“I have no problem with it. It’s not like the western-city area is our only point. But after you two joined, your focus has been entirely on the western-city side. We haven’t even gotten much profit before the connection is being cut off. Are you really willing to accept that?”
“Whether we’re willing or not, there’s nothing we can do.”
Wei Lingzhou said, “But I think there’s no need to rush. Just wrap things up slowly. Move as many batches out as we can. Being overly cautious will only mean you’ll never make the really big money.”
“President Wei really does have foresight.”
Tang Feiyi seemed very pleased with Wei Lingzhou’s opinion.
“The resources haven’t been exhausted yet, so we should make full use of them until the very last moment. What do you think, President He?”
He Yu did not answer immediately.
After several seconds, he finally said, “It’s always better to be careful.”
Other people came out onto the terrace, so the three ended their conversation and left.
A lingering smell of cigarette smoke mixed with the wind.
Although He Wei had his arm around him, Chi Jiahan suddenly felt inexplicably cold.
“Wei Lingzhou. Tang Feiyi.”
Chi Jiahan raised his head.
“And who was the other one? Do you know?”
“He Yu.”
He Wei’s profile looked serious and grave, an expression rarely seen on him.
“My cousin.”
One was Wei Lingzhou, the wealthy businessman’s son and son-in-law of the Alliance chairman.
The other was He Yu, nephew of the governor of the Alliance Central Bank and heir to a shipping and transportation group.
Tang Feiyi certainly had a sharp eye when it came to choosing business partners.
Chi Jiahan opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but ultimately said nothing.
He Wei was still looking toward the railing, silent.
A minute later, He Wei suddenly reached a hand toward Chi Jiahan’s face.
Chi Jiahan had no idea what he was doing.
He Wei turned his head and gently touched the area around Chi Jiahan’s eyes again.
After confirming that he was no longer crying, he said,
“Let’s go. We’re going back.”
I can translate the surrounding scene closely, but I’ll keep the sexual content non-explicit.
“What should we do?” Chi Jiahan couldn’t help asking.
“We only heard a few sentences. It’s not enough to do anything with. I’ll ask Heyang and Yunchi about it later.”
“Our little Chi, just pretend you didn’t hear anything today. Don’t tell anyone, and don’t put yourself in danger, okay?”
He Wei held Chi Jiahan’s face between both hands and rubbed his cheeks back and forth.
“Got it?”
Chi Jiahan still hadn’t recovered from everything. The tiny mole at the tip of his nose appeared and disappeared beneath the moonlight.
He Wei lowered his head and kissed it.
“Get lost!”
Chi Jiahan immediately snapped back to reality and punched him on the shoulder.
On the last day of summer vacation, Xu Ze spent the day in his rut.
This time, probably because he had been working every day throughout the summer vacation, frequently working overtime late into the night, his immune system had weakened. On top of that, it had been quite a long time since his last rut, so this one came on particularly fiercely.
He opened his eyes a little after eight in the morning. Xu Ze barely managed to get up and wash himself before returning to bed.
Dizzy and feverish, Xu Ze eventually groggily reached for his phone again.
It was almost ten.
His wages from the auto repair shop had already been deposited into his account.
Xu Ze rubbed his eyes and struggled to make out the screen. He left five hundred yuan for his living expenses and transferred everything else into the sanatorium’s corporate account.
Then he turned off his phone and closed his eyes again.
Xu Ze felt as though he were dreaming.
In his dream, he heard someone knocking on the door, but his body wouldn’t move.
He really wanted to open the door and see if it was Lu Heyang, so that he could at least see him in his dream.
The knocking stopped.
Then his phone rang.
Xu Ze groped around on the bed for seven or eight seconds before finding it. He swiped at the screen several times before finally answering.
“Xu Ze, are you not home?”
Xu Ze said, “I am.”
It took several seconds for him to realize that he had only opened his mouth. No sound had actually come out.
The only thing the person on the other end could have heard was his rapid breathing.
“What are you doing?”
Lu Heyang asked politely, “I’m at your door. Can I kick it down? If I break it, I’ll get you a new one.”
“W-wait…”
Xu Ze struggled to sit up.
“I’m coming.”
He had no idea how he made it to the living room.
As soon as he opened the door, his body immediately tilted to the side, unable to stay upright.
Lu Heyang caught him, closed the door with his other hand, adjusted his wristband to a higher setting, then picked Xu Ze up and carried him toward the bedroom.
Xu Ze’s forehead was pressed against the side of Lu Heyang’s neck, burning terribly hot.
When they entered the bedroom, Lu Heyang saw the little nest on the bed, surrounded by pillows, blankets, and clothes. One side was against the wall. Xu Ze had probably spent the entire night curled up against it.
Biology textbooks said that when an alpha displayed nesting behavior, it meant the instability of their pheromones during rut had become severe enough to affect their normal consciousness.
Lu Heyang placed Xu Ze on the bed.
Sure enough, Xu Ze groped his way back into the little nest, pressed his head against the wall, and curled his entire body up.
He even sneezed.
Deep in his subconscious, Xu Ze knew Lu Heyang had come.
He wanted to open his eyes and look at him. He wanted to talk to him.
But instinct told Xu Ze that he had to return to the nest for self-protection.
Lu Heyang opened the bag he had brought with him and took out a fever reducer, twisting the cap open.
He sat down on the bed and moved the pillow beside Xu Ze.
He discovered that there was actually a summer homework book stuffed underneath it.
This was the first time he had ever seen an alpha use a homework book to build a nest.
“Good student, open your mouth.”
Lu Heyang brought the fever reducer to Xu Ze’s lips.
“Once you take your medicine, you can do your homework. School starts tomorrow.”
Xu Ze actually couldn’t hear what he was saying clearly.
But since it was Lu Heyang feeding it to him—
Xu Ze obediently opened his mouth.
The taste was strange.
Xu Ze had never had this before because it was expensive.
He frowned as he swallowed the fever reducer, then licked his lips and made a small sound.
“Water…”
Lu Heyang didn’t hear him clearly.
“Hmm?”
“I want water…”
Xu Ze sounded weak, his words drawn out longer than usual, his voice soft and limp.
As Lu Heyang stood up, he asked him,
“Are you being spoiled?”
“No.”
Xu Ze struggled to make out what he was saying before answering.
By then, Lu Heyang had already gone to the desk, poured some water, and brought it over.
He said, “If you’re not being spoiled, then I’m not getting you any water.”
Xu Ze was completely muddled.
He half-opened his eyes and stared blankly at the wall, slowly processing it for half a minute.
In the end, he was forced to admit,
“I am being spoiled.”
“Okay.”
Lu Heyang helped him sit up.
Xu Ze leaned against Lu Heyang and drank several sips of water.
Perhaps it was only psychological, but he felt a little better.
In the middle of last night, Xu Ze had actually wanted to stuff everything in the entire room onto the bed and pile it up as high as possible, just to increase his sense of security and belonging.
This had only happened once before.
It had been on the day of his second differentiation.
Back then, he had moved things onto the bed over and over like an ant, yet he still felt that it wasn’t enough.
At that time, Ye Yunhua was already in the psychiatric hospital.
Xu Ze was the only person at home.
He didn’t know that he was going through a second differentiation. He had only felt lost and panicked.
When he was fourteen, Xu Ze had filled his little bed to the brim and curled up inside it for an entire day and night.
But somehow, all of that was still no match for what Lu Heyang’s simple embrace could give him today, at seventeen.
“Drink a little more.”
Lu Heyang wrapped an arm around Xu Ze from behind, feeding him water with one hand while touching his forehead with the other.
“I heard the fever reducer doesn’t taste very good.”
Xu Ze tilted his head back and drank the water one sip at a time.
When he finished the very last drop in the cup, he braced himself with one hand and turned around, pushing Lu Heyang on the shoulder.
He had no idea how much strength he had used.
In any case, Lu Heyang went down quite easily, and the water cup fell to the side.
Xu Ze moved forward a couple of steps and straddled him.
Lu Heyang looked at him without the slightest trace of panic, looking perfectly innocent and harmless.
During his last rut, Xu Ze had only dared to watch Lu Heyang in what he thought was a dream.
This time, he was already brave enough to climb onto him.
Lu Heyang felt that Xu Ze had made progress.
Xu Ze breathed heavily as he stared at Lu Heyang for several seconds before leaning down closer.
Lu Heyang’s wristband was exceptionally effective, blocking his pheromones completely.
Only when they were extremely close could Xu Ze smell the pheromones lingering on his body and clothes.
They were both alpha pheromones.
Instead of soothing Xu Ze, they stimulated him further.
Xu Ze frowned, becoming restless and agitated in an instant.
He clenched Lu Heyang’s T-shirt tightly, revealing a rare trace of aggression.
“You’re the one who wanted to smell it,” Lu Heyang said unhurriedly, supporting his waist. “And then you get angry after smelling it.”
Xu Ze was like a dog that had been warned by its owner before it could even bare its little fangs. He immediately paused, then raised one hand to cover Lu Heyang’s eyes. His gaze dropped to Lu Heyang’s lips. Xu Ze’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he asked, “Can I…?”
…
A few seconds later, Xu Ze realized that, as an alpha standing over six feet tall, he couldn’t keep sitting on Lu Heyang forever. He climbed off the bed stiffly, his legs weak and sore, and said, “I’m going to take a shower.”
He didn’t look at Lu Heyang. Turning unsteadily, he headed out of the room, forgetting even to take a clean pair of underwear.
Hot water poured over him from head to toe. Xu Ze stood motionless like a little sapling being watered, neither speaking nor thinking.
The bathroom door suddenly swung open. Before Xu Ze could turn around, Lu Heyang switched off the showerhead, pressed a hand against Xu Ze’s shoulder, and pushed him halfway toward the wall.
“You’ve rubbed sweat all over me,” he said.
…
This was the longest shower Xu Ze had ever taken. Lu Heyang lowered Xu Ze’s legs from the crook of his arm and helped him stand steadily, then turned on the showerhead that had only been used for a few minutes at the very beginning and had remained idle ever since.
Water pattered down over them. Xu Ze leaned against the wall, already exhausted, but for some reason, he suddenly smiled.
“What are you laughing at?” Lu Heyang asked.
Xu Ze shook his head without answering and wrapped his arms around him.
He was smiling because Xu Ze felt that Lu Heyang was now joining him in being a little sapling getting watered.
Lu Heyang: Damn, all thanks to the disguise of an innocent young alpha…