Li Qingchi sat in the chair while Wen Zhiyu straddled his lap, facing him, head resting on his shoulder.
There was no gap between them, intimate like a young couple deeply in love.
Li Qingchi took a deep breath, then instinctively raised his hand to adjust the suppression band on his wrist. Only then did he remember that Wen Zhiyu was a beta and couldn’t release pheromones at all. The cherry blossom scent he smelled was Wen Zhiyu’s own body scent, perhaps from cherry blossom-scented body wash or perfume.
“Starting now.”
Li Qingchi released calming pheromones, and the entire room filled with the alpha’s scent.
After a moment, Wen Zhiyu began to mumble: “Vetiver, I like it…”
Li Qingchi let out a cold scoff. “Is there any scent you don’t like? Even the alpha pheromones casually clinging to your clothes can attract you.”
At those words, the beta lying on his shoulder lifted his head, eyes unfocused, staring at him with a dazed expression. “…I don’t.”
Still making excuses even at a time like this.
Wen Zhiyu was delirious now, this half-awake, half-asleep state was the easiest time to extract information from him, and Li Qingchi immediately realized it. So he asked, “How did you know I was a…” He paused to choose his words. “…defective alpha? How did you get that file?”
Wen Zhiyu sniffled lightly, as if thinking seriously, then gave a strained smile. “…Dr. Li, I’m having an episode, not a drop in IQ. Are you really going to start fishing for information so blatantly?”
Hearing this, Li Qingchi suddenly felt like he was the one whose IQ had dropped, completely losing his judgment, capable of doing something so ridiculous.
Wen Zhiyu continued slowly: “…But then again, you’re not a defective alpha…”
Li Qingchi looked at the beta before him, cheeks and the corners of his eyes flushed pink, looking like someone drunk, speaking like the ramblings of an inebriated person, yet his eyes were incomparably sincere.
Li Qingchi: “…”
“Isn’t that what you said before?” Li Qingchi said.
Wen Zhiyu explained: “What I said was that you inherited your father’s defective genes. I didn’t say you were a defective alpha.”
Li Qingchi couldn’t understand this person’s logic: “An alpha who inherits defective genes, isn’t that a defective alpha?”
“…” Wen Zhiyu thought for a moment, then said slowly, “Then I take it back.”
The room fell silent for a while.
Wen Zhiyu spoke up again, unhurriedly adding: “Being able to mark only one person in a lifetime… so what? It can’t really be considered a… flaw. You can’t deny yourself because of that.” Then he emphasized his tone, “You’re not a defective alpha.”
“Oh, think whatever you want.” Li Qingchi found this childish behavior exasperating. When he was threatening him earlier, his words had been so harsh, and now he was putting on an act of being understanding, what was he trying to do? This beta’s mind was too hard to read.
The two held each other face to face for a while, when Wen Zhiyu’s breathing suddenly quickened, his chest rising and falling: “Dr. Li, release a bit more pheromones. I can’t smell it anymore. It’s uncomfortable…”
Following his request, Li Qingchi continued releasing pheromones, like a contractor fulfilling a client’s demands. Then he casually remarked: “Do you know what you call this kind of behavior?”
“What?” Wen Zhiyu looked confused.
“Harassment of a War Chain Department official,” Li Qingchi said. “In serious cases, it can be prosecuted.”
Wen Zhiyu seemed genuinely unaware, asking an extremely naive question: “Does a hug and a sniff count too? We didn’t even kiss, and didn’t you agree to it as well?”
“It counts.”
“Then arrest me.” With that, Wen Zhiyu reached out and wrapped his arms around Li Qingchi’s neck, his lips suddenly drawing close, brushing lightly against the back of his neck. Whether intentional or not was unclear.
A wisp of warm breath sprayed evenly and faintly across his skin. Li Qingchi suddenly shuddered, a sensation like ants crawling over his entire body, a sudden wave of chills rising through him.
It was like an electric current surging through his body, a feeling he knew well.
It was the reaction his body had when entering the susceptible period. He felt his thoughts and actions suddenly slipping beyond his control.
And indeed, as he expected, he lowered his head and bit the beta’s nape.
Wen Zhiyu, bitten, suddenly widened his eyes, arched his body, and began trembling slightly all over.
It wasn’t even time for the susceptible period, why had he become uncontrollable?
In his daze, Li Qingchi forced himself to snap out of it. His bite wasn’t hard, but it wasn’t light either. Fortunately, he stopped himself in time, no pheromones injected, no temporary mark formed. He let out a breath. “…Sorry. I’m a bit out of control.”
Wen Zhiyu, completely drained of strength, collapsed against his shoulder. Li Qingchi felt the other’s icy tears soak through his shirt and drip onto his shoulder.
Wen Zhiyu spent the rest of the treatment session asleep, and Li Qingchi held him the entire time, releasing calming pheromones.
Perhaps feeling apologetic for his earlier uncontrollable behavior, Li Qingchi was exceptionally patient at this moment.
After the treatment concluded, Li Qingchi placed Wen Zhiyu on the bed, then walked to the living room, took out his phone, and dialed a number.
The call rang for a long time before the other party picked up.
As soon as the line connected, Li Qingchi spoke: “The medicine you sent last time has side effects.”
“…” Li Siyu, “??”
“Brother, it’s two in the morning now.” Li Siyu’s voice was a bit hoarse, sounding like he had been forcibly woken from a deep sleep. “Is the side effect of the medicine making you call people to harass them in the middle of the night?”
Li Siyu pressed further: “Besides, what are you doing up so late? The War Chain Department doesn’t seem to have any special missions, right?”
“Studying a case.” Li Qingchi didn’t want to waste more time and immediately steered the conversation back on track. “After injecting the drug, a person becomes uncontrollable. That’s a major flaw, I need to maintain my composure at all times.”
Li Siyu yawned, clearly still groggy from just waking up: “Alright, I’ll tell Grandfather later and have the research institute continue improving it. Don’t use that batch of medicine for now.”
The call ended. Li Qingchi walked into the room, saw Wen Zhiyu sleeping soundly, and then walked back out.
…
Throughout the treatment, Wen Zhiyu had been in a state of blurred consciousness, so upon waking, he naturally couldn’t recall exactly what had happened the day before.
All he knew now was that he was at Li Qingchi’s place, sleeping in Li Qingchi’s bed, and because of him, Li Qingchi could only sleep on the couch.
A sharp sting came from the back of his neck. Wen Zhiyu walked over to a full-length mirror, tilted his head to look, and saw a glaring bite mark.
He thought, this must be Li Qingchi’s retaliation for his shameless coercive behavior.
How stingy, he wouldn’t even release a bit of pheromone. Wen Zhiyu thought to himself.
Then he remembered another important matter. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he took out his phone and his fingers flew across the screen.
“Texting your police officer friend to explain things?”
Wen Zhiyu looked up at the sound and saw Li Qingchi leaning against the doorframe, looking exhausted.
“What police officer?” Wen Zhiyu was confused.
The next second, Li Qingchi’s phone buzzed with a notification.
Wen Zhiyu met his gaze: “Dr. Li, accept the friend request so we can stay in touch later.”
It was a WeChat account he had found by searching the other man’s phone number.
Li Qingchi’s WeChat was as cold as the man himself, not a single post on his Moments, and his profile picture was a group of small fish swimming in a blue ocean.
Wen Zhiyu stared at the screen for a long time, then smiled: “Dr. Li, I really like your profile picture. My nickname is Xiao Yu (Little Fish).”
Li Qingchi wasn’t interested in that topic and didn’t respond to the comment. Instead, he cut straight to the chase: “How exactly did you get that document? I understand your urgency as a patient wanting to be cured. To you, I’m just a painkiller, but maybe to others I’m not. If too many people find out about this, it won’t benefit either of us.”
Wen Zhiyu replied slowly and deliberately: “I also understand your urgency as someone being coerced. Don’t worry, no one knows about this except your family and me. I’ll also take good care of the document.”
“Best if it’s as you say, or the consequences will be more severe than you imagine.”
Wen Zhiyu added: “Of course, the premise of me not leaking this is that you have to be obedient. After all, this concerns your entire Li family. If it goes wrong, it could become a sensational family scandal.”
Obedient? Li Qingchi raised an eyebrow slightly. It was the first time someone had told him to be obedient.
“What does being obedient mean?” Li Qingchi asked, following his lead.
Wen Zhiyu thought for a moment: “Come whenever I call, listen only to me, and the moment I need you, drop everything you’re doing and come find me.” He added, “Final interpretation rights belong to me.”
Sure enough, once he was fully awake, this beta reverted to that nasty, selfish demeanor.
Li Qingchi refused outright: “No. That has nothing to do with treating your illness.”
“How is it unrelated?” Wen Zhiyu’s tone rose. “Doing these things will put me in a good mood. You’re a doctor, you should know that keeping a patient cheerful and optimistic during treatment helps with recovery, right?”
Li Qingchi wore an expression that said there was no way he would ever agree to such an unreasonable request.
Wen Zhiyu continued: “Don’t worry, I’m not the unreasonable type. I won’t make you suffer any grievances.”
In the end, Li Qingchi still didn’t agree.
The two were at a standoff when, coincidentally, a phone call broke the strange stalemate. Wen Zhiyu raised his hand to answer, not bothering to hide anything from the other person in the room. A male voice came through the other end, sounding urgent. Wen Zhiyu only replied with “Mm-hmm, okay,” and after hanging up, the cocky energy about him was replaced by a faint sense of tension.
Wen Zhiyu lifted his gaze, looked at Li Qingchi, and shook his phone. “The topic we were just discussing might not be able to continue, but you can give my request some serious thought.” He said this with an air of calm detachment, perfectly fitting his role as the one applying pressure, without any regard for the feelings or situation of the one being pressured.
Just like the first time in the hospital office when he had pressured him, the tone of this statement was the same as when he’d said “I didn’t give you a choice” back then, Li Qingchi thought. This time too, he was given no room to choose, he could only comply, because the crucial leverage was still in the other man’s hands.
He felt somewhat irritated but didn’t show it. Toward this detestable beta, he didn’t want to spare even the slightest extra expression.
“I have to go.” Wen Zhiyu ran a hand through his hair, casually tidied himself up, then walked to the door and flashed Li Qingchi a smile, not mocking, not smug, but a smile that was perceptibly genuine, from the heart. “See you next time, Li Qingchi. I’ll be waiting for your answer.”
The door was pulled shut from outside. A wave of inexplicable irritation made Li Qingchi uncomfortable. It had been a long time since he’d felt this way, like the course of events was completely beyond his control.
He let out a breath.
Then he walked over to the window, staring at Wen Zhiyu’s hurriedly departing figure for a while, until the man disappeared from his view. He glanced at the clock on the living room wall, it was getting late. The conversation with Wen Zhiyu had taken up some time. He only had half an hour left.
Despite the tight schedule, he still went into the bathroom, turned on the hot water, took a shower, and changed into clean clothes.
A whole night of treatment had left him saturated with Wen Zhiyu’s scent, and his clothes carried traces of the other man’s saliva and tears. He disliked it intensely, could even call it hatred, hating that any foreign scent had clung to him.
After the shower, Li Qingchi drove to the War Chain Department Affiliated Hospital and started his shift normally, showing no signs of impact or change. He had once again become that unruffled sheet of ice.
The only difference was that when he faced patients of varying personalities and appearances, he would inopportunely recall that detestable beta’s expression, that smug, maliciously suggestive coercion.
Li Qingchi had been transferred from the Central Hospital, carried high prestige, and with his exceptional professional skills, many patients scrambled to book appointments with him. He saw patients continuously all morning, with at most enough time in between to grab a cup of water. Fortunately, he was long accustomed to this kind of high-intensity work, it wasn’t too tiring for him.
It was just that occasionally, a certain someone would pop into his mind and make things feel troublesome.
When break time came, Li Qingchi changed out of his work clothes and prepared to go buy a cup of coffee.
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door. Li Qingchi, who was organizing documents, instinctively matched the person outside the door with that detestable beta.
Who else would specifically come looking for him right at the end of his shift?
The person, receiving no response, knocked again, more urgently this time. Li Qingchi set down the documents in his hand and opened the door.
But what came into view wasn’t Wen Zhiyu’s face with its sly, malicious smile, it was one of the nurses from his department, who was on duty today.
Li Qingchi had just been transferred here and wasn’t familiar with the people yet, only recognized faces. This nurse had never had any interaction with him before, so for her to come find him today, she must have something.
Before he could ask her purpose, the nurse spoke first: “Dr. Li, there’s something for you at the front desk. Go pick it up, it’s been sitting there for a while.”
Li Qingchi was puzzled. During work hours, who would send him something? But he still responded politely: “Alright, thank you. I’ll go get it once I finish organizing these documents.”
When Li Qingchi arrived, the front desk was covered with patients’ delivery orders, milk tea, coffee, lunches. The nurse on duty was setting the deliveries aside. Seeing Li Qingchi, she quickly pulled open the front desk drawer, took out a small box, and handed it to him: “Dr. Li, this is yours.”
Li Qingchi took it and looked at it, it was a box of trauma ointment. Someone must have sent it, and they’d specifically addressed it to Dr. Li Qingchi.
It most likely wasn’t Li Siyu, he wasn’t that meticulous.
So who had sent this box of medicine?
Li Qingchi asked the nurse, “Do you remember who delivered this?”
The nurse thought carefully: “A fairly fair-skinned guy, pretty tall, around 1.8 meters? Quite good-looking…” The nurse suddenly realized, “Oh! It’s that beta who was infected with pheromone resistance syndrome a few days ago, the one you treated, Dr. Li. Think about it a bit more, you should still have an impression.”
Fair, tall, had pheromone resistance syndrome, beta.
These traits combined could only point to Wen Zhiyu. But why would he be so kind? Sending medicine was not something he was capable of doing.
A different thought surfaced in Li Qingchi’s mind, could it be that seeing someone with a large wound on their head treating him had stirred the patient’s empathy? And that was why he had symbolically sent this trauma medication?
Too strange. The one who had the thought promptly dismissed it.
“This medicine is quite expensive, and its scar-removal and repair effects are especially good.” The nurse flashed a smile, her tone confident. “Dr. Li, this patient must have come specifically to thank you, so he bought you this medicine. You can go try it later.”
Gifts from patients couldn’t be accepted, but medicine was still fine.
The wound on Li Qingchi’s head had been bandaged by him a few days earlier, not serious, but if it left a scar, that would affect him for a lifetime. This patient was quite thoughtful, having specially sent scar-removal medicine. The nurse thought to herself.
“Mm. Alright.” Li Qingchi, who had originally planned to go buy coffee, abandoned his initial plan and returned to his office with the medicine.
He set the medicine on the desk and took out his phone to send a message to the top contact on his list.
Li Qingchi: Was the scar-removal medicine from you?
He expected the other party to answer yes or no, perhaps everyone’s reply would only be one of those two answers.
But Wen Zhiyu gave a completely different answer.