TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 46

A crowd gathered to watch Xia Xiao Tong selling himself to bury his captain, and the scene gave Lin Mingfei a significant mental blow. This was the very definition of social death!

Some people were even seriously considering paying to “purchase” the silly-looking little omega. Trafficking in humans is a serious crime! Apparently, people will do anything for something beautiful.

If he didn’t stop this soon, things would spiral out of control. Lin Mingfei quickly stepped forward and grabbed the hand of someone trying to hand over money.

“Hey! Shouldn’t there be an order to these things?” the person complained.

“Trafficking is illegal. Are you ignorant of the law?” Lin Mingfei shot a sharp glare at the person, who instantly fell silent, cowed.

“Do you know this kid?” someone in the crowd asked suspiciously.

“Yes, this kid is mine—he’s my… my younger brother,” Lin Mingfei hesitated before answering.

The onlookers remained skeptical. “Why the hesitation? There are plenty of traffickers who claim to know their victims! How do you prove this boy knows you?”

Lin Mingfei: “……”

The modern public’s vigilance was truly remarkable.

Just then, Xia Xiao Tong spotted him. With a loud cry, he lunged forward, slamming into him and clinging on like an oversized pendant. “Brother!! Don’t leave me, wuwuwu!! Don’t abandon me!!”

The way he cried, Lin Mingfei almost believed he was truly about to die.

“So they really do know each other…” the onlookers murmured.

“My little brother, he…” Lin Mingfei forced a dry laugh. “He’s not very bright… It’s nothing serious, folks. Please disperse!”

Xia Tong meekly protested, “Brother, you said I’m not bright… I heard that.”

His voice held absolutely no weight as a warning.

Lin Mingfei raised an eyebrow and looked down at him. “Selling yourself to bury a captain—who taught you that? I haven’t even confronted you about it, and you’re already turning the tables on me?”

“I…” Xia Tong fumbled, unable to explain the bizarre sequence of events, stammering for a long time. “I… I couldn’t sleep and went out to find food. Then I ate something but didn’t have money to pay… So that uncle told me to beg to pay off the debt. At first, no one paid me any attention… That’s why—” He glanced around frantically, trying to find someone to support his story, and spotted Gu Dongsheng gleefully counting coins from the begging bowl.

“Ninety-five, ninety-eight, a hundred and three… Whoa!” Gu Dongsheng skillfully tallied the coins. “In an era where cash is almost extinct, you managed to collect 103.6 yuan from begging! Kid, you’ve got a bright future ahead of you!”

Xia Tong drooped his head and sniffled dejectedly. “I don’t feel happy at all…”

“Don’t mind him. Not feeling happy is the right reaction; that’s how normal people should feel.” Lin Mingfei pretended to be angry, lightly flicking his finger against Xia Tong’s smooth, pale forehead. “Crying like that in front of so many people—how are you so talented?”

“I was just trying to quickly pay back the uncle… And also…” Xia Tong trailed off, his voice growing quieter.

“And also what?” Lin Mingfei glanced at Gu Dongsheng, who showed no sign of guilt, and sighed softly, both exasperated and amused. “You cried so much that it really felt like I was about to die. Do you know how scary that was?”

“I know… I scared myself a bit too,” Xia Tong murmured, clinging to him even tighter like a magnet. “It’s just that I suddenly thought of that night…”

“What night?”

“That night, when you were alone in your room putting in eye drops…” Xia Tong’s voice was soft and soothing, like a feather brushing against Lin Mingfei’s heart. He muttered quietly, “I always feel like you have something on your mind, like you’re far away from me…”

Lin Mingfei froze, his breath caught in his chest.

“I don’t know why, but I’m so scared… Scared that one day, you’ll suddenly stop being with me. I don’t even need you to take care of me or anything… I just worry that I won’t see you anymore. Just thinking about it makes me really sad and makes me want to cry…” Xia Tong rambled, and then, seemingly annoyed at his own clumsiness, touched his reddened eyes. “I know I’m being silly again…”

Lin Mingfei didn’t speak for a long time. He didn’t know what to say.

After opening up once to He Youjin, it had already taken him a long time to recover. He hated dealing with messy emotions, both his own and others’, so he preferred to stay silent rather than revisit unpleasant memories.

Yet, a part of him longed for someone to gently touch the scars in his heart.

He was a conflicted and dramatic Alpha, and Xia Tong—

Was truly an angel.

“You…” He let out a shaky breath, his emotions swirling. Just as he was about to speak, Gu Dongsheng interrupted. “Wait, you two actually know each other?”

“……”

All the tender, heartfelt atmosphere instantly evaporated, leaving only an overwhelming awkwardness.

Lin Mingfei shot his unruly godfather a withering glare and said coldly, “Isn’t it a bit late to realize that now?”

Gu Dongsheng waved dismissively, completely unfazed. “Not too late, not too late. Hey?” He suddenly looked curious. “Then do you know who the captain he’s talking about is?”

Lin Mingfei said softly, “I know, so what?”

Gu Dongsheng: “Tell that person I’m sorry and wish him a long life.”

“Coincidentally, that person is me,” Lin Mingfei said. “Thank you.”

–

After 2:30 AM, the crowd at the night market began to thin out. Some vendors, having passed the peak hours of traffic, started packing up their stalls and heading home.

Lin Mingfei, Xia Tong, and Gu Dongsheng sat in a triangle around a plastic stool in the empty dining area.

“Uncle, you’re actually Zero’s dad?” Xia Tong pointed at Gu Dongsheng, her big doe eyes wide in surprise.

“Not his dad, his godfather,” Lin Mingfei corrected. “The kind without any blood relation.”

“But it’s closer than a blood relation,” Gu Dongsheng emphasized. “I was the one who went to all Zero’s parent-teacher meetings when he was a kid. Ah… I’ll never forget, that parent from his class, the one named He, always brought his son’s report card showing he got first place, and would stand in front of all the teachers and parents, speaking without notes about his educational philosophy. And me! I’d always follow behind him and be grilled by the teachers—”

“Grilled about what?” Xia Tong asked.

“Why wasn’t Lin Mingfei there for the final exams!” Gu Dongsheng gritted his teeth. “He has two legs, can run and jump, but who knows where he disappeared off to during finals!”

“Does it need to be asked? In the first year of middle school, I was out picking fights. In the second and third years, I was always in the internet cafes,” Lin Mingfei said nonchalantly.

Gu Dongsheng pointed at him, “You still have the nerve to say that!”

Xia Tong blinked in confusion. “Zero, don’t you have a dad?”

Gu Dongsheng: “Hey, how come this little one knows how to curse now—”

Lin Mingfei rolled his eyes and ignored Gu Dongsheng. Instead, he answered Xia Tong’s question seriously: “You mean my biological dad? I have one, but he has his own family, so he can’t take care of me. It’s pretty much the same as not having one.”

Xia Tong gasped. “Then what about your mom?”

Lin Mingfei turned to Gu Dongsheng. “Godfather, where’s my mom?”

Gu Dongsheng: “…Why ask me about your mom?”

Lin Mingfei lazily stretched out his legs. “Because no one knows her better than you.”

Xia Tong had always thought that Lin Mingfei, like Shi Ya, was from a wealthy family, because of his good looks, stylish attire, and the gentlemanly demeanor he carried effortlessly. But after this candid conversation, Xia Tong realized that Lin Mingfei’s background was far more complicated than he had imagined.

Lin Mingfei’s appearance was inherited from his mother. Gu Dongsheng kept a wallet in the inner pocket of his jacket. In an era where most people had abandoned cash for electronic payments, it was clear that this wallet wasn’t used for money. Inside the transparent compartment of the wallet was an old, yellowed photograph: it showed a sea, with a beautiful woman wearing a little dress standing by the shore. She had features that were about 60-70% similar to Lin Mingfei’s, with long hair flowing like seaweed—charming and wild.

“This woman, ah, she was born to be a seductive beauty. No matter what angle the camera captured her from, she always looked stunning. Not only did the audience love her…” Gu Dongsheng said in a tone full of both affection and resentment, “But I ask, which male Alpha would not fall for her when they saw her?”

Lin Mingfei rolled his eyes. “Godfather, you don’t need to make excuses for her promiscuity, really.”

Gu Dongsheng: “…”

Lin Mingfei’s tone was clearly more straightforward than Gu Dongsheng’s: “My mom used to be an actress, and she met my godfather while working on a film. My godfather liked her so much that he never married anyone else in his life because of her.”

Gu Dongsheng desperately gave him a meaningful look. “Ahem, ahem, ahem—”

“What’s wrong with saying this?” Lin Mingfei said indifferently. “Someone who’s devoted should be proud of it, because it’s a rare and admirable quality.”

Gu Dongsheng: “Sigh…”

Lin Mingfei casually flicked a coin he had found somewhere, playing with it. “My mom was a typical socialite, she slept with many influential Alpha men, and she was very good at making each of them fall deeply for her, but none of them were willing to give her a permanent mark. This status, this tangled web of relationships, probably lasted for a year or two.”

“What does ‘tangled web of relationships’ mean?” Xia Tong asked, confused.

“It means an Omega dating multiple Alpha men at the same time,” Lin Mingfei explained.

“Oh.” Xia Tong seemed to understand. “Then what happened?”

“Later, I don’t know what she was thinking, maybe she got bored, and suddenly chose to marry my dad,” Lin Mingfei said. “My dad’s a Beta.”

“Beta?” Xia Tong was surprised. “But you’re not a—”

“Yeah, I’m an Alpha. Everyone knows that a Beta and an Omega can’t have an Alpha child,” Lin Mingfei shrugged. “I just call him my dad because I don’t know who my real dad is. And I seriously suspect my mom married a Beta because she didn’t want to be permanently marked.”

“Wow…” Xia Tong looked shocked.

“Later, my dad couldn’t stand the situation anymore and divorced my mom. Then she went back to her old socialite lifestyle… until she passed away from cervical cancer,” Lin Mingfei said, crossing his legs and pointing at Gu Dongsheng. “As for this gentleman, the reason he looks after me is because he always thinks I’m his biological son.”

Xia Tong was dumbfounded. “Huh?”

Gu Dongsheng, in a scholarly tone, said to Lin Mingfei, “I’m not saying this without any basis, alright? I mean, the timeline pretty much adds up! And I always feel like when I got drunk that one time, I might have… accidentally released too much pheromone and permanently marked your mom.”

“You can just keep dreaming,” Lin Mingfei said indifferently.

“Why are you so confident? Why won’t you come with me to do a paternity test?” Gu Dongsheng asked.

“Do I look like I’m crazy? Why would I go do a paternity test with you?” Lin Mingfei frowned. He glanced at Xia Tong, his tone softening slightly but still laced with a hint of awkwardness. 

“Anyway, I didn’t have anyone looking after me when I was young. Although I never lacked money, I was hardly a good kid. If I hadn’t achieved something in the virtual game world, I might have ended up as some street punk.”

Xia Tong let out a soft “Oh,” lowering his head thoughtfully, his fingers tracing the patterns on his pants.

Lin Mingfei couldn’t quite figure out what he was feeling—somewhere between heaviness and unease.

He had essentially laid bare all the less-than-glorious parts of his youth for Xia Tong to see. He wasn’t sure if this would bring him closer to Xia Tong, or if it would give the little guy more of a sense of security. But he was even less certain if this messy family background would make his image in Xia Tong’s eyes more complicated and worse.

Gu Dongsheng, sitting off to the side, glanced at them and slowly began to sense something.

Why did his godson seem like he was on a blind date? Was this cautious, watchful young man still the same reckless, ungrateful godson he knew?

Gu Dongsheng suddenly felt like he wasn’t doing a good job as a godfather. What had he been doing all this time? Had he really helped his godson? Oh, right—he had tricked his godson’s crush into being his beggar lover for twenty bucks. Was this what an elder should do? Gu Dongsheng felt that it was time for him to step in and steer these two misguided young lives back onto the right path!

“Uh… Xia Tong,” Gu Dongsheng suddenly changed his expression to one of kindly, benevolent warmth. He patted Lin Mingfei on the shoulder and, in a tone almost like he was selling something, said, “Don’t be fooled by how calm and composed our Lin Mingfei looks. Since he was a kid, he’s been fighting, swearing, skipping classes, and his grades were terrible—”

Lin Mingfei: “……”

Gu Dongsheng: “But you know what? He has the thickest skin! Back in the day, no matter how the teachers scolded him, he’d just stay calm, not flinch, and keep doing whatever he wanted! What’s great about that? It means he’ll always be your strong support! No matter how sad or scared you are, if you talk to him, he’ll tell you that it’s nothing to be afraid of! The sky’s not falling! Nothing to fear!”

Lin Mingfei: “……Old Gu, nobody thinks you’re mute when you’re silent!”

Gu Dongsheng: “Am I wrong? I don’t think so! You’ve never been afraid of anything!”

Lin Mingfei bristled. “How about you go across the street and eat a bowl of spicy hotpot? Can you stop talking to me?”

Gu Dongsheng: “Can’t do that. Old Li will spit in my face.”

Lin Mingfei felt numb. He thought his image in Xia Tong’s mind was probably ruined by this chaotic godfather. Just as he was sinking into that thought, Xia Tong, the little Omega sitting across from him, suddenly lifted his head and smiled brightly.

That smile was like a pure white night-blooming cereus, suddenly blossoming in the dark, its radiance as bright as the moon, pure and captivating.

“I feel the same way as Uncle,” Xia Tong said with a smile. “I think Zero is an incredibly reliable person. Being with him makes me feel very safe and happy, and I never want to leave! Zero is the best Alpha in the world!”

Lin Mingfei froze for a moment, then softly asked, “Don’t you think my background is all messed up?”

Xia Tong pouted and said, “What’s so messed up about that? I’ve lived in Zheng Linchuan’s house for years, and that’s a real mess! Well, I mean, not my mess, but theirs! Compared to them, you’re practically squeaky clean!” He paused, then added, “Oh, I think I just used a fancy word!”

Lin Mingfei couldn’t help but laugh softly, then sighed lightly, “So you’re not bothered by me always causing trouble when I was in school?”

“I’ve never been to school!” Xia Tong replied. Then his eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands. “Now that I think about it, Zero, we’re really a perfect match!”

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