In early July, the midday sun was fiercely blazing. The shade of the locust trees could not block the glaring sunlight, casting mottled patches of light and shadow on the ground. The sticky sap dripping onto the pavement was hard to wipe clean, prompting every passing pedestrian to mutter curses under their breath.
Zou Yuqing broke into a sweat just a few steps out of his home. His clothes stuck clammily to his back, putting him in a somewhat irritable mood. The sensation of his shoe soles feeling as though they were stuck to the ground made him sigh repeatedly, feeling as though nothing was going his way.
After walking through three residential areas in a row, he stepped into a chain supermarket. He greeted the cashier auntie and the store manager, then entered the locker room to change into his work uniform and began today’s shift. With summer break underway, he needed to work a part-time job to supplement the household income. Being close to home made the commute convenient and made it easy for him to head back and take care of his mother during breaks.
“Little Zou, a shipment came in this morning. Just go ahead and stock all of these items onto the shelves,” the manager said with a warm smile as soon as he came out in his uniform. “By the way, Little Zou, you’ll be a senior when school starts this year, right? You’re not too young anymore. You could think about dating. I have a niece who is just starting her freshman year as an omega this semester. She’s a great match for you, and you two should get to know each other!”
When the weather turned hot, fewer people came to the supermarket. Whenever there were few customers in the store, the manager always loved to chat with him about this and that. She was a middle-aged beta woman whose favorite pastime was setting him up on dates.
Zou Yuqing smiled somewhat awkwardly. While taking daily necessities out of the cargo box to arrange them, he said, “Sister Zhang, you know the situation at home. Dating me would just hold a girl back. Let’s forget it, really.” With that, he began stocking the shelves according to the price tags.
The manager thought for a moment, sighed with a trace of regret, and said, “Life will get better eventually. How is your mother doing lately?”
Would it get better? Zou Yuqing didn’t know. He only knew that his current life was like a pool of stagnant mud. He was living a lingering, breathing existence without a shred of dignity.
“Still the same as before,” he replied softly, thinking of his mercurial and emotionally volatile mother.
“Sigh, it’s tough on you too, Little Zou, especially since you haven’t even graduated yet.” The manager shook her head, though she didn’t seem ready to give up on introducing her niece to the tall, handsome, and independent high-quality Alpha standing before her. “Actually, it’s fine. You can just add my niece on WeChat and chat for a bit first. Look, here is her QR code. Scan it. It’s no big deal to just add a friend first!”
Unable to refuse the well-meaning manager, Zou Yuqing had no choice but to fish his phone out of his pants pocket. But just as he was about to tap the scan feature, a call notification popped up on the screen.
He hadn’t saved the name, but he was far too familiar with the string of numbers. Apologizing to the manager, he stepped out of the supermarket to answer the call.
“We…”
“Zou Yuqing, go to our usual spot tonight and handle something for me. Once you’ve taken care of it, I’ll transfer fifty thousand yuan to you.” Before he could finish his word, the person on the other end started speaking on their own accord, hanging up the phone the moment the sentence finished.
Fifty thousand yuan? Zou Yuqing suddenly froze in place. In the past, that person would give him at most ten thousand yuan, and at worst he would just take a beating. This time, they were offering fifty thousand? This matter must be extremely tricky. He suddenly felt a bit panicked, yet he was deeply drawn by the sum.
Look at that, how pathetic. Just because more money was offered, even though he knew nothing about what was going on, he would still go ahead and do as told. And it wasn’t just about the money. He simply couldn’t resist that person’s commands. He thought that for the rest of his life, he would forever be cast under that person’s shadow, unable to catch a breath.
Returning to the supermarket, he apologetically asked the manager for some time off. After working for three hours, Zou Yuqing went home and changed into a slightly more decent outfit. After all, the place he was going to tonight was high-end, a place frequented by the wealthy. The first time he went there, wearing a slightly yellowed white T-shirt, he had been stopped at the door. To this day, he couldn’t forget the mocking and sneering looks the expensive-looking passersby had given him.
He stood before a slightly cracked mirror to check his reflection. The face staring back was expressionless. Because he had shaved his head a couple of days ago, he looked much more spirited than before. As an Alpha, his physical fitness was quite good, and working manual labor often had carved out a lean, resilient frame, making him fairly capable of taking a beating.
Tearing off his old scent patch, he applied a fresh one, sealing his pheromones tightly away. Afterward, he prepared a bowl of noodles for his mother. “Mom, I’ve left your noodles on the table. Remember to eat them. I’m heading out for a bit and will be back as soon as I’m done.”
The woman sitting on the couch gave no response, continuing to stare blankly downward with lowered eyes, lost in thought.
“I’ll be leaving then. Just leave the bowl there when you finish eating, and I’ll wash it when I get back,” Zou Yuqing said before stepping out the door. His mother remained in this state most of the time, and he had long since grown used to it.
Transferring across two subway lines and a bus, he successfully arrived at the usual spot an hour and a half later. It was a club named Venery, located in a secluded corner downtown. Its very name offered an implicit hint of the kind of place it was.
Taking a deep breath and bracing himself for a beating, he walked into the unpretentious-looking establishment. On the outside it looked like a bar, but inside it housed countless private rooms where wealthy young Alpha elites revelled, places frequently filled with the weeping and crying of vulnerable omegas.
Here, many Alphas and omegas chose not to wear scent patches or use blockers, meaning the air was constantly heavy with the complex, unspeakable blend of intermingling pheromones that was utterly nauseating. He detested this place, yet he found himself forced to come here time and time again.
Today, the atmosphere in the club was unusual. Everyone looked tense, as if some major figure was about to arrive. Several groups gathered together, glancing alternately at the entrance and then at him. Intuition told Zou Yuqing that Zou Yuyang might have truly stirred up a massive disaster this time.
“Um, I’d like to ask, did Zou Yuyang do something?” Zou Yuqing asked quietly, leaning over the bar to speak to the bartender, the person he was most familiar with here. Every time he came, this bartender would gossip about the messes Zou Yuyang had gotten into. “Did he beat up an Alpha from a major conglomerate again?”
The bartender looked hesitant for a moment before simply shaking his head, saying cautiously, “Beating someone up would be fine. What he did this…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a sudden wave of people flooded into Venery, looking terrifyingly menacing. Within moments, the bar area was surrounded by the aggressive pheromones of Alphas. In an instant, the omegas were forced into heat, crying out miserably with flushed faces, while the Alphas were pressed down by the heavy pheromone pressure, beginning an indiscriminate hunt for the omegas around them.
Zou Yuqing felt terrible too. As an A-grade Alpha, his pheromone level wasn’t low, and even though he wore a scent patch, such a massive, simultaneous release of pheromones left him suffocating.
“Which one is Zou Yuyang?” the leader in black asked coldly. His voice carried not a shred of emotion, sending a chill through anyone who heard it.
As expected. Hearing the name Zou Yuyang, Zou Yuqing froze. He suddenly understood why Zou Yuyang had offered him fifty thousand this time, because he might not even make it back alive.
He saw nearly everyone pointing their fingers straight at him. Those faces, twisted with pain and raw desire, looked utterly grotesque. And the moment he was pointed at, he felt a heavy blow land on his head with a thud.
Warm liquid immediately gushed down, blurring his vision. He let out a muffled groan, trying to struggle to his feet and escape, but it was all in vain. Instead, he crawled a few times across the floor like a clown, delivering the most comical performance of the day.
Then, he saw the leading man in black reach out his hand. Someone beside him handed over a burlap sack, and very soon, the sack was pulled down over him.
His vision vanished abruptly, and the dull, throbbing pain in his head made him tremble. In the end, he failed to escape and passed out.