Chapter 135
Trying to get blood from a stone, Zhang Xiao was a brave man indeed.
If this had been in the past, Li Jie would have never paid. But now, looking at the sick beta on the bed, he gritted his teeth. “How much?”
Zhang Xiao’s face lit up. “We’re not sure of the exact amount yet. Just give us two million to start, and we’ll buy some medicine. Of course, we’ll show you all the purchase orders.”
“Two million? Why don’t you just rob someone?” For a second, Li Jie wanted to kick the guy. Was this a scam?
Zhang Xiao pouted. “Two million isn’t that much. You have to consider how expensive these drugs are. Even the IV drip that beta is on right now…”
“Fine, fine, I’ll pay!” Li Jie said impatiently. “Give me the account number.”
Zhang Xiao was ecstatic. He immediately handed over the research institute’s account information, and soon received the two-million transfer. He then quickly organized his team to purchase the necessary supplies. Li Jie didn’t bother looking at the purchase orders; he wouldn’t have understood them anyway.
He stood anxiously by Xiao Xiao’s bedside. He couldn’t smoke, he couldn’t curse—it was suffocating. Fortunately, the research institute’s team worked fast. They bought everything they needed and began studying Xiao Xiao’s gland…
When Xiao Xiao woke up, two days had passed.
He opened his eyes to see a group of people in masks and surgical caps staring at him excitedly. He froze for a moment, his eyes filling with terror. Before he could say anything, Zhang Xiao spoke up. “Don’t be afraid, we’re the good guys.”
Xiao Xiao was silent.
Realizing his mistake, Zhang Xiao quickly added, “Uh, don’t misunderstand. Li Jie asked us to treat you. Don’t panic, he’s right outside. We’ll take you to him right now.”
As he spoke, Zhang Xiao started pushing the bed, quickly wheeling him out of the room.
Seeing Li Jie, Xiao Xiao’s tense heart finally relaxed. For a moment when he first woke up, he thought he had been captured by Gu Qian again. But then, seeing so many medical staff, he thought that couldn’t be right. It was a good thing Zhang Xiao mentioned Li Jie; otherwise, he wouldn’t have known what to do.
With Xiao Xiao awake, Li Jie also breathed a sigh of relief. “Are you okay? Do you still feel sick?”
Xiao Xiao subconsciously shook his head, his curious gaze fixed on Li Jie. “I’m not sick anymore,” he whispered. “Where is this? Why are we here?”
At the mention of this, Li Jie laughed, a hint of disdain and mockery in his tone. “This is a research institute that specializes in studying betas. You’ve been unconscious for two days. I spent four million to wake you up. Four million, not forty thousand, not four hundred thousand, but four million!”
Li Jie felt the sting of the expense. Just looking at Zhang Xiao’s face made him want to punch him. But he knew if he hit the guy, they would stop treating Xiao Xiao, so he had to endure it.
Hearing this, Xiao Xiao instantly pieced together what had happened. He was silent for a moment before whispering, “I’m sorry.” His coma was undoubtedly related to his gland, but he never imagined it would cost so much money. Four million… he could never repay that in his entire life. All he could do was apologize. He felt too guilty to even look at Li Jie. He was already in low spirits, and now he seemed to deflate completely.
Li Jie’s heart softened. His tone became gentler. “You don’t have to be like that. The boss will reimburse me for the money.”
Xiao Xiao thought for a moment. “Really?”
To be honest, Xiao Xiao didn’t believe him. If it were a small amount, Lu Heng would certainly reimburse it, but over four million was a different story. After all, he had no real connection to Lu Heng. Why would he spend so much money to save him? Because of An Le? If… if Lu Heng was really willing to spend that much to save him because of An Le, then it meant An Le would be very happy. But he still didn’t believe it. It wasn’t that he didn’t want An Le to be happy, but he couldn’t believe someone would actually spend so much money to save him.
Seeing Xiao Xiao’s self-pitying expression, Li Jie became annoyed again. “Of course it’s real! Would I lie to you?”
“Then… thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. You should thank the boss’s wife. The boss is only doing this because of her.” Li Jie took a cigarette from his pack and stuck it in his mouth. He couldn’t smoke here, so he could only hold it to satisfy the craving. Inhaling the familiar scent of tobacco, he said with a smile, “The boss told me to do everything I can to save you, to repay the kindness you showed the boss’s wife when you did everything you could to help her.”
“Oh.” Xiao Xiao nodded and said no more. That did sound like something Lu Heng would say. Now he finally believed it, and his heart felt a little more at ease.
“So,” he asked, “my gland… how is it now?”
“The situation isn’t great,” Li Jie said. “The past two days were probably a side effect. You had a fever and were unconscious. It was a bit like an omega’s heat, but Zhang Xiao said it wasn’t. I don’t really know the details. Anyway… it’s complicated.”
Li Jie didn’t understand any of it either, so his long-winded explanation amounted to nothing. But Xiao Xiao managed to grasp a few things, like how his condition for the past two days had been similar to an omega’s heat. But Zhang Xiao, who seemed to be the researcher, had said it wasn’t. So, was it or wasn’t it? Xiao Xiao was also confused. He had never experienced anything like this after being injected with the serum, so he didn’t know what was happening either.
“But you don’t have to worry,” Li Jie continued. “It’s good that you’re awake. And Zhang Xiao said that now that you’re awake, you can cooperate with their research, and they can definitely help you… return to normal.”
Return to normal?
At these words, Xiao Xiao’s eyes lit up, and his spirits lifted instantly. “Can I really go back to normal?”
Li Jie hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yeah.”
He knew Xiao Xiao had misunderstood. When Zhang Xiao said “return to normal,” he didn’t mean turning Xiao Xiao back into a beta, but rather restoring the normal function of his gland. For example, he would no longer be influenced by Gu Qian, no longer be able to sense only Gu Qian’s pheromones, and no longer be subconsciously dependent on him.
But to do all that, they first had to remove Gu Qian’s mark. And that was very difficult, with no guarantee of success. Once a gland had developed, it couldn’t shrink back, just as a grown person couldn’t go back to being a child. And since Xiao Xiao’s gland had been stimulated and catalyzed by Gu Qian’s pheromones, the chances of removing the mark and completely freeing Xiao Xiao from Gu Qian’s influence were… very slim. They could only help stabilize his heat cycles so he wouldn’t die from being separated from Gu Qian.
“That’s good.” Hearing that he could return to normal, Xiao Xiao was filled with hope, and a smile appeared on his face.
“Thank you.” He looked at Li Jie and thanked him sincerely.
But Li Jie felt a little guilty. He rubbed his nose. “It’s nothing. It’s not my money.”
With a smile still on his face, Xiao Xiao didn’t say anything else.
In the following days, he cooperated with Zhang Xiao’s research every day, trying to release the so-called pheromones that no one could smell. Fortunately, although no one could smell or sense them, the equipment could, so the research was proceeding smoothly.
However, a few days later, Xiao Xiao started running a fever again. Not only did he have a fever, but he also started making strange noises involuntarily.
“Isn’t this… his heat starting?” Li Jie asked. “Didn’t you say you could manage his heat cycles?”
Zhang Xiao was at his wit’s end, sweating profusely. “He was stable before. Why is he going into heat again?”
The coma a few days ago had been due to side effects, but also a factor of his heat. They had done everything they could to suppress it. Why was it happening again now?
“And none of the inhibitors are working on him,” Zhang Xiao added, “not even the ones we made using the information we gathered from his pheromones!” It wasn’t that the heat had been resolved before; it was more like it had been artificially postponed, and now it was back with a vengeance! It was a very difficult situation, beyond the current capabilities of their research institute. After all, betas had so little say in society that even if they wanted to do research, no one would support them. They couldn’t possibly keep up with other teams that were backed by money.
Li Jie was getting anxious. “So what do we do now?”
Nothing could happen to Xiao Xiao. If something happened to him, the boss’s wife would be heartbroken. And if the boss’s wife was sad, the boss would get angry. And if the boss got angry, he would dock his pay. Then he would be heartbroken too! And looking through the glass at the beta writhing on the bed, he felt a prickling in his heart, an indescribable feeling.
“There is one other way,” Zhang Xiao said.
“What is it?”
“Find an alpha to mark him. It doesn’t have to be a permanent mark; a temporary one might work. But we don’t have any alphas in the research institute. We can only ask you to try.”
“Me?” Li Jie almost wanted to laugh at Zhang Xiao for being crazy. But looking at Xiao Xiao, he was silent for a moment. “Fine. I’ll go bite him.”
“Be gentle,” Zhang Xiao said. “Don’t draw blood.”
Li Jie nodded impatiently and went inside. He was quick, coming out in less than two minutes.
But even with Li Jie’s heroic sacrifice, Xiao Xiao’s heat didn’t subside. He could only rely on his own strength to get through it.
Li Jie’s frown deepened. He was about to ask what to do now when his phone rang. He took it out and saw it was his boss.
He answered instinctively. Lu Heng’s voice came through. “How has Xiao Xiao been lately?”
“Not great,” Li Jie replied.
“Gu Qian is looking for him frantically. Leak his location to him.”
Li Jie froze, taking a moment to process what he had heard. “Boss, what do you mean? We’ve had him safe for so long. Why are we sending him back now?”
“Are you questioning my decision?”
“No.”
As soon as Li Jie said that, Lu Heng hung up, without offering any explanation.
The moment the call ended, Li Jie suddenly felt a sense of unwillingness. He had brought him out, done everything he could to save him, and now he had to send him back?
“Fuck!” Li Jie couldn’t help but curse. “What the hell is this all about!”
But no matter how unhappy he was, he had to listen to Lu Heng. Otherwise, he wouldn’t get a single cent.
Looking at the beta he had just bitten and tried to mark, he finally opened his phone and sent the message…
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