The Beautiful Wife I Picked Up Is A Little Mute - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: The Phone is Turned Off

The ringtone was piercingly loud. Xie Mo moved over, answered it, and pressed the device to his ear.

“Awake?”

The deep voice of the Alpha drifted through. Perhaps because he was in an enclosed space, the tone sounded slightly hollow and ethereal.

Xie Mo instinctively wanted to hang up, but the man on the other side seemed to anticipate this and let out a low chuckle.

“Don’t hang up yet, listen to me. I have some business tonight and won’t be coming home. You can stay another night.”

The implication was clear: there was no rush to leave, and he could have a peaceful night’s sleep without being disturbed by the Alpha. Ji Hanyue gave a few more instructions, mentioning that there was yam porridge and black chicken soup simmering in the kitchen that he could eat whenever he was hungry.

His final sentence was: “This phone is yours now. Do with it as you wish.”

Throughout the entire call, there was only one voice; an outsider might have thought Ji Hanyue was talking to himself. Hearing the dead silence on the other end, Ji Hanyue clicked his tongue. “Fine, I’m hanging up. You can call me if you miss me.”

Only then did Xie Mo make a tiny sound—the light tap of a finger against the nightstand, signaling that he had heard. Although he didn’t like Ji Hanyue, the contents of this call were normal enough. Xie Mo listened politely until the end.

…

The phone had no passcode. Xie Mo tapped into the main interface; aside from a banking app, the rest were pre-installed software. With a hint of suspicion, he tapped the blue icon.

The top of the page displayed: “Total Assets: 100,000.00 CNY.”

The amount was precise to two decimal places. The real-name authentication column showed the name Xie Mo.

Xie Mo was stunned. He hadn’t touched electronic products for the first seventeen years of his life, and for the past two years, he had only used a keypad phone. Beyond calls and texts, he could do nothing—let alone own a bank account.

In his daze, he suddenly realized: to a person like Ji Hanyue, he likely had zero privacy. Obtaining his ID number was probably a trivial task for the man. Although it was a gift from Ji Hanyue, it felt incredibly awkward.

But he was only eighteen or nineteen, an age where one is naturally curious about new things. Xie Mo couldn’t help but explore. He tapped the gallery, then went back to open the camera. The lens reflected the patterns of the ceiling, and he accidentally hit the shutter.

In the preview interface, he saw himself. From a top-down angle, the image captured his clear, confused eyes and slightly parted lips, making him look a bit silly. A flush quickly climbed to the tips of his ears. He hurriedly hit delete and put the phone back. If he took the phone, he would be entangled with that Alpha; Xie Mo didn’t want that.

A few minutes later, a thin figure was curled up at the corner of the bed. Holding the phone, Xie Mo finally decided to call Tang Yingrui. He knew the number by heart; he could recite it without thinking.

“Beep—beep—beep—” The ringing lasted until the line cut, followed by a cold, mechanical female voice: “Hello, the number you have dialed…”

Xie Mo took a deep breath. Thinking perhaps Tang Yingrui hadn’t heard it, he tried again. While counting the rings, he wondered how to explain his whereabouts over the past few days. This time, after only a few rings, the call was disconnected manually.

Xie Mo felt helpless. This time it wasn’t about anything else; he just wanted Tang Yingrui to pick up. Had something happened to him while he was looking for me? Even though he sometimes couldn’t stand Tang Yingrui’s arrogance, Xie Mo never wished for him to have an accident.

He dialed repeatedly, more than a dozen times. It went from being disconnected to the phone being turned off completely.

Xie Mo couldn’t sit still anymore, throwing Ji Hanyue’s instructions to the back of his mind. He found his clothes on the sofa by the bed, threw them on, and hurried out the door.

The downstairs area was so quiet it was unnerving. Only a single floor lamp was left on, casting a warm yellow glow and long, blurry shadows on the floor. Recalling his previous experiences of being intercepted, Xie Mo intentionally slowed his footsteps. He reached the ground floor without seeing anyone. Without a second thought, he dashed for the door. Everything went smoothly; the handle wasn’t locked.

…

On the endless concrete road, the only accompaniment was the sound of cicadas and the hoarse, eerie cry of crows. Xie Mo gripped the hem of his shirt, swallowed hard, and picked up his pace.

The situation with those Alphas last time was rare; usually, this area was empty. If there was anyone, it was poor folk like him, tired from a day’s work and wanting only to lie in bed.

He successfully reached his front door. Xie Mo knocked and waited. If Tang Yingrui was home, he would surely open the door and put on a furious display of scolding. He might forbid him from sleeping in the bedroom, or lock him in the storage room to “reflect.”

The storage room was small and dark. Normally, staying in a confined space for over ten hours would cause one’s mind to wander into fear, but Xie Mo found it comforting. Sleeping in the kitchen as a child was normal for him; he was used to it. Moreover, the storage room had a small, makeshift bed made of old clothes and blankets—it was very soft. When startled by a nightmare, Xie Mo would even take his pillow there to sleep.

Xie Mo waited until his legs felt sore, but the door never opened.

Suddenly, a thunderous crash echoed in the cramped hallway, followed by the heavy, muffled sound of many footsteps. Judging by the noise, there were at least three people.

Xie Mo grew nervous for no reason. Ignoring everything else, he pulled out his key, opened the door, and slipped inside. Could it be the Alphas from last time?

Fortunately, his heat had passed. He bit his lip, remembering the previous encounter, and instinctively tried to move the sofa to barricade the door. He was panting as he shoved the sofa a few inches, but before he could slide it into place, a violent CRASH sent the door splintering.

A crowd of people blocked the doorway. Xie Mo broke into a cold sweat; he couldn’t even count how many there were. He only knew, through the pheromones they intentionally released, that they were all adult Alphas.

This was enough to terrify him, but more frighteningly, they were holding sharp weapons. Even the most foolish person could see they harbored ill intent. The combined pressure of several Alphas’ pheromones made him nearly unable to stand. Xie Mo’s vision swam, his breathing hitched, and he could only stagger backward.

“Damn, no wonder that kid moved to such a remote place after hooking up with a sugar daddy. He was hiding such a delicate little Omega.”

The crude, filthy words pierced his eardrums. Xie Mo had only two thoughts: Where is Tang Yingrui? Who are these people?

The group assigned two Alphas to guard the nearly limp Xie Mo. The rest began to ransack the house, tearing drawers out of their sockets. Within moments, the already meager home looked as if it had been ravaged by war.

Xie Mo pressed his palms against the floor; the rough concrete bit into his tender skin. His fingers trembled as he tried to push himself up, but an Alpha’s knee slammed down on his shoulder from behind.

The two guarding him turned their heads, their gazes wandering over his sweat-drenched face. One Alpha’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He nudged the other, trying to lessen his guilt: “How about… we have a taste first? It’s the debt that kid owes anyway. Using an Omega to pay a debt is the same thing.”