Chapter 24: Why Does Instructor Yu Think I Must…
Xie Chengfeng liked horses. Not only did he love horse racing, but he also formed a cavalry unit.
The facilities at the horse ranch were professional and complete. Each horse had an intelligent single stall. Pastures and training tracks were distributed around, and in the distance, several jockeys were testing performance.
The person in charge showed them around. When they reached a Thoroughbred stall, he stopped to introduce it.
A parrot was tethered at the door of this room—a huge, colorful macaw with bright feathers, looking majestic.
For some reason, Yu Shi felt a subtle sense of familiarity.
Xie Chengfeng touched the horse and said, “This Thoroughbred was raised by my dad. Named Violet. Explosive power and strong endurance. Participated in the four major tournaments since young. Parents were last year’s champion horses. Old Yu, want to ride it for a lap?”
Yu Songwei waved his hands quickly. “No no, I’m unstable on a horse.”
While they were talking, Yu Shi grew curious and hooked his finger in the air to tease the parrot.
Suddenly, it tilted its head and laughed ga ga ga. The laughter was eerie and terrifying, giving Liu Yin a big scare.
“Oh my mother, what was that noise?” She quickly looked back.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. It doesn’t bite,” Xie Chengfeng comforted. “That was also raised by my dad, named Seven Fairies. His parrots are all weird, always like to make inexplicable noises.”
Parrot: “Hehe, hehe.”
Liu Yin: “…”
Yu Shi felt the parrot’s tone resembled someone, but couldn’t put a finger on who.
His gaze moved to the side. Opposite was the farrier workshop where workers were trimming hooves. A familiar figure flashed past.
Yu Shi blinked in disbelief, suspecting he saw wrong.
When he looked again, the person had vanished.
Yu Songwei had learned equestrianism when young and was quite interested in horses, asking various questions as they walked.
Seeing Liu Yin sweating from the heat and lacking interest, Xie Chengfeng said considerately, “Sister-in-law, I’ll take you over there to rest.”
Liu Yin exchanged pleasantries and followed him to the rest area nearby. Xie Chengfeng asked a waiter to bring her an iced drink, turned to return to the stable, and suddenly saw a worker brushing a horse.
The man wore work clothes and a gray baseball cap. While washing the horse, he looked around furtively. After scanning the surroundings, he met Xie Chengfeng’s sharp gaze.
Xie Ren: “…Dad?”
He was covered in water stains and horse hair, wearing ill-fitting rubber boots, brush in hand—looking every bit the stable hand.
Xie Chengfeng was shocked and furious. He glared at him viciously and dragged him into a nearby cubicle.
He said angrily, “Are you sick in the head? I kindly advised you to meet an elder, you refused. Now you pop out looking so filthy—intentionally trying to embarrass me, right!”
Xie Ren hadn’t found Yu Shi and was in an irritable mood, giving him no face at all. “I come when I like. Half this horse ranch is Grandpa’s; it’s not yours alone.”
Xie Chengfeng lowered his voice. “I didn’t say you couldn’t come. Can’t you dress normally? There are guests outside. What is this you’re wearing? Simply too rude! Let the butler take you to shower, change clothes, meet an important person later, and have a meal with them.”
Xie Ren rolled his eyes. “Blind date?”
“Hmph, smart for once. Your grandpa scouted them out long ago.”
“You go yourself. Why should I go to your blind date? To offer tea to a stepmom? I’d choke her to death.”
Xie Chengfeng almost couldn’t control slapping his face. He shouted, “Clean out your mouth! It’s your blind date! Not your father’s!”
Xie Ren gave a fake smile. “Then I have even less time. I’m busy, don’t annoy me.”
Really strange. One or two, all coming to the horse ranch for blind dates.
However, since this place opened to the public, it had indeed been hyped as a dating holy land, just that there happened to be few guests today.
After speaking, Xie Ren ignored his father’s eye-popping expression, turned around, and continued brushing the horse.
After seeing the person suspected to be Xie Ren, Yu Shi found an excuse to wander around, peeking into workshops one by one, but never saw that person again.
Almost suspecting his eyes were playing tricks on him, he was about to leave when a teasing voice sounded behind him.
“Instructor Yu, looking for me?”
Yu Shi turned back and saw Xie Ren holding a bundle of hay.
He looked him up and down, surprised. “It really is you. Why are you working here? Your business scope is too wide.”
Xie Ren threw the hay into the trough, feigning helplessness. “That’s how it is for us common people. Have to earn money to support the family. Anyway, I was stood up by someone, so I came to do some work in passing.”
“Didn’t I transfer you a red packet? Why return it?” ‘Someone’ said.
Xie Ren touched his nose. “If I accepted it, what would I become?”
A pretty boy kept by someone?
…Not entirely unacceptable.
Yu Shi was quiet for a moment. “I didn’t mean to stand you up. Let’s make it up with a meal tomorrow.”
Xie Ren smiled, baring a row of white teeth.
Yu Shi waved. “Won’t disturb your work. See you later.”
Xie Ren’s heart thumped. Thinking of Yu Shi about to meet a stranger Alpha, he couldn’t help imagining things.
Didn’t know the other party’s identity, job, age, whether their temper was good, whether they would treat him well.
Alphas, 80% were easily attracted by appearance. Didn’t know if that person had the patience to understand Yu Shi.
If it was someone imperfect who got the chance to communicate deeply with Yu Shi, possibly developing further, that would really make one very angry.
Why him?
Xie Ren asked quickly, “Do you like dogs?”
“There’s a kennel behind this hill. I can take you there on horseback to see,” he added uneasily, as if afraid Yu Shi would turn and leave.
“No interest,” Yu Shi said flatly. “I’m allergic to fur, don’t interact much with cats and dogs.”
“Oh, is that so.”
Xie Ren hung his head, the brim of his hat almost completely covering his face, like a dejected puppy that couldn’t even wag its tail.
He took off his gloves in discouragement and threw them on the ground, with three parts annoyance and seven parts unwillingness.
The hat blocked his vision. The next second, a pair of shoes appeared in his field of view.
Yu Shi took a step forward, looking amusedly at him venting on the gloves, and said leisurely, “However, riding horses is okay. I haven’t tried it. Do you have a relatively docile horse?”
Xie Ren looked up abruptly, eyes instantly lighting up. “Yes, of course yes. Follow me!”
He took Yu Shi to a stable. This room was more spacious than others, with independent lighting and bathing.
A golden chestnut horse stood quietly under the light. Its coat was glossy, physique tall and slender, neck and back muscular, looking very domineering.
Upon seeing Xie Ren, the horse snorted excitedly, kicking its four hooves and rubbing its head against him incessantly.
Xie Ren stroked its head. “Her name is Star Scar. An Arabian horse. A gentle little girl. Hi, long time no see. Miss me, Little Star?”
He skillfully fed the horse a carrot and reached out to Yu Shi. “Come here, I’ll help you mount.”
Even though Yu Shi wasn’t familiar with horsemanship, he was surprised. “Don’t need to install stirrups or something? How to get up like this?”
“She doesn’t need them.” Xie Ren grinned, with a hint of pride.
Half-believing, Yu Shi placed his hand on Xie Ren’s. Xie Ren gripped him slightly. As if sensing it, Star Scar immediately bowed and lifted a front hoof, making a gesture of lowering herself to welcome.
Xie Ren said, “Just step on it. I won’t let you fall.”
Yu Shi was shocked by its human-like intelligence. He stepped on the front hoof, turned, and lifted his leg. Simultaneously, Xie Ren supported his palm with one hand and lifted him up, easily sending him onto the horse’s back.
The horse was very gentle, offering almost no resistance.
But for someone who didn’t ride, there was still a strong sensation of bumping.
Yu Shi thought Xie Ren would ride another horse to guide him. Who knew he would just lead the rope and walk out of the stable, comforting Star Scar as they went.
Yu Shi asked, “You’re going to lead the horse for me? Actually, I can ride by myself.”
Xie Ren said, “I wouldn’t dare even if you dared. She’s a descendant of warhorses. Countable on one hand are the horses in this ranch that can catch up to her when she runs. For safety, I’d better be your groom for once.”
They walked on the verdant lawn. Overhead was the azure sky, white clouds floating like cotton candy in a blue pool. The pasture was green and lush, stretching endlessly.
Yu Shi gradually adapted to the bumping and said half-jokingly, “Commander Xie condescending to verify. To express gratitude, I’ll give a tip.”
He asked curiously, “You just said this horse is a descendant of warhorses?”
Xie Ren nodded. “More than half the horses in this ranch are descendants of warhorses. Three hundred years ago, the Shao army of the Dynasty had a cavalry unit. These horses are descendants of that group, possessing strong pain tolerance, resilience, and obedience. Just like current mechas, they can provide the best cooperation to soldiers.”
He added, “Among the Shao descendants, the most famous is Shao Yinghai.”
Yu Shi said ambiguously, “Your view on this criminal general seems different from the public.”
“I have no view.” Xie Ren shrugged. “It wasn’t convenient to say yesterday. Personally, I believe history is the propaganda brochure of the victor and the epitaph of the loser. As a spectator, just watching is enough.”
“Regardless of whether he really committed treason, as long as he becomes the loser in partisan struggle, he will be crowned with infamy spurned by the world. This is normal. As juniors, what right do we have to judge a famous general with illustrious merits based on a confusing anecdote?”
“Nothing is final yet. I don’t like calling him a traitor with every breath.”
Yu Shi whispered, “You’re young, but your awareness isn’t small.”
Xie Ren said to him, “Is Instructor Yu testing my bottom line? I don’t mean to speak for him. After all, his wife was indeed an Olo. As everyone knows, Olo features are distinct—extremely beautiful appearance and gray pupils.”
He looked at Yu Shi’s unusually beautiful eyes. The pupils shone with honey-like, enchanting brown in the sunlight.
Yu Shi didn’t react much. “I’ve seen Mrs. Shao in reports. She was a beautiful woman.”
He changed the subject. “If it were you, in a position like Shao Yinghai’s, would you marry a woman from a hostile country against all objections?”
Xie Ren stopped, looking profound. “I can’t answer this question. First, I won’t go to K9, so it’s almost impossible to reach that position. Second, why does Instructor Yu think I must like women?”
Yu Shi froze, staring at him oddly.
They walked further and further on the grass. On the second floor of the distant horse ranch building, Xie Chengfeng looked as if he had seen a ghost, frowning tightly at the two figures.
“Did that kid get his head caught in a door?” he asked in disbelief.
The butler walked over. “Chief, lunch is ready. I’ll go invite Mr. and Mrs. Yu up to dine. Also, I saw on surveillance that the Young Master is here. Should we invite him to dine together?”
Xie Chengfeng was silent for a moment, then revealed a cold sneer. “No, don’t call him. I want to increase the difficulty for him, letting him oppose me all day.”
The butler looked confused. Xie Chengfeng said, “Send someone to call Yu Shi back. Just say everyone is here and ready to eat. By the way, don’t say anything to Xie Ren.”
“Yes.” The butler did as told, puzzled.
Xie Ren led the horse to the center of the ranch. Seeing a servant running towards them from afar, he guessed they were calling Yu Shi back, and his face slowly darkened.
Yu Shi said, “I have no opinion on your orientation. Someone is coming; I should go back.”
He prepared to turn the horse around, but Xie Ren held onto the reins tightly, pulling him and the horse a few steps closer to himself. Star Scar’s head almost bumped into him, blinking her big eyes strangely.
Yu Shi sat unsteadily, upper body tilting forward. Before he could grab the horse’s back, Xie Ren raised a hand to steady his lower back.
“Instructor Yu, are you dating to smooth over your heat cycle?” Xie Ren looked up at him.
Yu Shi’s eyes widened slightly. The Alpha’s palm was like burning charcoal, pressing against his waist through the thin fabric. Even looking up from below, the gaze was full of dominance and aggression, as if tolerating no one else in his eyes.
Yu Shi frowned, scolding coldly, “Let go.”
Xie Ren didn’t back down, staring at him unblinkingly. “Answer my question first.”
Yu Shi’s frown deepened. “So what if I am? This is my private matter. It’s not your place to ask.”
“Then it’s easy.” Xie Ren grabbed Yu Shi’s wristband, brought it to his eyes, and glanced at the stable heart rate.
“Since it’s for this reason, there’s a very simple method. Our compatibility must be above 80%. If you let me help you through the heat, you won’t need to spend money on a money alpha, nor face annoying blind dates.”
“What do you think, Instructor Yu?” Audaciously, he rubbed his cheek against the wristband, smiling at Yu Shi.
Recommended Reads
![Enemies on a Narrow Road [Esports]](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/enemies-on-a-narrow-road-214x300.jpg)
![[ABO] President Shou Is Not a Total Shou](https://beereads.space/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/the-shou-is-not-a-total-shou-214x300.jpg)
