Rong Yi was restless at home until he fell asleep, without successfully sending out any messages.

As the saying goes, a good start is half the battle. It’s rare for an Alpha not to give him any prejudiced looks and to be so handsome and dashing. Rong Yi felt he needed to be very careful.

He typed, deleted, agonized, rolled around, went on Chen Keyao’s social media to swoon over his photos, and then continued typing and deleting. After repeating this several times, he noticed a new post from Chen Keyao on his feed.

“There are only two months left this year. Can I still achieve my New Year’s resolution to break away?”

Rong Yi’s hand shook, and he accidentally liked the post.

When he came back to his senses, a new message popped up in the chat box he had been staring at all night.

“It seems you left something in my car.”

After a brief moment of confusion, Rong Yi smacked his thigh hard.

Right, why hadn’t he thought of intentionally leaving something in Chen Keyao’s car? What a perfect excuse! Luckily, although he didn’t think of it because he was too nervous, he was indeed a bit careless.

Rong Yi replied anxiously.

“I’m so sorry, what did I leave in your car?”

A cute emoticon came back quickly from the other side.

“Didn’t you notice you were missing something?”

That was embarrassing. Rong Yi quickly checked all his pockets and even inspected his coat, suspecting it was his handkerchief.

He often felt dizzy in cars and felt too old-fashioned pulling out menthol oil to inhale in public, so he had gotten into the habit of dabbing some on his handkerchief to sniff when feeling uncomfortable.

After asking about it, he indeed got a confirmation.

Originally, Rong Yi’s handkerchief wasn’t anything branded and was smeared with old menthol oil; if it was really lost, it was no big deal. Otherwise, he could simply send a courier to solve the issue.

But Chen Keyao took the initiative to ask when he was free, saying he wanted to return the handkerchief in person.

At such a moment, it wouldn’t be like Rong Yi not to overthink.

He even had the impulse to directly reply: “Are you interested in me? If so, let’s not beat around the bush. I like you a lot too, so why don’t we just make it official right now!”

But he ultimately didn’t dare, fearing he might scare him away.

So, let him return it then. Afterward, he could find an excuse to invite him for a meal and ask him out again, which would be perfect. From there, it would naturally lead to a full house of descendants.

In WeChat, Rong Yi solemnly expressed his gratitude, then eagerly arranged to meet after work two days later.

As he excitedly paced his room for the twelfth time, he turned around and saw a neatly folded, checkered handkerchief on his desk corner.

That was supposed to be the only handkerchief Rong Yi owned.

He stared blankly at it for a while, then crouched down with his head in his hands.

He was aware that he liked to daydream, and most of the time he didn’t take his fantasies seriously.

But this time, it must be real, right?

It would be against all reason not to break away now.

Rong Yi was usually a bit careless, but he was very particular about his appearance.

He cared about his daily outfit combinations, made sure not to repeat outfits within the same week, focused on keeping his clothes neat, and worked hard to maintain a fresh and neat hairstyle. This good habit had previously garnered him more favor from Omegas.

After all, it’s very rare to find an Alpha who is both tall and incredibly handsome, behaves decently in front of Omegas without any sleazy demeanor, and looks so clean and stylish.

Unfortunately, the person he really wanted to attract never seemed moved.

Having been unnoticed for so many years, Rong Yi was finally able to dress for someone he liked. His heart pounded with excitement, and he even took half a day off in the afternoon to go home and work on his style.

He specially applied a face mask, washed his hair, carefully styled it, and changed outfits four or five times in front of the mirror, bursting with confidence as he finally stepped out.

But once he reached the meeting place, he panicked again.

If one ignored gender, Rong Yi could easily be classified as extremely good-looking. But gender couldn’t be ignored. When dressing, Rong Yi prioritized appropriateness over preference. If left to his own preferences, the item he most wanted to try was a vibrant, youthful, bright-colored hoodie worn by an Omega not far down the street.

But that outfit probably didn’t come in his size.

Rong Yi continued to secretly check his reflection in the glass walls of the shopping center, internally marveling at how handsome he was, to the point he even felt like marrying himself.

But what if this sparked Chen Keyao’s inherent Alpha instincts to resist?

“Hello?” A girl with waist-length hair cautiously approached him and looked up. “Um… I…”

Rong Yi had encountered similar scenes dozens of times, sighing internally while remaining calm. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“Can I have your contact information?” the girl asked.

This was among the most direct approaches he had faced.

Rong Yi was just about to refuse, but a thought struck him, and he replied, “Sorry, I’m waiting for my… boyfriend.”

His face turned red as he spoke.

“My boyfriend” – the first time in his life using this phrase felt indescribable. Unfortunately, he hadn’t consulted the “boyfriend” himself, which might seem a bit shameless.

But secretly taking advantage of someone felt somewhat wrong yet thrilling.

His emotions surged, and he didn’t even notice how the girl left.

Just as he was about to check his phone to see the time, someone spoke up quietly from beside him: “So you have a boyfriend?”

Rong Yi was startled, nearly dropping his phone.

“Be careful.” Chen Keyao, who had appeared beside him at some point, unnecessarily reached out to steady him. “Did I scare you?”

Rong Yi blushed and stammered, “When did you get here?”

“Five minutes ago,” Chen Keyao turned and pointed to a bench not far behind them, near a flower bed. “It seemed like you were deep in thought, so I didn’t find a good moment to greet you.”

Rong Yi bowed his head, unable to look at him. “…I was just making it up. It’s easier to reject people that way.”

“That makes sense,” Chen Keyao smiled and nodded, then gestured towards the shopping mall. “Shall we find a place to sit down?”

Though they had initially planned to just return the handkerchief, the subsequent decision to meet at a commercial center during mealtime seemed to imply more.

Once they reached the restaurant, Rong Yi noticed that Chen Keyao had even reserved a table in advance.

This was definitely a date.

Rong Yi had lived for twenty-six years, been arm in arm with Alphas as brothers, and had certainly eaten alone with them before, but the atmosphere this time was completely different.

It was the first time an Alpha took such care of him, pulling out his chair before they sat down, earnestly asking about his preferences before ordering, complimenting his jacket, and even sneaking out to pay the bill before they left.

Rong Yi had previously thought a rougher Alpha was more attractive, but now his aesthetic preferences had completely changed, just waiting for Chen Keyao to speak up so he could immediately agree.

Unfortunately, Chen Keyao didn’t bring it up.

He had asked a lot about Rong Yi at the beginning, seeming genuinely interested in getting to know him. But Rong Yi was too nervous, using all his strength just to keep his hand from trembling while holding his chopsticks, fearing he’d say something foolish and ruin his image. So he was extremely reserved.

Fortunately, Chen Keyao didn’t press him, and the conversation turned to his own work-related stories. He seemed to really like the children; his smile became even gentler when he talked about them, softening his somewhat sharp features.

The more Rong Yi watched, the more he liked him. His heart raced.

After dinner, Chen Keyao offered to drive him home, and Rong Yi even felt an impulse to break through their unspoken barrier. He usually confessed easily when he felt there was little hope, but this time he started to have heavy doubts.

Maybe Chen Keyao was the type who liked to slowly nurture feelings. What if he thought Rong Yi was too frivolous? Should he be more patient?

After being single for twenty-six years, what were a few more days?

Until Chen Keyao’s car pulled up to his apartment complex, Rong Yi finally managed to suppress his urge to confess.

“Thank you for today,” he said, head bowed, too embarrassed to look at Chen Keyao’s face. “Next time, I’ll…”

I’ll treat you.

“I was actually afraid you might find me too forward,” Chen Keyao said, “so we can still meet like this next time, right?”

Too forward, my foot. You could suggest coming back to my place right now and it wouldn’t be too forward.

My place is empty.

Seeing him freeze up, Chen Keyao didn’t ask further and got out to open the car door for him.

“Good night?” he said to Rong Yi.

Rong Yi watched him, knowing he was in for a restless night.

As he stumbled into his apartment, a strong sense of unreality washed over him.

How strange, why would he suddenly encounter such good fortune? Such a flawless Alpha, surely not lacking admirers, still single, and even interested in him—it was utterly unbelievable.

Could it be that all the emotional coldness he had suffered over the years was a test before descending a perfect love upon him?

What a stroke of luck. Could this person be a scammer?

But what did he have to lose? Money, or affection?

Rong Yi had been working for four years, living large and paying rent, and although his income wasn’t low by his peers’ standards, he never had much savings. It wasn’t possible to scam money from him, and it surely wasn’t about leading him into debt; that would be too convoluted.

As for affection… being scammed by an Alpha like Chen Keyao didn’t seem like a loss either.

Still pondering, his phone rang. It was a message from Chen Keyao, who he had just parted ways with.

“Sorry, I just remembered—I forgot to return your handkerchief.”

What handkerchief? The handkerchief is still on my desk. Rong Yi looked at his phone and couldn’t help but laugh.

See, he definitely is a scammer.

But Rong Yi decided to give him his heart.