After the photo was taken, she lowered her head to send it to Grandpa Wen. She hadn’t thought much of it while taking the picture, but now that she looked at it carefully—hey, was Wen Yan smiling?
It wasn’t obvious, even a bit unnatural, but there was indeed a faint curve at the corner of his lips.
Interesting. He looked like he had no interest in photos, yet he still knew to cooperate and smile at the camera.
Qiu Zheng snuck a glance at him, only to meet his gaze. That “smile”? Gone without a trace.
She turned off her phone and slipped it into her pocket.
But Wen Yan still looked a bit strange. Qiu Zheng noticed that he kept glancing at her—more precisely, at the phone she had already put away.
After thinking it over, she remembered he had a lot of odd rules. Was he upset? With that thought, she quickly straightened her expression, took out her phone in front of him—
And deleted the photo.
Deleted it from the recycle bin.
Deleted the chat history with Grandpa Wen.
She even showed him her phone. “Don’t worry, I didn’t keep anything. I really just showed it to Grandpa Wen.”
But Wen Yan didn’t look pleased at all. His expression darkened instead, and that brief, heavy breath made it seem like he was quite angry.
Luckily, the hospital staff arrived to receive them.
“Young Master Wen, Young Madam, you’re here.”
Wen Yan turned his head and stopped looking at her.
Qiu Zheng couldn’t make sense of it, but she was already used to his unpredictable moods. Her phone chimed—it was a transfer from Grandpa Wen.
To him, a few tens of thousands wasn’t even worth calling money. But this was their understanding—too much would burden her psychologically, so she treated these occasional smaller amounts like red envelopes.
In a good mood, she followed along.
Since they were going to their private hospital, even though they arrived late, there was no need to queue or run around. They went through a fast-track channel, everyone was fully prepared, and everything went smoothly.
Qiu Zheng was basically just there to accompany him.
After the blood draw, the nurse said while removing the needle, “Young Master, you’ll need to press on it for a while.”
“Mm.”
Wen Yan took over himself.
Seeing that, the nurse arranged the blood samples and left with the cart. Qiu Zheng glanced at Wen Yan pressing the puncture site to stop the bleeding.
His suit jacket was set aside, and the sleeve on the arm used for the blood draw was rolled up, revealing a strong arm with faint blue veins.
Thinking about the tubes of blood just taken, she hesitated before asking, “You haven’t eaten this morning, right? Are you hungry?”
As she spoke, she took a bag of bread out of her small purse. Since there had been a fasting test, they couldn’t eat breakfast. Come to think of it, she felt she wasn’t entirely blameless—if she hadn’t arrived late, he wouldn’t still be hungry now.
So when she left home, besides eating one herself, she had deliberately packed an extra for him.
“If you’re hungry, you can—”
Before she finished, the door opened again. She turned to see several people walking in neatly with trays.
“Young Master, we’ve prepared a simple nutritious meal for you.”
They placed the trays on the table.
Qiu Zheng: “…”
Her toes curled awkwardly. Truly embarrassing—someone earning 3,000 a month worrying about someone making 2.08 million.
No, actually… add a few more zeros.
After a brief awkward moment, she smoothly picked up her earlier sentence: “Right, right, that’s what I meant—you can eat first to fill your stomach. See? They’ve already brought it.”
She opened her bread and tore off a piece to eat. “Perfect, I didn’t eat this morning either. I was just about to.”
The covered trays had already been opened. She glanced over—porridge, pastries, side dishes. Not a full meal, but everything was beautifully presented.
Why did her bread suddenly seem so unappealing?
“Wasn’t that for me?” the man beside her asked.
Qiu Zheng retorted stubbornly, “Who said it’s for you? This is mine. It’s my favorite.”
A hand reached over and took the piece of bread she had already bitten. When she looked over, she met Wen Yan’s gaze. In his dark, calm eyes, there seemed to be a trace of a smile.
“I want to try it too. Let’s trade.”
The meal prepared was originally for two anyway, but Wen Yan didn’t take it. Instead, he put the bread into his mouth and took a slow bite.
As if he were truly savoring it.
Qiu Zheng only hesitated for a moment before deciding—fine, if he’s eating that, she won’t be polite either.
She sat by the table. Though it was called a simple nutritious meal, it looked and tasted amazing.
She ate with great satisfaction. Come to think of it, ever since she came to this world, most of the good food she’d eaten had been thanks to Wen Yan. With that thought, when she looked at him again, her eyes were full of gratitude toward her provider.
Thinking this way, Wen Yan was actually a good person.
The “good person” being labeled paused mid-bite and even seemed to choke a little.
Although he could feel that her gaze was full of goodwill, for some reason… he didn’t feel happy at all.
Wen Yan still had a series of other examinations.
They were mostly the same as in Qiu Zheng’s previous world—except the equipment used was the most advanced, and the accompanying doctors were top-tier.
Except for the last one: pheromone testing.
Qiu Zheng had never seen that before. Her curiosity was written all over her face.
Wen Yan glanced at the person trailing behind him expectantly. “Come in with me.”
This test was originally private, but he didn’t mind. His pheromone condition wasn’t exactly a secret in front of her anyway.
Qiu Zheng had been curious about this since yesterday.
Now that she had the chance, she didn’t want to miss it and immediately followed him in.
Inside the room, besides a doctor, there was a device that looked somewhat like a massage chair, but more high-tech. Qiu Zheng sat to the side and watched Wen Yan lie down.
As something from both sides touched his head, data immediately appeared on the nearby computer.
Qiu Zheng didn’t understand the numbers, but she could see the astonishment on the doctor’s face. Sure enough, after it ended, the doctor kept praising him—worthy of being a top-tier Alpha, with exceptional pheromones and outstanding indicators.
“But…”
At that turning point, Qiu Zheng perked up.
“Young Master, your pheromone disorder seems to have worsened since last time. It’s recommended that you undergo some intervention.”
Ah… what was that? Qiu Zheng felt it sounded familiar. After a moment, she recalled—Wen Yan had mentioned it before… in bed.
What kind of condition was this? Was it serious? How should it be treated?
Curious, she let her thoughts wander, but to avoid exposing her ignorance, she kept a neutral expression. Maybe it was her imagination, but she felt Wen Yan glance at her when he heard that.
But he quickly spoke calmly, “No need.”
The doctor frowned, glanced between Qiu Zheng and Wen Yan, and continued persuading, “The hospital can also provide very effective soothing therapy.”
“I said no.”
Even Qiu Zheng couldn’t hold back anymore. She felt his compliance as a patient was terrible—if the doctor says something, just follow it.
Though that’s what she thought, she carefully softened her tone: “Why not just listen to the doctor? Since we’re already here.”
As soon as she said that, Wen Yan’s gaze darkened.
“You mean… you want someone else to perform a soothing treatment on me?”
Qiu Zheng didn’t understand, but she could sense the danger in his tone. Being tactful, she immediately backed off: “Of course not. It’s your matter—you should decide.”
She regretted speaking up at all.
The room for this test was dim. For a moment, Qiu Zheng thought she saw a trace of loneliness and grievance in Wen Yan’s eyes—but it vanished so quickly it felt like an illusion.
“Let’s go,” he said, already turning away.
On the way back, Qiu Zheng noticed a rare hint of fatigue on Wen Yan’s face. As he reached for the car door, she tentatively suggested, “How about I drive?”
His movement paused. He looked at her, then nodded.
He didn’t ask whether she could actually do it. He seemed quite at ease trusting her.
Wen Yan took the passenger seat.
Qiu Zheng sat in the driver’s seat.
She wiped her hands on her clothes to make sure they weren’t sweaty before touching the steering wheel and glancing at the brakes. She had ridden in luxury cars plenty of times—but driving one was a first.
After confirming his seatbelt was fastened, she steadily drove off.
A car is a car once it’s moving… not quite.
Driving a good car really felt amazing. Qiu Zheng perked up, though it was a pity she couldn’t go fast in the city. Her face remained calm, but her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Wen Yan turned slightly to look at her, easily sensing her good mood.
Carefree, he thought to himself with a sigh. Yet somehow, even that carefree joy seemed to smooth out the creases in his own mood.
When he rode in the same car as Qiu Zheng, he rarely used a driver.
Maybe it was the confined space that made people let their guard down—forgetting to resist what was merely instinctive, genetic attraction, forgetting all the “shouldn’ts.” In that moment of relaxation, the pheromones he usually kept tightly controlled began to spread inside the car.
Want…
A voice seemed to whisper—
Want.
I want her.