Chapter 56
There were many passengers on the cruise ship, and the social connections were complex. As they conversed, people came forward to ingratiate themselves.
Gu Yan didn’t wait for Gu Lanzhu to answer. He quickly changed the topic, left with Gu Chuang and Chen Gui, and gracefully entered the high society social scene. He believed that this heir of the Gu family would understand his hint.
After the elders left, only the two of them remained.
Bai Yue’s ear tips turned red. He quietly sized up Gu Lanzhu, wanting to strike up a conversation. But before he could take a step forward, Gu Lanzhu flicked his sleeves and left. His assistant, Zhao Qian, stood like a wall between the two, causing Bai Yue to stomp his feet in anger.
“Go invite Shu Ci over,” Gu Lanzhu said to Zhao Qian through gritted teeth. “If you let him escape again on this ship like last time, weigh the consequences carefully.”
Letting someone escape even on an islandâhe really had raised a bunch of useless people.
Zhao Qian lowered his head, his voice faint: “What if Mr. Shu doesn’t want to come?”
Gu Lanzhu stopped in his tracks. The raging fire in his eyes seemed about to spill over as he stared fixedly at Zhao Qian.
He had to admit that the scenario Zhao Qian mentioned was highly likely.
He knew better than anyone Shu Ci’s consistent attitude toward him. He resisted the compatibility with his life, his eyes full of undisguised disgust. Therefore, whenever he faced Shu Ci, he always felt a deep sense of powerlessnessâa state he, who was always assured of victory, could not control.
Just like the dreams that had continuously appeared in his mind these days: a derailed train rushing towards a cliff, and Shu Ci standing on the train, smiling as he fell. This gave Gu Lanzhu a near-terrifying shake in the depths of his heart.
The Alpha’s red pupils shifted, dilating for a moment before focusing again.
Gu Lanzhu pinched his cuffs, squeezing a low voice from the corner of his mouth: “Even if he’s unwilling, he has to be willing.”
Zhao Qian looked up at him, understanding his boss’s subtext.
If he’s unwilling, snatch him; once snatched, lock him up.
“Brother Ah Zhu.”
Bai Yue stood quietly not far away and spoke after Zhao Qian hurried off.
Gu Lanzhu’s gaze landed on him, smelling the faint scent of rose pheromones released by the Omega in front of him.
He suddenly remembered the scent Shu Ci had left behind at the Central Hotel. The sweet and rich jasmine fragrance was somewhat similar to roses, instantly stirring his mind.
Later, in the bedroom on Dragon Spine Island, the residual scent had been extremely faint.
Until he saw him just now, Gu Lanzhu suddenly realized that he couldn’t sense a single trace of Shu Ci’s pheromones. The soft gland at the back of his neck had become thick and powerful at some point, tightly wrapping up all his scent.
“What is it?” he replied coldly to Bai Yue.
“Can you go do a compatibility test with me? Maybe our compatibility is higher, isn’t it?”
Bai Yue lowered his eyelashes. From Gu Chuang’s tone and the materials Shu Ci gave him, he roughly deduced that they had undergone a compatibility test.
But wasn’t Shu Ci already married?
Since he gave up Gu Lanzhu and chose his current partner, it must be because his compatibility with Gu Lanzhu wasn’t as high as with his current one. That meant he still had a chance. If he could prove to Brother Ah Zhu that he was more suitable…
“Higher?” Gu Lanzhu scoffed as if he had heard a joke. “Keep dreaming.”
Shu Ci went up to the third floor of the restaurant but didn’t see Shen Lin. It seemed it was just an excuse for him to get away. He looked around and was about to leave when he suddenly saw someone coming out of a private room.
Through the crack in the door, he caught an unexpected glimpse of Jin Li sitting near the entrance in a waist-cinched smoky purple long dress.
His target was inside.
Shu Ci decided to order food and found a table near the private room. Leaning back in his chair, he observed the Omega inside through his peripheral vision. She lowered her eyes, a polite smile on her lips that didn’t reach her eyes, her long hair tied in a bun at the back of her head, revealing a slender neck.
The door was quickly closed.
Shu Ci couldn’t hear the voices inside clearly, but his last glimpse caught her gripping the knife and fork tightly, her eyes filled with myriad expressions.
He had no impression of her when he checked the information privately, but this fleeting glance reminded him where he had seen her.
When he had just transmigrated and went to get his ID card, he saw workers changing the light box at a bus stop on the road. The person in the removed advertisement was Jin Li. At that time, he had sighed for a moment, not expecting fate to play such tricks.
Shu Ci ate a few mouthfuls of salad casually. Jin Li walked out of the private room and headed for the restroom. He put down his cutlery, turned, and walked towards the entrance of the private room, preparing to wait for her return and “accidentally” meet her in the corridor.
It was his first time dealing with someone who hadn’t appeared in the plot, and Shu Ci was a little nervous.
Half-leaning against the wall outside the private room, he vaguely heard drunk people talking loudly inside.
They talked about the economy, the international situation, and Far-flung District Three, discussing business opportunities as it recovered from the tsunami. Eventually, the topic shifted to the recent election.
The arrogant Alphas were more willing to stand on the side of Gu Yan, who protected their interests, and didn’t want to see the future Shen Lin painted for Omegas. But recently, Gu Yan seemed to be softening his stance for votes, which made these staunch supporters somewhat unhappy.
“Shh, you dare say that?” amidst the heavy smell of alcohol, someone hushed his slurring companion. “They say Councilman Shen and Councilman Gu are both on the ship today. restrain yourself a bit.”
“We can’t even talk now?”
“During the speeches, I saw they were almost tearing each other’s faces off. It’s really hard for them to come together.”
“The Gu and Chen families are one entity, that goes without saying. The fact that the Shen family is willing to give the Chen family face by attending the charity dinner is definitely just to frantically package their own name under ‘charity’. It can’t possibly be for the Chen family’s sake. If you don’t believe me, just watch tonight.”
The voices inside lowered as they spoke, and Shu Ci subconsciously pressed his ear closer to the wall.
While training his pheromones, his five senses had also become increasingly acute. Although intermittent, he could more or less hear the general idea.
” The Shen and Chen families were sworn enemies back then, right? …If it weren’t for that shipwreck incident, where someone claimed to have found problems with the cruise ship, causing the head of the Shen family to be implicated and imprisoned, the related industrial chain took a heavy hit, and the market share was practically handed over to the Chen family on a silver platter.”
“Shen Lin was still a hothead back then. After his parents were imprisoned, he accused the Chen family of framing them.”
“Are there few dirty secrets in the old history of these families? Who can say for sure.”
Shu Ci froze on the spot. Every word fell into his ears, but they didn’t seem to form a complete meaning.
So that was the hidden story behind Shen Lin’s parents’ imprisonment. If it was really related to the Chen family, maybe those two old foxes of the Gu family couldn’t wash their hands of it either.
No wonder he had grown to this stage at such a young age, contending with Gu Yan. No wonder his words that day had a stance of fighting the Gu family to the bitter end.
“You are…?” A female voice from behind interrupted Shu Ci’s train of thought.
He turned around and met Jin Li’s gaze.
Shu Ci quickly got into character, brushing the stray hair from his forehead and putting on a nervous smile: “I’m Shu Ci from the Performance Department of A University. I wanted to see Director Zhang… to ask him about the casting audition for his new play.”
That longing and love for dramaâShu Ci didn’t need to act to find emotions more real than the original host’s.
He didn’t know if it was his illusion, but Jin Li’s expression looked somewhat complicated.
She softened her voice: “You’ve got the wrong place. He’s not at this gathering.”
It doesn’t matter; my goal is to find you anyway.
Shu Ci blinked, utilizing his excellent chatting skills to strike up a conversation with Jin Li. He found some of Jin Li’s interests from those interviews and materials and opened up the topic indirectly.
To his surprise, although Jin Li was approachable and didn’t have the airs of a hot actor, willing to talk to him, she was very watertight. Apart from matters regarding Director Zhang and the new play, it seemed impossible to get other information out of her.
“Speaking of which, where’s your darling?” Someone inside the room suddenly asked drunkenly.
Jin Li’s body trembled, and she looked up at the private room door. She took a business card out of her bag and handed it to Shu Ci: “If you need it, I can help you contact Director Zhang.”
After speaking, she lifted her smoky purple skirt and hurried inside. A faint scent of lychee wafted from the back of her neck.
Shu Ci frowned, subconsciously touching the back of his own neck.
He could sense that the private room was filled almost entirely with Alphas. Jin Li was like walking braised pork, delivering herself into a pack of wolves.
Reading the banned research materials He Lian gave him these days, he discovered that they had developed a method to prevent Omegas from unconsciously spreading subtle scents when they couldn’t retract their pheromones. After trying it, the effect was remarkable.
…And that group of high-and-mighty Alphas banned the research and destroyed the data.
Perhaps they felt that if everyone learned it, it would make occasions like the one before him less interesting.
Shu Ci’s heart sank, and he lingered by the door for a while longer.
He felt nervous for Jin Li, playing with the business card in his hand.
Not bad. It wasn’t a fruitless trip; at least I got an official contact method.
The business card turned in his fingertips, and with a careless slip, it fluttered to the ground. Shu Ci stepped forward, bent down to pick it up, and looked up to see a person standing in the shadows of the corner.
“!!!”
He hurriedly stood up and took two steps back, only to see Zhao Qian walk out of the shadows.
If Zhao Qian was here, it meant Gu Lanzhu was also here.
He vigilantly moved towards the restaurant exit, looking at Zhao Qian coldly: “Speak directly. What does he want you to find me for?”
Zhao Qian was silent for a moment: “To invite you to accept the endorsement for our group’s entire product line.”
Shu Ci glared: “That’s an excuse.”
Zhao Qian took a deep breath: “He wants to see you.”
Shu Ci: “And then lock me up to have his children.”
Zhao Qian: “…”
Shu Ci had experienced Zhao Qian’s “courtesy before force” by being directly abducted to the island. Now seeing Zhao Qian wasting his breath instead of taking action, he was somewhat surprised. However, he didn’t dare to relax his vigilance and took out his phone to send a message and location to Shen Lin.
The cruise ship had already traveled a certain distance, and the signal was currently weak. It was hard to say if Shen Lin could still receive it.
He found the pinned chat again and sent a message to Lu Wanqing after the countless landscape photos.
[I’m on the charity cruise. If Gu Lanzhu tries to make a move on me this time, I will resist.]
He wasn’t the original host; he wouldn’t wait for anyone’s aid or for anyone to look back.
He didn’t even trust Shen Lin as much as he trusted Lu Wanqing. Once he encountered danger, he would no longer hide his control over pheromone mimicry. Even if he had to go down with Gu Lanzhu, he didn’t want to be forced onto the plot of the original book.
After sending it, Zhao Qian still hadn’t moved, standing in place looking at him.
Shu Ci: “What are you standing here for?”
Zhao Qian: “Waiting for you to finish.”
Shu Ci: “So polite? Didn’t bring some rope or something to tie me up?”
Shu Ci’s verbal nonsense didn’t delay his fingers flying across the screen. He thought, If the worst happens, I don’t want Lu Wanqing to blame himself or feel guilty when he receives this late message.
He tilted his head in thought for a moment and added a sentence: [I’ll try my best not to embarrass our Teacher Lu. Believe in me!]
After sending it, he glanced at Zhao Qian. Taking advantage of the moment Zhao Qian was distracted by meeting his gaze, he pushed off with his toes, turned around, and dashed out of the restaurant.
Lu Wanqing was resting with his eyes closed in the cockpit when his phone suddenly vibrated, causing his eyelid to twitch.
This was a notification tone he had set up exclusively.
His crimson-blue eyes snapped open. Extending a long arm, he tapped open the chat interface, and his heart rate suddenly sped up when he saw the small red dot at the top.
The continuous drifting had made him start to feel dazedâwas he really still alive in this world?
But in this instant, all the blood began to flow back to his heart.
Thump-thump, thump-thump. It beat powerfully in his chest.
Lu Wanqing tapped into the chat box. After calming himself and reading it, his breathing missed a beat.
Cruise ship, Shu Ci, Gu Lanzhu.
Here it comes again. The wheel of fate hanging over my head has started turning again.
Lu Wanqing lifted his eyes listlessly, confirmed the route he had set, and without thinking, pressed the accelerate button, adjusting from the energy-saving coasting mode to the death-defying charge mode.
He initiated a call request to He Lian. The moment it connected, his voice was grave and low.
“Contact Shen Lin for me. Tell him Lu Wanqing has agreed to his request. He can rest assured about the votes in District Seven. Tell him to watch over my person.”
Author’s Note:
He Lian: Hello? Are you the Marshal or am I?
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