Evil Love Appears chapter 1
Late at night, rain quietly began to fall in City B.
Drizzling rain is a good thing; it doesn’t disturb the dreams of those asleep but dampens the thoughts of those suffering from insomnia.
Xu Jiale stood on the balcony, smoking a cigarette. His phone lay on the coffee table, its screen lighting up several times, displaying text messages from his AMEX credit card.
He glanced at it absentmindedly and couldn’t be bothered to open it.
After the divorce, Jin Chu was still using his supplementary credit card, and it was now afternoon in the United States. So, he guessed Jin Chu was shopping. Given the circumstances that would prompt the sending of text messages, the amount should be quite substantial—
What could Jin Chu be buying?
Xu Jiale thought as he smoked.
Jin Chu was a spendthrift. Once, on the street, he spent eight hundred dollars buying a wooden monkey carving from a homeless man who claimed it was a sacred item blessed by the elders.
Later, they saw the same monkey carving at a flea market, and it turned out to be a mass-produced children’s toy from Vietnam, priced at three dollars and ninety-nine cents.
Although Jin Chu was infuriated, Xu Jiale persuaded him to keep the monkey carving and personally hung a handwritten tag around its neck, marking it as “Priced at Eight Hundred Dollars Exactly.”
Xu Jiale often recalled these silly incidents, remembering every detail vividly.
They had been together for six or seven years and barely ever quarreled.
Until suddenly, Jin Chu said to him, “Xu Jiale, I don’t think I love you anymore. Having sex feels like fulfilling a physiological need during my heat, I find life quite boring.” In a marriage, this statement was probably equivalent to opening a game of cards with four twos and a pair of kings.
…
Xu Jiale didn’t fight for it anymore.
He loved Jin Chu but would not beg on his knees.
The lawyer told him that since it wasn’t a fault divorce, there was no need to concede to this extent. However, he still calmly chose a divorce agreement that was entirely unfavorable to himself. He handed the house and car over to Jin Chu without hesitation.
After completing all the formalities, Xu Jiale paused his doctoral studies in the US and flew back to his home country alone on a twelve-hour flight.
His friends, seeing him back home, threw him a bachelor party. These people had complex relationships with the Xu family, but they were all wealthy and idle. No one thought that this low-profile marriage was worth lamenting.
Xu Jiale nonchalantly partied with them for a few days, watched the F1 race, hit the bars, and went night fishing on a yacht.
He hadn’t engaged in such playboy behavior for a long time, but he was still adept at them.
Everyone thought he was returning to his old ways, and various young and attractive Omegas were eager to be introduced to him. However, nobody expected that one night, during the party, the guest of honor Xu Jiale suddenly booked a sudden flight back to City B.
He didn’t say goodbye to anyone, just sent a message saying that a good friend was going through a divorce, and he needed to go and keep them company.
Everyone was puzzled. He didn’t even take his divorce seriously; why was he treating a friend’s divorce as such a big deal?
Wen Ke was, of course, Xu Jiale’s most valued friend. When Wen Ke got divorced, Xu Jiale was very worried.
But that wasn’t the only reason he disappeared—
The real reason was not worth mentioning, just that in the midst of the wild partying, he missed Jin Chu too much and missed their little Nan Yi.
Xu Jiale, an Alpha raised on “The Godfather,” couldn’t help but feel sad about the divorce.
Al Pacino’s portrayal of Michael Corleone taught him: a man who doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man.
But now, he had lost his family.
…
It had been three or four months since he returned to City B, and Xu Jiale still frequently suffered from insomnia, much like tonight.
He smoked four cigarettes, and when he had smoked half of the fifth one, he heard a slight noise from the balcony’s glass door.
When he turned around, he saw Xia’an, restless, scratching the glass door with its paws—
Xia’an missed him.
Xu Jiale smiled faintly and quickly put out his cigarette. He turned to open the door, then bent down to pick up the cat.
He kissed Xia’an and asked, “Xia’an, how are you my little princess?”
“Meow…” Xia’an held onto his arm with its two paws, lazily wagging its tail.
Xia’an was actually already a twelve-year-old elderly Ragdoll cat, with a seal bicolor coat and deep blue eyes.
He had raised Xia’an from a small kitten to the giant fur ball it was now. However, six years ago, when Jin Chu got pregnant, he refused to live with the cat, so he sent Xia’an back to his hometown in Jincheng and had his father take care of it for several years.
After settling down in City B this time, the first thing he did was bring Xia’an back to live with him.
Lying down on the bed with Xia’an, Xu Jiale opened WeChat and casually browsed through his friends’ moments. Jin Chu had posted a picture of him and Nan Yi playing on the beach just three minutes ago. He liked the post and was about to go to sleep.
However, at this moment, a message notification from DingTalk suddenly appeared on his phone.
Xu Jiale’s expression darkened immediately.
Here it comes again, this fateful alert tone made him temporarily forget his sorrow.
The phone displayed the current time prominently: 1:08 AM.
The only person who would send him messages via DingTalk at this hour was one person.
Xu Jiale refused to think further, tossing his phone aside. He had intended to ignore this message, but after tossing and turning in bed for a few moments, he found himself unable to fall asleep.
Yes, he had obsessive-compulsive disorder.
He had the kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder where if someone sent him a message and he didn’t read the entire message, he would keep wondering what it said and couldn’t fall asleep.
Xu Jiale gave up the struggle and sat up, opening DingTalk.
Fu Xiaoyu: Xu Jiale, let’s meet tomorrow afternoon to revise the plan.
Great, DoubleKill.
Not only did the deadly ringtone come at one o’clock, but it also sounded the horn for overtime.
Xu Jiale immediately took a screenshot of a calendar and used a red highlighter to circle “Saturday” conspicuously, then sent it.
A picture said it all.
One minute later.
Fu Xiaoyu: What’s your schedule for Saturday? There are still a lot of changes to be made to the questionnaire I sent you yesterday, and I need your cooperation to complete this part before the deadline.
Xu Jiale: I’m playing basketball with friends in the afternoon, it’s already planned. Then, I have dinner in the evening, and I need to bathe my cat in the morning, so I’m not available.
One minute later.
Fu Xiaoyu: Which basketball court? I’ll need half an hour to an hour to get there during halftime, and I’ll come to meet you by car.
Xu Jiale: …
If there was something in this world that could truly dissipate the melancholy of divorce, it was probably not alcohol, but work.
If there was someone in this world who could transcend time and distance, unwaveringly find him, and chase after him, it was probably not someone who loved him, but Fu Xiaoyu — a dominant, annoying, and uncharming Omega.
…
…
Three o’clock in the afternoon, B City’s NSports basketball court.
Seven or eight Alphas were sweating profusely as they played basketball on the court. Sneakers squeaked against the floor, and enthusiastic shouts echoed back and forth.
A young Alpha rushed in from the entrance, obviously late, with his sports bag hanging crookedly. After running into the court, he hurriedly greeted, “Damn it, sorry, everyone, I overslept and forgot to set an alarm. By the way, where’s Xu Ge? We haven’t played together for so many years, and I miss him.”
The leading Alpha Amon, who was holding the basketball, motioned with his mouth towards the direction outside the court and whispered, “Shh, Daning, keep it down. Xu Ge is working over there.”
Daning initially thought he had misheard and looked over in the direction the Alpha was pointing. He saw Xu Jiale sitting on the floor, a laptop placed on a bench in front of him, furiously typing away. Beside him was an Omega wearing a shirt and trousers, looking completely out of place in this setting. The Omega was sitting properly in the stands, seemingly engaged in a conversation with Xu Jiale.
“Xu Ge has been talking to that Omega for a long time now, and he doesn’t seem interested in playing basketball.” The leading Alpha sighed deeply.
“What does this Omega look like?” Daning immediately wore a gossipy expression.
After thinking for a moment, he realized that there was no need to ask anyone else, so he just bought two bottles of water from the vending machine nearby and headed towards Xu Jiale. As he approached, he warmly said, “Hey, Xu Ge, you guys are busy. I just came over to bring you two bottles of water. It’s hot out, and you don’t want to get thirsty.”
When he arrived, he noticed that there was already a row of five, six, or seven bottles of water on the bench. It seemed that several other B-team guys had already come over to gossip. Everyone had similar intelligence, and their excuses were surprisingly consistent.
Xu Jiale, who was still engrossed in typing, didn’t even look up. He said without turning his head, “You go ahead and play basketball.”
On the basketball court, Amon dribbled the ball forward while continuing to gossip with Daning. “So, what does he look like, Daning?”
Daning, who was pretending to be panting while playing, was still lost in thought, but he suddenly remembered why he had approached them. He took a sip of his water and replied, “Damn, he’s a beauty. Why didn’t you guys tell me? Now I look like a fool.”
“Ai.”
Amon was also lost in thought, and he threw the ball into the basket with a “swish.” This successful shot gave him an idea, and he spoke with great seriousness, “Xu Ge… is in someone’s grasp already.”