UNCLTRD chapter 2

That morning, Yang Shao decided against riding his electric bike—not because he couldn’t manage with one hand, but because traffic police wouldn’t allow it. He didn’t want to risk getting fined or delaying Yang Tao’s trip to school.

The school was only about a ten-minute walk from their house. When buying the house, its proximity to the school had been a key factor.

After dropping Yang Tao off at the school gate, Yang Shao fished ten yuan from his pocket. “If I don’t pick you up after school, you…”

“I’ll walk home by myself! I won’t talk to strangers, won’t take food from them, won’t wander around, and will call you as soon as I get home!” Yang Tao quickly recited, cutting off his father mid-sentence.

Yang Shao froze for a moment before laughing and patting Yang Tao’s head. “Go on in.”

Watching his son skip through the school gates, Yang Shao let out a silent sigh. It wasn’t that he didn’t care or was lazy—he simply had no time. Such was the struggle of a single father.

Before his injury, Yang Shao would head out at dawn to collect goods from the mountains—fruits, vegetables, and other produce—and return in time for the morning market. On good days, he could sell everything by noon and still make it to pick up Yang Tao. On bad days, he’d be stuck selling until evening.

When Yang Tao first started kindergarten, he often waited alone in the classroom for Yang Shao to pick him up. As he grew older, Yang Shao had to teach him how to navigate the roads, and since Yang Tao learned to speak early and picked up things faster than his peers, he was able to walk home on his own when Yang Shao couldn’t make it.

Yang Shao had no one left in his hometown—his parents had passed away early, and he had been raised by his uncle’s family. His uncle didn’t even know about Yang Tao’s existence, and Yang Shao, unwilling to part with his child, couldn’t entrust Yang Tao to any relatives. He had no choice but to bring him along.

After dropping Yang Tao off at school, Yang Shao had to visit the insurance company. Following his accident, not only did he suffer a fractured arm, but his small truck was also heavily damaged. Initially, the insurance company refused to cover the damages, claiming they were not within the policy’s coverage.

Yang Shao knew nothing about insurance and was too naive to even realize he was being taken advantage of. With no money in his pocket, he could only swallow his pride and repeatedly try to argue his case.

The insurance company’s lobby was brightly lit, even in the middle of the day. It was evident where their misappropriated funds went. After several visits, the staff at the front desk already recognized Yang Shao but offered no solutions, leaving him to wait in the reception area.

Yang Shao waited from morning till noon, all the way through the staff’s lunch break, without anyone addressing his case. His temper flared, but the thought of paying fines for damages on top of his current losses made him swallow his anger. With no money, it was hard to muster courage.

Having spent the entire morning waiting, Yang Shao failed to spot the insurance agent handling his case. He knew the person was intentionally avoiding him so he went to a nearby alley across from the insurance company to eat while keeping an eye on the front door.

He ordered a random bowl of noodles but kept his gaze fixed on the company’s entrance. He didn’t see anyone leaving through the main door but noticed a private car exiting from the side gate.

The rear window of the car rolled down halfway, revealing someone seated in the back. Their eyes, peeking out from behind the glass, seemed oddly familiar. As the car passed through the barrier gate at a slow speed, Yang Shao’s gaze lingered. It seemed like the person inside noticed him too.

Unfortunately, once the barrier was lifted, the car sped up, turned a corner, and disappeared from Yang Shao’s sight.

Inside the car, the concentration of cedar-scented pheromones was overwhelming. Thankfully, the driver was a beta and unaffected by the alpha’s pheromones. However, Chen Qiusu’s stern demeanor kept the driver completely focused on his work.

“Boss, are we heading home or to the hospital?”

Chen Qiusu glanced out of the window, watching the scenery blur past, and pinched the bridge of his nose. “To the hospital.”

Since that incident five years ago, Chen Qiusu hadn’t had any sexual partners. Suppressing his natural instincts was now taking a toll, leading to his body retaliating, and his pheromones becoming increasingly unmanageable.

Using medical treatments to suppress heat cycles and release pheromones wasn’t a long-term solution. Each visit to the hospital left him feeling inexplicably vulnerable. Today was no different.

In addition to physical therapy, the doctor once again suggested psychological counseling and encouraged Chen Qiusu to consider forming a bond with an omega or beta.

Even Chen Qiusu couldn’t articulate what he truly wanted. He only knew that he disliked the word “heat,” which reduced individuals to thoughtless beings ruled by instinct. During a heat cycle, it didn’t matter who was involved—alpha or omega—both felt equally cheapened.

After leaving the hospital, Chen Qiusu sat in the car, his gaze drifting out of the window. “Wait a moment.”

The car came to a smooth halt. Feeling hollow inside, Chen Qiusu didn’t know why he had asked to stop. After a moment’s thought, he said, “Go buy me a coffee… Forget it. I’ll walk for a bit. You can head back.”

Near the private hospital was a relatively quiet shopping district. On a weekday, there weren’t many people around. Chen Qiusu found an empty bench and sat down.

Not far away, on another bench, two children were bent over, their attention fixed on a pile of orange peels in front of them.

Yang Tao hadn’t seen his father at the school gate after classes ended, so he knew he had to walk home on his own. Just as he stepped outside, Wan Zhe was waiting for him.

“Yang Tao, I’ve been waiting for you!”

Wan Zhe didn’t have anyone to pick him up either, but the teacher insisted that students head straight home after school and not linger in groups.

“What do you want?”

“Help me with my craft project.”

Wan Zhe was from the neighboring senior class. His teacher had assigned them to make orange lanterns, but with no parents at home and no crafting skills, he turned to Yang Tao. Yang Tao was known for his exceptional crafting ability—he and his father had even made a paper pistol that was displayed in a school competition.

Yang Tao glanced at the bag of oranges in Wan Zhe’s hands. He had promised his father to head home early, but the thought of their mortgage made him agree.

The kindergarten was located just behind the shopping district. The two of them found a bench and spent a good part of the afternoon fiddling with the oranges.

“There you go. Now pay up.”

Helping classmates with craft projects came with a fee. Yang Tao charged one yuan per project and even offered a ten-yuan monthly package deal.

Wan Zhe grinned mischievously as he held the orange lantern. “You said it yourself—three projects get me one free.”

Yang Tao vaguely remembered saying that. Checking his little notebook, he confirmed Wan Zhe had indeed commissioned three projects. Honesty was the most important aspect of doing business.

“Alright, this one’s free.”

Beaming, Wan Zhe handed Yang Tao the leftover orange slices. “I spent all my money on oranges. Here, you can have some.”

After tossing the remaining peels into a trash bin, the two climbed back onto the bench. Their short legs dangled as they swung them back and forth, munching on oranges while chatting like miniature adults.

“Aren’t you going home?” Yang Tao asked, knowing Wan Zhe’s house was farther away.

On the big screen across the street, the clock struck the hour. Wan Zhe sighed, “Guess I’ll head home now.”

Once Wan Zhe was gone, Yang Tao stayed on the bench, unmoving. He had precisely calculated the time it took to get home from school. If he ran, he’d still have ten minutes to play outside.

As he jumped off the bench and wandered past a shop, his attention was drawn to the gun models in the display case. Turning around, he noticed the man sitting on the opposite bench—an uncle—staring at him.

The man’s gaze was firm yet not aggressive, but his complexion didn’t look good. Yang Tao hesitated between “don’t talk to strangers, go home early” and “be helpful to others” before deciding to speak up.

“Uncle, are you feeling unwell? Do you need the police to help you?”

For some reason, Chen Qiusu’s attention was entirely focused on the child nearby. The child had a soft voice, clear speech, and excellent expression skills. Even those small chubby hands moved deftly when doing crafts, showing no clumsiness at all.

Kids these days are clever, even knowing how to earn money by helping others with homework. Chen Qiusu didn’t respond to the child’s question; instead, his gaze shifted to the toy gun model the child had just been eyeing.

“Did you earn money to buy this toy yourself?”

The child nodded but then shook his head, leaving Chen Qiusu puzzled as he raised his eyebrows. “No?”

Yang Tao, always on alert, kept his distance from the man, staying close to the shop’s glass wall.

He had planned to save money to buy toys, but now he couldn’t. He needed to use his savings to help his father pay off the mortgage.

Before Yang Tao could respond, the toy shop owner came out, his tone hostile. “Why are you here again? Just looking and not buying? Get lost!”

Despite his wits, Yang Tao was still just a kid. The ferocious demeanor of the adult alpha frightened him into stumbling back several steps and landing on the ground.

Suddenly, a pair of strong arms lifted him from behind. Turning his head, Yang Tao saw the uncle, who had been sitting on the bench earlier, now standing protectively behind him.

Chen Qiusu glared icily at the toy shop owner. With such an attitude toward children, it was no wonder the shop was so deserted.

“Is this how you treat customers while running a business?”

Even among alphas, there were levels of pheromone dominance. The shop owner, recognizing the imposing aura of the alpha before him, muttered a curse before retreating into the store.

“Thank you, Uncle,” Yang Tao said, brushing off the dirt on his pants. Despite the scare, he hadn’t cried.

Chen Qiusu didn’t linger on the incident, nor did he say anything that might embarrass Yang Tao. Instead, he repeated, “You haven’t answered my question.”

Yang Tao’s eyes darted around. “Hmm… I don’t want to buy it.”

With that shop owner’s attitude, there was no way he’d buy anything there!

“I can make it myself,” Yang Tao declared, opening his backpack to show Chen Qiusu an unfinished paper gun model tucked in his sketchbook.

Though the paper gun was just a model, unable to fire due to the lack of a spring, its intricate design was astonishing.

“You made this yourself?”

Yang Tao’s cheeks turned pink as his eyes sparkled. “There’s a bookstore upstairs. I saw it in a book.”

Wanting to buy the model was mainly to take it apart and study its structure so his own gun could be functional.

“It’s not finished yet. I’ll show you…” Yang Tao suddenly looked up at the clock on the screen. Oh no! He had forgotten the time. “Uncle, I have to go home now. I’ll show you tomorrow!”