Chapter 14

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The people who had been hurrying past Ling Ran suddenly stopped, glancing over as though watching a show, then looking toward Jiang Ronglian and the others, who had already left.

Wasn’t this little Omega about to marry into the second branch of the family?

Why was the second branch ignoring him while Jiang Zhiyu of the main branch had stepped in instead?

Ling Ran kept looking up at him until his eyes gradually grew sore and unbearably wet.

If no one held an umbrella over him, he could still silently pick himself up from the ground and walk down the mountain through the rain.

But now an umbrella had appeared above his head, shielding him from the pouring storm, and suddenly he could no longer hold back his tears.

Uselessly, he lowered his head again. Tears mingled with raindrops and fell into the cold mud. His slight body seemed to have taken root there, unable to keep itself upright by its own strength.

“Zhiyu, why haven’t you gone down the mountain yet?” A deep, weathered voice suddenly came from beside him.

Old Master Yin was sitting in a simple sedan chair, carried down the mountain by two strong bodyguards. Someone walked beside him, holding an umbrella over his head.

The Yin and Jiang families had been close friends for generations, so even Jiang Zhiyu had to show Old Master Yin a measure of respect.

He inclined his head slightly and greeted the old man in the sedan chair. “Uncle Yin.”

Old Master Yin merely lowered his eyelids and swept his gaze over the little Omega, who was nearly curled into a ball by Jiang Zhiyu’s feet. With the shrewdness of a seasoned man, he immediately sensed that something was unusual.

“This is Sheng Yi’s wife, isn’t it? I heard just now that he had an unpleasant altercation with the second branch?” Old Master Yin said earnestly. “Today is, after all, the anniversary of your grandfather’s death. With so many outsiders present, no one will look good after making such a scene. Your father was unable to come to the rear hill because of his condition, so I already had Chuchu persuade the people from the second branch to leave. As for this little one…”

A muffled peal of thunder broke overhead, and the rain suddenly intensified.

Ling Ran shivered. Then he heard a low, cold, resonant voice above him.

“It was merely a younger member of the family behaving improperly,” Jiang Zhiyu said. “I’m sorry to trouble you, Uncle Yin.”

At those words, Old Master Yin’s expression seemed to turn slightly colder. He said nothing more, merely adding, “I still have something to discuss with your father, so I’ll be leaving first.”

Only after the sedan chair had gone did Ling Ran wipe the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his wet hand.

The voice above him issued a command.

“Get up.”

Ling Ran slipped on the ground, then rose unsteadily on trembling legs.

The delicate Omega stood drenched before the tall, powerfully built enigma. His soaked clothes clung tightly to his snow-white skin, making his frail figure look even more pitiful and vulnerable.

Jiang Zhiyu started down the mountain, and Ling Ran sensibly stayed close at his side.

Fortunately, the black umbrella was large enough. The slight Omega took up hardly any space.

Zhao Qin had already opened the car door and was waiting outside the woods. The two of them got into the car one after the other.

Once the door closed, Ling Ran realized how familiar this scene felt.

His clothes were soaked through. The wind that swept past them on the way down had left him shivering without pause.

Zhao Qin glanced into the rearview mirror, then quietly turned on the heater.

Warmth gradually spread through Ling Ran’s body, and at last he stopped trembling. He looked gratefully at Zhao Qin in the driver’s seat.

Zhao Qin smiled at him, but when his gaze shifted, it met a pair of icy phoenix eyes.

His scalp prickled. Zhao Qin immediately fixed his eyes on the road ahead and silently lowered the partition separating the back seat.

Ling Ran straightened his trousers, then secretly tugged up his trouser leg to check the suppressor fastened around his slender, pale ankle.

The thing was so expensive. What if the rain had damaged it?

Fortunately, the suppressor’s screen lit up, displaying that all its functions were intact. Ling Ran let out a breath.

As long as it wasn’t broken.

His phone suddenly rang. Worried that the sound would disturb the person beside him, Ling Ran quickly turned away and answered in a low voice.

“Hello, Brother…”

Ling Su’s voice abruptly rang through the silent car. “What on earth did you do at the memorial ceremony?!”

Ling Ran’s heart tightened. The person on the other end raised his voice and demanded, “The Jiang family called me and said you have an illness related to your pheromones and can’t have children?”

Ling Ran was certain that the person beside him could hear his brother’s voice perfectly clearly.

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Because he was so embarrassed, he deliberately lowered his voice, making it sound almost pleading. “It’s not like that, Brother. I’ll explain everything properly when I get home, all right?”

Ling Su had just been driven into a state of agitation by a call from Jiang Ronglian. How could he listen to Ling Ran’s explanation? “So now you think you’ve climbed onto the Jiang family’s high branch, and your wings have hardened enough to hide anything from your family, is that it? Huh? If Sheng Yi’s mother hadn’t told me that you were wearing a suppressor, the whole family would still be completely in the dark!”

Ling Ran pursed his lips, desperately holding back the tears in his eyes. This was exactly why he had not wanted to tell his family that he was ill.

In a family that treated Omegas as tools for marriage alliances, no one cared about his condition. What they cared about was whether he could still bear children for Jiang Shengyi.

Ling Ran opened his mouth, about to answer, when a hand suddenly reached toward him from beside him.

The hand had long, jade-like fingers, with faint veins rising across its back. It looked strong and sensual.

With two fingers spread apart, it could easily pinch both of Ling Ran’s cheeks.

Ling Ran stared in astonishment with his beautiful, almond-shaped eyes. His face was turned toward the person holding his cheeks, and he found himself gazing into a pair of deep, shadowed eyes.

The fingertips pinching his cheek tightened slightly and rubbed twice over the left side of his face, where he had been slapped. Pain instantly reddened the corners of his eyes.

Yet his mouth was held closed, his lips parted helplessly. Clutching his phone, he could only stare blankly at the imposing, formidable man beside him.

Jiang Zhiyu examined him. The distinct imprint of five fingers on his cheek was still red and swollen. Because the little Omega’s skin was so fair and delicate, the mark stood out even more starkly.

He suddenly took the phone from Ling Ran’s hand. Still holding the soft cheek in his palm, he drew the Omega toward himself and looked at him without revealing a trace of emotion.

Ling Su continued shouting questions through the phone. He was not truly seeking an answer; he was simply venting his fury on the mild-tempered, obedient little Omega.

After listening for a while, Jiang Zhiyu said, “He isn’t going home tonight.”

The person on the other end fell silent almost at once. When he grasped what had happened, his anger flared again. “Who the hell are you? Why is Ling Ran’s phone in your hands?”

The man’s tone remained flat. “Jiang Zhiyu.”

The moment he said this, Ling Ran heard Ling Su draw a sharp breath. When he spoke again, his voice twisted through eighteen different shades of ingratiation.

“President Jiang, I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. I didn’t mean anything by what I said just now. I—I didn’t know you were beside Xiao Ran. None of that was directed at you. Please don’t misunderstand.”

It was the first time Ling Ran had ever heard his brother speak like that—obsequious, flattering, and fawning to the utmost.

Ling Su had no idea what was happening on the other side. He could only ask cautiously, “President Jiang, would it be convenient to let Xiao Ran take the phone? I’m just very worried that he might cause you trouble.”

Jiang Zhiyu gazed into a pair of misty, glistening eyes and said only, “I’ll have someone take him home tomorrow.”

Then he hung up.

Ling Ran had not yet understood what he meant. If he would only be sent home tomorrow, where was he supposed to stay tonight?

The car had stopped on the lawn outside the main hall. Zhao Qin opened the door and held an umbrella over them.

There were few cars left on the lawn. The old friends had driven straight down the mountain and left, while the rain was so heavy that the rest of the Jiang family would have to spend the night at the old residence.

Ling Ran did not enter the main hall. Jiang Zhiyu had the elderly butler lead him along a side path from the rear courtyard directly into the inner compound.

Ling Ran followed the butler all the way down a secluded corridor. At last, they stopped outside a room.

“Mr. Ling, you can stay here tonight. If you need anything, please come find me. My name is Song.” The old butler smiled kindly at him.

Ling Ran suddenly found him rather familiar and asked, “Butler Song, do you know Song Yi?”

Butler Song smiled warmly. “Song Yi is my son.”

Ling Ran suddenly understood. No wonder even the curve of their smiles was identical.

Butler Song brought him clean clothes and explained where to find the necessities in the room before politely withdrawing.

After he left, Ling Ran carefully looked around the enormous guest room. Its Chinese antique architecture matched that of the main hall, and every detail displayed an extravagant grandeur.

A venerable old residence like this was not something that could be built merely by having money.

Ling Ran first removed the suppressor and placed it beside the bed.

Although the suppressor could withstand cold water, it could not withstand steam. After quickly taking a hot shower, he carefully wiped away the muddy water clinging to it, then fastened it around his ankle once more.

From the window, he could see a stretch of fresh green bamboo outside. The torrential rain lashed through the grove and struck the leaves with a sharp, crackling sound that was strangely soothing.

The carved wooden bed, with its openwork designs, possessed an antique elegance and looked exceedingly comfortable. Ling Ran collapsed onto it, wrapped himself in the quilt, and listened to the rain beyond the window. Never before had his body and mind felt so relaxed.

For some reason, although this was his first time visiting the Jiang family’s old residence, he felt inexplicably at ease here.

Perhaps it was because of the black umbrella that had shielded him from the sudden rain in the woods.

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Or perhaps it was because of the deep voice in the enclosed car, the voice that had pinched his cheek and answered the phone for him.

In any case, Ling Ran soon drifted into a heavy sleep.

He was awakened by a soft knock at the door. When he glanced outside, he saw that night had fallen. The torrential rain was still pouring, showing no sign of easing.

He went to open the door and found Butler Song standing there with someone carrying dinner.

“Mr. Ling, please enjoy your meal.”

The person was about to turn away when Ling Ran suddenly said, “Butler Song, please wait. President Jiang…”

Ling Ran pressed his lips together, then changed the way he addressed him. “Uncle, what about Sheng Yi and the others?”

He had actually slept through the entire afternoon alone in his room without even going to greet the rest of the Jiang family. Wasn’t that terribly impolite?

Butler Song hesitated slightly, seemingly unsure whether he should tell Ling Ran about the argument that had taken place in the main hall that afternoon.

In the end, he said nothing more than, “The others have all returned to their rooms to rest. President Jiang specifically instructed me that even if you hadn’t woken up by evening, I was to wake you and make sure you ate dinner. That’s why I had the kitchen prepare something fresh for you.”

Ling Ran looked at the table laden with exquisite dishes and thanked him politely.

After he finished eating, someone came in to clear away the dishes.

Ling Ran had slept all afternoon and was no longer tired. He lay on the carved wooden bed, staring blankly at the storm raging through the darkness outside.

A slender green bamboo shoot seemed to have only just broken through the soil, yet the heavy raindrops were already pressing its spine toward the ground. Lower and lower it bent, as though it would soon be forced back into the mud.

Ling Ran watched it for a long while. Perhaps something had gone wrong in his head. Otherwise, why would he have run out of the room with a little umbrella, simply to shield that short, fragile bamboo shoot from the rain pouring down like the sky itself had collapsed?

He crouched there and reached out to raise the slender stalk.

“Don’t fall, little bamboo,” he murmured to himself.

“You can do it. Hold on.”

The heavens seemed to split open beneath invisible claws. Amid flashes of lightning and crashing thunder, the rain fell so heavily that it was almost impossible to see.

Ling Ran found a branch and used it to support the little bamboo’s nearly collapsing trunk. Only then did he stand up.

But just as he was about to return indoors, he suddenly noticed two indistinct black figures standing at the edge of the bamboo grove some distance away.

His heart jolted. Something felt wrong.

Why would anyone be standing outside talking on such a stormy night?

He slowly moved closer. In a flash of lightning that tore across the darkness, he saw two figures sharing an umbrella and embracing tightly in the rain.

It was Jiang Shengyi and Yin Chu.

His mouth fell open, and he drew in a deep breath of damp, icy air.

A peal of thunder exploded overhead. The two figures seemed to notice someone approaching.

Yin Chu immediately pushed Jiang Shengyi away and turned around in alarm.

But the place where the person had just stood was empty. There was no ghostly figure anywhere.

Jiang Shengyi’s eyes were filled with pain. He seized Yin Chu’s arm and pulled him back into a tight embrace.

“Chu Chu, tell me—what am I supposed to do? You’re the one I love. How can I abandon you and marry someone else? I can’t do it. I can’t!”

Yin Chu merely patted Jiang Shengyi’s back in comfort, but his eyes remained clear and composed.

Had he truly been mistaken just now?

Why, in that instant, had he seemed to see Jiang Zhiyu’s figure through the curtain of rain?

Only a few steps away, hidden behind the dense bamboo grove, the small umbrella battered by the storm was now held in another large hand.

And the soft, delicate Omega was held without any barrier against a broad, powerful chest.

A strong arm lay across his line of sight, while a palm cool with dampness pressed tightly over his mouth.

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