PM Chapter 16

最佳契合 (Perfect Match) – 十九瑶

Chapter 16

　　Dai Xiao picked them up right here on this bridge on the very first day they arrived in Luotan Town.

Back then, Linglan was even smaller than she is now. She couldn’t talk yet, just sucked on a pacifier and nestled in He An’s arms. Cheng Xiu dragged three heavy suitcases by himself up front, going door to door trying to find somewhere they could stay.

Luotan Town had nearly a hundred inns and youth hostels, but after struggling all morning, they still couldn’t find a single place willing to take them in. Every excuse was the same: babies were too noisy and would disturb the other guests.

He An knew better.

The real reason was that they didn’t have much cash. They couldn’t pay the rent in one lump sum and had to make up part of it by working. Cheng Xiu was still acceptable—he was a decent-looking beta with four years of solid work experience at Jiusheng. In a small town like Luotan, that was already overkill.

But what about He An?

He An was an omega—marked early, carrying a baby that hadn’t even been weaned yet, and just barely recovering from a serious illness. He was as thin as paper, sickly, and fragile. What kind of boss would be willing to give someone like that a job?

That noon, the sun was vicious. After being turned away by the fifteenth inn, He An’s lips had gone pale, and he simply couldn’t walk anymore. Cheng Xiu left the luggage behind, had him sit by the bridge holding Linglan to rest, and rented a cheap bicycle to ride all over town searching for a place to stay.

Linglan’s eyes were sharp. She spotted a flock of ducks grooming themselves by the riverbank.

Of course, this was not the same flock that was present today.

As the mother ducks elegantly brushed their feathers, the young ducks clumped together, forming a downy golden ball. Linglan was watching closely when a big orange cat suddenly ran in. The ducks dived for cover as it pounced on them, its swift and vicious movements sending them flying in all directions.

Linglan was quite spooked. She grabbed He An’s collar and began to cry uncontrollably.

When she cried, a wooden door close by opened. A muscular alpha came out from under the Olive Inn sign. He was wearing a tank top and flip-flops while holding a bowl of extremely spicy beef instant noodles. He looked at Linglan, who was sobbing out on the bridge, then at the rowdy orange cat below, and sighed, shouting angrily, “Liubailiu! Get up here!”

The orange feline couldn’t care less. It stayed on the stone slabs, intimidating the ducks as if it owned the place, in full arrogant bastard mode.

The alpha was embarrassed because his own wicked cat was ignoring him. He waved his chopsticks awkwardly in the air, then smiled at He An apologetically, “My cat’s kind of crazy. I can’t stop him at all. Sorry about that. Uh… how about you come in and sit with the kid for a while?”

⋮

　　Five minutes later, He An was seated in the Olive Inn courtyard, shaded by trees.

A wooden table, a wicker chair, and a mug of hot milk tea. Linglan was even holding a little blue flower and moving it around.

The alpha brought in the big suitcases one at a time and lined them up nicely under the eaves. It was a scorching day. He had just eaten a bowl of very spicy noodles and then did a lot of heavy lifting, sweating all over. His arms were shiny with heat and sweat, and his pheromones spread through the air. But he didn’t take advantage—his scent was clean and consistent, with no sexual implications at all.

Being comforted by a powerful yet kind alpha relieved He An’s headache.

After moving the bags, the alpha gave a quick introduction. His name was Dai Xiao. Aside from running the Olive Inn, his main job was photography. He also had a part-time job teaching scuba diving.

He An talked about his situation—having nowhere to go—holding on to a tiny hope. Dai Xiao didn’t think twice. He got up, opened a door, and asked, “Is this room okay?”

The room was bright, airy, and facing south; it had plenty of natural light and was decorated with wall art featuring epiphyllums. It was on the ground level, away from the entrance and away from the commotion of the riverbank bars; there were also no stairs to climb up. Just by looking at it, anyone could tell that this was the best room in the inn.

He An was overwhelmed and quickly said that a bed would be enough and that such care wasn’t necessary.

Dai Xiao chuckled and said, “Don’t be polite. You’ve seen my place—it’s completely empty and has no sign of any kind of business. I could give you ten rooms instead of one; it would make no difference. If you feel guilty about it, just take your daughter for walks more often. My business will take care of itself. Honestly, the mood in town has been bad lately. Every inn competes with cats. Liubailiu is getting bigger and lazier by the day; he can’t compete with other people’s soft, cuddly kittens. I need to come up with a new approach—launch an entirely new plan to attract customers.”

He An was about to say something else, but Dai Xiao went on, “Calm down, I’m not going to let you mooch. When you have time, help me clean the yard and take care of the plants by trimming leaves and watering them. You can think of it as rent.”

Dai Xiao was direct and quick to make decisions. The long-term stay was agreed upon in a few words. He took out his phone and toggled the themed room’s availability status to “Reserved.” After thinking for a moment, he just took it off the listings completely.

“I-I also have a friend that’s traveling with us. He’s a beta.” He An realized that Cheng Xiu was still out running around and quickly asked, “Can he stay with us too?”

Suddenly, Dai Xiao’s eyes flashed with a cold thinking, and then it disappeared. He nodded generously, “Sure. Let him move in.”

⋮

　　Cheng Xiu, out of breath, arrived thirty minutes later.

He appeared like a mountain monkey—drenched in sweat, with a bright red face, a damp neck, and fanning himself with a leaf he had picked up from the ground. He An had already taken a nap with Linglan, leaving only Dai Xiao in the huge courtyard.

Dai Xiao was also quite busy. Holding a plane, he gripped an old plank that was about two meters long and polished the surface down smoothly.

Cheng Xiu smiled at him, thanked him, and asked him what room he would be staying in. Dai Xiao looked at him for a moment with a blank face, then pointed to a run-down unit under the stairs and said, “You’ll squeeze in with me. I can fit another bed in my room.”

“Why?” Cheng Xiu’s smile froze.

Dai Xiao said honestly, “To save money.”

“Why does He An have a room to himself, then?”

Dai Xiao looked at Cheng Xiu as if he had just asked the stupidest thing ever, and he paused before setting the wide-bladed plane down, “Because he’s an omega.”

An adult omega and an adult alpha sharing a room was like giving a tiger a piece of tender lamb. You would still end up in bed, no matter how strong you are. Cheng Xiu felt like a total moron when he realized the question was foolish.

He rubbed his neck, still reluctant to live with the alpha he had just met.

Alphas were violent and wild, and they always released pheromones everywhere. Though not as sensitive as an omega, Cheng Xiu yet possessed the most basic instincts for protecting himself. Agreeing to anything without first learning the other person’s intentions was like dashing into a wolf’s den. So he said, “Then at least give me a room by myself too. Anyway, your inn—”

Looking around, “—isn’t exactly full.”

Dai Xiao’s face turned gloomy right away.

It’s true, his inn was about to go out of business, but he was the only one allowed to make fun of it. Cheng Xiu hit a sore spot, and he snorted, “Hmph.”

Cheng Xiu hesitated, “S-so that’s a no?”

“No.” Dai Xiao flatly said, “I do fine living by myself. I’m already being generous by giving up my privacy to give you a place to sleep. Don’t push your luck.”

He clicked his tongue twice, gave Cheng Xiu a look of disdain, grabbed the plane, and went back to work. The wood shavings curled and piled up where he was standing, softly and quickly covering his feet.

He continued to speak as he worked, “Don’t sulk. Listen—every room in this inn is posted online. Less room means less money coming in. Profits are low, competition is tough, and everything has to be planned. I’ve already taken one themed room off the listing. If I pull another, I’ll lose money this year. Do you know how hard it is to earn money? How annoying the Commerce Bureau people are?”

“And I can starve. But my cat can’t. You saw him when you got here, right? That chubby thing sitting on the roof. Eight meals every day. He screams his head off if he’s not full, and he even steals dog food from the neighbor’s corgi. My dignity is gone because of him. That cat eats at least a few thousand a year, no lie.”

Dai Xiao went on and on about Liubailiu’s voracious eating habits, the inn’s efforts to keep costs down, the fierce rivalry in the business, and the inflating economy. Simply put, spare bed, yes; vacant room, no.

Cheng Xiu’s head began to ache. He gave up and accepted his fate because he had no other choice.

After that, Dai Xiao stood up and dusted his work pants. He dropped the plane, lifted the smoothened plank, and pounded it down, sending a cloud of fine sawdust flying everywhere.

He put the plank on the wall and pointed to the shabby corner room, and said, “Do me a favor. Find a few more planks like this in the storage room. Pick the ones with less mold, and I’ll finish making the rest of them. They were all taken apart from old beds and have been piled up for years. It’s hard to save up enough money for a new bed.”

Cheng Xiu stared at him, outraged, “What?!”

Dai Xiao looked at him like he was overreacting, “What do you mean ‘what’?” Are you going to buy one yourself if I don’t make it?”

“…..”

After staring at the sky for three seconds, Cheng Xiu realized he was destined for disaster and went into the storage room to get the bed boards.

⋮

　　That afternoon, with the housing issue “effectively” dealt with, Cheng Xiu got a custom-made bed—1.2 meters wide and 1.8 meters long, not a centimeter more or less, just short of being cut into the shape of a human body. As soon as he rolled over on it, every board creaked and sounded like it was going to break.

Cheng Xiu was frustrated and threatened Dai Xiao, “I move around a lot in bed at night. I might keep you up.”

Dai Xiao couldn’t care less, “Move as much as you want. My snoring is louder than you are.”

“Shit.”

The threat was unsuccessful. Cheng Xiu cursed with his teeth clenched.

That night, the two went to bed in a silent, tense, and awkward mood. Cheng Xiu lay there still, eyes closed. Dai Xiao suddenly said, “You should have three jobs if you’re supporting two people.”

How shameless is this guy?!

Cheng Xiu jumped up. The poor bed creaked under him, “Supporting two people? Linglan is even lighter than Liubailiu! You have the nerve to call her a whole person?!”

“What’s wrong with that? So babies aren’t people now? How can you be a godfather and not even make enough money to buy milk formula?”

Dai Xiao was very greedy. He looked at Cheng Xiu like a cruel landlord looks at a contracted worker, eager to get every last bit of worth out of him, “If you were an omega and there was even a small chance you could become my wife, I wouldn’t charge you rent at all. I’d give you a 20% discount at the very least. But look at yourself—you’re a beta. You’re not special at all, and your looks are… well…”

“What’s wrong with the way I look? Just say it. Come on. Finish your sentence!”

Cheng Xiu blew up, slapped the bed, and jumped down, rushing to beat the life out of this cheap, foul-mouthed alpha, “Looking down on betas, huh? Do you think you’re superior because you’re higher in the alphabet? Should I recite it in reverse for you?”

Three seconds later, his hands were twisted behind his back. He was thrown onto the bed with a loud thud, like a sack of rice. His wrists were tied tight with a pillowcase knot that he couldn’t break.

Cheng Xiu fumed, his eyes burning as he twisted and cursed, “Three jobs, my ass. You couldn’t even afford to pay me for one! Do you know how much I used to earn every month?”

Dai Xiao let out a lazy yawn, “Why don’t you pay me half a year’s rent then if you’re so rich?”

“……”

Cheng Xiu fell silent in a heartbeat.

Dai Xiao laughed, “So? Do you really have money saved, or are you just running off your mouth?”

“Screw off. I invested my entire savings in fixed assets. A 140-square-meter apartment in the best part of downtown Yuanjiang, with an art gallery on the left and a theater on the right. Super duper expensive. The scraps you make wouldn’t even pay the mortgage. Once I sell that place, I’ll pay the rent in full—no, I’ll buy the inn next door, spruce it up, lower the prices, and take all of your customers.”

Dai Xiao laughed even harder.

Competitive rivalry? I won’t have to do anything—the neighborhood thugs will show you how things are done.

Cheng Xiu didn’t hear Dai Xiao’s inner mockery and assumed he had backed down. Riding high on imagined revenge, he barked, “Hey, you’re being so nice—don’t tell me you have your eye on my He An? Here’s some advice for you. Don’t even think about him. Even if he were widowed, it wouldn’t be your turn. Do you know how powerful his alpha was when he was alive? Every room in your entire freaking town wouldn’t be enough to equal one building from his family.”

“Shut up. You talk way too much.”

Dai Xiao threw a blanket at Cheng Xiu, put earphones in his ears, and went to sleep.

⋮

　　Cheng Xiu and Dai Xiao became sworn enemies on the first day of their stay at Olive Inn. He An was surprised that two nice people could fight so badly and turn everything upside down.

Cheng Xiu was furious about the bed and kept finding little things to complain about Dai Xiao to He An, trying to portray him as a stingy, money-grubbing man with money written all over his face. But He An knew otherwise—Dai Xiao was considerate, and people naturally liked him.

Wearing a tank top with his tattooed arms exposed and carrying Liubailiu on his broad shoulders created an oddly warm and oddly matched scene that could make anyone fall in love with life in Luotan Town.

Time went by quietly, like water flowing. Nine months passed, looping like music, slowly making small, beautiful changes.

⋮

　　Today, the ducks finished grooming and got into the water without Liubailiu causing any problems. The green trees were reflected in the water, and the ducks made waves as they swam. They swam to the east in a single bunch, swimming under the low bridge.

“Yaya, bye-bye.”

Linglan waved her tiny hand goodbye.

In the middle of the scene, the sun rose from the east. With the sky becoming brighter and the morning clouds glowing a dazzling reddish-gold, store owners along Yawen Street started removing wooden planks and opening their doors. The bars that had been loud all night were the only ones still asleep.

There was a shop at the corner that He An had gone to many times. It sold cookbooks, plant atlases, illustration albums, and more, but it didn’t have any business magazines with half-bodysuit photos. Things that belong to the city didn’t matter in a small town like this.

But today, He An was curious.

After nine months of peace, he suddenly wanted to know—far away in that smoke-filled city—how the man who had driven him away… was living now.

✕✕✕

Translated and edited by janemoyu (10/15/25)