Ch.19 – One-way Passage

Ming Luchuan left work a half-hour early to bring Xia Wennan home for dinner. He dismissed the driver for the day and drove there himself.

The sun had not yet set, still casting its rays from the far west. They were caught in the beginnings of rush hour traffic, and Xia Wennan sat in the passenger seat, watching as cars lined up at an intersection. Ming Luchuan slowly approached the end of the queue.

“Could you tell me about your family?” Xia Wennan appeared somewhat restless, unable to resist the urge to talk to Ming Luchuan.

Ming Luchuan’s hands were on the steering wheel, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. “I have a dad and two younger brothers.”

Xia Wennan cautiously inquired, “What about your mom?”

“My dad is an omega,” said Ming Luchuan.

Xia Wennan understood immediately. “Then do you have another dad? Or a mom? An alpha mom?”

Ming Luchuan’s brows faintly furrowed. “He’s dead.”

Hearing the dismissal in his tone, Xia Wennan wondered if there was conflict among his family members and decided to drop the matter.

The traffic light in front of them turned green, and the car set out once more.

Ming Luchuan suddenly added, “Don’t ask about my alpha father, my dad has nothing to do with him anymore.”

“Oh,” Xia Wennan mumbled. He shut his mouth and quietly gazed out of the car window.

Ming Luchuan drove towards the south of the city and arrived at the suburbs, where the surroundings changed into a picturesque natural landscape dotted with high-end residences and mansions belonging to the wealthy, one of which was owned by the Ming Family.

The Ming Family was wealthier than Xia Wennan had imagined. Their mansion didn’t stand alone, but was surrounded by a large swathe of lawn and gardens.

The automatic gates in front of them opened and slowly closed again after the car drove in.

Ming Luchuan casually parked his car at the side of the road, opened the door, and got out, waiting for Xia Wennan to catch up before heading towards the three-storey mansion directly in front of them.

Before they got very far, Xia Wennan heard someone on the second floor yell at them, “Luchuan! Wennan!”

Xia Wennan stopped in his tracks and looked up, spotting a delicate male omega on the second floor balcony, all smiles as he waved to them.

The omega was basked in the sunset glow, his hair dyed golden. He had downturned eyes and upturned lips, and was leaning over the balcony railings before he turned and padded into the house.

“Your little brother?” whispered Xia Wennan.

“My dad,” said Ming Luchuan.

Ming Luchuan and Xia Wennan had just entered the house when Ming Qin, Ming Luchuan’s omega father, came down from the second floor.

Xia Wennan hadn’t really gotten a good look at Ming Qin’s face from afar, but he could now carefully examine the middle-aged omega before him.

From his figure alone, there was nothing about Ming Qin that screamed “middle-aged man.” Like most omegas, he had a petite build, and despite the fact that he was no longer young, he remained slender. He had a fair and delicate complexion, like fine, expensive porcelain—a trait he shared with his omega son. He had a sharp chin and large eyes, his gaze clear as if he had never been weighed down by the passing years.

If one was determined to find the traces that time had left on him, they might be found in the fine lines at the corners of his eyes and the irreversible loss of collagen in his cheeks.

In short, Ming Qin looked extremely young, as if he was only in his thirties—far from someone who would have a son as old as Ming Luchuan.

Ming Qin wore a loose, long-sleeved T-shirt and sweatpants. The styling, combined with his small stature, made him seem like a student. He walked up to Xia Wennan and reached out to take his hand, saying, “Siyan told me you lost your memories.”

Feeling a little uneasy, he pushed Ming Qin’s hand away in embarrassment. He couldn’t say much more than, “I can’t remember anything past my second year of uni.”

Ming Qin frowned. “So you don’t remember us at all?”

Xia Wennan hummed. Without batting an eyelid, he withdrew his hand and stuffed it in his pocket.

“Did you forget Luchuan too?” Ming Qin asked.

Xia Wennan shot a glance at Ming Luchuan. “Yes.”

Ming Qin also turned to Ming Luchuan. “What did the doctors say? You didn’t tell me much on the phone the other day.”

“His memory loss was caused by his head injury,” Ming Luchuan answered. “The doctors didn’t say that there was no chance of him recovering, just that it would take time.”

“Why did you leave the hospital so quickly?” said Ming Qin. “I was planning on paying Wennan a visit.”

“Staying in the hospital won’t help his recovery. The doctor said that getting back to his life earlier may evoke some of his memories.”

Ming Qin looked towards Xia Wennan. “Has it helped?”

“Not yet,” Xia Wennan said.

Ming Qin was still frowning. “Is the doctor incompetent? Should I contact a specialist from overseas? Or should we just go straight there and have him look at Wennan?”

“That won’t be necessary,” Ming Luchuan said. “I’ll take care of it.”

Just as the words left his mouth, they heard the sound of the door opening, and a man walked inside.

Xia Wennan turned to see who it was and saw a tall male alpha. The alpha appeared exceptionally young, like he wasn’t even twenty yet. With a head of blond curls, he looked brash yet handsome. He was dressed in a basketball uniform, with a backpack slung over one shoulder and a basketball in his other hand.

The alpha came in spinning the basketball on his finger, stopping when he registered Ming Luchuan and Xia Wennan’s presence. The ball bounced off his leg twice, and he abandoned it to roll into a corner.

“Xiao Jing, you’re back?” Xia Wennan heard Ming Qin say.

The young alpha let out an acknowledging hum, walked to Ming Qin’s side, and lowered his head to kiss Ming Qin’s face before nodding to Ming Luchuan and Xia Wennan. “You’ve returned? Is Wennan all right? Are you recovering well?” He fired his questions off without seeming particularly interested in the answers, and before Xia Wennan could respond, he continued, “I just got back from a basketball game. I’ll come down after showering.”

Ming Qin put on a smile. “Did you win?”

The alpha’s lips curved upwards. “Of course,” he said, waving as he ran for the stairs.

Xia Wennan furtively tugged at Ming Luchuan’s shirt. He wanted to ask who that person was, but he didn’t want to do so in front of Ming Qin.

And yet after the alpha left, Ming Qin was the first to speak up about it. “Wennan doesn’t remember Xiao Jing?”

Xia Wennan hurriedly shook his head.

“He’s my boyfriend,” said Ming Qin. “His name is Yin Zejing.”

Xia Wennan had assumed that the alpha was Ming Luchuan’s other younger brother until he saw him kiss Ming Qin, which he had found odd. He now suppressed his inner shock and strived to keep his tone level. “He’s so… young.”

Ming Qin laughed and calmly said, “He’s twenty this year. He’s still in university.”

Struggling to keep a straight face, Xia Wennan yanked at Ming Luchuan’s clothes to dispel his chaotic emotions.

Ming Luchuan gave him a cold stare.

Right then, Ming Qin suddenly directed his gaze to something behind Wennan and exclaimed, “Chenchen?”

Xia Wennan turned his head and saw—emerging from the living room corridor—Ming Siyan in a wheelchair.