Inside the lakeside apartment, Fang Fengqin was soaking in the bathtub and grumbling to himself.
With good reason. The total number of bad luck instances he had experienced recently was almost catching up to the past twenty-three years of his life.
The suppressant patch on the back of his neck had been torn off, revealing bruised and purplish skin. He turned his head to look in the mirror. Even though he had anticipated it, seeing this sight in person still made his heart involuntarily contract.
Fang Fengqin’s scent gland had failed to develop properly.
In the year of his secondary differentiation, the internal conflicts within the Fang family were severe. Elder Fang valued bloodlines and believed that only alphas were qualified to inherit shares and enter the corporate group.
Unfortunately, however, Fang Fengqin’s older brother, Fang Rongxi, was a beta.
Consequently, no matter what Fang Fengqin differentiated into, he ultimately had to be an alpha.
His mother’s hoarse, frantic scolding still seemed to linger in his ears. Fang Fengqin still remembered the feelings he had on the day his differentiation ended.
A massive wave of panic, helplessness, and guilt had caused him to blindly and desperately beg his mother not to tell anyone the result.
“Your father and your brother won’t say anything either?” Zhong Lu’s angry expression finally eased slightly, her brows furrowed as she stared at the good-for-nothing child in front of her.
Fang Fengqin’s complexion was pale to the point of being translucent, and he lowered his head to gently wipe away his tears.
“I’m begging you, please don’t say anything,” he promised his mother. “I will become an alpha.”
The water in the bathtub had grown lukewarm. Fang Fengqin pulled his thoughts back to reality and gave a slight shiver.
The scent of white pine resin had not yet dissipated. Fang Fengqin pressed against his swollen scent gland, a wave of annoyance welling up in his heart.
Ever since he had first differentiated into an omega back then, he began injecting high-concentration suppressants, which essentially cut off the development of his scent gland and reproductive cavity from the root. Nowadays, he didn’t look like an omega, nor did he look much like an alpha.
Yet he wasn’t a beta either, given that the monthly pseudo-ruts still made him wish for death.
Fang Fengqin gave a self-deprecating tug at the corner of his lips, stepped out of the bathroom, and pulled open the storage room drawer, intending to take another shot of suppressants, only to find that the drawer was completely empty.
He frowned, turned around, and walked into the walk-in closet.
At Number 6, Xinghe Road Cultural Street, Qin Tingfeng was sterilizing a syringe.
“Doctor Qin, is my baby going to be all right?” Standing in front of him was a young man holding an orange-and-white kitten in his arms, the very “baby” he was referring to.
Qin Tingfeng pinched the scruff of the kitten’s neck. He wore a crew cut and had a cigarette clamped between his lips, grinning broadly at the question. “One shot will cure it.”
Fang Fengqin heard this exact sentence as he walked inside.
His steps paused, and he took two steps back to double-check the store sign. He hadn’t come to the wrong place.
Looking past the brim of his lowered cap, Qin Tingfeng had already pulled out the needle and reached out to tease the kitten’s whiskers.
“Oh, you’re here. Same as usual?” After the customer paid and left with the cat, Qin Tingfeng finally noticed Fang Fengqin.
Fang Fengqin remained silent for two seconds before asking in an odd tone, “You’re a veterinarian?”
All these years, had he actually been seeing a vet? Fang Fengqin felt a complicated and indescribable mix of emotions.
Qin Tingfeng laughed cheerfully. “I can treat both humans and animals.”
“Ran out of suppressants? How many doses do you need this time?” Qin Tingfeng walked familiarly toward the back to prepare the medicine.
Over the years, Fang Fengqin had been his major client. Although he always acted mysterious, he paid generously, and Qin Tingfeng wasn’t naturally gossipy, making their cooperation quite smooth.
Fang Fengqin stepped forward. “Thirty doses.”
Qin Tingfeng stopped in his tracks and sighed. “Little brother, do you still want your life?”
You couldn’t blame Qin Tingfeng for reacting so strongly. In the past few years, Fang Fengqin only needed one dose every two months, but now it had escalated to two doses a month. He had watched this person steadily increase the dosage, and earning this money made his conscience uneasy.
“Also, what is that smell on you? I wanted to mention it as soon as you walked in; it’s so strong it’s giving me a headache.” Qin Tingfeng silently slipped an isolation collar around his neck.
Fang Fengqin was genuinely stunned this time.
“You’re an omega?” he asked, looking at the man in surprise.
Qin Tingfeng let out a scoff. “Of course, I am.”
Even though he sported a crew cut, tattoos, and indulged in smoking and drinking, he was as pure an omega as they came.
Fang Fengqin stared at him blankly for a couple of moments before lowering his head again. “I thought you were a beta.”
“Then you really misjudged.” He had a heavy smoking habit and felt miserable if he went without a smoke for even a moment. As he prepared the medicine, he clamped another cigarette in his mouth. “My son is probably around your age.”
Fang Fengqin was startled once more. “You’ve given birth?”
While they were talking, someone walked inside. Fang Fengqin glanced over sharply. The newcomer was wearing a cap and mask just like him, and his build was slightly shorter than his.
“Dad, fix me some medicine.”
Speak of the devil. Qin Tingfeng chuckled. Ignoring his own son, he turned to Fang Fengqin and said, “My son is twenty-two this year. How about you?”
Fang Fengqin didn’t reply, his gaze studying the newcomer with curiosity. Whether it was his imagination or not, he felt that this person’s figure looked somewhat familiar.
Qin Tingfeng’s son also turned his head to look at Fang Fengqin. His casual gaze swept over the pair of eyes beneath Fang Fengqin’s cap brim. After a moment of mutual staring, the person suddenly acted as though he had seen a ghost and hurried outside.
“Hey, kid, what medicine do you want?” Qin Tingfeng muttered in confusion, calling out a few times without getting a glance back before cursing under his breath, “Same temperament as his old man.”
For some reason, a lingering sense of unease settled in Fang Fengqin’s chest.
He pulled his cap lower, and Qin Tingfeng handed him the prepared syringes. “Ten doses. Six months’ supply.”
Fang Fengqin looked up in astonishment. “That’s not enough.”
“If you don’t want to die, use less of it.” Qin Tingfeng was getting annoyed. “How many times have I told you before? This stuff is a chronic poison. Not only do you refuse to cut back, but you’re also increasing the dose on your own. If this keeps up, I won’t sell it to you next time.”
An illegal underground workshop actually had a conscience to speak of? Fang Fengqin stared at him gloomily.
Qin Tingfeng somehow bizarrely understood the look.
“The workshop is shady, what’s that got to do with me as a person?” He clicked his tongue. “Kid, I shouldn’t be sticking my nose into this, but you and my son should be around the same age.”
“Judging by your scent, you’ve been marked by an alpha, haven’t you?” He twitched his nose and disgustedly adjusted his isolation collar up a notch. “And by a top-tier alpha, at that.”
The veins at Fang Fengqin’s temples throbbed. “No, I haven’t.”
“The hell you haven’t. That pseudo-pheromone perfume of yours is something I helped you put together in the first place. You having a scent this strong is pure ghost story territory.”
He flicked his cigarette ash and leaned sideways against the counter. “I sincerely advise you to stop taking this medicine. Honestly resign yourself to being an omega. This drug is going to cost you your life sooner or later.”
Fang Fengqin knew that all too well.
He paused for two seconds and lowered his voice. “Can you treat people’s illnesses?”
A black line crossed Qin Tingfeng’s brow. “I’m qualified for both humans and beasts. Out with it, what part of you is uncomfortable?”
“During the rut, it hurts.” Fang Fengqin bit his dry lips. He wasn’t accustomed to voicing this kind of private vulnerability, so his tone came out flat.
“Even smelling a pheromone hurts.” He licked the corner of his lips and added, “It hurts a lot.”
It hurt so badly that even someone who was used to enduring pain couldn’t take it anymore, wishing he could bash his head against a wall just to knock himself out for some relief.
Hearing this, Qin Tingfeng frowned. “Take off the scent gland patch. I need to check the condition of your gland.”