Extra ¡ The Past (2)
“What exactly were you doing in District 3? Does your mother know?”
It was the first time Si Chenjin had stood so close to his biological daughter. Her brow and eyes, practically a mirror image of his own, were written full of unbridled arrogance. There was none of the filial piety he had imagined, only a simmering rage.
He recalled how pleasantly surprised he had been when he first connected the call, thinking the mother and daughter had had a change of heart. Instead, she had splashed cold water on him with a single sentence.
Few dared to bargain with him so bluntly. Not only did the person on the other end refuse to acknowledge him as her father, but she had also hung up on him without a second thought.
It wasn’t until his trusted aides finished their investigation and reported back that Si Chenjin vaguely realized just how dangerous and audacious a thing she was doing.
“Can’t you guess what I was doing? Since you people dare to select Omegas based on match rates and forcibly mark them, don’t be afraid of facing retribution.”
Lu Wei leaned casually against the sofa. Her fingertips slid across her phone screen, pausing briefly when she scrolled past recruitment news, responding to him with utter indifference.
Si Chenjin clenched his fist.
Had the hatred she bore him because of that man already spread to their entire social class?
But seeing her using a second-hand phone that was years out of date, dressed in a simple, cheap white tank top, infinite guilt welled up in his heart.
She and her mother would rather live such a arduous life than be with him. The thought stung.
“This matter has been dealt with. I can pretend it never happened.” He stood up and placed a ruby ring engraved with the Si family crest on the table in front of Lu Wei. “Since you’ve returned, just be Si Wei properly. I will protect you both. Don’t go getting any ideas about targeting other families.”
Lu Wei let out a light scoff, picking up the ring to toy with it in her hand. “Don’t tell me this is how you tried to keep my mom back then, too.”
Si Chenjinâs hand froze on the doorknob, his departing steps faltering.
“Wake up. You couldn’t keep her then, and you can’t keep me now.”
Just as Si Man reached the study, she heard that cold, clear voice speak such absolute words. She instinctively looked at her uncle, worried he would fly into a rage, but instead caught a glimpse of pain on his face.
She hurriedly lowered her eyes, standing respectfully to the side.
“Something the matter?” Si Chenjin looked at her.
“The head of the Gu family is here.”
“I know.” Si Chenjin glanced at her. “The Gu family is likely here to discuss the marriage alliance. Contact your cousins; tell them to come back early.”
“…Yes.”
Omegas born into this kind of family were expected to have this awareness. âThey enjoyed the glory, honor, and superior conveniences brought by the family, so they had to repay the family in this manner. âThey couldn’t treat themselves as people, only as valuable bargaining chips.
Si Man lowered her eyes, masking the fleeting disgust, and watched him leave.
She turned around and saw the young Alpha in the study preparing to tear open a flower tea bag with her bare hands. She immediately lifted her skirt and rushed in.
“Wait, wait! That’s not how you use this tea bag.”
She snatched the tea bag from the other’s hand, brewed it carefully for her, and looked up to meet a pair of cyan eyes deeper in color than her own.
Her heart slammed against her ribs. She lowered her eyes, catching sight of the simple, plain tank top that couldn’t hide the muscles of the girl’s arms.
“…I’m sorry.”
For a moment, Si Man couldn’t tell if it was the Alpha’s innate suppression that made her tremble, or if she was rendered speechless by the girl’s aggressive beauty.
This was her uncle’s biological daughter. The person whose place she had occupied for so long.
Lu Wei’s eyes shined as she curiously looked over this soft, cute Omega. “Has life been good these past few years? Has he mistreated you?”
Si Man knew who she was referring to and shook her head. “Uncle is very good.”
Lu Wei nodded, taking the tea from her hand. “That’s good. Just live your life well like this. Don’t worry, what you have will always be yours.”
She wouldn’t fight her for it. The Si family didn’t have anything she coveted.
“…” Si Man stared blankly at the slender curve of Lu Wei’s neck as she tilted her head to drink the tea, not knowing what to say.
“Can I take two more bags of this tea?” Lu Wei asked her.
Si Man nodded, confused by the question. This was a Si family special supply; since she was living here now, couldn’t she drink it every day?
Five days later, she realized why Lu Wei had asked that.
On the fifth day after meeting her, Lu Wei left.
“What’s that smell? You actually brought another Omega here?”
Shu Changze pushed open the basement door and saw Lu Wei covered haphazardly with a blanket, her legs propped up on the table, neither asleep nor awake.
Whooshâ
An unidentified object flew toward him.
He quickly dodged and caught it. Focusing his gaze, he saw the ruby ring with the Si family crest sparkling in his palm.
“The smell of flower tea.” Lu Wei rubbed her messy hair as she sat up, tossing the blanket aside casually. She picked up the teacup on the table and sniffed it. “Aside from picking up a runaway Omega like you halfway down the road, where would I find any other Omega?”
Shu Changze gave a wry smile. His running away from home was known to almost the entire wealthy circle; only this person in front of him could tease him about it so nonchalantly.
He had always held a rebellious streak in his heart but never dared to act on it. Yet, for some unknown reason, on the day he ran away, it felt as though some force was driving him, as if a significant mission was waiting for him to complete.
An Omega leaving home without hesitation faced twists and turns on the road, but fortunately, he met a good person.
This good Samaritan heard his ideas and, through unknown channels, even helped him secure a basement laboratory. If it weren’t for the fact that she always stood two or three meters away when speaking to him, Shu Changze might have thought she was interested in him.
After all, when he didn’t speak, he was famously known as a “vase” Omegaâbeautiful but useless.
“Stop pretending. Which Omega have you ever seen in District 3?”
Lu Wei paused in her tea drinking. “Hmm?”
Shu Changze picked up the blanket from the floor and shook it out. “You didn’t swipe this blanket from the plane, did you? I faintly sensed a residue of pheromone wavelengths on it, and later found some Omega biological tissue.”
“You f*cking extracted substances from my blanket? Are you sick?!” Lu Wei snatched the blanket back from Shu Changze’s hands. “Keep the ring. Didn’t you want to go to a lab or a research institute? Borrowing a bit of the Si family’s influence will make it easier.”
Shu Changze smiled eyes curving as he pocketed the ring. “Okay.”
The reason Lu Wei was willing to help him was that he said he wanted to research match rates, suspecting the authenticity of the pheromone matching data. As a “victim” of the matching system, she incredibly looked forward to him producing concrete evidence.
After all, without the whitewashing of match rates, everything Si Chenjin did was nothing more than deception and coercive plunder that crossed legal boundaries.
“Good luck.”
Lu Wei walked out hugging the blanket. As she walked, she folded it up and zipped it shut; it transformed into the shape of a watermelon throw pillow.
Walking to the door, she suddenly remembered something.
“I’m planning to enlist next week. The property rights to this place have been transferred to you. In the future, unless it’s here, if you see me or recognize me anywhere else, do not greet me.”
Shu Changze looked helpless.
“Although we haven’t known each other long, I can generally sense that you have dangerous things you want to do.” Just like him.
Lu Wei raised an eyebrow. “Want to persuade me otherwise?”
“Not really.” Shu Changze looked at her beautiful eyes. “I just hope you can live a little longer.”
Lu Wei smiled and waved as she left.
Shu Changze stood in place. Only after she disappeared behind the door did he slowly look at the ruby ring, feeling a wave of melancholy in his heart.
He didn’t know why he had said those words.
But he felt that this bright and radiant Alpha was the type of person who would risk her life, placing life and death outside of her consideration.
“The possibility of Omega pheromones possessing offensive capabilities?”
Lu Wei’s fingertips, which had been typing code to maintain the system, stopped. Suppressing the stormy waves in her heart, she got up to grab a bottle of cola from the freezer. Feigning casual gossip, she rested her hand on the Beta researcher’s shoulder.
“Which group is doing such boring research?” She asked nonchalantly.
“Sister Wei, how can you say that? We thought you were different from other Alphas.” The Beta rolled their eyes at her lightly. “It’s the group next door.”
Lu Wei’s eyes darkened. “Si Huai’s group?”
She knew Si Chenjin wouldn’t let her slip out of his sight easily.
After passing layers of selection to join the army, she arrived at this technical research center belonging to the rear support unit, only to discover that the person in the adjacent project group was actually a member of the Si familyâsomeone she had to call ‘Little Uncle’ by blood and seniority.
“Yes, but I heard Professor Chu is leading it. Sigh, Teacher Zhou in their group is still the most handsome, I heard…”
The gossip quickly shifted elsewhere, but Lu Wei’s heart remained suspended in her throat.
The young man she met that night was the only person she had ever seen who fit their research findings. She had never known how he was doing now.
Firstly, she didn’t want the Si family to discover his existence. She had disposed of all traces related to him at the scene, and even when she took him home, she had chosen broken roads in District 3 that lacked surveillance.
Secondly, she was also running around for her own independence and survival. Only in the dead of night, looking at that throw pillow, could she recall that speeding night.
Just for the sake of an accomplice’s safety… Lu Wei thought. She summoned her courage and crossed the long corridor to the neighboring project group.
Si Huai stood at the door, looking at her with pale, indifferent eyes. “What is it?”
“I heard Professor Zhou and Professor Chu are working on a new topic!” She poked her head in, seeing the two gentle Betas stand up and walk over. “As expected of the academic power couple of our research center!”
Zhou Wen smiled and tapped her head. “Only your mouth is sweet.”
Chu Renxiao stood behind Zhou Wen with crossed arms, looking at Lu Wei with a smile. “We happen to be short of hands. Want to come help?”
Si Huai frowned. Catching a glimpse of his reluctant expression, Lu Wei scoffed lightly. “Sure! But I need time for system development on my side too. I’ll come over when I’m free!”
If there’s any news dangerous to that Omega, I can know about it sooner.
Lu Wei calculated that when she took her annual leave, she would go to District 3 to check if her little accomplice was still there.
Unexpectedly, when she returned to that place, District 3 had changed its Speaker and shed its dilapidated appearance. Everything was different.
Relying on her memory, she went to the boy’s home, only to find the area had been requisitioned for land development. The developer had built family dormitories for the nearby industrial park.
“…He should be… living well, right?” Lu Wei muttered to herself, her tone thick with uncertainty.
Think on the bright side, Lu Wei. It’s just a beautiful Omega with a country accent. Are you desperate? You could wave your hand and have people lining up!
She convinced herself and left District 3.
During her research with Zhou Wen and the others, she focused on the subject itself. She developed multiple training modes for Alpha pheromones, which were later promoted throughout the army. Gradually, she forgot about that green, shy accomplice.
However, one late night, she was woken by the doorbell. Opening the door, she found Si Huai blocking her path.
“What are you doing? What kind of crazy fit are you throwing in the middle of the night… What message did that man ask you to bring me?”
She looked at him impatiently, only to see blood slowly trickling down the corner of Si Huai’s mouth.
“Hey, are you okay?!” Lu Wei was shocked. Si Huai collapsed straight onto her. She hoisted him into the room. Si Huai leaned against her shoulder, his voice intermittent. “Zhou and Chu are dead… If they find out you participated in the project too, you’re next… Run. Fast.”
What?!
She placed him on the sofa, but Si Huai shoved a bunch of keys into her hand, trying his best to push her away.
“Omegas cannot master the ability to control pheromones. Therefore, we… in their eyes… cannot be allowed to live.”
He coughed up a violent mouthful of blood.
The poison had been in his breakfast for tomorrow morning. He happened to be unable to sleep tonight and had eaten it as a midnight snack ahead of time.
Lu Wei understood everything instantly. The “they” he spoke of were none other than those Alphas high above, holding power and treating human life like grass.
To dare touch even the Si family meant they were either confident this strike would be flawless, or they simply had nothing to fear.
“Listen, Lu Wei… I know you resent the Si family, and I resent them too. This isn’t a request as an uncle, but as a colleague.” Si Huai struggled to prop open his eyelids. “Juqing Road… Number 9. My anonymous asset. Go hide there for a while. He Lian will arrange for you to go to other military districts!”
Lu Wei’s eyelid twitched. She had no time to ponder why a highly valuable Beta researcher like him also held resentment toward the family, nor did she have time to wonder why the newly promoted General would be willing to do him this favor.
The keys in her hand were already stained with Si Huai’s blood.
Lu Wei hurriedly shoved valuable items from the house into her bag. With the Omega’s pillow tucked under her arm, she stuffed a medical kit into Si Huai’s arms and scrambled to dial the emergency number for him.
“Why do you think I came in the middle of the night? Don’t expose yourself!” Si Huai gripped her hand, shouting hoarsely. “Go! Go now!”
Lu Wei straightened up with difficulty, ran quickly to the door, looked back once, and rushed out with grit teeth and tears in her eyes.
He knew that if he sent her a message, she would definitely be suspicious because he was a Si family member.
So he preferred to come find her while the poison was taking effect and he was losing consciousness.
“Dammit!!!” Lu Wei figured this out. Standing in front of the cramped little western-style building on Juqing Road, she couldn’t help but kick the wall.
Peach blossom petals fluttered down with a rustle.
After kicking, she noticed a pitch-black graffiti on the wall, looking very much like a child’s prank, though it wasn’t very clear in the middle of the night.
She brushed the petals off her shoulder, unlocked the gate, and entered the courtyard. Locking the courtyard gate, she took out the defense system she had applied to take home for research from her bag, installed the anchor devices under the courtyard wall, and finally sat on the ground to begin connecting the system.
“Done! Safe for now.”
She thought for a moment and sent a cryptic message to Si Chenjin, telling him to go to her house. If he went in time, Si Huai might still be saved, right?
After doing all this, Lu Wei patted the dust off her legs and turned to enter the house. However, she saw a beautiful Omega standing at the door. That somewhat familiar face revealed a hint of fear.
“Who are you?”
His voice lacked the nervousness of his teenage years, becoming calm and steady. Even that accent had disappeared.
“This is a house I’m renting. I have the right of use. Even the landlord can’t trespass on a private residence.”
Lu Wei was terrified, her eyes darting around. Catching a glimpse of the pillow she had set aside, she frantically stuffed it into her bag.
Hey Uncle, what are you doing?!
Recommended Reads
