Are You Sure the Person Who Entered Your Room Last Night Is Still Alive?

Wan Fuqi savored the rare sight of the little wildcat he had just taken in baring his soft belly as he walked straight toward the phone on the bedside table, its screen still lit.

He opened the missed call log, and when he saw the contact name "Wan Song," the resentment nearly materialized above his head.

Calls from his sister never brought anything good.

He already knew what this was about.

He connected his hearing aid to his phone via Bluetooth, moved farther away from the bathroom to make sure Li Mao could not hear the conversation, then returned the call.

The standby tone had not even completed a single ring before the other side picked up.

A cold, arrogant female voice that sounded eighty percent like Wan Fuqi's came through.

"Well, look at that—you're still alive? You took so long to answer that I thought you were dead. I was already preparing to tell the old bastard to bury his child." Wan Song showed no mercy in mocking her younger brother.

Wan Fuqi was not in the mood to be polite either. "I didn't hear it. If you have nothing to say, I'm hanging up."

Wan Song snorted. "Doesn't one of your ears still work? What, did both of them go deaf? Let me know in advance if they do. Then I'll just insult you to your face from now on."

"Thanks to you, I'm not completely deaf yet. But if I listen to you for a few more minutes, I might be."

The reason Wan Fuqi had no particular reaction when Li Mao called him a deaf mutt was entirely because, ever since childhood, his own sister had already used every vile insult imaginable based on his disability. Without meaning to, she had given him extensive desensitization training.

To Wan Song, her brother was no different from any other child. He simply had a permanent accessory on his ear.

Besides, some people had no hearing impairment at all and still only knew how to play deaf and dumb in the most annoying way.

From the bottom of her heart, she did not think Wan Fuqi was pitiful, much less when she was a woman completely devoid of sympathy.

Sympathy brought her no benefits and offered her no protection. Aside from being deadweight and a weakness others could exploit, it was the most useless thing in the world.

Her brother, Wan Fuqi, did not need anyone's sympathy either.

Under his sister's inhumane child-rearing methods, coupled with the advantages of his family background, Wan Fuqi did not possess the fragility and inferiority complex commonly seen in disabled people.

He was merely a noble Enigma with a permanent accessory on his ear.

Even if his hearing had been normal, he would still have hated all that noisy chatter.

He did not have the patience to listen to every word other people said, either.

Thinking of that, a smile returned to Wan Fuqi's face.

By that measure, the little stutterer was an exception.

At that moment, Wan Song, having had her fill of insults, laughed a few times.

"Wan Fuqi, I tell you you're stupid and you never believe me. You've only been away from home for a few days, and someone has already set you up. Why don't you cover that ugly face before you go out, huh? Saves me from having to deal with the trouble that face of yours causes because you can't handle it yourself first thing in the morning."

The more Wan Song spoke, the angrier she became.

Early that morning, several calls from unfamiliar numbers had woken her up.

When she answered them, she learned they were people from Willow City whom she had barely ever dealt with.

An Alpha had taken a fancy to her unlucky younger brother, who had only left home for Willow City to attend university two days ago. He had hired someone to drug him, intending to force the issue and make it a done deal.

Then, unsurprisingly, it had failed. Somehow, the Alpha's father found out. After investigating and learning that the "Omega" his son had targeted was the Wan family's son, he was terrified and hurriedly found several intermediaries acquainted with both sides to call and apologize.

Wan Song was not worried that her brother would suffer any loss. After all, an Alpha capable of marking an Enigma probably had not evolved yet. Even if drugs caused him to lose control, at most he would mark that filthy thing that had failed to recognize its place.

But being forced to listen to several old men apologize and mediate all morning had left a fire burning in her chest.

Then she thought of how her brother had not said a damn thing about it so far, and the fire blazed even hotter. The call she had made to demand an explanation had even been hung up by this damned deaf idiot on the excuse that he "didn't hear it."

Honestly, he might as well be dead. Being alive only caused her trouble.

"Now you've confirmed I'm alive? If you're done insulting me, I'm hanging up. I have things to do." Wan Fuqi was clearly used to this way of interacting with his sister. Catching the pause in Wan Song's speech, he tried to end the conversation.

Wan Song gave a disdainful scoff.

"You have things to do? What could you possibly have to do? Go to the hospital and see whether you're carrying your Alpha husband's baby? Idiot, I can smell that Enigma stink on you through the phone. Do you know who you're talking to? Try speaking to me in that tone again! Do you think anyone actually wants to talk to you?"

Wan Song suddenly stopped and drew in a breath.

Wan Fuqi knowingly closed his eyes.

At times like this, he especially hated that he needed to wear a hearing aid to take calls, because he knew exactly what would happen next, yet unlike ordinary people, he could not take the phone away from his ear to lower the volume.

Wan Song roared, "Where is the person who entered your room last night?! I just want to confirm whether he's alive! I saw the surveillance footage—he never left your room all night! Did you fucking dismember and cook him?!"

Wan Fuqi felt that his hearing impairment might not have been congenital. Perhaps his sister had shouted him deaf when they were children, except he had been too young then to file a complaint for himself...

He waited for the pain in his ringing ears to ease before answering, "Alive."

"Really?" Wan Song was clearly a little unconvinced. "Alive with all four limbs intact, a clear mind, and an uninjured face?"

"Mm."

After quickly confirming it, Wan Fuqi thought it over carefully again.

All four limbs intact, clear-minded, face uninjured...

After reviewing the little stutterer's current condition and confirming that it matched his sister's requirements, he gave another, even more certain "Mm."

"Swear it on your share of the inheritance in the will that old bastard drew up."

Wan Song still felt that no one could spend a night alone in the same room as her perverted younger brother and come out completely unscathed.

"If you're lying, then when that old bastard dies, your share of the inheritance will go to me."

"..."

Sure enough, in his sister's heart, he would never be worth more than a large inheritance.

Still, Wan Fuqi answered with perfect confidence, "Mm, I swear."

"Fine!"

Wan Song's tone finally lost some of its aggressiveness.

"I've already had someone handle your enrollment procedures. Rest properly at the hotel these next few days. The house is also being furnished according to your requests. You should be able to move in by the time school starts, and that's only a few days away."

After giving her instructions, Wan Song added uneasily, "Let that person go already. Don't cause me any trouble, or I'll throw you into a psychiatric hospital overseas."

Wan Fuqi gave another irritated, perfunctory "Mm."

"If you use that impatient tone again, I'll kill you sooner or later, you little bastard..."

Even before hanging up, Wan Song did not forget to slip in a few more insults.

"Beep—"

When the busy signal sounded, Wan Fuqi let out a relieved breath.

On the bright side, at least his sister had handled his enrollment procedures. That meant he would not need to leave the hotel and could keep doing what he had not yet gotten enough of with his little stutterer.

Just as Wan Fuqi eagerly turned to head back to the bathroom, a sharp pain suddenly pierced his neck.

He lowered his gaze on reflex and saw a syringe embedded in the side of his neck, its contents rapidly being injected into his body.

The liquid was probably some kind of anesthetic. It took effect quickly; almost the instant the syringe was emptied, Wan Fuqi collapsed to the floor.

In the center of his slowly narrowing vision, he saw clearly who had attacked him.

It was the little stutterer, who should have been locked in the bathtub.

Yet now, he stood before him with a loose bath towel wrapped around his waist, his arms hanging at his sides.

Li Mao watched the man gradually lose consciousness, then suddenly grinned. He gave Wan Fuqi a small wave and said with a cheeky smirk, "B-bye, darling."