CH 123

Title: 顶级掠食者 (Alpha Predator)

Author：水千丞 (ShuiQianCheng)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists ：沈岱 (Shen Dai -MC), 瞿末予 (Qu Moyu -ML)

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When facing the eternal separation between heaven and the important person, everyone will be forced to think about the meaning of life and death. We will try to use higher-dimensional interpretations to ease that pain of separation.

Shen Dai remembered that when his grandfather died, he was sitting in the stairwell of the hospital crying bitterly. At that time, he was not only crying about the departure of his family, but also crying about all the hardships brought to him by the changes in the family. He was crying that he would face a high-pressure situation in the future.

Almost ten years later, some questions could not be better answered simply because of age and experience. But they would no longer need to be answered. Time does make people stronger.

While Shen Qin was crying non-stop, Shen Dai’s first reaction was numbness. He seemed to have predicted it a thousand times and calmly accepted the fact that his grandmother died. He thanked the doctors and nurses, but he didn’t go to say goodbye to her. This is because before that, every time his grandmother woke up, they were already saying goodbye to each other.

Qu Moyu was wearing a hospital gown and stayed by Shen Dai’s side quietly.

After Shen Dai finished dealing with the death certificate, he didn’t know if he was sleepy, hungry, or tired. In short, he just didn’t feel very well. So he sat on a chair to rest. Suddenly, a cup of hot tea was handed to him and he was stunned for a while. It was as if he had just heard the sound of the world at this time. He stuck his head out and found Qu Moyu.

“Ah Dai, are you okay?” Qu Moyu asked worriedly. He knew that Shen Dai had a very deep relationship with his grandmother and that it was the most reliable, heaviest, and most selfless parenting grace in the world for him. But at this time, Shen Dai was acting too calm. He was abnormally calm.

Shen Dai took the tea and took a sip. The warm and fragrant liquid flowed down the throat into his stomach. His whole body suddenly warmed up. He said: “Fortunately, grandma has been sick for five or six years. I was prepared very early for this day to come.”

“You have tried your best to take care of her and treat her well as much as possible. It was just unfortunate that she has a disease that cannot be cured. It has nothing to do with whether you have money or whether you are dedicated or not.”

Shen Dai said: “I know.”

Qu Moyu frowned and looked at Shen Dai: “If you are sad, you don’t need to suppress yourself.”

Shen Dai looked down at the death certificate in his hand and was silent for a long time. He then said, “There are still a lot of things for me to do. I must look after Shen Qin. He has been spoiled since he was a child so he can only do some basic things. Other than that, he doesn’t have many life skills. He could only cry when something happens… However, he took good care of my grandma in the year I left.”

“Let me handle it for you, okay?” Qu Moyu gently touched Shen Dai’s head, “You are too tired this time. You should go home and rest.”

Shen Dai shook his head: “I will handle everything myself. My grandma’s information is all with me. I have to go to the public security bureau in the afternoon and I have to contact the funeral home. There are many things to do. They are the last thing that I can do for her.”

“Ah Dai.” Qu Moyu’s hand fell on his cheek. His head was gently turned to his direction and Qu Moyu looked at him tenderly, “Ah Dai, you can rely on me. You are not alone and you don’t need to face everything alone. You have to know this, okay?”

Shen Dai nodded.

Qu Moyu leaned over and kissed Shen Dai’s head.

Shen Dai smelled the medicine on his body and saw the blue and white striped hospital gown. He suddenly remembered Qu Moyu’s injury from a trance: “Can you get out of bed?”

“I will be discharged tomorrow.” Qu Moyu touched the back of his neck, “The wound has healed.” When he said this, his expression was not as relaxed as he should be now that it was healed. But he looked rather lonely.

“The glands function…”

“It will take time. I have to go through treatment and rehabilitation to gradually recover.” Qu Moyu shrugged, “Don’t worry. I will definitely recover.”

Shen Dai stared at Qu Mo Yu: “Well, I believe you can.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you can always do what you want.”

“Most of the time, yes.” Qu Moyu looked at Shen Dai with a smile, “But part of it depends on you.”

Shen Dai lowered his head.

“I’ll ask the driver to take you home. It’s more convenient for you that way.” Qu Moyu didn’t wait for Shen Dai to argue and continued, “Qiuqiu is still waiting for you at home. You also want to save some time, right?”

“…Okay, thank you.”

***

In the days after his grandmother’s death, Shen Dai was in an indescribable state. He dealt with the funeral calmly and rationally. He had dealt with the funeral of his grandfather back then, so he already had experience and everything went on in an orderly manner. But no matter what he said or did, there was a strong sense of detachment from the world. It was as if… …as if his body was moving while his soul was watching. Or it was as if he was enveloped in a transparent shell and the outside world seemed to be there but also not there.

During this period, he did not have the energy to pay too much attention to the outside world. But he also knew that Qu Moyu went to the company on the day he was discharged from the hospital and used a healthy and stable image to dispel many rumors. Fortunately, the functions of the pheromone stickers are getting stronger and stronger. As long as they are not close, no one will find out that he has no pheromones now. The return of Qu Moyu means that the matter of Qu Chengchen needs to be resolved.

Shen Dai was no longer interested in the results of You Xinghai and Qu Chengchen. At least now, he was completely empty and didn’t want to think about anything. He was only concentrating on his grandmother’s funeral.

On the day of the funeral, it was raining lightly.

Shen Qin was holding the photo of his grandmother while Shen Dai was holding Qiuqiu.

It is said that children should not be brought to this environment. That it is unlucky, unhealthy, and so on. But Shen Dai disagrees. When Qiuqiu grows up, he will not have the slightest impression of his great grandmother. In the temporary meeting of his two lives, sending one last ride was the only thing he could do to the one who raised his father.

Qu Moyu did not have the identity to attend the funeral ceremony, but he still attended. Shen Dai came out of the funeral home and saw Qu Moyu wearing a long black trench coat and a black umbrella at first sight. It seemed that he had been waiting in the rain for a long time.

It was cloudy. The atmosphere was full of darkness and silence. But Shen Dai couldn’t cry this whole time. He couldn’t even describe how he felt.

Shen Dai walked up to Qu Moyu: “Why are you here?”

“I came to accompany you. What else can I do for you?”

Shen Dai looked at Qiuqiu who was reaching for Qu Moyu’s clothes: “Help me hold Qiuqiu and send him back. I have a few relatives I need to entertain.” He said and took Qu Moyu’s umbrella with one hand.

Qu Moyu didn’t answer him nor did he take hold of Qiuqiu. He just looked down at Shen Dai. His eyes searched for all the emotions on that face. There was not even a slight frown.

Shen Dai also looked at Qu Moyu. There was an inexplicable tremor in his heart.

Silence flowed between the two.

Qu Moyu suddenly unbuttoned his coat and wrapped both Shen Dai and Qiuqiu into his trench coat.

Shen Dai was only wearing a white shirt and it was indeed a little cold when the wind was blowing. But he didn’t notice it until he felt the heat from Qu Moyu’s warm chest.

He didn’t realize that he was getting goosebumps. Qu Moyu’s embrace seemed to be the safest place in the world for him.

Shen Dai was stunned for a long time and suddenly realized that he was crying. Tears kept flowing down his cheeks. Silent tears soaked his clothes and blurred his vision. The only thing that dripped in the air was the light rain.

Qu Moyu kissed Shen Dai’s forehead. His low hoarse voice surrounded the family of three: “Baby, you still have Qiuqiu. You still have me.”

Qiuqiu made a soft “hmm” sound, moving cautiously. He seemed to fully sense his father’s grief.

Shen Dai leaned against Qu Moyu’s arms and closed his eyes. This person once shone a light on him in the dark and also pushed him into the dark, but in the end, it was this same person who held his hand tightly and gave him a firm and warm embrace.

He didn’t know what causal sequence of fate was to come after this. Whether it was high or low, happy or sad, giving or depriving, giving hope or despair, making people suffer repeatedly in happiness or in pain,… it will go on and on. He didn’t know what he had to face in the future, but he had a strong feeling that he and Qu Moyu were destined to be entangled forever.

In any case, at the moment when he clearly realized that he had lost his close relative who raised him, he was thankful that he still had Qiuqiu and… him.

***

A few days later, Shen Qin called and asked Shen Dai to go home, saying that they would pack up his grandmother’s belongings together.

His grandmother left a lot of things. Many of which were accompanied by the memories of Shen Dai’s childhood. He originally wanted to give himself a buffer for a while and didn’t want to face those memories so quickly. But he felt that Shen Qin wanted to see him mostly to confirm whether he could still live in that house. After hesitating for a while, he still went back.

Unexpectedly, Shen Qin did not mention his future life at all. He just packed up his grandmother’s relics. When encountering objects with common memories, he would chat with Shen Dai about the past.

Shen Dai was a little resistant at first. Seeing things and thinking of her, it was too painful. But in the end, he and Shen Qin went back to the past together. The meaning of memories is to continue the love and remembrance of the elder. Although he holds a lot of grudges against Shen Qin, Shen Qin is the only person left in the world who can share these memories with him.

There were a lot of things. They have packed some of them while the rest are going to be discussed on another day.

When Shen Dai left, Shen Qin said with sad eyes: “I was not there when your grandfather died. Anyway, I sent your grandmother away, so I can make up for it. In my life, I have made a lot of mistakes and hurt a lot of people. I’m glad that you and I have a completely different life.”

Shen Dai sighed in his heart: “You must live the rest of your life well. This is the greatest compensation for grandma and grandpa.”

Shen Qin smiled: “Okay.”

***

The next morning, Shen Dai received a call from Qu Moyu about Shen Qin.

“…What did he–?” Shen Dai couldn’t believe what he heard.

“Shen Qin attacked You Xinghai when he was going to the police station for his routine report. He stabbed his glands.”

Shen Dai’s brain was blank for a while.

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Next update: 2022.09.26

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*Translator’s note: The final chapter to this story is Chapter 132 and the next smutty one is Chapter 131. And so far, there’s one extra chapter. So, guys… this translation will come to an end soon. Please bear with me. Lol. -K