Chapter 7: A new guy doesn’t know the rules

Three months into the school term, Xu Lin realized that the living expenses he had brought with him were dwindling day by day.

There was no way around it. Even though School A had waived his tuition, as long as he lived in Danshi, there were expenses everywhere. He had already cut back as much as possible on food, clothing, and daily necessities. Old, worn-out clothes could still be washed and worn, but his stomach couldn’t be filled with a few grains of rice or thin air. And Danshi’s cost of living was hardly cheap.

Before he left, he had boasted to Pu Sha that he wouldn’t need money. Sure enough, he had been too naive.

He started looking for part-time work.

The school had two days off each week. On days when he had no classes, Xu Lin would go out looking for odd jobs. He came back empty-handed many times. Shops in Danshi would reject his applications the moment they heard he was from out of town, as if outsiders carried germs that would poison anyone who came near them.

After searching for quite a while, he finally found a restaurant owner willing to hire him.

The owner wasn’t a local either. He was from District Ten. When he heard about Xu Lin’s repeated rejections, he thought of his own hardships and frustrations in opening a restaurant in Danshi. Out of sympathy, he kindly agreed to let Xu Lin work for him.

Xu Lin worked hard and efficiently. He had experience taking care of Pu Sha and his gang of younger friends back in District Thirteen, so waiting tables and serving drinks came naturally to him.

Thanks to this part-time job, Xu Lin’s finances loosened up a little. He wasn’t pinching every penny anymore.

One day, right after Xu Lin had finished serving a table, the owner called him over.

A delivery van was parked behind the restaurant, loaded with over a dozen cases of alcohol.

Xu Lin asked, “What’s going on?”

The owner looked anxious. “Xu Lin, do you know how to drive?”

Xu Lin nodded. “Yes.”

“Great. I’m stuck here and can’t get away. The delivery driver’s wife is having a difficult labor and he can’t make it. Can you run this delivery for me?”

Xu Lin had received a lot of help from the owner, so he agreed without hesitation. “Sure.”

He asked for the delivery address, took the keys, and got on the road.

Of course he could drive. Pu Sha had a beat-up old car, bought just to make it easier to run errands in the city. Seeing Pu Sha drive back and forth so often, worried he’d get tired, Xu Lin had learned to drive so he could give Pu Sha a break.

The delivery address was a five-star hotel in the city center.

The security guard at the main gate, seeing Xu Lin’s delivery van boldly approaching, waved him away impatiently and told him to go around to the back entrance. Xu Lin turned around and drove to the back, where he found a middle-aged man waiting for him at a warehouse behind the hotel.

Xu Lin got out of the car and went over the inventory list with the man. The middle-aged man had quite a bit of gray hair and squinted, unable to read the small print on the paper. He quickly fished his reading glasses out of his pocket. His sweat-soaked hair was plastered to his forehead in clumps.

A few minutes later, the walkie-talkie at the man’s waist suddenly barked, “Old Qi, where the hell are you? Where’s the stuff I told you to deliver to the guest?”

The middle-aged man fumbled, setting down the inventory list and answering, “I’m at the back, Warehouse A07. Brother Liu asked me to receive today’s liquor delivery.”

“Damn it, do you take orders from him or from me? That’s their team’s job! Why are you butting in? If he told you to eat shit, would you eat shit too? Get your ass back here!”

“Yes, yes.” Flustered by the interruption, the man’s train of thought was completely derailed. His fingers trembled as he picked up the list again; his sweat had already dampened a small corner of the paper.

“Are you back yet?! The guest is waiting!”

“Damn it—”

The walkie-talkie at the man’s waist kept crackling, eventually devolving into a string of curses. The man didn’t dare to respond, sweat dripping from his face in heavy drops. His reading glasses kept sliding down his nose.

Finally, amid the torrent of abuse, he finished counting. “Twelve cases. The balance is sixty thousand.”

“…” Xu Lin hesitated, then said, “There are fourteen cases here. Fifteen bottles are specialty blends, priced differently. The balance should be seventy-three thousand.”

The man panicked again, getting out of the car and counting the cases one by one.

“Old Qi!! Do you want to get fired or what?!”

“Where are you?!”

The man grabbed the walkie-talkie. “I’m delivering it, delivering it!”

He wiped the sweat from his brow and said to Xu Lin, “Can you wait for me a moment?”

Xu Lin nodded. “Sure. Go do what you need to do.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

The man grabbed the briefcase from the hand truck in the warehouse and ran off. But in his haste, he tripped over a cable lying on the ground and fell spectacularly.

Xu Lin hurried over to help him up. “Are you okay?”

The man’s glasses had flown off and skittered under the hand truck.

He didn’t bother picking them up, didn’t even brush off the dust. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Hiss—” But as soon as he stood, a sharp pain shot through his ankle.

Looking down, he saw his ankle was already swollen badly.

He’d twisted it in the fall.

This string of misfortunes seemed to finally break the middle-aged man, who was still working hard at his age. He sat down on the ground, looking like he was on the verge of a breakdown.

“…” Xu Lin couldn’t stand it anymore. He crouched in front of the man and said, “I’ll deliver it for you. Where to? Tell me.”

The man looked at him in disbelief.

“But—”

“Don’t ‘but’ me. You can’t walk on that foot. If you want to keep getting yelled at, pretend I didn’t say anything.”

The man fell silent, hesitating as he looked at Xu Lin.

Xu Lin sighed. “You stay here and watch the van and the goods. I’ll be back after the delivery.”

The middle-aged man’s eyes instantly reddened. “Young man, thank you…”

He handed the briefcase to Xu Lin.

“Deliver it to the top floor, room 1406.”

“Got it.”

“Oh, and you need to swipe a card.” The man gave Xu Lin his work ID badge. Xu Lin took it and said, “Give me your jacket too.”

It was the hotel’s uniform. Wearing it would keep him from drawing attention. The less attention drawn to him, the less likely this middle-aged man, Old Qi, would lose his job. If that person on the walkie-talkie found out Old Qi had hired a “runner,” who knew what kind of trouble he’d cause.

Leaving the warehouse, Xu Lin passed through a corridor and entered the hotel proper. He found the elevator, swiped the card, and went up to the top floor.

When the elevator doors opened on the top floor, he was met with a wide, quiet hallway. Thick carpet muffled all footsteps, and the surroundings were exquisitely decorated. Xu Lin realized this was likely a floor reserved specifically for VIP guests.

He searched for the room numbers. As he passed room 1402, he suddenly heard a woman’s cry of distress from behind the slightly ajar door.

“Don’t! Help me!!”

A clatter and banging came from inside, followed by the angry shouts of several men and the sound of slaps.

“Damn it! I’m doing you a favor by taking an interest in you! Stop screaming!”

The woman’s cries grew weaker, then turned into sharp, agonized screams.

Xu Lin instantly knew what was happening.

This kind of thing was all too common on the streets of District Thirteen. He hated it more than anything. He was about to charge in, but his hand touched the door and he suddenly remembered the uniform he was wearing. He couldn’t just barge in like this; it would get Old Qi in trouble.

He dashed around the corner, hastily tearing off his ID badge and jacket. But he was also worried about being recognized—what if they tracked him back to his school? In his panic, he spotted an ornamental vase on a small wooden cabinet in the hallway, underneath which was a colorful tablecloth. He was overjoyed.

He lunged for it, pulled out the tablecloth, and wrapped it around his face, leaving only his eyes exposed. After confirming he was properly concealed, he took a deep breath, ready to charge in. But then he saw a figure at the end of the hallway.

The moment he saw that figure, Xu Lin froze and ducked behind the wall.

He’d only seen him once, but Xu Lin would never mistake him.

It was Ji Jixuan.

He seemed to be staying in a room at this hotel as well.

Ji Jixuan didn’t look right. Compared to the first time Xu Lin had seen him, his face was now too pale. Most noticeably, he was wearing a black muzzle. A wristband had also appeared on his wrist.

Was he feeling unwell?

Xu Lin’s eyes widened as he watched Ji Jixuan walk straight into room 1402 without changing expression.

A moment later, angry shouts and sounds of a scuffle came from inside. But in less than two minutes, it all went quiet.

Ji Jixuan walked out completely unharmed.

Behind him followed a woman with a bruised and battered face, her clothes disheveled. She wore a collar around her neck—an Omega. Judging by her attire, she was a hotel employee.

Ji Jixuan handed her a piece of paper. “Call him to handle it.”

The woman sobbed her thanks. “Thank you, Mr. Ji.”

She left quickly with the business card. Ji Jixuan returned the way he came and entered a room not far away.

Xu Lin removed the tablecloth from his face and put it back in place. He put Old Qi’s work jacket and badge back on and carried the briefcase to make the delivery.

From what he’d overheard, someone would be coming soon. He needed to finish the delivery and leave quickly before more people showed up and he got spotted.

As he passed room 1402, Xu Lin glanced inside.

Three half-naked men lay on the floor, all unconscious with their eyes rolled back. But it didn’t look like they’d been beaten. There were no bruises on their faces. How had Ji Jixuan taken them down so quickly?

Arriving at room 1406, Xu Lin curled his fingers and knocked three times.

Footsteps came from inside, the door opened, and Ji Jixuan appeared behind it.

Xu Lin froze.

He was the guest in 1406?

He stood frozen for a few seconds. Ji Jixuan’s brow furrowed slightly. Xu Lin snapped back to attention and quickly handed the briefcase to Ji Jixuan. As Ji Jixuan took it, Xu Lin caught a glimpse of the small square display area on his wristband—it was a glaring blood red.

Even though Xu Lin didn’t know much about how these devices worked, he knew that a red warning indicator was never a good sign.

Was his wristband broken?

Ji Jixuan took the briefcase and closed the door.

Xu Lin didn’t dwell on it. He quickly left this place of trouble.

---

By the time Zong Xi arrived at the hotel, the three Alphas who had assaulted the staff member were already tied up. One of the more robust ones had woken up, but his gaze was still unfocused and dull, clearly not fully recovered. The other two lay motionless on the floor, as lifeless as corpses.

Zong Xi frowned in disgust and said to the bodyguards behind him, “Clean them up.”

“Yes, sir.”

The bodyguards dragged the three Alphas away. Zong Xi walked to the door of room 1406 and knocked.

“It’s me.”

No response from inside.

Zong Xi thought for a moment, worried that something might have happened to Ji Jixuan. He used his master key card to open the door.

The moment he stepped inside, a thick, overwhelming wave of pheromones hit him, forcing him back a step. Zong Xi hissed, covering his nose, and adjusted his wristband to a higher setting before closing the door to prevent the pheromones from spreading outside.

In the room, Ji Jixuan sat on the carpet beside the bed, one leg bent, head hanging low, like a willow branch bending under its own weight.

Beside him lay an open briefcase. Five empty syringes were scattered messily inside.

Zong Xi walked over and kicked his shin lightly. “Still alive?”

Ji Jixuan lifted his eyelids to glance at him but said nothing.

His left sleeve was rolled up, revealing a patchwork of fresh and faded needle marks, bruised and mottled, all over his arm.

“You’re taking way too much. Are you trying to kill yourself?” Zong Xi crouched in front of him and casually pushed aside an empty syringe. It rolled away with a clatter and stopped against the foot of the bed.

“Get your grandfather to develop some new meds for you. This can’t go on forever.”

Ji Jixuan closed his eyes and rested for a few seconds before speaking, his voice hoarse. “It’s an old problem. He couldn’t care less.”

Zong Xi had grown up with Ji Jixuan. He knew all about his best friend’s family situation, so he didn’t press further.

“What happened to the Omega?” Ji Jixuan asked suddenly.

Zong Xi had been called here by a phone call, so he naturally knew Ji Jixuan was asking about the female employee who had been assaulted. “She’s at the hospital for a checkup. She got roughed up a bit. Those thugs are being dealt with,” he said, getting annoyed again. “Not that I’m one to talk, but you yourself are in no condition to be playing hero, Second Young Master Ji. You went all out with your pheromones. Do you have no regard for your own body? Those three Alphas are practically brain-dead from it.”

Ji Jixuan stood up. The suppressants were probably taking effect; he looked less pained. Impatiently, he tore off the muzzle and yanked off the wristband that was flashing red repeatedly.

“It’s noisy,” he said.

This hotel was part of the Zong family’s holdings. The top-floor suites used the best soundproofing materials available. Ji Jixuan’s comment was practically rubbing Zong Xi’s family’s reputation in the dirt. Zong Xi just laughed and spread his hands. “Fine, you say it’s noisy, then it’s noisy.”

As Ji Jixuan was about to leave, he suddenly thought of the waiter who had brought his medication earlier. He had a short buzz cut, but his eyes were dark and bright. When he’d looked at Ji Jixuan, it was from below, with a slight upturn at the outer corners of his eyes, making him look fierce. He seemed unfamiliar.

The employees here all knew him. None of them would dare meet his gaze, and especially not when he was clearly in poor health—they wouldn’t glance at his wristband, trying to pry into his secrets.

“By the way,” Ji Jixuan asked, “do you have any new employees here?”

Zong Xi said, “Yeah, we just hired a batch a while back. Why?”

Ji Jixuan pulled down his sleeve, covering the terrible marks on his arm.

“Nothing.” He turned and walked away.

Probably just a new guy who didn’t know the rules.