Li Mao, I Heard You'll Take Any Job for Money?

[Content warning: no morals! No morals! No morals!]

[This is a fictional world and does not represent the views of the author or other readers! Do not judge it by real-world standards! Do not apply real-world morals! Moral paragons, enter with caution!

If anything similar happens in real life, call the police immediately; if you feel your worldview collapsing, please read the criminal code at once!

The warning has been pinned. If you can't accept it, just click the X. You'll be happy, and so will I.]

"Li Mao?"

A somewhat uncertain call shattered the quiet atmosphere of the alley.

Li Mao, who was leaning against the wall with his head lowered as he smoked, looked up at the sound. He casually glanced at the man standing before him beneath the flickering streetlight, then gave a muffled reply.

"Yeah."

After confirming his identity, the man got straight to the point. "Brother Zhao sent me. I heard you'll take any job as long as the money's right."

Li Mao narrowed his eyes slightly, took the cigarette from between his lips, and replied, "More or less. If the money's... right, anything can be discussed."

As if trying to cover up his flaw, he took several deep drags after saying that before exhaling a cloud of smoke.

Li Mao's first response had been brief and without a stutter.

So when the man heard his halting second sentence, he was surprised and blurted out, "You stutter?"

Li Mao frowned in displeasure at that.

"You're not here looking for a damn comic sidekick! Why the fuck are you talking so much?"

Apparently still not satisfied after cursing him out, he took one last drag from the cigarette and flicked the butt to the man's feet.

The man looked down at the still-lit cigarette butt by his shoe and seemed to realize he had crossed a line.

He stepped on it, then took a packet of white powder and a photograph from his pocket.

Staring at Li Mao, he said, "Find a way to slip this drug to the Omega in the photo. Once you've confirmed he drank it, leave. What happens afterward is none of your business. Two thousand when it's done."

Looking at the packet of white powder, Li Mao had a rough idea of what it did.

But he had no principles to speak of. After all, no morally upright person lived by the motto, "I'll take any job for money."

So Li Mao curled his lips in a derisive laugh, shoved both hands into his pockets, and looked down at the man. "Is the dosage... safe? If someone dies, that won't be this... price."

The man had complete confidence in the drug in his hand.

He answered decisively, "Don't worry, it won't kill him. This Omega is just a little too full of himself. Our boss wants to teach him a lesson. He hasn't even gotten him yet—how could he bear to let him die?"

Hearing that, Li Mao's eyes shifted. After a brief assessment, he decisively snatched the sealed plastic bag of white powder from the man's hand.

After slipping the packet into his pocket, he assured the man, "Got... got it."

Just as Li Mao was about to take the photograph of the Omega from the man's hand, the man suddenly pulled it back.

Li Mao looked at him in confusion but said nothing.

They stared at each other for a moment before the man suddenly grinned.

He flipped the photo over, turned the side with the address written on it upward, and handed it to Li Mao.

Smiling, he said, "That Omega is at the Green Woods Hotel right now. His room number is on there. Get it done fast so we can both report back. And a friendly reminder: you'd better bring something to defend yourself with. This Omega may not be anything like the ones you've met before."

Listening to the man's deliberately mysterious words, Li Mao accepted the highly suspicious photograph with half-belief and half-doubt.

Nothing like any Omega he had met before?

What did that mean?

Did he not have two eyes, one nose, two arms, and a mouth?

The moment Li Mao turned over the photograph, he sharply sucked in a breath.

He really was unlike any Omega Li Mao had ever met.

Perhaps because he was mixed-race, this Omega did not look delicate or cute. Instead, he was almost excessively handsome.

Black hair, blue eyes, a high nose, thin lips.

The photograph had clearly been taken secretly. The location looked like a hotel buffet restaurant.

The Omega wore an off-white turtleneck sweater and reclined in a single seat, holding a cup in one hand while flipping through a physical book on the table with the other.

Though it was only a still image, it could not conceal the air of nobility in every gesture he made.

And those pale blue eyes, not directed at the camera and partially hidden behind black half-rim glasses, were like a fog-covered morning at sea—mysterious and beautiful, yet exceptionally dangerous.

Both his appearance and temperament perfectly fit the description of an untouchable flower on a high mountain.

After memorizing the Omega's face, Li Mao carelessly stuffed the photograph into his pocket.

With all his attention fixed on the Omega's excessively beautiful face, Li Mao failed to notice that the man's shoulders were far too broad for an Omega.

And because of the angle of the photograph, much of the man's body was obscured by the dining table in front of him, causing Li Mao to overlook it naturally.

"He really is... different. And... pretty good-looking too," Li Mao honestly commented after putting away the photo.

Li Mao's comment seemed to remind the man of something amusing, and he burst into laughter.

Then he pulled out a cigarette case, put one cigarette in his own mouth, and offered another to Li Mao.

Among people like them, offering a cigarette was also a sign of acknowledgment and goodwill.

Li Mao naturally did not put on airs and reached out to take the cigarette.

The man took out a lighter and lit Li Mao's cigarette first before lighting the one in his own mouth and taking a drag.

"Brother, you know the rules. I can't say much about the boss's business, but take some advice from me—don't underestimate that Omega. Those two thousand aren't as easy to earn as you think."

From the man's somewhat gleeful expression, Li Mao sensed that some laughable gossip might have occurred between that Omega and the man's boss.

But in their line of work, they had to keep both their mouths and curiosity under control.

He nodded and grunted in acknowledgment.

"Don't... don't worry, man. I'll definitely get this... done right for you."

As though he had suddenly remembered something, the man pointed at his own ear.

He thoughtfully added, "That Omega's hearing isn't very good. He wears a hearing aid on one side. If you accidentally knock it off, he won't be able to hear..."

The man had only meant to give him a reminder. He was worried that if the Omega's hearing aid got knocked off during a struggle, they would be unable to communicate and create unnecessary trouble.

But as he spoke, his gaze fell on Li Mao's pink lips wrapped around the cigarette filter, and his words abruptly stopped.

He cursed under his breath and viciously crushed the unfinished cigarette against the wall behind him.

Fuck, he was seriously meddling for no reason.

One was deaf, and the other stuttered.

One couldn't hear, and the other couldn't speak clearly.

Whatever.

Even if the hearing aid didn't fall off, the situation would not be much better.

"I'll wait for your news. I'm leaving first." After saying that, the man hurried out of the alley without caring whether Li Mao responded.

Li Mao, meanwhile, remained where he was and leisurely continued smoking the free cigarette, silently watching the man's figure disappear at the end of the alley.

In truth, he did not care whether that Omega could hear or not.

He was too lazy to speak anyway.