TAO | Chapter 64

Wei Xiaochi glanced sideways at Jiang Zhan. “How about… you go downstairs and play games with them?”

He remembered that Jiang Zhan used to love playing mobile games, but ever since the two of them got together, Wei Xiaochi rarely saw him play anymore.

“No.”

“Then how about we watch a movie?”

“No.”

The alpha shot down two of his suggestions in a row. Wei Xiaochi gave him another quick glance.

The room was only covered by a layer of ash-gray sheer curtains. The dim light from outside cast shifting shadows across Jiang Zhan’s handsome features, half-illuminated and half-shrouded. His deep black eyes, at this moment, were staring unblinkingly at Wei Xiaochi.

Seeing Wei Xiaochi looking over, Jiang Zhan pursed his lips tightly, staring at him with a grievance in his expression, like a kid who didn’t get his candy.

Wei Xiaochi felt a slight tug at his heart.

After a few seconds of silence, he shifted closer to Jiang Zhan. Stretching his arm over the alpha’s shoulder, he gently patted his back and began to sing the English version of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

Song Langlang once mentioned that Jiang Zhan couldn’t last more than three rounds of that song before falling asleep.

Like a homing bird returning to its nest, Jiang Zhan immediately clung to Wei Xiaochi, rubbing his face into his shoulder. His chin moved around on his shoulder as if searching for a comfortable position.

Wei Xiaochi froze mid-pat, letting Jiang Zhan shift around against him.

Once Jiang Zhan finally settled, Wei Xiaochi resumed patting his back and continued singing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

Out of nowhere, Jiang Zhan said, “I’m not a child!”

Wei Xiaochi froze, slowly lowering his hand and stopping the song.

Two minutes later, Jiang Zhan’s head popped out from the crook of Wei Xiaochi’s neck. With a blank expression, he asked, “Why did you stop singing?”

Wei Xiaochi: …

Jiang Zhan said, “Keep singing. I was just expressing my opinion.”

Wei Xiaochi: …

At this point, Wei Xiaochi genuinely thought Jiang Zhan was less mature than his four-year-old brother, Wei Zimo. At least Wei Zimo would happily accept when he played monster battles with him.

Sighing, Wei Xiaochi reluctantly began singing again. Seeing Jiang Zhan still looking at him, Wei Xiaochi hesitated for three seconds, then patted Jiang Zhan’s back once more.

Only then did the alpha lie back down.

By the fifth round of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” Jiang Zhan actually fell asleep. Wei Xiaochi stared in disbelief at the now-peaceful sleeping face of the alpha.

It wasn’t hard to imagine the kind of environment Jiang Zhan had grown up in. Wei Xiaochi could even picture a young Jiang Zhan being gently lulled to sleep by his family members.

Jiang Zhan had likely been pampered his whole life. Although he had a temper, his heart was probably brimming with a sense of happiness.

The two of them couldn’t be more different. From their values to their hobbies, even down to their upbringing, they had no overlap at all.

If it weren’t for that fateful loan incident, Wei Xiaochi and Jiang Zhan might never have crossed paths in their entire lives.

The culprit behind that unexpected meeting was Song Langlang. Jiang Zhan’s phone payment system had been accidentally locked because Song Langlang, while fiddling with it, had mistakenly locked the payment password.

At the time, Jiang Zhan was in a rush to confront Fang Zhixin and his gang. Wei Xiaochi, wearing the No. 2 High School uniform, just happened to walk by, and Jiang Zhan had yanked him over and borrowed a little over a hundred yuan.

That chain of coincidences led to their first encounter. Thinking back on it now, Wei Xiaochi still found it unbelievable.

Sigh.

Wei Xiaochi and Jiang Zhan went to bed right on time, but the AB group downstairs partied hard all night.

At first, they played games until midnight. When that got boring, someone suggested Truth or Dare.

After a few rounds, they decided the game was too old-fashioned and not thrilling enough. By 1 or 2 a.m., these energetic alpha and beta “big shots” began testing the limits of their physical abilities.

They stacked tables to jump from, raced against the clock in the swimming pool, parkoured down the stairs, and finally, went night surfing at the beach.

The chaos lasted until dawn, leaving everyone utterly exhausted and sprawled in various sleeping positions.

The next morning, Wei Xiaochi woke up, freshened up, and went downstairs in search of food.

The moment he stepped into the living room, he saw more than ten people lying around haphazardly on the floor. Some were lying properly on the sofa but had been dragged off halfway, leaving half their bodies on the couch and the other half on the floor.

Only athletes could pull off such complicated sleeping poses. Wei Xiaochi, being an amateur, couldn’t replicate them even if he wanted to.

Jiang Zhan followed Wei Xiaochi downstairs shortly after. He didn’t spare the group a glance, simply grabbing Wei Xiaochi’s hand and leading him to breakfast.

When they returned, those people were still passed out in the living room. Taking advantage of the quiet, Wei Xiaochi went back to his room to start on his homework.

Jiang Zhan didn’t disturb him, leisurely sitting beside the omega. “Finish your homework today, and tomorrow I’ll take you out.”

Wei Xiaochi’s hand slipped, almost tearing his test paper with his pen.

He looked up abruptly, his face screaming, “Another outing?!”

Jiang Zhan raised an eyebrow. “You have a problem with that?”

Wei Xiaochi pulled a long face. “I have things to do tomorrow.”

He had already lost a day of work today; tomorrow, he needed to be at the milk tea shop.

Jiang Zhan replied, “Whatever it is, cancel it. Tomorrow, you’re going on a date with me.”

Wei Xiaochi gripped his pen tightly. “Haven’t we already gone on enough dates?”

From Monday onward, hadn’t they been going on dates every evening? To Wei Xiaochi, even today counted. If it weren’t for Jiang Zhan, Han Ziyang would never have invited him to his birthday. And without Jiang Zhan’s involvement, no matter how much Han Ziyang hyped it up, he wouldn’t have come.

In a negotiating tone, Wei Xiaochi said, “Tomorrow really won’t work. Can we pick another time?”

Jiang Zhan turned his head away awkwardly. “I’m not making you exercise tomorrow.”

Even though he always said he didn’t care about what Li Suilin thought, deep down, Jiang Zhan had taken his words to heart. Wei Xiaochi really did look pretty worn out.

Jiang Zhan had even gone online to do some research. Apparently, amusement parks were the ultimate dating hotspot for couples—especially haunted houses.

With a hint of bossiness, Jiang Zhan said, “No matter what, you have to clear your schedule for tomorrow.”

Wei Xiaochi looked at Jiang Zhan with a troubled expression. “Can’t we do it today?”

Jiang Zhan replied, “I bought tickets for tomorrow. Today, you’ll finish your homework, and in the afternoon, we’ll go to the beach.”

Hearing that he still had to go to the beach in the afternoon, Wei Xiaochi felt like he’d been struck by lightning. He had planned to tell Han Ziyang when he woke up that he was heading home.

He had already made an agreement with the flyer distribution company to hand out 300 flyers in the afternoon.

Jiang Zhan had completely upended his plans. This early relationship was becoming a real drain on both time and money.

Wei Xiaochi rushed through one subject of homework before braving the scorching sun with Jiang Zhan to wrap up their afternoon plans early.

After much pleading, Jiang Zhan grudgingly agreed to take him home after lunch.

By the time Wei Xiaochi got home, it was already 1:40 p.m. He didn’t even go inside and immediately hopped on his bike to head to the flyer distribution company.

When he arrived, one of the employees was visibly annoyed. “What time do you think it is? Didn’t I tell you the latest you could come was one?”

Wei Xiaochi apologized nervously. “Sorry, something came up today, and I’m running late.”

The employee impatiently pointed to a corner. “There’s 300 flyers over there. Take them to Zhongshan Road and hand them out. Be back by 5:30.”

Wei Xiaochi thanked him, picked up the heavy stack of flyers, and placed them in his bike basket before heading to Zhongshan Road.

The prime spots with heavy foot traffic had already been assigned to others. Zhongshan Road didn’t have any big malls, just a few small supermarkets.

Each flyer assignment had its own requirements. Sometimes you had to hand them out to people directly; other times, you could leave them in bike baskets.

With his stack of flyers, Wei Xiaochi went from bike to bike, placing one flyer in each basket. By the time he returned to the company at exactly 5:30, he had completed his task and received 60 yuan.

Five hundred flyers earned 80 yuan; 300 flyers earned 60 yuan.

Clutching the cash, Wei Xiaochi biked back home. Fang Yuan wasn’t back yet, and the twins were watching cartoons with Madam Wei.

The moment Madam Wei saw him, she frowned. “Out all day again. What on earth have you been up to?”

Wei Xiaochi pressed his chapped lips together and muttered, “A classmate invited me to their birthday.”

Hearing this, Madam Wei got even angrier. “All you care about is your own fun. You could’ve spent that time helping your siblings with their homework. No wonder they don’t feel close to you. You’re gone all day, and they don’t even miss you.”

Wei Xiaochi stayed silent.

After grumbling for a while, Madam Wei started teaching Wei Zimo some bad words, laughing when he parroted her.

“You little rascal,” Madam Wei chuckled, playfully tapping his mouth. “You wait until your mom gets back and sees how I punish you for swearing.”

Carrying his schoolbag, Wei Xiaochi went to the twins’ room, sat on the bed for a moment to rest, then dragged his tired body to the kitchen to make dinner.

By the time Fang Yuan returned, the rice was already cooking, and Wei Xiaochi was slicing potatoes.

Fang Yuan hung her bag on the coat rack and walked into the kitchen. “I’ll take over.”

But Wei Xiaochi shook his head and told her to help the twins with their homework instead.

Fang Yuan, who had spent the whole day working, was exhausted. Seeing that Wei Xiaochi was insistent, she didn’t argue. After washing her hands, she went to reprimand Wei Zimo.

“Wei Zimo, what did you do at kindergarten today?”

Wei Zimo cautiously hid behind Madam Wei. “Nothing.”

“Your teacher told me everything on WeChat. You got into a fight during lunch and even dumped rice on someone’s face.”

“You think hiding behind your grandma will stop me from dealing with you?” Fang Yuan’s eyes blazed. “Get out here!”

“If the rice had burned someone, what would you do then? Do you want the police to come and take you away?”

“If you don’t come out now—”

Tears welled up in Wei Zimo’s eyes. Madam Wei, protective as always, couldn’t help but chime in. “What are you doing? Can’t you just talk to him nicely? He’s just a child.”

“Mom, you think this is a small matter? Today, he dumps rice; tomorrow, he’ll be throwing punches!”

“Don’t exaggerate!”

“It’s not an exaggeration!”

Listening to the escalating argument from the kitchen, Wei Xiaochi felt a growing sense of panic. His palms began to sweat, and his heart raced uncontrollably.

Only when the shouting finally stopped did the anxiety slowly subside.

Wei Xiaochi rubbed his face hard, forcing himself to focus on studying.

Unable to decline the Sunday date, Wei Xiaochi agreed to meet Jiang Zhan at the community entrance at 9 a.m.

Parking near the amusement park was difficult, so Jiang Zhan didn’t have his driver drop them off but opted for a taxi instead.

By the time Jiang Zhan called, Wei Xiaochi spotted him waiting next to a taxi outside the community.

Seeing the school bag slung over Wei Xiaochi’s shoulder, Jiang Zhan frowned. “Why are you always carrying that bag?”

Wei Xiaochi stammered, “I brought two apples from home, some water, and a few books.”

He had also packed his ledger and bankbook. Those were items he always carried with him and never left at home, fearing Fang Yuan or the others might find them.

Jiang Zhan didn’t comment further, opening the car door. “Get in.”

Wei Xiaochi quickly climbed in.

The amusement park was packed. Not even the thirty-something-degree heat could deter couples from their dates.

Jiang Zhan bought VIP tickets, which cost more than twice as much as regular tickets. The perk was that they didn’t have to wait in line and could access all attractions directly.

Holding hands, they entered through the VIP lane. After a security check, the staff handed them a park guide.

Jiang Zhan flagged down a sightseeing car and headed straight for the haunted house.

Outside, a long line of young people waited to enter, mostly clinging couples. Jiang Zhan glanced at them, spotting plenty of lovey-dovey pairs, and felt smug.

He turned to Wei Xiaochi. “Are you scared?”

Wei Xiaochi blinked. “Not really.”

Jiang Zhan might have smiled at that, though it was hard to tell.

As Jiang Zhan led him through the VIP entrance, the staff gave them a few quick safety reminders before letting them in.

The haunted house was pitch black, the narrow passages so dark they couldn’t see their hands in front of them. Clutching each other’s hands tightly, they fumbled forward amidst the creepy sound effects.

Suddenly, a blue light flashed ahead, illuminating a ghost with disheveled hair. It wailed about its missing head, and with a thud, a severed head fell to the ground.

Shrieks erupted from those around them.

Wei Xiaochi, however, remained calm. He had once worked as an NPC in a small haunted house at a local amusement park. Though it only lasted two days before he was let go—due to his young age and lack of acting skills—he’d seen these tricks before.

Jiang Zhan noticed Wei Xiaochi’s unnervingly calm demeanor and asked again, “Why aren’t you scared?”

Wei Xiaochi replied simply, “There’s nothing to be scared of.”

Just as Jiang Zhan was about to say something else, the haunted house sound effects shifted. A sudden squeaking noise was followed by something being thrown their way.

Reflexively, Jiang Zhan caught it, but the furry texture paired with the squeaking sounds made him freeze. Then, with a startled expression, he shouted, “Shit.”

Like he’d been shocked, Jiang Zhan flung the object away, grabbed Wei Xiaochi, and bolted in the opposite direction.

Wei Xiaochi stumbled as Jiang Zhan yanked him forward, nearly losing his balance. Amidst the chaos, Jiang Zhan kept shouting, “Shit, shit, there’s a rat!”

Realizing what had happened, Wei Xiaochi quickly reassured him, “It’s not a real rat—it’s just a stuffed toy!”

Jiang Zhan refused to believe him, his grip on Wei Xiaochi tightening as they moved. Eventually, Wei Xiaochi managed to calm him enough to stop. He crouched down and started searching for the discarded toy in the dark.

In the process, someone accidentally stepped on his hand. Wei Xiaochi winced but didn’t make a sound. After fumbling for a moment, he finally retrieved the fluffy object and handed it to Jiang Zhan.

“It’s fake. It’s not a real rat. They wouldn’t use live animals—they might bite people. You can feel it for yourself.”

Jiang Zhan turned away stubbornly. “I don’t want to.”

Wei Xiaochi gently coaxed him, pulling him into a corner. “There are too many people here; we can’t get out right now. Once we get past this section, the staff won’t throw any more of these things.”

Jiang Zhan remained silent.

The crowd behind them kept pushing forward, with occasional screams and people demanding to leave. The chaos resulted in several shoves and stomps, and Wei Xiaochi’s shoulders and feet bore the brunt of it.

After a minute of tense silence, Jiang Zhan finally calmed down. With a stiff tone, he said, “Let’s go.”

Wei Xiaochi led him forward cautiously.

The deeper they went into the haunted house, the more elaborate the scares became. Sound effects howled ominously, and NPCs seemed determined to frighten everyone passing through.

At one point, a ghost puppet suddenly descended from above, hanging upside down right in front of Wei Xiaochi’s face. Its head nearly bumped into his.

Startled, Wei Xiaochi took a step back. Jiang Zhan, however, clenched his fist, ready to punch the prop. Wei Xiaochi grabbed him just in time to prevent a disaster.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally emerged from the haunted house. Wei Xiaochi inhaled the fresh air with relief, feeling like he’d just been freed from a cage.

Jiang Zhan, on the other hand, looked sour. Still upset about his earlier scare, he refused to look at Wei Xiaochi. His head was held high, chin tilted so far upward it looked like he was trying to pierce the sky with it.

Not wanting to make things worse, Wei Xiaochi didn’t bring up what had happened in the haunted house.

Eager to prove himself, Jiang Zhan headed straight for the thrill rides. His first stop: the spinning space-time ride, known for its dizzying rotations that left most people too shaky to stand afterward.

Wei Xiaochi paled at the sight. “You go ahead. I’m scared. I’ll wait for you here.”

Jiang Zhan nodded coolly. “Alright.”

Without hesitation, he left to join the ride.

Jiang Zhan proceeded to try out other high-intensity rides like the free-fall tower and the giant pendulum. After experiencing the thrills, his mood seemed to improve, and his expression softened. He finally started leading Wei Xiaochi to less intense attractions.

To his surprise, Wei Xiaochi rejected anything remotely exciting. Whether it was river rafting or the pirate ship, he claimed he was too scared to participate.

At first, Jiang Zhan didn’t think much of it. But as time went on, he noticed Wei Xiaochi seemed increasingly distracted. This made Jiang Zhan frown.

When Wei Xiaochi declined the rafting ride again, Jiang Zhan decided to go ahead without him. While he was gone, Wei Xiaochi reached into his bag and pulled out a stack of flyers, discreetly handing them out to nearby visitors.

Not wanting to stray too far, Wei Xiaochi stayed within the vicinity, moving quickly to distribute as many flyers as he could.

Just as he was reaching for another stack in his bag, he caught a glimpse of Jiang Zhan out of the corner of his eye. The alpha stood a short distance away, face dark with anger, staring directly at him.

Wei Xiaochi froze, panic spreading across his face. For three or four seconds, he couldn’t move. His heart pounded wildly, nearly out of control.

Jiang Zhan, seething, didn’t say a word. He simply turned and walked away.

Wei Xiaochi opened his mouth, wanting to call out to him, but when he took a step forward, he stopped himself. Slowly, his eyes dropped to the ground.

They weren’t suited for each other in the first place. This was for the best.

After all, they would break up sooner or later.

Author’s Note:

There will be a second update later. I originally planned to include the dramatic showdown you’re all waiting for, but I didn’t get to it this chapter.

Next chapter: the showdown begins! Let’s go wild, my friends!