It would be better if the layer of window paper was not pierced ^[1], but since it was pierced, the atmosphere immediately became ambiguous and strange.

Ye Ci lowered his head, squeezed the zipper pull of his sportswear, and pulled it down. The movement was painfully slow, the zipper teeth releasing one by one. Blood rushed to his face and painted it red.

Because he didn’t dare to look up, Huo Tinglan stared at him almost recklessly, like a falcon locking onto its prey. It wasn’t until Ye Ci’s shame reached a critical point and his fists loosened and clenched as if he was about to beat someone, that Huo Tinglan restrained his wicked foolishness and said:  “Hold on.”

Ye Ci’s eyes trembled, and he raised his head as if he had been rescued.

Huo Tinglan had returned to his usual gentle and prudent demeanor, feigning magnanimity, and asked softly: “Is there something like a throw pillow? Those can possibly be used.”

“There, there are throw pillows.” Ye Ci nodded hurriedly.

He had the habit of holding something to sleep, but he had been so panicked that he didn’t remember. Afraid that Huo Tinglan would regret it, he rushed back to the bedroom to get a pillow and hand it over. He lowered his eyes the whole time, not daring to look at Huo Tinglan’s face.

He thought this calamity was over, but when he was about to go out, Huo Tinglan stopped him again and told him euphemistically to come back early from school.

After all, a throw pillow couldn’t hold a lot of pheromones.

At night, he still needed Ye Ci’s help.

Ye Ci was so embarrassed that he was dizzy, and he barely remembered how he got out the door of the Huo residence.

This morning was so hard to bear.

If Huo Tinglan was as bad as he’d thought, and attempted to use treatment as an excuse to do something beyond the norm, the situation would have been easier. He was not afraid of confrontation with people.

But Huo Tinglan was really upright, restrained and polite, and strictly abided by the rules. The more he was like this, the more at a loss Ye Ci was. His emotions were held inside without an outlet, causing him to turn red from his hair to the soles of his feet.

He had been in a daze all day, and before he knew it, evening self-study was over and he had to go back.

In the inner courtyard of the Huo residence, Ye Ci was walking along the tree-lined path with his school bag on his back.

He had to treat Huo Tinglan, as he had agreed that morning.

However, his psychological cognition was still that of an Alpha, and if another Alpha pressed against the back of his neck to smell the glands . . . . 

“. . . . . .”

Ye Ci had to punch a tree.

The pain in his hand calmed him down.

In any case, he would have to help sooner or later. If you were going to die anyway, it was better to fight. It was better to be straightforward than to dawdle . . . .

Ye Ci clenched his fists, his heart in chaos, and was about to return to the main building of the Huo residence. When he looked up, he saw Huo Tinglan standing a few steps away and looking at him.

His shirt collar was unbuttoned, and he could see the undulating lines of his chest muscles. The tendons in his neck stood out clearly, and the hair over his forehead fell messily across the ridge of his brow. His pupils were dark, handsome and somber, and five fingers clamped on to a ravaged and wrinkled throw pillow . . . . obviously, his torment on this day was not light.

Alphas approaching their susceptible period would gradually become violent and jealous under the catalyst of pheromones, paranoid and clingy. They would show an outrageous and unbearable urge to monopolize, along with a morbid craving for a high-match Omega, and not be their usual self. With the official start of the susceptible period, these negative emotions would also reach their peak. The higher the Alpha’s level, the more obvious these personality changes were during the susceptible period . . . .

But Huo Tinglan’s had obviously not started yet.

It was just in the early stages, and the symptoms were already so serious?

It was no wonder that some A+ Alphas were so tormented that they abused themselves during their susceptible period . . . .

Ye Ci was startled and took a step back in a conditioned reflex.

“Pardon me, I came out to get some air.” Huo Tinglan hooked his collar. “Did I scare you?”

His eyes were still calm.

However, it was not the same as his usual composure. At this moment, Huo Tinglan seemed to be trying his best to hold something back.

Like viscous lava flowing under a slab of rock, the seemingly cold and hard obsidian had long been burned to the point of melting. That high temperature came from the illogical possessiveness of an Alpha’s susceptible period, and the fiery . . . . lust.

Ye Ci’s heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened. He wanted to take a closer look, but Huo Tinglan had returned to normal and was looking at him calmly with a pair of black eyes. The burning, thirsty eyes just now seemed to be Ye Ci’s fleeting illusion.

Ye Ci was startled, shook his head, and murmured, “I’m not scared.”

Huo Tinglan smiled gently, as if to make up for something, and there was even a bit of relief on his face. “You came back early today.”

“. . . . En.”

Huo Tinglan slowly confirmed the reason: “Is it because I asked you this morning or because racing isn’t fun?”

Even in an outdoor environment, Huo Tinglan’s pheromone concentration was still unprecedentedly high. Ye Ci held his breath and only opened his mouth a little as he muttered, “Because, because in the morning . . . . you asked.”

Huo Tinglan rubbed the soft, dry cloth of the pillow with his fingertips, stared at Ye Ci for two seconds with his handsome face half hidden in the dim shadow of a tree, and asked softly, “So, can I assume that you are mentally prepared to treat me?”

Ye Ci’s breath was shaking, and he was silent for a while before making a vague “En.”

It was already dark at this time, but the courtyard lights emitted warm yellow halos and there were servants passing by not far away. 

“Is it okay to do it here?” Huo Tinglan asked his opinion, like a patient hunter.

Compared to a closed room, a garden could obviously make Ye Ci feel more secure.

And a sense of security would mean relaxing his guard.

Ye Ci tried his best to put on a cold and indifferent face, and nodded casually.

“Then we’ll do it here.” Huo Tinglan still stood unmoving in his original place. “Will you actively release pheromones?”

“What?” Ye Ci raised his eyes, looking confused. “No, I can’t.”

How long had he been an Omega? His glands weren’t well developed, how could he do this . . . .

Huo Tinglan was silent for a while, giving Ye Ci space to breathe.

Like holding a slippery, timid little silver fish, the tighter you held it, the faster the fish would escape your hands.

He had to hold him neither loosely nor tightly, to avoid startling him and also prevent him from running.

After a while, Huo Tinglan said slowly: “Then I might need to be closer to you.”

Ye Ci slowed down a bit and forced himself to keep cool: “Whatever.”

Huo Tinglan took a few steps closer, walked around behind Ye Ci, and reminded him: “The barrier patch needs to be removed.”

“Oh.” Ye Ci’s hands trembled violently. Fearing that he would be found out, he said firmly, “You tear it.”

The barrier patch had been pasted on for several hours, and the corners had lost their stickiness, curling slightly. Huo Tinglan pinched it with his fingertips, carefully not touching Ye Ci, tore off the barrier patch, and held it in the palm of his hand. 

The moist, slightly warm sweat mixed with Omega pheromones penetrated into the lines of his palm, and Huo Tinglan’s eyes moved nervously.

Ye Ci’s neck had been stimulated by Alpha pheromones to become pink, and was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. The moment the barrier patch was removed, the scent of sweet, sticky, creamy vanilla spread out suddenly, and the comfort brought by the absolute match at the genetic level was like warm spring water. It wrapped around Huo Tinglan’s violent, manic nerves and painfully twitching blood vessels, and in an instant, those torturous symptoms disappered as if they had never existed . . . .

Sweet, happy vanilla.

It was the smell that had soothed him repeatedly in his previous life.

So familiar.

It made him yearn so much.

Huo Tinglan’s breathing suddenly became heavy, and the light blue blood vessels protruding from his temples were accompanied by the violent beating of his heart. Like someone on the verge of drowning breaking through the water’s surface, he panted eagerly. Shaking slightly, he leaned down, and the distance between him and Ye Ci immediately narrowed.

The hot, rough breath was repeatedly sprayed on the back of his neck. As if a salivating tiger had climbed onto his back, whether his bones would be ripped out to suck the marrow or if he would be eaten into its belly depended on whether the tiger still had a conscience.

Ye Ci suddenly went numb from his spine to the top of his skull. His skin was sore and itchy from the highly aggressive A+ pheromones, and from head to foot, the fine hairs on his body all stood up in horror.

“Wait . . . .” Ye Ci couldn’t stand it anymore. He took a step forward and instinctively wanted to run.

Huo Tinglan tried his best to regain his sanity and avoid scaring Ye Ci away.

He stretched out his arms to grasp the tree in front of Ye Ci, confining that person within the circle of his arms. His Adam’s apple trembled and his voice was hoarse as he almost shamelessly coaxed his young lover: “Don’t be afraid . . . . it’s just treatment . . . . don’t move . . . .”

Their limbs didn’t really touch, but they were too close. The Alpha’s muscles were hard and hot, burning his back like red-hot charcoal, and Ye Ci’s head and face were flushed. He’d thought he could grit his teeth and endure it, but it turned out that he couldn’t. His willpower and his resistance to another Alpha twisted against each other, grinding together with a tooth-aching metallic sound, and the battle between the two forces reached a critical point. Sparks shot out, and the ambiguous breath between the two bodies was detonated with a bang . . . without warning, Ye Ci jumped up like a wild cat.

The back of his head seemed to have hit something, making Huo Tinglan groan, but Ye Ci couldn’t care about anything. With his face so hot that he was almost cooked through, he disappeared without a trace.

The garden was quiet again except for the night wind.

The front of his shirt was stained with a few drops of blood. Huo Tinglan took out a silk handkerchief and folded it in half calmly.

He immediately used the silk handkerchief to cover his nose, which was hurt by that little head. He was obviously injured, but as if he had gotten a bargain, he gave a low smile.

. . . . . .

Huo Tinglan’s alpha glands, which had suffered from illness for many years, were highly sensitive to Ye Ci’s pheromones. Just a couple of sniffs up close, and the effects lasted for hours. He did not suffer from his various symptoms all the way through bedtime.

He leisurely leaned on the bed and flipped through a few less important documents. The screen of his mobile phone remained on, showing Ye Ci’s WeChat interface.

He was curious how long Ye Ci would maintain the state of “The other party is typing . . . .” this time.

Ye Ci really lived up to his expectations, and operated to no avail for more than 20 minutes.

Huo Tinglan sighed with a smile. After going back and forth between the choice of teasing the little gentleman or being chivalrous, he finally decided to maintain his current good image.

He took the phone and typed a few words to help Ye Ci open up the conversation.

[Huo Tinglan]: I’m not angry. Rest early after finishing your homework.

Perhaps he was finally relieved, because the reply came quickly.

[Ye Ci]: Sorry, did I bump into you?

[Huo Tinglan]: En.

[Ye Ci]: Where did it hit?

Another one followed.

[Ye Ci]: Are you hurt?

[Huo Tinglan]: The nose.

Huo Tinglan first responded to the previous query. Immediately, he stroked the bridge of his nose, savoring Ye Ci’s unintentionally revealed urgent concern, and thought.

After pondering for a while, he deleted “it’s not damaged,” smiled, and retyped three words.

[Huo Tinglan]: It’s bruised.

Ye Ci was silent for a while.

There was not even a “typing.”

Was he . . . . cruelly teasing him?

After getting no response for a long time, Huo Tinglan tapped the screen with his fingertips, intending to say something to give Ye Ci a way out, and opened the page.

But at this moment, a series of footsteps suddenly sounded in the corridor outside his bedroom. Cautious, the steps were lighter than those of a kitten, and normal people should not be able to hear it. However, as a top-level Alpha, Huo Tinglan’s hearing was so good that he could hear the rustling sounds clearly.

That person lingered in the hallway, stopped for a few seconds in front of the door, and ran away.

Back and forth, as if testing someone.

When this was repeated for the third time, Huo Tinglan finally couldn’t hold back the itch in his heart like sprawling spring grass. He took a deep breath, walked to the door, and took the initiative to open it.

The door opened without warning, frightening Ye Ci, who was almost standing against the door panel. Like a stressed cat, he almost gave Huo Tinglan a hard punch.

“Why are you here?” Huo Tinglan raised his eyebrows, pretending to be surprised.

“To give you, to give . . . .” Ye Ci glanced at the bridge of Huo Tinglan’s nose. He swallowed the second half of the sentence suspiciously, and only shook the ice back and trauma spray in his hand.

The ice pack and spray were prescribed by Huo Tinglan’s personal doctor when he injured his ankle last time. The spray was very easy to use, and the pain would go away after a while. Seeing as there was half a can left, he brought it. If he had a choice, he wouldn’t want to come even under pain of being beaten to death, but Huo Tinglan’s nose had been bruised by him. He had to be responsible, hmm, for hurting it . . . .

The question was . . . . where was his nose bruised?

In an instant, Ye Ci, the “perpetrator,” had a few heartless speculations flash through his mind.

The author has something to say:

His speculations were all right.

Dog Huo: No bruises, but it’s fractured QAQ

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[1] Piercing the window paper refers to shedding light on a subject or bringing it out into the open. ⮐

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Chapter Seven << Table of Contents >> Chapter Nine

The two left the police station. Huo Tinglan had been in a hurry when he left home. He didn’t send a second car, so he went around to the front and sat in the passenger seat, pretending to be a gentleman.

Twenty minutes later, the car drove back to the Huo residence and Ye Ci got out of the car, trying to hide his unnatural gait. He entered the door and sat on a stool to change shoes, but as soon as he took off his sneakers, Huo Tinglan stopped him.

“What’s wrong with your feet?” Huo Tinglan stood by the door and pointed at his feet with a frown.

Ye Ci pulled up the loose trouser legs of the school uniform and looked down.

He felt pain in his right ankle. In the previous melee, he had kicked the steel pipe with one foot, and at that time, the pain made his head buzz. He’d checked it himself at the police station, and didn’t take it seriously when he saw that it was just a bruise. He didn’t expect it to be swollen like a steamed bun now. It looked really scary.

“. . . . It’s fine.” Ye Ci took a perfunctory attitude and put down his trouser legs, about to go.

In his opinion, it was okay as long as it wasn’t broken. It was enough to apply ice. Children who grew up in the slums were not so delicate.

“Hold still.” Huo Tinglan squatted directly in front of him on one knee and said solemnly, “Let me see.”

The tone of the command was so powerful that Ye Ci was startled and forgot to refuse.

Huo Tinglan held Ye Ci’s bruised ankle with his left hand and pulled up his trouser leg with his right. There was no actual touch, but across that thin distance, the vigorous heat of the Alpha’s palm still baked his ankle that was extra sensitive from the swelling.

Ye Ci clenched the strap of his school bag tightly and stiffly stretched out his foot.

It was an Omega’s foot, with a slender arch. It was long and thin, tightly wrapped in pure white cotton socks. 

The cotton was half-worn but rinsed white. When it was lifted from the sneakers, there was no smell at all. The shape of his toes showed through the tip of his sock, slightly raised due to tension . . . . they were very cute.

“The swelling is so bad, a fracture can’t be ruled out.” In fact, the inspection process only took two or three seconds, or even shorter. To avoid suspicion, Huo Tinglan looked away with restraint. “I’ll take you to the hospital for an x-ray.”

“It’s not fractured . . . . I, I know these things.” Ye Ci noticed the subtle change in the atmosphere, and his right ankle that was held in the palm of that hand suddenly became numb. The shame and embarrassment was intolerable. He suddenly retracted his foot, pulled on his slippers, and was about to leave.

“Don’t step on the ground yet.” Huo Tinglan subconsciously grasped it.

He had already held this ankle a thousand times, not only holding it, but kissing and sucking on his shoulders. No matter his thoughts, today was not yesterday. Ye Ci was still estranged from him, and every second, he warned himself to pretend to be a gentleman. He wanted to avoid arousing suspicion, but it was also inevitable that there would be moments of forgetfulness and loss of perspective.

The sweatpants were made of smooth fabric and covered a nimble, gazelle-like calf.

Because of his thinness, it was slightly skinnier than before.

Since Ye Ci’s accident in the last life, until now . . . .

How long had it been since they had physical contact?

The one he longed for, his lost and found lover, was so youthful and lovely. Huo Tinglan’s heart throbbed with heat, and one of the tense strings in his brain broke. Not only did he not release his hold immediately, but he almost dragged that ankle in for a kiss.

At the same time, the pheromones of the A+ grade Alpha easily penetrated the fabric. Ye Ci was scalded as if by red-hot tongs, and the tension inside him that had been strung tight day and night since he moved into the Huo residence snapped with a ding.

Before Huo Tinglan could do anything inappropriate, Ye Ci had already pulled back his feet and shouted fiercely and embarrassedly, “Don’t touch me!”

Immediately, he limped back to the bedroom with red ears and slammed the door.

There was a loud bang.

“. . . . . .” Kneeling on one knee, Huo Tinglan came to his senses after a while, apologetic, and a riot of mixed emotions rose up.

Fortunately, he hadn’t had time to do anything yet.

However, even though he didn’t have time to do anything, he was still regarded as a scoundrel.

All of his previous efforts had been lost, ah . . . .

Huo Tinglan rubbed his forehead.

In any case, Ye Ci’s foot injury couldn’t be left alone. Huo Tinglan turned his head. Uncle He was already standing a discreet distance away, busily pretending to work, as if he hadn’t noticed the predicament of the child and Huo Tinglan “attempting to take liberties.”

Huo Tinglan inwardly laughed, and ordered him to call his personal doctor to see Ye Ci. He went back to the study by himself, reluctantly calmed down, and dealt with the work that had been interrupted earlier.

Huo Tinglan was very efficient when he was immersed in work, and the remaining contracts were finished quickly. After closing the last document, Huo Tinglan grabbed the phone and checked the time. Less than an hour had passed.

He estimated that Ye Ci had calmed down a little by now. He took the cell phone and wanted to explain that his actions today were not malicious. When he clicked on Ye Ci’s WeChat, the empty chat interface actually displayed, “The other party is typing.”

Huo Tinglan was curious as to what Ye Ci would say, and waited patiently. But three minutes passed, and the top of the interface still intermittently said, “The other party is typing.”

“. . . . . .” Huo Tinglan smiled and switched the app to his album instead. There were several clips of the surveillance video from the racetrack, which he saved at the police station.

The earliest clip had nothing to do with the fight. In the video, Ye Ci and another driver ended their race. Ye Ci straddled the rugged heavy-duty motorcycle in his school uniform, took off his helmet, and tossed his fluffy black hair. With a pretentious sophistication, he took a stack of banknotes from the other driver and tucked them away. The next few segments were videos of Ye Ci’s unscathed one against five fight.

Huo Tinglan watched the surveillance videos several times, and his lips twitched into a smile.

This was the Ye Ci that he failed to understand in his previous life. Hidden under that cold and fragile ceramic beauty was a little poplar boy. ^[1]

He just couldn’t see it.

When he switched back to the chat interface, the chat box was still empty.

The other party is typing . . . .

A pause for a few seconds to think about the wording.

The other party is typing . . . .

Pause, enter, pause, enter.

Over and over again.

Huo Tinlan felt sorry and also wanted to laugh a little.

Even an 800-character composition should have been finished by now, was Ye Ci . . . . impeaching him?

He wanted to send a message first, but he wasn’t sure about Ye Ci’s state at this time, afraid that a disagreement would cause the child to explode with shame and anger. Then he locked the screen. He would control himself and wait.

Over in the bedroom, Ye Ci didn’t know that Huo Tinglan had been waiting in the study for a long time. Wrapped in a quilt on the bed, he carefully crafted the words in the dialogue box. His forehead was sweating.

He knew he had overreacted tonight and was quite rude. After his stress response to the Alpha’s pheromones had subsided, he was so tangled up that he had twisted himself into a knot. He knew that he should apologize to Huo Tinglan, but he was ashamed to speak in person, afraid of the effect of stuttering three words out of nine. But typing didn’t seem to be any better, and communicating with others had always been his Achilles heel.

Ye Ci typed a bunch of words and deleted a portion of them. After dawdling for a long time, he finally closed his eyes, physically and mentally exhausted, and pressed send.

[Ye Ci]: I’m sorry about what happened today, I didn’t mean to yell at you.

Huo Tinglan, who was ready to accept the impeachment, looked at those words so weak in strength, and was stunned for a moment. Then he slightly curled the corners of his lips and wrote his response.

[Huo Tinglan]: It’s okay.

[Huo Tinglan]: I was the one who was careless. I want to say sorry to you too.

He was pretending to be very solemn and serious.

[Huo Tinglan]: Has your foot been seen by the doctor?

Ye Ci heaved a sigh of relief.

[Ye Ci]: He saw it, it’s been dealt with.

[Huo Tinglan]: Good, rest early.

There was silence from the other side.

Like he was frantically mulling over the wording again.

After a while, the message alert sounded.

Ye Ci: En.

Poised and leisurely.

For some reason, Huo Tinglan suddenly remembered the birds swimming on the lake . . . . the upper half was calm and composed, but a pair of small feet were desperately paddling underwater.

He smiled lightly and put down the phone.

He didn’t know what those little feet deleted, deleted, modified, and didn’t post.

. . . . . . 

The incident at the police station had increased Ye Ci’s trust in Huo Tinglan.

He was neither stupid nor lacking in experience. Gangsters often sought revenge and fought. Entering the police station was nothing more than some monetary losses to reconcile accounts. Huo Tinglan must have played a role in cleaning up those people on the charge of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

However, due to the subsequent misunderstanding, the relationship between the two did not ease significantly. It was true that Huo Tinglan had always behaved mildly and gentlemanly, but Ye Ci had terribly thin skin. The guy had three tons of baggage. Even if he had apologized, it was inevitable that his scalp would tingle with embarrassment when he remembered that scene.

Because of this, he was extra careful to stagger his living time with Huo Tinglan again. As a result, as soon as he entered the dining room that morning, he was taken aback to realize that Huo Tinglan, who should have woken up half an hour later than him, was sitting at the table drinking coffee.

Not only did he get up early, but he was also well-dressed in a navy blue suit with a straight half inch of eye-catching white on the cuffs. His fingers fiddled with the pearl cufflinks leisurely, as if he was deliberately stopping him here.

Ye Ci was stunned, then took a step back, trying to slip away.

“Morning.” Huo Tinglan raised his eyes and looked directly at him. “You should finish eating breakfast before you leave.”

“. . . . Morning.” Ye Ci paused. He bit the bullet and said, “I know.”

He moved diagonally to Huo Tinglan and sat down. Feeling vaguely aware of something, his nose twitched slightly.

Huo Tinglan’s body was filled with the light fragrance of tequila, a trace amount of pheromones escaping from the barrier patch. Ye Ci was already used to and familiar with this alcohol-like atmosphere, but he didn’t know if it was his own illusion that this morning’s aura seemed to be different from before. It was more intense than before, more aggressive, and also mixed with a wisp of something – the musky scent of a wild and savage beast.

The back of his neck became faintly hot, and Ye Ci felt so awkward that he poured a few mouthfuls of milk in a flurry, wanting a quick fix for breakfast.

Huo Tinglan looked at him quietly for a moment, took a sip of coffee, and said slowly, “There is something I want to discuss with you in person, and I got up early for fear that I wouldn’t be able to see you.”

The implication was that it was a special case for him to get up early today, so that Ye Ci did not have to put so much effort into getting up earlier to avoid him . . . . he was afraid that a certain child would get up in the middle of the night to go to school.

Ye Ci squeezed the cup of milk and sighed softly, asking, “What’s up?”

After speaking, he glanced at Huo Tinglan. Without knowing why, he didn’t think he had woken up early, but had instead had a sleepless night, his whole body radiating an exhausted excitement.

Indulgence . . . . overindulgence?

Ye Ci abruptly looked away.

It was extremely difficult for A+ grade Alphas to find an Omega, but they could use pheromone-insensitive Betas to vent their serious excesses . . . . so what?

“Actually, my susceptible period is about to begin,” Huo Tinglan interrupted Ye Ci’s wild thoughts. “Without intervention, it will probably just last these two days.”

The air was suddenly quiet.

Probably last just these two days . . . .  just these two days . . . . these two days . . . .

Ye Ci gulped and muttered, “Oh,” almost crushing the glass of milk in his hand.

Huo Tinglan tapped the tabletop with his fingertips. His eyes were sharp, scratching Ye Ci’s blushing face inch by inch. After two seconds of silence, he smiled self-deprecatingly: “I was afraid you wouldn’t be mentally prepared, and I didn’t want to tell you. But I’ve made do with medication for the past few days and feel there is little difference between eating and not eating. This susceptible period is more serious than before and may not be easy to control once it starts, so I still want to ask your intentions.”

During their susceptible period, Alpha hormones were secreted in excess, heart rate and blood pressure increased sharply, and the acuity of the five senses was raised to the limit of tolerance, and glandular activity was greatly enhanced . . . . In primitive times, this series of changes was to help the Alpha find, track, and capture the Omega that belonged to him.

Therefore, an Alpha’s susceptible period could be delayed if it could be eased by Omega pheromones, because the brain would think that he had found the right Omega.

This was not a long-term solution. At most, it could delay a susceptible period for a month or two, but there was no other way.

“If you can help me delay the arrival of this susceptible period, that’s not a bad thing for either of us . . . .” Huo Tinglan’s tone sank, “I don’t think you’d want to live with an Alpha who is at risk of going out of control.”

The intensity of an Alpha’s susceptible period was strongly correlated with their mental state.

Experiencing mental trauma caused by divorce, widowhood, being chronically single, or an Alpha with a strong desire for a particular Omega, could make the symptoms more severe and longer-lasting.

– – Unfortunately, Huo Tinglan met all of the above conditions.

So this time his susceptible period would be quite dreadful. Once started, the gentle and innocuous gentleman’s mask would be difficult to wear.

As far as the current state between the two was concerned, it was natural to delay as long as possible.

Ye Ci mumbled, unable to speak.

Huo Tinglan didn’t rush, and waited quietly for him to state his position.

The agreement had been signed, and Huo Tinglan had treated him with ample generosity these days. In light of reason, he should not refuse.

“What do you . . . . need –” Ye Ci’s fingers trembled, and he had to curl them up into the sleeves of his school uniform. “ – need to do?”

Huo Tinglan stared at the boy who was pretending to be calm, a little awkward. The following words, written out in black and white, were fine when written out as terms, but once he said them with his mouth . . . . it seemed that no matter the wording, it would be difficult to clear himself of the suspicion of being a scoundrel.

He wouldn’t mind playing a scoundrel properly . . . .

He was just afraid that Ye Ci wouldn’t like him as a scoundrel.

Seeing that Ye Ci was about to collapse while waiting, Huo Tinglan cleared his throat, making his tone sound businesslike: “According to the agreement, you can provide me with some pheromone-containing items.”

“. . . . . .” Ye Ci licked his lower lip, completely speechless.

Items containing pheromones seemed like nothing at first glance. However, those that could contain pheromones, other than the scent barrier patch attached to the back of the neck, were probably . . . . clothes.

Ye Ci subconsciously raised his hand and stroked the scent barrier patch on the back of his neck.

The square piece of non-woven fabric that rose and fell with his vertebrae felt smooth to the touch. Because it was so close to the skin, it was inevitable that it would be contaminated with sweat, so it felt slightly damp when peeled off. Soft, full of vanilla-scented Omega pheromones . . . . Thinking of giving such a private item to Huo Tinglan, Ye Ci’s hand shook and he retracted it as if he had received an electrical shock.

Barrier patches wouldn’t work.

Then only clothes were left.

Ye Ci squeezed the zipper of his school uniform and hesitated. His brain had been roasted by the fires of shame, and he asked in a daze: “You, you’re going to take it . . . . and sniff it?”

His IQ returned as soon as the words came out, and he wanted to sew his mouth shut in remorse.

“. . . . . .”

Things were complicated and couldn’t be explained in one sentence. Huo Tinglan was silent for a moment, trying to keep his voice as soft as possible: “What would I do otherwise?”

The author has something to say:

Huo Dog: Otherwise, could I lick it?

Young Ci: Pinching himself to wake up .jpg

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[1] Little poplar, 小白杨, refers to a Chinese military song where the male character grows from weakness into a soldier. ⮐

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Chapter Six << Table of Contents >> Chapter Eight

In order to avoid unnecessary contact with Huo Tinglan, Ye Ci did not dare to get up late from that day forward.

Huo Tinglan was in a high position but was extremely self-disciplined. If he hadn’t come home late, he would have woken up almost as early as Ye Ci, a high school student.

After figuring out Huo Tinglan’s daily routine, Ye Ci simply went to bed early and got up early. He got up at dawn, hurriedly grabbed breakfast, and went to school. The private high school ended early in the evening, so he took the initiative to go to the racetrack after two evening self-study classes. If he felt good, he raced a few more matches, and when he was in poor condition, he sat in the lounge and read a book.

The amount of medical expenses owed to Chu Wenlin was huge, and he would not pay it back in a year or two, but on the contrary, he was not in a hurry. Having more cash in his hand could give him some confidence in a situation full of uncertainty, not to be kneaded like dough by anyone. Although after entering a marriage relationship with Huo Tinglan, he could theoretically get astronomical assets from him, Ye Ci never coveted things that didn’t belong to him.

Seeing that Ye Ci was not at home all day, obviously hiding from him, Huo Tinglan was not in a hurry and only ordered the kitchen to remake the meal plan. He tossed out the excessively extravagant and expensive dishes, and mainly focused on nutritious and tasty home-cooked meals, letting Uncle He watch over Ye Ci every day when he ate and left for school.

An eighteen-year-old Omega, married to a strange older Alpha, with no protection from his family . . . . such behavior was normal.

Like a stray cat that had suffered too much and grown withdrawn and alert, when he saw people approaching, he would wave his small paws and posture, fierce and timid.

If he pursued Ye Ci at this time, he would only be regarded as a wicked scoundrel with bad intentions. Doing too much could have the opposite effect.

No matter how urgent he felt, how eager, he must be patient and give Ye Ci enough space to get used to it slowly.

However, some people thought otherwise.

When she heard that her son had quietly picked up a 100% matching little Omega from Chu Wenlin and placed him at home, Lin Yao swept away her usual elegance and made three calls that day. She anxiously urged him to take that person to the old house to show her. She also advised him between the lines not to miss an opportunity, and that “The purpose of marriage is to form a strong union between Huo and Chu, and to relieve the symptoms of the susceptible period.” Her entreaties were full of grievance, and she wholeheartedly believed that the real purpose of their shotgun wedding should be to give birth to a little heir to the Huo family.

That night, Huo Tinglan handled official business in the study alone, flipping through documents. At the same time, he listened with half an ear to Lin Yao speaking to him gently and tenderly.

“. . . . You are already thirty years old . . . .”

“. . . . The Huo family needs a legitimate heir. At your age, it is time to consider the matter of children . . . .”

“. . . . I heard that he is studying at Tiancheng, and his academics should be excellent. I don’t think it matters whether or not it’s the bloodline of the main house of the Chu family . . . .”

“. . . . It’s such a rare match, and you’re already married, why don’t you try going on dates? I heard that the two of you can’t exchange a few words all day long, so how do you know if you’re incompatible? I’ve seen the photos, it looks so painful, you shouldn’t be celibate . . . .”

Huo Tinglan just listened with a smile on the corners of his lips, occasionally making a gentle, “En.”

“At the very least, you have to give me and your father some face, don’t you? Even if the wedding is postponed, we Huo have to pick a time to hold a family dinner between our Huo and Chu families, otherwise, it’s inexcusable . . . .”

“A family dinner can be done.” It was rare for Huo Tinglan to agree, but then the conversation changed again: “We can wait to talk about it when I’m less busy.”

They were married, the wedding was postponed, and the family banquet was not held. It was truly unreasonable.

But Ye Ci had always resisted this sort of social situation, and Huo Tinglan didn’t plan to use these trivial matters to add trouble to Ye Ci before their relationship broke the ice.

It took a long time to bring him home . . . . what should he do if he was scared away?

“You . . . .” Lin Yao got angry and started lecturing him again.

After finally dealing with Lin Yao, it was half past nine, and Huo Tinglan rubbed his brow wearily.

He didn’t know when Ye Ci would be willing to get closer to him.

His next susceptible period was approaching, and for the past few days, he hadn’t even thought about how to make a request euphemistically so as not to scare Ye Ci.

He was thinking about this when there was a knock on the study door.

“Please come in.” Huo Tinglan raised his eyes.

“Sir.” Uncle He pushed open the door, looking a little anxious, holding the phone in one hand as he said in a low voice, “The police station called and said that Young Master Ye had beat up a few people at the racetrack. He’s now being held at the station for questioning. Do you want to send someone to get Young Master Ye out . . . .”

Huo Tinglan was stunned, and said, “I’ll go take a look.” He got up, grabbed his jacket, and hurried out.

He knew that Ye Ci could fight. After all, Ye Ci’s first differentiation result was an A-level Alpha. Before the second differentiation, his body had developed according to the genetic blueprint of a top Alpha. His muscle tone, explosive power, and reflexes were all excellent. Otherwise, it would be impossible to succeed in the realm of formula racing.

However, Huo Tinglan only “knew” that at a theoretical level.

In fact, he had never seen Ye Ci fight. First of all, such violent behavior might lead to an athlete’s suspension. Secondly, based on Ye Ci’s cool and indifferent temperament in his previous life, he seemed to not care about anything, and it was impossible for him to raise a fist to someone.

Now, it had been less than half a month, and he had just beaten someone up.

It turned out that the eighteen-year-old Ye Ci was like this.

Huo Tinglan’s heart jumped twice out of rhythm.

. . . . . .

At half past seven, the school bell rang.

Tiancheng Private High School advocated a free and independent learning atmosphere. Evening self-study was not compulsory, and half of the students had already dispersed.

In the last row of the classroom, Ye Ci was leaning his forehead on one hand. He turned his body slightly at an awkward angle and blocked his tablemate’s gaze with his arm.

The physics paper given out in his fourth class that morning was said to be for strengthening their foundations. The other student was in the same class and at the same table, but he filled out the paper as if he was playing during his lunch break. Not to mention those top students, who may not even bother to do such a simple task.

Ye Ci clenched the sweaty pen and skipped another question.

The large blanks on the paper made his scalp tingle – if this was the college entrance examination, he would have already failed.

Ye Ci had studied at an ordinary high school before dropping out. He could still rank in the top few grades even with his crippled English, and physics was his best subject.

However, the standard of teaching of the regular high school he had attended and this private school was vastly different. He had taken a long break from school before, and there were too many gaps in his knowledge. He didn’t know where to start when asking a teacher. A subject teacher had to be in charge of two or three classes of students, so how could he have time to waste accompanying him through so many questions? He could only muddle through books by himself, with poor results. As for his English, which was already crippled, the private school cracked down so hard on it that he was completely lost.

Ye Ci felt that he was not even good enough to be called a slacker student. He was now just a pinch of sand, which would dissipate with a gust of wind.

“Hey, excuse me, I’m going out.” His tablemate got up to leave, and his tone was neither hot nor cold.

Ye Ci had transferred over a month ago, and had hardly interacted with his classmates. Most of the children who could study there were wealthy and respectable people. They knew each other well and knew that there was no big family sunamed Ye in B city, so they didn’t take the initiative to communicate with Ye Ci – nor did they look down on him. It just wasn’t important. The few Alpha young masters who reached out to him all experienced his rejection. After that, his classmates knew that he was not easy to get along with, and fewer people talked to him.

Even in gym class, he would find a place to be alone.

His forehead was hot and damp. It was covered in red marks from the palm of his hand, but fortunately his hair was covering it. Ye Ci casually tossed his pen on the table, folded the paper leisurely, picked up his school bag, and walked out. It looked as if he didn’t intend to answer the questions at all, and was just wasting time there in order to appease his parents.

The more pitiful he was, the more he was afraid that people would pity him.

Unable to finish his examination paper, Ye Ci was restless and anxious. As a result, when it rained, it poured, and he encountered things at the racetrack that doubled his anxiety.

The last time, about half a month ago, he had beaten up a trash fish^[1] who had tried to make him crash on the track. He was in the right, he didn’t do anything excessive, and he didn’t accept the 3,000 yuan bet that he should have taken. After all, hitting someone generated medical bills. According to his previous experience on the streets, this could be considered as taking a step back, and anyone with self-respect wouldn’t become entangled again.

The problem was that the trash fish was shameless.

After disappearing for half a month, his injuries were healed, and the trash fish led a few other small trash fish in an attempt to come win back some face. Ye Ci had an impression of his cheap yellow hair, and recognized him at a glance. Huang Mao was carrying a steel pipe in his hand, and his mouthful of vulgar cursing could be heard across the track.

At that time, Ye Ci had just finished a lap with some people and his body was hot. His sports jacket was open, revealing the blue and white school uniform underneath, clean and youthful.

The drag racing had eased his mood a bit, and the lump of pent-up frustration in his chest was blown away by the strong wind that swept through his body as he raced at high speed. Unfortunately, his good mood did not last long.

He straddled the heavy motorcycle and quietly looked at the gang of people approaching from a distance.

There were many people, but their weakness was visible to the naked eye.

Either a skinny monkey like Huang Mao, or a stout, fat man stained with beer and barbecue, neither were useful.

Before anyone approached, Ye Ci took out a carton of cigarettes and a lighter.

He was not addicted to cigarettes, and even though the carton was wrinkled, it was only missing a few, but the posture was familiar. He tilted his head slightly, his thin eyelids drooping. The burning red butt of the cigarette lifted up as he took a draw, and his porcelain-like beauty was hidden behind the smoke. He just appeared like a ruffian.

In a fight, the one with the most imposing manner had already won half the battle.

“It’s that little bastard!” Huang Mao approached, spat thick phlegm on the track, pointed at Ye Ci, and the foul language that followed was too dirty to listen to.

Ye Ci casually glanced at the surveillance camera and finished smoking half a cigarette. He stepped off the motorcycle and pinched out the cigarette butt, a few sparks leaking from his fingers.

He rolled up the sleeves of his uniform, showed no expression, and didn’t say any harsh words. He just said concisely, “Come on.”

“I’ll come, mother**** . . . .” Several people cursed and grabbed at him. The first one sent a swipe at his shoulder, slamming down with the steel pipe.

Ye Ci deliberately gave him a heavy shove within range of the surveillance camera, then stepped sideways to dodge. Five fingers clasped the man’s wrist and twisted it skillfully. The main quivered in pain, and the steel pipe fell to the ground. Ye Ci stomped on it so that it bounced up, then grabbed it with a slap and slammed it into the man’s knee!

That man tumbled to the ground and bloodied his mouth.

This sequence of events only took two or three seconds, and the other people only understood what had happened afterward.

Ye Ci weighed the steel pipe in his hand, gave a slight nod to the bloody-mouthed bastard, and said, “Thank you.”

– – That person was considerate enough to come pick this thing up and provide a weapon for him.

He couldn’t speak well, and he was also disgusted by the provocative way others spoke, so he had developed the skill of expressing ridicule with the fewest words possible

“You mother****er . . . .” Huang Mao was stunned for a moment before he could react, so angry that his face twisted out of shape. With a wave of his hand, he led the collection of thugs to pounce.

. . . . . .

At the police station.

In the guard room, Ye Ci sat on the edge of the bed with an English book rolled up in his left hand, quietly reciting words.

He was not a frequent visitor to the police station, but was also no stranger to it, so he stayed calm and did as he pleased.

The gangsters who followed that guy to come looking for trouble tonight were arrogant and conspicuous, and someone had called the police before they even started. Ye Ci thoughtfully beat them one by one, and then the police car arrived. After checking his documents, the police saw that he was still in high school and said that they would inform his family and school. Ye Ci really didn’t want to see Chu Wenlin, so he struggled through reporting Uncle He’s phone number.

Not long after the call was made, the door of the guard room was pushed open. Ye Ci thought it was Uncle He and looked up unprepared, but was startled to find Huo Tinglan’s tall, straight figure at the door.

Huo Tinglan had a coat over his forearm, and a suit vest and black shirt emphasized his chest muscles and sharp waist. The collar of the shirt was open, his hair wasn’t combed, and there was an unfathomable look on his handsome face, a bit like a smile, but his lips were not curved.

He first inspected Ye Ci from head to toe, and saw that he was not injured and that his school uniform was even neat, and then said: “You can go home.”

Ye Ci put away the English book, distanced himself from Huo Tinglan, and walked out of the room slowly. Auxiliary police officers and a shrewd-looking man in a suit and leather shoes, maybe a lawyer, were standing in the corridor. Huo Tinglan nodded at him and went downstairs first with the guard in charge.

“Have you eaten tonight?” Huo Tinglan asked calmly.

“. . . . No.” Ye Ci paused, as if afraid of being cared for, and quickly added, “I’m not hungry.”

“Even if you’re not hungry, your stomach can’t be empty all the time. Let’s go back and eat something simple,” Huo Tinglan said warmly.

Ye Ci was preoccupied and didn’t answer him. After a moment of silence, he clenched his fists and asked: “You paid, you paid how much . . . .for medical expenses? I’ll pay you back.”

According to Ye Ci’s experience, if one could be so straightforwardly released after fighting and brawling, it was certain that he had spent money to intercede.

The money was nothing worth mentioning for Huo Tinglan, but he had to bear his own responsibility.

“There was no need to pay.” There was no one in the corridor. Huo Tinglan stopped and turned to look at him.

Ye Ci was only half a head shorter than him, which was considered tall among Omegas, but his physique was thin, and looked even smaller hidden under loose sportswear. The fingers that were clutching the strap of the school bag were pale and delicate.

“Why, why . . . . is there no need to pay?” Ye Ci asked.

“You are presumed to have been acting in self-defense based on surveillance and injury reports,” Huo Tinglan explained further. “On the contrary, the issue of fighting using weapons and provoking trouble are more serious.”

A charge such as provoking a fight was enough to make that group suffer for a while.

Ye Ci no longer said a word, but his tense shoulders relaxed.

“One against five.” Huo Tinglan recalled the surveillance footage taken from the racetrack and his smile finally couldn’t be contained, spreading shallowly to the corners of his lips. He controlled his tone and jokingly said, “Nice skills.”

Ye Ci quickly glanced at him, then lowered his eyes again.

He was a teenage boy, and the phrase “nice skills” sounded very good to him, but he quickly suppressed that proud and shy smile, and said, “En,” indifferently.

Huo Tinglan noticed Ye Ci’s brief micro-expression clearly, and an idea occurred to him.

This was an expression he would never have seen on Ye Ci’s face in the past life. Ye Ci, who was unmoved when he won the Formula Racing Championship trophy would, at the age of 18, actually jump for joy a little at being told, “Nice skills.”

So childish, and so cute.

The fierce impulses of an Alpha emerged faintly in his bones, scratching at the tip of his heart. Huo Tinglan was itched and tickled, but held back and suppressed that evil fire. Unable to tease Ye Ci, he only said warmly, “Let’s go.”

The author has something to say:

Smoking is harmful to your health, please do not imitate it. The smoker in this story is an adult.

(Recently I heard that when there is a smoking scene, I have to add a statement in my notes to save myself.)

【small theater】

Young Ci: Exhibit B.

Lao Huo: A standing ovation! ! !

Young Ci: (*///_///*)

(Super happy but pretending it doesn’t matter.)

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[1] Trash fish, 杂鱼, is an internet term that refers to a person with poor ability and no brain. ⮐

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Chapter Five << Table of Contents >> Chapter Seven

The Huo family’s main house was an hour’s drive from the Chu residence. It was closer to the city center, and also closer to the private school where Ye Ci was currently studying, making it more convenient to attend school.

The main building where the previous patriarch had lived was weathered. It did not show signs of decline, but instead embodied the weight of several generations of the family’s noble ancestry. Two annex buildings for servants were attached to both sides of the main house, hidden among fountains, pastureland, and well-manicured garden shrubs. Chu Wenlin’s house looked a little shabby in comparison.

Ye Ci got out of the car, and several servants trotted out to quietly carry the luggage. The housekeeper, Uncle He, smiled kindly. Afraid that Ye Ci would be uncomfortable, Huo Tinglan had instructed him to deliberately not use post-marriage addresses such as “Mr.”, but to instead call him “Young Master Ye.” He led Ye Ci into the main building and came to the bedroom specially remodeled for him.

The square footage of the bedroom was more than double that of his small room in the Chu residence. It was said to have been renovated, but the main changes were the furniture and decorations. All of the best environmentally friendly materials were used, and a professional team had also been hired to remove all harmful substances from the decorations. Even an Alpha’s dog nose could not detect the slightest odor.

The main colors of light blue and warm gray gave off a simple and clean sense of youth. Smart central air-conditioning was readily available, and there were separate areas for sleeping, playing, and studying in the bedroom. This was Huo Tinglan’s intent – Ye Ci was new here, and if something was lacking, or if there was something he wanted to do, he may not dare to voice it. If the functionality of the bedroom was more complete, he would feel a little less awkward.

There were several brand new skateboards hanging on the wall behind the bed, and on the left side of the display case was a row of star-autographed F1 models. There was even an autographed F1 helmet that was auctioned off at Sotheby’s in Paris last year. On the right side was a stack of painted models such as mecha race cars, still in the packaging. A huge projection screen hung on the wall opposite the bed, connected to several game consoles. A row of light-colored ash bookshelves stood against the wall in the study area, half full of books. Most were famous Chinese and foreign books, and high school study materials . . . .

There was a lot of stuff in the bedroom, but it didn’t feel cluttered. Every detail was an attempt to please a boy of Ye Ci’s age . . . . no, it was as if it was precisely made for Ye Ci himself.

Ye Ci was stunned as he looked around the room. He liked everything in here, but he just stood frozen in the doorway, motionless.

He didn’t truly think that such a well-decorated bedroom would have anything to do with him.

“This is your room, I got someone to redesign it.” The design plans were made by Huo Tinglan himself, and he was familiar with every corner of it. The furnishings in the room, the bedding and books, and even the clothing, shoes, socks, and underwear in the closet . . . . no matter how big or small, everything was chosen by him. In order to avoid Ye Ci’s suspicion, he looked around slowly, pretending to be unfamiliar with it. “I didn’t know what a boy your age would like, and time was limited. I’ll let you look around at the layout, and you can tell me if you need anything, don’t be polite . . . .” Seeing Ye Chi standing at the door, unmoving, his dashing black eyes look straight at him as he said, “Come in.”

Ye Ci didn’t want to appear timid, so he straightened up and stepped inside. It didn’t take long for him to lose his courage again, and he didn’t know where to place his feet.

He knew that according to the marriage agreement, he would live in the Huo residence long-term, and that before Ye Hongjun’s condition was stable, he would not file for separation. He calculated that it was necessary for him to live here for three to five years, and he also knew that for Huo Tinglan, renovating the room was just a matter of following the agreement. But in his opinion, this kind of treatment was still too . . . . elaborate.

The grandness of it left him at a loss.

Seeing that Ye Ci was so restrained that he was about to become a sculpture, Huo Tinglan thoughtfully did not linger. After a few simple explanations, he took Uncle He away and closed the door.

Ye Ci watched him leave, and noticed that the door frame was also installed with the kind of anti-theft latch commonly found in hotel rooms. He didn’t know if they were in every bedroom in the house or if Huo Tinglan saw past his defenses and put it there so that he could sleep at night with peace of mind. . . . as if emphasizing that he wouldn’t do anything at night.

It should be . . . . in regard to . . . .

Ye Ci grasped his hair, restless with anxiety and inexplicably embarrassed.

. . . . . . 

Uncle He left first to prepare dinner. Huo Tinglan had replaced a few chefs some time ago, and at present, all of the chefs were specially poached from elsewhere by Uncle He according to his instructions and given high salaries. Those people started work soon after, but Uncle He was not at ease and had a habit of monitoring them when they prepared meals in the morning, noon, and evening.

Huo Tinglan didn’t leave, but quietly stood outside Ye Ci’s room.

Through repeated coaxing and deceiving, he had finally brought him home.

. . . . It felt like kidnapping a child.

The corners of Huo Tinglan’s lips tilted up slightly, somewhat self-deprecating.

A little Omega in the early stage of secondary differentiation, his pheromones were still weak. Only a faint wisp of warm vanilla could be vaguely caught from the crack in the door.

The scent of Ye Ci in his memory.

Huo Tinglan took a deep breath and silently pressed his forehead against the door, caressing the door panel with his fingertips as if stroking the teenager’s emaciated spine.

As a top Alpha, Huo Tinglan’s five senses were extremely sensitive. He could clearly hear the slight noises Ye Ci made in the bedroom.

Ye Ci was walking around with the mentality of being under someone else’s roof. His steps were very light, like a kitten, stopping and going curiously.

He was very greedy for the things in the showcase, but just stood there looking at them for a while until he was satisfied. Then he conscientiously went to the writing table in the reading area and took reference books out of his school bag, stacking them on the table.

Then, there was a soft sigh.

The rustle of pages turning.

The crisp click of a ballpoint pen.

It was probably due to the new environment that he temporarily couldn’t read the book, and the movement in front of the desk stopped after a while.

Then, from inside the room came the small sound of a zipper sliding and polyester fabric swishing.

This was the sound of . . . . undressing.

Possibly to change into comfortable house clothes.

Huo Tinglan closed his eyes.

He shouldn’t be here anymore.

Five years of loving marriage had gone up in smoke and only existed in memory. To Ye Ci, he was now just an unfamiliar Alpha, but he was standing outside the door full of unspeakable love, eavesdropping on the subtle noises caused by the rubbing of fabric in the room. . . . it was rather distasteful, behaving like an old scoundrel. Huo Tinglan was self-deprecating, but his feet took root. In an ironed suit and trousers, he was firmly stuck in place, a neatly-dressed scoundrel.

At this time, Ye Ci was halfway through dressing and stopped abruptly.

More cat-like footsteps sounded, getting closer and closer.

Huo Tinglan held his breath and was about to back away, but suddenly there was a “click” from behind the door. Two crisp sounds rang . . . . the lock and the anti-theft latch, Ye Ci did it in one go.

“. . . . . .”

Huo Tinglan was stunned for a moment, and then snorted.

This . . . . was he afraid of him rushing in?

Huo Tinglan’s chest was hot and rapidly heaved up and down twice. It was like his unspeakable thoughts had been seen through.

– – He would like to.

. . . . . .

The next day, Ye Ci woke up late.

Seeing that it was almost time to leave and there was no movement in Ye Ci’s bedroom, the housekeeper, Uncle He, had to knock on the door himself to wake him up.

Breakfast was ready. Ye Ci hurriedly washed up and changed clothes, and sat down at the table, rubbing his foggy eyes.

He hadn’t rested well last night, and his sleep was light and fragmented.

Years of lacking a sense of safety in life caused him to take longer than the average person to familiarize himself with the new environment. His nerves were also tense after going to bed, and the first night in a new place was definitely not a good night’s sleep.

Ye Ci’s breakfast was already placed on the dining table.

Huo Tinglan knew Ye Ci’s preferences like the back of his hand: His appetite was larger than the average Omega, and he preferred meat. In particular, he liked to eat fish, shrimp, crab, and other seafood. He liked sweets and tropical fruits, and he couldn’t put the brakes on his mouth after a bite of ripe pineapple shakya^[1]. . . . the chef got a detailed list. The two small workers who began the work got up before dawn to dismantle the crabs, and brought three small pots of fresh crab material to the national first-class pastry chef specially poached by Huo Tinglan, and he steamed two drawers of xiaolongbao^[2]. Crab meat, crab roe, and soft crab shell were the three fillings, each with its own flavor. Uncle He originally wanted to take credit, but he didn’t expect Ye Ci’s lack of interest in the xiaolongbao. He controlled himself, averted his eyes from it, and only went to scoop up the fish filet porridge.

After scooping up a bowl, he drank the porridge and picked up a few side dishes with chopsticks.

“Young Master He doesn’t like eating crab?” Uncle He asked anxiously.

That wasn’t what Huo Tinglan put on the list for the back kitchen.

“. . . . it’s okay,” Ye Ci said vaguely.

Uncle He had served the Huo family for most of his life. He had a bright mind, and could see that the status of this young master in the eyes of the master was quite unusual. He didn’t dare to neglect him at all, persuading carefully: “This is what Mr. Huo ordered the kitchen to prepare for you, just thinking that you would like it . . . .”

Ye Ci hummed softly, still drinking porridge and eating vegetables.

Uncle He was in a dilemma when Huo Tinglan walked down from the second floor into the dining room.

He must have just rushed through a shower. The hair across his forehead fell naturally, and was particularly jet black because of the moisture. His face was handsome and dazzling, and the wrists extending from the cuffs of his bathrobe had distinct blue veins. This was his state after waking up in the morning and exercising.

– – Those desires that were particularly tumultuous in the early morning had to have an outlet.

Ye Ci immersed himself in eating and pretended not to notice his arrival, when in actuality, his ears were almost standing up like a rabbit in a hole who had spotted an eagle.

An Alpha’s pheromone concentration briefly increased after exercise, and the strong fragrance of tequila scorched Ye Ci’s exposed skin, irritating it and turning it excessively red.

Faced with the highly erosive pheromones of an A+ grade Alpha, even an Omega that matched him 100% needed an adjustment period.

“Morning.” Huo Tinglan’s gaze fell gently on the tip of Ye Ci’s hot red ear.

Ye Ci swallowed a big mouthful of porridge with difficulty, and pretended to be calm: “Morning.”

Huo Tinglan couldn’t bear to see Ye Ci so nervous that he couldn’t eat well. Just as he was about to withdraw, Ye Ci pushed the bowl away and stood up, saying inarticulately: “I . . . finished eating.”

In a hurry, he was reluctant to waste food and drank the bowl of porridge into which his spoon had been dipped. He gobbled down the last few sips, his cheeks bulging slightly.

“You’re finished . . . .” Huo Tinglan paused. Sweeping his eyes across the two drawers of xiaolongbao, he was slightly startled. He had conjectures in his heart, but didn’t show it on his face, and just said lightly, “How are you such a picky eater?”

“I’m going -” Ye Ci hurriedly grabbed his school bag. “ – I’m going to be late.”

He was used to living a poverty-stricken life. From a young age, resources had been deficient and his mother’s huge medical bills weighed heavily on his heart, the road ahead uncertain . . . . on the occasion that he saw such costly and exquisite food, he didn’t dare to move.

He was afraid of remembering the taste of good things, in case he would miss them often in the future.

The more desires someone had, the weaker they were.

“Don’t be in such a hurry, just ask the driver to drive faster.” Huo Tinglan looked at him with a soft heart. “Bring some milk and fruit to eat on the road . . . .”

Uncle He chased after him and stuffed the bottled milk and sealed box that had been prepared in advance into Ye Ci’s arms. In the box was sliced fruit, cored and peeled and cut into small pieces. Ye Ci took it in a daze and slipped away.

If it weren’t for manners, he feared he could have run a 100-meter sprint.

Huo Tinglan sighed deeply.

Ye Ci’s vigilance seemed to be stronger than in the previous life. But those pale eyes that kept stealing glances at him were also much more lively and bright than in the previous life.

Timid, but also bright. The flames burning in his eyes had not gone out.

. . . . . . 

On the other side, Ye Ci got into the car, sat in the back seat, and finally caught his breath.

Faintly, the aggressive fragrance of tequila still lingered in his nose.

He lowered the window a crack and looked down at the sealed box that he had received at some point.

He didn’t eat his fill that morning, and his belly was still half empty. After hesitating, he opened the lid and looked at the fruit inside.

The milky white lumpy flesh, which he had never seen before, smelled a bit like a pineapple.

Ye Ci picked up a piece doubtfully and turned it left and right.

. . . . What was this thing?

Ten minutes later, the car slowly parked diagonally opposite the school gate, and the driver went around back to open the door: “Young Master Ye, here we are.”

In the back seat of the car, Ye Ci glanced at the driver as if waking up from a dream.

Immediately, he wiped the milky white juice of the pineapple sakya from his lips and hurriedly stuffed the empty box into his school bag as if he was guilty of something.

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[1] A green-skinned hybrid fruit that tastes like pineapple mixed with other flavors. ⮐

[2] A kind of steamed dumpling. ⮐

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Chapter Four << Table of Contents >> Chapter Six

In the bedroom.

The door to the storage closet was wide open, and clutter was piled up on the floor.

Ye Ci squatted in front of the suitcase and stuffed a pair of sneakers wrapped in a plastic bag into the tight space.

According to the requirements, Ye Ci should cooperate with Huo Tinglan to complete the relevant civil affairs procedures within one week after the marriage agreement took effect and move into the Huo residence, in order to provide Huo Tinglan with pheromones at any time. The formalities were completed on the day the agreement was signed, but Ye Ci took a few days to move. Finally unable to delay any longer, during the morning meal, Chu Wenlin directly ordered the driver to return to the Chu residence at one o’clock in the afternoon to bring Ye Ci and his luggage to the Huo residence.

Ye Ci owned very few things. They accounted for less than half of the suitcase, but after Ye Hongjun’s old house was sold, there were a lot of old things cleared out, and he was reluctant to throw even one of them away.

The home where he lived with his mother for seventeen years was gone, and memories this junk carried were ones that he cherished.

When Ye Ci moved from the rental house to the Chu residence, Chu Wenlin’s wife, Ruan Jiayi, made a special trip to see him. She was a beautiful Omega who was so well maintained that her age couldn’t be guessed, and had a gentle demeanor. She stepped into the quagmire and gingerly lifted her skirt, tiptoeing through the gap between the luggage to keep her ankles from touching the things on both sides. She didn’t say anything nasty, just softly instructed Ye Ci to tell her if there was anything he was unaccustomed to concerning this lifestyle. After she finished speaking, her eyes swept across Ye Hongjun’s old clothes in the storage room, and she gently hooked her lips in confusion.

Genuine contempt was often not as bitter and acrimonious as in dog blood dramas. Some people would maintain the pretense of being well bred and leisurely, pretending it was accidental while crushing the dignity of others into the ground.

The nonwoven duffel bag he had used when he arrived was long ago thrown away by the servants as garbage. Ye Ci collected several sturdy cardboard boxes. He must take everything away, otherwise the remaining 80% would be swept away by the servants as garbage.

Three full cardboard boxes were packed by Ye Ci and moved to the door, but there was a lot of junk left in the house. Ye Ci stood in the middle of the messy bedroom and looked around. A deep sense of exhaustion seeped from his bones, filling his whole body.

He pulled over the chair and sat down to rest, and his eyes fell on the edge of the bed.

There were some unfolded clothes spread out there.

Among them was a beautiful camel coat, which Ye Ci bought two years ago during a sale promotion as a birthday present for Ye Hongjun.

It wasn’t name-brand, but it was still staggeringly expensive after the discount, and used up all the savings Ye Ci had collected from doing odd jobs. The cut of the coat was good, but it was also delicate. He was afraid of crushing it, afraid of breaking it. Ye Hongjun’s treasure was so precious, and she was careful every time she wore it. After Ye Ci took it out of the duffel bag last time, he regretted it. He had not treated it well.

Thinking of his mother, his eyes were sore and painful. Ye Ci took a deep breath and dared not let himself be weak.

Footsteps came from the door of the bedroom at this moment, but Ye Ci didn’t care. He was an invisible person in the Chu family. Servants passed by the door many times this morning, but no one came in to help or ask a question. When Chu Wenlin was not home, in order to please Ruan Jiayi, the servants tacitly didn’t even call him for dinner.

Unexpectedly, the door was gently knocked on twice. Ye Ci quickly turned his head, letting the corners of his eyes brush his shoulders as he turned to look.

It was Huo Tinglan standing outside the door.

He was wearing a graphite-colored shirt. The silk was supple, showing the outline of his pectoral muscles, and the cuffs were folded up flat. He was not wearing a watch, his posture ready to work.

Ye Ci refused to let others see through his vulnerability. Bracing himself, he looked at Huo Tinglan with a trace of water in his eyes, as cool as snow.

“I’m here to pick you up . . . . Your father wasn’t home, so I came up by myself.” Huo Tinglan’s gaze stopped on the corners of Ye Ci’s reddened eyes, seeing through something. But he didn’t ask, and moved on straightaway. 

This was a guest room, small in size with simple furniture. A folding study table stood beside a well-lit window, and the lacquered imitation bamboo wood grain looked old. Tucked in the corner of the wastebasket were two wrappers with “coconut bread” and “red bean bread” printed on them. The plastic sheets gleamed with a cheap, nutrient-deficient gloss.

. . . . No wonder he was so skinny.

Huo Tinglan’s Adam’s apple rolled slowly.

This was Ye Ci’s living environment when he was eighteen years old.

According to Huo Tinglan’s previous investigation, Ye Ci would have lived here for a long time until Ye Hongjun’s treatment failed and she passed away.

The tragic news of his mother’s death would completely overwhelm him. Chu Wenlin, who had successfully divided up the inheritance, would regard him as a burden and send Ye Ci, who was mentally broken at the time, to a Youth Behavioral Correction Center.

Ye Ci would be in a world without justice, and suffer torment for a long time. Many of his mental issues arose during that period.

Afterwards, he managed to escape from that place and cut off his father-son relationship with Chu Wenlin, driving in races at second-rate racetracks to make ends meet. At that time, he lived in a shabby rental house. Still obsessed with reading, he would insist on studying and attempting the adult college entrance examination, until the manager of the well-known team with a discerning eye signed him away . . . .

From the age of eighteen to twenty-two, the four years that Huo Tinglan was absent in his last life were not long.

But for Ye Ci, they were the loneliest and most painful four years of his life. The malice and devastation from his close relatives was enough to cover an entire lifetime in a haze.

Presently, the personal assistant was about to come in with a stack of empty sorting boxes. Huo Tinglan came back to his senses and subconsciously took a step to the side, blocking the assistant’s sight into the room. He turned around to take the empty boxes and motioned for his assistant to remove the packed boxes at the door.

“What can I do to help?” Huo Tinglan asked.

Ye Ci, who had wholeheartedly put on a cold face, was stunned when he heard those words and refused the help reflexively: “Nothing.”

Huo Tinglan was silent for a while, looked at the storage closet, and confirmed: “You’re taking all of it?”

“. . . . Right.” Ye Ci was so embarrassed that he could choke. He smoothed his tongue with difficulty and spoke well, “I’ll pack it myself.”

Huo Tinglan looked at him for a moment, stopped talking, and started to separate the boxes into stacks. Crouching down and packing things one by one, his behavior was proper and natural, as if he should have done these things for Ye Ci in the first place.

A lot of these relics had great commemorative significance: photos of mother and son, various learning awards from Ye Ci’s Elementary and Junior High schools, Ye Hongjun’s handwritten parenting diary . . . . Throughout five years of marriage in his past life, Huo Tinglan had never seen a single one of them, and didn’t know where they had all gone. He pulled a silk handkerchief from his shirt pocket, wiping a light coat of dust from a wooden picture frame. There was a sort of forbearance and love in the gesture.

Ye Ci’s eyes burned when he saw him cleaning things. Inexplicably blushing from embarrassment, he felt that something wasn’t right and couldn’t figure it out, so he was silent for a while.

He hesitated for a while, then dragged an empty box to the base of the wall diagonal to Huo Tinglan. Using this as a stronghold, he began to pack up swiftly. He hadn’t been packing for long when Huo Tinglan’s low voice sounded above his head: “This kind of coat can’t be folded like this.”

Two straight trouser legs stopped in front of him, and Ye Ci was startled. Ye Honjun’s most precious coat had been taken by Huo Tinglan. Long, steady fingers brushed the folds, straightened the laces and buckles, and then hung it on a hanger and put it in a clothing bag. When he was finished, Huo Tinglan handed the clothing bag to the assistant and instructed him to carry it downstairs.

While Huo Tinglan was meticulously tidying up the coat, Ye Ci stood far away, carefully watching him out of the corner of his eyes as he packed.

If you hadn’t been treated kindly in a long time, it would feel unfamiliar, or even strange.

Besides . . . . the kindness itself was a bit odd.

During this time, the housekeeper, Uncle Tong, sent people to assist – no matter the etiquette of other people, allowing guests to work would be a joke. 

But Huo Tinglan just threw out the words, “We won’t bother you guys.” After speaking, he didn’t send them away, but continued to pack up in a condescending manner, as if putting on a show. The handful of servants and Uncle Tong dared not insist, let alone just leave. They were left hanging in the second floor corridor by Huo Tinglan, as if they were in a penalty box.

After being given the cold shoulder for a while, they really couldn’t bear the constant heavy pressure of an A+ grade alpha. With fine sweat hanging on their foreheads, they retreated in shame.

The two people and the assistant were busy until twelve o’clock, and everything was moved.

Ye Ci threw his school bag over his right shoulder and went downstairs behind Huo Tinglan. He glanced at the man’s tall, straight figure in front of him, and the conflicted expression on his face intensified.

Huo Tinglan had made a special trip to pick him up. So meticulous, busy as a bee . . . .

If nothing else, he should be thankful.

This was the most basic courtesy.

He came from a poor background, but his upbringing was no worse than that of the young ladies and young masters of the upper class. Ye Hongjun had a demure temperament and was knowledgeable about etiquette. If she hadn’t been screwed over by Chu Wenlin, she wouldn’t have been reduced to living in a slum that was incompatible with her whole personality.

The fist concealed in the sleeve of his school uniform clenched and unclenched loosely. After hesitating a few times, Ye Ci bit the bullet and ran a few steps to catch up with Huo Tinglan. As soon as he got close, his nose immediately caught the scorching scent of tequila. Before he could speak, his cheeks stung with heat.

“What is it?” Huo Tinglan stopped and turned to look at him.

“Today . . . .” Ye Ci licked his lower lip, not sure how to adjust his fluctuating expression. “Thank, thank you^[1].”

Huo Tinglan was too imposing. Coupled with the leaked Alpha pheromones, there was a strong sense of oppression when he looked at someone. This caused Ye Ci to perform worse than usual, and he stuttered for three words in the second half of the sentence.

Disgraceful!

Ye Ci wanted to stretch out his tongue and iron it.

He didn’t want to open his mouth in front of Huo Tinglan for the next year . . . .

Huo Tinglan lowered his eyes to look at Ye Ci’s annoyed face, and the corners of his lips curved slightly. He seemed to be of a mind to tease him, but after a moment of silence, he said in a normal manner, “You’re welcome.”

Perhaps having considered that coexisting in a narrow space might make Ye Ci nervous, Huo Tinglan offered to take two cars with Ye Ci, and the two arrived at the Huo residence one after another.

Ye Ci had hesitated for a while when he got into the car, reluctant to share the ride with the A+ grade Alpha and his strong, intrusive pheromones, but facts proved that his worry was unnecessary. Huo Tinglan remained a considerate gentleman. Every detail made one comfortable, and it seemed that he did not intend to do anything to Ye Ci by relying on their legal marriage relationship.

He was thinking too much . . . .

Mr. Huo wasn’t that bad.

Ye Ci held his school bag, lowering his head as he twisted the strap in embarrassment, and rubbed his fingers red.

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[1] He uses the formal ‘you’ here, 您 ⮐

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Chapter Three << Table of Contents >> Chapter Five

In the living room of the Chu residence, the visitors had been waiting for a long time.

Huo Tinglan, along with his personal assistant, lawyer, and notary.

Ye Ci dawdled for a long time before walking into the living room, and took a seat on the single sofa in the corner.

He was so nervous that his face was as white as bone china, but he still tried to keep his composure. His straight legs were wrapped in old whitewashed jeans, deliberately propped apart as he leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

It was a rude posture for an Omega.

He presented himself as street stall goods of low quality.

He hoped that Huo Tinglan would dislike him and not dare to go too far.

Because Ye Hongjun’s life was still in Chu Wenlin’s hands.

Chu Wenlin looked gloomy and sent Ye Ci a warning with his eyes.

Ye Ci didn’t look at anyone at all. He lowered his eyes and swiped his phone quickly with his fingers, as if he was busy with something.

His instincts told him that Huo Tinglan was looking at him, and his gaze was a heavy weight pressing down on his head like a cold cloud.

Huo Tinglan should be wearing a pheromone blocker, but the pheromones of an A+ grade Alpha were too powerful, and slight leakage was unavoidable, so Ye Ci could still smell a trace of a scorching, liquor-like masculine scent.

The scent of tequila.

Alphas with A+ grade glands were extremely rare, and this was Ye Ci’s first time coming into contact with one.

Even a Beta, who were resistant to pheromones, would feel faintly uncomfortable under that sense of oppression and aggression, not to mention Ye Ci, who was in the Omega differentiation stage.

Like a string pulled from the top of his head to the soles of his feet, yanking hard, Ye Ci couldn’t wait to curl up into a ball in the crack of the sofa to avoid Huo Tinglan’s strong presence and scent.

He gritted his teeth to suppress the urge and straightened his body.

“Hello,” Huo Tinglan said.

His voice was low and magnetic, as typical for an Alpha.

Ye Ci resisted so much that his breath shook. He swiped across the cell phone’s home screen from beginning to end, then from end to beginning, moving the app icons around. His palms were covered in cold sweat.

After confirming that his voice would not tremble, he said coldly, “Hello.”

Chu Wenlin said that the child was introverted and afraid of strangers, so he hurriedly cut to the point and discussed the details of the marriage agreement.

The marriage was a purely commercial act. After the two parties concluded a marriage contract, the Huo family would cooperate with the Chu family to develop a huge government project that would bring astronomical returns for both parties. It was a mutually beneficial win-win situation.

The power of the Chu family was still firmly in the hands of Mr. Chu. After this project was completed, Chu Wenlin’s share of the benefits would be limited.

Therefore, for Chu Wenlin, the real key was not the project itself, but the in-law relationship between the third house of the Chu family and the Huo family, along with the great contribution he was about to make for the Chu family. This would become his capital in the battle for inheritance, and would greatly enhance his status in the mind of Mr. Chu. The first and second houses, as well as his four half-siblings, wouldn’t be able to keep up. In exchange, Chu Wenlin would provide his Omega eldest son as Huo Tinglan’s “human medicine jar.”

As a rare A+ grade Alpha, Huo Tinglan enjoyed the advantages of his glands and physical abilities, but also had to suffer more tortuous and frequent susceptible periods than other Alphas. It was double the physical and mental torture. Those who had not experienced it could not imagine it. Some A+ level alphas who could not bear the torture would even mutilate themselves during their susceptible period in order to take their mind off it.

Not only that, but an A+’s overly strong genes made it difficult for them to match with weak Omegas, making it even more impossible to seek a partner regardless of genetic matching. A+ class pheromones could cause a low-match Omega to go into shock or a coma at high concentrations. Therefore, the vast majority of A+ level Alphas would struggle with frequent and painful susceptible periods for the rest of their lives, and die alone.

Chu Wenlin knew that for such an Alpha, Ye Ci, who could relieve the symptoms of his susceptible period, was quite valuable.

Huo Tinglan was also happy to lead him to think so.

On the other side of the sofa, the youthful teenager had a cold face and a sharp temperament, like a little hedgehog.

He pretended not to care about this transaction, but he never dared to raise his eyes to look at anyone, and the fingers gripping the phone had turned white.

In Huo Tinglan’s eyes, this stern coldness that fooled outsiders was as flimsy as a wet piece of paper that leaked at a touch.

Since miraculously returning to the past, Huo Tinglan was in close contact with Ye Ci for the first time.

This was what Ye Ci looked like when he was eighteen. . . .

Huo Tinglan stared at him intently.

Ye Ci had never been in the habit of taking pictures, and even had some resistance against it, so apart from the indifferent high school graduation photos, Huo Tinglan hadn’t seen many photos from when Ye Ci was young.

Now he saw.

Fresh and full of life, as green as a scallion or the tip of a tea leaf plucked from a spring bud, stained with morning dew and morning light.

As if afraid of scaring him off, the expression in Huo Tinglan’s eyes was a mess of gentleness and tenderness.

Eighteen-year-old Ye Ci was too young.

Really too small and too thin.

Even his fingers seemed to be thinner than they were then.

. . . . was he getting enough to eat?

Huo Tinglan’s heart felt stuffy, and his thumb moved to rub the empty ring finger of his left hand.

Relying on Ye Ci’s daring to raise his head, he carefully glanced over at Ye Ci’s bright eyes. The tip of his nose was delicate, his jawline distinct and his lips soft . . . . It wasn’t until that icy little face couldn’t stand it anymore that his lips ticked up slightly. At the moment when Ye Ci glanced at him suspiciously, he turned his eyes away along with the greed and nostalgia in them, without making a sound.

. . . . Huo Tinglan wasn’t staring at him.

It was an illusion.

Ye Ci gave Huo Tinglan a surprise inspection and heaved a sigh of relief, his tense and aching facial muscles finally relaxing a little.

Over there, Chu Wenlin was finalizing the specific terms with the lawyer.

This marriage agreement had been drawn up prior to the meeting, and the two parties had communicated numerous times about the important terms. Huo Tinglan had obviously set his heart on this and was in a hurry to ask the important members of the Chu family, so all of the conditions were loosely set, and the marriage agreement and two sets of cooperative projects did not take more than a few days. Even Chu Wenlin felt that this surnamed Huo was frighteningly anxious to ask for his wife.

Huo Tinglan had come today to formally sign an agreement with Ye Ci.

Ye Ci pricked up his ears to catch the content of the agreement.

He could understand the gist of the business operations in a foggy way, but the part about being a human medicine jar for Huo Tinglan was simple and easy to understand.

According to the agreement, Ye Ci needed to use his own pheromones to help Huo Tinglan delay the arrival of his susceptible period and help him relieve the pain after it began. Reading between the lines, Huo Tinglan’s susceptible period seemed to come more frequently and last longer than a normal Alpha’s.

Ye Ci had taken a physiology class.

He knew that “helping an Alpha through their susceptible period” often meant embracing, kissing, temporary marks, borderline sexual behavior, and . . . .

He couldn’t think about it anymore.

Shame and anger reddened his earlobes and cheeks, and Ye Ci silently clenched his fists.

Treatment for a susceptible period was a high-sounding thing, but in fact it was not . . . .

He had already thought about it, and would refuse to embrace all the above requirements. Anyway, even if he couldn’t beat the A+ level Alpha, he couldn’t let the opponent do as he pleased. He would do his best to delay, and when Ye Hongjun got better, he would take her far away, settle down in another city, and try to dissolve this absurd marriage. He could study and work part-time, find a place to compete in more races, and slowly return the treatment fee to Chu Wenlin. If he didn’t owe him anything, he couldn’t be coerced by him again.

But . . . .

A thought flashed through Ye Ci’s mind.

Would Ye Hongjun’s health really improve?

She was relying on those expensive injections to prolong her life, there was no hope for a cure for the time being, and Chu Wenlin didn’t care about her illness . . . .

Suddenly, a light knock interrupted Ye Ci’s chaotic thoughts.

Huo Tinglan flexed his fingers and tapped twice on the corner of the table in front of Ye Ci with his knuckles, as if reminding an absent-minded student in class: Listen to the agreement.

His internal turmoil was seen through, and Ye Ci was so embarrassed that he glanced at Huo Tinglan again.

This person had a very handsome face. The contours of his facial features had that exclusive Alpha sharpness, and his irises were darker than those of ordinary people, hiding indistinguishable emotions. He wore a bespoke suit the color of lapis lazuli, and the front of his shirt was slightly stretched by his chest muscles. The fabric undulated with his breath, moving with subtle and ambiguous silky light.

So purely masculine.

Huo Tinglan didn’t even have to do anything; his very existence exuded a strong sexual overtone.

His eyes seemed to have been scorched by fire, and Ye Ci hurriedly turned his face away.

It was defiance, and in the eyes of outsiders, it was a little bit like shyness.

It took a few seconds before the lawyer’s flat voice reached Ye Ci’s ears as he read the rules and regulations.

“. . . . All forms of subjective and intentional physical contact against Party B will be strictly prohibited, including but not limited to: hugging and touching . . . .”

“. . . . It is forbidden to harass and make unwanted sexual advances upon Party B by means of words, texts, images, etc. . . .”

“. . . . Prohibited. . . .”

“. . . . Prohibited. . . .”

“. . . .Only provide pheromones in the form of non-direct contact, including but not limited to: releasing pheromones into the air and providing items that contain sufficient pheromones . . . .”

Huo Tinglan’s behavior was regulated and restricted in detail within the marriage agreement.

As expected, Ye Ci’s face became more visible.

Huo Tinglan stared at him. His dark pupils were like some kind of measuring instrument, observing and assessing his emotions, and based on this, he chose words to comfort him. He said soothingly: “I added some provisions to the agreement. Maybe this will make you feel more at ease. The Huo and Chu families are friends, and our relationship has always been close, so you still need to call me ‘Shishu’^[1]. . . .”

The two older men were not actually close. If they called themselves friends, it was definitely the Chu family who had climbed to the moon. “The two families have a close relationship” was just diplomatic rhetoric, letting Ye Ci be a bit less panicked at being given to a stranger by his father as a bargaining chip.

“. . . . I will not use marriage as an excuse to do anything against your will,” Huo Tinglan said solemnly. “You don’t have to worry so much.”

Ye Ci quickly pursed his lips and said stiffly, “I don’t . . . .”

He wanted to say, “I don’t have any concerns,” but he was afraid of stammering, so he simply kept silent.

Huo Tinglan looked at him for a moment, then cleverly continued to pick out the things he wanted to hear: “Considering that you are currently enrolled in high school, studying should be a priority, and it is not suitable to publicize the marriage. My personal opinion is that your and my marital status can be kept secret from the media for the time being. All related matters will be arranged on the premise that they will not affect your studies, and that you have the best possible living environment. We’ll try to keep it low-key and simple, and the wedding can be postponed until after you graduate from high school, but . . . .” Huo Tinglan paused and said slowly, “Maybe my considerations aren’t sufficient. If you wish to reveal this to the outside world or hold a wedding sooner, I would like to respect your opinion. . . .”

Ye Ci was startled.

The wedding being postponed and kept secret was exactly what he wanted. Coupled with those gentlemen’s agreements, the situation was much better than he had imagined. It was like he had picked up a bargain. Afraid that Huo Tinglan would retract his offer, he hastily and dazedly plunged into the seemingly harmless net, and quickly said: “I don’t, don’t have an objection.”

A faint smile flashed through Huo Tinglan’s eyes. He raised his chin, and the lawyer pushed the final version of the agreement over to Ye Ci.

By signing this, the two would legally change from strangers to a married couple.

The eyes on him interlaced like a web. The air suddenly became thinner, and Ye Ci’s chest heaved up and down a few times.

Ye Hongjun’s sick face sunk deep into the soft pillow flashed through his mind.

He was truly at a dead end.

Ye Ci took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and grabbed the pen, holding it in his hand.

It was one of Huo Tinglan’s. The pen was heavy, and the golden-blue painted surface was stained with trace pheromones.

Afraid that the others would see his hands shaking, Ye Ci signed his name hurriedly and fiercely.

The word “Ci” slashed the contract paper sharply.

The author has something to say:

Dog Huo chased his wife using three steps.

The first step was to sign an agreement and act like a human being.

The second step was to take the wife home.

The third step was to tear up the agreement. 🙂

Young Ci: ￥%&*&

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[1] 世叔, or ‘Uncle Shi’ is an appellation applied to those who are younger than their own father among their parents’ friends.⮐

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Chapter Two << Table of Contents >> Chapter Four

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I’m always open to recommendations for new translations. I’m pretty much interested in anything well-written, although I prefer stories with a healthy relationship and a comedic undertone. Enemies to lovers is also my favorite trope.

Summary:

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Table of Contents:

Chapter 1	Chapter 19	Chapter 37
Chapter 2	Chapter 20	Chapter 38
Chapter 3	Chapter 21	Chapter 39
Chapter 4	Chapter 22	Chapter 40
Chapter 5	Chapter 23	Chapter 41
Chapter 6	Chapter 24	Chapter 42
Chapter 7	Chapter 25	Chapter 43
Chapter 8	Chapter 26	Chapter 44
Chapter 9	Chapter 27	Chapter 45
Chapter 10	Chapter 28	Extra 1: Sports Competition
Chapter 11	Chapter 29	Extra 2: Sports Competition
Chapter 12	Chapter 30	Extra 3: Sports Competition
Chapter 13	Chapter 31	Extra 4: Sports Competition
Chapter 14	Chapter 32	Extra 5: Sports Competition
Chapter 15	Chapter 33	The Necktie
Chapter 16	Chapter 34	Happy Chinese New Year
Chapter 17	Chapter 35	Ye Ci’s Boyfriend Power
Chapter 18	Chapter 36	The Wedding

In Progress:

Junior Disciple C (Xianxia)

Transform Me, Mark Me (Futuristic, A/B/O)

Finished:

After Being Forced to Marry the Evil Star General (Ancient)

After Playing the Fool and Marrying the Blind Villain [Transmigration] (Modern, Transmigration)

After Rebirth, the Prime Minister Just Wants to Call It Quits (Wuxia, Transmigration)

Fouls Prohibited (Modern, Rebirth, A/B/O)

Impersonated Husband (Modern, Horror)

Let’s Talk When You Wake Up (Modern)

Marriage of a Sickly Villain and a Fortune Hunter [Entertainment Circle] (Modern, Transmigration)

O Pretends To Be B For the Violent Admiral (Futuristic, A/B/O)

Strong Winds Return Home (Ancient)

The White Moonlight Stole Away the Little Substitute (Modern)

Discontinued:

Happy Coffin Raising (Modern, Horror)

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Ye Ci’s face was pale when he walked into the racetrack restroom.

Cold sweat dripped down his spine to wet his waistline, and cool fabric stuck to his tailbone.

Moments ago, that highly charged scene had triggered his pathological reaction.

– **** your mother. . .

– Little bastard. . . 

Even the rough tone was very similar.

In late spring in the north, the water spewing from the faucet was still cold to the bone.

Ye Ci wasn’t too cold, so he scooped up water and washed his face repeatedly. When the skin of his face became numb and itchy, turning the pink color of spring peach blossoms, he forced himself to stop.

“Augh –” After rinsing his face, Ye Ci leaned on the edge of the ceramic wash basin and retched a few times.

He didn’t vomit anything since he hadn’t eaten, but inexplicably felt more relaxed. He rinsed his mouth, wiped the water droplets from his lips, and looked up at the mirror behind the sink.

There was no one else in the restroom. In the mirror, several toilet stalls stood silent and empty.

Ye Ci was silent for a moment, and suddenly repeated the lines from ten minutes ago.

“That three thousand . . .”

“Is for, for medical expenses.”

“That three thousand is for, medical, medical expenses . . .”

He stammered.

Chu Wenlin had thought that he was embarrassing and sent him to a stuttering correction center for a month, but he still couldn’t coherently speak more than three words. Maybe it was because his speech impediment stemmed from deeper problems, and those lessons didn’t get to the heart of it. Fortunately, he had long been used to this problem since childhood. In order to avoid ridicule, he usually spoke very briefly, as if he was naturally cold and reserved.

Just now, he almost embarrassed himself in front of that gangster, but fortunately held his breath at the critical moment and covered it up.

Only seven words.

He couldn’t even say seven words.

Unreconciled, Ye Ci tried to repeat it several times. As a result, the more anxious he became, the more he stumbled, and the only gain was that his face became flushed and red, and the corners of his eyes became damp.

There were footsteps outside the bathroom.

Ye Ci pursed his lips slightly, raised his hood, and remained silent.

The visitor was a tall Alpha racer. When he entered the door, he glanced at Ye Ci unintentionally and recognized that he was the kid who had just beaten someone up.

Ye Ci’s face, which was wet and red-eyed a moment ago, switched seamlessly to a blank slate^[1], eyes slanted away indifferently.

The racer looked back and didn’t intend to cause trouble.

After leaving the racetrack, Ye Ci was in a daze for a while on the side of the road.

As usual, he adjusted himself and cleaned away his weak emotions. Then he went to the market to buy some daily necessities and fruit with the money he just earned and rushed to the sanatorium where Ye Hongjun was.

It got dark prematurely in early spring. It was only five o’clock, and the streetlights in the courtyard were gradually lighting up. Half of the sky was still purple, the lake was full of glowing lights and shadow, and swans cruised gracefully on the water. The scenery was pleasant.

Ye Hongjun’s senior ward was on the third floor.

When Ye Ci entered through the door, she was falling asleep, her skin cold and sickly white, like a pale skeleton. The lingering malady was torturing her. Even her bones were thin and finely ground, and her pitifully narrow face sunk deep into the soft pillow.

The highly-paid nurses hired by Chu Wenlin did their best to serve her, even if she was unable to care for herself. Ye Hongjun was still clean and decent, and the hospital gown exuded the scent of citrus. A weak forearm stuck out from the wide cuff of the hospital gown, and the needle marks on it were densely packed.

Ye Ci stroked Ye Hongjun’s forearm with the pads of his fingers, and the bridge of his nose felt sore.

She was taking an intravenous injection, and had been stuck with needles more than 20,000 times. Although difficult to cure, it could prolong life.

However, conscientious nurses, nursing homes, and life-sustaining injections. . . 

It all cost money.

Ye Ci had a ledger, and he recorded every sum of money that Chu Wenlin spent on Ye Hongjun’s medical treatment. He planned to pay it back slowly in the future.

The rapid rise in numbers made Ye Ci gradually go from panic to numbness.

If Chu Wenlin’s conscience still existed, he should have given the mother and son assistance unconditionally.

He failed to live up to expectations.

Chu Wenlin was Ye Ci’s biological father and the eldest son of the third branch of the Chu family.

When he was young and flirtatious, because of his passion, he swore to spend his life with Ye Hongjun, who was born to a small family. He even instigated Ye Hongjun to give up her studies and run away with him. It was not until Ye Hongjun, in defiance of the world, took the risk of giving birth before marriage, that the cries of the baby and the weight of poverty gradually crushed Chu Wenlin’s illusion.

Marriage, appropriate matches, family poverty . . . he seemed to know these words for the first time, and felt regret. He was a rich young man from a life of luxury and extravagance, and could not bear the hardship. He resolutely returned to his family home to kowtow and accept punishment while the scandal was covered up, and a year later obeyed the family’s arrangements and married a well-bred lady.

Ye Hongjun cried, made noise, and begged, gritting her teeth and letting go of her restraint. Holding Ye Ci, who was rolling around in his swaddling clothes, she was ultimately unable to recover.

An Omega giving birth out of wedlock was synonymous with suffering. She grew up raising Ye Ci in the slums. By nature, no matter how many wounds she suffered, she would not linger on the memory forever and retained a bit of girlish innocence. She had gone through several boyfriends, Alpha and Beta, but they didn’t last long and their separations were ugly.

When Ye Ci was young, he tried to find the shadows of his father in those faces, but couldn’t. His surname followed his mother’s and there was no clue in this regard.

When he grew up, his thoughts about his father faded away.

The turning point happened a few months ago.

Old man Chu, who had been holding the Chu family’s power and refusing to let go, was seriously ill and admitted to the hospital. He was able to be saved, but the grandchildren of the Chu family took this as a dangerous sign and the battle for the family fortune heated up.

Chu Wenlin was mediocre in talent and selfish, and his eight-year-old son, Chu Rui, was also stubborn and stupid. In addition, Chu Wenlin’s mother, the third wife of Mr. Chu, was just a dancer when she was young. Not only was she from a humble background, but after marriage, there were even rumors of cheating. Therefore, the Third Household had never been favored by the old man Chu, and were at an absolute disadvantage in the battle for inheritance.

Chu Wenlin was unwilling to accept only the scraps that leaked between the teeth of his brothers and sisters. When he was really clutching at straws, he thought of the eldest son who could be alive or dead outside, and felt that the child might have value and could be exploited. Only then did he investigate the whereabouts of the mother and son, and came to their door for the first time.

“Mom, I, I ran, ran a race today.” Ye Ci found a piece of good news and stammered it to Ye Hongjun. “Made, made a lot of money, enough . . . to treat you.”

In front of his mother, Ye Ci completely removed his disguise.

He became obedient, his eyebrows arched softly, his eyes light, with a charming appearance.

He was carved out of the same mold as Ye Hongjun.

However, in the slums, the mother and son who were as soft as lambs could only end up having their bones broken and marrow sucked dry. Ye Hongjun was weak, so he must be strong.

No matter how soft you were, you had to pretend to be savage and grow illusory thorns.

Ye Ci stayed in the ward for more than two hours, massaging Ye Hongjun’s limbs to slow down muscle atrophy and sweeping the floor, but unfortunately, Ye Hongjun was too weak and never woke up.

He also paced around and talked during those two hours, picking out good news about school, classmates, the handsome silver motorcycle he saw at the racetrack, how beautiful the swans were on the artificial lake in the sanatorium.

He was not really as taciturn as he appeared, but no one but his mother had the patience to listen to long, stammering speeches.

Finally, he picked up the wilted sunflower in the porcelain vase by Ye Hongjun’s bed and threw it in the trash, replacing it with a fragrant lily he bought on the way.

She often missed his visits due to her drowsiness, so Ye Ci would change the flowers every time he came.

The lily was fresh and tender.

She would know he had been here.

. . .  . . .

After visiting Ye Hongjun, Ye Ci wandered the streets until eleven o’clock, and he didn’t return to the Chu residence until Chu Wenlin went to bed.

It was good to not have to look at that scumbag.

With the passing of time, the longing for a father’s love had long been drenched in disappointment. Ye Ci hadn’t called Chu Wenlin father for several months, and he would never call him that again in the future.

Chu Wenlin was quite dissatisfied with Ye Ci’s late return, so he got up early in the morning with a sullen face.

Ye Ci turned a blind eye and went back to the bedroom after breakfast to study English. The cotton gauze curtains were drawn, the door was locked, and the light was dim.

There were dozens of rooms in the Chu family’s mansion, which was as convoluted as an ant hill. After Chu Wenlin recognized him, he sank into the depths of the Chu residence like an ant in a hole, rarely leaving a sign of his existence.

The house was big enough, but the pilet-like screams of Chu Rui, Ye Ci’s “legitimate” brother, could still penetrate the thick walls and reach his brain.

Even a trivial amount of unhappiness could elicit such a noise.

The servants coaxed and persuaded, and footsteps drifted to and fro following the call of the legitimate young master.

Ye Ci pretended not to hear it, and read the English text with difficulty.

There was no one in the bedroom, but he kept his voice very low, as if afraid that his comical spoken words would be heard by the air.

In order to treat Ye Hongjun, he dropped out of school to work for a year and a half, and his studies were severely neglected. His worst subject was English. He had difficulty speaking, and the biggest taboo in learning English was not opening your mouth. Before he dropped out of school, his English had always been a crippling subject, and he relied on the other five subjects to get good grades.

Chu Wenlin gave him the opportunity to go back to school. He should have cherished it, and shouldn’t have wasted time racing at second-rate racetracks, but . . . . 

The sound of a car came from the window.

Ye Ci walked to the window, opened a slit in the curtain, and peeped out.

In the distance, an unfamiliar car drove into the inner courtyard of the Chu residence and slowly parked.

The straight waterfall of the air grille and the little platinum figure on the hood were polished clean and bright. The body of the car was pure black, dark and expensive.

Ye Ci frowned. He had a bad feeling.

The driver opened the door, and the housekeeper, Uncle Tong, stood there in attendance. Wenlin greeted him with a loud laugh, in the warm style of businessmen who had a good relationship.

The visitor was disaffected, and only nodded slightly. Chu Wenlin handled things smoothly, and hurriedly restrained his excessive smile as he greeted the visitor.

Ye Ci knew about this person, Huo Tinglan, the head of the Huo family that Chu Wenlin tried to curry favor with. He was also an Alpha that matched Ye Ci up to 100%.

This match was quite rare and could be called biological destiny.

But Ye Ci only felt uneasy.

He was originally an A-level Alpha, but now he had become an Omega because he had a so-called “second differentiation” that normal people didn’t have.

Secondary differentiation was a relatively rare disorder, mostly caused by abnormalities in pheromone secretion during puberty. Patients generally started the second differentiation three to four years after the first differentiation, and the true glandular sex of the patient was based on the result of the secondary differentiation.

Ye Ci never knew that he had this problem. Before the start of the second differentiation, he always thought he was an Alpha.

He was recognized and brought back by the Chu family a while ago, and Chu Wenlin took him in for a series of examinations, including various infectious disease screenings and gland tests, and the results also showed that he was an Alpha . . . . a healthy A-level Alpha.

In the end, about two weeks ago, he developed a brief pseudo-Omega heat.

The heat lasted only about an hour, the symptoms were not severe, and he was alone in the bedroom when it happened. Even he himself almost didn’t realize that it was a pseudo-heat, let alone Chu Wenlin.

It was not a good thing for Ye Ci to differentiate into an Omega at this time.

Right now, Chu Wenlin just wanted to add a bloodline to the third house, so that multiple people could share the inheritance. An Alpha boy was the more preferred gender when it came to dividing the estate, and the only thing better was a good-looking Omega. For Chu Wenlin, a beautiful Omega offspring was a “good deal” up for grabs.

Ye Ci was not stupid and could think clearly about this issue, so he didn’t intend to let Chu Wenlin know, and wanted to hide it as long as he could.

However, the problem lay in the private hospital where Ye Ci was examined.

Originally, his gland test had been done, but it turned out that he didn’t know what the hospital was doing. They actually claimed that the previous gland results were wrong and that Ye Ci may not be a true Alpha.

Naturally, Chu Wenlin refused to pass up the possible opportunity, and took Ye Ci in for another examination. This time, the hospital advised them to carry out a more accurate but also more troublesome genetic testing . . . . after all this tossing and turning, Ye Ci’s Omega identity was completely exposed.

What made Ye Ci even more surprised was that Chu Wenlin, who was overjoyed, was going to “market” him to other families in exchange for commercial resources. The new head of the Huo family took the initiative to propose marriage, and the timing couldn’t be more accurate.

No wonder the Huo family was well-informed – that private hospital was one of the many industries operated by the Huo family. Chu Wenlin’s series of actions happened under the eyes of others. The Chu family suddenly produced an Omega that matched Huo Tinglan’s genes 100%. It wouldn’t be difficult for the Huo family to find out.

. . .  . . .

Ye Ci looked down through the slit in the curtain.

As an A+ grade Alpha, Huo Tinglan was almost 1.9 meters tall.

The weather in spring was difficult to predict, with the temperature at noon being a lot higher than in the morning and evening. The floor tiles were dazzling white in the sun, and looked hot, but Huo Tinglan was wearing a formal three-piece suit to show the importance he attached to this meeting. The fabric of the suit had a deep luster, and the person wearing it should look elegant and noble, but that fierce figure revealed an imposing and beast-like savage sex appeal.

An A+ grade Alpha was really like a beast in some ways . . . .

Suddenly, as if alerted by intuition, Huo Tinglan’s eyes lifted and went straight to the window of Ye Ci’s bedroom on the second floor.

They looked at each other for a moment. Ye Ci shrank back, startled, and the fingertips holding the curtain turned white.

His stomach spasmed.

His self-perception was still that of an Alpha male.

Getting up close and personal with another top Alpha . . . . Ye Ci imagined this scene and resisted until he was sweating all over.

---

[1] The actual terminology used is “switched seamlessly to a ‘coffin board'” or 棺材板, which is a Taiwanese snack. These crispy boxes of bread are usually filled with a creamy mix of chicken products, peas, potatoes, shrimp, etc. The top does indeed look like a blank slate. ⮐

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