Yu Silin rolled his eyes fiercely and made to get up and leave, but Xu Jiaheng grabbed his wrist and said, “I want to discuss something with you.”
Yu Silin plopped right back down into his seat.
He cast a sidelong glance at Xu Jiaheng, his darting, bead-like eyes rolling twice as he assumed an eager, high-spirited look.
Xu Jiaheng was someone who always meant what he said and was especially overbearing in front of Yu Silin, allowing him this and forbidding him that.
Even the matter of sleeping together had been unilaterally announced by Xu Jiaheng, leaving him no room for negotiation whatsoever.
To think he was now saying he had something to discuss with him was truly a rare sight.
Sitting up straight with bright, sparkling eyes fixed on him, Yu Silin wore an expression that shouted, “I am ready, I am ready!” and asked seriously, “Gege, what is it?”
Xu Jiaheng gave him an amused sidelong glance, suppressing the smile at the edge of his eyes as he said, “Let us make a three-chapter pact, shall we?”
“A three-chapter pact?” Looking full of curiosity, Yu Silin first nodded, then shook his head and said, “You have to tell me what the pact is first, and then I will decide whether it is good or not.”
Xu Jiaheng raised an eyebrow and replied calmly, “You say whether it is good or not first, and then I will tell you what the pact is.”
Yu Silin: “…”
What should he do? He had this lingering feeling that Xu Jiaheng was about to sell him off, yet he was genuinely dying to know what pact Xu Jiaheng wanted to make with him!
Yu Silin furrowed his brows tightly, the expression on his face tangled in deep conflict. Xu Jiaheng did not rush him, simply waiting quietly for him to make up his mind.
Right at that moment, two little figures appeared in Yu Silin’s mind: one wearing red clothes, and the other wearing green.
The red-clothed figure said: “Naturally, you should refuse him! Who knows what kind of terrifying demand he is going to make!”
The green-clothed figure retorted: “How could Gege ever harm him?! It is definitely going to be something good for him! Like studying or something.”
The red-clothed figure hurriedly chimed in: “Studying is even more terrifying! Does he look like the type of person who knows how to study?”
The green-clothed figure hesitated for a moment, its confidence slightly lacking: “There are other things besides studying! In any case, Xu Jiaheng is not going to screw you over!”
The red-clothed figure sighed at its lack of backbone: “Why do you trust him so blindly?! Do you not know that appearances can be deceiving?!”
Hearing the red-clothed figure put it that way, Yu Silin felt a little displeased. Xu Jiaheng would never hurt him.
“Fine!” Yu Silin said with a resolute tone, looking up at Xu Jiaheng: “A pact it is. Tell me, what is the pact about?”
To Xu Jiaheng’s surprise, he had not expected Yu Silin to make up his mind so quickly. He said, “No backing out, and you must follow it unconditionally.”
Without a moment’s hesitation this time, Yu Silin replied, “No backing out, I will definitely follow it. Tell me!”
“First, you cannot have any physical contact with any other Alphas,” Xu Jiaheng said.
Yu Silin’s face instantly collapsed. What kind of overbearing rule was this?
“Chen Heyan is an Alpha too,” Yu Silin reminded him. Chen Heyan was their childhood friend, the same age as Xu Jiaheng, and lived right next door to Xu Jiaheng’s house.
Unflustered, Xu Jiaheng added, “Routine, everyday physical contact is fine.”
“What counts as routine physical contact?” Yu Silin asked with a face full of confusion. “Are there non-routine kinds of physical contact?”
Seeing the genuine confusion and blankness on Yu Silin’s face, Xu Jiaheng said, “Holding hands, hugging, kissing, and sleeping together, those are non-routine physical contacts.”
“Oh, well that is fine then,” Yu Silin said with sudden realization. “Those are things you only do with someone you like. Since I do not like anyone right now, I can accept that.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Jiaheng’s expression turned cold, his low, unhurried voice carrying a chill: “You would not accept it if you liked someone?”
“That is right,” Yu Silin said as if it were only natural. “Holding hands, hugging, kissing, and sleeping together with someone you like is completely normal.”
Xu Jiaheng lowered his gaze, his slightly chilly eyes landing on Yu Silin’s oblivious face as he asked, “Do you have someone you like?”
“Huh? No, I do not.” Yu Silin looked completely baffled. Wasn’t this supposed to be a three-chapter pact? Why was he suddenly being asked whether he liked someone?
Xu Jiaheng suddenly reached out to pinch Yu Silin’s cheek and said, “If you ever like someone, tell me first.”
“Oh.” Yu Silin nodded, then belatedly realized, “Is this number two?”
Withdrawing his hand, Xu Jiaheng answered, “No.”
“Then what is number two?” Yu Silin did not dwell too long on that previous sentence; if he ever really did like someone, he would definitely tell Xu Jiaheng first anyway.
“You must not casually smell other Alphas’ pheromones, you must not let other Alphas smell your pheromones, and Omegas are not allowed either.”
“Got it. But what about Chen Heyan? I have never smelled his pheromone scent before,” Yu Silin asked.
Xu Jiaheng gave him a light tap on the head and said, “Did you forget all the books you read?”
Stiffening a little, Yu Silin muttered sheepishly, “Pheromones are personal privacy, and you cannot just go around smelling them casually.”
“Third, you must not leak your pheromone scent at will.”
“Just like that?” Yu Silin blinked his eyes as he looked at Xu Jiaheng.
Xu Jiaheng nodded with a hum.
Yu Silin could not understand why these three points, which seemed like completely ordinary matters, required a special three-chapter pact.
Still, he did not press Xu Jiaheng, simply nodding, “I remember.”
Thinking about it for a moment and feeling like he needed to leave himself a fallback option, Yu Silin asked, “What happens if I fail to follow these?”
Xu Jiaheng gave him a look that clearly meant: figure it out yourself.
Yu Silin curled his lip and tried again, “What if I did not mean to break the rules?”
“Special circumstances require special handling,” Xu Jiaheng said. With that, he stood up and gave Yu Silin’s head another tap, telling him, “Get up.”
Pouting, Yu Silin stood up from the gaming chair. It was almost time for Xu Jiaheng’s livestream.
He took a seat in the chair dedicated to Yu Silin, watched Xu Jiaheng open up the streaming software, swiped Xu Jiaheng’s phone, and curled up in the gaming chair to play games.
This was their routine: while Xu Jiaheng livestreamed, Yu Silin would sit right beside him playing games or dozing off, or as he liked to put it, accompanying Xu Jiaheng to earn meal money for the cats and dogs.
In the blink of an eye, it was the first day of the new school year. Yu Silin tossed and turned in bed, unwilling to wake up and unwilling to go to school.
Before he could continue lingering in bed to wallow in seasonal melancholy, Qu Yun was already knocking on his door from outside: “Yu Silin, get up right now.”
“I know,” Yu Silin replied listlessly, dragging his feet as he shuffled into the bathroom.
After eating breakfast, Yu Silin shouldered his schoolbag and set off to find Xu Jiaheng. Along the way, he got waylaid by cats and dogs, stopping to stroke Little Holstein and cuddle Xiao Hua and Xiao Huang, so it was a full twenty minutes later by the time he reached Xu Jiaheng’s house.
Standing in the courtyard of the Xu family residence, hearing Grandma Xu say that Xu Jiaheng had already left, he felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
“He left?” Yu Silin could hardly believe it. What kind of madness was Xu Jiaheng pulling now? Refusing to sleep with him was one thing, but now he was not even going to school with him?
Grandma Xu said, “Jiaheng has to give a speech at the opening ceremony today, so he went over early.”
“Oh.” Turning around, Yu Silin drooped visibly and said, “Grandma, I am off to school.”
Xu Jiaheng was an exemplary student, the kind who excelled from elementary school all the way through high school, taking first place in exams time and time again.
For events like opening ceremonies, Xu Jiaheng was always the one selected to go on stage and give a speech as the student representative.
Stepping out of the Xu family’s door, Yu Silin went back to his own house to grab his bicycle. Normally, whenever he went with Xu Jiaheng, they would take the school bus.
Wei Zijing happened to be stepping out of his house at the same time, and the two of them headed toward the school together.
Whether it was elementary school, middle school, or high school, the first day of a new semester always felt like an assembly line: sorting the grade levels, dividing the classrooms, hunting down the right floor, and tracking down desks until school officially began.
The opening ceremony was also part of that assembly line process, featuring the invariable speeches from school leaders, outstanding teacher representatives, and student representatives, wrapped up with concluding remarks filled with expectations and blessings for the new semester.
In the blink of an eye, a week passed. By Friday afternoon, a wilted-looking Student Yu Silin was trailing behind Student Xu Jiaheng, grabbing onto the strap of Xu Jiaheng’s schoolbag in an attempt to make the other boy drag him home.
Xu Jiaheng needed to go to the bookstore to buy workbooks, but Yu Silin wanted no part of it, as he detested workbooks the most. Yet wanting to stay close to Xu Jiaheng, he followed him into the bookstore with a gloomy, sullen expression.
The moment Xu Jiaheng tried to pick out a workbook for him as well, Yu Silin bolted, running off to the neighboring convenience store to buy himself an ice cream, deliberately skipping buying one for Xu Jiaheng out of petty vengeance.
By the time the two emerged from the subway station, the sun was already close to setting. Squinting his eyes, Yu Silin grabbed Xu Jiaheng and broke into a light jog toward home.
At the head of Linshui Alley stood an aged camphor tree, its roots surrounded by a stone-paved tree ring. On summer evenings, the residents and small animals of Linshui Alley would gather here to catch the breeze, making for a very lively scene.
Trotting up to the head of the alley, Yu Silin found two old men playing Go, surrounded by a group of other elderly onlookers. With his left hand, Yu Silin scooped up Xiao Huang, who was sleeping inside the tree ring, while his right hand stroked Little Holstein, who was lying on the stone bricks and wagging its tail. Meanwhile, Xiao Hua and Xiao Bai were right there with him, one draped across his leg, and the other climbing up his thigh to crawl into his arms.
Before long, the self-proclaimed King of Cats automatically sprouted a full crop of cats and dogs all over his body.
Cradling this one and stroking that one, Yu Silin felt the exhaustion of a whole week of school vanish in an instant. Dangling his legs lazily and feeling thoroughly content, he spotted Xu Jiaheng walking over to him, picked up Little Holstein from his arms, held it out right in front of Xu Jiaheng, and asked with curved eyes and smiling brows, “Jiaheng Gege, give it a hug.”
Xu Jiaheng took a step back, the intent to refuse glaringly obvious.
Refusing to let it go, Yu Silin pushed the whining, acting-spoiled Little Holstein a bit closer: “Give it a hug, see how cute Little Holstein is.”
Unmoved, Xu Jiaheng said, “Dirty.”
Yu Silin’s face dropped. Covering Little Holstein’s ears with both hands, he rebuked Xu Jiaheng: “They are all little strays, and you will not give them a home, so of course they are a bit dirty! Do you not take a shower or change your clothes when you sleep at night? You will not even hold a dog.”
Watching someone walking over from the distance, Xu Jiaheng let Yu Silin’s words slide without a response.
Seeing that Xu Jiaheng did not talk back, Yu Silin looked at him in surprise; normally, whenever he said something like that, Xu Jiaheng would snap back with a cold face.
To think this guy would not make a peep today, truly strange!
“Yu Silin!” Qu Yun suddenly roared. “You are messing with this bunch of little beasts again! Do you not want the clothes on your back anymore?”
Startled out of his wits, Yu Silin gave a violent jump, instantly shaking off the cluster of cats and dogs hanging all over him. Turning around to see Qu Yun marching over menacingly, the terrified animals scattered at a run, trailing closely behind Yu Silin with a chorus of bewildered yips and meows.
Naturally, Qu Yun could not keep up with Yu Silin’s pace. Catching sight of the trail of shedding little creatures following behind him, and then spotting the schoolbag Yu Silin had dropped on the ground, her anger flared even higher as she headed straight for home.
Lowering his gaze for two seconds to look at Yu Silin’s schoolbag, Xu Jiaheng looked somewhat reluctant, but he still bent down, hooked his finger through the bag’s strap, picked it up, and carried it back to his own house.
Accompanied by a parade of cats and dogs, Yu Silin sprinted all the way from the head of the alley to the tail, darting straight into the courtyard of the Xu household. The small native dog tied up in the yard grew wildly excited at the sight of Yu Silin, standing up to wag its tail and bark.
The pack of cats and dogs tagging along behind Yu Silin joined in like a choir, chiming in with clattering barks and meows.
Pushing open the door, Xu Jiaheng stepped inside, only to silently retreat two seconds later, closing the door behind him with a smooth motion.
Seeing him enter and then retreat right back out, Yu Silin feared he was going to snitch to Qu Yun, so he hurriedly and stealthily pulled the door open and yanked him back inside.
Xu Jiaheng: “…”
Only when Yu Silin was around could this courtyard ever get this lively.
Hearing the ruckus in the yard from the main hall, Grandma Xu knew right away that Yu Silin had brought his gang of little creatures over. She had Auntie Fang wash some fruit and said with a smile, “Did your mother yell at you again?”
Yu Silin chuckled sheepishly.
Grandma Xu: “Well, have dinner at Grandma’s place tonight, then. I will have Auntie Fang make you something delicious.”
Yu Silin: “Thank you, Grandma!”
Sitting in the Xu family’s courtyard, Yu Silin happily cuddled cats, stroked dogs, and munched on fruit. He was completely at ease, without a single care in the world regarding what awaited him when he went home tonight.
Picking up Xiao Bai to examine it from all angles, he turned to ask Xu Jiaheng, “Jiaheng Gege, do you have plans tomorrow?”
Xu Jiaheng raised his eyes to look at him: “Why?”
Abruptly shoving Xiao Bai right in front of Xu Jiaheng’s face, Yu Silin said, “Let us give Xiao Hua, Xiao Bai, Xiao Huang, and Little Holstein a bath. They are getting a bit dirty.”
Xu Jiaheng shot him a glance, walked over to the courtyard gate, pulled it open, and said in a completely flat tone amidst Yu Silin’s look of utter incomprehension: “Take your little gang and vanish from my sight.”
Yu Silin: “…”