Married the Abandoned Puppy Alpha - Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Shura Field (Love Rival Standoff)

The meeting place agreed upon with Luo Qingzhe was still that first cafe where they had met.

By the time He Xinglou rushed there, Luo Qingzhe was already sitting upright in his seat, with a drink placed opposite him the same beverage He Xinglou had ordered last time.

“Sorry, I’m late,” He Xinglou said, walking over quickly.

Luo Qingzhe shook his head with a thin smile: “No, it’s just that I came too early. Anyway, I don’t have much to do at home, and it’s easy to get scolded by my family if I stay there.”

Thinking of the information revealed in their previous communications, He Xinglou nodded understandingly he hadn’t expected that even in the interstellar era, people still couldn’t escape the fate of being urged to marry by their families.

“Your family is pushing for marriage quite hard, aren’t they?”

Luo Qingzhe nodded pitifully: “Basically, they force me to go out every day. If I don’t go on blind dates, they won’t let me come home. But I just want to stay at home and play video games.”

So he’s a shut-in, He Xinglou realized.

“Then why not find an Alpha?” he asked, returning the courtesy by ordering an extra snack for Luo Qingzhe.

Luo Qingzhe said as if it were a matter of course: “If I find an Alpha, they’ll just push me to have children later. Once there’s a child, won’t I have even less time for games?”

He Xinglou: “…” That actually makes sense and is so real; I can’t even argue.

But thinking back, during their first meeting, Luo Qingzhe really must have been planning on having him bear children!!

The two were seated by the floor-to-ceiling window again. As they spoke, He Xinglou saw an investigator’s car speed past on the street.

His originally relaxed mood instantly turned somber. He composed himself and got straight to the point: “Mr. Luo, regarding the matter of the contract marriage, have you truly thought it through?”

“As you can see, I am also an Omega. Will your family really not object?”

“Let me say this upfront: I have no plans to have children for the time being.”

Luo Qingzhe stammered, not daring to look at him.

Xinglou understood in an instant.

“It seems it still won’t work…” Xinglou thought to himself.

Compared to others, Luo Qingzhe was indeed a more ideal marriage candidate—non-aggressive, polite, and as two Omegas, they wouldn’t have to fear losing control during heat cycles.

Even without a foundation of romantic feelings, they could have become very good friends.

But if Luo Qingzhe had no autonomy over his own marriage, all these hypotheses were merely illusions.

He Xinglou couldn’t help but recall the day he went to the Shi family’s old mansion, when he was besieged by the words of the Shi family members.

“What is your status, and what is Qingze’s status? Can you even be the same kind of people? What benefits could you possibly bring him?”

“Didn’t you save Qingze and bring him home back then just to use his gratitude as leverage?”

“Even if Qingze likes you, so what! His marriage isn’t his decision alone; it concerns the interests of our entire family!”

There is nothing new under the sun. More terrifying, more hurtful, and more common than the poor hating the rich is actually the rich loathing the poor.

He Xinglou smiled: “Mr. Luo, if your family objects, I will suffer a lot in the future.”

Guilt appeared in Luo Qingzhe’s eyes. He seemed to want to say something, but the waiter arrived with the desserts, interrupting him.

“This is for you, why don’t you try it?” He Xinglou dropped the previous topic, his tone gentle.

Clearly, Luo Qingzhe had only grown in age but remained a child at heart; his eyes immediately lit up at the dessert in front of him: “Thank you!”

That easily satisfied look was quite similar to the old Shi Qingze.

The smile on He Xinglou’s face deepened a bit.

“I’ve decided,” Luo Qingzhe said indistinctly while eating the pastry. “Xinglou, you are such a good person, I still want to be with you all the time. The problems with my family are actually easy to solve. How about…”

“Let’s elope!”

This ridiculous sentence struck like a bolt from the blue, making He Xinglou’s hand shake so hard he nearly spilled the juice in his hand.

“Wait, Mr. Luo, that’s not the fundamental problem”

Wasn’t eloping even more out of the question?! Besides, what he wanted was a household registration. Eloping would just turn both of them into illegal residents!

“Didn’t you say you don’t like younger guys?” A sudden voice cut in like a cold blade.

Xinglou froze. Turning his head, he saw Shi Qingze sitting in the seat behind them, having no idea how long he had been listening.

He frowned, suspicion rising in his heart. Was Shi Qingze stalking him?

Shi Qingze didn’t look at him; instead, he stood up and sized up Luo Qingzhe with a critical gaze.

Luo Qingzhe was quite socially anxious. Now, being stared down shamelessly by an Alpha, he felt very defensive and afraid.

He looked at He Xinglou with a pleading gaze, but as soon as he sent the signal, the Alpha’s eyes across from him became even more dissatisfied.

Shi Qingze’s patience ran out. He walked directly over, bracing his hands on the table, using his tall frame to block Luo Qingzhe’s signal for help.

He let out a light sneer: “And here I thought he would look more like me.”

He Xinglou realized that Shi Qingze was still brooding over the words Shen Yuzhe had inadvertently mentioned that He Xinglou’s blind date looked very much like him.

Then Shi Qingze turned to look at him: “Brother, am I really such a naive and brainless person in your eyes?”

“Shi Qingze!” Xinglou grabbed his arm and pulled him toward himself.

“You’re scaring him! He’s just an Omega!” he reminded him. Turning to Luo Qingzhe, he saw that the other man’s eyes were already brimming with tears, about to cry.

Shi Qingze was also in a fit of rage: “Brother is also an Omega, why do you only care about him and not yourself?”

He Xinglou didn’t want him to say more in front of a stranger and said quickly: “I know my own situation. You calm down first.”

This sentence directly ignited Shi Qingze’s anger, his voice rising two notches: “You know? After such a serious thing happened last night, have you forgotten? Or are you really going to pin your hopes on this person?!”

The more he thought about it, the more indignant he felt. He looked down at Luo Qingzhe again.

“I just heard you say you want to elope with Brother? You want him to have children? Can you take responsibility? Won’t you just throw all the trouble for Brother to handle?”

“Marriage? Stop joking. Do you know your brother’s situation? What benefits can you bring him? You’re just a guy who only cares about his own comfort”

“Shut up!” He Xinglou interrupted sharply.

He suddenly looked up, staring fixedly into his eyes: “Saying such mean words to belittle others you are no different from your father this way.”

These words directly stung Shi Qingze. He fell silent instantly, his expression looking exceptionally grim.

He Xinglou was also in a terrible mood, but after hearing Luo Qingzhe’s sobbing, he managed to calm down.

He patted the back of Luo Qingzhe’s hand reassuringly: “Don’t be sad, what he said isn’t true.”

The intimate gesture was like a needle falling into Shi Qingze’s eyes; he desperately wanted to pull their hands apart.

“He Xinglou, are you this biased toward everyone who acts weak?!”

The thin peace they had carefully maintained was now completely torn to shreds.

Xinglou sneered and looked up: “Fine, so you’re finally stopping this ‘playing house’ game with me.”

Brother and younger brother? They were never supposed to have that kind of relationship!

The two glared at each other, refusing to back down. The commotion had already attracted the attention of others in the cafe, who were now whispering behind their backs.

Finally, it was Luo Qingzhe who wiped his tears and broke the deadlock in a small voice: “Please don’t fight because of me…”

This sentence was like popping a balloon, instantly draining He Xinglou’s temper. He rubbed his temples, feeling a massive headache.

“Sorry, Mr. Luo, I’ve made a fool of myself today. I’ll take him away first. Do you have someone coming to pick you up? If not, I’ll call a car for you.”

Luo Qingzhe had composed himself and shook his head: “I’ll just call my driver, there’s no need to be so polite. Xinglou, call me Qingzhe from now on. Let’s meet again next time—”

“Your name is Qingze?” Shi Qingze was about to explode again. “And there’s a next time??”

“That’s enough! Shi Qingze!” Xinglou finally lost his temper and stood up abruptly. “You, come outside with me!”

After saying that, he nodded apologetically to Luo Qingzhe and forcibly dragged Shi Qingze by the wrist toward the exit.

The moment their skin touched, he discovered that Shi Qingze’s wrist was very hot, as if he had a high fever.

Since all eyes in the shop were now focused on them, he couldn’t ask much. He could only quicken his pace, leading the man into a dark alley outside the shop, frowning with dissatisfaction as he looked at him.

“Do you have a fever? Have you been to the hospital?”

Shi Qingze had been prepared to be scolded, but he hadn’t expected He Xinglou’s first words outside to be these. Consequently, the indignant expression on his face vanished.

He lowered his eyes, and in the setting where there were only the two of them, he became obedient and quiet again.

“It’s not a fever. My rut is coming.”

Going out recklessly when a rut is coming?! And coming out to yell at an Omega—what is wrong with him!

Xinglou’s head hurt even more. He raised his wrist to contact the hospital.

Shi Qingze quickly pressed down on his communicator and said in a low voice: “I’m not going to the hospital.”

He was saying the same thing he said three years ago when they first met.

He Xinglou no longer wanted to deal with him, his voice turning cold: “If you won’t go to the hospital, then go home by yourself. Don’t cause trouble; you’re not a child anymore.”

“That’s so cruel, Brother.” Shi Qingze seemed stung by his words and let out a miserable laugh.

“You can be so kind to that Omega, but you’re so harsh with me. Just what… is so good about him?”

“Shi Qingze, I don’t want to argue with you about this nonsense anymore. My relationship with Mr. Luo is not what you think it is.”

When He Xinglou reached this point, a wave of immense exhaustion suddenly rose in his heart, and he couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

“You only care about shouting at others, saying he doesn’t know my situation, but you actually know nothing about me either. So—”

He looked up, almost pleading: “Can you please stop appearing in front of me?”

After all, “carving a mark on the boat to find a dropped sword” only adds to the pain.

Shi Qingze’s expression went blank for a moment, unable to say a word.

This made He Xinglou’s next words easier to say.

“Shi Qingze, haven’t you noticed? Ever since we reunited, things have developed very strangely. We are not from the same world; we weren’t supposed to have any connection at all. You can’t understand my situation, and it’s hard for me to understand what you’re thinking now.”

“Don’t you understand yet? We are already strangers.”

While he was speaking, he noticed that Shi Qingze was trembling slightly.

He Xinglou looked away, gritted his teeth, and finished: “Let’s just leave it at this. Since neither of us contacted the other for the past two years, we can keep doing that in the future, right? Please… don’t disturb my life again.”

After saying that, he turned to walk out of the alley, but Shi Qingze’s voice soon chased after him from behind.

“Brother, are you going to just say your piece and abandon me where I stand again?”

This sentence instantly pulled He Xinglou back to that snowy day long ago; the image of the small figure falling to the ground in the rearview mirror surfaced before his eyes again.

Even after two years, he still couldn’t get past that hurdle in his heart.

He was the one who had pulled Shi Qingze into his world of his own accord, and he was the one who had abandoned Shi Qingze and left without a word.

No matter what hidden complications or hardships existed, the act of hurting the other person was done. There was no explaining it away.

He took a deep breath and finally looked back in compromise.

Shi Qingze was standing alone in the darkness of the alley, only his eyes shimmering with light.

Seeing He Xinglou look back, he forced a slight curl of his lips.

“At least… listen to what I have to say.” Shi Qingze’s tone was halting, sounding like a sob.

Is the current Shi Qingze still such a crybaby? The thought popped into He Xinglou’s mind, and he suppressed it evasively.

“Then what else do you want to say?” He asked Xinglou.

Shi Qingze walked forward slowly and reached out to encircle his wrist.

The temperature of his body was startlingly hot, and his next words caught He Xinglou completely off guard. He instinctively wanted to run away, but realized his wrist was being gripped by the other man with foresight he couldn’t break free no matter what.

He said: “Marry me.”