Chapter 36 - Regret

Tang Yichuan's eyes were bloodshot as he tried to push him away, but how could his strength compare to that of an alpha in his twenties? Naturally, he couldn't break free, and in his frustration, he yelled, "Wopel, let go of me!"

The man called Wopel narrowed his eyes, his long, thick lashes half-covering those large, deep eyes, making it impossible to discern his emotions. "So you still remember your husband's name is Wopel."

Then, Wopel lifted his blue-green eyes, like a dangerous male lion, filled with hostility as he looked at Ning Wan. The hand around Tang Yichuan's waist tightened as if declaring his dominance, "I'm sorry Yichuan has caused you trouble."

Ning Wan didn't respond to Wopel's provocation. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Tang Yichuan, asking, "Who is he to you?"

"Of course, I'm his alpha!" Wopel raised his voice. "Who are you? Where did you come from?"

"Alpha?" Ning Wan whistled, deliberately mocking the young man in front of him who appeared a few years younger than himself. "Then why can I still smell his omega pheromones? If you haven't marked him, you can't really call yourself his alpha, can you?"

Sure enough, Wopel was infuriated by Ning Wan's words. He glared at Ning Wan, his eyes intimidating as if he was trying to find the right words to retort. But at that moment, Tang Yichuan's expression darkened. He gripped Wopel's wrist and said coldly, "Let go. We've already broken up."

"What breakup! I never agreed to it, so how can you call it a breakup!"

Ning Wan didn't interrupt. He crossed his arms and simply stood by watching the spectacle, even with a bit of amusement.

He should have been annoyed, angry, and jealous of this uninvited guest, but none of those feelings surfaced. He just felt like an outsider watching the show, finding it a bit curious, but nothing more.

"Looks like someone is taking you home today, Lawyer Tang," Ning Wan said as he unbuttoned two buttons on his shirt collar and adjusted his collar. "I'll take my leave now, so as not to disturb the two of you."

Tang Yichuan couldn't stop Ning Wan and could only stomp on Wopel's foot in frustration, like a cat whose fur had been ruffled. "You..."

Before he could finish his sentence, a familiar pair of thin lips pressed against his. Wopel's blue-green eyes, under the streetlamp's golden light, suddenly seemed somewhat pitiful. " Yichuan, you don't know how hard it was for me to find you."

Tang Yichuan was momentarily speechless, thinking to himself that good-looking people really have an advantage. He couldn't bring himself to vent his anger on Wopel's handsome face.

Ning Wan, smelling of alcohol, made a call to arrange for a driver to take him home.

The house was still as empty as ever. For the first time, Ning Wan felt that this house was too big, so big that he started to feel cold.

He needed to find Shen Shuyun, he thought to himself. This thought emerged so strongly in his mind that it awakened his numbed brain and quickened the pace of his heart, like a small drum being rapidly beaten in the silent night.

Ning Wan sat up and quickly found the detective agency's number in his phone, dialing it until he heard a series of disconnected tones. Only then did he realize it was already midnight and no one would answer his call so he hung up and went to sleep. The next morning, he called the detective agency, asking them to find Shen Shuyun's whereabouts.

His recollection was interrupted by an abrupt ringing. Ning Wan looked up at Luo Xiao, who smiled and said, "I'll take the call."

With that, Luo Xiao walked over to answer the phone. He stood by the door, so Ning Wan couldn't make out the conversation clearly, only catching a few words. Ning Wan wasn't interested in prying into personal matters and just sat there smoking. Since Shen Shuyun left, Ning Wan had been smoking more heavily, to the point where he almost went through a pack a day, and his office was always filled with the smell of smoke.

Luo Xiao didn't stay on the call long and came back over, but he didn't sit down again. "I have to go. I won't be able to keep you company tonight."

"Leaving so soon? You just got here."

"I can't stay, the old man is coming to my house for dinner tonight, and I need to help Xiaohan prepare." Luo Xiao scratched his head. "Xiaohan asked me to buy some meat filling for dumplings on the way back. If I'm late, he'll scold me."

Ning Wan waved him off and coughed lightly. "Alright, alright, get going. Just looking at you annoys me."

"You're spending the New Year alone, are you going to be okay? Do you want to come to my place?"

"No, thanks," Ning Wan said, sitting amidst a cloud of smoke, with only the tip of his cigarette glowing a dull orange. "It's your family's New Year. What would I be doing there? I'm not going to be the light bulb[1]."

Although he said it in a joking tone, Luo Xiao knew Ning Wan wasn't just politely refusing. He genuinely didn't want to intrude, so Luo Xiao could only pat his long-time friend's shoulder and softly say, "Everything will pass. It'll get better."

"Mn."

Two days before New Year's Eve, Aunt Wu, who was getting ready to go back to her hometown for the holidays, asked Ning Wan, "Mr. Ning, do you want me to make some dumplings for you to freeze?"

At that moment, Ning Wan was sitting in the living room looking at the year-end report on his laptop. Hearing her question, he looked up, his face illuminated by the screen, clearly showing the dark circles under his eyes and the stubble on his chin.

He did have a kind of dumpling he really wanted to eat, but he missed his chance, and now he could never eat it again.

"That would be good." Ning Wan reached up to push his messy hair back from his forehead. His bloodshot eyes looked at Aunt Wu, and he spoke with an emotionless tone, as flat as water. "Mushroom and pork filling, is that okay?"

Aunt Wu quickly replied, "Of course. I'll make them and freeze them in the second compartment of the freezer."

Ning Wan nodded and turned his face back to the laptop, staring at the screen.

Aunt Wu rubbed her hands together, feeling a bit uncomfortable with Ning Wan's cold demeanor, but after thinking about it, she decided to tell him something. "Mr. Ning, yesterday when I was cleaning the room, I found a notebook—it had fallen behind the low cabinet, and I only saw it by chance. From the handwriting, it looks like it's Mr. Shen's. Would you like to take a look?"

Ning Wan abruptly lifted his head, his eyes suddenly as bright as a shooting star in the sky. "Where is it?"

"Wait a moment, I'll go get it."

Aunt Wu quickly brought the notebook down and handed it to Ning Wan. Ning Wan moved the laptop off his lap and opened the small notebook—sure enough, it was Shen Shuyun's handwriting, neat and precise.

The notebook wasn't new, it seemed to have been used for two or three years, and the contents weren't anything special, mostly just recipes.

Ning Wan's expression softened a bit. He knew Shen Shuyun had always loved cooking and was quite skilled at it. But when he flipped to the sixth page, his gaze froze.

It was a recipe for sweet and sour pork.

Below the copied recipe, there were a few small notes—

"This is a dish Ning Wan likes to eat."

"This time, he said there wasn't enough sugar. Next time, add more."

Ning Wan stared blankly at those few small lines, his fingers trembling as he traced the words, as if he were trying to touch that gentle lover through the pages of time.

Then, he flipped through the notebook, finding various notes scattered throughout, each one related to him.

"He doesn't like bitter melon. When he eats it, he looks just like a child."

"He prefers dishes with a stronger flavor. He isn't very interested in steamed food."

"This dish suits his taste."

"Cook it longer; he likes the meat tender."

Every single note was Shen Shuyun's unspoken love for him.

Tears welled up in Ning Wan's eyes as he clutched the notebook, trembling in pain—because every note seemed to mock how late his regret had come.

Shen Shuyun had always been like this, his love was always quiet and steady... Ning Wan couldn't help but wonder how much of Shen Shuyun's love had he missed during the time they were together,?

Ning Wan regretted it, he truly regretted it. He only wanted to find Shen Shuyun, hold him tightly, and tell him he was sorry.

No, not that.

Before saying sorry, he needed to say, "I love you."

[1] Basically the third wheel