Evil Love Appears chapter 101
The next morning, Xu Jiale initially planned to get a haircut, but considering Fu Xiaoyu hadn’t replied to his messages, he was worried he might miss picking up the omega, so he didn’t want to delay. He headed out early to the Junya Manor.
He waited there for quite a while, as Fu Xiaoyu’s working hours seemed to be later than usual. He couldn’t resist sending a message via DingTalk. Finally, more than an hour later, he spotted the tall, well-dressed omega.
He immediately perked up, slowly driving about a meter forward, stopping right next to Fu Xiaoyu.
Fu Xiaoyu hesitated briefly at the sight of the familiar Tesla. However, he decided to open the car door.
“Directly to the company,” he said as he got in the car, without greeting Xu Jiale. He checked his watch and added, “I have a meeting at 10.”
“Sure,” Xu Jiale replied without pressing further. He had a feeling that Fu Xiaoyu was probably running late.
As he drove, Xu Jiale kept an eye on Fu Xiaoyu, who was sitting in the back seat. Fu Xiaoyu’s face was rather stern, and it seemed like he was annoyed about something.
Perhaps for this omega, getting up every morning meant that his brain had to start working at full speed, which naturally came with a lot of pressure. So, Fu Xiaoyu always seemed to wake up on the wrong side of the bed, but it was subtle enough that he might not even realize it himself.
But Xu Jiale had always noticed. When they were together, he couldn’t help but see Fu Xiaoyu in the morning as a bit like the grumpy cat that became an internet sensation because of its grumpy face.
Throughout the ride, Fu Xiaoyu kept staring out the window with a stern expression. Xu Jiale stayed quiet and found a few shortcuts, arriving at the company around 9:50. He softly asked, “You haven’t eaten breakfast, have you?”
“I’m not hungry,” Fu Xiaoyu replied, his expression somewhat forced. When he got out of the car, he hesitated for a moment and then walked away without saying anything more to Xu Jiale, hurriedly carrying his laptop.
Inside the elevator, as Fu Xiaoyu watched the numbers change, he maintained a serious expression. Even though his mind was focused on work, his stomach was growling uncomfortably.
He had been enduring his hunger for hours. Finally, during the mid-meeting break, he intended to ask Wang Xiaoshan to bring him a sandwich from the first floor. To his surprise, as he returned to his office, he saw a thermal bag and a cup of coffee on his large desk.
This was undoubtedly Xu Jiale’s doing.
He was so hungry he couldn’t resist opening the bag, and the aroma of the hot dumplings hit him. He removed everything from the bag and found a pink note inside, written with a pencil:
“A breakfast filled with love. Please reply ‘1’.”
Fu Xiaoyu gazed at the note in a daze. Actually, Xu Jiale had pretty good handwriting, but that ‘o’ character was crooked, which looked humorous amidst the neat writing.
On impulse, Fu Xiaoyu took out his phone to open DingTalk. However, as soon as he opened Xu Jiale’s chat window, his actions froze.
He felt as if his heart had been brushed with a furry tail, an odd mixture of irritation and itchiness.
What’s the point of the “1”?
He reluctantly put his phone aside.
Even though he had eaten Xu Jiale’s dumplings, Fu Xiaoyu didn’t send a “1,” and he didn’t respond to any of Xu Jiale’s messages throughout the day. He was truly keeping his distance, intentionally.
Now he was feeling a bit reckless. He read all of Xu Jiale’s messages as they came in but refused to reply.
But that determined alpha was relentless. By the end of the day, he had sent over ten messages, all marked as read without replies. Yet he still continued with his one-sided show.
By the evening, Fu Xiaoyu was so busy that he didn’t have time to deal with Xu Jiale.
A major bug had emerged in the latest version of the app, and while he wasn’t directly responsible for the technical aspects, the entire operations center was working overtime. Messages on DingTalk were flooding in, and it overwhelmed Xu Jiale beneath the tide.
By the time things were temporarily sorted, Fu Xiaoyu felt slightly relieved. He realized that it was already 10:30, and during the chaos of his work, he had lost track of time.
When he walked out of the office, he took a deep breath and remembered to open Xu Jiale’s chat window. He quickly checked the messages he hadn’t read yet:
[5 PM] Xu Jiale: Just finished my last shot. What time are you done tonight? I’ll come to pick you up. [7 PM] Xu Jiale: President Fu, I’m on my way to the company now. [9 PM] Xu Jiale: I asked Wang Xiaoshan. You’re working late, aren’t you? No worries, you work first, and I’ll wait for you.Fu Xiaoyu read them in a daze, feeling an indescribable emotion.
When he scrolled up to view the entire DingTalk conversation, he saw that all the messages were from Xu Jiale. Despite his numerous messages, Xu Jiale had not sent any further messages to prompt a reply in over two hours.
Fu Xiaoyu walked briskly to the parking lot. Unable to resist any longer, he quickly sent a message: “Are you still there?”
“Are you still there?”
Just four simple words, but for some reason, they made his heart race.
The message quickly showed as read. As the typing indicator appeared on Xu Jiale’s end, Fu Xiaoyu suddenly noticed Xu Jiale’s car in the empty parking lot.
The alpha wasn’t in the car but standing alone, leaning against the car door. In one hand, he held a small paper bowl, and with the other, he was typing intently on his phone.
Fu Xiaoyu deliberately took light steps, slowly approaching Xu Jiale.
The moment he stood in front of Xu Jiale, his DingTalk notification sounded:
At the same time, Xu Jiale, who had been busy typing a response, looked up upon hearing the notification. When he saw Fu Xiaoyu, his narrow eyes sparkled with a bright, unhidden smile.
“Hi.”
Xu Jiale had just gotten a haircut, wearing a well-fitted light gray suit. He looked tall, sharp, and full of vitality.
Fu Xiaoyu had initially wanted to ask, “How long have you been waiting?” but when he opened his mouth, he held back and changed the subject.
“What’s this?”
“Oden,” Xu Jiale smiled, showing him the small paper bowl containing a hot soup with two pieces of fish cakes and white radish that hadn’t been eaten. He explained in a low voice, “I bought it at the convenience store next to where I was waiting for you.”
“…Is it delicious?” Fu Xiaoyu asked softly.
He knew what oden was, and he had occasionally seen students buying it at 7-Eleven and eating it together. It looked quite lively, but he had never tried it himself.
Xu Jiale looked at Fu Xiaoyu, his eyes lingering on the omega’s round eyes as he gazed at the paper bowl. His heart felt warm and light.
“I’m treating you to a cheap late-night snack,” Xu Jiale suggested with a smile. “We can sit by the roadside, drink canned beer, eat oden, and maybe order a couple of grilled sausages. All the food for tonight will be from the 24-hour convenience store. What do you think?”