors about his personal life.

Zhou Yanjun had since thought through all the details and realized how foolish he had been to believe the rumors. But Bo Yu had been out of touch with current affairs for over a year due to his farming, and Zhou Yanjun was worried that Bo Yu might misunderstand and be influenced by the fake news, leading him down the same path. Just as he was about to explain, he saw Bo Yu tap the photo on his phone showing a young man standing across from Lin Mingfei, then pointed at Xia Tong in the front passenger seat.

“Did he get plastic surgery?” Bo Yu asked in a low, serious tone. “He looks a lot better, huh?”

“……”

Zhou Yanjun finally realized that Bo Yu had misunderstood the situation.

“Xiao Bo…” He stared at Bo Yu with a look of sheer disbelief for a long while, confirming that this guy wasn’t joking. He raised his hand and gave Bo Yu’s head a firm rub. “What kind of face-blindness do you have?”

Feel free to donate for earlier/bonus chapter releases! Thanks for supporting me and enjoy reading 😀