Chapter 13 The Boss Is So Kind

As night deepened and the snow continued to fall, the group of teenagers grew tired from playing.

They gathered the inflatable rafts together, deflated them all, and stuffed them back into plastic containers. Two people carried the containers back to their original spot, covering them with dry tree branches.

The girls walked together, chatting endlessly, their laughter and conversations echoing through the valley.

Luo Shisi walked at the front with her hands in her pockets, while Lin Chao trailed at the back, moving slowly.

At some point, Luo Shisi turned around and walked backward until she fell into step beside Lin Chao.

“Tired? Why so quiet?”

Lin Chao buried his neck in his thick collar, his eyes darting away as he shook his head slightly.

Most Alphas seemed naturally skilled at breaking the ice and blending into groups, completely unable to understand the awkwardness of socially anxious people.

Within just a few minutes, they passed five villagers carrying hoes. The moment the girls spotted them, they swarmed around them like a whirlwind.

If not for their smiling faces, he would have suspected they were robbing them…

Watching this, Lin Chao’s eyes widened instantly.

Luo Shisi was used to chatting and joking with them, walking ahead with arms slung over shoulders. But when she glanced back and saw Lin Chao lagging alone, head bowed like a bullied sidekick detached from the world, she left the group and deliberately slowed her pace to walk beside him.

After asking her question, she suddenly noticed his hands.

An Omega’s hands were much smaller than an Alpha’s, with far more delicate skin.

Lin Xingxing’s skin was especially sensitive, the kind that would turn red at the slightest touch.

Perhaps because they had played so enthusiastically that afternoon, the boy’s hands were already covered in mud.

Luo Shisi immediately grabbed his elbow, stopping him: “Wait.”

Hearing this, Lin Chao looked at her in confusion, his eyes round like grapes.

Luo Shisi was momentarily captivated by his gaze, then flusteredly looked away, shouting to the girls ahead: “Hey, you guys! Anyone got tissues?”

The girls ahead stopped and rummaged through all four of their pockets but found nothing. They chatted at Luo Shisi:

“No, why? Did someone cut their hand? Or get a nosebleed?”
“What Alpha carries tissues around? That’s something Omegas do, right?”

The girls’ noisy chatter gave Luo Shisi a headache, and she finally waved them away.

Next time, she’d bring her own tissues.

When it mattered, none of them were reliable.

Pursing her lips, Luo Shisi could only grab Lin Chao’s hand and rub it clean with her own.

When she was little, her father would do the same after slapping her for playing with muddy hands, he’d use that same hand to rub the dirt off.

In the dimming light, streetlamps had flickered on, with snowflakes dancing faintly beneath them, casting a filter like glow over everyone.

The girl stood against the light, bending her head to pull his hand closer, her eyelashes casting soft shadows. She rubbed carefully, with focused attention.

The moment Luo Shisi’s hand touched him, Lin Chao flinched as if burned, yanking his hand back with a terrified expression.

Before Luo Shisi could say anything, he had already run off.

Leaving her standing there, utterly bewildered.

Luo Shisi gazed at her palm, flexing it slightly as if the soft sensation from moments ago still lingered.

Slowly, she began to realize something. Her gaze drifted upward, and she allowed Lin Chao to run off without following closely, merely trailing behind at a moderate distance.

She didn’t exchange a single word with him until she saw him safely home.

Luo Shisi started blaming herself.

With hardly any male friends around her, she had naturally applied the methods she learned from family members to those she wanted to care for.

But it never occurred to her that her well-inattention gestures might come across as awkward or abrupt to others.

This was the first time Luo Shisi understood

the boundaries required between Alphas and Omegas.

“Tomorrow, after returning from town…”

“I’ll go apologize.”

She ambled slowly through the snow, eyes half lowered, suddenly feeling the weather turn bitterly cold and her mood grow irritable.

Would he think she was too forward?

What should she say when apologizing?

“Sorry, I treated you like my little brother”? No, that sounded weird.

Then maybe, “Sorry, I forgot you’re an Omega”?
No, saying that would probably get her punched, right?

But as Luo Shisi thought more carefully, the dumb bunny’s reaction at the time… seemed genuinely off.

After running back, Lin Chao leaned weakly against the back of the door, eyes closed, chest heaving, lips trembling.

He stifled the urge to cry out, covering his mouth as he hid in this corner.

He knew Luo Shisi only meant to wipe his hands… she meant well.

When she looked at him, her eyes held the clarity of a tranquil lake, so transparent you could see straight to the bottom.

Yet he just… feared being touched.

Lin Chao opened his eyes, the rims already red.

He wanted so badly to change.

Hugging himself, he slowly slid down to crouch on the floor.

He didn’t even dare recall Luo Shisi’s expression at that moment, would she think he was being unreasonable?

He hated it, hated himself like this!

Having errands running this morning, He Qing got up early.

Remember Luo Shisi said she needed to go to town today too, He Qing didn’t even wash his face, still in pajamas and slippers when he went to wake her.

Luo Shisi usually loved sleeping in, especially during holidays when she wouldn’t rise till noon.

Only yesterday was an exception, when she went out early to shovel snow.

As expected, he’d probably have to call for this little rascal a while before she’d grudgingly get up.

Just as he reached for her bedroom door, about to call out, He Qing saw the door swing open on its own.

Luo Shisi emerged, already dressed to the nines. She looked him over from head to toe and frowned:

“What time is it already, and you’re still not ready? Dragging your feet! What kind of parent are you? I’ll wait in the car hurry up!”

With that, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and swaggered out.

He Qing stood frozen for a long moment. After confirming the clock hand pointed to 6, not 12, he pointed at himself, questioning his life: “I’m dragging my feet?”

Huh weird.

By seven, He Qing had driven Luo Shisi to town. While driving, he asked, “I’ve got business to discuss and some documents to pick up. Where do you want to go?”

“Copper Gong Street,” Luo Shisi replied.

The busiest area in Culture Town was Copper Gong Street, lined with numerous small shops.

Many Alphas bring their Omegas here to shop.

“Alright, I’ll come pick you up later. Don’t put your phone on silent and be careful.”

“Got it.” Luo Shisi responded verbally, but her heart had already flown to the nearby shops.

She had searched extensively yesterday for what gifts to give an Omega when apologizing.

The forum replies were all over the place.

Suggestions like “give yourself to him,” “two kisses,” “black stockings with a collar,” or “99 condoms” made Luo Shisi irritated. Frowning, she reported each one.

What kind of people are these? They don’t have boyfriends and have filthy minds.

Only one reply, though childish, resonated with what she wanted to do: “If you’ve done something wrong, make up for it. Sincerely asking for forgiveness a scented apology letter is essential.”

An apology letter was easy, but a scented apology envelope was harder to find.

She initially thought finding perfume would suffice, but this small town had no perfume shops. It wasn’t a necessity, and it was too expensive, so no one bought it.

Luo Shisi searched several places without success but stumbled upon a handmade toy store.

The glass display window outside was filled with many exquisite little items.

Luo Shisi turned and walked in.

“Boss, can you take these apart and combine them?” She pointed at the crystal balls in the display.

One crystal ball had a skiing figure but no snowflakes, while another had snowflakes but no figure. Putting them together would be perfect.

The boss rubbed his hands awkwardly. “Well…”

Luo Shisi understood and held up two fingers. “I’ll pay double!”

“It’s not about the money. It’s too troublesome, and I must run the shop, little miss~”

Seeing his refusal, Luo Shisi turned around and pinched herself hard. When she turned back, her eyes were brimming with tears.

“Boss, my mother is seriously ill. She loves watching snow and skiing, but now she’s sick and can’t do anything. Please agree to this for me…”

The boss’s face softened with sympathy.

Seizing the opportunity, Luo Shisi grabbed his sleeve and pleaded loudly, “Please!!!”

Other customers in the shop had been eavesdropping on the conversation and chimed in:

“Oh, the child is so pitiful. Just take those two little things apart for her. Such filial piety~”
“I’m moved hearing this. I wish my child were this filial.”

“She even offered to pay double. Just agree… you don’t even know how to make money when it’s right there!”

Luo Shisi nodded along. “Such filial piety!”

The boss glanced around, sighed with a pained expression, and said, “Fine, but you’ll have to wait a bit. When the shop empties out, I’ll make you a new one. I have all the materials; no need to take them apart.”

Luo Shisi immediately replied, “No problem! Boss, you’re so kind!”

The boss snorted. “Don’t flatter me. No need for double payment, I’ll make one for you for free. How much money can a kid like you have?”

Luo Shisi clutched the two red bills she had saved for a year in her pocket, genuinely grateful. The boss was really kind.

Nothing like her dad, those two red bills were secretly saved from her New Year’s money.

Luo Shisi quietly wiped away her heartfelt tears.

Everyone said her family was rich, but who knew she often cried from how poor she felt?

But there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Three seconds later, she heard the boss say: “I just received a shipment you can help unload it… Not much, just thirty boxes.”

No sooner had he spoken than a pickup truck pulled up outside.

Luo Shisi looked at the boxes in the truck, each half a person’s height, and her tear wiping hand froze midair.

“Maybe I should just pay you instead, boss?” Luo Shisi said with a thoughtful expression.

She suddenly felt that some money wasn’t necessarily worth saving.