Chapter 83: Make You Call Me Brother (III)
“What do you mean by affecting differentiation?”
In the living room, Chen Lan’s voice followed.
Father Gu was silent for a moment.
“It might mean delayed development, or perhaps incomplete development. The worst possibility is that during the differentiation process, the damaged gland won’t be able to withstand the energy of the pheromones, which could be fatal.”
“But this depends on the rank and concentration of the child’s pheromone gene sequence.”
“If he is an Omega, the pheromones are relatively gentle, so the burden won’t be too heavy. But if he is an Alpha, it could be very troublesome.”
Hearing this, Chen Lan felt like she had been struck by a bolt from the blue.
Xiao Ji’s parents both had high-ranking gene sequences.
As the saying goes, dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes; the rank of Xiao Ji’s gene sequence for secondary differentiation certainly wouldn’t be low.
In this way, Xiao Ji’s future differentiation became a blade hanging over Chen Lan’s head.
She had brought this child back, but if she raised him, there was a high probability he wouldn’t survive the day of his differentiation.
Hiding by his bedroom door, Gu Yinnian couldn’t fully understand the meaning of his father’s words.
But he was only small, not stupid.
Just from Father Gu’s tone, Chen Lan’s reaction, and specific words like “fatal,” he could tell that Xiao Ji might not live for very long.
Gu Yinnian’s small heart suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable.
He crawled back under his covers, thinking of the little turtle he had raised to death last year, and his nose felt sour.
On the other side, Xiao Ji also heard the couple’s conversation.
However, he didn’t take it too seriously.
Because 037 had said that according to the original predetermined fate trajectory, the original host had eventually differentiated successfully.
He got up from the floor, burrowed into the quilt, and closed his eyes.
Sure enough, within half an hour, Chen Lan pushed open his door and walked in.
Chen Lan sat by Xiao Ji’s bed for a long time. She reached out to touch Xiao Ji’s forehead, looking at his somewhat pale little face. She made a secret resolve that no matter what, she would raise Xiao Ji to be chubby and healthy.
At the very least, Xiao Ji needed a strong enough constitution to welcome and handle that day when it came.
Her emotions had been terrible these past two days.
It took her a long time to force out a smile. She reached out to pinch Xiao Ji’s small feet tucked under the quilt and called out to him:
“Xiao Ji, time to get up and eat.”
Xiao Ji opened his eyes and sat up straight in bed.
“Okay.”
Gu Yinnian often stayed in bed, and he was full of rebellion.
During holidays, while Chen Lan was still sleeping, Gu Yinnian would run around the house early in the morning as if injected with chicken blood.
But as soon as it was a school day, Gu Yinnian couldn’t get up.
It would take Chen Lan shouting at him countless times, taking about half an hour in total, before he would agree to crawl out of bed.
Therefore, seeing Xiao Ji sit up so decisively, Chen Lan was stunned for a moment. She opened her mouth:
“I haven’t made breakfast yet… why don’t you sleep a little longer?”
Xiao Ji refused. “I’m awake.”
Then, he picked up Gu Yinnian’s clothes that Chen Lan had folded and placed by the bed last night, and said to her:
“I’m going to change clothes.”
Chen Lan let out an “Ah,” then realized, “Do I need to leave?”
Xiao Ji looked at her, his expression a bit odd.
Only then did Chen Lan realize that not every child liked to trouble people as much as her Gu Yinnian.
While relieved, she also felt a pang of heartache for Xiao Ji’s sensibility. She stood up, walked out of the room, and closed the door for him.
When Xiao Ji came out of the room dressed, Gu Yinnian had just finished washing up and come out of the bathroom.
He didn’t look like he was in a good mood; his cheeks were puffed out, and he didn’t speak to Xiao Ji.
Xiao Ji didn’t actively greet him either. He walked into the bathroom and saw that his cup was already filled with water, and a dollop of transparent toothpaste had been squeezed onto his toothbrush.
After washing up, he came out and sat opposite Gu Yinnian, asking him:
“Are you unhappy?”
Gu Yinnian felt he was much deeper than last year.
At least since his birthday, the couple rarely asked him why he was unhappy anymore.
Now that he was blatantly exposed by Xiao Ji, he wasn’t very willing to admit it.
“Which eye did you…”
Before he could finish, Chen Lan patted the back of his neck.
“Son, speak nicely.”
Gu Yinnian felt a chill run down his spine. He swallowed the rest of his words and gave a fake smile, baring his teeth at Xiao Ji.
“I am very happy.”
Chen Lan patted his head with satisfaction and brought the food tray to the table.
The Gu family had a habit of separate dining; everyone used their own utensils, and the food was portioned out in advance without mixing.
On one hand, it was to prevent cross-infection if someone in the family got sick.
On the other hand, it was because of Gu Yinnian’s domineering Alpha genes.
But Xiao Ji’s arrival broke Gu Yinnian’s dominance.
Because Chen Lan wanted Xiao Ji to grow stronger, the portion of food was simply too generous.
Xiao Ji ate methodically, while Gu Yinnian gorged himself.
Xiao Ji had only eaten a few bites from the edge, while Gu Yinnian’s plate was already half empty.
Father Gu had been busy all night and was sleeping at this time.
While Chen Lan was answering a phone call, Xiao Ji did something very presumptuous.
He took the opportunity to push his plate in front of Gu Yinnian, and then switched Gu Yinnian’s plate to his own spot.
Gu Yinnian’s first reaction wasn’t to be disgusted with Xiao Ji, but rather, like Chen Lan, to feel that Xiao Ji was too thin.
But just as he was preparing to go back and forth with Xiao Ji and swap the plates back, Xiao Ji whispered to him:
“Save me, Brother Xiao Nian.”
Thus, Gu Yinnian powered down. When Chen Lan returned from her call, he scooped a large spoonful of egg custard from the plate and stuffed it into his mouth.
Chen Lan didn’t notice anything.
Xiao Ji kicked Gu Yinnian’s leg under the table and bent his eyes into a smile at him.
Last night, Gu Yinnian had been emotional at first and didn’t pay much attention to Xiao Ji’s appearance. Later, when he apologized, the light was too dim to see clearly.
Now, meeting Xiao Ji’s eyes, he felt that Xiao Ji looked just like the dolls the little girls in his kindergarten liked to play with.
He thought, I’m a perfectly fine, fierce little Alpha, yet I actually have a doll of my own.
How strange.
Xiao Ji was at the age where he needed education. Chen Lan didn’t dare delay. She waited until Xiao Ji’s injuries healed and took him to the hospital for two follow-up checks. After confirming there were no major issues for the time being, she asked someone to enroll Xiao Ji in the same kindergarten Gu Yinnian attended.
Xiao Ji adapted very well to this and expressed that he liked this disciplined life of doing things on schedule.
It was just that the content learned in kindergarten was truly impossible for him to accept.
The scariest part was that he had to face a flock of chirping, endlessly noisy children.
Originally, he wanted to feign illness to refuse kindergarten education.
But he discovered that Gu Yinnian seemed to really like going to school with him; he was even much more active about getting up in the morning.
As such, he could only force himself to accompany Gu Yinnian in growing up.
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