Gu Song is always puzzled by Fang Fengqin’s habit of constantly wearing scent-suppressing patches, knowing that ordinary Alphas only wear suppression collars during their rutting periods.
Still, since his buddy likes it, it is not his place to say much.
He reaches out to fan the air in front of his nose. The white pine scent is not heavy, yet its presence is extremely strong, carrying a natural coolness that feels like sharp thorns pricking into others when facing other Alphas.
“Orange, are you in a bad mood?” Gu Song asks nosily. “Is it because your old man and Big Brother Fang are coming back to the country?”
Hearing this, the expression on Fang Fengqin’s face gradually fades.
He walks into the walk-in closet, looks back at Gu Song with a lukewarm glare, and closes the door shut.
Seeing that expression, Gu Song knows he has guessed correctly.
Fang Fengqin’s old man, Fang Long, is no pushover. After all, being able to fight his way out from among a crowd of Fang family members to seize real power requires some ruthless and iron-fisted methods.
As for Fang Fengqin’s older brother, Fang Rongxi, Gu Song rubs his chin. He is not very familiar with Big Brother Fang, knowing only that he gets along well with his own biological brother, Gu Peiyue.
If Gu Song had not brought this up, Fang Fengqin almost would have forgotten about it.
Calculating the time, tomorrow should be the flight.
He presses his lips together, turns around, and tears off the suppression patch that has lost most of its effectiveness. He applies a fresh one over the mottled gland at the back of his neck, puts on a suppression collar as well, and finally opens the door to go back outside.
Only then does Gu Song take a large, deep breath, patting his chest with exaggerated relief. “Orange, your pheromones do not resemble an A-grade Alpha at all. Seriously, you should take some time to get your rank retested.”
He is an A-grade Alpha himself, yet just now he was actually suppressed to the point of being unable to breathe by Fang Fengqin’s pheromones.
Fang Fengqin frowns with impatience, nudging Gu Song’s lower leg with the tip of his shoe. “Stop talking nonsense. Are we going or not?”
“Coming, coming, coming. When will that temper of yours ever change?” Gu Song mutters as he walks ahead.
Jin Cheng Club.
The evening is even livelier than the daytime.
When Gu Song and Fang Fengqin arrive at the venue, it is already past eight o’clock, and the atmosphere inside the private booth is already warming up.
Seeing the two of them push the door open and walk in, Song Jiangyan shakes his crossed legs. “Oh, the host of the gathering finally deigns to show up.”
Fang Fengqin takes the glass of alcohol handed to him and languidly sits down in the middle.
“Young Master Fang, Young Master Gu, we have been waiting for you!” A friend nearby hurries over, his tone warmly enthusiastic.
Fang Fengqin turns his head slightly to look. Yellow hair, with a tattoo on his neck shaped like a snake. The snake’s head curves outward along his jawline, darting its forked tongue and staring straight at Fang Fengqin.
A fresh face.
Not just this new face, aside from the people Fang Fengqin is usually familiar with, quite a few others in the private room have never been seen before.
“Young Master Fang, I heard from Young Master Gu that you particularly cannot stand that punk?” The tattooed man sees Fang Fengqin looking at him, a trace of subtle flattery creeping into his tone. “How about I help you teach him a lesson?”
Clearly the man did not mention a name, yet a face suddenly surfaces in Fang Fengqin’s mind.
Cultured, handsome, with mildly upturned gentle lips and indifferent eyes.
Shen Jiyun.
A sudden warmth surges into Fang Fengqin’s chest. As that wave of heat wells up, it even leaves his throat feeling a bit dry.
He subconsciously picks up his wine glass and takes a sip. The harsh, spicy taste hits him abruptly. This flavor…
“What the hell is this?” He looks over at Song Jiangyan with a puzzled expression.
Song Jiangyan looks back at him with an air of absolute innocence. “White pine. Can you not even recognize your own pheromones?”
Of course Fang Fengqin knows this is white pine, and it is precisely because he knows that he is exceptionally surprised.
He stares at Song Jiangyan with an expressionless face.
Seeing him choked to the point where the corners of his eyes turn red, Song Jiangyan wears the expression of someone whose deep revenge has finally been avenged.
Ever since he was reduced to weak knees by this scent of white pine outside the locker room door and nearly forced to his knees last time, he has been plotting when he would pay back this score.
A smile that is not quite a smile curls the corners of Fang Fengqin’s lips. Whether it is his imagination or not, the gland hidden beneath the suppression patch begins to burn faintly.
His heartbeat accelerates along with it, and a string in his head tightens.
Seeing Fang Fengqin’s expression, Gu Song opens his mouth, just wanting to say something, when he watches him gently set down his wine glass and then deliver a punch straight to Song Jiangyan.
Serves him right. Gu Song watches happily at the muffled look of pain on Song Jiangyan’s face.
Having seen enough of the excitement, he casts a sideways glance at the tattooed man.
The tattooed man catches the hint and speaks up once more. “Young Master Fang, what do you think about what I said?”
“I guarantee I can make that person vanish from Rongcheng without a trace, leaving not a single clue behind.”
Fang Fengqin falls slightly silent.
The tattooed man’s words unexpectedly stir a sense of temptation within him.
To him, someone like Shen Jiyun is no different from a ticking time bomb. Even though the man currently believes he is only a low-ranking Alpha, there is no guarantee he will not figure out something else one day down the line.
Of course, the most important point is that this person has marked him.
Thinking of the warm body pressing against his back last night, paired with the unfamiliar sensation of sharp teeth piercing through his gland, Fang Fengqin feels half his body grow slightly numb.
“What are you planning to do?” Fang Fengqin asks in a low voice.
He seems somewhat nervous, involuntarily reaching out to pick up his wine glass again, his fingertips trembling slightly if one looks closely.
The tattooed man’s gaze naturally drifts to the red lips pressed against the rim of the glass, swallowing twice as if suddenly feeling thirsty.
Gu Song and Song Jiangyan’s gazes look over from left and right, with a coolness that is identical in nature.
The tattooed man immediately lowers his eyes.
“His family situation is simple. He relies on his critically ill younger sister for mutual support. Their mother passed away years ago, and there is also a gambling-addict father who disappeared many years ago.”
“My plan is to find some moderate trouble for him so he can no longer stay in Rongcheng.”
Yet Fang Fengqin freezes the moment he hears him describe Shen Jiyun’s family situation.
A critically ill younger sister?
He recalls the young girl from that morning who called him sister-in-law, whose tone had been so lively that he had subconsciously overlooked her sickly, thin, and pale appearance.
“Young Master Fang? Young Master Fang?” The tattooed man’s voice is noisy, buzzing incessantly like an annoying mosquito.
He narrows his eyes, his tone carrying a chill. Those familiar with him can tell that his emotions are on the verge of exploding.
“Gu Song, is this the gathering you put together?”
Gu Song had originally thought Fang Fengqin would be happy to hear about this, but he never expected his good intentions to backfire.
His own mood sours as well, and he waves a hand dismissively at the tattooed man. “Get lost and take your people with you.”
The tattooed man’s expression shifts. Having spent years licking blood off knife blades and mixed up in the underworld for a long time, no one has ever dared to boss him around like this.
Yet, out of caution toward the powerful families behind these young men, he ultimately backs out with a forced smile on his face.
The door of the private booth closes in front of them, and a lackey mutters resentfully behind him, “Boss, he dared to talk to you like that…”
The tattooed man slaps him across the face with a cold look. “Shut your stinking mouth!”
The lackey retreats to the side, holding his face while casting a nervous, sideways glance at the tattooed man.
He watches him sneer, a flash of gloomy madness shining deep within his pupils.
“Look at you, your heart still is not heavy enough.” Having watched for a while, Song Jiangyan understood Gu Song’s intent, and now looks amusedly toward Fang Fengqin.
Fang Fengqin frowns. “Stop talking crap. That illegitimate brother of yours is riding all over your head, yet you have not shown the ruthlessness to deal with him?”
Song Jiangyan pauses slightly, his expression growing somewhat peculiar.
“Old Gu did not tell you?”
“Tell me what?” Fang Fengqin takes another sip of alcohol, his cheeks turning faintly pink.
“I threw him onto a bed.”
He chokes once more, the liquor spilling from the corners of his lips. He coughs violently a dozen times, and seeing Song Jiangyan reach out to pat his back, he stands up abruptly.
“Cough, cough, cough, you are crazy!”
Song Jiangyan spreads his hands indifferently. “Since he loves riding on people’s heads to kick up a fuss so much, I just let him ride to his heart’s content.”
Fang Fengqin’s expression cycles through red and white before he walks toward the washroom with a complex look in his eyes.
Seeing him leave, Gu Song’s lips twitch slightly. “You are bluffing him again.”
He has met Song Jiangyan’s illegitimate younger brother before, the guy looks like an obedient Beta, but his ambition is not small at all.
“I am not.” Song Jiangyan is puzzled for a moment, then comes to an enlightenment. “Oh, I forgot to mention that to you as well.”
Now it is Gu Song’s turn to be shocked.
“I will be damned! You, you, you!”
“You cannot be.” Song Jiangyan smiles politely. “I am a top.”