After arriving home, Ning Zhu first wandered into the kitchen and rummaged around. Having been out too long, the warm soup Aunt Lin had kept for him in the thermos was now barely lukewarm.

He couldn’t be bothered to reheat it. After finishing it, he returned to his bedroom and collapsed into bed for a nap.

The next day, he woke up to find it was already noon.

The disorienting hangover made him feel miserable. Ning Zhu tossed and turned under the covers for a few minutes before instinctively reaching for his phone. His hand landed on the empty nightstand, reminding him that his phone had already met its demise last night.

He got up, found his tablet, ordered a new phone for express delivery, and inserted the SIM card. Several missed calls from Xiao Tao appeared—all from earlier that morning.

Ning Zhu called back, and the line connected quickly.

It was nearly eleven now—Ning Zhu rarely slept in this late. Xiao Tao sounded surprised. “Mr. Ning, did you sneak off to work late last night?”

Ning Zhu was speechless for a moment. “…What’s up?”

Xiao Tao: “Oh, nothing major. Just that Dr. Wei gave me a schedule for your regular hospital check-ups.”

Ning Zhu replied, “Why didn’t he tell me directly? Why go through you?”

“Dr. Wei said you’d definitely ‘miss your appointments’ and asked me to supervise you.”

Ning Zhu choked on his words, finding himself unable to refute it.

He grumbled a “Fine,” listened to Xiao Tao relay a few more points Dr. Wei had emphasized, then endured a round of doctor-like inquiries about his current condition. The kid was sometimes even more chatty than Aunt Lin, and Ning Zhu was already feeling a headache coming on. He seized a moment to quickly hang up.

After ending the call, Ning Zhu logged into WeChat on his tablet. One of his pinned contacts had a red message notification.

He tapped it open and swiped to the top, where an unanswered voice call appeared.

Below that were text messages.

【Cheng Li:】Where are you? Still half-asleep?

【Cheng Li:】Awake yet? Ji Chi said you’re off today.

【Cheng Li:】Reply when you wake up.

A few minutes passed.

【Cheng Li:】Awake yet?

A few more minutes passed.

【Cheng Li:】Still asleep?

Ning Zhu: “.”

He sent a “just woke up” emoji. The other side replied quickly.

【Cheng Li:】Unbelievable—you actually slept until noon.

【Ning Huochong:】I got bored staying home last night, went out for a few drinks.

【Cheng Li:】You and Ji Chi?

【Ning Huochong:】What the hell kind of drinking with him? I went out alone.

Ning Zhu had a wide social circle, but only a handful could be called truly close friends.

Back in high school, he, Cheng Li, and Ji Chi were in the same class and often hung out together.

Ning Zhu wasn’t a native of Beicheng; he only moved there for high school.

Back then, as a newcomer, Cheng Li was the first to strike up a conversation with him. A decade later, they remained close friends.

【Cheng Li:】Why go out drinking alone? I’ll send you two cases of dry white tomorrow.

【Cheng Li:】This place may suck in other ways, but the wine is genuinely top-notch.

Unlike Ning Zhu and Ji Chi—those flashy yet struggling entrepreneurs—Cheng Li was a pampered rich kid through and through. After graduating from college, he spent a few years at his family’s company but found managing it utterly unappealing. Coupled with a romantic setback, a few months ago, he simply took off to travel the world. Right now, he was living it up in a picturesque little country in Western Europe.

The two chatted for a few minutes about trivial things.

【Cheng Li:】Hey, are you free this weekend?

【Cheng Li:】I’m heading back to China in a couple of days and will likely be in Beicheng for a while. Want to grab a meal with Ji Chi? It’s been ages.

【Ning Huochong:】Sure.

After replying, Ning Zhu turned off the screen, scrolled through his call log again, and checked the blocked calls section.

But aside from Xiao Tao’s number, he saw no other unfamiliar contacts.

Of course.

Given that guy’s attitude yesterday, he wouldn’t be the type to call him proactively.

This was a problem—he didn’t have the other guy’s contact info.

Ning Zhu stared at the screen, debating whether to ask the bar manager about the guy’s work schedule and visit the place again during the holiday.

After wrestling with the idea for a while, he dismissed it.

The guy was probably still fuming. Showing up now would only backfire.

Better to wait a few more days.

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

Dou Changxiao was indeed fuming.

Back at school, he attended classes, conducted experiments, and worked on projects as usual. Yet Cheng Yang still sensed something off about the guy.

That evening after arriving on campus, Dou Changxiao clutched the single sheet of paper Ning Zhu had left him all the way from the car to the dorm.

He hadn’t even caught a glimpse of Ning Zhu’s phone number. Several times, Cheng Yang tried to ask Dou Changxiao for it, but every time he uttered the syllable “Ning,” Dou Changxiao’s icy glare silenced him.

Compounded by Dou Changxiao’s recent heavy course load and a troublesome make-up exam, Cheng Yang feared provoking him and bottled it up for two days.

On the third day, the moment Dou Changxiao finished his exam, Cheng Yang immediately summoned him to the court.

Once on the court, Cheng Yang realized his hunch was right—Dou Changxiao had indeed been bottling up his frustration these past days.

His demeanor on the court didn’t look like he was here to play basketball; it was more like he was here to kill.

It was a three-on-three game. The opposing team had two Alphas who were on the school basketball team. Before the game started, they looked calm and collected, but after a few rounds, they were being run ragged all over the court. During halftime, they were gasping for breath in the waiting area.

Dou Changxiao, on the other hand, barely broke a sweat. He stood by the backboard, ball in one hand, waiting for the next game. Occasionally, he’d shoot a basket out of boredom, never missing a single shot. Just standing there waiting for the game to start, he was already stealing the spotlight.

The stamina and endurance of a top Alpha were no joke.

Cheng Yang recalled how, just days ago, he’d dragged Dou Changxiao to a nightclub to drown their sorrows, only to run into a frantic and distraught Fang Huaixin there.

After explaining the situation, Fang Huaixin pleaded with them to help intercept Brother Lei’s gang.

Outnumbered, Fang Huaixin had intended to call for more help. Unexpectedly, Dou Changxiao suddenly asked about the direction Brother Lei’s group had last left in, then walked out of the club alone.

Cheng Yang worried he’d be outnumbered and felt a twinge of anxiety for himself. Only upon arriving at the scene and seeing the bodies strewn across the floor did he realize his concern had been entirely unnecessary.

After accompanying Dou Changxiao through the game, Cheng Yang was thoroughly exhausted. He downed a bottle of water in one gulp, took a moment to steady his breathing, then remarked, “…I shouldn’t have invited you to play basketball. I should’ve just sent you straight to the combat gym.”

“Combat?” Dou Changxiao sipped his water. “Not satisfying enough.”

Before he came of age, he could still find sparring partners, but now it was difficult. At non-professional gyms, Dou Changxiao had to hold back during training. Playing basketball was far more satisfying.

Cheng Yang had only meant it as a casual tease, but he choked on his words upon hearing this reply: “You actually trained in it?”

“Mhm.”

The growth differentiation phase for top-tier Alphas was more unique compared to others, manifesting in a wider range of individual reactions.

During his differentiation growth period, Dou Changxiao had excess energy. For a long stretch, he was in a manic state akin to a heightened sensitivity phase, outwardly expressing intense combat urges and destructive impulses.

That feeling had once filled Dou Changxiao with disgust, for those urges, stripped bare, were nothing but animal instincts.

So when he first sensed something was off, he didn’t tell his family. Instead, he did something that seemed a bit foolish—every night, he’d sneak out of the house and run long distances to vent his excess energy.

At the time, the family kept a Saint Bernard. On the very first night Dou Changxiao snuck out, the dog grew excited, mistaking its young master’s departure for a walk. It fetched the leash itself and placed it in Dou Changxiao’s hand.

It ran alongside Dou Changxiao once.

After that, it stopped following him.

Over a month later, Dou Changxiao’s family finally discovered their son’s habit of running marathons in the dead of night… They immediately rushed him to the hospital for examination.

First, they checked the psychiatric ward, then moved to the endocrinology department.

After receiving the diagnosis, they followed the doctor’s advice that very day and enrolled Dou Changxiao in high-intensity combat training and other athletic programs.

Cheng Yang remarked, “No wonder you fought four opponents single-handedly that day and didn’t get a single scratch.”

“Oh, right,” he ventured cautiously, “Ning’s phone number…”

Ignoring Dou Changxiao’s murderous glare, Cheng Yang steeled himself to finish his sentence: “…you never showed me.”

Dou Changxiao replied flatly, “I threw it away.”

”With your memory, you’d remember it even if you threw your brain away.”

Dou Changxiao remained noncommittal.

Cheng Yang silently added in his mind: Even with a bad memory, you should remember it.

That night in the car, this guy practically stared Ning Zhu’s phone number into oblivion.

Cheng Yang: “So…”

Dou Changxiao: “No.”

Cheng Yang: “? Why?”

“For your own good.” Dou Changxiao screwed the cap back on. “That Ning guy isn’t a good person.”

“But I heard from Huaixin that Brother Ning got targeted by Brother Lei’s crew because he stood up for him at the nightclub,” Cheng Yang frowned. “Plus, I’ve spoken with Brother Ning a few times. He seems like a decent guy—always smiling, and he was friendly when we talked.”

A decent person.

Friendly?

Dou Changxiao shot him a sideways glance, his slow, mocking tone dripping with sarcasm. “That’s because you’re not his type.”

Cheng Yang: “…Huh?”