Chapter 8
“Don’t worry, we’ll definitely find him.” Xia Xiaomiao comforted Bai He.
Bai He lowered his head, his scattered hair obscuring his face. He hated this, hated things happening out of his control.
Where was Ling Ling now? Was he injured again?
The ward was only filled with Xia Xiaomiao’s comforting voice. Qin Yao stood behind Bai He, his heart somewhat complicated. He averted his gaze, his eyes meeting the alpha standing behind the omega. Jiang Rong looked at Qin Yao for a moment, then shifted his gaze away.
The search for Ling Ling was temporarily left to Xia Xiaomiao and Jiang Rong. Later, they said the surveillance camera on that floor happened to be broken, so there was no lead.
Bai He stayed in the hospital for two more days, then discussed with the doctor and was discharged early. Back in the rental house without Ling Ling, the repressed emotions of the past few days reached their peak.
Bai He wrapped himself in a blanket, not sleeping all night. The next morning, having adjusted his state, he turned on the computer and posted a missing cat notice on the community forum, also making a missing cat poster and printing out several copies, ready to go out and post them. Due to his leg and foot issues, he first practiced walking around the house a few times with the crutch.
In one day’s time, Bai He posted the missing cat notice on all the display boards in the surrounding area, returning home in the evening twilight, his body almost soaked in sweat.
He sat on the sofa, staring blankly, his face devoid of color. From leaning on the crutch all day, the hand he had used force on was now trembling uncontrollably.
Bai He didn’t eat, he was tired, so he carefully dragged his weary body to the bathroom, cautiously minding his still-unhealed left leg, taking a simple shower and changing into clean clothes before returning to his room.
But he still couldn’t sleep. As soon as he closed his eyes, he would see the image of Ling Ling covered in blood in the alley.
A night of light sleep.
The next day, Bai He cleared a corner of the living room, the cat tree he had bought for Ling Ling had already been delivered and just needed assembling. He was waiting for news, waiting for Ling Ling’s news.
In the empty, silent house, Bai He’s repressed emotions were twisting and growing. Perhaps just a trigger was needed, and those emotions would burst forth like a dam break and overwhelm him.
But at least for now, that hadn’t happened. He sat back down at his desk and opened a book to study. The internship application form had already been filled out and sent to Secretary Li, he had to move forward.
He kept an eye on the missing cat posts in the community, glancing at his phone every so often, but still no notification call came.
At night, Bai He opened his computer and adjusted the microphone, starting a live broadcast.
Good night: [I just started a live stream, come watch everyone!]
Bai He wore a mask, and today he didn’t have any reading material or other sleep aids. He sat in front of the camera, speaking softly.
“Good evening, everyone. Today, we won’t be reading a story. Instead, we’ll be chatting with each other.”
The live stream quickly attracted viewers, and Bai He’s voice was highly recognizable. He had barely said a few words when a wave of people joined in.
[Mr. Handsome, you haven’t been streaming for a few days, wah.]
[I really love the anchor’s soothing voice; the tone is so unique.]
[Yay, I was just about to go to sleep and then I stumbled upon the anchor’s live stream!]
[Is it just chatting today? I want to hear a story…]
Bai He gently nodded: “Today is a chatting session. If anyone has anything they want to say, you can post it in the comment section.”
[Can we really say anything we want? Are you sure? I’m afraid I might scare the young man.]
[Sisters, don’t be timid. I’ll go first. Mr. Handsome, do you have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend? If you don’t mind, can you share your gender? Do you like alphas, betas, or omegas?]
[Fuck, how did this turn into a love life live stream?]
[Mr. Handsome, have you considered a female alpha? 180cm tall, with breasts and abs, can satisfy all your needs. And if you want to be on top, that’s possible too~]
[???]
[???]
[Sister, is this something we can say out loud?]
[Don’t you think you’re treating us like outsiders?]
Bai He had simply wanted to have a casual chatting live stream, discussing everyday things, but when he saw the bold comments in the section, it was completely unexpected. For a moment, he was unsure of how to respond.
He had a lump in his throat, but after a moment, he adjusted his state of mind, treating this as the setting of the world. It took him a while to adapt, and then he began selecting comments to respond to.
Despite the comments, Bai He still followed the original intention of his sleep-inducing live streams. Even when answering the comments, he didn’t use his normal voice. He lowered and softened his voice, each word carrying a breath, and wearing headphones, it felt as if one could sense the warmth in his delivery.
Qin Yao’s ears tingled, his nerves trembling as he lay on the bed, his eyes fixed on the screen. After just a few minutes, his whole body felt like it was burning.
The alpha, who had long passed his adolescence, shouldn’t have been so easily agitated. Qin Yao opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. This time, his ears and tail hadn’t been contained, especially the tail, which had a mind of its own. Qin Yao buried his head, glaring at the disobedient tail.
The fluffy tail of the Maine Coon was currently excitedly slapping the bed sheet. Qin Yao clicked his tongue and reached out to hold the tail, but the tip still managed to move about.
Although it was embarrassing, he had to admit that the tail’s emotions were a reflection of his own. He was already aroused just by listening to a male sleep-inducing anchor’s voice, which was unreasonable.
Qin Yao took off his headphones and lay on the bed, trying to calm down. After a long while, the problematic area still showed no signs of settling.
“…”
He took a deep breath and prepared to go to the bathroom, but stopped and turned back to grab the still-streaming phone.
The sound of running water lasted for half an hour. Qin Yao came out of the bathroom bare-chested, one hand gripping the phone, the other using a towel to dry his wet hair. The alpha’s eye sockets were red, suppressing some inexpressible emotions.
“Knock, knock.”
Someone was knocking on the door. Qin Yao put down his phone and went to open the door. Qin Wei, wearing a bathrobe, stood at the door. Seeing the one who opened the door was Qin Yao, he subtly furrowed his brow.
“Dad?” Qin Yao blinked: “What’s the matter?”
Qin Wei’s expression was blank: “Control your pheromones.”
“…Does it smell that strong?” Qin Yao was unusually embarrassed.
The CEO glanced at him, his eyes saying it all. Qin Yao could only smile to cover it up: “We’re at this age, let’s just turn a blind eye.”
“Take care of yourself and get some rest early.” Qin Wei left a sentence and returned to his own room.
Qin Yao closed the door and stood there for a while, suddenly chuckling. He buried his face and laughed for a long time, then went back to lie on the bed. By now, it was almost 11 o’clock, and the “Goodnight” live stream was also nearing its end. The host, who had been streaming for two hours, had a slightly hoarse voice, perhaps from the long duration, and at certain moments, the voice made Qin Yao pause.
This voice sounded familiar.
He frowned and listened carefully for a while, but still couldn’t quite place who it reminded him of.
In the quiet of the night, the live stream ended, and Qin Yao listened to the replay once more before falling asleep.
A dreamless night.
Bai He has not been resting well lately, but he has included a two-hour live stream in his daily schedule, starting from 9 pm and lasting until 11 pm. In the beginning, the live streams barely generated any income, as this was the period of accumulating followers. After persisting for nearly half a month, he had slowly amassed around 50,000 followers, and by this time, he had started to generate some income.
Some fans would send gifts, and there were also some merchants who found him for product promotion. Bai He didn’t like to include product advertisements during the live streams. Instead, he would make separate videos for the advertisements and categorize them on his homepage, and occasionally update the sleep-inducing videos on the homepage as well.
With these earnings, he was able to recover the money he had spent from the original owner’s funds within half a month.
However, Bai He’s life has not been easy these past two weeks. He has a packed schedule every day – classes, self-study, live streaming, rehabilitation, and searching for his Ling Ling.
It has been half a month since Ling Ling went missing, and the heavy weight on Bai He’s heart makes it increasingly difficult for him to breathe. He hasn’t even noticed that he has lost quite a bit of weight.
This day, after class at the main teaching building, he was intercepted on his way past the School of Business. He looked up and found it was the alpha from last time.
Zhang Anjing’s face was rather gloomy, and his aura was unpleasant. Bai He took a step back, his brow furrowed: “What’s the matter?”
These past few days, Zhang Anjing has been extremely irritable. The few alpha friends who usually stick around him are not even willing to approach him now. He has entered his heat cycle, and his pheromones are too pungent, even the suppressants can’t fully control it. He glared at Bai He: “Can’t I stop you just because?”
That sounded familiar, Bai He was reminded of the day when that female alpha had stopped him with a similar phrase.
Bai He had no mood to waste words with this person. He tried to walk past Zhang Anjing, but the latter, whose temper was as explosive as a powder keg at the moment, ignited at the slightest touch, and the foul stench around him intensified, causing the passing students to quickly disperse, covering their mouths and noses.
“Fuck, who the hell took a shit? Whose stench is this?!”
“Can’t you control your heat cycle and stop bothering people? Do you think you’re so fragrant?”
“Ugh—Ugh—”
Bai He’s face darkened. He instinctively raised a hand to cover his nose and mouth, but was suddenly grabbed from behind by the alpha. In an instant, as if he had been electrocuted, Bai He trembled, and the area on the back of his neck where Zhang Anjing had touched him was excruciatingly painful. He swung his hand to push away the alpha’s hand, turning around and warning through gritted teeth: “Don’t touch me!”
Silence. The fleeing alphas around them suddenly fell silent, not daring to move, even the raging Zhang Anjing was stunned for a moment.
The alpha regained his composure and chuckled, rubbing the hand that had just touched Bai He: “You’ve never been touched by an alpha, have you? What, are you shy?”
The people around Zhang Anjing gave him disgusted and speechless expressions in response to his words.
Bai He covered the throbbing pain on his neck with his right hand, glaring coldly: “Go see a doctor if you’re sick, I don’t treat brain diseases.”
His speech became labored, and the scene in front of him was blurring. Ironically, the area that had just been touched was swelling and aching, and Bai He unconsciously took a step forward, but his still-not-fully-recovered left leg weakened, causing him to stagger. He was then supported by someone.
Qin Yao gripped Bai He’s arm, feeling the trembling in the other’s body through the fabric.
“Zhang Anjing.” He lifted his eyelids and looked at the alpha full of aggression: “Contain your pheromones.”
If Zhang Anjing was the troublemaker of the school, then Qin Yao was the one who specialized in dealing with such people. Without using pheromones, the alpha’s piercing gaze alone was enough to overwhelm one’s heart. Zhang Anjing gritted his teeth, glaring at Bai He for a few seconds before turning around and angrily kicking a nearby tree branch, then left.
The students who had gathered to watch the commotion dispersed, and Bai He heard Qin Yao calling him.
“Are you alright?” Qin Yao bent down, seeing the fine sweat on Bai He’s face.
Bai He shook his head, weakly raising his eyelids to give Qin Yao a nod: “Thank you.”
“You…” Qin Yao narrowed his eyes, looking at Bai He’s hand covering his neck: “Aren’t you feeling well? Should we go to the campus hospital?”
“I’m fine.” Bai He shook his head again: “Just physically weak.”
“Just physically weak?” Qin Yao found this strange, unable to pinpoint exactly what was wrong, but he released his grip on Bai He’s arm and said helplessly, “You’re even thinner than you were half a month ago. Why don’t you eat properly?”
Bai He’s expression became stagnant, and the lines of his lips were pressed down: “I haven’t found my cat.”
Somehow, he hadn’t brought up this matter with anyone in the past two weeks. Perhaps it was because he didn’t really have any friends, or maybe it was because he knew Qin Yao also had a cat of the same breed as Ling Ling, which is why he decided to mention it to him.
Hearing Bai He’s words, Qin Yao was taken aback. He raised a hand to touch the bridge of his nose, averting his gaze slightly: “I heard that was the cat you adopted? Maybe he just went back to his old home?”
Bai He looked up: “How do you know my cat was adopted?”
Oops.
Qin Yao remained calm on the surface, though inwardly he was panicking: “Qiu Yao told me.”
He and Qiu Yao actually didn’t have much private interaction, but he had pulled Qiu Yao out as a scapegoat, taking a gamble.
Seeing Bai He lower his gaze, his expression somewhat forlorn, Qin Yao continued: “Perhaps you’re right, I should have learned more about Ling Ling’s background before adopting him…”
Relieved that he had guessed correctly, Qin Yao felt a bit conflicted hearing Bai He’s words. He watched as Bai He left, and it wasn’t until the other’s figure disappeared that he turned around, only to run into Zhang Wenyi coming out of the institute.
“Qin ge, why are you still standing outside? Professor Yan…” The hurriedly running Zhang Wenyi suddenly braked, retreating about ten steps from Qin Yao, his hands tightly covering his nose: “Why is there an omega pheromone scent here?”
“Is your dog nose malfunctioning?” Qin Yao chuckled: “It’s just that bastard Zhang Anjing’s stench…”
Qin Yao trailed off, as he had just been at the center of Zhang Anjing’s pheromone explosion. Now that the alpha’s scent had dissipated, the other hidden fragrance in the air became apparent – a cool, crisp aroma mingled with an alluring, captivating scent that only lasted for a fleeting moment, but it was enough to make Qin Yao’s brain tingle like electricity, his alpha eyes turning red.
There was indeed an omega pheromone scent.
Recommended Reads
