He is not my Alpha! - Chapter 20
During dinner, Ji Yifei’s mother once again brought up the banquet. Ji Yifei strongly disliked such occasions—they were boring and fake.
His mother, on this matter, didn’t force him. He rarely attended banquets, perhaps only two or three times a year. His mother claimed it was because he was too unstable and would be embarrassing to take out.
“Yifei, try this. Your dad made it himself.” With that, his father picked up a Coke chicken wing and placed it in his bowl.
Since childhood, Ji Yifei’s favorite dish was his dad’s Coke chicken wings; he could never get enough and always ate however many his dad made.
Ji Yifei smiled, said thank you, and began eating the chicken wing, only for his mother to douse him with cold water, saying, “You have no ambition.”
What did I do to provoke her this time?
The sweetness of the Coke filled his mouth. Ji Yifei lowered his head, gnawing on the chicken wing, ignoring his mother’s comment. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his father smile helplessly and place a chicken wing in his mother’s bowl.
He could clearly confirm his mother’s lips curled upwards just now, one hundred percent certain.
Just a childish Alpha who even gets jealous of her own son. I can’t be bothered to argue with her.
Sometimes Ji Yifei felt his relationship with his parents was strange—it seemed good, yet laced with pain.
When things were good, they could happily eat together. When things were bad, they would argue fiercely.
He looked up at his dad, noticing that even though both of them were sitting across from him, neither of their gazes was directed his way.
Sure enough, this is like ‘Grandpa Jiang fishing—the willing take the bait.’
His mother ate very little, and his father didn’t eat much either. Eventually, both put down their chopsticks and watched their son eat.
Ji Yifei felt extremely uncomfortable throughout the meal, and he finished an entire plate of chicken wings under his mother’s sharp gaze. Sure enough, he heard, “You eat so much.”
Fortunately, he had heard enough. Wiping his mouth clean, he put his bowl into the dishwasher and prepared to go upstairs, only to be called back by his mother.
He really felt like he was having bad luck today.
Fortunately, the “interrogation” location was not the study but the living room sofa, and his father was also present.
Ji Yifei consciously sat on the side sofa, facing his mother halfway. This time, his mother didn’t put on airs and got straight to the point.
“There are several people your age attending this banquet. I’m going to tell you about them, so make a note of it. Don’t be unable to even greet people when the time comes.” His mother crossed her legs, and her sharp words immediately came at Ji Yifei. Sometimes Ji Yifei truly didn’t understand why his mother had to give a sharp critique every time she stated a fact.
Ji Yifei replied with an “Mhm” as an answer, listening as his father began listing names.
“…Wang Kai from the Wang family, Li Yan from the Li family—you know them, so I won’t mention them. There are a few important ones this time; pay attention.”
“Yu Xi from the Yu family, he’s also your age. And Lu Wenjiang from the Lu family, who actually came back from abroad… And Shang Yan from the Shang family, he’s coming too this time.” His mother’s tone slightly lifted when she mentioned this name.
“Huh?” Ji Yifei’s voice slipped out uncontrollably. Was it the Shang Yan he knew?
He knew Shang Yan’s family was wealthy. He had known their background was extraordinary since his last visit to Shang Yan’s house, but running into him at that kind of occasion… it felt awkward just thinking about it.
Ji Yifei’s mother saw her son’s face change and asked, “What’s wrong?” She saw Ji Yifei’s face visibly redden.
“Huh? Nothing, it’s just that one of the names is very similar to a classmate’s name. I was a bit shocked, hahaha.” Ji Yifei forced himself to remain calm. He didn’t want his mother to know about his relationship with Shang Yan.
The relationship of smelling pheromones and biting the scent gland.
The next day, he naturally couldn’t sleep in until ten and was dragged out of bed. Two stylists had arrived at the house.
Ji Yifei couldn’t open his eyes and sat at the dressing table unwilling to open them, trying to squeeze in every last moment of sleep.
The couple behind him were already dressed. Standing behind him, his mother couldn’t stand his appearance and struck him on the back.
Ji Yifei was startled upright by the hit. The stylist nearly lost control of their hand.
“Embarrassing.” He saw the shape of his mother’s lips in the mirror, and even without hearing the sound, he could guess what she said.
He glanced at her hand, which was constantly holding his father’s, and didn’t bother to comment.
After getting into the car, Ji Yifei sat in the back. His mother didn’t allow him to sleep, so he had no choice but to look down and play on his phone. He noticed the class group chat had a lot of messages, over 999.
He clicked into it and was immediately hit by a shocking image: a close-up of Li Jiang’s exaggerated expression. He almost dropped his phone.
He scrolled up through the chat history and found out it was because of Li Jiang’s idiotic antics. He had taken a selfie and posted it in the class group, captioned with “Tell me if I’m handsome or not.” He probably sent it to the wrong person, quickly recalling it a few seconds later. Unfortunately, it had already been captured by others.
One group of people was grilling him on who he intended to send it to, while the other group produced an emoji pack within a minute. It started with normal narcissistic emojis and evolved into ones with exaggerated special effects, turning him into a “little old lady.”
Ji Yifei felt like his eyes were being violently beaten when looking at these pictures, followed by the feeling of having all the money in his pocket stolen. He couldn’t help but reply: Censor the ghost image.
A group of people below copied and pasted his response. After a while, Li Jiang completely lost it and threatened to sue to protect his image rights.
He was met with only two options: confess who he was originally going to send it to, or just endure it.
Finally, Li Jiang, having no choice, revealed in the group that he was sending it to his good brother. A group of people replied below, “Who believes that?”
In the end, Zhou Tian had to step in and clarify that the idiot was sending it to him, saying that since spring had arrived, he was always in heat.
A group of people below said it was boring. Ji Yifei, however, laughed the whole way. He wanted to continue their verbal sparring, but unfortunately, they had arrived at the banquet location. Under his mother’s gaze, he put away his phone.
It was the same routine: following behind, calling names, fake smiling, and fake compliments. He didn’t know what the point was. Ji Yifei followed his parents, greeting people one after another, from Uncle Li to Uncle Lu.
Feeling bored, he could only stand nearby and grab things to eat. Only the desserts at the banquet were worth eating.
After awkwardly smiling along for a while, he finally saw someone he knew, Han Dongjun. He quickly gave his dad a look.
He rushed over to Han Dongjun as if seeing a family member. Hugging him, he couldn’t help but complain, “Holy crap, Mom Han, I finally see you. If I hadn’t seen your face soon, I would have suffocated.”
Han Dongjun “Hehe’d” twice in response, quickly pushing him off, complaining about him being disrespectful and the difference between AOs.
Ji Yifei knew he was just being himself. He gave him a fake smile to his face, then rolled his eyes. Turning around, he realized there was someone else standing nearby, watching them.
The pure black suit was well-tailored, outlining the person’s body proportions. A slicked-back hairstyle instantly added a touch of maturity and stability to his teenage years.
He met Shang Yan’s eyes and saw him holding a champagne glass, smiling at him. Ji Yifei suddenly had an indescribable feeling.
Perhaps it was because of the “skinship” they had shared; his previous interaction with Han Dongjun seemed a bit inappropriate…
He deliberated for a long time in his mind, then rushed over to Shang Yan, hugged him, patted his back twice, and said with a smile, “Oh my, I can’t believe I ran into you here. Shang, you old man, seeing you here feels so familiar, ha!” He patted him twice again and was about to push him away, but unexpectedly, he was embraced from behind and couldn’t be pushed away.
“It’s very familiar to see you too, Young Master Ji.” They held each other tightly. Shang Yan’s voice was close to Ji Yifei’s ear, so close he could feel a slight breeze as he spoke.
Ji Yifei felt that Shang Yan must have sprayed cologne. He could smell a faint minty scent, which sobered his mind significantly.
“You two should stop. I don’t know what you’re trying to pretend. Everyone here is from the same circle; didn’t you both look at the guest list last night?” Han Dongjun’s comment instantly silenced the two of them. Ji Yifei would call him the best person to expose a lie.
Ji Yifei and Shang Yan separated. Ji Yifei retorted to Han Dongjun, “My relationship with Shang, you old man, is different from yours. With you, it’s pretending. With Shang, it’s called true love, understand?”
He only received a roll of the eyes and another “Hehe” from Han Dongjun.
The three stood there and chatted for a while, even bringing up Li Jiang’s selfie incident in the class group today. When Ji Yifei reached the part where Zhou Tian came out to clarify, his face was practically flushed red from laughing.
Han Dongjun was also clutching his stomach from laughter. Only Shang Yan, far from laughing, had a slightly strange expression.
Ji Yifei, laughing, complained, “What kind of brothers send each other selfies and ask, ‘Am I handsome?’ Hahahaha. He’s such an idiot in heat, hahahaha.”
Tears came out of Han Dongjun’s eyes from laughing. He wiped the corner of his eye, glanced at his phone, patted Ji Yifei, and said, “The main characters will be coming down soon. Let’s go over there to greet them.” He didn’t forget to gesture the same to Shang Yan, and the three walked together.
At this time, Wei Zhiheng had already emerged, accompanied by a woman with a voluptuous figure who was enthusiastically greeting guests and praising the boy next to her incessantly.
“Is that Wei Zhiheng’s mother?” Ji Yifei asked.
Han Dongjun: “That’s Wen Xixin’s stepmother, the current lady of the Wen family.” He then leaned closer to Ji Yifei and whispered, “Wei Zhiheng’s real mother wouldn’t dare show her face right now.”
Ji Yifei’s eyes lit up when he heard the gossip. Unfortunately, at this moment, Han Dongjun was called away by his father. Ji Yifei could only fake a smile at Han’s father to send him off, leaving just him and Shang Yan.
He glanced at the Alpha next to him, feeling that this person probably knew even less than he did; he looked like someone who didn’t involve himself in the social circle. He probably knows nothing about the feuds of the wealthy. Sighing, he could only silently calculate when Han Dongjun would return to tell him the gossip.
Unexpectedly, Shang Yan spoke, “His mother was kept outside by his father for many years and only recently married in. To avoid the backlash, she sent her son here while she stays home.”
“Ah?” This answer completely exceeded Ji Yifei’s expectations. After a moment of silence, he couldn’t help but ask, “Is this common knowledge in the circle?”
The answer was a nod from Shang Yan: “Everyone in the circle knows. They say rather nasty things in private.” He recalled hearing his mother’s sister talking about this on the phone last night.
Ji Yifei sighed, “But this has absolutely nothing to do with him personally; it’s entirely his mother’s behavior.” He looked at Wei Zhiheng, who was following Wen’s mother. His expression was as indifferent as ever, and one could even see his aversion to this kind of occasion.
He truly has a “School Bully” vibe.
Ji Yifei sighed again. Before he could finish his breath, Shang Yan pulled him back slightly.
A tall, even slightly overweight boy walked past him, aggressively heading toward the nearby woods. Ji Yifei didn’t see his face but heard Shang Yan’s voice in his ear: “That’s the current Wen family madam’s eldest son, Wen Hanlu.”
He smelled that faint minty scent again.
“Why is he walking so fast…” Ji Yifei frowned and muttered, only to see Wei Zhiheng, who had been opposite them moments ago, stride past him.
The direction he was headed was exactly where Wen Hanlu had gone. He turned to look at Shang Yan, who understood his meaning. The two put down their things and started to follow.
Unfortunately, before they could get far, they ran into Ji Yifei’s mother and Shang Yan’s father.
Ji Yifei couldn’t help but feel that fate was quite playful.
Ji Yifei’s mother looked at the two walking over, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Yesterday I heard Yifei say that he and Shang Yan are deskmates and have a good relationship. It’s nice to see it with my own eyes now.”
Ji Yifei’s face nearly turned white when he heard this. When did I say that? I was pretending not to know him just yesterday to keep my mother from finding out!
Ji Yifei’s father echoed, “Yes, the relationship is very good. I remember when Wenwen was sick at home, Ji Yifei even brought him books and homework.”
Shang Yan also gave a standard smile, “Yes, Classmate Ji and I have always helped each other out at school. Our relationship has always been very good.”
Ji Yifei inwardly thought of last night’s scene. Is our relationship “smelling pheromones and biting the scent gland?”
Ji Yifei offered a perfunctory, fake smile. His mother didn’t detain him this time. After saying a few words, she and Shang Yan’s father went off to find others, leaving Ji Yifei and Shang Yan alone.
Shang Yan smiled at him, “So you talk about me to your family.” He looked at Ji Yifei’s ears, which had turned red again, and continued, “Truly worthy of ‘true love.'”
Ji Yifei knew he was referring to the joke he had made earlier. Recalling what his father had mentioned, he responded, “Yes, Wenwen and I are true love.”
He watched Shang Yan’s smile stiffen. Shang Yan also realized what his father had said, clearly indicating that his nickname had been exposed.
Seeing the effect, Ji Yifei pushed harder, “I wonder which handsome guy Wenwen is? The name sounds so protective.” As he spoke, he didn’t forget to pat the Alpha next to him on the shoulder, full of playful provocation.
Shang Yan had no choice but to concede, giving Ji Yifei a helpless look. Ji Yifei knew this was his surrender.
The two had been delayed, and the pursuit they were on was long gone. Ji Yifei complained that his path to gossip had been blocked. The two walked along the same path back to the main banquet hall. As soon as they stepped out, they bumped into Wen Xixin, who was looking for someone.
Ji Yifei waved and greeted him. Shang Yan also greeted him.
Ji Yifei felt Wen Xixin barely lifted his head, nodded as a response, and walked away.
Ji Yifei looked at his outfit and said to Shang Yan, “Wen Xixin is too thin. He eats less than a cat at school.”
Shang Yan agreed. He opened his mouth but didn’t say anything, just as Han Dongjun walked over with a plate full of cake.