The two of them remained in the enclosed space, deeply absorbing the gently flowing pheromones.
“How do you feel?” After a long while, Li Qingchi spoke, his gaze landing on Wen Zhiyu’s finger hooked around his own.
“Much better.” Wen Zhiyu opened his eyes and replied, “Dr. Li’s pheromones are, as always, steady and… pleasant to smell.” His tone suggested he was quite satisfied.
Li Qingchi didn’t respond to that remark. His gaze moved from Wen Zhiyu’s hand to his face.
“Wen Zhiyu.” He suddenly called his name again, his tone flat, as if chatting about an inconsequential topic, “You went to City No. 1 High School, Class Seventeen?”
Wen Zhiyu’s hooked finger visibly trembled, then quickly returned to normal. He looked at Li Qingchi, and as their eyes met, the corner of his mouth curled up slightly. “Dr. Li investigated me?” There wasn’t much surprise in his tone, rather, it carried a hint of “you finally asked” understanding.
Quickly, he asked again: “Did you find out through investigation, or did you remember?”
Li Qingchi caught the key word. “Remember”? Why would he ask that? Could it be that he really had some entanglement or grudge with him back in high school?
He quickly dismissed the thought. Although the investigation report showed that he and Wen Zhiyu had indeed been at the same school during his freshman and sophomore years, he was in the International Division while Wen Zhiyu was in the regular track. Students from the regular track and the International Division rarely had any interaction, and in his past memories, there had never been anyone named Wen Zhiyu. How could there be any entanglement or grudge?
“Just a simple background check on a patient’s identity.” Li Qingchi’s expression didn’t change, his reasoning perfectly proper. “Your high school years look quite ordinary.”
“Yes, ordinary to the point of being unremarkable.” Wen Zhiyu’s tone was candid, even carrying a hint of self-deprecation. “A mediocre student with no presence, a nobody. Of course, I can’t compare to someone as favored by heaven as you.”
He paused, his gaze sweeping across Li Qingchi’s expressionless profile. “What, Dr. Li feels someone like me isn’t worthy of holding that document? Or… are you hoping for a more exciting past, to explain how I could threaten you?”
His words were blunt, but they hit the mark, cutting straight to the heart of the matter. They completely shattered the frustration Li Qingchi felt deep down from the investigation coming up empty.
Standing at the top, one above all, an alpha above ten thousand, yet now coerced by a beta, powerless to act on his own will. He was eager to find something different about the beta threatening him, to ease the humiliation of being subjugated.
Li Qingchi’s gaze darkened. Wen Zhiyu reacted too quickly, too keenly. He had completely skipped over the core issue of the document’s source, instead focusing on the challenge of “ordinary” and “unworthy.” This way of deflecting the topic was a very high-level defense.
“I’m just curious.” Li Qingchi’s tone betrayed no fluctuation. He stopped releasing pheromones and casually withdrew his hooked hand. Wen Zhiyu’s fingers fell empty, hovering in midair before also retracting.
The treatment seemed to have come to an end.
“Curious how an ordinary person could possess extraordinary means?” Wen Zhiyu let out a light laugh. “Dr. Li, sometimes ordinariness is the best disguise. As for the means…” He stepped forward, picked up the insulated food bag on the table, and pressed it into Li Qingchi’s hands. His fingertips inadvertently brushed across the back of Li Qingchi’s hand, feeling a warmth, tinged with a faint, elusive tickle. “Just like this meal, it may look plain, but at least it fills the stomach. Eat it while it’s hot, Dr. Li. It won’t taste as good once it’s cold.”
He stepped back, once again wearing that inscrutable, languid expression with a faint smile. “Today’s treatment was effective. Thanks. I’ll be going now. Enjoy your meal.”
With that, without even glancing at Li Qingchi’s expression, he turned and left the office, gently closing the door behind him.
Only Li Qingchi remained in the office. The air still held the lingering, rich scent of vetiver, mingled with the strong aroma of food.
He looked down at the insulated bag in his hands, it was heavy.
Outside the window, many of the scattered lights had gone out, making the sky seem darker. Li Qingchi stood in place, not immediately touching the meal. Through the window, he watched Wen Zhiyu’s figure below quickly merge into the darkness, finally disappearing around the street corner.
An extremely complex feeling enveloped Li Qingchi’s heart. The disgust hadn’t disappeared, it was still there, the instinctive resistance born from being coerced. But…
He lowered his head and untied the strap of the insulated bag. The aroma of the food was even stronger than before. It looked quite appetizing.
He was indeed hungry now, but the thought that it came from that beta…
He stopped his movements. After a long moment, he picked up the insulated bag and tossed it into the trash can without a second thought.
The meal box and that scar removal cream were thrown together.
The next day, Li Qingchi only had an afternoon shift. In the morning, he made a trip to the War Chain Department to obtain research materials on pheromone resistance syndrome, and then he immersed himself in the laboratory.
The viral form of pheromone resistance syndrome was unlike any other pheromone virus. Its structure was extremely complex and highly active.
The sample virus he was experimenting with showed a very strong affinity for the simulated pheromone environment. This virus was definitely not simple, and its transmission route was still unknown, which meant there was a high possibility of a sudden outbreak later on. That was his conclusion so far.
But this conclusion wasn’t enough. He still needed deeper research, needed a breakthrough, this was the most urgent matter at hand. However, the information they currently had was limited, making it difficult to continue with more in-depth experiments. It was like being trapped in some kind of vicious cycle.
Li Qingchi glanced at the time. The afternoon clinic was about to start. He shut down the experimental equipment, tidied up the lab bench, and took off his lab coat.
As he walked out of the laboratory, the midday sun was so bright it was almost blinding. He squinted slightly.
The afternoon clinic hours were still very tight. As soon as Li Qingchi walked into the hospital, he saw quite a few people waiting in the corridor.
He quickly adjusted his state and threw himself into work, handling various cases with great efficiency. Prescribing medications, answering questions, arranging examinations, his workflow was clear and utterly professional, beyond reproach.
It wasn’t until the last patient left that the consultation room fell quiet again. Li Qingchi rubbed his neck, which had grown stiff from maintaining the same posture for so long. After resting for a moment, he began his ward rounds.
The other patients were all doing fine. His main focus was on the beta who had been brought in yesterday, the second one to contract pheromone resistance syndrome.
But with his partner taking care of him, he should be in decent shape.
Before he even entered the beta’s ward, Li Qingchi heard faint sobbing. Judging by the sound, it seemed to be coming from that beta.
Had he suddenly relapsed?
The thought crossed his mind, and he immediately quickened his pace and walked into the ward.
Seeing the doctor enter suddenly, the beta looked a bit flustered and immediately stopped his sniffling, though tears still clung to his face. “Dr. Li, why are you here?”
“What’s wrong?” Li Qingchi’s gaze fell on him. The beta’s condition looked fine to the naked eye. “Did you suddenly relapse, or is there somewhere else that’s uncomfortable?”
The beta sniffled and shook his head. “No, neither. I’m fine, just feeling a bit down.”
Li Qingchi didn’t press further. Although the other party hadn’t said the specific reason, it was certainly tied to his sudden illness.
“If there’s anything uncomfortable, you can come to us. No need to hold it in deliberately.” With that, Li Qingchi withdrew from the ward and closed the door behind him.
Another doctor happened to pass by and, seeing Li Qingchi walk out of the ward, sidled up to him and tilted his chin toward the ward. “How is he?”
“No relapse, but his mood isn’t great.” Li Qingchi answered truthfully.
“Still crying?” The doctor gave a soft tsk. “That partner of his really is…” He stopped abruptly mid-sentence.
“What about his partner?” Li Qingchi was completely in the dark. Yesterday, the alpha had been glued to the beta’s bedside, but judging by the doctor’s tone, something must have happened between the two.
Patients with pheromone resistance syndrome shouldn’t experience major emotional fluctuations, as it could easily lead to a worsening of their condition.
“You don’t know?” The doctor was somewhat surprised, but on second thought, it was perfectly normal for Li Qingchi, a workaholic, not to participate in their gossip. He lowered his voice and explained, “His partner broke up with him. The two were already at the stage of discussing marriage, and then just because he got this illness, they split. Can you believe-”
Before he could finish, he was interrupted, called away by another nurse. He responded with a quick acknowledgment, then turned back and patted Li Qingchi’s shoulder. “Keep an eye on his emotional state for me later.”
“Alright, I’ll pay more attention.” Li Qingchi replied simply.
Yesterday, they were an inseparable, deeply worried, utterly loving couple. Today, they broke up over a pheromone resistance syndrome. It was jarring, but also brutally realistic.
People are selfish by nature.
Li Qingchi suddenly thought of Wen Zhiyu’s coercion against him. He felt like he could somewhat understand why the other party hadn’t sought treatment from familiar, close friends or family, but had instead taken the risky path of coercing him.
There are no eternal friends or family in this world, only eternal interests. That was the most stable kind of relationship, not so-called emotional bonds.
But Wen Zhiyu’s behavior was utterly repulsive.
Why was he thinking about that detestable beta again?
His phone dinged, interrupting Li Qingchi’s thoughts. He tapped open the message, and his father’s name, Ji Minghe, popped up. No pleasantries, no inquiries, just an extremely brief notice.
[Qingchi, your maternal grandfather has returned to the country. Come back to the old residence and have a meal with the old man.]
Grandfather Li Yuchong was a legendary figure of the previous generation of the Li family. In his youth, he was one of the earliest core medical experts in the War Chain Department, leading the establishment of trauma emergency centers in several major hospitals, as well as the early pheromone research department. Both his capability and reputation were top-notch.
However, later on, for certain reasons, he chose to go abroad to continue deepening his research in neural pheromone transmission and natural gland repair mechanisms. After going abroad, he also earned high honors in this specific field.
But now that he’s older, he’s somewhat unable to keep up with certain research endeavors, and is currently in a semi-retired state, focusing on rest and recuperation.
The last time he returned to the country was the year Li Qingchi’s mother passed away, which is now nearly twenty years ago. His sudden return today must mean something important is happening.
The Li family’s old residence is far from the hospital where Li Qingchi works, on the other side of City A, away from the hustle and bustle of the city center, requiring over an hour’s drive.
He could only set aside his other work for the time being and drive toward the old residence.
Li Qingchi’s car came to a stop at the entrance of the old residence, and a pure black Bentley with license plate A1111 drove toward him head-on. The person in the driver’s seat curled his lips and let out a light chuckle.
The two got out of their cars almost simultaneously.
Li Qingchi: “Pretty low-key of you today.”
Hearing this, Li Siyu smiled and said, “You’re the main event today, so I have to keep a low profile, don’t I? Don’t go dragging me into the fire later, I’m just here to watch.”