Faced with Duan Ze’s sarcasm, Guan Sui ignored him entirely.
Seeing this, Duan Ze grew even more animated. Folding his arms across his chest, he looked thoroughly baffled. “You’re the glorious crown prince. You could have any Omega you want. Even if you happen to prefer Betas, why on earth does it have to be Zhao Mingzhuo’s boyfriend?”
“Just what kind of spell did Wen Song cast on you?”
“I figured he looked like such a docile person, how could he have a boyfriend and still go around…”
“You’re wrong,” Guan Sui interrupted, pulling back his gaze and speaking calmly.
Duan Ze froze for a moment before picking up the thread. “Where am I wrong?”
Guan Sui raised an eyebrow. “It wasn’t him poaching me. I am the one poaching him.”
Duan Ze stared blankly.
Then you’re really something else, aren’t you?
Do you need a trophy?
Duan Ze was utterly speechless.
Because his good friend’s attitude was far too open and brazen, completely devoid of any guilt over enticing someone else’s boyfriend into infidelity.
“And you still have the nerve to say it out loud?” Duan Ze felt Guan Sui was truly a lost cause.
Yet Guan Sui remained entirely unbothered.
“Zhao Mingzhuo doesn’t like Wen Song.”
Duan Ze waggled an index finger. “You’re wrong! Quite the opposite, Zhao Mingzhuo has already fallen for Wen Song!”
Guan Sui narrowed his eyes, looking at him as if waiting for the rest of the sentence.
“When you jumped down just now, Zhao Mingzhuo knew Wen Song was down there, and without a second thought, he jumped in after him.”
“You know what? In general, situations like that only happen because of feelings.”
“If he didn’t care, would someone as proud and image-conscious as Zhao Mingzhuo jump down in front of so many people? Look at how thoroughly wretched he made himself look!”
Guan Sui countered again. “Wen Song doesn’t like him.”
Duan Ze scoffed. “Do you know what committing oneself in gratitude means?”
“Wen Song came to Suicheng with zero support, and it was Zhao Mingzhuo who extended a helping hand to rescue him when he was being picked on at the banquet. If Zhao Mingzhuo wasn’t bogged down by heavy responsibilities and a love for playing around, these two would have tied the knot long ago.”
Every single word and sentence felt like a sharp blade piercing straight into Guan Sui’s heart.
Duan Ze simply couldn’t bear to watch his good friend fall headfirst into this web of moral entanglement.
Especially since they were all part of the same inner circle.
The reputation of stealing someone else’s partner did not sound good.
He had originally expected Guan Sui to back off in the face of difficulty, but instead, he heard the other man say calmly:
“He can commit himself to me in gratitude, too.”
Duan Ze stayed silent.
Damn it, Wen Song’s brain was a lost cause!
No wonder Guan Sui went out of his way to contact a pheromone cancer cell specialist; it all added up to a strategy for poaching him from this angle.
And no wonder his friend had spent all that time lately investigating Zhao Mingzhuo, all to gather evidence and make Wen Song give up completely.
Every single step the man was taking right now was aimed directly at Wen Song.
“Then what about you and Zhao Mingzhuo’s brotherhood of all these years?”
For a moment, Duan Ze didn’t know what else to say.
His loyalties naturally leaned toward Guan Sui.
Yet pulling off such an immoral stunt was genuinely awkward.
Everyone grew up in the same circle, and they bumped into each other all the time; people were bound to gossip behind their backs.
Guan Sui maintained an expressionless face. “He’s the one who didn’t cherish him.”
Duan Ze had nothing left to say.
True enough.
Zhao Mingzhuo could never genuinely end up with Wen Song. Even if real feelings existed after all these years, based on Zhao Mingzhuo’s actual circumstances, if he really married a Beta, the person laughing the hardest would undoubtedly be his father’s illegitimate child kept on the outside.
From what they knew, that illegitimate son was also a tough nut to crack.
He had been thriving in Zhengrong’s branch company like a fish in water.
Zhao Mingzhuo’s charade of all these years was merely meant to lower the illegitimate son’s guard and encourage complacency, in hopes of snagging some dirt on him.
It would be best if that illegitimate son lost his patience and made the first move.
“He’s been contacting Shengqi lately,” Guan Sui remarked at that moment.
Duan Ze blinked in surprise and asked, “What?”
Guan Sui said, “He’s going to enter a political marriage.”
Duan Ze didn’t know how to react for a second, and asked curiously, “When did this happen? How come I didn’t catch a single whisper of it?”
“Has Zhengrong really reached the point where they need a marriage alliance?”
Guan Sui offered no answer, maintaining an air of mystery.
Duan Ze blinked. “Did you have a hand in this?”
Guan Sui glanced at Duan Ze, a hint of imperceptible amusement lacing his tone. “Take a guess.”
Duan Ze hurriedly waved his hands. “I’m too lazy to guess. As long as you’re happy, Lao Fu and I will help you hold down the fort if the sky falls.”
“At worst,”
“When you go scaling walls to sneak off and rendezvous with Wen Song in the future, the two of us will stand watch at the door for you.”
He had expected such a smart-mouthed remark to earn him a scolding, but instead, he heard Guan Sui say:
“Thanks.”
Duan Ze stayed silent.
Damn it.
Was this damn Alpha actually thinking about sneaking off for a rendezvous?
Wen Song followed Zhao Mingzhuo to the guest room to change clothes.
“Is anything hurting?” Zhao Mingzhuo looked the Beta up and down carefully to check if he had suffered any injuries.
Wen Song shook his head. “No.”
“I just swallowed a few mouthfuls of water, so my throat and nose felt a bit choked.”
“It’s nothing serious now.”
Zhao Mingzhuo immediately set his mind at ease, completely pulling back the worry hidden deep in his eyes.
“I’ll go have them brew you a cup of ginger tea to ward off the cold.”
Fearing he might catch a cold, Wen Song nodded. “Okay.”
Before leaving, Zhao Mingzhuo seemed to recall something and paused in his tracks.
Wen Song had just unzipped the wardrobe to pick out some clothes, and poked his head out in bewilderment. “Hm? What is it?”
Zhao Mingzhuo thought for a moment before letting out a light chuckle.
“Nothing.”
“Just wanted to ask if you and Guan Sui know each other.”
Wen Song’s breathing hitched.
His fingers gripping the wardrobe door unconsciously curled inward.
He began to wonder if Zhao Mingzhuo had discovered something and was trying to fish for clues from him.
The next second, he heard the other man say instead:
“Thinking about it, aside from the time he drove us back to Silver Lake Mansion, you two don’t usually cross paths. You definitely don’t know each other.”
“He must have saved you just now purely out of kindness.”
“I’ll have to properly thank him next time.”
Wen Song gave a very soft “Mn” in response.
Once Zhao Mingzhuo left, he was just about to close the door when a hand suddenly caught the doorframe.
Lifting his eyes, he looked past the crack in the door.
To his surprise, it was Guan Sui, the very person Zhao Mingzhuo assumed had no relation to him.
The other man had changed into more casual attire, and the stray locks of hair across his forehead were slightly damp, not yet fully dried.
“Why are you here?” Wen Song asked.
Noticing that the Beta in the room was still wearing wet clothes, Guan Sui frowned. “I came to see how you are.”
“Don’t you have clothes?”
“Why haven’t you changed yet?”
Wen Song whispered, “I was just about to change when you showed up.”
Hearing this, Guan Sui slipped through the crack of the door into the room, casually shutting the door behind him and locking it.
Wen Song, upon hearing the click of the lock, stayed silent.
Guan Sui leaned his back against the door, lifted his chin toward the wardrobe, and said to the Beta who had ducked behind the wardrobe door upon seeing him enter, “Go ahead and change.”
Wen Song stayed silent.
The Alpha was refreshing his record for shamelessness once more.
“How am I supposed to change with you standing right here?” he asked.
Guan Sui straightened up. “If you don’t know how, I can help.”
Seeing that the Alpha was genuinely about to make a move, Wen Song immediately raised a hand to signal him to halt.
“I’ll change myself.”
“Just stand right there and don’t move.”
Guan Sui took a step back, leaning back against the door once more, turning his head away to pretend he wasn’t peeking.
Wen Song felt a deep sense of weirdness.
How on earth had he so inexplicably let an Alpha into his room?
It was all his own fault for letting down his guard.
He’d let someone in way too casually.
Anyone on the outside looking in would think he was deliberately stringing the Alpha along.
In truth, it was mostly because Guan Sui was simply too overbearing. Even without resorting to forcible plunder or coercion, his attitude was blunt, obvious, and possessed an intensely aggressive momentum.
Not to mention, the man had even helped him secure a specialist for his grandmother.