Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Zhao Yang’s rented apartment was very close to the City Police Department, just a ten-minute drive away. The neighborhood was older but kept fairly clean. At first, the department even covered part of the rent, so gradually, Zhao Yang and Qi Feng had managed to make a life for themselves in the city.

Though Qi Feng had already moved out, her old room was still empty. As soon as she stepped inside, she dug out her panda slippers and loungewear and changed into them.

Xu Zhangying crossed his arms and sighed helplessly at the two of them. “You two aren’t actually getting together, are you?”

Zhao Yang and Qi Feng instantly wore expressions of horror, shouting in unison, “No way!”

Xu Zhangying grinned at them. “That’s what I thought.”

Qi Feng tied her hair into a tiny ponytail and, like an oversized dog, sidled up to Xu Zhangying, begging him to cook her boiled fish. Xu Zhangying rolled up his sleeves and started putting on an apron, saying confidently, “Easy.”

The tiny kitchen took Xu Zhangying back to his high school days. The moment he turned on the gas stove, he felt as if he had only been away on a long trip—as if the kitchen door would burst open any second as the big tabby cat barged in, and he’d let out a yell before a boy in a school uniform rushed in, bent down, and carried the cat away.

He threw in a handful of Sichuan peppercorns and immediately started sneezing like crazy.

Between sneezes, he listened as Qi Feng, washing vegetables, said hesitantly, “Xiao Ying, why do you have to pretend not to know Xia Qing? Even if he doesn’t remember us, he still seemed to like you a lot today.”

Xu Zhangying sneezed again before turning to look at her. “You saw wrong. I felt like he was just looking at a stranger.”

Qi Feng shot a glance at Zhao Yang, who was leaning against the door watching them, then quickly added, “You barely dared to look at Xia Qing today, but he kept staring at you. Same as when he first transferred here.”

Zhao Yang let out a displeased “tsk.”

Qi Feng glared at him.

Xu Zhangying wiped his face with his sleeve and suddenly laughed. “Qi Feng, to be honest, aside from you two, almost no one knows I used to be an alpha. Ali’s worked with me for five years, and she doesn’t know either.”

He raised his head to meet Qi Feng’s beautiful almond-shaped eyes, hesitating. “So it’s a bit complicated. It’s like... I’m not Lin Shuhua—I’m not Xia Qing’s actual brother. I’d need to dump a whole backstory on him: ‘Hey, we used to be good friends, but back then I was an alpha, and now I’m a beta. Oh, and you’ve forgotten everything.’”

Zhao Yang straightened up at this point, his tone indifferent. “Don’t mind her nonsense. There’s no need. It’s not like we made him lose his memory. If he ever remembers and wants to find us, we wouldn’t turn him away.”

However, as he spoke, he failed to notice the slight tremor in Xu Zhangying’s hands.

Qi Feng seemed annoyed with Zhao Yang’s cold tone and said urgently, “But what if he really does remember later and finds out we never told him the truth? He’d definitely be angry. It’d feel like the three of us conspired to deceive him.”

“Qi Feng, there is no ‘what if.’ Didn’t Lin Shuhua already guarantee it?” Zhao Yang suddenly cut her off.

Over the racket of the range hood, Qi Feng abruptly fell silent. Xu Zhangying, realizing something, turned off the gas stove and turned to face Zhao Yang. “What did Lin Shuhua guarantee? Why would he guarantee anything?”

But Zhao Yang just kept his head down. Xu Zhangying strode forward and repeated, “What did he guarantee to you?”

Zhao Yang suddenly lifted his head, sneering. “What else? He guaranteed that Xia Qing’s lost memories would never be recovered.”

Xu Zhangying froze, stunned. “Why would Lin Shuhua say that to you? How did you even get in touch with him?”

Lin Shuhua was the eldest grandson of Lin Guangji, the firstborn son of his second daughter and her live-in husband. A year older than Xu Zhangying and the others, he was the Lin family’s first top-tier alpha and Xia Qing’s cousin. But after graduating high school, he had almost completely cut ties with Xu Zhangying’s group—after all, he was a rich kid, miles above them socially.

Zhao Yang didn’t answer. After a long hesitation, Qi Feng spoke up. “Eight years ago, when Zhao Yang and I couldn’t find you, we went to the address you used to send us things—the apartment you and Xia Qing rented back then.”

Zhao Yang immediately snapped, “Qi Feng! We agreed never to bring that up again.”

The second the words left his mouth, Xu Zhangying grabbed his shoulders, furious and anxious. “Why wouldn’t you bring it up? You went looking for me?”

When Zhao Yang raised his face again, his eyes were red-rimmed, his voice icy. “We’ve got more heart than you. How could we not look for you? Xu Zhangying, did you really think Xia Qing was the only one in the world who cared about you?”

Xu Zhangying’s chest caved in. Faced with Zhao Yang’s scathing words, the lies he’d clung to for years unraveled. His throat locked up, leaving him with no comeback.

Qi Feng walked over at this moment, pushed Zhao Yang back, and snapped, "Are you out of your mind? If you can't speak properly, then just shut the fuck up—I’ve ignored your worsening temper these past few years, but if you act up now, I swear I’ll beat you up!"

He turned and saw the devastated Xu Zhangying, quickly stepping forward to take his hand. "Zhao Yang didn’t mean what he said. Don’t mind him. You might not say it, but how could I not know what you’re really like? There’s no way these years have been as easy as you claim."

"You… looked for me?" Xu Zhangying stammered.

Qi Feng glanced at the silent Zhao Yang before turning back to him.

"Actually, we looked for Xia Qing too," Qi Feng shook his head. "It was early June. The landlord said you’d been sick since February, and Xia Qing had been taking care of you. But on May 13th, you suddenly ran away from home. Xia Qing went out to find you… and never came back."

"We had no choice but to search for you both at school. By then, you’d already missed your thesis defense. Your roommate said your professor and classmates were searching everywhere for you. Later, your professor managed to keep you enrolled for two more years. As for Xia Qing, neither his classmates nor teachers knew where he’d gone."

As Qi Feng recounted the events, Xu Zhangying felt himself dragged back into that scorching, chaotic summer. He gripped the kitchen counter to steady himself, just as Zhao Yang let out a soft, bitter laugh.

"Back then, I thought, ‘Damn it, did these two idiots pull some tragic love story shit?’"

Xu Zhangying’s pupils dilated as he stared at Zhao Yang, who met his gaze squarely. "I know Xia Qing was always… weird. But he genuinely liked you more than the rest of us did. That’s why the four of us got along so well. So I was sure—if anyone knew where you were, it had to be him."

"But I couldn’t find him anywhere," Zhao Yang muttered, sitting down at the dining table. "Until three months later. I was still at school, and Qi Feng had already started working at the city bureau. We got a call from one of Xia Qing’s classmates, saying he’d returned to collect his diploma. We were baffled—Xia Qing hadn’t even done his thesis defense. What diploma? But we rushed back to Beijing to find him anyway."

Xu Zhangying moved closer, but Zhao Yang refused to look at him, shaking his head fiercely. "You can probably guess what happened next. Xia Qing became a full-blown Lin. We couldn’t reach him anymore. I refused to give up. I staked out outside the Lin estate for days until I finally ran into Lin Shuhua. He told me his ‘top-tier alpha cousin’ had burned his brain out from a high fever, developed retrograde amnesia. His long-term memories stopped right after his father’s death. High school? College? All gone."

Xu Zhangying crouched down, gazing up at Zhao Yang’s face. Softly, he said, "Zhao Yang, it’s over. I won’t leave again."

Zhao Yang clenched his fists, stubbornly turning away. "I told Lin Shuhua I wasn’t there for Xia Qing—I was looking for Xu Zhangying. He said he already knew you two were close and had asked Xia Qing, but he didn’t remember. God knows what awful shit I yelled at him. In the end, that stiff bastard promised that once Xia Qing returned from treatment overseas, he’d arrange a meeting. So we waited another half year until Xia Qing came back for Chinese New Year."

Here, Zhao Yang actually chuckled. "It was the second day of Chinese New Year. Qi Feng and I stood at the gates of the Lin family’s villa garden. Xia Qing—no, *Xia Qing*—was sitting inside reading. He looked completely normal. He glanced up and asked, ‘Who are you?’ We just stood there staring at him for a while… then turned around and left. Lin Shuhua chased after us and said—"

"‘Even if you run into Xia Qing again, don’t mention you were classmates. The Lin family hasn’t told him anything about what happened after his father’s death. It’s better this way for everyone.’"

Xu Zhangying’s eyes widened in shock, frozen in place. Qi Feng stepped closer, murmuring, "Xia Qing’s long-term memories are stuck right after his father’s death. The Lin family saw it as an opportunity. Lin Shuhua’s point was—they didn’t want Xia Qing, who couldn’t remember anyway, to develop unnecessary misunderstandings. And the more Xia Qing felt tied to the Lin family, the more resources they’d invest in him."

Standing beside Xu Zhangying, Qi Feng forced a weak smile. "So, even though Zhao Yang curses Xia Qing all the time, he’s never brought up the past with him. We’ve all pretended to be strangers."

Over the years, the three who stayed in China had grinded their way through, building regular lives for themselves—utterly disconnected from the billionaire heir of Xing’an.

The only sound in the quiet room was the drip of the kitchen tap. The three stood in silence for a long time until, suddenly, Xu Zhangying laughed. He pressed Zhao Yang’s hand against his own face. "You’ve got guts, Young Master Zhao."

With that, he stood up, mussed up Qi Feng’s hair, and headed back into the kitchen to get cooking.

Qi Feng glanced between Xu Zhangying and Zhao Yang, at a loss, before kicked Zhao Yang in the shin. "Say something!"

Zhao Yang remained silent, abruptly standing and marching into the kitchen to chop the fish.

Within seconds, Qi Feng heard the two of them arguing.

Just like eight years ago.

---

"Back in the U.S., the doctor gave me two choices: stay an alpha or become a beta. But staying an alpha meant applying to marry a highly compatible Omega. I asked if becoming a beta required marriage. The doctor said no. So I said, ‘Then I’ll be a beta.’"

Xu Zhangying got clearer-headed the more he drank, Qi Feng drowsier, and Zhao Yang was a total lightweight—one glass turned him red as a lobster.

Xu Zhangying recounted his medical history almost jokingly, while Qi Feng slumped over the table, mumbling drunkenly, "So what if you had to marry? How could you become a beta? You can’t be a beta…"

Zhao Yang seemed to be out cold, silent. Amused, Xu Zhangying mused aloud, "A year later, during a check-up, I asked the doctor what he thought had changed about me."

"The doctor said, ‘You can talk properly now without punching me.’ So I said being a beta is clearly better than being an alpha. The doctor agreed."

Zhao Yang suddenly lifted his head with effort. "You used to say stuff like that all the time in high school. I thought you were just humoring Xia Qing. Who knew you actually meant it?"

Xu Zhangying rested his chin on his hand, gaze clear. "I’ve never lied to you guys. Not before, not now."

Zhao Yang’s head drooped lower until he mumbled, "Bullshit. You’ve been feeding him lies all day today."

Surveying the mess of the table and his two passed-out friends, Xu Zhangying finally said to the air, "Yeah. And I’ll keep feeding him lies from now on, too."