Ch.35 – One-way Passage

Xia Wennan was seated in his office, a massive pile of data and documents atop his desk, including previous R&D reports and Ming Yan’s most recent market research.

Every now and then, he would think back to the previous night’s conversation with Ming Luchuan and inevitably become sidetracked. Last night, the man remained silent after Xia Wennan had answered his own question, regardless of what else he asked.

Xia Wennan had no intention of putting Ming Luchuan in a difficult position. He had crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned back against the chair as he said, “If you still have feelings for him, go ahead and say it outright.”

In the end, Ming Luchuan icily spat out, “I don’t have any feelings for him.”

Later that night, when the driver had parked the car in the parking garage, Ming Luchuan opened the door, climbed out of the car, and walked away without looking back.

Xia Wennan was baffled—his gut told him that Ming Luchuan was angry, but couldn’t figure out what Ming Luchuan had to be angry about.

Mind straying, Xia Wennan snapped back to his senses and made himself focus on the paperwork before him.

Come noon, someone knocked on his office door, but they didn’t wait for him to respond before opening the door and sticking their head in.

“Wennan.” Ming Siyan grinned, his voice dripping with familiarity.

Xia Wennan looked up at him. “Hi.”

Ming Siyan entered Xia Wennan’s office, plopped down on the sofa, and asked, “You’re officially back to work?”

Xia Wennan leaned back, his chair swivelling from side to side. “There’s nothing to do at home anyway.”

Ming Siyan laughed. “Dad still worries about you, he keeps complaining because you won’t come and stay home for a while.”

Xia Wennan had a pen in his hand, at this time, he raised the pen to his lips and bit on the lid, inquiring, “Why does dad want me to go back?”

“Dad loves it when it’s lively,” said Ming Siyan. “When you guys first got married, he didn’t want you and da-ge to move out.”

“Oh,” Xia Wennan also laughed. “Your family seems to really like me.”

“It was you who saved Ming Yan,” Ming Siyan said, “of course our family likes you.”

Before Ming Yan’s Emotions line hit the market, their sales figures had already plunged to an all-time low. At the time, Ming Qin had still been in charge of the company, but Ming Yan had failed to launch a single successful perfume on the heels of their award-winning Summertime Snowfield. Perhaps Ming Qin had aged out of time, or perhaps his heart was no longer in it, but at the time, Ming Yan had truly been on the brink of a crisis.

So it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Xia Wennan had saved Ming Yan.

Xia Wennan knew all this. He believed that Ming Siyan was right—so, shouldn’t the Ming family be grateful to him? Why would someone drug him? Was the culprit really someone from the Ming family?

His gaze landed on Ming Siyan once more.

At present, Ming Siyan was in charge of theR&D team at the other lab, and they were also conducting research on pheromone perfumes. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t inaccurate to say that they were competitors. Plus, he and Ming Luchuan were brothers; if Ming Luchuan could take over Ming Yan, so could he. Therefore, if one were to say that Ming Siyan didn’t like Xia Wennan, it would make perfect sense.

Xia Wennan bit at the lid of his pen.

Ming Siyan’s skin was so fair that it was practically transparent. His pupils were jet-black, and as his eyes bore into Xia Wennan, he slightly pursed his lips and asked, “Wennan, have you gotten used to living with da-ge?”

“Pretty much,” Xia Wennan said. “We didn’t live together before?”

“I thought you’d forgotten.”

“I did,” Xia Wennan said heedlessly. “Maybe it’s just an impression in my subconscious.”

“Da-ge has a bit of a temper on him.”

Xia Wennan thought, here he goes again… sowing discord, and didn’t respond.

“You used to say that you couldn’t stand his temper, so I thought that might still be the case,” said Ming Siyan.

Xia Wennan couldn’t help saying, “He’s so annoying, seriously.”

Ming Siyan laughed. “I’m happy as long as you remember me,” he remarked, tone tinged with regret.

“Remember what about you?” Xia Wennan probed.

“Remember that I’m your best friend at home, of course,” said Ming Siyan. “Remember that when we chatted all night long, there was nothing you couldn’t tell me.”

“Sorry, I don’t remember at all,” Xia Wennan said after a moment. When he heard what Ming Siyan had said, he was a little dumbfounded; the first thing he thought was actually: A beta and an omega spending an entire night together—is that not inappropriate? Was he so unattractive to other sexes, as a beta?

Ming Siyan stayed in his office until lunchtime, when he invited Xia Wennan to go to the cafeteria with him.

Xia Wennan got up, opened the door, and darted out before Ming Siyan could link arms with him. He then walked in front of Ming Siyan, keeping a short distance away from the latter as he swiftly paced in the direction of the elevator.

It was already quite late when they arrived at the cafeteria, which was packed to the brim with employees eating lunch.

The moment Xia Wennan walked in, he spotted Ming Luchuan sitting at his usual seat, quietly eating alone.

Since Xia Wennan had come with Ming Siyan, he naturally sat with Ming Siyan after fetching his meal, two tables away from Ming Luchuan.

Compared to Ming Luchuan, Ming Siyan was far more approable. Employees greeted him in a much more casual manner, and at times, they even cracked a few jokes with him.

It might also be due to the fact that Ming Siyan was an omega, unlike an alpha, who exuded a natural air of oppression.

After settling down in their seats, Ming Siyan whispered to Xia Wennan, “Will da-ge get mad at you if you don’t go to his table?”

“It should be fine,” said Xia Wennan, inwardly thinking that Ming Luchuan was already mad at him anyway; it made no difference whether his anger increased by a little or a lot.

Ming Siyan was still speaking in his ear, presenting an intimate image. “Da-ge’s a really difficult guy. He’s been like that since he was little.”

Xia Wennan nodded. “I figured.”

Today, the cafeteria served curry beef brisket, which suited Xia Wennan’s tastes. Not wanting to keep talking about Ming Luchuan with Ming Siyan lest it affect his appetite, he lowered his head and dug into his meal.

Halfway through their meal, Ming Luchuan had already finished eating and was about to stand up to put his empty plate away when someone in the cafeteria suddenly shouted, “Manager Xia!”

At first, Xia Wennan was unaware that he was being called. It was Ming Siyan who quietly pointed them out to him. “Wennan, someone’s looking for you.”

Xia Wennan lifted his head and saw one of his laboratory staff members approaching with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, a somewhat excited grin painting his face. He walked up to their table and handed Xia Wennan the flowers he’d brought.

“What is this?” Xia Wennan was bewildered.

“Someone left you a gift,” said the employee. “Your office was locked, so I went ahead and brought it to you.”

Almost every head in the cafeteria was turned their way. They first snuck a glance at Xia Wennan and the flowers in front of him, then shifted their gazes towards Ming Luchuan at the next table over.

Ming Luchuan was frozen where he stood, similarly staring at the flower bouquet.

Uncomfortable with someone holding up flowers right in front of him, Xia Wennan reached out and took it, saying, “Thanks.” In truth, he was a little unhappy that this person had brought the flowers to the cafeteria and enabled so many people to witness this spectacle.

Ming Siyan was also curious. “Are those flowers from da-ge?” He carefully examined the bouquet and exclaimed, “Ah! These aren’t flowers.”

The employee who’d brought the bouquet was grinning as he said, “I checked, the flowers are made of chocolate.”

Xia Wennan looked down to inspect the bouquet and discovered that they were indeed not flowers. With a deep sense of forebody in his heart, he unwrapped one of the chocolates by random and—

“Huh, they’re chocolate truffles,” said Ming Siyan. “Is da-ge that romantic?”

At the mention of his name, Ming Luchuan’s entire face clouded over. He picked up his meal tray impassively and left the cafeteria.