“Doctor, am I going to die soon?”
On the hospital bed lay a young man, expression numb, his calm eyes as though already expecting the answer.
The doctor looked at the patient with complicated sympathy: “No. The test results show you’ve undergone secondary differentiation as an Alpha, not a rare genetic disease. You can live a long life.”
“Alpha?”
At that moment, a well-dressed middle-aged man entered the ward. Seeing the frail youth on the bed, he exclaimed with joy: “Yes, an Alpha! You are my son!”
Zuo Shihuan’s heart beat twice—once for the fact that he could continue living, and once for the father he had never seen since birth.
But it all faded into numb heaviness.
“Oh.”
***
One month later.
Zuo Shihuan was transferred to the best hospital in the Upper City, receiving top medical care—only because he had differentiated from a low-level Beta into an Alpha, and had been reclaimed by his wealthy father.
In a society where Alpha rights reigned supreme, only Alphas could inherit, while Betas and Omegas were subsidiary.
His wealthy father had dozens of illegitimate children, but they were all Betas and Omegas. What he desperately lacked was an Alpha heir—until Zuo Shihuan unexpectedly differentiated into an Alpha in adulthood.
From a slum-born Beta, Zuo Shihuan transformed overnight into the heir of a prestigious family.
Everything happened so quickly that he felt somewhat dazed, dragging his suitcase.
“Young Master, the car is ready to return to the Zuo residence.”
The butler addressed him respectfully.
Zuo Shihuan glanced at the butler with indifference: “And my father?”
The butler: “The Master, Madam, and the rest of the young masters and young misses are all waiting at the Zuo estate, preparing a welcome ceremony for you.”
Zuo Shihuan withdrew his gaze, declined the butler’s offer to carry his luggage: “Let’s go.”
As he stepped out of the ward—
The young nurses at the hospital saw Zuo Shihuan in his suit—handsome, composed, carrying a kind of aloofness that made people want to probe closer.
One nurse gushed like a fangirl: “Why didn’t I know we had such a good-looking patient?”
Another nurse retorted: “How could you not know? A month ago, a patient from the Lower City District was transferred here. Didn’t you say he was so thin he looked like a zombie?”
The first nurse exclaimed: “Huh? How could it be him? He looks nothing like that anymore!”
The head nurse came over to scold them: “What are you gossiping about during work hours? Have you organized the ward inspection records?”
The two young nurses hurriedly apologized, then picked up the files and left.
The head nurse’s stern expression softened slightly as she prepared to file away a patient’s discharge records. By accident, she came across the photo of a thin, hollow-cheeked young man.
It was the very same Zuo Shihuan the nurses had just been swooning over.
The head nurse flipped through indifferently, but when she read the medical history, she was taken aback—malnutrition, even in the interstellar era?
In the end, she could only sigh softly: “That child is truly strong.”
***
Zuo Family.
The one called strong—Zuo Shihuan—faced pairs of unfamiliar eyes, secretly tightening his grip on his suitcase.
A noblewoman, her face filled with welcoming smiles, stepped forward eagerly: “You must be that child, Zuo Shihuan? Welcome to the Zuo family. I am Madam Zuo, you may call me Mother.”
Zuo Shihuan couldn’t bring himself to say that word. He could only nod politely: “Madam Zuo.”
Having gained an Alpha heir late in life, Zuo Zoujian was overjoyed—he no longer had to fear being expelled from the main family branch in his twilight years. He sternly ordered the others: “What are you crowding around Shihuan for? He just returned from the hospital, he must be tired. Clear the way and let him go inside to rest.”
At his command, no one dared disobey, and a path was immediately opened.
But seeing how Zuo Shihuan received his father’s doubled attention the moment he arrived, everyone else’s standing dropped a level in an instant. The gazes of some children who had once been favored inevitably carried hostility and jealousy.
Madam Zuo saw it all, but made no move to stop it.
As the mistress of the household, having a b*stard child pressed above her and her children, she was in fact the most resentful, the most unwilling of all. Yet she still had to wear the smiling mask of a kind, harmonious mother to welcome this illegitimate son—no matter how much, in her heart, she wished Zuo Shihuan had long died in the slums.
She beckoned her own two children over: “These are my two, ranked fifth and ninth—one a Beta, the other an Omega girl. The eldest is also mine, but he’s away helping your father with work. Come, Zuo Shixi, Zuo Shiyun, greet your older brother.”
Zuo Shixi was impatient. Why should he and his sister be dragged into fawning over some b*stard from the slums? But his mother had warned him repeatedly beforehand—they must show respect on the surface, they must not provoke Father’s anger.
“Older Brother.”
“Older Brother!”
The latter greeting came from Zuo Shiyun, unlike her brother, she was quite curious about this newly arrived Alpha sibling.
Madam Zuo ordered: “Shixi, take your older brother’s suitcase and show him to his room.”
Zuo Shixi answered begrudgingly, walked over, half-snatching the suitcase. His tone carried both pride and envy: “You probably haven’t seen houses this nice in the slums, have you? The Zuo estate’s location is one of the most famous in the Upper City. Your room is close to Father’s, with great light and scenery. It’s the second-best room in the house…”
He muttered under his breath: “I begged Father to give me that room before, but he refused.”
They climbed the wooden staircase.
Faint fragrance lingered in the polished wood, elegant crystal chandeliers hung overhead, portraits of the Zuo ancestors lined the walls, their painted eyes seemingly fixed on Zuo Shihuan.
Even the carved patterns beneath his palm on the banister showed no lack of refinement.
Zuo Shihuan glanced around once, then fixed his gaze calmly on Zuo Shixi, observing every move, meeting his eyes directly when the boy turned.
“Here we are, your room.”
Zuo Shixi opened the door, tossing the suitcase carelessly to one side, then began bragging about the greatness of the Zuo family, his words dripping with aristocratic pride.
Zuo Shihuan bent down, lifted the toppled suitcase, and set it squarely upright on the polished floor.
“If you really like this room, I can ask Father to give it to you.”
Zuo Shixi quickly waved it off: “No, no, if Father knew he’d scold me. Besides… whether I live in this room or not, it belongs to me anyway.”
A flicker of dimness crossed his eyes. It wasn’t the room that mattered, but the place he held in Father’s heart, the symbol of the heir to the Zuo family.
“Once you’re settled, come down for dinner. My mom already prepared a big feast.”
“Alright.”
Just before leaving, Zuo Shixi leaned against the doorframe: “I thought a brother from the slums would be some lower-class guy with a poor man’s petty mentality, but you don’t seem like that. By the way, what’s the slum really like?”
Zuo Shihuan glanced around at the furnishings of the room—the expensive, elegant décor, the spotless patterned glass windows gleaming wherever sunlight touched them.
“Completely different from here.”
Zuo Shixi scoffed inwardly but didn’t say the obvious—wasn’t that nonsense? If the famous Zuo estate of the Federation were like the slums, that would be the end of it.
“Well then, Older Brother, I’ll be in your care from now on.”
Zuo Shixi raised the polished smile fit for social occasions, extending a friendly hand.
Zuo Shihuan clasped it, calmly gazing down into the depths of his younger brother’s eyes where unwillingness lurked.
“Mn.”
***
At the long dining table, two rows of people were already seated.
The Zuo family members wore varied expressions. There were more than ten children alone; some were absent, some already grown and assigned to work in different branches of the Zuo industries, while the younger ones still needed servants to lift them into their seats.
Zuo Zoujian sat in the center, beckoning him over, while Madam Zuo’s smile was stiff and forced.
Zuo Shihuan had changed into a properly tailored suit, his posture upright, appearance striking.
Zuo Zoujian grew all the more satisfied: “Come, sit beside me. From now on, that seat is yours.”
The atmosphere at the dining table instantly froze.
The Zuo children all watched as the butler pulled out the second chair—directly at their father’s right hand. That seat had always belonged to the eldest brother, the one their father relied on the most.
But now that Zuo Shihuan had come, everyone gave way to him.
Some gloating glances were cast toward Madam Zuo. As expected, that false noblewoman’s mask was about to crack. Her lips, painted bright red, turned ashen; the wineglass in her hand trembled.
Zuo Shihuan sat down calmly. “Thank you, Father.”
Delicate dishes were brought to the table—things the boy who grew up in the slums on nutrient paste had never once seen.
Imitating the Zuo family, he picked up knife and fork. The blade scraped against porcelain, ringing out harsh and grating.
His father’s brows immediately furrowed. Madam Zuo lifted her smile higher, while the Zuo children looked on with contempt and mockery, waiting for a spectacle.
Madam Zuo introduced the dishes: “Shihuan, you’ve come back from the slums and surely haven’t eaten anything good. I had the chef prepare these for you—French escargot, cream of mushroom soup, premium organic beef, and… foie gras. From the time the gosling is only a few months old, it’s hung up and force-fed by machine until adulthood. By then, its liver is six or seven times its normal size, tender and rich in flavor.”
She cut off a piece of foie gras, placed it into her blood-red mouth, and showed an expression of relish, motioning for Zuo Shihuan to try.
His eyes landed on the whole piece of foie gras on the platter. He frowned in resistance, but under Madam Zuo’s urging, picked up the knife and fork again.
The screeching scrape of the blade echoed like the cries of young geese.
Zuo Shihuan stopped.
Catching her husband’s look of displeasure, Madam Zuo curved her lips and pressed again: “Why aren’t you eating? Are you dissatisfied with what I prepared just for you?”
Zuo Shihuan pursed his lips, said no, and with a furrowed brow forced it down—until the plate was finished.
The eerie table finally fell silent from the grating cuts.
Zuo Zoujian, smile deepening, asked with concern: “How is it? To your taste? Eat more. The doctor says after a second differentiation into Alpha, you’ll need a great deal of nourishment. If it’s not enough, I’ll have the chef bring more. There’ll be dessert afterward.”
He smiled at Zuo Shihuan, but turned his head toward his wife with displeasure:
“You knew Shihuan just came back and isn’t used to table etiquette. As his mother, why didn’t you pay more attention, have the servants portion the food into bite-sized pieces? Next time, don’t let this happen again.”
Tao Douxia’s eyes widened; the napkin in her hands was nearly torn to shreds.
She had thought her strict and stiff husband would scold this crude, ignorant b*stard son. Instead, in front of everyone, it was she who was chastised—her face trampled for the sake of a slum-born illegitimate child, even stripping away the position she had safeguarded for her eldest son.
She could almost hear the sneers of the onlookers beneath them.
Her eyes reddened with fury.
Thus ended a tasteless dinner.
No one cared for the untouched delicacies left on the table—no one except Zuo Shihuan, who, not wanting waste, reached for the last piece of broccoli.
Then his father spoke.
“Next, I’ve arranged a blind date for you. The daughter of a certain Omega family. I hope you’ll marry soon and produce the next Alpha heir.”
The food stuck in Zuo Shihuan’s throat.
His mind went back to that goose.
Only a few months old when it was force-fed; once its liver grew fat, it was sent to slaughter. And on the next assembly line, another gosling began the same path of force-feeding.
