Wei Qinan asked, “If you don’t like it.”
Wei Qinan’s fingertips were burning hot. Shi Jing shrank his fingers back, broke free from the restraint, and raised his head in surprise, “What?”
Did he not like Wei Qinan’s pheromones?
Wei Qinan lightly pressed his lips together, gazing intently at him, his eyes seemingly holding a trace of unreadable obscurity.
Shi Jing parted his lips slightly, speechless for a moment.
Indeed, he had been so focused on dragging the other person over for tests earlier that he had barely spoken a few words.
Wei Qinan wasn’t a roundworm in his stomach, so he had no idea where he might have gone wrong to displease Shi Jing, leaving him to guess it must be because of his pheromones. Because high-grade pheromones could also make others feel uncomfortable.
Shi Jing’s tone couldn’t help but soften quite a bit: “You thought I took you to test your pheromone grade because I didn’t like your pheromones?”
Wei Qinan: “Mm.”
Shi Jing frowned.
“Your noodles are ready, little handsome. The one without spicy sauce is yours, right?”
As they were talking, the boss walked over with a tray.
Shi Jing took the bowl of noodles: “Yes, thank you.”
Remembering how fierce Shi Jing had looked when he first entered the shop, the boss didn’t dare stare too closely at his expression. He hurriedly handed the other bowl of noodles to Wei Qinan and scurried away with the tray.
Shi Jing had been driven half-crazy by that stinky salted fish that afternoon and had then dragged Wei Qinan to the hospital for checks, so he was already starving.
The freshly made noodle soup was piping hot, bubbling with steam.
Shi Jing didn’t bother to blow it cool, eating a few bites to warm his stomach before he spoke again: “A medical friend of mine told me that when the mark on the back of my neck disappears depends on the pheromones of the person who marked me.”
“Bringing you to test it was just to figure out when the mark will fade.”
As he spoke, he felt his face growing hot, so he had to keep his head down, eating his noodles to mask his reaction.
Wei Qinan didn’t touch his chopsticks.
After staring blankly at Shi Jing for a long moment, he smiled and said, “So you were just too shy to talk to me earlier?”
Shi Jing: “?”
Giving Wei Qinan a look that could hardly be considered friendly, he retorted, “No, you’re overthinking things.”
“Mm, got it.” Wei Qinan’s mood instantly cleared up from the dark clouds. “It’s good you aren’t disgusted by my pheromones. Back when I was in school, a lot of people shunned me, especially Alphas.”
Alphas all possessed a competitive mindset and were unwilling to submit to others.
An Enigma could mark Alphas, which in the eyes of Alphas felt like a threat.
Shi Jing knew that under such circumstances, that special person was easily treated as an outcast and isolated.
Shi Jing let out a cold snort, hardening his voice as he said, “Why would you care about people who push you away just because of different genders? Besides, how are you supposed to mark someone if you don’t actively release your pheromones? If they can’t even manage basic respect, you were right not to be friends with them.”
The amusement in Wei Qinan’s eyes was hard to hide: “Thank you.”
Unable to squeeze out any more comforting words, Shi Jing simply said: “Eat your noodles.”
After finishing dinner, the two returned to the hospital to pick up the pheromone grade report.
Shi Jing was the one who collected the report. Upon seeing a giant “High” printed on the results, he felt the world go dark before his eyes.
The tests at this hospital could only measure three grades: “Low, Medium, and High.”
Shi Jing sent the results to Zhong Yu: [(Death smile.jpg)]
Zhong Yu was on night duty at the veterinary clinic today, and having nothing better to do, he replied instantly.
Zhong Yu: [Don’t be so pessimistic.]
Zhong Yu: [What I mentioned was just textbook stuff. Science has no limits; who knows, maybe you’ll be an exception? After all, you two only marked once.]
Shi Jing’s mouth twitched.
“Let’s go, time to head back.”
During dinner, he had mentally prepared himself quite a bit.
Their agreement lasted for a year. If that marked spot was still there by then, he would figure out another way.
Technology was so advanced nowadays; he refused to believe he couldn’t find a way to remove a mark.
Wei Qinan drove on the way back.
According to the terms of the agreement, he had an obligation to take care of Shi Jing.
So, when Wei Qinan offered to drive, Shi Jing didn’t refuse.
He strode straight into the passenger seat, and the moment he opened his phone, he received a call from Shi Shunde.
The old man’s very first sentence upon connecting was: “What did you guys go to the hospital for?”
“I saw your complexion didn’t look good. Did you fight?”
Knowing the old man would send people to trail them, Shi Jing glanced out the window and said, “We didn’t fight. Just getting a routine checkup.”
Shi Shunde chuckled cheerfully: “That’s good then. By the way, that boyfriend of yours is quite tall. What’s his name? What does his family do? Just tell me directly so I won’t have to go out of my way to have someone investigate.”
Shi Jing propped his head up: “You had people tailing us the entire way, and you still couldn’t find out what background my boyfriend has?”
“Isn’t that to leave you a bit of privacy?” Shi Shunde replied righteously.
“It would be great if you could also leave a bit of privacy when you send people to follow us.”
“You brat, I’m doing this out of concern for you! In case things fall through and I make you go on another blind date, you’ll just get upset again.”
After muttering to himself, the old man couldn’t help asking again: “What did you go to the hospital for anyway? You didn’t even go to the Omega obstetrics and gynecology department.”
Shi Jing closed his eyes, feeling a slight dizziness in his head.
His gland had been acting strange since the afternoon, and now that he had relaxed, it felt even more uncomfortable.
It was probably due to the intense emotional fluctuations causing unstable pheromones. He needed to inject a suppressant as soon as he got home.
Planning to come clean with his family only when he brought Wei Qinan home, Shi Jing said, “It was just a normal physical checkup. Don’t overthink it.”
As soon as he managed to brush off Shi Shunde, Zhong Yu’s message came in.
[Does anyone else know you two are entering a contract marriage?]
Shi Jing: [Only told you. As long as we can fool the old man, that’s enough.]
Zhong Yu: [Well, I have a suggestion.]
Finding typing too troublesome, Zhong Yu simply sent a voice message.
“Instead of pretending to be real husbands, why don’t you guys just go public on your friend circles? Since you’ve already signed the agreement, you might as well put on a complete act.”
“Look at those passionately in love couples on your friend list, aren’t they all showing off everywhere? Your grandfather definitely won’t agree to you marrying an Enigma. If you don’t act affectionate enough, your cover will definitely be blown. What couple dating and getting married keeps it all hidden away?”
“Bro, don’t blame me for having stereotypes, but it’s written right into our Alpha genes to go conquer others. If you two don’t love each other like crazy, it goes against nature.”
Listening to the voice message, Shi Jing remained silent.
What Zhong Yu said actually made a lot of sense.
Aside from the few close friends around him, the acquaintances in his social circle normally kept in touch with one another.
If the old man ever got a whim, asked around, and found out neither of their friends knew much about this, nor did the two of them ever show affection publicly, suspicions would definitely arise.
Knowing Shi Shunde’s paranoid nature, he would instantly guess that Shi Jing had only found Wei Qinan to cope with him.
Moreover, for the sake of simplicity, Shi Jing only intended to register their marriage with Wei Qinan and didn’t even want to hold a wedding ceremony, which made things even harder to explain.
Wei Qinan droves very steadily.
The sky was completely dark now, and streetlights cast alternating light and shadow inside the cabin.
Shi Jing turned his head to look at Wei Qinan.
The curve of Wei Qinan’s profile was nearly flawless. Perhaps due to the shape of his lips, he always seemed to wear a hint of a gentle smile.
Staring at his face for a long moment, Shi Jing said, “I think we need to add another clause to the agreement.”