After getting off the boat, Ryan He stretched his body and said, "It's so late... Brother Yin, shall we eat something before going back?"
"I have something else to do." Ethan Yin didn't tell him the specific arrangements for the next step, "You go back first."
Ryan He didn't ask any further questions. He told Ethan Yin, who was unfamiliar with the area, to pay attention to road signs and call if he had any questions, then waved goodbye and left.
If Alex Tang was going home, it would be on the same route as him, but he didn't go with him.
Ethan Yin followed the impression he had when he came here, and walked in the opposite direction along the screen wall. He passed the main road and turned into the cobblestone alley. After walking for a while, he turned around and saw Alex Tang still following him.
"What are you looking at?" Alex Tang rolled his eyes, "I just happen to be going this way too."
Ethan Yin had no intention of saying anything, so he turned around and continued walking forward.
The Confucius Temple is crowded with tourists at this time, but not many people turn into this secluded alley.
Ethan Yin studied the route and prepared to take a shortcut to get out earlier. He planned to go back to the area around the school to see if there were any suitable cram schools. If he fell behind in his studies, he would regress step by step. He wanted to make up for it as soon as possible while the gap was not too big.
He did not come to City N voluntarily, but even though the environment and state of mind had changed drastically, doing what he could do now was still his only goal.
The exit was in front of him, and he could vaguely see the lights on the side of the road. Ethan Yin should have quickened his pace, but he slowed down again when he heard Alex Tang's voice.
"Just replace it with a new mirror, and keep the original mirror holder on the back... Can it be repaired? Great! This is what my grandma made for me. If it can't be repaired, I really don't know what I would do."
Alex Tang stood in front of a small shop more than two meters wide, handed the broken mirror into three pieces to the old man wearing glasses inside, and watched nervously as the old man put on the glasses and looked at it carefully.
"This embroidery is amazing."
Unexpectedly, the old man praised her after examining her for a long time. Alex Tang laughed and said, "Of course, my grandmother was very clever when she was young. She was a famous embroiderer in our area."
The old man adjusted his glasses and asked, "What kind of flower is this white one?"
"The thorny osmanthus is the flower of the Hiiragi tree." Tang Hiiragi squatted down in front of the steps of the store and pointed to the old man, "It's this small white flower. It's very fragrant. We have it in N City too. If we're lucky, it will bloom next month."
Old man: "I am ignorant and have never seen this tree before."
Alex Tang smiled with curved eyebrows and eyes: "Now you see, my grandmother drew the pattern according to the real thing, the similarity is as high as 99.99%."
The old man was amused by him. He measured the size of the mirror with a ruler, then turned back to the house to get tools.
Alex Tang breathed a sigh of relief, feeling relieved that his troubles had been solved. Just now, he saw this traditional craft shop selling fabric mirrors outside the door, so he asked with the mentality of giving it a try, but he didn't expect that it could really be repaired.
Only now did he have time to wonder what the name of the store was. Alex Tang stood up, took two steps back and tried to look at the plaque on the window, but accidentally stepped on another person's foot.
Turning around, it was Ethan Yin.
"Why are you back?" Alex Tang was half a head shorter than him, and he almost had to look up when they met face to face. "You offered your feet to me to step on. Why did you have to stand behind me on such a wide road?"
Ethan Yin turned his body and motioned Alex Tang to see how "wide" the road was.
Alex Tang saw that his back was almost against the opposite wall. At this distance, it was indeed because he stepped on someone because he stepped backwards. He scratched the back of his head in frustration: "Sorry."
Ethan Yin was not here to listen to his apology, and he was not angry about being stepped on. He simply skipped the topic and asked, "Can the mirror be repaired?"
Alex Tang was stunned for a moment: "Ah? Sure."
"good."
Ethan Yin left after saying one word, as if he turned back just to confirm whether it could really be repaired.
As soon as he raised his foot, Alex Tang blocked his way.
"Hey, wait a minute." Alex Tang stretched out his arm to block him, "Since you're here, let's see how it's repaired and how much it's going to cost."
Ethan Yin had a cold face and glanced at the person blocking his way at the lower left.
This height difference was stressful. Alex Tang, who barely reached the Beta average height, had never felt so short before. He swallowed hard and insisted on finishing his words: "You and the rest of you think I'm greedy for money anyway, so why not wait and see how much it will cost? Seeing is believing, so you don't have to blame me for no reason."
Ethan Yin felt that the "again" and "without reason" were unreasonable, but when he thought of how this guy was able to make specious arguments, he was too lazy to argue with him.
There was no harm in waiting for a while, so Ethan Yin turned around and found a place to lean against at the door of the store where he would not be in the way.
Unexpectedly, there were so many problems while repairing the mirror.
After much difficulty, we found a mirror of similar size, but the broken lens could not be taken out, so the boss had to remove part of the cloth wrapped around the edge of the mirror. After much difficulty, we finally took it out, but the new mirror could not be inserted, so we had to remove another part.
Since it has been taken apart, it has to be sewn back together. Grandma Alex Tang is a good embroidery worker, and she embroidered the edge of the mirror densely and neatly. The old man is an amateur, and he was stumbling over the previous stitches, some tight and some loose, and he almost turned the round mirror into a polygon.
Alex Tang couldn't bear to watch it anymore, so he pulled up his sleeves and said, "Let me do it."
The old man gave him the small stool. He went into the inner room, sat down, picked up the embroidery needle and started sewing.
The old man watched for a while and praised: "Young man, your skills are extraordinary. You are almost as good as a professional."
Alex Tang raised his eyebrows: "I am my grandmother's favorite disciple."
"There are not many young people willing to learn this now." The old man couldn't help but sigh, "Have you ever thought about doing this in the future and inheriting your grandmother's legacy?"
Alex Tang shook his head: "I don't want to, and my grandmother doesn't agree with me doing this."
The old man sighed: "Yeah, even if you go blind, how much money can you make? You have to bow to life."
Alex Tang pursed her lips and smiled: "But my grandmother relied on embroidery to support my studies."
"What about your parents?"
"My mom passed away early, and my dad...passed away two years ago as well."
"Poor kid, no wonder you are so sensible. If my grandson were half as sensible as you, I would wake up laughing in my dreams."
"Is your grandson also a Beta?"
"He is an Alpha, naughty and arrogant, no one can control him. It's a pity that he was born in our civilian family, otherwise..."
"Don't think like that. You have to make your own way. You are lucky to have an innate advantage."
...
Ethan Yin stood outside the door with his arms folded across his chest. When he heard the distant clock ringing the hour, he was surprised to realize that the two people inside had been chatting for nearly half an hour.
He had something else to do and was in a hurry to leave, so he freed one hand and knocked on the wooden door frame a few times, signaling Alex Tang to hurry up. Alex Tang was chatting with the old man enthusiastically, but he was suddenly startled by the knocking sound and a needle pierced his fingertips.
Hearing the gasp, Ethan Yin leaned over to look inside. Alex Tang put his left index finger in his mouth and sucked it hard twice, complaining: "Why are you so startled?"
Ethan Yin wondered who was startled and was about to ask what happened when the old man handed him a Band-Aid: "Put it on him quickly. How can such a handsome guy be like a wooden block?"
Ethan Yin was slow to react in this matter. Before he could figure out what was going on, Alex Tang jumped up and grabbed the Band-Aid: "I'll do it myself."
The old man gestured at Ethan Yin's height and said with a smile: "Is he an Alpha? It's not easy for Alphas to find a partner these days, especially since there are so few Omegas. You have to learn to love others..."
As soon as Ethan Yin said "no", Alex Tang interrupted and said, "He is a Beta, and so am I. We are classmates!"
The old man nodded and smiled: "Okay, okay, Beta is fine too. Bypassing the ties of the world, it is easiest for two ordinary people to be happy together."
At Alex Tang's insistence, the old man finally charged five dollars for the production cost.
Alex Tang was in a good mood after exchanging a bill for a handful of bills. The embarrassment of being misunderstood as a couple with Ethan Yin was also thrown out of the window. He jumped and skipped along the cobblestone road. He saw someone pushing a cart selling lotus pods at the intersection, and generously spent a huge amount of money to buy three.
"Five yuan for three. I'll take one as nutrition fee for my pricked hand." Alex Tang gave the remaining ninety yuan and two lotus pods to Ethan Yin, "I said I won't take your money, so I won't take a penny more."
Ethan Yin: ...
Okay, as long as you are happy.
Putting the money into his pocket, Ethan Yin got on the bus carrying two lotus pods. He found a seat by the window, and Alex Tang, who followed him, sat down in the empty seat next to him.
"Don't think too much." This time, Alex Tang learned to answer first, and raised his hand in advance to declare, "I'm going home with you."
This road is a busy section of the old city, with countless red lights and traffic jams along the way. Ethan Yin chose this road because the bus happens to pass by the school, but he didn't expect to spend so much time on the road.
Alex Tang beside him was leisurely, shaking his head while peeling lotus pods for fun, and threw the seeds into his mouth after peeling them. He covered his mouth and gasped because it was so bitter, but pretended to be fine. He peeled another one and put it to Ethan Yin's mouth to try to pull him into the water: "Try it, it's very sweet."
Ethan Yin naturally didn't answer it and turned to look out the window.
"What's wrong with you?" Alex Tang complained for the umpteenth time today, "Didn't we agree to settle the matter? I don't mind what happened before, so why are you still looking so sullen? We are classmates and neighbors, and we will see each other sooner or later..."
Ethan Yin's patience had already worn out today, and he didn't want to listen to any more nagging. He tilted his head and was about to say something, but when he raised his eyes, he was caught off guard by a round mirror.
The mirror reflected his sharp and cold eyebrows.
Alex Tang smiled with a successful plan, holding up the mirror and said: "Look at yourself, you are so good-looking, but you have to put on a straight face to act cool... Smile more, don't talk about Beta, the Omegas chasing you can line up from the front gate of No. 15 Middle School to the back door..."
Ethan Yin didn't hear anything that was said afterwards.
The bus stopped in front of the platform. The harsh sound of the brakes was amplified several times, circling and echoing in his mind, mixed with some sounds coming from all directions.
"So similar, you and him are so similar, eyebrows, nose, mouth, even the eyes are exactly the same."
"Don't listen to your grandfather's nonsense. He is lying to you. He just wants an Alpha. He just wants a high-level Alpha like his son."
"You may differentiate into an Alpha, which is your only value in their eyes."
"You see, they already have your brother, the illegitimate child whose birth mother is unknown, so they don't want you anymore."
"Be good, listen to your mother, don't become like him, you can't be like him anymore."
...
Ethan Yin's eyes opened wide as he looked at himself in the mirror. The flashing neon lights outside the car window behind him quickly distorted and spread in the noise, turning into a man-eating beast with its mouth wide open, laughing as it wanted to devour him, roaring as it wanted to suck him into the thick night.
Then, the sharp blade piercing the chest, the dense drum beats like heartbeats, the fear that was about to reach the top... were abruptly interrupted by the sudden station announcement.
Ethan Yin stood up, walked to the aisle, and ignoring the call from behind, got out of the car in two steps.
It was not until the cool night breeze blew on his face and filled his lungs, and the honking of vehicles on the road and the laughter of pedestrians once again lingered in his ears, that Ethan Yin slowly exhaled, unloading the invisible weight clinging to his shoulders and relaxing the taut string in his mind.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Before all five senses had returned to normal, I was hit by a clear voice that had made my eardrums calloused after a day of noise.
Alex Tang actually got out of the car and waved his open palm in front of Ethan Yin: "Are you okay, Ethan Yin?"
Ethan Yin blinked.
"Thank God you're still alive!" Alex Tang patted his chest and took out the mirror to observe, "It's just an ordinary mirror, why are you acting like you've seen a ghost?"
Ethan Yin took a few deep breaths and evened out his breathing. Feeling a little more comfortable, he looked up at the road signs, crossed the platform, turned onto the sidewalk, and strode towards No. 15 Middle School.
Alex Tang put away the mirror and chased after him, shouting, "Hey, where are you going? Home is over here."
Ethan Yin didn't look back: "School."
"Why are you going to school? It's so dark and there's no one around. It might even be haunted..."
Ethan Yin ignored him.
"Why are you so stubborn? You don't believe anyone." Alex Tang couldn't catch up anymore, so he leaned on his knees and gasped. "You want the textbooks and notes for the first year of high school, right? I have the whole set here!"
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