After hanging up the phone, Li Qingchi quickly walked to the car, opened the trunk, and pulled out a portable first aid kit.
He then walked back into the alley and stopped in front of the disheveled-looking beta. Placing the medical kit on the ground, he deftly put on rubber gloves and took out a bottle of alcohol and a piece of sterile gauze.
He moistened the gauze with alcohol and began wiping the needle marks on the back of the beta’s neck.
The rain grew heavier, shifting from fine drizzles to raindrops the size of soybeans.
The person lying on the ground finally reacted, barely managing to speak, “…Dr. Li, thank you for making the call for me. You can go now…”
This beta could still recognize him even in such a severely disoriented state.
“Refusing to save someone in danger can also be a crime,” Li Qingchi replied calmly. He then took another piece of gauze from the medical kit, moistened it with alcohol, and disinfected the needle marks on the beta’s neck.
Next, he poured out a pill and pushed it into the beta’s mouth. The other suddenly stuck out his tongue, and Li Qingchi’s fingers were coated with saliva.
Dr. Li, the epitome of medical ethics: “…”
Li Qingchi unscrewed the bottle of water he had just bought from the convenience store. With one hand, he pinched the beta’s chin, and with the other, he poured water into his mouth.
“Cough… cough…” The pill, forced into his mouth, was soon washed out by the overflowing water, forming a stream that slid down his collar.
Li Qingchi pushed the saliva-soaked pill back into the beta’s mouth. “Don’t spit it out. Swallow it.”
Seeing the beta’s dazed and confused expression, Dr. Li realized that trying to instruct him verbally to swallow the pill wasn’t an effective method.
Li Qingchi inserted his fingers into the beta’s mouth while forcefully pouring water with his other hand. Though this method left the beta’s clothes completely soaked, making him look even more disheveled than before, it was effective, the pill was successfully swallowed.
Swallowing a single pill took five minutes. Afterward, Li Qingchi poured the mineral water, now tainted with the beta’s saliva, over his rubber gloves to clean them.
Doing this looked a bit foolish.
Cold raindrops fell on Wen Zhiyu’s face, jolting his hazy consciousness. He remained curled up, his vision still blurry. He could only vaguely make out Li Qingchi’s figure moving before him, and the sounds he heard were muffled.
“Dr. Li…” Wen Zhiyu murmured, as if talking to himself, “What you’re doing is commendable, but don’t recklessly save people in the future… It’s easy to get taken advantage of. Assess the situation before helping…”
“…”
Li Qingchi: “You talk too much.”
The beta fell silent. The two of them remained still, letting the rain pour over them.
As midnight approached, the temperature dropped. The loss of body heat, combined with the rain and a gust of wind, made them shiver slightly.
“Dr. Li… could you go to the convenience store and buy an umbrella?” he spoke up again after a while, this time making a request.
The beta continued intermittently, “The residential building across the way… seems like it can see us…” His gaze drifted toward the pitch-black residential building he mentioned.
He didn’t finish his sentence, but Li Qingchi understood his meaning almost immediately.
In the dead of night, two people entangled in a narrow alley, with one lying on the ground, anyone who saw this scene without context would likely jump to unsavory conclusions.
Li Qingchi followed his gaze to glance at the residential building, feeling no ripple of emotion inside. Who would be idle enough in the middle of the night to watch two strangers from their window? It wasn’t some eye-catching, dramatic saga of love and hate. Still, he stood up and did as the beta requested.
Li Qingchi randomly picked an umbrella from the convenience store, a large black one, spacious enough to shelter two grown men.
Since he needed to administer the injection, Li Qingchi couldn’t hold the umbrella himself. He handed the handle to the beta.
The beta shifted position, moving from lying down to sitting up.
Li Qingchi injected the liquid from the syringe into the beta’s nape, and the intense omega pheromones began to weaken.
The medication took effect quickly, and Wen Zhiyu’s condition visibly improved compared to moments before. He lifted his gaze, looking at the doctor who was tending to the mess on the back of his neck.
Li Qingchi felt his eyes roaming over his face before settling on a particular spot.
“Dr. Li, what happened to your head?” Wen Zhiyu’s voice trembled slightly. “Who did this? How… did it happen?”
Li Qingchi paused his movements, looked up at him, and gave a faint, almost amused smile. “Who did it, and how it happened, aren’t you the one who knows best?”
Wen Zhiyu shook his head in confusion. “I don’t know.” Then he raised his hand, gently touching the wound on Li Qingchi’s head as if afraid of hurting him. “…Does it hurt?”
“It hurts,” Li Qingchi said. “So don’t touch it casually.”
At those words, Wen Zhiyu immediately withdrew his hand. The atmosphere grew quiet, with only the sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella echoing between them.
The sound of the hospital ambulance grew closer. Li Qingchi stood up, looking down at the beta before him. The black umbrella shielded the other man completely.
The beta looked up at him, his voice weak. “Dr. Li, could you give me a hand? I don’t have any strength left.”
Li Qingchi silently recited the phrase, “If you’re going to help someone, help them all the way; if you’re sending off the Buddha, send him all the way to the West.” Then he reached out to the beta, not to take his arm, but to grab him by the collar and haul him upright.
Like lifting a little chick.
Using the momentum, the beta stumbled forward uncontrollably, nearly crashing into Li Qingchi’s embrace. His cold lips brushed lightly against Li Qingchi’s cheek, lingering near his ear as he whispered with a hint of laughter, his voice still weak. “…Dr. Li, didn’t you ask me earlier whether I prefer betas or omegas?”
Li Qingchi’s body stiffened slightly.
Wen Zhiyu’s lips almost touched his earlobe. “Actually, I prefer you. If possible… I’d rather have your pheromones.”
After saying this, the beta flashed a weak but sly smile, quickly shoved the umbrella back into Li Qingchi’s hand, and then, leaning shakily against the wall, made his way toward the ambulance. The rain had completely drenched his clothes.
He looked utterly disheveled.
Li Qingchi glanced down at the damp spot on his chest, where the beta’s shoulder had rested moments before.
He frowned. Even in such a state, this beta still had the nerve to tease others. He really was…
Before he could finish the thought, he saw the beta, who had just been flirting with him so casually, stagger and collapse heavily onto the ground.
Then the medical staff rushed forward, lifted the beta onto a stretcher, and loaded him into the ambulance.
Li Qingchi stood in place, watching as the ambulance turned out of the alley with its lights flashing. Only then did he crouch down, tidy up his medical kit, and walk toward the car parked not far away, casually tossing the saliva-covered water bottle and gloves into a trash can along the way.
He recalled the sticky sensation he had felt through his gloves and suddenly felt disgusted. After driving home, he took a thorough hot shower, washing away all the smells on his body. Then, he rummaged through a drawer and pulled out the long-unused inhibitor bracelet, slipping it onto his wrist.
Just as he was about to go to sleep, the doorbell rang. Li Qingchi walked to the door and opened it to find Li Siyu standing outside. As soon as the door opened, the other man walked straight into the living room and sprawled on the sofa.
Li Qingchi and his younger brother, Li Siyu, had completely different personalities. Li Qingchi took after their mother, while Li Siyu resembled their father. Although their parents’ relationship was only average, the two brothers got along very well.
Li Siyu placed the black leather case he was carrying on the coffee table, then opened the hidden clasp and lifted the lid to reveal its contents.
“This is what Grandpa asked me to bring you, a newly developed drug. You can test its effects. It should be about three times better than the previous one.”
He glanced up at Li Qingchi, and upon closer inspection, noticed the wound on his head, small, as if struck by something hard. “What happened to your head? Who did it?” Though a minor injury wasn’t worth making a fuss over, Li Siyu was the type who couldn’t stand injustice and couldn’t bear to see others wronged.
His brother had just been transferred to the affiliated hospital, and now he was injured. It was hard not to suspect it was due to a doctor-patient dispute or intentional retaliation by a patient, especially since such incidents had happened frequently at the affiliated hospital before.
“A minor accident, nothing serious,” Li Qingchi replied briefly, glancing at the medicine inside before pressing the case shut. “Got it. You can leave now.”
The topic of the injury was brushed aside just like that. Li Siyu didn’t press further, his brother always knew what he was doing. Such a small issue didn’t require his concern.
But seeing his brother’s reaction, Li Siyu couldn’t help but laugh in exasperation. He raised his hand to show the time on his watch. “Bro, it’s three in the morning. I came all the way here in heavy rain to deliver this medicine, and all you say is ‘okay’? Do you think being a delivery guy isn’t hard work?”
Li Qingchi: “Okay.”
Li Siyu: “…”
“Thanks for the hard work, delivery guy. Now go back to sleep,” Li Qingchi said. “Don’t mess up your old man’s sleep schedule.”
Under normal circumstances, Li Siyu would have been asleep long ago.
Fine. Li Siyu was already used to his brother’s attitude and didn’t mind much. His gaze drifted downward, unintentionally landing on the inhibitor bracelet on his brother’s wrist. He raised an eyebrow and casually asked, “Bro, how’s the affiliated hospital of the War Chain Department? Are you settling in okay after the transfer?”
“The environment is pretty good. Compared to the main hospital, the workload isn’t as heavy. It’s just that some of the equipment is outdated, which makes it inconvenient for my experiments,” Li Qingchi answered seriously.
Li Siyu waved a hand dismissively. “No big deal. I’ll donate a batch of the latest equipment later.”
Then, Li Siyu steered the conversation in another direction. “How unusual. You’re usually as detached as a monk in a temple, yet you’re wearing an inhibitor bracelet, and not even during your sensitive period. That’s rare. Did you meet an omega you like? Or were you drawn in by some omega’s pheromones?”
Li Qingchi dismissed his speculation: “No. It’s for work. Also, you should head back now.”
Li Siyu stood up and casually added, his tone turning slightly sharp: “Brother, the people there are complicated. Try to avoid getting involved as much as possible. Don’t let some ungrateful individuals latch onto you.”
“Got it.” Li Qingchi replied.
The door slammed shut, and the living room fell silent again. Li Qingchi took a syringe from his leather case and skillfully injected it into the back of his neck. The side effects brought far less pain compared to the previous medication, but to him, the difference was negligible. He walked into the bathroom to rinse his mouth, then headed to his room to sleep.
…
Pheromone Resistance Syndrome: Patients experience glandular abnormalities due to certain stimuli, leading to extreme aversion to the pheromones of strangers. During episodes, they suffer from sharp pains throughout the body, especially in the back of the neck, accompanied by confusion, fever, and uncontrollable tearing.
The most effective treatment is the soothing pheromones of a partner (Note: Not just anyone’s pheromones, as this could trigger adverse reactions, potentially leading to shock in severe cases.)
Currently, the research institute has yet to develop a medication specifically for Pheromone Resistance Syndrome.
Wen Zhiyu’s gaze lingered on the words “first beta case” in the diagnostic report, finally realizing how absurd his actions had been the night before when he injected a stranger’s omega pheromones into the back of his neck.
He stared at the bold black warning at the end: “Without a partner’s soothing pheromones, mortality rate: 100%.”
Well, looks like I hit the jackpot. The first time a 100% probability lands on me.
But there’s nothing to celebrate.
What should I do now? What if it happens again? Wen Zhiyu wondered.
Find a partner on the spot? How? Who would want a beta with a strange illness?
The hospital seemed intent on proving to the public that Pheromone Resistance Syndrome was no ordinary ailment like a cold or fever, so they deliberately included case studies to emphasize its severity to patients.
Two weeks ago, a 23-year-old, unpartnered omega man contracted Pheromone Resistance Syndrome but paid little attention to it, ignoring the doctor’s advice. He died a week later, the cause being a severe, body-rejecting reaction triggered by exposure to high-level alpha pheromones during an episode.
Death was to be expected.
Not far away, an omega patient curled up on a bench. Moments later, his body began to convulse. As he moved, the scent of pheromones in the air grew increasingly intense. Wen Zhiyu instinctively took a step back, but a sharp pain suddenly shot through the back of his neck.
His body went numb as he walked home, clutching the paper diagnostic report. The doctor’s warning echoed in his mind: “If you still can’t obtain a partner’s soothing pheromones, you might not survive the next episode.” Words like “beta,” “no cure,” and “rare disease” felt like dull thorns, pricking him intermittently.
They constantly reminded him of the pain, signaling that he was a half-dead man on the brink of a fatal episode. But the reminder was all it was, this insignificant pain wouldn’t kill him outright.
Yet, that was the most torturous part.
He had a choice. It was just a matter of whether he would take it.
After struggling with the thought for a while, he didn’t make a decision immediately. Instead, he gave a self-mocking smile.