Drunk On The Night Breeze - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Xu Mao almost lost his footing. Looking down, he saw that Tao Zhi’s fists were clenched, but the movement was clearly one of endurance. He had guessed correctly—Tao Zhi wouldn’t strike again; the fallout would be too great.

However, being capable of restraint didn’t mean Tao Zhi was truly being thorough. Xu Mao slipped his hand into his pocket, quietly unlocked his phone, and started recording. He hadn’t decided what to do with the audio yet, and it might not even be useful, but he recorded it just in case.

Emboldened by the probability that Tao Zhi wouldn’t act, Xu Mao continued his provocation: “I see. You’re interested in him… Well, let me give you some advice: give up.”

It was true that Ruan Lingfeng was moving; Xu Mao had heard it from a mutual friend. That was exactly why he had rushed here today. Once Ruan Lingfeng moved, he wouldn’t know the new address and might never see him again.

Earlier, when Tao Zhi said he was taking things to the new house, he had been vague. Xu Mao had misunderstood, thinking Ruan Lingfeng and Tao Zhi had already hooked up.

The concert Ruan Lingfeng had planned for Tao Zhi had gone viral. Even as someone who didn’t follow the entertainment industry, Xu Mao had seen the promotions on every platform and had heard Tao Zhi’s “confession” on stage.

But as to whether there was actually something between them, Xu Mao concluded after a moment’s thought that it was unlikely. One look at Tao Zhi’s reaction told him as much.

Besides, he knew Ruan Lingfeng far too well.

Though Ruan Lingfeng suffered from a pheromone-related disorder, he was undeniably beautiful and socially adept. When Xu Mao first started dating him, he was always worried that Ruan Lingfeng would be coveted by others.

Especially given his line of work—he was always meeting handsome men and beautiful women, and people in the entertainment industry were known to be “adventurous.”

But after being with him for a long time, Xu Mao realized that Ruan Lingfeng craved stable, long-term relationships. It was because he knew this so well that Xu Mao had felt safe enough to cheat, thinking Ruan Lingfeng would forgive him because he wanted their relationship to last forever.

To Ruan Lingfeng, those industry people were just passing travelers who would never stay.

The little star in front of him was no different.

Furthermore…

“To you, I probably look like a piece of flypaper. I admit I am, but I’m doing this because I know Xiao Feng still has feelings for me… But what about you? What do you think you are to him?” Xu Mao added, “Besides, even if he and I are truly impossible, it still wouldn’t be your turn. I’ll tell you out of the kindness of my heart: he only likes men who are older than him, mature, and able to take care of him.”

Tao Zhi had always known he was easily ignited.

This time, however, he was surprisingly calm.

He stared at Xu Mao’s pocket; the way the man kept his hand in there was unnatural.

When this ex-boyfriend first opened his mouth, Tao Zhi had felt a surge of impulse to throw a punch. But he didn’t. Last time he hit him, it was an emergency—if he hadn’t stepped in, Ruan Lingfeng might have been coerced. But now was different. He had no reason to use violence to solve the problem, nor did he care to.

He just listened in silence, acting as if he weren’t paying attention. When the other man finished his long-winded speech, Tao Zhi acted as if he had just snapped out of a daydream: “What did you say again?”

Xu Mao: “…”

Tao Zhi stepped closer, looking down at Xu Mao with an expressionless face. He didn’t speak, causing Xu Mao to lose his nerve: “Wh-what are you doing?”

Tao Zhi reached out and yanked Xu Mao’s hand out of his pocket, snatching his phone in the process. He saw the recording interface on the screen.

“Oh, trying to provoke me into saying something,” Tao Zhi said leisurely, “and then blackmail me? Or post it online to smear me?”

“You…”

Tao Zhi held the phone high. Xu Mao jumped, trying to get it back, looking utterly ridiculous.

Tao Zhi laughed. He turned away easily, deleted the recording, and with a smirk, stuffed the phone back into Xu Mao’s pocket.

He added: “Don’t bother with this nonsense. Even if you really recorded something, what could you do to me? As for you, I know which unit you work for, and I know a few things about you. Who do you think would be more affected if I decided to come after you—me or you?”

In reality, Tao Zhi had no idea where Xu Mao worked, nor did he know anything about him. He was just bluffing, but he didn’t expect Xu Mao’s face to turn pale instantly.

“We can also do this the official way,” Tao Zhi said as he pulled out his own phone in front of Xu Mao and dialed the local police station from last time. After a brief explanation, he said: “…That Alpha from before is bothering my friend again. Didn’t you say that if he harassed an Omega again, he could be detained?”

Xu Mao’s face turned black with rage: “You…”

He then turned and left in a huff, not even waiting for Tao Zhi to finish the call.

Watching the retreating figure, Tao Zhi thought to himself that Ruan Lingfeng’s taste was truly subpar. This was the “mature” type who could “take care of him”? What a joke; he wasn’t even a man.

The guy probably wouldn’t be coming back.

However, regardless of how nonchalant he appeared on the surface, Tao Zhi could feel a lump of frustration stuck in his chest.

He glanced up at the building… He couldn’t actually see Ruan Lingfeng’s room from this angle, but he looked up instinctively. Still feeling restless, he finally walked away and got into his car.

He sped all the way back to the studio. When his manager tried to stop him to talk business, he asked with a dark expression: “Is it urgent?”

Chen Ping: “Not really.”

Tao Zhi threw back a “Talk to me later then” and headed straight for the lounge.

Sitting on the sofa, he remembered how Ruan Lingfeng had once spent the night on this small couch to take care of him. He had woken up in the middle of the night then and seen the Omega curled into a ball in his sleep, covered only by a thin blanket.

He felt annoyed.

He didn’t know why. Initially, it was just because he saw that disgusting “flypaper” and wanted to help Ruan Lingfeng drive him away.

But hearing the man talk about Ruan Lingfeng’s ideal type made him instinctively compare those labels to himself for some reason.

What kind of Alpha Ruan Lingfeng likes has nothing to do with me.

Tao Zhi gripped his phone. He felt he cared too much, yet he couldn’t ask directly. They didn’t have mutual friends, and even if they did, asking about such things would be too weird.

Feeling like he was losing his mind, he actually opened a search engine and typed in “Ruan Lingfeng.”

Ruan Lingfeng wasn’t exactly a celebrity…

However, results did come up. The first few were related to Tao Zhi—mostly things about the concert. Someone had even compiled a list of the major and well-known shows Ruan Lingfeng had planned, titled: “Let’s see what works the ‘miraculous planner’ Tao Zhi mentioned has produced.”

Tao Zhi already knew all of that. He went back to the results and scrolled further.

Suddenly, he saw a snapshot of a post.

Tao Zhi clicked on it.

The post was from seven or eight years ago, likely from a university forum. Back then, “confession walls” on social media weren’t as popular, so a lot of shout-outs happened on school forums.

Post Title: Does anyone know Ruan Lingfeng-xuechang from the Class of XX, Economics and Finance Class 2? I want his contact info~

Tao Zhi knew Ruan Lingfeng had studied finance, but he wasn’t sure about the specific school or year. However, the original poster had included a photo. It was indeed Ruan Lingfeng back then, proving the post wasn’t about someone with the same name.

It was a candid shot from afar, very blurry, but he could see Ruan Lingfeng standing with friends, smiling somewhat shyly. His aura was completely different from what it was today.

The OP said: It’s not for anything specific, I just want to get to know him~

There were dozens of replies. Tao Zhi, having nothing better to do, read through them one by one.

1L: Candid shots aren’t great. But Lingfeng usually doesn’t mind giving out his contact info. If you want it, I’ll DM you.

Tao Zhi: “…”

2L: I want it too. I ran into him in a public lecture last time but was too shy to strike up a conversation.

3L: He’s my xuechang in the same major! So beautiful T_T. He’s so gentle too. I’ve talked to him a few times; if I weren’t an Omega, I’d want to hit on him.

4L: Upstairs, forget it. He has a boyfriend. Apparently someone from the outside, already working.

5L: Fine, I can wait for them to break up.

6L: Is the one upstairs a freshman? Then there’s probably no hope. When he was single before, a friend of mine tried to flirt with him, and he said he doesn’t like guys younger than him.

Tao Zhi: “…”

7L: Huh? Did he change boyfriends again? Wasn’t he with that other xuechang before? Wait, they still often eat together and do part-time jobs together. Is that the one mentioned above?

8L: You’re talking about Xiao Liang-xuechang from the Foreign Languages school, right? That’s not the one I’m talking about.

9L: Holy… Xiao Ruan-xuechang’s love life is a bit rich.

10L: That’s his freedom, nothing to gossip about.

11L: It’s normal for a beautiful Omega to change partners quickly hhhh.

12L: Ahem, a senior here. Actually, he wasn’t like this when he first arrived. You could tell he had a good foundation, but his clothes and hair were very plain, and he walked with a bit of a slouch—the type no one would notice in a crowd. In his second year, after he started hanging out with that Xiao Liang you mentioned, he learned how to dress and became more confident. He suddenly felt different, like a great beauty had appeared out of nowhere. People really are visual creatures; once he got good-looking, a lot of people started chasing him.

Tao Zhi: “…”

The rest of the discussion was more of the same and lacked substance. Tao Zhi skimmed through it, his mood worsening because of these messy comments.

By chance, Ruan Lingfeng sent a voice message at that moment.

Ruan Lingfeng: “Little brother, I’m heading to the new house now. I’ll hurry and pack; maybe we can cook dinner tomorrow night. I’m asking in advance: what do you want to eat?”

Tao Zhi was already fuming. Hearing Ruan Lingfeng call him “little brother” made his anger boil over. Losing control of his emotions, he snapped: “I told you not to call me little brother!”

Ruan Lingfeng seemed startled. In the voice message he sent back, there was a rare hint of grievance: “…If you don’t want me to, I won’t. Why are you being so mean?”

Tao Zhi immediately felt restless and on edge. He decided to just call Ruan Lingfeng.

Ruan Lingfeng happened to be looking at his phone and picked up quickly: “What?”

Tao Zhi said: “I didn’t mean to be mean.”

Ruan Lingfeng’s voice sounded unhappy: “Oh.”

Tao Zhi knew he was being unreasonable. He had seen that post and the gossip about Ruan Lingfeng; he didn’t know if it was true, but he hated everything mentioned in there regardless. This dislike had affected his mood, but Ruan Lingfeng knew nothing about it. Tao Zhi shouldn’t have taken it out on him.

Besides, the man was exhausted from moving, yet he was still thinking about inviting him over for a meal as soon as he finished packing, specifically asking what he wanted to eat.

I’m sorry. I’m in a bad mood, it wasn’t aimed at you,” Tao Zhi said awkwardly. “Take your time packing, no rush. If it’s too much, I can hire a cleaning lady for you.”

Ruan Lingfeng didn’t respond to the offer. Instead, he softened his tone and asked: “What happened? Why are you in a bad mood?”

Tao Zhi thought: How the hell am I supposed to know why I’m in a bad mood? I’m just an emotional idiot.

Then he thought: And the bad mood is because of you anyway.