Chapter 75: President Shou Becomes a Shou for Love
The corners of Shou Jiaxun’s mouth gradually turned up, quickly unfolding into a vivid, bright smile of relief. “I certainly do.”
This time, he didn’t hold back a grateful embrace for Liang Bo. He spread his arms and circled the other man’s body, giving a light pat. “Thanks.”
Just then, Yong Ming, who had been on the same return flight to the capital, came running up, complaining loudly, “What’s with you? You ran off the moment I went to the bathroom. Even if ‘the birds are gone and the bow is hidden,’ you should at least wait until I’m finished.”
The smile on Shou Jiaxun’s face grew even wider. “You’ve got quite the nerve, making me stand at the bathroom door and wait?”
He turned and patted Liang Bo’s arm. “I’ve found an outside aid who’s ‘worth three people.’ Director Yong will be staying up with us at the office tonight. The ‘Huancheng’ project will definitely be fine.”
Yong Ming didn’t stop. As he passed Shou Jiaxun, he grabbed one of his arms and said with a scowl and a laugh, “If I weren’t afraid you’d ruin such a big project like ‘Huancheng’ and drag me down, do you think I’d care about your mess?”
“Just a little bump in the road…” President Shou chuckled, raising his eyebrows and boasting, “Back then, when there were only me and Guo Ran, we still managed to set up the business.”
“Selling fruit—what kind of business is that?” Yong Ming teased casually.
Liang Bo immediately questioned, “Does Director Yong look down on selling fruit?”
Yong Ming hadn’t meant it that way; he thought Shou Jiaxun also knew what he was talking about.
But now, interrupted by Liang Bo, he had to say a few more words. “I didn’t say I look down on selling fruit. My point is that selling fruit isn’t as complicated as running a company.”
The two Alphas were bickering out of jealousy, but President Shou, with his 24-hour professional mindset, couldn’t sense it at all.
Hearing them talk about “doing business,” he immediately spoke from the heart. “Selling fruit is no simple business. If you want a low-margin product to stay profitable, there are a lot of tricks to it.”
As he spoke, he turned to glance at the two colleagues beside him. “Want to hear? When we get in the car, this fruit peddler will tell you all about it.”
Liang Bo glanced sideways at Yong Ming. Yong Ming sighed. “Forget it… I want to sleep and rest. Don’t speak after we get in the car.”
Shou Jiaxun deliberately put on a confused expression to annoy him. “You didn’t sleep on the plane?”
“I did, but I don’t want to hear you talk. It’s annoying.”
Shou Jiaxun turned his mischievous face up, forcing out two forehead wrinkles, and sought support from Liang Bo, who was much taller than him.
Liang Bo played along, shaking his head with a grin. “Director Yong is getting on in years and is sensitive to noise. Let’s be a bit quieter.”
Yong Ming gave him a blank look and walked over to Shou Jiaxun’s other side, trying to stay as far away from the big idiot as possible.
The reason Shou Jiaxun remained unperturbed on the surface regarding the sudden wave of resignations was due to his strong mental fortitude.
After all, he was someone whose combined two lifetimes put him close to “knowing the mandate of heaven.”
But “not being confused” didn’t mean “not being annoyed.” Among the buffs “Ren Wo Tou” had stacked on him, not many were useful, except for the “Direct Wealth Fortune”—getting what you work for, heaven rewarding the diligent. This was a proper path he could take.
President Shou asked himself: he hadn’t shirked his duties, and he hadn’t exploited his employees. How could he still run into trouble when he was earning money through his own abilities?
The key was that this matter had come so suddenly.
Moreover, his health had recently begun to decline. His energy was flagging and his appetite was poor; he really did seem like a forty-something-year-old man past his peak.
Fortunately, he had the tireless Liang Bo by his side, who held multiple roles single-handedly. He followed the execution work of the Advertising Department and participated in the digital project of the Brand Department. Since a candidate for the position of Shou Jiaxun’s assistant hadn’t been found, Little Liang spent his time outside normal working hours accompanying President Shou for overtime.
He used his presence to convey deep affection through action.
As it happened, Shou Jiaxun was someone who hadn’t experienced much romantic sentiment in either of his two lifetimes, so his imagination regarding “romance” was extremely impoverished.
It was essentially about having a virtuous woman at home cooking two dishes and brewing a pot of soup, with a warm orange light on, waiting for him to come home while he was working hard to support the family.
Then, the woman would wait for him until she fell asleep at the table, and after he got home, he would tenderly carry his wife back to the room.
In short, it was very cliché, but in President Shou’s mind, such lingering waiting might be the most sincere love in the entire universe.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t compatible with women in this life, so he didn’t even deserve such impoverished romance.
Previously when he worked overtime, Uncle Guo would wait at home and cook noodles for him.
Now that he had moved out of Uncle Guo’s house, even his desire to go home had withered.
In the two weeks since Shou Jiaxun returned to the capital from Guangzhou, he had worked late into the night almost every day before leaving the company.
On this unremarkable workday, President Shou woke up in his office for the umpteenth time.
He yawned and stretched on the sofa, opening his eyes first to look at the wall clock—it was already after two in the morning.
He then looked at the computer on his desk. It was still on, and the faint hum of the tower could be heard.
The person who had been sitting at the computer writing the proposal had also fallen asleep at the desk.
Shou Jiaxun slowly sat up from the sofa, tilting his head to observe the crown of Liang Bo’s head as he lay on his desk.
He secretly fantasized: if his “wife” didn’t like cooking at home and wanted to be a career woman, working hard alongside him, would she look like Liang Bo?
Shou Jiaxun took a deep breath… he could now easily distinguish Liang Bo’s mixed-nut scented pheromones in the air. Not only did he not reject them, but he also thought they smelled quite good.
This was likely because Liang Bo’s scent wasn’t aggressive when released in small amounts; the gentle, mellow fragrance seemed to contain endless inclusiveness.
“…Sigh!”
Following the resilient and virtuous Uncle Guo, Little Liang once again made President Shou let out such a sigh of utter regret and emptiness.
Although Shou Jiaxun’s eyes reflected the figure of a man, his mind could fantasize about a scene of himself dating a tall female model in his previous life.
Now, in terms of romance, this was the only pleasure he had left.
President Shou secretly fantasized: if Liang Bo were a woman, she would definitely be the kind of sexy stunner with a thin waist and long legs, tall and charming.
The key was that the personality was also particularly good… suited for the home and the world, able to cook in the kitchen and handle thugs in the parlor, write proposals, and intimidate hooligans.
If Little Liang were a woman… she would surely be pursued by wealthy men from all walks of life.
Shou Jiaxun couldn’t help but lick his lips, standing up hesitantly and lightening his steps to walk over to Liang Bo.
He kept his hands obediently behind his back, only leaning down to bring his nose close to the Alpha’s scent gland on the back of his neck for a sniff.
“Ah… so fragrant, comfortable,” Shou Jiaxun sighed to himself, the corners of his mouth curving slightly as he felt a bit of absurd pleasure at “getting a taste of the fragrance” indirectly.
He had recently often felt a blockage in his chest, and when it got serious, he felt nauseous and wanted to vomit. Liang Bo’s pheromones happened to be very “appetizing,” making one want to sniff them more and more.
President Shou guessed: Could it be that they have the effect of clearing the lungs and regulating qi? …Musk from male deer has medicinal value; perhaps Alpha glands are the same.
The Omega, who had absolutely no knowledge of pregnancy symptoms, was full of bizarre speculations.
If he had only searched online for an Omega pregnancy guide, he wouldn’t have ended up looking like a lecherous man, secretly sniffing an Alpha’s gland.
In fact, Liang Bo had only been lying on the desk for a few minutes; he had heard it when Shou Jiaxun sat up from the sofa.
President Shou was currently pursing his lips and taking deep, slow breaths, savoring the scent.
Suddenly, he heard Liang Bo mutter, “Does it smell good?”
“Oh, no…” The old straight man in his heart flatly denied it and immediately found an excuse for himself, reaching out to grab the mouse and move it randomly. “I’m seeing where you’ve written to.”
The computer screen lit up, and Shou Jiaxun pretentiously clicked on a work file, scrolling through it from top to bottom.
Liang Bo reminded him in a low voice, “That’s last week’s report. It’s already been updated.”
Shou Jiaxun chuckled awkwardly. “…I was wondering why it looked familiar.” He quickly clicked the mouse to close the original file and looked for another one.
Liang Bo’s face was still facing the computer, only using the corner of his eye to peek at Shou Jiaxun. Once he was sure he didn’t see any expression of disgust or fear on the other man’s face, he hesitated and murmured, “I’ve never thought of you as a woman.”
“…What?” Shou Jiaxun truly hadn’t heard clearly, lowering his head slightly to ask, “Thought of me as what?”
Liang Bo took a deep breath, looked up, and met Shou Jiaxun’s eyes, his tone solemn. “It’s normal for adult Omegas to have needs in that area. Alphas have them too; I’ve used my hands to solve it myself when I was sixteen.
But an Omega’s primary scent gland is inside the body. It’s very difficult to touch it by oneself, and without the comfort of an Alpha’s pheromones, even if it is touched, it probably won’t feel very comfortable.”
He spoke with total seriousness, his brow slightly furrowed and his expression grave, like an old-fashioned teacher giving students a lesson on physiological hygiene.
Shou Jiaxun truly didn’t know how to respond. His face turned bright red as he stood up and backed away, not knowing whether to make a joke to brush it off or to lose his temper and interrupt the young Alpha’s “lesson.”
Liang Bo followed him and stood up, the angle of their gaze shifting. Shou Jiaxun raised his face awkwardly and waved his hand, stuttering in rebuttal, “It’s not like that… I don’t have such big needs… I haven’t tried.”
Liang Bo’s brow furrowed more tightly as he approached slowly but with a great sense of pressure. “You were sniffing my pheromones for so long; you must be wet already, right?”
Shou Jiaxun raised his eyebrows and shook his head, denying it boldly. “No! You’re overthinking… really… you’ve misunderstood.”
By this time, Liang Bo had already forced him against the wall. Both of them reached out and grabbed the doorknob a step away.
Strictly speaking, Shou Jiaxun grabbed the doorknob, and Liang Bo pressed down on the back of his hand.
“We’re all adults. There’s no need to lie to yourself about something like this.”
When Liang Bo said this, his eyes flickered, clearly not appearing very confident, but his tone was stubborn. “Don’t worry, an Omega won’t get pregnant if they’re not in heat.”
Shou Jiaxun’s every breath was filled with Alpha pheromones, and it was a scent he had recently taken a liking to. So, faced with flirtation as green as a lime, he actually felt strangely… a bit intoxicated?
Liang Bo asked, “Do you really not want to try again? I promise I won’t just mark you; you should trust me.”
Shou Jiaxun was struggling internally.
Because of his recent career bottleneck, monotonous life, bland diet, and spiritual emptiness… in his heart, he actually hoped for something to let him vent or release some pressure.
But at the thought of the few times he had been forcibly molested by Alphas, he still felt his skin crawl and his body go stiff, so he insisted on shaking his head. “…I don’t. You calm down first.”
“I am very calm,” Liang Bo said.
However, in the next second, he very uncalmly lowered his head and kissed President Shou’s moist lips that were saying one thing while meaning another.
In his panic, Shou Jiaxun’s head hit the wall with a thud, and his eyelids followed suit, snapping shut.
—”Don’t…”
Liang Bo was relentless, giving the Omega no chance to speak a refusal.
He freed one hand to support the back of Shou Jiaxun’s head, rubbing it gently twice, and then used the momentum to press him closer, pulling him into his embrace.
He deepened this kiss that was unexpected and profound for both of them.
Translator’s Notes:
- Plastic Brotherhood (塑料兄弟情): A popular Chinese internet slang term referring to friendships that are fake, fragile, or purely for show—much like plastic flowers that never wither but aren’t real. In this chapter, it highlights the competitive yet cooperative relationship between Shou Jiaxun and Yong Ming.
- Taking off pants to fart (脱裤子放屁): A common Chinese idiom meaning to do something completely unnecessary or to overcomplicate a simple task.
- Drawing the Salary from Under the Pot / Sapping the Foundation (釜底抽薪): This is one of the Thirty-Six Stratagems. It literally means “taking the firewood from under the cauldron,” which metaphorically means to solve a problem by removing its source or, in this context, to sabotage someone by taking away their core support (their employees).
- Knowing the Mandate of Heaven (知天命): A Confucian term for the age of fifty. Shou Jiaxun is referring to his mental maturity since he has lived through two lifetimes.
- Direct Wealth Fortune (正財運): In Chinese metaphysics (Bazi/Feng Shui), this refers to wealth earned through steady, honest work, as opposed to “Windfall Wealth” (偏財) like winning the lottery.
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