Xiao Shuqing massaged his temples in utter helplessness. An adult toy emergency intervention, only Yin Yu could come up with a solution like that.
He raised his hand and typed into the chat box: @Yin Yu, I don’t need them. Return them.
The moment his message went out, a barrage of texts shot back instantly:
Why return them? Look at the chat logs between Song Qingyun and the doctor—it’s blindingly obvious that this kind of method works!
@Xiao Shuqing, what on earth is wrong with you as an Omega? Stop resisting something that’s pure biological instinct, okay?
@Xiao Shuqing, have you seriously never taken matters into your own hands before? Please just try it, just once. I guarantee you’ll fall in love with the feeling! Seriously, trust me!
What followed was a massive wall of text vividly detailing the infinite, mind-blowing ecstasy of “the act.”
As if writing his own mini-essay wasn’t enough, Yin Yu had even scavenged massive paragraphs of descriptive text from the internet—phrases like “flushed little face,” “melting into a puddle of water,” “strings of silvery saliva,” and “sloppy, wet noises.” The exact kind of explicit content that would immediately trigger internet censorship filters.
The veins on Xiao Shuqing’s temples throbbed violently as he read.
Until.
Another dark profile picture popped up in the chat box.
Song Qingyun: Have you two completely forgotten that there is still an Alpha in this group chat?
The frantically scrolling chat box fell instantly, dead silent.
For at least a full minute, Song Qingyun’s single sentence sat completely isolated at the very bottom of the screen. Not a soul dared to reply.
And then.
The group member count at the top of the interface silently dropped from “3” to “2.”
A certain culprit finally crept back out:
I kicked him out. [Scratching head.jpg]
The messages can’t be recalled anymore, this is so awkward OvO
Sitting alone in his car, the man stared at the rapidly updating message threads. He froze briefly before pressing his knuckles against the corner of his lips, unable to suppress a soft, breathy laugh.
He casually brushed his long hair back and turned on the windshield wipers to clear away the accumulating flakes of snow.
The car engine hummed to life, and the warm air from the climate control blew directly onto his face.
He tapped his Bluetooth earpiece. “I’m giving you exactly one minute to return those things. Otherwise, I’m redirecting the shipping address to your house.”
Yin Yu’s panicked voice blared through the earpiece:
“Don’t, don’t, don’t! If the Alpha at my house finds out I bought stuff infused with Alpha pheromones, he’ll strip a layer of skin right off me!”
“Waaah, I really tried my best, Ah Qing.”
“A few of them have already shipped and can’t be cancelled. Just accept them, please? I beg of you! I’ll literally get down on my knees!”
Tsk.
By the time he drove all the way back, it was already seven in the evening.
Because he was back later than usual, the moment he stepped through the door, the Alaskan Malamute waiting in ambush at the entrance began frantically rubbing itself against him.
Left with no choice, he wrapped his arms around the massive fluffball to soothe it for a good while before finally heading in to take a shower.
For dinner, he ordered takeout. The delivery driver brought a gust of freezing air into the doorway, his uniform dusted with snowflakes. The steamed dumplings inside the container were already lukewarm, though the porridge was luckily still warm.
He thanked the driver, popped the dumplings into the microwave to heat them up, and devoured them down with a splash of vinegar.
Once he finished clearing the dining table, he unlocked his phone screen only to find several push notifications waiting for him—all of them shipping updates from his courier apps:
Your package is in transit.
Current Status: Shipment picked up by courier.
There were five or six notifications in total, entirely comprising the adult novelties that Yin Yu had failed to cancel.
Whatever. The quantity was significantly less than what had been displayed in the screenshots this afternoon; it was safe to assume this was the maximum limit of his friend’s frantic damage control.
Xiao Shuqing set his phone down, pulled open the drawer underneath his writing desk, and placed the vial of curative Alpha pheromones inside, nesting it right alongside his medical report. After a moment of consideration, he felt this setup wasn’t entirely safe. His mother had a terrible habit of casually snooping through his belongings every time he visited. If this medical report were to be uncovered, it would inevitably trigger another endless, dramatic interrogation.
Thus, he pulled both medical reports back out, intending to tear them to shreds and toss them into the trash can.
Before he could even make a move, his phone rang with an incoming voice call.
It was his mother.
After a brief round of casual pleasantries, his mother cut straight to the chase, asking, “How did your chat go with the Alpha you met last time? I just asked the matchmaker from the dating platform, and he said the Alpha has an exceptionally wonderful impression of you. He said the two of you are currently dating, is that true?”
Xiao Shuqing’s brow furrowed slightly.
Just as he was about to refute the claim, a new WeChat notification suddenly popped up on his screen.
Underneath a vacant little yellow duck profile picture, a long paragraph of text was neatly enclosed within a green text bubble:
Professor Xiao, because you mentioned last time that we were currently seeing each other, my dad thought we were actually dating. His health isn’t very good, so I didn’t tell him the actual truth. When the matchmaker came asking today, I told her we were still seeing each other. I’m so sorry for causing you trouble. If the matchmaker contacts you, could you, could you please help me keep up the facade for just a bit? I will explain everything clearly to my dad very soon, could you just give me a few more days. I’m deeply sorry for constantly causing you trouble.
Even across a digital screen, he could effortlessly visualize the young boy clutching his phone, typing and deleting frantically as he tried his best to draft the message.
“Ah Qing, what are you doing? Why aren’t you responding to your mother at all?” his mother’s voice pressed through the receiver.
The man lowered his head, typed out a quick “OK” emoji into the chat box, and curled his lips into a slight smile. “Nothing. He was just sending me a message. He sent a bit too much text all at once. What did you ask me just now?”
The tone on the other end of the line grew visibly delighted, though his mother still probed cautiously to confirm: “Who are you texting?”
“Yu Siyuan. The Alpha I met a few nights ago.”
“Oh, oh! It’s Xiao Yuan! How do you feel about him? Isn’t he wonderful? The matchmaker also said this Alpha is exceptionally great—grounded, gentle, and very handsome. If you like him, you don’t need to care too much about his family’s financial situation. I’ll have your father buy a massive house for the two of you!”
Infected by his mother’s sheer excitement, Xiao Shuqing couldn’t help but let out a soft, breathy laugh. “My apartment is already huge, more than enough for two people to live comfortably. Father is practically on the verge of retirement, and you’re still exploiting him like this? Let the man rest.”
“Your current place is enough for a young couple, but won’t you have to add a baby to the mix once you’re married? Once the baby arrives, I’ll have to move in to help you raise them. How could that apartment possibly be enough space by then?”
“The two of us are still just seeing each other. We haven’t even started dating, yet you’ve somehow managed to manifest an entire child in your head.”
“Hahaha. Your mother is just happy.”
Xiao Shuqing slipped the medical reports back into the drawer, stood up, and walked out onto the balcony to light another cigarette.
He casually picked up a spray bottle to water the asparagus fern on the floor, propping the phone against his shoulder as he lazily humored the call. “Mm-hmm, sure. When the time comes, I’ll birth a big, fat baby just for you.”
Having finally managed to placate his mother, Xiao Shuqing hung up the phone and stared out the window at the snow still drifting beneath the streetlights, exhaling a plume of pale white smoke.
He glanced at the vacant little yellow duck on his screen and couldn’t resist tapping the profile icon.
If it weren’t for this little creature, he wouldn’t have been cornered into conceding so much ground over the phone, to the point of promising to give birth to a child.
The custom nudge notification the boy had set up was a beautiful firework. The moment his finger tapped it, an animation of fireworks instantly exploded across his screen.
[You nudged “Yu Siyuan’s” head. He said: Look at the fireworks!]
The other party presumably wasn’t next to his phone, as there was no immediate reaction.
Xiao Shuqing leaned against the window frame, typing lazily: I was just interrogated by my family for over an hour, to the point where I’m practically scheduled to give birth to your child. Don’t you think you owe me some form of compensation?
The moment the text went through, he felt the wording carried a trace of “flirtatious” intent. He immediately recalled the message.
Along with it, he even deleted the preceding nudge notification.
By the time the interface cleared down to a single, isolated line reading “You recalled a message,” the young boy’s reply suddenly burst into the chat box:
C-Child? But, you were the one who told my dad we were seeing each other, which is why he took it seriously.
???
Pfft.
How disastrous. It looked like he had seen it after all.
He sent back a completely insincere, careless deflection: Apologies. I drank a bit of alcohol tonight; I’m not entirely clear-headed.
[Yu Siyuan recalled a message]
[Yu Siyuan recalled a message]
A-A friend of mine was holding my phone just now. He, he was drunk.
I’m so sorry!
Tsk, what a liar. And an incredibly clumsy one at that.
Yet, Xiao Shuqing couldn’t help but let his eyes crinkle into a genuine smile. His mood felt a fraction lighter.
No worries.
Going to sleep now. Goodnight.
Mm-mm, goodnight, Professor Xiao.
Once the late-March snowstorm cleared out, the spring equinox arrived right on schedule. The temperatures in City H rebounded drastically toward the end of the month, skyrocketing straight up to twenty degrees.
The flowers were in full bloom.
The daylight hours grew longer with each passing day.
On this particular afternoon, Xiao Shuqing had just wrapped up a lecture when he was instantly swamped by a crowd of students swarming him with questions.
Although he was twenty-nine years old, because he had been directly recruited into City H University immediately after finishing his doctorate, his entire demeanor retained an unblemished academic refinement untouched by corporate society. He didn’t look much older than the students themselves. Combined with his striking good looks, it was an absolute certainty that Alphas would be drawn to him, and even Omegas with specific orientations found themselves completely captivated. Consequently, every time his lectures ended, his desk would be surrounded by a massive crowd.
In the blink of an eye, a lecture that was supposed to dismiss at five-thirty was dragged out by the students until nearly six o’clock.
Glancing at the darkening sky outside the windows, he adjusted his glasses helplessly. “Let’s call it a day. If we drag this out any further, the dog at my house is going to starve to death.”
“Is it really almost six already? The sky out there is so bright, I thought class had only been over for a few minutes.”
“It’s already the end of March. In a little while, summer will be here.”
“Huh? No way! Didn’t it just snow like a second ago?”
As the students chattered back and forth in a flurry of voices, Xiao Shuqing focused on gathering his own materials.
It was only when the students gradually trickled out that he noticed a familiar figure standing just outside the empty classroom door.
The corridor lights hadn’t been switched on yet. The afternoon sun had just receded, leaving only a deep crimson twilight bleeding through the windows a few meters away.
The boy, wearing a double-strap backpack, was almost entirely swallowed by the deepening shadows outside.
It was Yu Siyuan, whom he hadn’t seen in over half a month.
The other party clearly hadn’t expected to encounter him here. His feet took an involuntary step backward before he forced himself to freeze in place, greeting him stiffly, “Pro—Professor Xiao? Uh, what a coincidence. I’m working on a project with a senior classmate, he reserved this classroom.”
As they spoke, the scent of another Alpha drifted into the air.
A bright, hearty male voice echoed down the corridor, calling out, “Xiao Yuan!”
A moment later, a tall, broad-shouldered Alpha strode up to the classroom doorway in a few quick steps. “Why haven’t you gone inside?” he asked casually. “Even though I reserved the room starting at six, you don’t have to wait until the exact hour to go in. The professor and the younger students went to the cafeteria for dinner, so I ordered roast duck stew—it’s a legendary specialty here at H University, you’re definitely going to love it! Come on, let’s go inside and eat.”
With that, he naturally grabbed the younger boy by the wrist to lead him into the room.
Juxtaposed against this domineering, textbook Alpha, the shy, timid Yu Siyuan appeared somewhat soft and delicately small.
Xiao Shuqing swept his gaze over the two of them. Recalling the words the boy had said during their very first meeting—“I’m not interested in Omegas either”—a flash of understanding washed over him. With that kind of sexual orientation, this senior classmate was indeed a perfect match for him.
They were undeniably well-suited.
Without lingering any longer, Xiao Shuqing simply gave a curt, polite nod before walking out of the classroom with his laptop bag in hand.
The door remained open. The corridor was entirely deserted, allowing their conversation to carry over with absolute clarity:
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“To be honest, all the other Alphas are obsessed with Omegas, but I really don’t think there’s anything special about them, haha.”
“Ah? Oh, right, yeah.”
“Is the duck leg good?”
“It’s delicious. Thank you, Senior.”
Tsk, a young couple drop-feeding hints and testing the waters during the honeymoon phase.
Sickeningly sweet.