Reservoir Dogs chapter 3
Accusations
That night, lying in the guest room bed, preparing to sleep.
The mattress was too soft, nothing like the hard, uncomfortable wooden bed. There were no snores from the neighboring bed, no lingering foot odor, no 15-watt corridor light that stayed on 24 hours a day. Xiao Zhou stared at the ceiling with open eyes, still unable to sleep.
Having been exposed to Alpha pheromones during the day, he still felt physically uncomfortable. Exhausted, restless, and hot, his mind was in turmoil, as if the air still carried traces of alcohol and a hint of orange blossom, weakening him at every whiff.
He turned over, the new T-shirt sticking uncomfortably to his back, despite having just showered.
He lay there for a while, suddenly remembering he hadn’t taken his injection today.
Pushing himself up from the bed, he stepped onto the floor barefoot, retrieving a syringe and a sealed box from his backpack in the cabinet. Inside were several vials of medication. Squatting down, bathed in moonlight from the window, he rolled up his sleeve, found the spot on his arm, and injected the clear liquid.
His arms were covered with tiny needle marks. To maintain Omega characteristics, he needed regular injections of hormones along with medication, and regular hospital check-ups.
He also had implants in his body. In the days just after the surgery, when the anesthesia wore off, he woke up in pain every night. His legs couldn’t close together, feeling like there was a pile driver operating non-stop in his abdomen. Even now, he hadn’t fully adjusted to the foreign object sensation.
He could clearly feel the changes in his body: muscles relaxing, Adam’s apple shrinking, significant hair loss, skin lightening, and softer facial features.
Sometimes, after washing up, he would look in the mirror and for a moment, not recognize himself.
Then he would start to wonder how he had ended up in this situation.
Just four years ago, he had a promising future—a middle-class family, smoothly entered university, chose his ideal major, participated in student council elections, and spent holidays preparing for modeling competitions.
In just one night, everything changed.
At 16, unexpectedly, he differentiated into an Alpha. Several of his friends were also Alphas, so he didn’t think much of the gender being unusual or advantageous.
But his parents were especially happy and celebrated him warmly.
When he turned 18 and entered university, his younger brother, Xiao Ping, differentiated into a Beta. Xiao Ping had a big temper tantrum at the time, smashing a lot of things and locking himself in his room for a whole day.
Late at night, he climbed through the window into Xiao Ping’s room. Xiao Ping was already asleep, tears still on his face. He squatted at the bedside, feeling somewhat at a loss as he touched his hair. Xiao Ping quickly woke up, his dark eyes staring at him for a while, then calling him “ge” with a hint of grievance, biting his lip tightly with watery eyes.
Xiao Ping was strong-willed, always wanting to compete in everything. This time, differentiating into a Beta really hit him hard, almost making him collapse.
During the summer vacation, he took the money he had saved from previous part-time jobs and took Xiao Ping on a tour, avoiding crowded places and heading to natural scenic spots. Along the way, he also participated in a rock climbing club league with some friends and won third place in speed climbing. Xiao Zhou loved outdoor sports and had always hoped for a chance to climb Mont Blanc in the Alps.
After this trip, Xiao Ping seemed to have opened up a lot and went back to school obediently.
Xiao Zhou packed up and went to study in another city, a famous engineering university in China, choosing architectural design with the hope of working in an architectural institute like his father’s after graduation.
During his sophomore year winter vacation, he was invited out by some old friends.
After dinner, it was still early when someone suggested going to a bar. That day happened to be someone’s birthday in the bar, and it was crowded with people gathering around. The birthday girl was an Omega, tall and beautiful in a tight skirt, attracting the attention of everyone in the bar. Xiao Zhou’s friends were eager to join in, their eyes shining with envy.
Fang Que encouraged him, “Zhou, let’s go and have some fun together?”
Xiao Zhou waved his hand, not interested.
Jiang Wenxing came over, a rich kid who usually changed Omegas frequently. Ordinary Omegas didn’t interest him much, so he sat next to Xiao Zhou, chatting with him half-heartedly.
As more people toasted, the line grew longer, inevitably causing envy, impatience, and people cutting in line, pushing and shoving, leading to physical collisions and verbal friction.
Suddenly, with a bang, a bottle of alcohol was smashed, splashing everywhere, and a group of people began fighting.
Xiao Zhou suddenly stood up and saw Fang Que surrounded by two people, wanting to rush over but was held back by Jiang Wenxing, “What are you doing? What’s the point of showing off now?”
Xiao Zhou turned his head and saw someone grabbing Fang Que’s arm, another person holding a beer bottle and smashing it on his head. Without saying more, “Someone’s going to die.”
He took a few steps forward, grabbed the man’s wrist, and pulled it aside, the beer bottle smashed against the nearby screen glass, shards flying everywhere, one hitting Xiao Zhou’s eye corner, instantly bleeding and smearing his face. His already fierce face looked even more ferocious.
Then someone else punched him with a fist, Xiao Zhou dodged to the side, grabbed the man’s arm with one hand, and wrist with the other, using his shoulder as a pivot, suddenly exerted force, and deftly threw him over his shoulder. A tea table smashed into pieces, and the thrown person wailed in pain on the ground.
He was tall, agile, and didn’t hold back, quickly intimidating the group of young people who were already drunk.
The Omega celebrating her birthday had come with a group of troublemakers, with the leader named Li Xin. He wore leather pants and a bright red vest, was thin and carefree, and very arrogant.
When Fang Que was pushed during the toast, Li Xin became furious, insisting Fang Que had harassed his girlfriend and groped her, demanding he kneel down to apologize and pay compensation.
Fang Que was unwilling and exchanged insults, leading to a fight between the two groups.
Fang Que covered his blackened eye circles and limped over to Xiao Zhou’s side. After being beaten up earlier, he had to regain some face, “See that, Xiao Zhou, my friend, grew up in the Armed Police Academy. Try touching me again?”
Li Xin couldn’t resist provocation, spat on the ground, grabbed a bottle of liquor, and charged forward again, “Try me.”
Xiao Zhou didn’t even lift his eyelids. He grabbed the bottle of liquor, swung his hand towards Li Xin’s head, knocking him out cold, and he collapsed directly to the ground.
“Alright, let’s go,” Xiao Zhou frowned, watching as Li Xin curled up on the ground groaning. After a while, he was helped up by someone beside him.
Fang Que chuckled and returned to his seat to grab his coat, calling out to Jiang Wenxing, “Young Master Jiang, let’s head back.”
Jiang Wenxing lazily got up, smiling, “Drinking out was worth it, but it was all for nothing, just a monkey show.”
After leaving the bar, no one felt like partying anymore and they all dispersed on their own.
Jiang Wenxing signaled for Xiao Zhou and Fang Que to follow him; their homes were in the same direction, so they could share a ride.
Xiao Zhou nodded and walked ahead with his hands in his pockets. Fang Que caught up from behind and jumped to pat his shoulder, “Zhou, you can really throw a punch. I feel safe with you around.”
Jiang Wenxing pulled out a pack of tissues from his pocket and handed them to Xiao Zhou, “Clean up a bit. You’ve got blood all over your forehead, looks pretty scary walking around like that.”
Xiao Zhou took the tissues and roughly wiped his forehead with his eyes closed.
Seeing his rough actions, Jiang Wenxing frowned, “What are you doing? You’re just spreading it around more, it’s all over your face now.” He took another tissue and stood in front of Xiao Zhou, sternly telling him to stay still while he cleaned the blood off, touching the scar gently, “You got a cut near your eye, close call. Looks even more intimidating now, like you’re always squinting.”
Fang Que felt guilty, “Zhou, it’s my fault you got dragged into this.”
Xiao Zhou replied with his eyes closed, “It’s not your fault.”
“If anyone’s to blame, it’s that thug. He just lit up like a firecracker over a little touch. Betas always causing trouble for Omegas, who knows how many times he’s been cuckolded.” Fang Que grumbled, then smirked mischievously after a while, “But that Omega was surprisingly tender to the touch.”
Xiao Zhou suddenly glared at him. “Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?”
With his thick black eyebrows and sharp gaze, Xiao Zhou startled Fang Que, who awkwardly smiled, “Not really, there was actually a bastard behind me who pushed me into it. But that Omega was so tempting, maybe I hesitated a bit too much and didn’t stand firm.”
Xiao Zhou felt a surge of anger rising in him, pushing away Jiang Wenxing’s hand and walking towards the roadside to hail a cab.
Jiang Wenxing shouted from behind, “Zhou, where are you going?”
Feeling like he had picked the wrong fight, Xiao Zhou was frustrated, “I’m going home myself. You two go on.”
Having drunk too much, he dozed off in the taxi and stumbled home, collapsing into bed.
The next day, before he could fully wake up, a group of people rushed in, handcuffed him, and took him away.
For the next week, he was in a daze.
They said the young man he had punched had driven home alone and in the early hours of the morning had been rushed to the hospital with a severe headache, dying on the way due to blunt force trauma to the head, confirmed by forensic examination.
The prosecution quickly charged Xiao Zhou.
During the trial, Xiao Zhou’s lawyer tried to argue excessive self-defense, but due to the Alpha’s physical advantage over the Beta, the prosecution repeatedly emphasized the frail physique of the deceased, arguing that the defendant did not pose an imminent danger. In the end, self-defense was not established, and it was classified as ordinary assault and battery, sentenced as intentional injury, with 15 years imprisonment and additional compensation.
Xiao Zhou’s parents believed the original sentence was too harsh and appealed. In the second trial, while intentional injury was affirmed, due to Xiao Zhou’s first offense and the family’s willingness to compensate the victim’s family, the sentence was reduced to 10 years imprisonment.
Just six months into his sentence, Xiao Zhou got into trouble again in prison, sending another person to the hospital and adding three more years to his term.
……
The syringe was empty. Xiao Zhou pulled out the needle, wiped it with a tissue, rolled down his sleeve, then threw the empty bottle into the trash.
He sat on the floor for a while, the window not fully closed, letting the curtains sway in the breeze.
The memories of that night replayed too many times, clear at first but becoming increasingly blurred later on, leaving only fragmented pieces. His body seemed to subconsciously protect itself, avoiding the terrible things.
Standing up from the floor, he felt his legs numb from sitting too long, and his feet felt like they were being pricked by needles.
Absorbing the hormones, the faint scent of agave in the air seemed stronger. Xiao Zhou licked his dry lips and decided to go out and find some water to drink.
He opened the door and saw Jiang Chengyuan standing straight at the doorway.
His eyes were red, staring at him for a while, then suddenly his body went limp and he fell into Xiao Zhou’s arms.