Chapter 30: Not Crying, Just About to Explode.
Zhang Huan froze instantly. It was a long while before he made an excuse. “He is currently recuperating at the Military General Hospital. I’m afraid he can’t meet with you.”
“Is he at the General Hospital, or at the Military District?” Yu Shi said coldly. “The General Hospital is fully equipped; it shouldn’t lack isolation windows. I will only look at him through the window, no need for him to come out.”
Zhang Huan understood his meaning. His expression became somewhat strange. “You… are worried K9 is coercing him?”
Yu Shi said, “The Falcon Regiment Commander has an accident, yet is sent to the Military General Hospital overnight. Everyone knows the Falcon Regiment uses hospitals specially approved by the Sovereign. Dean Zhang, don’t you think this goes against common sense?”
Zhang Huan thought, Seems I misjudged just now. This Omega is not a fuel-efficient lamp; he isn’t as harmless as he looks.
He cleared his throat. “Actually, it’s not what you think. It’s… Xie Ren doesn’t want to see you.”
“Oh?” Yu Shi raised an eyebrow, clearly disbelieving.
“His state isn’t good right now, so he specifically asked me not to tell you about this.” Zhang Huan said meaningfully, “Instructor Yu, you might be very smart, but you don’t understand Alphas. Alphas all like to play the hero in front of special people. I know this better than you.”
His expression was relaxed, even carrying a hint of a smile, not looking like he was lying.
Although Yu Shi didn’t understand why exposing one’s susceptibility period in front of an instructor was an embarrassing thing.
Zhang Huan said, “I know high-rank Omega pheromones are more precious than Alpha ones, and I can understand your concerns. But the General Hospital is indeed inconvenient for outsiders to enter. Since it’s like this, I have a proposal.”
“I can take you there, but you can’t go in. You can watch the injection process via video. However, I have to persuade Xie Ren first to let him agree to video chat with you.”
Yu Shi furrowed his brows in thought, seeming to waver.
Zhang Huan took the opportunity to say, “Instructor Yu, leave him some face. At least over video, he won’t feel too embarrassed.”
Out of respect for an Alpha’s self-esteem, Yu Shi chose to agree.
He sat quietly waiting for Zhang Huan to go out and make the call. Not knowing what method of persuasion was used, Xie Ren finally agreed. The two got in the car and drove toward the Military General Hospital.
Zhang Huan asked inadvertently, “Has your gland been injured? That tube of pheromones looks diluted; the concentration shouldn’t be high.”
He had practiced medicine for most of his life. Without any contact, relying only on the naked eye, he could judge that those pheromones, though high-rank, were very thin.
However, Yu Shi said, “No.”
Zhang Huan thought he would find some excuse. He didn’t expect him to lie with his eyes open and deny it directly, too lazy to even pretend. He couldn’t help glancing at him in surprise.
Not giving up, he continued, “Don’t misunderstand, I’m just concerned. Last time I saw surgical scars on the gland surface. You have a surgical history, right?”
Yu Shi spouted nonsense without changing his expression. “Bumped into a stair banister when I was little. The wound took a few stitches. If you want to ask what’s inside the skin, it’s a steel plate supporting the spine.”
“…”
Zhang Huan finally realized he was being sarcastic, venting his dissatisfaction from earlier, so he had to shut his mouth sheepishly.
After arriving at the hospital, Zhang Huan opened the video call and went in with the freezing box. Yu Shi waited in the car for ten minutes before Xie Ren’s slightly tired face appeared on the screen.
For some reason, not having seen each other for a few days, both were a bit awkward.
Unconcealed surprise flashed in Xie Ren’s eyes as he leaned forward to examine Yu Shi on the screen. The light in the car was dim, accentuating his exquisite features. Shadows played on his face, and his lips held an imperceptible paleness.
Extracting pheromones was still a bit draining on his energy.
Xie Ren touched the screen, smiling faintly. “Instructor Yu, you came to see me.”
“How is your body?” Yu Shi asked.
His tone didn’t contain much concern, still lukewarm like usual, seemingly indifferent. But in reality, his eyes revealed unease, barely moving from the screen.
“I’m fine. And you? Did Tang Tianhao harass you again?”
Xie Ren turned his head to talk to him. Zhang Huan injected the pheromones into his neck. That tube of silver quickly disappeared at the skin boundary.
Yu Shi moved his lips. “No. Thank you. He… was my previous blind date.”
“Hmph, I knew it. That guy doesn’t have a word of truth in his mouth.”
Zhang Huan’s voice came from off-screen: “It will take effect within ten minutes. Instructor Yu, if you’re worried, you can watch him. I’ll go out first. Call me if there’s anything.”
Xie Ren threw away the styptic cotton and saw Yu Shi staring at his neck.
He smiled and said, “Hey, sizing up a student with that look is a bit explicit. If you want to look, just say so. Where do you want to look? Pecs, or abs? How about we compare?”
He ran his mouth, but only because he didn’t want Yu Shi to worry.
Yu Shi glanced at him. “Do I not have those?”
“Tsk, I forgot Instructor Yu is also a practitioner.” Xie Ren’s eyes lit up. “Let me think… You should be the lean muscle type. How many abs? Six or eight? Why don’t we compete?”
He was about to lift his shirt immediately.
There was only Yu Shi in the car, but he wouldn’t go crazy to that extent.
Acting like a dumbass, wanting to compete at the drop of a hat.
Yu Shi interrupted him. “I think your susceptibility fever burned your brain. Don’t lift your clothes. I don’t want to see.”
“Che, so stingy. Then what are you staring at me for?”
Yu Shi said eerily, “I was just thinking, why is our compatibility so high?”
Xie Ren hooked his lips. “Why so many whys? Genetics, fate, destiny. High compatibility with me—are you not satisfied?”
Not unsatisfied, just abnormal. Yu Shi thought.
“From ancient times to now, the highest compatibility rate was the Emperor and Empress of the Dynasty Era, recorded as 98.01%. You should know, above 95%, every 0.1% increase is extremely rare. Our situation is too weird. If the news gets out, we’ll probably be locked in a lab and turned into lab rats on a bed,” Yu Shi said.
These words seemed to prick Xie Ren. His expression changed subtly, returning to normal in just a second.
He laughed. “That’s pretty good. We can be locked in the same cage, eat and sleep together. If bored, we can keep each other company.”
“…” Yu Shi was speechless.
Xie Ren suddenly sharpened his gaze. “It’s starting.”
Yu Shi was about to ask what was starting, then immediately realized—the pheromones were taking effect.
The Alpha’s face gradually flushed. Sweat quickly seeped from his temples, and he panted in a low voice, somewhat unbearable.
“How does it feel? Very uncomfortable?” Yu Shi asked strangely, seeing a susceptibility period for the first time.
Soothing pheromones seemed to work differently for Alphas than for Omegas. After injecting Xie Ren’s pheromones, he felt relaxed and comfortable. But Xie Ren’s appearance was clearly not relaxation.
The lens only showed his handsome face. His lips were pressed dead tight, eyes tinged with red, looking a bit fierce.
Xie Ren stared at him, his gaze slowly changing flavor.
He replied absent-mindedly in a hoarse voice, “A little.”
Yu Shi said, “Why is it like this? Should I ask Dean Zhang to check on you?”
That plain white face was written with worry. His brow furrowed slightly, folding into tiny arcs like wrinkles on a rain-soaked rose petal, provoking an itch in the heart.
Xie Ren’s insides began to brand. Half burning, half aching. Swollen with pain.
Every inch of Yu Shi’s skin was magnified on the screen, much clearer than usual social distance. He could even see the color on his lips clearly.
Totally controlled by instinct, Xie Ren quietly reached his hand down.
With a heart full of sin, he answered, “…No need. This is a normal reaction.”
Normal, physiological reaction.
His hand moved vaguely up and down. His shoulders and neck remained steady, upper body showing no abnormality, only his voice was terribly rough, breathing turbid and rapid.
“Oh. Can I do anything to help you?” Yu Shi relaxed.
The air was still for a moment.
“…Talk… to me,” Xie Ren tilted his head back, sweat trickling down his Adam’s apple. He swallowed and said, “Tell me about the first time you went to the Kowa Forum… what was your mood like?”
Immoral desire melted by hot sweat; time went back four years.
Wait, that year Yu Shi was nineteen. He received the Newcomer Achievement Award for the first time and was invited to the Kowa Forum to give a one-hour report speech.
At the time, the lecture hall was packed. The entire school, including outsiders, came to watch this youngest Chief Researcher in history.
Facing countless experts, big shots, and top scholars below the stage, he spoke calmly about his experimental path, interspersing humorous anecdotes, lacking the dryness of academia, stirring the atmosphere to a fever pitch.
The fledgling young man left a deep impression on everyone.
That was the first time Xie Ren saw him on the big screen. Before that, he always thought Yu Shi was a white-haired scholar.
At the time, passing by Zhongxing Road while writing a paper, he glanced up at the livestream. He didn’t expect to be attracted by the speech, unknowingly watching the whole thing.
Onlookers teased:
“Is this the spokesperson launched by Old Tang? Looks like a child.”
“No, look at the project list. His name is first. A solid first author.”
Later, Xie Ren occasionally wondered: Did nineteen-year-old Yu Shi feel nervous at such a grand event?
Twenty-three-year-old Yu Shi answered, “A bit nervous, more excited. Thinking I could share five years of research results with peers, I barely slept the night before.”
He laughed. “I was quite childish back then, even asked my seniors to take photos from below.”
Talking about that report, he spoke much more, telling Xie Ren interesting behind-the-scenes stories, jokes about his first time in the lab, how his rapid progress made people suspect he was AI…
Xie Ren’s vision gradually blurred. The clear, beautiful face on the screen overlapped with the high-spirited face on the big screen.
He was boldly doing dirty, obscene, shameful things right under his eyes.
His palm wrapped around the critical point. Sweat soaked his clothes and sheets. His chest heaved slightly, the exhaled air scorching hot and intense, almost burning his windpipe.
Sinful.
But he couldn’t stop.
The scent of Lanqi lingered at the tip of his nose, flowing through his limbs and bones with the blood. The feeling was an unprecedented numbness and ecstasy.
High compatibility not only catalyzed desire but also gave him a strong impulse—to claim the Omega before him as his own.
Wrong.
This is wrong…
Just as Xie Ren was sweating profusely from holding back, Yu Shi suddenly leaned close to the screen and touched him with a fingertip.
Too close. He could even touch the mole on his nose tip.
Xie Ren froze abruptly. His hand dared not move a muscle. His heartbeat stopped in an instant.
He asked dryly, “What… are you doing?”
Yu Shi withdrew his hand nonchalantly. “Thought you were crying. Your eyes are so red.”
Xie Ren: …
Not crying. About to explode.
Fuck.
His scalp went numb in waves. Living for more than twenty years, never had there been a moment like now, guiltily feeling like he was about to have a heart attack.
“Really don’t need to call a doctor?” Yu Shi asked.
Xie Ren licked his dry, peeling lips, forcing himself to calm down. “Doctor can’t solve it even if he comes.”
Solve my ass.
Any longer and I’ll be discovered.
He said tremblingly, “Almost eleven. You’ll hit curfew if you don’t go back. I’ll ask Dean Zhang to send someone to drive you.”
“Then rest well. You seem to be sweating a lot.” Yu Shi was a bit suspicious but still hung up the video.
The moment the screen went black, Xie Ren fell back onto the pillow, gasping heavily and deeply, brain unable to think.
Close call. Almost sentenced to death…
The monitoring in the corner turned off. He reached his hand down again, moving up and down expressionlessly.
As for whether this reaction was due to the pheromones or that video call…
He didn’t know either.
An hour later, Zhang Huan came in to check and helped him measure his temperature. “Temperature is down. You can be discharged tomorrow.”
Xie Ren stared blankly at the ceiling and asked out of nowhere, “Uncle Zhang, do pheromones cause physiological reactions?”
Zhang Huan said meaningfully, “Of course. Especially in cases of high compatibility, it’s no less than a shot of potent aphrodisiac. Don’t think too much; reasonable manual relief helps physical and mental health.”
“Just because of pheromones?”
“Not sure. Majority of the reason, I guess.”
Xie Ren was quiet for a while, then said, “Uncle Zhang, destroy the things in the trash can.”
Zhang Huan stiffened. The thermometer fell to the ground.
Xie Ren said flatly, “You added a replicating agent to the syringe. This kind of petty trick can’t escape my eyes. Private replication of high-rank Omega pheromones is a taboo. Once discovered, even my dad can’t protect you. Don’t ruin you and your family’s future for selfish desire.”
He lay there looking exhausted, but his insight hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
Zhang Huan, a highly respected Dean, was scolded until he couldn’t straighten his back.
After a long silence, he bowed deeply. “I understand. Thank you, Young Master, for not punishing me directly. I will destroy it.”
Xie Ren closed his eyes. He closed the door softly.
Deep in the night, Retired Cadres Sanatorium.
The top floor had been converted into a private space. A faint light shone from inside the quilt in the bedroom.
The nurse on rounds passed by. The light quickly went out. After she left, the screen lit up again, reflecting Xie Junyan’s face under the covers.
He played “Match 3” while pricking up his ears. Familiar footsteps came from the door. Xie An knocked. “Chief, I’m back.”
No movement inside. Xie An said, “I know you’re not asleep. I’m coming in.”
The Beta pushed the door open and turned on the pale yellow wall lamp, his tone extremely helpless. “Said so many times, watching screens in the dark is bad for eyes. Next time just keep the light on to play.”
Xie Junyan sat up, scratching his gray hair unhappily. “Can you blame me? Those little nurses check rounds on time. If they see the light on, they nag again. Never mind that. What’s the situation over there?”
Xie An: “Young Master has transferred to the General Hospital. Seems stable, mood is good. Should be discharged in a day or two.”
“I asked about the Yu family one.”
“Director Yu stayed in the car for a long time. Didn’t go in with Dean Zhang.”
Xie Junyan frowned deeply. “This kid is too useless. Yu Shi has been at NDU for over a month, yet there’s zero progress. Even for susceptibility period, the Omega has to deliver pheromones personally. Truly a good-for-nothing.”
Xie An said, “Young Master has always been slow with romantic matters. You know that. Since childhood, he used rats to scare Omegas who liked him. Plus, stationed in Zone 9 year-round, probably hasn’t met many Omegas. He’ll enlighten slowly later.”
Xie Junyan shook his head. “He’s not as clever as the Li family kid. Clearly grew up playing together; why is the difference so big?”
“If Young Master Zheng were clever, he wouldn’t still be in Zone 9 now.”
“I say one sentence, you talk back one sentence. Protecting him more than his dad.” Xie Junyan glared at him. “Ah Ren isn’t striving, I as an elder can’t not strive. Hmph, even needs my help to chase someone. What to do in the future, oh.”
He opened the pink app on his communicator, tapping the screen with hatred for iron not becoming steel. “Look, look. Chat history still stopped ten days ago. If he can catch him like this, I’ll write my blood pressure backwards.”
Xie An laughed. “You won the Old Madam over in ten days back then. Why not give him some tips?”
“Generations getting worse. Still needs me to step in.”
Xie Junyan waved his hand and transferred 19,999 yuan to “Little Yu Doesn’t Eat Fish.”
To chase someone, transfer money first.
This is a basic principle. Young Alphas just don’t understand this logic.
Xie An’s mouth twitched. “Suddenly sending money, is this okay? Looks like phishing fraud. And they haven’t seemed to meet officially yet. This…”
Xie Junyan focused on typing, saying casually, “I naturally have my reasons. As long as this kid doesn’t screw up later, I can facilitate their meeting in one fell swoop.”
He slowly typed out the input with his thumb, took off his reading glasses, and chuckled with smug satisfaction. “Little Yu sees this message, he’ll definitely contact him proactively.”
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