The days working at the estate were neither too bad nor too hard for Shen Yue. What made them not too bad was naturally that Ren Junzhu had assigned him a lot of work. He needed to complete all three meals a day. Besides that, cleaning the rooms and tidying the villa were also part of his duties. Shen Yue had never done these things before, so he did them haltingly, always making mistakes, and often got scolded in front of many people.
However, after starving him for a few days, Ren Junzhu finally said that his work was barely passable and he could eat. Of course, he could not sit at the master’s table. He would eat with the servants in the villa after the masters had finished.
The servants knew Shen Yue was a criminal, and because of Ren Junzhu’s attitude, they disliked him. But they did not dare bully Shen Yue. Regardless of Shen Yue’s identity, even wearing a suppressor, his 3S level was beyond doubt, and his deterrent effect on them was inevitable. They did not dare insult Shen Yue to his face. They could only look at him with strange glances, some mocking, some disgusted. Shen Yue didn’t care much. He had faced more vicious and sinister gazes before. The looks from these people would not cause him much emotional reaction.
What made things hard was that no one was willing to talk to him. Apart from the butler who assigned him work and Ren Junzhu who scolded him, no one spoke to him.
He drifted outside this large family, as if abandoned by the whole world. Loneliness followed him like a shadow. The only source of comfort was that child.
Every time Ren Junzhu picked a fight and lost his temper, Ren Suixing would jump up and argue with him. His small body would firmly stand in front of Shen Yue. Seeing Shen Yue working hard, he would take the initiative to help. Every night, he would also follow their agreement and secretly come to Shen Yue’s room to bring him food.
Shen Yue did not feel tired. This was the atonement he owed. He did not yearn for anything. Just being able to see this child every day was already enough satisfaction for him.
But someone reminded him that he shouldn’t even yearn for this.
That day, when he was getting something from the storage room, the butler cornered him inside. Shen Yue recognized this butler. He had once been the steward for Old Master Ren. He had been with Ren Junzhu since his birth. Although he was a butler, he was also an elder-rank figure in the Ren family and held considerable influence in the villa.
Shen Yue looked at him and unconsciously lowered his eyes, softly calling out: “Uncle Hua.”
“Don’t call me that. I cannot bear your ‘Uncle,'” the butler’s voice was very cold.
He had been very good to Shen Yue in the past, because he could see that Ren Junzhu liked him very much. When they got married, he even gave Shen Yue a large red envelope. When no one was around, he told Shen Yue that he knew everyone thought the young master was being forceful, but the young master looked fierce but wasn’t bad-hearted. He would treat Shen Yue well. He hoped Shen Yue wouldn’t listen to the nonsense outside and would live a good life with Ren Junzhu.
Especially when he learned Shen Yue was pregnant, Uncle Hua even personally made him nutritious meals, simmered chicken soup and fish porridge for hours, and carefully accompanied him during his pregnancy.
But who would have thought the result would be like that in the end? That’s why Shen Yue didn’t dare raise his head. He had betrayed Uncle Hua’s trust. He felt ashamed toward him.
“I truly never thought that you and I would have this day of meeting again. I have often wondered if you were already dead,” Uncle Hua, over sixty, still had sharp eyes that pierced Shen Yue’s cheeks with pain.
“I’m sorry.” Shen Yue knew apologies were useless, but he didn’t know what else he could say.
“‘I’m sorry’? I cannot bear your ‘sorry.’ Ask yourself, young master, old master, the entire Ren family, who has wronged you? We all misjudged you. You used your disgusting face to deceive everyone,” Uncle Hua said with intense hatred.
How could he not hate? Shen Yue was gentle and beautiful; the young master was fierce and domineering. At first glance, everyone thought Ren Junzhu had taken Shen Yue by force and bullied him with his power. No matter how Ren Junzhu tried to explain, those prejudices were deeply rooted. But Ren Junzhu didn’t care, and as butler, Uncle Hua couldn’t change anything either.
At first, Uncle Hua also thought the two were unsuitable. The conflict between fire and water attributes was too great. Even though Shen Yue was a rare 2S omega, being together would be very painful for them. Moreover, Shen Yue was an orphan and not a good match for the Ren family in terms of status. Uncle Hua did not look down on Shen Yue; on the contrary, he admired Shen Yue for reaching his current position by himself. But as an elder, he knew how much the difference in status and rank could affect a marriage.
A temporary passionate love might make people temporarily overlook the chasm between them, but as time went on, the chasm would be hard to erase, and love would become like a bridge made of fine sand, collapsing in the wind before one could even walk on it.
Heat cycles, estrus, and most importantly, offspring, counteracting attributes would not produce bloodline offspring. How many couples who said they didn’t care about children ended up cheating or divorcing when they got older? If that would be the final outcome, it would be better not to be together in the first place.
But Ren Junzhu was stubborn, and Uncle Hua couldn’t sway him. However, he somewhat understood why Ren Junzhu had fallen for Shen Yue.
After Shen Yue moved into the estate, Uncle Hua noticed he was very quiet, spoke little, and when he did speak, it was softly and gently. He treated the servants kindly and showed great respect to the elderly butler. Uncle Hua thought to himself, no wonder the young master was so infatuated with him. Anyone would be captivated by someone like this.
He believed time would prove everything. He trusted the young master’s judgment and his own feelings.
Yet indeed, time did prove everything. Seven years ago, Ren Junzhu nearly died and returned wounded. Uncle Hua would rather believe that his young master, who had never lost a battle, had simply lost a fight, than believe that the gentle, water-like young madam had betrayed the headquarters and betrayed the young master.
How the young master had poured out everything he had to love the person before him seven years ago, and how the young master had shouldered everyone’s prejudices to be with him, every time Uncle Hua thought of it, he felt incomparable hatred. Looking at Shen Yue now, he felt even more disgusted.
“For seven years, I thought you might have died out there. Yet you came back. Why did you have to come back? The young master had finally moved on. Why did you have to come back?”
Shen Yue kept silent. He could not answer. He had not deliberately returned to his former homeland, but explanations were unnecessary now.
The only thing he could do was endure.
Uncle Hua looked at Shen Yue’s lowered brows and eyes. They were still just as beautiful. Time had left no mark on his face; even time was especially gracious to him.
He turned his head away, not wanting to look anymore: “I don’t understand why headquarters arranged for you to be here. But since the young master has agreed, I have nothing to say. You are no longer the young madam of the Ren family. You are just the lowest-status servant here. You’d best not pull any more tricks. If I find out, I will not let you off.”
“I have no intention of doing anything. Truly,” Shen Yue said sincerely.
“Is that so? Don’t think I don’t know that the little young master comes to find you every night. Back then, when he was just born, how did you treat him? You went mad and threw him to the ground. If the young master hadn’t exhausted himself to save him, he would not have survived. And you still have the face to see him?!”
Shen Yue bit his lip, biting his already bloodless lips until they were nearly dripping with blood. He tightly gripped the handle in his hand, as if only by doing so could he keep from being shattered and knocked down by the words.
“If you still have any conscience left, don’t go see the little young master again. In the future, the Ren family will have a new young madam, and the little young master will have a mother. But no matter who it is, it will absolutely never be you.”
Having said this, Uncle Hua left the storage room, leaving Shen Yue alone inside. He lowered his head, his shoulders hunched. His entire body trembled, as if very cold. For a long time, tears slipped from the corners of his moistened eyes, continuously dripping onto the floor.
It’s okay. He raised his hand and gently wiped away the tears, comforting himself. I will prove myself. I won’t hurt anyone anymore.
In the afternoon, Shen Yue did not work. The medical center called him in for an examination. Ren Junzhu would not accompany him. He sent two adjutants over, the same two alphas who had escorted him to Bailu Prison before. If he wanted to go outside, he had to be under the base’s surveillance.
When Ren Junzhu called, Liang Qu had a gold facial mask on his face, which Liang Zhao had bought for him from Dubai via proxy for one hundred thousand dollars. He was sitting on the floor playing video games with his bare upper body. Liang Zhao brought him some liangxia (cold shrimp soup) and said: “Eat up quickly. After eating, we’ll go pick him up.”
Liang Qu made a few “mm-hmm” sounds, pressed the controller rapidly, and opened his mouth toward him.
Liang Zhao sighed helplessly, took a spoonful, and shoved it into his mouth.
Liang Qu “slurp slurp” finished eating, stared at the game screen, and asked: “What do you think the Colonel means? He sent the person back to prison, then fished him out again just a few days later, and even arranged for him to stay at his own home. Is he personally tormenting his ex-wife?”
“I don’t know either. No one can guess the Colonel’s mind,” Liang Zhao said. “Others can’t intervene in matters between him and Shen Yue. We just need to do our own jobs.”
“I know, I know. I’m just curious,” Liang Qu griped the controller. “You say hate, the Colonel definitely hates him. But you say he doesn’t love him anymore—I don’t feel like that’s the case. I’ll ask Xiao Hu for a couple more books later and read them, try to figure out what’s going on.”
“Don’t follow Xiao Hu reading that messy stuff. Remember last time, you were secretly reading that ‘delicate omega gets pregnant and runs with the ball’ thing, and the Colonel caught you, and you were assigned to clean the toilets?”
Xiao Hu was an omega in the Flying Dragon Squad. Despite looking tall and sturdy, with dark skin and a strong build, he loved reading forbidden, bloody, dog-blooded xx novels. And Liang Zhao, this alpha, also liked reading them. The two often secretly passed their spiritual nourishment to each other behind the scenes.
They were military officers, and their electronic devices were all monitored. Reading e-books was very troublesome. They could only privately buy physical books. Liang Zhao had once glanced at one and would have paid a fortune for a pair of eyes that had never seen it. The depictions in those books were simply unseemly and outrageous. But his brother was engrossed in reading them, vaguely muttering about how scum gongs didn’t deserve to die well, and something like ‘good baby, mommy loves you.’ Liang Zhao could only sigh.
“You’re still talking about that! I asked you to keep watch, but you didn’t even notice the Colonel coming in. You got me assigned to clean the toilets,” Liang Qu cursed.
“You know as well as I do that the Colonel walks without making a sound. I did my best,” Liang Zhao spread his hands. He had reacted quickly enough, but his brother was too engrossed. He nearly coughed his lungs out, but his brother still didn’t hear and was caught red-handed on the spot.
“Come on, we’re all adults. What’s wrong with looking at restricted-rated stuff? Soldiers are human too; we have desires. I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, well, I drink a little, and I don’t have an omega to keep me company. Reading books to relieve boredom should be allowed, ugh,” Liang Qu said, somewhat unconvinced.
“Go tell that to the Colonel. Ask him to return the books to you.”
“Forget it then,” Liang Qu gave in. “I don’t care. Next time, you need to be more careful covering for me. If I get caught, you’ll clean the toilets with me.”
As if he hadn’t helped him clean last time. Liang Zhao nodded: “Okay, bro. I’ll try harder next time. Eat up.” He shoved another spoonful into his mouth.
“Damn, died again.” Liang Qu threw down the controller. On the screen, large, bright red letters: “GAME OVER”.
“Fuck, I just can’t get past this level. Xiao Zhao, you have to help me pass it when you get back tonight.” Liang Qu continued being shameless, showing no awareness of being the older brother. His bare upper body was very sturdy, his arm muscles sharply defined, his pants hanging loosely on his waist, revealing beautiful, powerful abdominal muscle lines. It was hard to imagine such an alpha being so unreliable.
“Fine, I’ll help you pass it. Bro, if you don’t hurry up, you’re going to be late.”
Liang Qu quickly drank the rest of the cold shrimp soup in one gulp, took the T-shirt Liang Zhao handed him and pulled it on, then followed him out, his butt bouncing with excitement.
When they arrived at the estate, Shen Yue was already waiting. Even though he had mentally prepared himself, Liang Qu was still a bit stunned by his beauty when he saw him again. He couldn’t tell if Shen Yue had been suffering here or not. He just seemed a bit thinner. Under the blazing sunlight, his entire body glowed white, like an elusive cloud.
Liang Zhao drove. He and Shen Yue sat in the back. Shen Yue’s long hair was so long it could spread out on the back seat. Liang Qu wanted to pick it up, not wanting those beautiful white hairs to be stained by dust on the seat, even though the seat was very clean.
He couldn’t control himself and reached out his hand. Liang Zhao saw it in the rearview mirror, frowned, and coughed.
Liang Qu came to his senses with a “whoosh” and withdrew his hand. Shen Yue turned his head, looking at him with some confusion. Liang Qu didn’t dare meet those clear, moist eyes. He said quietly: “Nothing, I… my hand is cramped!”
Shen Yue didn’t think much of it and turned back to look out the window. Liang Qu leaned toward the car door, trying to move farther away from him.
The jeep drove directly to the medical center’s underground parking lot. Liang Zhao opened the car door for Shen Yue and helped him out. He walked to Liang Qu’s side and slapped his butt: “Bro, what were you doing just now?!”
He didn’t use much force, just a reminder. But Liang Qu jumped up like a startled quail with its tail between its legs: “You… you dare hit me? I’m your older brother! How can you hit my butt?”
“Bro—” Liang Zhao frowned at him.
“I… I didn’t mean to.” Liang Qu’s eyes drooped, looking a bit wronged. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I can’t control myself. Later… I was sitting very far away, wasn’t I?” The last few words grew quieter and quieter.
Liang Zhao sighed: “The Rosa rugosa (tu mi) pheromone has a strong seductive effect on all genders. Even though the suppressor locks most of it, small amounts are still released through his breath. Be careful. With any other matter, I’d let you fool around, but not this.”
“I know…” Liang Qu shrunk his shoulders. He scratched his hair and asked doubtfully: “Why do you seem less affected? Just because your level is higher than mine?”
This was one aspect. But in fact, the higher the level, the more acute the sense of smell. The pheromone Liang Zhao smelled was more intense and sweeter than what Liang Qu smelled. It was just that Liang Zhao’s temperament was more mature than Liang Qu’s, and also more steadfast, so he was able to maintain his rationality.
As the brothers were messing around here, they turned their heads and saw Shen Yue standing quietly at the elevator entrance, watching them. The elevator was a special access; Shen Yue couldn’t go up by himself. He waited for a while, and when no one came up, he didn’t make a sound. He just waited silently, as quiet as a mannequin placed in the hallway.
Liang Qu and the other quickly went over. He took out his ID card and swiped it. The elevator opened with a sound, and the three of them walked in.
The medical center was extremely crowded. They avoided the crowd and arrived at the examination room. There were already many people waiting inside. An omega saw them and walked over: “You’re here. Have a seat, all of you.”
Shen Yue sat down hesitantly across from him. Liang Qu and Liang Zhao did not sit. After greeting the omega, they stood behind Shen Yue like door gods.
“Actually, I’ve wanted to see you for a long time, Shen Yue,” the omega said, pushing up his glasses. He had a baby face, with chestnut-colored hair, looking very well-behaved. He looked like a student, not the director of the medical center.
Shen Yue had not seen him before, but the scent of his pheromone felt somewhat familiar to Shen Yue. It was a sweet, creamy smell, as if he had smelled it somewhere before.
“My name is Jiang Xuechen. I am currently the director of the Southern Base Medical Center. When you were shot and unconscious, I performed your surgery. Later, when you were in Bailu Prison and affected by your innate ability, I also provided treatment for you.”
It seemed there was that image. Shen Yue vaguely remembered. At that time, he was delirious and only felt an unusual pain in his mind. It seemed there was an omega who kept comforting him, softly telling him the pain would stop, and even released pheromones to soothe him.
Shen Yue was very grateful to him. He earnestly thanked him.
Jiang Xuechen smiled: “But in the end, it wasn’t me who truly saved you.”
“Ah?” Shen Yue didn’t quite understand.
“Nothing.” Jiang Xuechen didn’t intend to say more. He said: “Actually, I have always been very interested in you and wanted to talk with you. But before, I was always traveling and studying abroad without the chance. When the factory incident happened seven years ago, I was in Lebanon lecturing. I only returned to the country two years later, and by then you were already gone.”
“I have been working on the topic of counteracting attributes, hoping to solve this drawback that should not exist in the awakened world. But I have failed every time. I have taken gland cells and reproductive cells from many couples with counteracting attributes. Their embryonic activity is always very poor. The experiments have never succeeded. So when I learned that you had successfully become pregnant, I was very excited. I even submitted a report wanting to return to the country to help you with pregnancy care. But due to various twists and turns, we still never met. Until now.”
Jiang Xuechen was an internationally renowned expert in the field of awakened medicine. He had extensive knowledge and superb medical skills, never failing a surgery. He was sent by headquarters to lecture in various places, first, to collect data on awakened individuals and study the characteristics of various bloodlines; second, to help awakened individuals in various places solve their ailments and raise his reputation.
When he was teaching in S-country, the S-country Awakened Security Administration had even detained him on charges of data leaks, trying to force him to stay. But Jiang Xuechen was unmoved. In the end, it was Ren Junzhu who came to retrieve him.
After Shen Yue became pregnant, Jiang Xuechen submitted a report wanting to return to the country as soon as possible. He knew how fragile a child of counteracting attributes would be, and he also knew how much pain the mother’s body would endure carrying such a child. The slightest inattention could result in both mother and child dying. But at that time, the situation in Lebanon was tense. The headquarters’ peacekeeping forces needed Jiang Xuechen to rescue patients. Moreover, his international prestige was very high. Having him there could help calm the Lebanese populace. At home, there were other doctors who could protect Shen Yue. Therefore, he did not return.
So it was conceivable how excited Jiang Xuechen was when Shen Yue successfully gave birth. He knew Shen Yue would be a key to breaking the shackles that had bound awakened individuals for thousands of years. With this key, he could achieve breakthroughs in his research on counteracting attributes, and even shake the entire medical world.
“I have seen Xiao Xing. Even now, I am still very surprised. Do you know how good his physical condition is? He is not yet ten years old, but his regenerative ability is already no different from the Colonel’s. The muscle-tendon groups in his limbs are very well-developed. He can now easily defeat an S-rank adult awakened individual several times his size. In addition, the neuronal flow in his brain is also very active. His logical ability, thinking ability, and analytical ability far exceed those of his peers. I cannot even imagine just how strong and intelligent he will be when he grows up.”
“Apart from the counteracting factor, what’s more important is that the mother who carried him was also an alpha. This provides a higher genetic foundation than an AO union. Xiao Xing is the new generation with the most potential in headquarters. I can say with certainty that in the next few years, there will not be a better child than Xiao Xing anywhere in the world.”
This was also why Jiang Xuechen insisted on protecting Shen Yue. Compared to his crimes, his research value was even higher.
Jiang Xuechen looked at him with a very fervent gaze. Shen Yue shrank back a little. He understood all this. He was just thinking that the name Jiang Xuechen sounded very familiar. He should have heard it often before.
“Jiang Xuechen… the tenth generation Baize big system?” Shen Yue thought for a moment and remembered.
“That’s me. You still remember,” Jiang Xuechen said with a smile.
The Baize system was a system researched and applied after headquarters was established. From paper at the beginning to electronic now, it has reached the tenth generation. And Jiang Xuechen was responsible for enriching and expanding this tenth generation.
He was not only a medical expert but also a great talent in the computer field. He used to be the head of the Baize data team. It was just that he preferred medical research. So after the functionality expansion of the tenth-generation Baize system was completed, he devoted all his energy to the medical center, only keeping his name on the data team.
Nowadays, information technologies like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are so popular that various systems are updated and replaced very quickly. Too many young people are playing with them. There’s no need for someone his age to stare at a computer screen writing code all day.
“So you are…” Shen Yue widened his eyes. In fact, as soon as he entered the door, he could sense that this person’s aura before him was extraordinary.
“3S omega, awakened bloodline—Baize,” Jiang Xuechen replied.