Chapter 70 “Surprise”

Chapter 70: "Surprise"

For Chen Su, feeling secure was extremely hard. Ever since his parents divorced, he had always been afraid of the night, afraid that when he woke up one morning, his father would have abandoned him too. That fear of being abandoned made him loathe nighttime and silence from the very core of his being.

In Ruiyan Village, as in most rural areas, it was very quiet. The small shop at the village entrance closed at nine, which was already considered late.

When it was too quiet, Chen Su would lie in bed, tossing and turning, thinking about many things.

He thought: Why did my mother abandon me? When would my father's illness get better? Would I be abandoned again? How would I pay next year's tuition, and how much money would it take to change my situation?

Chen Su studied hard. Whenever he couldn't sleep, he got up and read, over and over. Naturally, his grades were excellent. But his fear of nighttime silence never disappeared. After his father died, it became even worse. Later, he took in Xiao Li, went to college, and lived in the dorm, where the nights weren't so quiet, and that helped a little.

But he had another difficulty—Xiao Li's illness.

Chen Su was too easily weighed down by things and couldn't sleep. He rarely got a good night's rest, so he simply cut down on his sleep time.

Until Zhao Jinzong appeared.

Zhao Jinzong would accompany him to rest early. Zhao Jinzong's arms were always warm, so warm that Chen Su felt that even dying would be a happy thing.

When Zhao Jinzong was with him, he could always sleep well.

Chen Su thought, if he could keep it under wraps, that would be great.

You can't wrap fire in paper; how could he possibly keep it hidden forever?

No matter how good Chen Su was at hiding things, he couldn't fool Zhao Jinzong for long. Since it was destined not to last, he might as well live in the moment, set aside too many worries, and treat Zhao Jinzong better—better and better...

Chen Su shouldn't be so hard on Zhao Jinzong.

Chen Su turned back and kissed Zhao Jinzong. "Zhao Jinzong."

"Hmm?"

"I've submitted the divorce application to the Alpha Federation."

"… … …" Zhao Jinzong chuckled. "Okay."

Still wearing his glove, Chen Su gripped Zhao Jinzong's hand tightly and leaned into the Enigma's arms. "Good night."

The next morning, the Enigma's animal instincts took over, teeth lightly biting near the scent gland. During rut, that meant he wanted to mark Chen Su.

Zhao Jinzong wanted Chen Su to become his alpha.

Chen Su panicked. "No way."

Chen Su's voice trembled, like he was crying and begging. He begged Zhao Jinzong not to mark him.

Refusing to let your partner mark you during rutting was even worse than turning down sex.

A partner would submit and cooperate due to the compatibility of pheromones, but refusing to mark meant refusing the relationship.

Zhao Jinzong's eyes grew dim.

Chen Su kissed him for a long time until his lips went numb, giving himself completely to Zhao Jinzong just to beg him not to mark him.

It was impossible to tell if that behavior came from love or the lack of it.

Zhao Jinzong wiped the sweat from Chen Su's cheek and promised, "I won't mark you."

Marking would mean breaking up.

Chen Su had made a deal with Zhao Jinzong from the beginning: no marking.

Chen Su finally felt relieved.

He raised his hand to touch Zhao Jinzong's gland, but Zhao Jinzong dodged, caught his hand, and gently kissed it, showing he was annoyed.

Zhao Jinzong also refused to take his pills.

An Enigma in rut was hard to calm down. Chen Su coaxed him for a long time before he agreed to take the medicine.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were delivered by Uncle Wen, and Chen Su went to get them.

At noon, Chen Su's phone buzzed. It was a text from Sheng Beiqing, saying he wanted to come to Chen Su's house to discuss the divorce. Chen Su didn't think there was anything to discuss with Sheng Beiqing, but he agreed anyway. Not only that—he even prepared a "surprise" for him.

At lunch, Chen Su left the door ajar when he went to get the food.

After eating, Chen Su soaked up some sun for a while. The Enigma was in the study dealing with work, unusually clear-headed.

Chen Su checked the time. From the General Bureau to the Chen house was an hour and a half; from the Sheng residence to the Chen house, two hours. He timed it, went downstairs carrying something, took off one glove, and tossed it onto the study desk, right in front of Zhao Jinzong.

Zhao Jinzong raised an eyebrow at the neatly dressed man before him, who was even wearing his coat, with only two buttons of his shirt collar undone, looking very proper. But the way he tossed the glove was pure flirting.

Zhao Jinzong tapped his finger on the leather glove, making a sound, and asked, "What are you doing?"

Chen Su ignored the fact that Zhao Jinzong was on the phone.

Right in front of the Enigma, he unbuckled his belt.

Zhao Jinzong chuckled. "We'll discuss it later."

An Enigma in rut had no duty to talk about work.

The call ended—

…

When Sheng Beiqing got to Chen's house, he called Chen Su. No one picked up. Chen Su rarely answered his calls anyway. He sent a message that also got no reply. Standing at the door, he was about to ring the doorbell when he unexpectedly discovered—

The door was open.

Sheng Beiqing's eyes lit up. He immediately went in, not even bothering to change his shoes, and hurriedly poured two glasses of warm water to carry upstairs. How could you talk things over without water?

Today, Sheng Beiqing hadn't come to discuss anything at all!

This glass of water would give him the perfect opening.

He went upstairs full of excitement. He didn't see Chen Su in the living room, nor in the bedroom. He thought Chen Su might be in the study.

Actually, Sheng Beiqing absolutely hated Chen Su's study. The invitation letter was in there! If Chen Su had come home just a bit later that day, he would have torn it to shreds!

But now, Sheng Beiqing couldn't care less.

Sheng Beiqing smiled and walked to the study door. The sounds coming from inside—he would never forget them as long as he lived—