Chapter 53: “You Don’t Have Xu Yibai’s Gentleness.”
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In a hazy state of consciousness, Shen Yao didn’t know how long he had been asleep. It felt as if he had surrendered himself to the treasure trove of a dragon, his body tightly entwined by its tail, without even a chance to turn around.
From head to toe, he was forced to be tainted with the scent of an alpha, as if he had become their possession. Shen Yao tumbled in his slumber, his lips slightly parted, as if having an uneasy dream.
Sleeping on his side, his glands bore mottled bite marks, evidence of how forcefully they had been bitten.
Shen Yao’s exposed skin was adorned with love marks, especially on his slender and smooth neck. Guan Shu remembered every single one and took every opportunity to leave his mark.
After the dissipating presence beside him, Shen Yao finally opened his eyes. He vividly remembered how miserable he was last night.
Guan Shu had indeed made sure that Shen Yao couldn’t leave the bed, just as he had promised. Shen Yao raised his hand and pressed it expressionlessly against his forehead.
A wild dog was still a wild dog, impossible to train. It would suppress its instincts to stay by your side, but when angry, it would bare its fangs and find ways to recoup its losses.
The room’s door opened again, and Guan Shu walked in from outside. He was shirtless, only wearing loose-fitting sweatpants, his muscles taut and covered in scratches.
Shen Yao stared at him, noticing a faint wound at the corner of his lips, and asked, “Are you satisfied?”
“What?” Guan Shu stood in front of him, anticipating Shen Yao’s raised hand and swiftly retracting the water glass. He lowered his gaze, staring down at Shen Yao from a higher position, and said, “Angry?”
“Angry?” Shen Yao let out a low laugh. “I haven’t been angry for a long time.”
After a full day and night, the scent lingered in the air, laden with ambiguity and temptation. Shen Yao could smell it, but his expression remained unchanged, as beautiful as a butterfly imprisoned in the palm of a hand.
He spoke, “Guan Shu, carry me to the couch.”
Guan Shu paused in front of him, the standoff lasting a few seconds. He bent down, placing the water glass in Shen Yao’s hand, then leaned over, his arm extending from the bend of Shen Yao’s legs, carefully lifting him as if handling delicate merchandise.
His body was always as hot as a furnace, and Shen Yao could hear the strong thumping of his heartbeat.
Shen Yao turned his face to the side and casually wrapped his arm around Guan Shu’s shoulder, unreservedly asking with a hint of intentional ignorance, “You couldn’t bear to stop even for a moment last night. Have you not been with anyone else all these years? But I have, and I don’t have such intense desires.”
“Can you stop saying things that upset me?” Guan Shu sneered.
He placed Shen Yao on the couch and forcefully gripped his chin. Suddenly, he leaned in, their noses nearly touching, and said each word distinctly, “Unfortunately, from now on, you only have me. I alone can keep you from getting out of bed.”
His palm pressed firmly against Shen Yao’s thigh, the shadow Shen Yao left on him never dissipating. Guan Shu’s gaze grew heavy like a deep abyss. “Don’t let me catch you with that adulterer again.”
“But I don’t really want to be with you because you lack Xu Yibai’s gentleness, nor his consideration for my feelings.” Shen Yao lifted his chin slightly, not avoiding eye contact, sincerely and with a hint of confusion, he asked, “Isn’t getting in bed supposed to be for comfort?”
Knowing that Shen Yao was deliberately provoking him, but whenever he heard that name, Guan Shu found it difficult to control his rationality and maintain the upper hand.
“Bang!”
As Shen Yao fell backward, his wide clothes fluttered in the air, revealing his slender and pale waist, which was soon covered by a large dark palm.
Guan Shu’s hand alone seemed capable of snapping Shen Yao’s waist in two.
“Shen Yao… Are you deliberately provoking me again? Why do you always enjoy seeing me angry?”
He forcefully pushed Shen Yao down onto the couch and knelt over him, his movements fierce and seamless. Guan Shu, feeling touched on a sore spot, wanted to prove to Shen Yao that he was much better than Xu Yibai.
Gritting his teeth, Guan Shu spoke with a mixture of anger and embarrassment, “That Xu Yibai with his plain appearance, can he make you feel satisfied? Weren’t you uncomfortable last night? Shen Yao, my clothes are still wet until now, and they’re all soaked with your scent.”
Suddenly, Shen Yao seemed unable to catch his breath. He turned his fair and delicate profile away, raising his hand to cover his lips, unable to stop coughing.
Guan Shu was taken aback and immediately pulled him into his arms, patting his back. Shen Yao’s frail back leaned against him, trembling with each cough, and Guan Shu anxiously asked, “Yao Yao?!”
Shen Yao coughed for a while, his knuckles turning red from the discomfort, and finally gradually calmed down.
“It’s nothing.” Shen Yao’s eyelashes hung lightly as he calmly said, as if it were a common occurrence, “Just the aftermath of cleansing a mark, it intensified after you pushed me into the pool last time.”
The imminent eruption of a volcano was forcibly suppressed, and Guan Shu could only grit his teeth and gently pat Shen Yao’s back. He didn’t want to delve into whether Shen Yao was pretending or truly unwell; he only hoped that Shen Yao would be okay.
“Yao Yao…” Guan Shu whispered softly, “Should we go to the hospital?”
But Shen Yao pushed his hand away. “It’s fine. Let me rest for a while. Don’t disturb me.”
Shen Yao laid on the couch in a feigned doze. When the phone rang, he felt a gaze instantly shift from the kitchen, staring at him more intently than anyone else.
He lowered his head to check the caller ID: “Auntie, is there something you need?”
The feeling of being watched diminished slightly, but that gaze still hadn’t moved away. If he were to use another name, Guan Shu might burst out right away.
Zhuo Ran had something to ask him for help and smiled as she inquired, “Yao Yao, can you help me film a promotional video for a dance performance?”
“Sure.”
Shen Yao agreed because Zhuo Ran had helped him a lot in the past.
His prompt agreement surprised Zhuo Ran, and she reminded him, “It’s an underwater dance video, you’ll have to wear weights and do multiple takes. It can be quite tiring.”
“It’s okay, I don’t mind the hard work.”
Zhuo Ran asked the most crucial question, “Can you swim?”
Shen Yao lifted his face and saw Guan Shu standing in front of the stove. Unlike Xu Yibai, he looked somewhat out of place there.
Guan Shu didn’t seem like someone who was skilled at cooking, yet he adeptly poured oil and stirred with a spatula. Shen Yao knew that Guan Shu had started learning to cook in high school.
He would make a lunchbox without a good presentation and stubbornly claim that his aunt at home had made it. Shen Yao witnessed his culinary skills improving and the lunchbox becoming more and more beautiful.
“Yao Yao?”
Shen Yao turned back, a smile curling up at the corners of his mouth. “I can swim. I learned it in college, and I’m decent at it.”
Guan Shu asked why he deliberately said such things, of course, it was because he wanted to upset him.
If he wasn’t happy, then no one should be happy.
One week later.
The guests gathered together at the evening banquet, and Shen Yao attended while holding Yan Zhixing’s arm. He always cooperated well in such occasions, portraying the image of a beautiful, gentle, and considerate omega.
Just by looking at Yan Zhixing alone, many alphas in the room felt envious and jealous. Their ambiguous gazes probed, but Yan Zhixing furrowed his brows and returned their gaze.
No one dared to approach him except Shen Fulin, who walked over with large strides and a smile on his face.
Shen Fulin played his role very well. If it weren’t for those who knew him, anyone would think he was truly a refined and gentle elder, taking care of his nephew whose parents had passed away.
Shen Yao had also been deceived by him. In a completely unfamiliar hospital, surrounded by nurses and doctors coming and going, he could understand the foreign language they spoke, but the professional medical terminology they used was completely incomprehensible to him.
At that time, he was just a little over five years old, sitting alone outside the operating room for a full ten hours. The nurses couldn’t bear to see him and wanted to take him to rest.
Shen Yao had remained silent the whole time, but at that moment, he let out a sharp scream and forcefully bit into the nurse’s arm.
He was just a wary little wolf cub, not trusting anything around him. Shen Fulin was the first familiar person he saw in that desolate corridor.
Shen Fulin rushed over, looking weary and covered in dust. When he saw Shen Yao, he hugged him tightly.
At that time, Shen Yao didn’t understand that people can have ulterior motives, nor did he understand that what he saw before him might not be genuine.
He didn’t believe in those shooting stars fairy tales. He knew deeply what he might lose. Since the shooting incident until now, Shen Yao tightly gripped his sleeve with his small hand. He didn’t wail, just silently shed a few tears.
Shen Yao used to believe in Shen Fulin as well.
“President Yan.” Shen Fulin first raised his glass to Yan Zhixing before turning to Shen Yao. “Yao Yao.”
Shen Yao didn’t like drinking alcohol, but today he took a sip from his glass in a good mood. He could clearly see the curve of Shen Fulin’s lips, completely different from his haggard appearance a while ago.
But he was grateful because Shen Fulin was a foolish person despite his acting skills. The Yan family returning to the country obviously meant they wanted a piece of the pie. Shen Fulin couldn’t even see Yan Zhixing’s intentions towards the Shen family, or perhaps he was so arrogant that he believed he could see through Yan Zhixing. Ten Shen Fulins wouldn’t be enough for Yan Zhixing to play with.
Shen Yao didn’t know how Yan Zhixing trapped Shen Fulin, he only knew that Shen Fulin had fallen for it long ago.
The dinner was intentionally arranged by Shen Yao, and Yan Zhixing could definitely see his motives. Shen Yao just wanted to add fuel to the fire, and conveniently borrow a knife to kill someone.
For various reasons, he didn’t have any sentimental attachment to the Shen family. He was even willing to watch their century-old legacy fall into someone else’s hands.
Shen Yao just wanted to snatch back what belonged to him, like the territories his father had personally developed, or the shares his father once owned.
While Yan Zhixing and Shen Fulin were engaged in conversation, Shen Yao suddenly lowered his head and excused himself, saying that he wasn’t feeling well and went upstairs.
There were several prepared rooms upstairs as resting areas. Shen Yao pushed open the door at the end of the corridor and closed it tightly, making sure there was no gap left.
Shen Yao sat down on the sofa and finished half a glass of wine. He peeled off the inhibitory patch on his gland and began releasing pheromones in the empty room.
The scent of apricot blossoms grew stronger and stronger, as if it were about to burst through the windows.
But Shen Yao felt it wasn’t enough. He continued until every inch of the room, every strand of air, was saturated with the scent, as if an omega in heat had been there. Only then did he stop.
Based on the compatibility of Yan Zhixing and his pheromones, as soon as Yan Zhixing entered the room, he would immediately enter the susceptible phase.
With everything prepared, Shen Yao stumbled towards the door, almost tripping over a waiter in the corridor. Fortunately, someone grabbed his arm in time.
He leaned against the wall, his eyes seemingly misty, his breath irregular as he struggled to maintain his composure and said, “Hello… I suddenly entered my heat phase. Could you please go downstairs and call my alpha for me?”
He paused halfway, then made an effort to continue, “His name… His name is Yan Zhixing.”
The waiter was a beta and couldn’t smell the scent of pheromones. He could only see the blushing cheeks of an omega, like a blooming rose.
The waiter supported Shen Yao’s hand and led him out of the hallway, his face flushed as he nodded anxiously, then hurriedly ran downstairs.
The waiter’s figure disappeared from his sight, and Shen Yao gradually straightened his body, no longer appearing as fragile as before.
Shen Yao looked into the distance and took out his phone from his pocket. He asked the waiter to call Yan Zhixing, but he himself turned around and walked away.
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