TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 102

Thanks to Lin Mingfei’s ridiculous stunt of hanging up the phone, Shi Ya spent most of the night at home feeling restless. He was extremely worried about what was happening at the Polaris club and couldn’t fall asleep at all.

He tried calling Lin Mingfei several more times, but the line was always busy. Shi Ya finally gave up on checking in.

After sitting on the bed for a long time, he suddenly had another thought.

If he couldn’t ask Lin Mingfei about the situation at the base, he could still ask He Youjin. If something serious had really happened, Lin Mingfei couldn’t possibly keep it entirely from him.

With that in mind, Shi Ya immediately called He Youjin.

As soon as the call connected and Shi Ya said “Hello,” he heard Fang Haoyang cursing on the other end.

“I already blocked this idiot—how the hell is he still calling?!”

Shi Ya: “???”

Still confused, he then heard He Youjin quietly coaxing someone:

“That’s Timer, not Zero. Don’t get mad.”

Shi Ya felt the whole situation was strange and cautiously asked,

“What did that idiot Zero do to you guys?”

He Youjin had just opened his mouth to reply when Fang Haoyang snatched the phone and started loudly cursing Lin Mingfei into the receiver.

“That idiot always calls at the worst possible time! And once he calls, he talks for twenty damn minutes ordering me to check this and that! If it weren’t for Youjin’s sake, I would’ve already—”

He Youjin had truly had enough of these hot-tempered alphas.

The previous night, he and Fang Haoyang had been in the middle of having sex. Just when things were about to reach the final moment, his phone rang beside the pillow.

Lin Mingfei was calling.

Not only had he called He Youjin’s phone, he had specifically asked for Fang Haoyang to answer, saying something major had happened at the base.

He Youjin had already finished enjoying himself, but Fang Haoyang was still trying to get there. At that moment, neither of them wanted to deal with anything.

Unfortunately, He Youjin had a strong sense of professional responsibility. He insisted on stuffing the phone into Fang Haoyang’s hand so he could finish the call before they continued.

Fang Haoyang felt like his life had been cursed. He was literally seconds away from finishing, his tailbone already tingling, when He Youjin climbed off him, sat cross-legged on the bed, and held up the phone with an expression that clearly said:

If you don’t finish the call, I’m not letting your train enter the tunnel.

They stared at each other for two seconds before Fang Haoyang mentally shattered and reluctantly took the phone.

Originally he planned to brush Lin Mingfei off with a few quick sentences so he could return to more important business.

Instead, Lin Mingfei launched into a long speech and even shamelessly ordered him to investigate personnel changes inside the Sabertooth team.

Fang Haoyang had nearly hung up several times, but under He Youjin’s deadly stare he could only obediently make calls and ask around.

The entire process dragged on for more than twenty minutes.

By the time Lin Mingfei finally hung up, Fang Haoyang had gone completely limp and lost all interest. After living smoothly for over twenty years as a proud alpha, he had never suffered such humiliation.

For a male alpha, what Lin Mingfei did was practically an unforgivable mortal enemy offense.

So Fang Haoyang immediately dragged Lin Mingfei’s number into the blacklist on He Youjin’s phone.

“Alright, alright,” He Youjin said quickly, afraid Fang Haoyang might accidentally reveal too much and embarrass them both. He took the phone back and asked Shi Ya, “What’s up with you?”

“Oh, I just wanted to ask if you’d heard anything from the club,” Shi Ya said. “Zero won’t answer my calls.”

He briefly explained his earlier conversation with Ping Shuai.

He Youjin pondered for a moment.

“Oh, so that’s why Zero suddenly wanted to ask about Ping.” He inhaled sharply and said disdainfully, “Seriously, how did you guys have such bad judgment back then? Picking teammates out of the trash like that. Sticky garbage like him.”

“Hey, don’t say it like that,” Shi Ya sighed. “Ping wasn’t like this before.”

Thinking about the past made him a little nostalgic.

“Back then Ping didn’t have any money. His background was pretty similar to Xiao Bo’s. When he was with us he worked really hard. Otherwise we couldn’t have won three consecutive championships together. But people… they’re not always the same. When unexpected situations come along, people make different choices. In the end it’s just that we’re not the same kind of people.”

“Mmm…” He Youjin said. “Zero just sent me a message on WeChat. Hold on, let me check.”

---

Meanwhile, back at the base.

Lin Mingfei rummaged around the place for quite a while before finally digging out a medical kit from some random corner.

He opened it and found a chaotic pile of bottles and medicine containers inside.

“Ugh… what even are all these?” he muttered, sitting on the sofa in confusion. After picking up one bottle to examine it, he frowned.

“Are these all expired or something…?”

“Do you guys never get sick?” Xia Tong sat off to the side and asked curiously.

“Oh come on, we’re Alphas—tough skin and thick flesh. We don’t really make a big deal out of bumps and bruises,” Lin Mingfei said with a hint of helplessness. Then he glanced at Xia Tong’s reddened neck and wrists. “Not like you—your skin’s so delicate, marks show up immediately… sigh. Does it still hurt?” He leaned in to take a closer look, clearly concerned.

“It’s okay, more or less,” Xia Tong said. “If I don’t touch it, it doesn’t really hurt. But if I do… ow ow ow!!” As if to prove his point, he immediately reached up and touched it, then hissed in pain.

His silly behavior made Lin Mingfei both annoyed and amused. The Alpha reached out and gently brushed his restless hand aside. “Alright, stop touching it. I found some ointment for bruises—I’ll put some on you.”

“Okay!” Xia Tong obediently sat cross-legged, watching as Lin Mingfei carefully checked the expiration date on the medicine, then opened the box and squeezed a bit onto his fingertip.

“Are you going to put it on my neck?” Xia Tong asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll pull my collar down a bit so it doesn’t get dirty!” Xia Tong said.

Lin Mingfei froze for a moment, watching as the little Omega tugged down the collar of his pajamas. The elastic neckline stretched and slid down, resting against his narrow shoulders and exposing a large patch of pale, delicate skin along his neck and shoulders. The ring of vivid red marks there was especially striking.

It had to be said—this improvised “off-shoulder look” was unexpectedly sexy. The sudden sight of such alluring beauty caught the Alpha off guard, his hand hovering midair, unmoving.

“Zero?” Xia Tong looked confused, thinking maybe he couldn’t reach, and scooted a little closer. “What’s wrong? Are you going to apply it somewhere else first?”

“Ah… no.” Lin Mingfei snapped back to his senses, feeling his ears heat up, the warmth spreading deep into his body. The primal stirrings he’d barely suppressed threatened to rise again—this was bad. He hurriedly distracted himself. “Um… I didn’t call the police. I just let Ping Shuai go like that. Aren’t you mad?”

As he spoke, his fingertip touched the red mark on the Omega’s neck. The skin there was smooth, like fine jade, and noticeably warmer than the surrounding area. Xia Tong flinched slightly from the pain but didn’t pull away, letting him rub in circles, spreading the ointment and pressing it in.

“I’m not mad,” Xia Tong said softly. “Even though Ping Shuai grabbed me, you beat him up too. You hit him harder than he grabbed me. If you called the police and he bit back and dragged you into it, wouldn’t that make things worse? I remember Manager He saying something about league rules—pro players aren’t allowed to fight casually, right?”

Xia Tong’s growth was astonishingly fast. Lin Mingfei was surprised but also pleased, giving a low “Mm.” “Don’t worry. He’ll pay for what he did today. He Youjin will definitely make him compensate heavily. You’ll get every cent.”

“I don’t care about the money,” Xia Tong pouted. “Even if he got handsy with me, you already got revenge for me!”

Lin Mingfei smiled, taking the Omega’s wrist and gently resting it on his knee as he continued applying the ointment and massaging it in. Then Xia Tong paused, as if suddenly remembering something outrageous, and his tone shifted.

“What I’m really mad about is that he said I took his room!! That room has nothing to do with him anymore, okay? It’s my room now! He said there were his charger and mousepad in there—but there are my blankets and clothes too! Hmph! He’s obviously the one coveting my room!”

“Right, right.” Lin Mingfei nodded in agreement. “He’s coveting your room. Not just your room—he covets other things of yours too. He’s just jealous of you.”

“Exactly!” Xia Tong huffed. “And he even called me… what was it… some kind of ‘rank-climbing slut’!”

That crude and unpleasant phrase made Lin Mingfei’s expression stiffen, his brows furrowing.

“He really said that to you?” the Alpha asked in a low voice.

“Yeah!” Xia Tong rolled his eyes. “Did he think I was stupid and wouldn’t understand what it means?!”

“You… understand what it means?” Lin Mingfei felt a sharp pang in his chest. Such a filthy term—would it leave a shadow on Xia Tong’s pure heart…?

“Of course I do! ‘Rank-climbing watch’—doesn’t that mean he’s mocking me for only being able to climb ranks like a watch that you guys wear?” Xia Tong argued confidently. “How weird! Doesn’t he also want to be worn by you guys to climb ranks? If I’m a rank-climbing watch, then what is he?!”

Not a single word of that was what Lin Mingfei had expected. The Alpha was stunned for a long moment, at a loss for words. “He…”

Suddenly, Xia Tong had a flash of inspiration. He slapped Lin Mingfei’s thigh indignantly. “He’s a belt! Yeah! A rank-climbing belt! And the kind Fatty wears all year without ever washing it!!”

Lin Mingfei: “…”

Lin Mingfei: “Mm. You’re right.”

Author’s note: Lin Mingfei: NSDD (You’re absolutely right), perfectly understood.

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