Who could the person Sui Yuesheng liked be?

Was it Jiang Jingyun, or that fleeting glimpse of the drunken alpha with a hint of rose fragrance that night? Or perhaps someone else, someone Tao Fengche didn’t know?

A complex mix of jealousy and anger enveloped Tao Fengche. He desperately wanted to ask Sui Yuesheng why he had never mentioned this before. After losing his father, weren’t they the closest people to each other in the world?

Their guardianship was even recorded in the public security bureau’s files.

But the last shred of reason stopped him from acting impulsively. Considering the ten years of silence between them, this was actually quite normal—after all these years apart, how could he assume that Sui Yuesheng would still confide everything in him?

…Moreover, whether it was ten years ago or now, Sui Yuesheng was still the same mysterious person. He had never intended to reveal everything about himself to Tao Fengche.

Tao Fengche wasn’t so consumed by jealousy that he couldn’t see that clearly.

It was like a thin, sharp silver needle pierced straight through his heart. The wound wasn’t large, but the pain was enough to make him breathless, wanting to curl up in bed and bury his head in the pillow, secretly wiping away his tears on the soft silk.

But all of this existed only in his imagination.

In reality, he just stood there, dumbfounded, slightly tilting his head, stubbornly staring at Sui Yuesheng’s back where he couldn’t be seen. He wanted to ask for an explanation but lacked the courage.

As long as he didn’t know the answer, he could still deceive himself. He could pretend that Sui Yuesheng just found an excuse to brush off Tang Wanxin, or that the person Sui Yuesheng secretly liked was already married with children and living far away, never to cross paths with him again. And so, he could bury his head in the desert of fantasies, avoiding reality like a timid ostrich.

But once he asked and Sui Yuesheng confirmed that the person existed and that he was planning to pursue him… then everything would be over.

Lost in thought, Tao Fengche didn’t notice that Sui Yuesheng and Tang Wanxin had finished their conversation. Sui Yuesheng turned his head, and their gazes briefly met.

The moment Tao Fengche felt Sui Yuesheng’s eyes on him, he quickly lowered his gaze, avoiding the piercing stare, concealing his jealousy, frustration, and deeply hidden insecurity. He hastily changed the subject, trying to divert Sui Yuesheng’s attention from the “person he liked” so he wouldn’t think about the one who made him burn with jealousy.

“Did you finish the parent-teacher conference?”

Tao Fengche swore he tried, but his voice still sounded dry, like stale bread that had been left in a freezer for a year. And his question was just plain stupid.

Before he could try to fix his blunder, Sui Yuesheng raised his brow slightly, teasing, “What, do you think I sneaked out?”

“Uh, that’s not what I meant, I was trying to say…” Tao Fengche stammered, his mind growing more chaotic the more anxious he became, unable to form a full sentence.

Sui Yuesheng, pretending not to notice his rambling, extended a hand and tactfully changed the topic. “Shall we head back now?”

Tao Fengche felt immensely relieved.

Of course, he could get up on his own, but he wouldn’t say that. He obediently placed his hand in Sui Yuesheng’s palm, letting him pull him up from the ground.

Sui Yuesheng’s hand wasn’t soft at all, roughened by years of holding a gun. But that was fine; Tao Fengche’s hands weren’t exactly soft either. In that brief moment when their hands touched, Tao Fengche let out a quiet sigh of relief—relieved that his hands wouldn’t hurt Sui Yuesheng, and at the same time, joy and happiness welled up inside him.

But it wasn’t even a real hand-holding. As soon as Tao Fengche was stable, Sui Yuesheng quickly let go, almost as if he were avoiding something.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Tao Fengche took out his phone and glanced at the screen. “We can’t go yet.”

“Hmm?” Sui Yuesheng was puzzled.

Tao Fengche explained, “We can’t leave the school until five-thirty, and it’s still about ten minutes to go.”

“So, earlier…?”

“Tang Wanxin lied to you.” Tao Fengche mercilessly exposed the omega’s ploy.

Sui Yuesheng couldn’t help but laugh.

He wanted to say, “If you keep being so straightforward, no omega will like you,” but he found Tao Fengche’s bluntness rather endearing. Torn between these conflicting emotions, he hadn’t decided what to say when Tao Fengche suddenly turned his head and asked, “Hmm?”

Only then did Sui Yuesheng realize he had unconsciously called him “Xiao Che” and hadn’t followed up with anything.

He quickly changed the subject. “So, what do we do now? Wait by the school gate?”

“No, that’d be silly…” Caught off guard by his nickname, Tao Fengche’s eyes lit up, but then he was disappointed by the suggestion. Without thinking, he blurted out, “Uh, do you want to go buy some ice cream at the store?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to hit himself—who eats ice cream in autumn?! Sui Yuesheng wasn’t an alpha, and he had a weak constitution to begin with…

Just as he was about to dismiss the suggestion, Sui Yuesheng unexpectedly nodded.

“Sure, where’s the store?”

“There’s a small shop next to the building where you had the conference, but the stuff there is pretty bad. If you don’t mind, we could walk past the basketball court to the dorms? There’s a bigger supermarket there,” Tao Fengche added.

“Sounds good,” Sui Yuesheng nodded.

The two of them walked along the edge of the basketball court, heading toward the dormitory building. On the court, Wang Yuan, who was sweating from playing, noticed Tao Fengche leaving and mischievously tossed the basketball his way.

The ball was aimed at Tao Fengche, but Wang Yuan’s aim was off, and the ball flew toward Sui Yuesheng instead.

Oh no, disaster!

Wang Yuan squeezed his eyes shut, too afraid to look at the outcome. He had even mentally prepared himself for kneeling in apology and being dragged by his father to Tao’s house for a formal apology. Then, suddenly, he heard a small gasp—

He cautiously peeked through a slit in his eyelids and saw Tao Fengche toss his backpack aside, jump into the air, and intercept the basketball mid-flight. With a powerful motion, the ball reversed direction and headed straight back toward Wang Yuan.

Wang Yuan quickly dodged to the side as the basketball narrowly missed him. Just as he caught his breath, Tao Fengche’s furious voice reached his ears.

“Wang Yuan! Can you be more careful with your aim? Is that where the hoop is?”

“I didn’t mean to! I was just trying to say hi, but my hand slipped!” Wang Yuan shouted back, unwilling to admit defeat.

“You almost hit my brother!”

“But didn’t you just throw it back at me?!”

“You—!” Tao Fengche’s anger spiked, and he felt an overwhelming urge to roll up his sleeves and settle it with a fistfight.