The child did not understand the meaning of a kiss; he simply believed that as long as someone kissed a wound, the pain would be cut in half.
That was what Mommy had told him whenever he got hurt before.
Kissing his knees when he took a fall, kissing his forehead when he had a fever, and kissing his neck when he had a cold and a sore throat.
Lu Yubai thought it worked. He would usually feel sad because of the pain, but after being kissed and coaxed by Mommy, it wouldn’t hurt nearly as much anymore.
He believed in this with all his heart.
If he felt pain, a kiss would make it all better.
Stubborn and clumsy, the little boy placed both hands on Feng You’s shoulders, staring at him unblinkingly with tear-reddened eyes, refusing to give up no matter what Feng You said.
Feng You ultimately compromised; he did not want to crush the child’s pure kindness.
“Alright, then I’ll leave it to little treasure.”
Pressing his lips into a tight line, he let the child lean in and gently touch his injured corner of the mouth.
“Mommy, does it still hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore. Thanks to little treasure, Mommy isn’t hurting.”
Feng You pulled Lu Yubai into an embrace, wrapping his arms tightly around him as if pressing him straight into his own chest.
His growing fear of losing the child was gradually dissipated by this small body, while the lingering pain of his injuries served as a reminder of what they had just been through.
“We will never be apart again. No one will ever come and take you away.”
As Feng You spoke, the corners of his eyes turned slightly red.
Clutching the child tightly, he fought hard to steady his trembling voice so Lu Yubai wouldn’t see his face.
“Never be apart, with Mommy, ever again.”
Lu Yubai repeated the words one by one, his voice muffled as he buried his face against Mommy’s chest.
Recalling his reckless behavior at the restaurant, Feng You couldn’t help feeling a lingering sense of fear when reviewing it afterward.
When his adrenaline had been surging, he had completely lacked the calm to think things through, nor could he analyze the situation maturely like an adult to arrive at a proper plan.
The passion and sincerity of his late teens had driven him to charge headfirst into that room without a second thought, completely unconcerned about whether his future might end up ruined within those four walls.
All he possessed was the purest, most desperate sincerity to protect his family.
Fortunately, his body, which didn’t quite act like a normal Omega’s, helped him weather the crisis.
In a rare moment of gratitude, Feng You was glad he was a golden retriever, capable of protecting his family.
His tail lifted proudly, curling back into a neat hook, wagging to the left to shake off a few puppy hairs, then swinging over to the right to sway.
The storm outside was temporarily locked away beyond the Mu family’s old residence, leaving the three people and one cat inside to live a peaceful and cozy life.
Feng You pulled Lu Yubai over to apply medicine. When the liquid touched the child’s wrists, the boy pressed his lips together and began shedding tears one by one.
Yet unlike other children who threw tantrums, Lu Yubai sat obediently on Feng You’s lap, keeping his wrists resting in Feng You’s palm without pulling them away.
Even though the stinging medicine caused him pain and made him cry, he showed not a shred of resistance against Mommy applying the treatment.
Once both hands were wrapped in white gauze, Lu Yubai brought his wrists right up to Feng You’s lips.
“Mommy, it hurts, please kiss it.”
He had endured the pain for so long precisely so Mommy would give him a kiss.
As long as Mommy kissed him, enduring the hardships and suffering the pain didn’t matter at all.
That was what Lu Yubai thought, holding both of his wrapped wrists almost directly against Feng You’s face.
“Alright, a kiss from Mommy and it won’t hurt anymore.”
Feng You pressed two kisses onto the gauze wrapped around the wrists, then pulled the clingy child back into his arms, patting his back to soothe him.
“Really, it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
Though the wounds on his wrists felt numb from the sting of the medicine, Lu Yubai was convinced it was the magical effect of Mommy’s kiss.
A radiating wave of warmth spread outward from the surrounding skin.
The child developed a new understanding: he believed Mommy’s kisses were blazing hot, serving as the most effective medicine in the entire world.
Feng You took on household chores with practiced efficiency, even though the Mu family residence was hardly lacking in cleaning staff.
Called over by Elder Mu, he sat down next to the old man.
“Don’t worry about those chores. Come take a look at Xiao Jing’s progress.”
Elder Mu’s expression was warm and kind, looking at Feng You almost as if he were his own grandson. His tone was exceptionally amiable, completely devoid of the sharp, ruthless aura he used to have in the business world during his younger days.
Feng You looked nervously at the messages sent by Mu Jingyi, closely monitoring the news regarding the incident online.
As soon as the news broke about Lu Zhengming, the head of the Lu Group, abandoning and kidnapping his illegitimate child, it immediately surged to the top of trending searches.
The wealthy executive who had always carefully cultivated a devoted-husband persona suffered a massive backlash from public opinion. While some sighed that they no longer believed in love, others indignantly cursed him as a scumbag.
Countless brands rushed to terminate their contracts with the Lu Group, especially jewelry companies, who had signed Lu Zhengming precisely because of his model-husband image.
Between societal condemnation, consumer boycotts, and emergency contract cancellations by brands, the Lu Group’s stock plummeted to a precarious, life-or-death precipice.
Amidst the chaos, not a single photo of Lu Yubai appeared online, and the whistleblower’s paternity test blurred out Lu Yubai’s name entirely.
Though people remained endlessly curious about the name of the Lu family’s illegitimate child, no matter how hard they dug, they turned up empty.
Even if they managed to trace clues suggesting the child might be connected to a factory, they hit a brick wall with no way to investigate further.
In the whistleblower’s audio recording, Feng You’s voice had been carefully processed, leaving none of his original tone recognizable and masking even his gender.
He was naturally assigned the title of the adoptive mother, becoming a great, vulnerable figure in the mouths of netizens.
An Omega who adopted an abandoned child, forced into heat amidst Alpha pheromones, only to be saved just in time by the arrival of the police.
This narrative transformed into a heroic tale in the eyes of the public, prompting a crowd of emotional bloggers to chase the trend and write things that made Feng You cringe all over:
“To save her child, an Omega used sheer willpower to create the miracle of escaping the clutches of an Alpha during a forced heat period.”
“She knew her child was waiting for her.”
“And that miracle is called Mother.”
Feng You shuddered violently, goosebumps breaking out across his skin as he nearly threw his phone away in disgust.
That is not what happened at all, absolutely not. It was simply because his golden retriever Omega body possessed robust strength, and for some reason, he hadn’t been affected by Lu Zhengming’s pheromones, allowing him to pull off a counterattack.
The young golden retriever mother stared at these exaggerated media reports written purely for views, sweating profusely from embarrassment.
Fortunately, his real name and photos hadn’t leaked, allowing him to maintain his pure reputation on the internet.
His phone chimed with a notification: Mu Jingyi had forwarded one of those emotional blogger posts.
[Young Master Mu: Brother Feng You, the emotional blogger I found isn’t bad, right? Image: Spinning]
[Young Master Mu: This miracle is called Mother. Image: Watching quietly]
After reading through the deeply teasing messages, Feng You felt so embarrassed he wanted to delete Mu Jingyi’s chat out of sight and mind.
The sixteen-year-old Alpha youth was having a field day, completely immersed in his own dramatic artistry.
Given the current situation, Mu Jingyi was probably facing considerable pressure, as Lu Zhengming’s scandal had long since escalated from simple entertainment gossip into a fierce business war.
Teasing Feng You was likely the most relaxing outlet he had during this period.
Helplessly, Feng You rubbed his aching temples, lacking the heart to reply with a retaliatory post.
He steeled himself and sent a reply:
[Yuzi: Thank you, Young Master Mu. Hug, hug]
[Yuzi: It is a chokehold, not a hug.]
Ignoring the stream of laughing messages popping up on his screen, Feng You locked his phone.
Holding his small golden retriever toy, Lu Yubai ran over, lifting up the torn plushie with leaking cotton to show Feng You the fluffy white stuffing inside.
“Mommy, please save the little golden retriever.”
“Please save it.”
He had held onto the golden retriever toy the entire time he was kidnapped, even keeping it firmly clenched between his teeth when his hands were bound.
During the struggle, the seam of the little plushie had ripped apart, leaving it completely unrecognizable.
The once-plump little toy had lost a lot of its stuffing, flattening out until it looked like nothing more than an empty shell.
Feng You took it and carefully inspected the torn seam.
Just from the extent of the toy’s damage, he could imagine how fierce the struggle between those people had been, and how panicked the child must have felt when he was forcefully snatched away.
“You really went through quite an ordeal.”
Feng You spoke to the plushie, feeling sorry for both the toy and the five-or-six-year-old child.
Lu Yubai assumed Mommy was feeling sorry for the little toy and nodded along with an obedient agreement.
He asked Elder Mu for a sewing kit, and under the old man’s doting indulgence, even dismantled an expensive quilt to hand the cotton over to Feng You for repairs.
In Lu Yubai’s heart, this toy held the exact same status as his golden retriever Mommy; he had never once considered throwing a broken toy away to buy a new one.
His little golden retriever had fallen slightly ill, and stuffing it with new cotton would make it all better.
Accepting the unpacked cotton, Feng You stuffed the golden retriever toy until it was plump and round, making it even fuller and firmer than before.
He skillfully mended the torn areas of the plushie with fine, tight stitches, and even plucked a bunch of loose fur from his own tail, layering it densely over the mended spots.
The unique scent of Mommy clinging to the golden retriever toy grew even richer, carrying the warm, soft fragrance of sunlight without ever needing to be dried outside.
Washed, mended, and given a new lease on life, it looked even rounder and cuter than before, its little belly puffed out by the fresh cotton.
Lu Yubai squeezed the plush golden retriever’s soft cotton belly, then curiously burrowed into Feng You’s arms to poke Mommy’s stomach.
It wasn’t very soft; Mommy had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and distinct, well-defined abs with hardly any excess fat. Only the golden retriever toy had a round, soft belly.
Tracing the lines of his abs once more, the child broke into a wide smile.
“Mommy.”
“Mmh.”
Hearing the child call out, Feng You flashed a tender smile, radiating maternal warmth just like when the child addressed him.
He truly loved hearing the child speak. The once-awkward title of Mommy was now completely natural to him.
Listening to the child speak felt like tasting sweetness after enduring bitterness. Even though the child still spoke in isolated words and slurred his syllables a bit, calling out Mommy was always clear and bright.
Unsatisfied with calling just once, the child continued:
“Mommy.”
Yinshuang, the little white cat, paced slowly over to Feng You’s feet, patting his ankle with a soft paw.
“Meow-my.”
With a dainty little cat meow, the tail curled tightly at the end, turning into a high-pitched squeak.
Hearing the cat, Feng You tilted his head to look at the little white cat sitting by his feet.
“Mom.”
“Meow-meow.”
This time, it was Lu Yubai’s turn to lower his head and lock gazes with Yinshuang, two pairs of round eyes staring fixedly at each other.
“Mommy.”
“Meow-my.”
With completely different cat-like sounds, it was quite obvious the cat was imitating Lu Yubai’s speech.
The pronunciations of Mom and Cat were already quite similar to begin with, so the child and the cat got stubborn, taking turns chanting the words back and forth while growing louder and louder, eventually devolving into a competitive shouting match of Mom and Meow.
Lu Yubai yelled until his face was red and his neck strained, sweat even beading on his forehead.
The little kitten also opened its wide mouth to roar back, its voice cracking at the end into a rather rugged cat yowl.
Left as the sole spectator, Feng You laughed until his stomach hurt.
“You are copying me, bad cat.”
Panting, Lu Yubai picked up the little white cat to hold it at eye level, angrily protesting.
Yinshuang stretched out a fluffy paw as well, patting Lu Yubai’s face with its soft pads.
“Bad human!”
Seeing the child still hadn’t put it down, the cat continuously patted Lu Yubai’s face with its front paws, muttering about bad humans under its breath.
The child couldn’t understand cat language, but he figured Yinshuang’s hurried, rough cat meows must be scolding him, so he started repeating his accusations of being a bad cat.
With neither the child nor the cat having any idea what the other was saying, they began bickering among themselves once more.
“You two should call a truce. Your voices are getting hoarse. Come drink some water.”
Feng You added water to the cat bowl and handed a cup to Lu Yubai.
Silence fell over the child and the cat. The boy gulped down his water, while the cat crouched by its bowl to lap up its drink.
Water finished, the child and the cat stared at each other blankly, neither speaking another word.
With the two troublemakers quieted down, the room instantly quieted, leaving only the rustling sound of the wind outside.
“Are you done fighting? Come here for a hug.”
Feng You half-squatted down, pulling the child into his embrace.
This time, Lu Yubai first bent down to pick up the cat, holding the freshly mended golden retriever toy in his arms along with the heavy, elderly little white cat.
Yinshuang offered no resistance, staying obediently in the arms of its rival-turned-friend while quietly licking its pink front paw pads.
Sitting back on the lazy recliner, Feng You used one hand to stroke the child’s head and the other to pet the cat’s smooth fur.
This isolated sanctuary bought them a moment of peace, even though in the business world outside, the two major listed corporations were locked in a fierce battle.
When Elder Mu returned home from his stroll, he found the two of them fast asleep on the lazy recliner.
Lu Yubai was draped over Feng You like an octopus, resting on a golden retriever toy against his chest while wrapping both arms around Feng You.
Catching sight of his returning master, Yinshuang hopped down from Feng You’s lap and scurried over to tug at Elder Mu’s trouser leg, begging to be picked up.
It let out a soft meow, its voice pitched into a soft and sweet tone.
“You little cat sure know how to be clingy.”
Picking it up with one hand, Elder Mu grabbed a woolen blanket from the sofa and gently draped it over the two sleeping figures.
Warm sunlight spilled across them, outlining their forms in a golden border.
Their breathing fell into the same rhythm, Feng You’s lightly rising and falling chest pressing against the child’s profile, while Lu Yubai’s warm breath washed over Mommy’s chest.
In this skin-to-skin closeness, they drew the maximum possible sense of security from one another.
After spending a few days at the Mu family estate, several visitors wearing police uniforms came to the door.
“Hello, this incident has now been classified as a criminal case, and we have officially opened an investigation.”
“An Alpha forcibly using pheromones on an unmarked Omega constitutes a criminal offense, especially in a public space, which is why we have already arrested Lu Zhengming. You do not need to worry.”
The only lingering point of doubt for the police was Feng You’s counterattack. Although the internet was flooded with articles declaring that this miracle is called Mother, police investigations still required concrete evidence.
“I don’t know why I still had the strength to fight back under the influence of the Alpha pheromones. The situation at the time was simply too urgent; I didn’t have time to think about all that.”
Feng You truthfully recounted the events as they happened, leaving out no details and spinning no tales.
The police meticulously recorded Feng You’s statement and handed him a business card.
“To be frank, Lu Zhengming is attempting to push back by using your acts of physical retaliation against him. This is the lawyer’s card that Mu Jingyi asked me to give you.”
“If this number calls you later, please keep it in mind.”
Feng You nodded and inquired about the current status of the case.
Regardless of everything else, the fact that Lu Zhengming had attacked him with his Alpha pheromones and allowed Beta bodyguards to exploit the situation was ironclad. It was simply a matter of whether he would receive a heavy or light sentence.
“He released a large amount of pheromones after taking medication; that act alone constitutes a felony.”
“Taking medication? What medication?”
The recording officer’s eyes lit up as he immediately pressed for details.
“It looked like a liquid that makes Alpha pheromones much more intense.”
Feng You replied.
Pheromone-related drugs were strictly regulated. While inhibitors only required a registration, stimulating drugs were strictly controlled prescription medications.
Based on Feng You’s description, what Lu Zhengming used was most likely a banned substance.
The police excitedly shook both of Feng You’s hands, their tones hurried and thrilled.
Their investigation had just achieved a breakthrough, and this high-profile case could finally be forwarded to the court.
“This is our doctor; they may need a sample of your blood for examination.”
“Don’t worry, for the protection of minors and Omegas, neither you nor the child will need to appear in court. We will process the audio recordings to mask your voices before presenting them during the trial.”
Cooperatively assisting with their procedures, Feng You saw them out.
The heavy stone suspended in his chest finally dropped. Feng You had previously worried that he might have gone too far in beating the Beta bodyguards, risking charges of intentional assault, and had briefly regretted acting too young and rashly.
Now, it seemed all fingers pointed directly at Lu Zhengming for abandonment, kidnapping, banned substances, and forcing an unmarked Omega into a forced heat.
These charges were more than enough to keep him locked away in prison for the rest of his life.
That man would never appear in Lu Yubai’s life again. This was a victory Feng You had successfully fought for.
The breakthrough in the case appeared online, where a blue-backed, white-letter legal notice systematically laid out Lu Zhengming’s crimes one by one, carefully anonymizing Lu Yubai and Feng You’s names.
Public legal influencer accounts even popped up online predicting how many years the head of the Lu Group will serve, pointing toward either the death penalty or life imprisonment.
Feng You was quite satisfied with this outcome; he and the child had finally tasted sweetness after bitter hardship.
The police bureau mailed over a detailed Omega pheromone test report, which had included a more thorough and meticulous pheromone data analysis for Feng You alongside their ongoing case work.
As expected, the report detected no scent of Omega pheromones, but it introduced a brand-new metric called pheromone resistance.
An unmarked adult Omega should possess zero resistance to any kind of Alpha pheromone, meaning any random Alpha pheromone could easily induce a heat.
Feng You was entirely different. He showed immense resistance to Alpha pheromones, exhibiting the ultra-high resistance typically found only in marked Omegas.
Yet simultaneously, tests revealed no signs of a mark anywhere on his body, nor any presence of Alpha pheromones.
Feng You attributed all of this to his golden retriever genetics.
Omegas from the facility almost always suffered from pheromone and gland issues to varying degrees. Pheromone perception disorders and hypersensitivity caused by fusion surgeries were common ailments among animal-form Omegas.
“It is fine. You can just find an Alpha with a strong bite later on.”
Learning of this, Elder Mu offered words of comfort.
Feng You chuckled in response to the elder’s concern, making it clear that he had never once considered looking for any Alpha.
He had never experienced a heat cycle, and ever since meeting Lu Yubai, his pheromones had remained stable beyond belief.
Without needing Alpha pheromones to sustain his daily life, Feng You didn’t view himself strictly through the lens of being an Omega, playing the role of both father and mother effortlessly.
Only, regarding the description about having a strong bite.
Feng You silently glanced at the child playing with the little kitten.