Pei Siming left, and Ruan Shuyang was able to move from the attic—which was hot in summer, cold in winter, and drafty—to a bedroom on the second floor thanks to his words.
While moving his belongings, he overheard Ruan Jianchuan personally ordering Pan Lan not to cause trouble during this period.
Pan Lan dared not openly defy Ruan Jianchuan’s orders, but she glared at Ruan Shuyang with a malicious gaze, plotting his next move.
These few days were the best Ruan Shuyang had had since his mother’s death.
He sat alone in his room, browsing jewelry design materials on his computer.
“Just endure it a little longer,” Ruan Shuyang told himself.
“Once I go to university, I can leave. Then I’ll stay at school and never set foot here again.”
**
Two nights later, Ruan Shuyang unconsciously opened his mouth in his sleep, his breathing becoming rapid.
He felt hot, kicked off the summer blanket, and murmured as he rubbed his legs against the sheets. His loose pajamas were pulled up above his thighs, and his two porcelain-white, delicate legs restlessly rubbed against the sheets.
In the dream, he was restrained by a pair of strong arms, straddling the “alpha’s” legs. The “alpha’s” left hand gripped his slender shoulder blades, while his right hand supported his buttocks. A cold, hoarse voice whispered in his ear, “Bear with it.”
He leaned weakly against the other’s broad shoulders. Suddenly, his gland was bitten open, and unfamiliar pheromones surged into his body like a tidal wave, carrying a strong and irresistible aggressiveness, beginning to leave their mark on his body.
He dreamed of the mark from that night.
Ruan Shuyang suddenly woke up, his glands at the back of his neck pulsating wildly, the adhesive patch barely holding on.
His body felt an indescribable emptiness, the lily of the valley longing for the soothing touch of the tide.
He sat on the bed in a daze for a moment, then immediately got up and rummaged through the drawer.
The concentration of omega pheromones in the air was already very high, and the suppressant he had taken earlier could no longer suppress his body’s instincts. He gritted his teeth and injected himself with another dose.
After the injection, the unfamiliar waves within his body, like an insatiable longing, slowly subsided.
Ruan Shuyang changed out of his wet pants and sheets and lay back down on the bed.
His situation was dire. The effective duration of the suppressant was growing shorter and shorter. Perhaps at any moment, the pheromones in his body would snap like a broken string, completely beyond his control.
Should he go to the hospital to check?
But he had no money.
Ruan Shuyang was deeply troubled by this.
Maybe he should wait a few more days, he thought.
This had never happened before. Even the cheapest suppressant would last for several days, let alone the one Su Yan had given him, which was the best product from Rui Ji Technology—safe, gentle, and without side effects, with an efficacy period of typically one month, requiring only one injection per month to resolve the mating season issue.
If this continued, would he be unable to endure even a single day, once again facing the distress of estrus?
The Ruan family only gave him a little pocket money when his mother was alive, but after she passed away, they stopped giving him any.
The money he used to buy the suppressant was what he had saved from his pocket money, but after using it for so long, there wasn’t much left.
Originally, he had planned to wait until he went to university, where he could work part-time to earn money for living expenses, but now he might not make it to university.
As dawn broke, a few rays of morning light pierced through the gray-blue clouds. Ruan Shuyang looked out the window at the sky turning pale white and decided to go to the community hospital for a free consultation once it was fully light.
The existence of the three genders in ABO society is fraught with uncertainty and volatility. Both A and O genders are prone to sudden outbreaks of pheromone disorders that can affect others. The government has invested significant funds in medical consultations, isolation room construction, and public safety maintenance.
The community hospital near the neighborhood offers free pheromone consultation services for A and O genders, but specific medical services require additional payment.
Ruan Shuyang planned to first consult the community hospital about how to handle his situation.
The person who received him was a gentle female Omega physician, who asked him some questions after listening to his description.
“Do you have any previous conditions related to your glands or reproductive cavity?”
Ruan Shuyang whispered, “Yes, my glands and reproductive cavity are underdeveloped.”
During the physical examination organized by his high school, the teacher in charge of the examination had mentioned that his glands and reproductive cavity were underdeveloped, and if they did not develop properly by the age of 20, he might face lifelong atrophy.
“Do you know what caused it?” the doctor asked.
Ruan Shuyang lowered his head and answered awkwardly, “It’s probably due to long-term use of cheap inhibitors.”
Inhibitors vary in price due to different mechanisms of action. The cheapest inhibitors have a simple and crude mechanism: they block the pituitary gland from releasing estrus signals, causing the glands and reproductive cavity to believe they don’t need to go into estrus and are completely unnecessary.
Such suppressants are acceptable for occasional use, but prolonged use can give the body the illusion that the glands and reproductive cavity are unnecessary and do not need to develop, leading to atrophy of these organs.
The underlying mechanisms of these two types of inhibitors are fundamentally different, so long-term use of the cheapest inhibitors often results in atrophy of the glands and reproductive tract.
Ruan Shuyang had this issue.
“Hmm, I see.” The physician remained calm, showing no personal emotion, and asked, “Before you started having these dreams, did anything unusual happen? For example, did you come into contact with alpha pheromones?”
“I… was temporarily marked by an alpha.”
The doctor understood the general problem after hearing this. “It’s like this: all organ development is our body’s instinct. Your glands and reproductive tract instinctively want to develop. Before, without the stimulation of alpha pheromones, it was fine, but now that you’ve been exposed to them, your glands and reproductive tract are stimulated and instinctively want to develop and accept the alpha’s pheromones.”
“Higher-grade alpha pheromones can indeed stimulate omega development.”
“Inhibitors are ineffective at suppressing the body’s instinctive development,” the physician explained. “You need alpha pheromones, which can be purchased from the hospital. Prices vary by grade, ranging from one thousand to ten thousand. If you don’t want to spend money, you can find an alpha to temporarily mark you.”
Ruan Shuyang immediately ruled out the option of spending money. He only had a few hundred dollars left, and he couldn’t afford it. As for finding an alpha to temporarily mark him, he was also hesitant.
From the concepts his mother had instilled in him all along, once an alpha marked an omega, they could dominate that omega. It was an irresistible and unbearable feeling that caused immense suffering.
He feared that feeling.
The doctor noticed his hesitation and deep concerns, so he asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ruan Shuyang voiced his doubt: “If an omega is marked by an alpha, even temporarily, there will be domination and submission.”
“That is possible,” the doctor acknowledged, “but as long as the pheromone levels are not too different, most temporary markings have weak dominance and submission attributes and won’t affect you much. The ones that have a deeper impact are lifelong markings.”
“If you have concerns about this, you can seek out alpha volunteers. They often mark dozens of omegas in a day and don’t have the energy to enforce dominance and submission.”
Ruan Shuyang found this reasonable, thanked the doctor, and decided to seek out an alpha volunteer.
Several government-run AO treatment centers have alpha volunteers, many of whom are college students doing community service, responsible for applying temporary markings to omegas.
Some omegas dislike taking suppressants and choose to seek out alpha volunteers for temporary markings to help them get through their monthly heat cycles.
Before the marking process, a liability waiver must be signed, stipulating that no legal action may be taken privately, etc.
Ruan Shuyang had heard of this but had never used it before, as he had always been concerned about the domination and submission mentioned by his mother. However, it now seemed that alpha volunteers might be his best option.
Because pheromones are simply too expensive.
He took the subway to the nearest AO Treatment Center and followed the map to the temporary marking treatment room.
The treatment room had two tables and two isolation rooms. One table was empty, and the isolation room behind it was lit with a red light, indicating someone was undergoing marking inside.
Behind the other table sat two Alphas.
One of the Alphas was lying on the table, his eyes vacant, with heavy dark circles under his eyes. The other Alpha was taller, with long legs casually crossed, and was looking down at his phone.
He walked up to the table and asked, “Is this the temporary marking treatment room?”
To his surprise, the alpha who had been leaning on the table lifted his head and looked at him with a despairing expression, “Ah, another one. Why are your omegas’ demands so high? I’m completely drained.”
It seems like being a volunteer is a tough job, even draining the alphas. In that case, it should be safe—they don’t have the strength for dominance or submission. I shouldn’t have believed those guys in the dorm when they said this job was easy, that I could mark an omega, and that there was a big nutrition allowance. Now it seems like that allowance is really small, not enough to compensate for my losses.”
The guy called “Ye Ge” was still playing with his phone and didn’t look up. He just snorted, “This isn’t good. Are you even an alpha?”
“I can choose not to be.” The man with heavy dark circles under his eyes abandoned his principles. “Now I’m scared just seeing a neck.”
Ruan Shuyang: “…”
Perhaps those words startled Ye Ge, who finally deigned to look up. “Gu Jin, you’re really bringing shame to T University.”
Gu Jin: “…”
He covered his face in shame and said, “I didn’t want to, but there really wasn’t a single drop left.”
Completely gone.
Although it was embarrassing for an alpha to say such a thing, he really couldn’t do it anymore.
Ruan Shuyang listened in astonishment to the conversation between the two people in front of him. Were they students at T University?
What a coincidence—he was also going to T University, so they were his future seniors.
Chi Ye put down his phone and looked at the pale, delicate omega in front of him, who seemed to be under eighteen, and asked, “Are you an adult yet? Minors need a guardian’s accompaniment and signature for temporary marking.”
“I’m an adult,” Ruan Shuyang nodded immediately. “I turned eighteen in April and have already finished the college entrance exam and am going to university.”
After saying that, he asked, “The admission results should be out by now. Which university did you get into?”
Ruan Shuyang figured they’d probably run into each other at school anyway, so he didn’t hide anything and answered directly, “T University.”
“Wow!” Gu Jin whistled, “Although I always complain about our university, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s one of the top universities in City B. It’s not easy to get in here. You’re a good student.”
Gu Jin chuckled and introduced himself to Ruan Shuyang: “Let me introduce you. I’m Gu Jin, and he’s Chi Ye. We’re both third-year students in the Computer Science Department at T University. I’m just a nobody, but he’s different. He’s a campus celebrity and heartthrob at T University. You’ll see how popular he is once you get to school.”
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